Rising Star Games recently announced that it is releasing Cave Interactive’s Akai Katana, a Japanese arcade bullet-hell title, exclusively on Xbox 360 consoles. The game will feature HD graphics and a new scoring system, but it will also provide a classic 4:3 mode for fans who like some nostalgia with their games.

For those unfamiliar with arcade shooters, Rising Star has created a series of videos showing off the various features in Akai Katana and tips on how to survive your adventure. It may sound easy to avoid side-scrolling shots, but after taking a look at some of the levels in the game, you’ll get why they call it “bullet-hell.”

The publisher will also be releasing Akai Katana theme and picture packs starting today that will cost 240 and 160 Microsoft Points respectively.

Akai Katana will be available for Xbox 360 on May 11.

The original Trials game was an online phenomenon, occupying any decent procrastinator’s tab at work or school. A couple of years back, Trials HD brought the much adored franchise to Xbox 360 with enhanced graphics, realistic physics and a level of difficulty rarely seen in modern games. When Trials Evolution released last week, it broke XBLA records for most units sold in a single day. The demand for the game is more than present and thankfully, the addicting gameplay that made the original so memorable is back, and it is better than ever.

Simple to pick up, impossible to master is the absolute core of the Trials series. You control a motorcycle rider on a linear path. The only thing you are allowed to do is adjust the throttle and adjust your lean forwards or backwards. The physics in play here can make or break a game, with a lucky bounce pushing you in the right angle or too much weight on one side making you slam on to the pavement. Checkpoints are gracefully placed before any obstacle on the track, letting you snap back to a safe spot instantly when you tumble off your bike.

What was arguably the only problem with Trials HD were the repetitive warehouse environments. Thankfully developer Red Lynx took that to heart and made every level in Trials Evolution stand out with unique environments. Some tracks will take place on a traditional dirt bike trail, while others will take top a mountain or into a warzone, replacing small hills with walls of explosives. This makes unlocking new levels an absolute joy. The line the rider follows will also swerve every once in a while, allowing for a new mix of challenges for new players. Throw in some sweet special levels like the 15 minute marathon that is the Gigatrack and the awesome nod to Limbo and the visual variety does not disappoint.

Multiplayer has been added in both local and online game modes. Every game mode is a variation of racing and time trials with each track being played twice in a two track “championship.” Crashes will cause you to lose points while a successful finish will earn you points depending on the position. Despite some long matchmaking times, it is a fun distraction and can be even more competitive locally.

The quirky skills circus from the last game has been expanded, this time providing ridiculous challenges such as finishing a level without letting go of the throttle and replacing your motorcycle with skis.

Another nice touch is the level editor the designers used to create the game. The basic editor lets players post tracks online for others to try, but the advanced editor lets players rewrite the script of the game, allowing for different styles of genres to be explored. Bring back Marvel Madness? Create a 3D Angry Birds? The possibilities in store are ridiculous and a strong community is sure to keep the content coming.

As far as bang for your buck, you cannot go wrong with Trials Evolution. Sixty single player levels, a fully-fledged level editor and a strong multiplayer suite are more content than some retail games offer. Trying to break gold in every level is a mad man’s task, especially when you reach the devilish “Extreme” difficulty, but the sense of progression is always present, with new gear for your bike or rider being constantly unlocked. When it comes down to it, if you ever spent time on Addictinggames.com while you were supposed to be writing a ten page paper, you owe it to yourself to get Trials Evolution.

Xbox Live Arcade is filled with ridiculous puzzle games trying to garner your hard earned dollars. It can be difficult to sift through the hundreds of games available to try and find one that will suit you. Luckily, The Splatters is quirky and imaginative enough that anyone who picks it up is likely to enjoy their time with it.

The premise is simple. You control these little blobs of jelly that are used to explode bombs placed across a single screen level. The challenge comes from the fact that you can only launch the blobs once (almost like Angry Birds) and they will not destroy the bombs unless they are “popped” by running into something sharp or hitting a surface with enough force that they explode. Once popped they turn into uncontrollable liquid, so you need to be careful where you are aiming. The liquid physics are really impressive and the game has a quirky art style that gives every aspect of it an undeniable character.

The real fun comes from trying to link together combos by breaking the different bombs in style. Dozens of combos are at your disposal, anything from a slide to make your goo travel faster and further to a special move called the flip that changes the direction of every object in the world. As you progress through the game, you unlock more moves such as the air bomb that allows you to change the direction of the blob in mid-air. Mastering all of the different combinations and trying to link them together can be addicting, and the online leaderboards do not help with trying to put this game down.

Unfortunately there are only about 30 levels in the game, each taking less than 5 minutes to finish, so if you pick up on the controls and ability to link combos together quickly, you can earn every star in a couple of hours. Separate scoring modes such as combo multipliers and a unique one where you have to use specified combos to beat the level are available, but it does not make the game too much longer.

Nonetheless, for only ten dollars this is a really fun downloadable title that is sure to impress anyone with a penchant for stylish physics based puzzle games.

Konami’s classic X-Men arcade is finally on its way to consoles. The announcement was made at this week’s New York Comic Con and will come packed with new features.

The updated X-Men arcade will feature six player drop-in, drop out support along remastered visuals and the ability to create custom VS matchups.

No release date has been announced for the anticipated port, but it’s expected to hit before this Christmas.

Check out the announcement trailer below!

Online mega-retailers GameStop and Amazon today listed a new Xbox 360 Arcade bundle, revealing a system and two Rare games for the standard $200 price to play.

The 2010 Spring Xbox 360 Arcade Bundle is, reportedly due out later this week, and will sell for $200 when it does release.

Spring Bundle

The bundle includes an Xbox 360 Arcade system, which has no hard drive but 256 MB of internal storage, as well as a controller and two Rare games.

Inside the box will be the family friendly Viva Pinata and the adventure game Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Both games received high critical marks when they released, making this bundle, for new Xbox 360 adopters, highly accessible and exciting.

GameStop has the bundle pegged for a May 5 release and Amazon at May 7, both dates this week.

In anticipation of the AOU arcade show in Japan this weekend, Capcom has just released new screens and artwork for Abel, the 10th brawler to be unveiled in Street Fighter IV.

The new World Warrior’s back story describes him as “a man without a past.” Despite a terrible amnesia affliction, Able is searching for the remaining members of the Shadoloo.

All the characters Capcom has announced so far, including the original Street Fighter II cast and newcomers Crimson Viper and Abel, will be playable in the demo being unveiled Saturday at AOU.

Street Fighter IV looks to be the fighting game of 2008. The characters and environments are in 3D, while the actual gameplay and fighting remains true to the arcade classic 2D with additional 3D camera angles and movements.