Green Island - 80 points - Xbox Indie Game

The rundown from Xbox.com:
Name:GREEN ISLAND,Genre:ACTION,A BUTTON:The bubble is shot.,B BUTTON:Jump, Y BUTTON:Menu,Copyright 2009 Alpha Secret Base. All Rights Reserved.


Pros:
- Clever puzzle design with action elements
- TONS of options (stage select, replay, 16bit-era options screen with sound tests, language selection, tutorial, time attack, etc.)
- Lots of levels
- Great colors with decent 16bit-era graphics
- A lot of content for only 80 points
- Constantly challenging with a comfortable learning curve

Cons:
- Incredibly messy, text-heavy interface
- Several elements are lost in translation
- Annoying, generic lo-fi soundtrack
- Bizarre, tacked-on back story involving a quest for a pumpkin pie recipe

Overall: Very solid puzzler. A must-buy at 80 pts for puzzle fans.
A-

Click here to add trial version to your download queue.
This review was based on the trial version of 'Green Island'.

Bailout! - 80 points - Xbox Indie Game

The rundown from Xbox.com:
When the rich get poor they get a Bailout! Collect as much money as possible as it falls from the sky while avoiding suicidal stockbrokers. Don't forget to kick the homeless before they steal your free government money and use it for medical treatment. Get a job, hippies!


Pros:

- Great '8 bit' soundtrack
- Great '8 bit' graphics
- Humorous 'tongue-in-cheek' premise
- Money looks like tacos and cannonballs.
- Thorough, but easy to understand instructional guide.
- Decent amount of depth in the form of purchasable upgrades to your wallet, etc. and a timed 'sprint' button to grab money, or dodge danger.
- 'Classic' gameplay - dodge the falling objects while collecting other objects. Simple and fun premise that has stood the test of time.
- At only 80 pts ($1), it knows it's a quick diversion.

Cons:

- Difficult demo. I had to restart it several times because it boots you after two lives. Gamers with less diligence might just give up.
- Not THAT much depth. You're just running around, chasing a high score overall.
- No leaderboard to compare with friends or other XBL users.

Overall:
B-

Click here to add trial version to your download queue.
This review was based on the trial version of 'Bailout!'
EDIT: The lack of a leaderboard is a restriction of XBN publishing, not of the game developer. It's still something that would add to the game however!