Popcap Arcade Volume 1
By Will Bartos
Monday. Mar 03, 5:45 PM
Four casual games, one non-install disc.

Most Popcap games are limited to digital distribution: either a paid download or hosted through another web games site. On the Xbox 360, it’s even more limited, as all their major games are microtransaction downloads through the Xbox Live Marketplace. However, Popcap has recently decided to remedy this, and has released Popcap Arcade Volume 1, following the trend of Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade disc.

Popcap Arcade Volume 1 houses two games that everyone knows, one game that some people might know, and one more game that I didn’t even know about. The two giants on this disc are Bejeweled 2 and Zuma. For those living under a large rock buried by several more large rocks, Bejeweled 2 puts you in control of a grid of gems, and you match the colors. Zuma is another color matching game, putting you in control of a marble-spitting frog statue. I’m not really sure what game came first, Zuma or Luxor, which is the exact same game, but the marble spitter is positioned somewhere else entirely, and that’s an argument for another article.

Astropop is a fairly entertaining diversion as well, putting you in control of a small spaceship to, you guessed it, match colored blocks. Then there’s the game I NEVER heard of called Feeding Frenzy. This basically puts you in control of a fish with a stomach comparable to Super Mario World’s Yoshi. The fish must eat smaller fish to grow bigger, and by the end of the level he’s able to eat just about anything save for the possible shark that rolls through.

Control-wise, it’s hit or miss. Having played versions of most of these games on PC, I’ve found that two games work better with a mouse – specifically Zuma and Bejeweled 2 – and the other two games work better with a controller. Zuma really suffers from using a controller, as using the analog stick for aiming the frog is much worse than positioning with the mouse. Astropop and Feeding Frenzy, on the other hand, were better made for controllers, since they feel like older console games from the get-go.

The funny thing I find about this disc is that it doesn’t start up like a normal game: it deposits you in the extended Games blade of the 360 Dashboard, adding four games to the list. It doesn’t even install them to the hard drive: it makes your 360 THINK that you have more games than you actually do, due to the disc in the drive. It’s a rather ingenious idea, and makes people think twice when wanting to trade the disc in for something else (something that owners of the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack will remember vividly).

As a game compilation, it’s a winner in the casual games department, but that’s about it. Most people will be familiar with Bejeweled 2 by itself, and since most of the Popcap games on Xbox Live Marketplace are around 10 bucks each, the 30 dollar price tag is a fairly good value for four normally downloaded games. It’s not a Bioshock or an Assassin’s Creed, and it certainly won’t replace Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 multiplay, but it’s a good diversion that you may want to devote 15 minutes of time.

Will Bartos

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