Writings of Mass Deduction

Now this was a pleasant surprised. At first it reminded me of the mini games in Virtua Tennis (far and away, the best reason to play Virtua Tennis, you ask me). Upon further evaluation “Block Slam” is arkanoid done to the “9”s: third person 3D environments, lots of variety in the visuals, hidden areas to explore, spinning objects, conveyors, and the game playing out in three dimensions instead of two.

And that’s enough for a recommendation. This is a game where if you earn a power-up like the minigun, you pick up a gun and start shooting, after all. Or mix it up personally by getting right in there and kicking and punching to get those last few blocks that annoyingly keep evading the ball. Well worth 80 Microsoft Points for this innovative take on a classic.

Here’s what the developer (Xenotronic) has to say about the game:

“Punch, kick, shoot and smash – in Block Slam, you use your PowerBall and Minigun to destroy all the blocks in each level. Gather Bonuses, avoid hazards and always keep your PowerBall in play – this is 3D block busting action like you’ve never seen before!”