Karack Spirit is a platformer by Evilish that showcases an interesting idea. Your task in the game is to direct a ball into the blue basket by drawing lines to influence it's bounce.

There are a few items scattered around each area which can be used to achieve your objective. Spinning objects found at the start of each level can be activated to provide hints just by bouncing the ball off them.

Name: Karack Spirit
Developer: Evilish
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Talismania is a production by former team members of Sprout Games, now housed under PopCap. Known for their Frenzy series, this latest effort is pretty much Pipe Dreams with plenty of gloss. The gameplay system has been tweaked slightly, allowing for different strategies with the introduction of six-sided tiles. Your objective is basically to turn these tiles into coins, by connection one talisman to the other.

The distance between both talismans will determine the amount of gold earned. Magical tiles are introduced at a steady pace, but unfortunately no help screen is provided to summarize them for the players. Some fuss were made about the locked Hero Mode, though much of the fun lies in the campaign itself.

Name: Talismania
Developer: PopCap Games
Category: Puzzle
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

Death Worm is an action game by JTR in which you assume the role of a large creature with an appetite to match it's size. Hold the up arrow key to accelerate, and use the left and right arrow keys to change directions.

Vehicles can be launch into the air when approached at the right angle. Consume food to increase health. A similar effort by Unc1354m can be found at the Experimental Gameplay web site.

Name: Death Worm
Developer: JTR
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

BIB2 -The 2nd Syndrome- is a decent shooter with emphasis on boss fights, but don't panic if you happen to hear effects from your current Windows theme during object collisions. A nifty text file in the game directory links to default sounds, plus it's rather easy to mute the entire thing through the options menu.

Activate the shield by holding down the X key, and press the C key to shoot. New weapons can be unlocked by beating all stages for each difficulty.

Click on the first link to access the download page. Refer to the FAQ on the left sidebar for instructions on navigating the Vector site.

Name: BIB2 -The 2nd Syndrome-
Developer: LogicSoft
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

Carious Weltling 2 is a unique Sabotage clone by Diverge Creations, in which you assume the role of a hatchling with only survival as it's main objective. Protect yourself from the predators by shooting out blood blast using the left mouse button, and replenish your blood supply by eating grubs and other miscellaneous goodies.

Use the mouse to aim and hold the left mouse button for a special attack. Use the A and D keys to move around. Great stuff.

Name: Carious Weltling 2
Developer: Diverge Creations
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Carious Weltling has the same controls as it's sequel, but only playable on a flash-enabled browser. The objective is simple, use the left mouse button to shoot blood blasts at predators with the solitary objective of staying alive. Use the A and D keys to move your protagonist around, and hold the left mouse button for a blood geyser attack.

Watch out for the green cactuses. Contact with these creatures will cause the instant loss of a life. Eat grubs and meat to increase your blood supply level. The cursor can be changed by using the Page Up and Down keys.

Name: Carious Weltling
Developer: Edmund McMillen
Category: Action
Type: Flash
Size: 2MB

Viviparous Dumpling is another excellent creation from the minds of both Edmund Mcmillen and Caulder Bradford. Guide the fetus around parasites using the mouse, while trying to gobble up sperms and white pills which heal the main character. The damage you've taken from colliding with toxoplasms are indicated by the green dots. The game ends immediately if you accumulate more than three of these.

Press the enter key to pause the game. Simple but rather addictive, owing much to Ed's quirky sprite designs.

Name: Viviparous Dumpling
Developer: Diverge Creations
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

Warning: Contain scenes of violence, blood and gore.

Clubby the Seal is another flash effort by Diverge Creations, packed with plenty of cartoon killing which might offend a few people. Your protagonist is armed with a club on a mission of revenge, bashing in the heads of poor eskimos and skinning them to sell their hides on the black market.

Press the A key to attack, and use the S or up arrow key to jump. Skins can be bartered for special items such as extra lives or protective masks. Fishes can be collected to restore health, as indicated at the bottom left of the screen. There's the occasional boss fights as well.

Name: Clubby the Seal
Developer: Diverge Creations
Category: Action
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB

Ben Jordan Case 1 Deluxe released. Includes voice acting.

Illegal Communication updated. [Illegal Communication review]

The Forgotten Element development blog can be found here.

The Shivah Deluxe will be released next week. [The Shivah review]

A new AGS adventure game entitled Tapir's Quest will be released next week.

Missing 1goodgame? Here's a site which reviews fifty of the crappiest games ever.

The Retro Remakes Competition began on June 1st and ends on Aug 31st. Some competition entries are near completion, and I will highlight a few that caught my eye.

From Ovine by Design is a Nemesis remake, a shmup by originally developed by Konami. Progress: 30 percent complete. [screenshot]

Kryten's Chronos remake is nearly done. Expect this shooter to drop soon.

X-Out (Prototype) is working on a Xain D' Sleena remake. Progress: nearly done.

Pug Fugly (Super Blazing Vortex) is 70 percent done with The Pyramid remake. [Project Microlife, Ambush in Sector 9, Revenge of the Robot Cat from Mars review]

KNPMASTER (Cave Jumper) is working on a Shufflepuck Bar 3 remake. Progress: 30 percent complete.

danjo is 80 percent done with the Ladybug remake.

The H.E.R.O. remake by smila is half done.

Endurion is 80 percent done with the Kronos Rift remake.

The Alley Cat remake by rocko is half done.

Saving the best for last: The Ghostbusters remake is done.

Click here for a complete list of competition entries. Expect to play all the above games at the end of this month.

I know I missed a few good ones, will probably do a part two when Blogger is working properly. Cheers.

Warning: Contains strong language.

Hyper Wars: The Mega Firestorm is a vertical shooter by CK which uses only two colors throughout the entire game. There are plenty of power-ups to choose from and several bosses to defeat at the end of each level. The demo only showcases four stages, but expect more in the near future as development continues.

Name: Hyper Wars: The Mega Firestorm
Developer: CK
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 3MB

IrK is a freeware shmup by Akatuki Twilight, featuring a unique weapon system not unlike the one found in Einhander. Destroying certain enemy ships will cause them to drop their weapons for you to collect. Press the V key to use these weapons as bombs. Hold the C key to make your character move slower. Both weapons can be fired by using either the Z or X key. Tap the space key to pause the game.

Right after selecting the start option from the main menu, you're requested to choose a difficulty level, then arm the protagonist with additional weapons. Boss fights can be rather lengthy, plus good bullet dodging skills is a must for any progress past the first three stages. A decent STG for veteran danmaku fans, but beginners should approach with caution.

Click on IrK ver0.2 to begin downloading the 16MB trial version. The rest of the files are patches or BGMs, which are not required to play the game.

Name: IrK
Developer: Akatuki Twilight
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

Colorblind Fix 3 is an excellent platformer by King Bowser, combining action and puzzle elements from the Mario series, Metanet Software's N, and Helix Games' Jumper to name a few.

Of course, having so many influences does not necessarily mean that the end product will be any good. Fortunately in this case, everything works well to draw you in and keep you addicted to it for a long time. Featuring a hundred levels, it's quite surprising that every stage still manages to offer a different challenge, whether it requires quick thinking or extraordinary reflexes.

The objective in each stage is to collect all keys and reach the exit. One minor drawback is that the game tends to run pretty slow on older machines. The help screen does not work at all, and your progress is only saved after every tenth level. Instruction on activating the debug mode can be found in the forum, solving at least one of the issues mentioned here.

Name: Colorblind Fix 3
Developer: King Bowser
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB