Bit of War

Bit of War is a free download for your PC, made by Holmade Games, who are also responsible for Pixel Whirled and Hurdle Turtle, both available on the Xbox Live indie arcade. But neither one of them are free, or as worthwhile as Bit of War, so I won’t get into them here. Bit of War follows the familiar story of Kratos defying the lords of Olympus, albeit in a side-scrolling, platformer fashion. A cherub-like Kratos wields his blades of chaos against 8-bit skeletons and minotaurs, with a soundtrack to match. They even have a Game and Watch version of God of War on the site, which is a fun diversion for a few minutes.

Mega Man: Day in the Limelight

This one’s hard, even for a Mega Man game. You play as the boss robots from Mega Man fighting through remixed stages from Mega Man 2. After so many years of having the mega buster, not using it throws the whole dynamic of the gameplay off. It’s a challenge. Or Maybe it’s just me, maybe I suck. Playing as Gutsman is particularly tough because you can’t run with him, only jump, and his attacks are ponderously slow. They have a sequel in beta right now. This game comes from Fusion Fangaming and there’s a bunch of other stuff on there so be sure to check them out.

Spelunky

Spelunky is like the spiritual successor to the 1980s console game, Spelunker. Though that game never deserved any kind of sequel, we got one, and it’s pretty damn good. And if you’ve never played the original or don’t remember it, it was impossibly hard, like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for NES. Even more obscure? Too bad. Anyway, Spenlunky is far more playable and follows many basic platformer principals, which I’m usually not a fan of but has enough of an adventure feel to make up for it. Armed like a mini Indiana Jones, with a whip, some rope, and a few explosives, your goal is to go relic hunting and find as much riches the bowels of the earth has to offer. This game has already been nominated for a number of awards and is available now for free to download on your PC and will be coming soon to XBLA. The xbox version however has traded its pixely aesthetic for a more polished, cartoonish look. Also, for you toy aficionados out there, they’ll be releasing a set of collectable Spelunky minis along with the game.

Click the links below to check out each games website

Bit of War

Fusion Fangaming

Spelunky World