Along with the above-mentioned Poison Bricks, there are Stone and Steal Bricks that get in your way. These are "null" bricks and have to be taken out by popping bricks around them.

There is of course the wild card. Each ship is equipped with a special weapon that can be used once you have done enough devastation. This is the SUPA weapon, which gets upgraded after the completion of every fourth stage. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the ship that gives me a laser to shoot the bricks with.

After every third level is a bonus round. At random, you are given a puzzle to complete. You must pop every single brick on the playfield before the time runs out. Some of these are real head-scratchers to figure out.

Along with this Classic Mode, Survival Mode pits you up against a never-ending barrage of bricks. The goal here is to last the longest. Good luck getting the Achievement Points for passing the nine-minute mark!

The difficulty ramps up gradually in Classic Mode, but gets brutally hard in Survival. The game overall has a fair amount of difficulty spanning 32 levels. But don't worry, you won't be breezing through those in one sitting.

The only thing missing is some multi-player action. Being able to send an assortment of bricks over to your opponents screen when you make a big combo would be great fun. Instead all we are left with is comparing high scores with the people in our Friends List.

Astropop is a game that is easy to pick up with its simple two button controls, and is about the most addictive game on the Xbox Live Arcade. This one is recommended to all.

Astropop is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. This game can also be found on: PC, Mobile Phone and Web.