There are three kinds of play: Puzzle, Arcade, and Versus. In Puzzle mode, strategically place items to launch a gold piece through a selected opening. In Arcade mode you play online, blasting your way down to earth as it slowly creeps upward. Versus mode is similar to Arcade, but you play against the A.I.

Blast Miner is fun at first because of the explosion factor, but the novelty wears off quickly. I prefer old school Tetris. In fact, I liked Puzzle mode the best because it's nothing like Tetris. I also found that it's a bit difficult to place the pieces properly during Arcade and Versus mode. It feels like the pieces are made of lightweight cardboard that can be knocked around easily.

Airstrike II
Writer: TV and Film Guy

Air Strike II is Sunday's Game du Jour Deal, a vertical scrolling shooter game (it presents a 3rd person top-down view where the playable character faces the top of the screen and the ground passes beneath them).  In this case, the player is a helicopter attacking anything and everything, whether it moves or not.

There is some sort of plot involved, you’re attacking the enemy and you’re commander comes along from time to time between missions to tell you kind of pointless things:  “be careful, there’s a big guy about to attack,” that sort of thing.

There are also some interstitial comic book-type cartoons about what is happening that help add, slightly, to the plot. What really sells the game though, and it is a fun game, is the actual game play. It’s incredibly simple to get the hang of, but certainly provides hours of amusement.  There are several different helicopters than can be unlocked as well as multiple types of guns, missiles, and other excellent things that allow the player to blow up the enemy.  Things to attack include:  tanks, boats, jets, satellite dishes, and sheds, among many other elements. 

The graphics are, while nothing special, really quite good for a vertical scrolling shooter.  They’re bright (except when it's a nighttime level) and vivid and definitely engaging. 

The game moves just fast enough to continually be entertaining and provide new challenges while never becoming over frustrating (there are also five levels of difficulty available).  After too many deaths though, it seems as though one is forced to begin the game again, which is moderately frustrating (a save feature would be nice). 

Airstrike II doesn't break any new ground, but that doesn't mean that it's not an enjoyable experience.

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