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I was just interviewed by the folks at Pop Culture Hound about the development of Ben 10: The Rise of Hex.

I love it when things I enjoy are released as games … especially when they’re good. So you can imagine my excitement when Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise Of Hex popped up as a new download on Xbox Live Arcade. I’ve been playing the game quite a lot lately (much to my wife’s dismay), so I thought it would be good idea to talk with Black Lantern Studios’ Matt Raithel (the Director and Game Designer behind Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex) to find out a little bit more about the game’s origins and what challenges they experienced along the way. I’ll be reviewing the game shortly, but if you haven’t played it yet then I highly recommend it. Chris J. Thompson

Read the complete interview over at popculturehound.com

Ben 10 The Rise of Hex picks up a 7/10!

Read the full review at nintendolife.com

http://www.gamepro.com/article/previews/214846/ben-10-alien-force-the-rise-of-hex/

http://www.gametab.com/news/3268693/

The magic of our modern day. I was 6 when I first heard about the NES. Though I wasn’t very sure was it was or did, I was sure that I wanted one. I got my first chance to see Super Mario Bros. played when I visited a friend in the hospital. I can’t remember what he was in for, but I know that his mom bought him a NES as a means to make him feel better. So when I went to visit him in the hospital, he was as eager to brag about the new NES as I was to play it.

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A gleaming golden cartridge…reminiscent of the golden triforce bound within its plastic walls and now primitive circuitry…a triforce hidden behind hours of adventure and challenges.

This cartridge, when powered by the NES console will produce true magic. It springs to life with the most beautiful opening melody and a [though now iconic] completely random opening screen of a waterfall. I think this is the accidental genius that emerges over time. Emerges, in that it is never genius in and of itself, but because of a connection to the game that lies behind it, the random title design now becomes iconic by association.

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This was one of the most misunderstood titles in the early NES days by my experience. When it was first covered in Nintendo Power, I was really turned off by the game - I did not have a good reason why. I suppose that the biggest thing that bothered me was that this game was displacing my favorite games on the Nintendo Power top 30. I remember being furious when I was sent the Strategy Guide instead of a regular issue of Nintendo Power that I’d been expecting. Granted, I was like 8 at the time, so these were sufficient reasons to hate a game i’d never even played.

Little did I know, that once I HAD played it, I would be completely sucked into the world of this final fantasy.

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Over two decades ago… July 4th, Nineteen Eighty…Seven, I believe… just months after an expensive Christmas holiday blessed me and my cousin with NES systems… I found myself visiting family for the holiday. That very same cousin was along for the ride and had brought his NES along giving “us kids would have something to do” while the adults did their thing. Down in the basement, hooked up to a 13″ color Zenith TV [using the old school prong adapters, prior to coaxial was on TVs], was this blessed gem of a game.

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Long ago in a galaxy far far away…I made a choice. I was about 10 years old and was saving my allowance for quite some time to buy a game for my NES. I’d narrowed it down to just two titles: Mega Man and Blaster Master. Once I got to the store I saw them both sitting behind the glass, staring at me, commanding me to make a decision.

After was seemed like an eternity, I finally picked a game an brought it to the counter. I traded all the cash I had for the winning title. Still to this day I have absolutely no clue why on earth I skipped over both titles and picked Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle by Kemco. No Joke.

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Perhaps one of the lesser known titles that will appear on my list, Duck Tales still boasts some classic gameplay and style that is worthy of recognition. Developed by Capcom, it shared some of the staff that was responsible for the Mega Man titles of the time. Both the producer and the composer of Duck Tales hold similar credits on Mega Man titles.

This probably leads to some of the striking similarities in gameplay between the two titles. Non-linear level selection, Segmented Boss stages, and even a scoring mechanic that matches the scoring in Mega Man 1. All this aside, the game certainly has its unique elements. The pogo cane for example is one of the best weapons/movement controls in a NES game.

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