Xbox 360 Critic Reviews

EA Bright Light did about as good a job as a team can do when working with the classic games of many of our childhoods. It’s a delicate job, but HFGN pulls off classic-board gaming with aplomb, while at the same time adding more video game-centric modes to each title.

Despite a few flaws and one ill-conceived megamix, these games are treated with the respect they deserve at a price we’re willing to pay. We’re happy to see them on Arcade where they belong.

Scrabble is definitely the premiere offering in family game night, and even though a ll of the problems with the similarly-themed Boggle's controls are present, but given the fact that Scrabble is played at a much slower pace than Boggle, the inefficiencies are hardly noticeable.

Scrabble for XBLA is a solid purchase, and probably the best addition to Family Game Night thus far. If you are a fan of the board game there is little reason not to snag this incredibly addiction, and online capable incarnation.

There’s nothing there for people who don’t already like the game, but the transition was so seamless that it’s an absolute purchase for fans.

It controls well, and there are a fair number of bells and whistles that make it worth the $10 price tag. With multiple local modes, online multiplayer and an intuitive interface, this is the best word puzzle game on XBLA to date. But it’s not without its drawbacks. The fact that you can’t play against a computer opponent and the oddly angled screen in multiplayer take away from an otherwise very polished game.

The game takes a long time to play. Since you can't look at your tiles when its another players turn, it takes longer than normal to think up new words. But what most people will miss most is the feel of Scrabble. Its a tactile game, something you just can't get from playing it on your TV.