One more week, people. One more week. Next week we’ll be spotting an oasis in the summer drought and finally get some full retail goodies on those shelves, but in the meantime us 360 owners remain parched.

On the plus side though, this week has seen some decent XBLA content, interesting DLC and another of those pointless Xbox Originals.  Fun times, then.

The big news on the XBLA front this week is the release of ‘1942: Joint Strike’ from Capcom.  This HD update to the classic vertical-scrolling shooter will set you back the regulation 800M$P (£6.80) and is definitely worth the money if you like your old-school shooters.

The 3D graphics don’t obscure the strictly 2-D action, and the controls are nicely tight and accurate.  The main parts of each level are enjoyable, if a little easy, but the bosses are a little unfair at times and wholly uninspiring.  Overall though, it’s a nice game and far more enjoyable than Triggerheart Exelica or Ikuraga in my humble opinion.

The ‘Joint Strike’ moniker in the title refers to the game’s co-op mode which is perfectly playable (although it does make everything a lot easier) as well.  So, if you like the sound of that check out the demo, but it’s worth pointing out that the game only has five levels and never really does anything you won’t see in the demo itself.  At least it’s not Commando 3 though, eh?  Eesh!

Also up on XBLA this week is ‘Go! Go! Break Steady!’ which mixes straight rhythm action with a Puzzloop/Zuma-esque style.  This is all done with a cartoony urban ‘flava’ (much like the sublime Jet Set Radio) which some might find irritating, but the gameplay holds together well enough to warrant another 800M$P purchase from me.

The constant switching between game styles is jarring to say the least, but each is done reasonably well. Although the rhythm side is a tad simplistic and whilst the game may seem like an also-ran behind 1942 (which it probably is), it’s far removed from the usual delisting fodder that usually appears alongside a big release.