Raskulls hit Xbox Live Arcade at the tail end of last year, as part of Microsoft's Games for the Holidays promotion, along with ilomilo and A World of Keflings, long after its original announcement in March 2009. But with charming characters, insanely paced action-adventure gameplay, simplicity of controls and variety of modes, the long-awaited title from Halfbrick Studios (Age of Zombies), arguably stole the show on the digital platform, at least in terms of sheer charm.

At the core of Raskulls is platforming gameplay, in which players navigate through levels filled wish different types of blocks. The controls are relegated mostly to movement with the analog stick, one button to jump and another button to break the blocks with a wand. Power-ups and other obstacles or support in the environment help bring some more variety to the gameplay, but all in all, it is a simple concept. The player is racing his competition to get to the finish line first.

The single-player campaign, called Mega Quest, takes place over a series of world maps similar to those in Super Mario World. The player sometimes has options as he travels around, selects levels and works to achieve the goals presented in each. Sometimes, certain levels are revisited with different win conditions. And the player has to earn a certain number of medals to unlock gates to the following worlds. In this manner, it is not required that every level be beat to open up paths, but dedicated gamers will want to try to beat them all, and bonus levels that appear in red offer a particularly difficult challenge, with the ability to unlock addition things in the game.

Over the course of the campaign, players are presented with alternative modes, to break up what might otherwise be the monotony of gameplay. Some variations limit the amount of wand ammo the player has to get through a particular area. Others litter the environment with bombs that must be disposed of in very specific fashion. Others yet ask the player to get through a level while staying in "Frenzy," which requires collecting power-ups before a bar depletes. A multiplayer component allows players to go head-to-head, locally or online, in races.

More than just the gameplay, though, it is the charming nature of Raskulls' plot that will hook gamers. After a sinister race of what look like rats descend upon the Raskulls' world in search of cheese, the Raskull King devises a hapless plan to get back a Shiny Stone stolen by the invaders. The plan isn't exactly brilliant though, and without giving away too much, it takes numerous attempts, which are used to introduce new characters to the fold. The story is so good that in many ways it overshadows the gameplay.

When Raskulls is operating at a comparatively slower pace, its block destruction turns into puzzling, and presents the gamer with unique challenges. But the races, while initially fun, are so hectic and seemingly haphazard that they fail to be endearing. Instead, the races seem almost random at times, like anyone could have gotten lucky and become the winner in the end. To a degree, it is strategy, staying in the right spots and being well positioned for the one final move that really makes a difference. The hectic nature should help the title more engaging, with everyone seemingly having a shot and each game coming down to the wire, but it fails (at least in the races) to provide a sense of progression, of getting better the more one plays.

Still, Raskulls is good for exactly what it is, a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade title. It feels like a good arcade game that could only exist in the digital realm. It has the brand of humor fans of Halfbrick have come to know and love, and for what it's worth, it mostly plays well. It just doesn't have the lasting appeal it could with a few tweaks.

Final Score: B-