Excellent news for Xbox 360 owners today – quirkily-monikered US publisher, The Behemoth, is preparing not one but two of its off-beat titles for release via Xbox Live Arcade in the not too distant future – the still awesome side-scrolling blaster, Alien Hominid, and the medieval-themed beat ‘em up, Castle Crashers.

Alien Hominid has been widely available for console and PC formats for some time now, so needs no introduction. Okay, maybe a little – envisage a super-hard version of Metal Slug featuring a cutesy-pie alien toting a large flesh-melting gun and you’re not too far off. It actually started life as a free PC download but was reworked ever so slightly for the retail versions. It’s tweaked again for the 360 too – it’s in widescreen for starters, supports two-player games and is in now in smoother-running higher resolution too.

Castle Crashers, on the other hand, is an all-new product that’s been developed exclusively for Xbox Live. It’s another side-scroller in The Behemoth’s distinctive graphical house style. The game’s plot is as refreshingly straightforward as Hominid’s too – up to four players set off to rescue kidnapped princesses and basically destroy everything that dares to cross their paths along the way. If only all games were this uncomplicated...

Each of the four characters in-play (there's a choice of nine apparently) can fire arrows as a basic attack, they’ve all got their own Elemental Power attacks too – fire, ice etc. In addition players will be able to level-up their characters as the game progresses, adding points to abilities such as speed, magic and bow accuracy.

Okay, so none of the above sounds especially innovative or exciting. Indeed, it could well be described as a four-player Alien Hominid with extra weapons and a medieval dress code, but that’s missing the point of The Behemoth’s output – which is all about gameplay in its purest, most riotously joyful form. And it’s for that reason more than any other that these titles should be anticipated with the most extreme prejudice!

Alien Hominid is expected to land this side of Xmas ’06 and Castle Crashers in the first quarter of ’07. You will want them both in your collection.