When I Power up my Xbox 360, its not to play Gears of War, Ghost Recon, or Crackdown, it’s for Mumbo Jumbos ball blasting action puzzle game Luxor 2. Luxor 2 everything from the first game updated, remastered, and remixed.

On April 4th Luxor 2 debuted on Xbox’s Live Arcade bringing its Zuma inspired gameplay up to the next level supporting HD at 1080i, new game modes and update graphics. Luxor 2 will likely be a first introduction to Luxor for the majority of gamers, but for those who have come to love Luxor, you’ll be more than excited to get started in the next edition of the Pharaohs tomb.

Luxor 2, and its previous entry takes it’s concept from another sphere firing puzzle game named Zuma. If you’re already hooked on live then you’ve seen Luxor’s inspiration online before. Like Zuma, Luxor started on the PC and worked its way onto Sony Playstation Portable last year. I had the pleasure of reviewing Luxor for the PSP, and that is when the love affair started.

Luxor in basics is a simple game that can be challenging and at the same time a lot of fun. The object in Luxor is to eliminate coloured spheres in rows of three or more. Your piece is a winged scarab that shoots the spheres like the Zuma frog.  The main difference between the frog and the bug is that the frog is stationary and can rotate 360 degrees and the scarab beetle can move horizontally on the bottom of the screen. Realistically that is the main difference between Zuma and Luxor, and even though it sounds like a minor change, it drastically change the gameplay.

Luxor 2 doesn’t really need a plot line but if you’re interested here is what developer Mumbo Jumbo has come up with to justify the sphere shooting action. It goes like this, using the powers of Isis, a magical winged scarab, you battle your way across Egypt in a mission to save Ancient Egypt from the god of Chaos, Set. Set has set his spheres to destroy the Two Lands and you must match the spheres and stop them before they reach the pyramids. If you’re still comparing Luxor, it’s basically the same plot line just insert Aztec for Zuma’s case.

Luxor 2 is a beefed up from its original game Luxor: The Wrath of Set and this is true in all aspects, but updated is a rather mild description. Compared to the original, and in that matter, compared to other Xbox Live games, Luxor two is a level above in visual polish. In all its glare Luxor 2 is a treat to look in 1080i HD which only enhances the gaming experience. The levels have also been bumped up in winding paths integrated with the backgrounds. In the original you basically followed a stream that was like a pipe, in Luxor 2 the spheres can travel down stares and through and under various objects in the background. Having the backgrounds intergraded also enhances the gaming experience, not to mention Luxor 2 is robust with 88 levels.

To help you in your sphere clearing way you can snag some power-ups that fall from the clusters of completed threads. There are over 10 power-ups that can be caught and activated. If I had to highlight a few it would be the Scarab that flies up the path demolishing the first few spheres it encounters, or the burst of lighting you can call out to crush straight lines of spheres. New to Luxor 2 is Color Cloud which changes a row of spheres into one colour and Lightning Storm calls down from Seth to randomly evaporate selected spheres and Pharaoh’s Dagger which turns you winged scarab into a dagger launcher. Like any game of this nature it is important to grab all the power-ups possible to help clear levels. Try the game on hard and you will agree.

Luxor 2 also features a new ranking system to humble gamers who want to be the champion. You can now play your way up from a simple Farm Hand to a Pharaoh. There is even an achievement attached to your rating which is one of the more difficult ones to snag. Speaking of achievements, I think you’ll find Luxor 2 balanced with some easy ones, and more difficult ones to achieve. Achievements like Life! Health! Prosperity! (Complete a Level without Loosing  a Life) and Pharaoh’s Treasury (Collect 100 gems and jewellery) are extremely easy, although completing the level on expert to grab the Magic of Isis achievement might be slightly harder. All in all over time it shouldn’t be too hard to have a perfect 200/200 achievement score proudly displayed along side your gamertag.

If you find Luxor 2 a little too easy you have to remember that there are four different levels of difficulty that will challenge even the quickest reflexes. I suggest running through the game on easy, grab the achievement and move up accordingly. This way you get to see all the levels and have pre-made strategies when the hammer really hits in the harder difficulty levels. You might even be interested in Luxor’s originator Zuma for gamers who like the idea of matching spheres. Zuma is a little tougher, although it doesn’t have e the same flair as Luxor’s power-ups and HD graphics.

I’m happy Mumbjo Jumbo’s Luxor has found its way onto Xbox Live Arcade. Luxor 2 is a perfect addition to the arcades puzzle games. Luxor 2 is an improvement on the original and looks great displayed in HD. Luxor 2 is everything I expected and more and this easily one of the most addictive easy to get into puzzle games on the system with full support of Xbox Live features.  If you have the chance take a few moments and try out the demo on Xbox Live, or on the PC, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.