Though I wouldn't characterize any of Q-Games' titles as being especially easy, none possess the penchant for punishment boasted by the recently announced PixelJunk Sidescroller. That's fairly appropriate, considering the hellacious difficulty barriers that are customary for the shoot-em-up genre. Still, it's tough to stop and smell the audiovisual roses that pepper the stylish developer's games when you're also concerned with weaving through wall after wall of small, spherical bullets.

Preparing myself for a somewhat relaxing synesthetic experience, my decision at PixelJunk Sidescroller's difficulty screen was absentminded: "Normal should be fine," I said, with unknowing hubris. It was far from fine.