Well hello Eets, aren't you a sight for sore eyes. Why I remember you when you were just a puzzle game on the PC, and now you've migrated to the Xbox Live arcade with a new trick under your belt. So is the bi-polar, over eating, white blob dog (heck if I know what it is) just as good as he was on the PC? Let's just say nothing was lost in transition if that is any indicator.

For the sake of my sanity, parts of this review will be taken from the PC version, as they share much the same, but will be tweaked when needed to apply to Xbox 360 version of Eets: Chowdown. This has been a public service announcement – have a nice day!

The setup for every level of Eets is the same, with the game presenting you the environment layout with gaps you must traverse and obstacles blocking your path, the starting position of Eets, the finish line for the level (in this case a glowing golden puzzle piece), and finally the objects/powerups/gizmos you'll need to help Eets make his way from one place to the next. In some cases, all you need to complete a level is already on the stage, but most of the time the game gives you a collection of objects you must place onto the level, so that only then can Eets finish the level. I typically found myself having to use all the objects to properly complete a level, but the really skilled can complete levels without fully utilizing their objects, and if they are successful they even get a special achievement that goes to their total score.

Once you get the objects placed in the level like you want, you then push the right trigger and watch as Eets walks and jumps about, hopefully completing the level like you planned. Though sometimes you'll just sit back and watch as he hopefully gets to the end, an equal amount of time is spent fiddling with the environment at the same time, such as changing lights over when you need to, shooting chocolate chips, or popping out of rolling carts whenever it is called for.

Controls are a little different this time around than the PC version, but they are by no means more complicated or harder. The right trigger sets the board in motion; the left trigger controls the speed of the action on the screen; X-button brings up your items; A-button places them in the level; the B-button removes them; and the Y-button flips items around. Once the level starts, each item in play by you is assigned a button press, so instead of having to click on them with a mouse to activate them, instead, when you need your whale to suck Eets up, all you have to do is hit the face-button associated with that item.

Like all puzzle games of this nature, Eets starts off extremely easy, with only a few environment contentions to worry about. In the beginning, you really only have to contend with Eets' mood (displayed in the bottom left of the screen by his avatar) as he won't jump off a platform when he is scared (make him eat a green apple), will only hop a short ways when he is happy (eat a yellow apple or marshmallow), and can only successfully hurdle large gaps when he is angry (eat a red apple or shoot him with chocolate chips enough times). As you advance, you'll have to worry about pushable green marshmallows, marshmallows that inflate and hover when you expose them to light, pigs that shoot flying pig bombs, carts to roll in, arrows to change the direction of pigs and other shootable objects, mechamarshmallows that will knock you off the level, etc. In total you've got 123 varied levels to test your brain teasing power.

Eets: Chowdown also has a new game attached to it, called Marsho Madness, which plays like an arcade game featurning Eets. In the game, you are placed in the middle of the board while things from offscreen slowly move towards you – items and enemies mostly from the usual game. If the enemies hit you, you lose life, and then will ultimately lose the game. Instead of the usual mechanics, Marsho Madness employs button presses in order to attack enemies. So, say you have a green apple heading your way, well, it will perhaps have a X,A combo – in order to eliminate it you must press X,A in order, lighting up its pattern, and only then can you shoot it by pressing one of the triggers. The longer you survive the faster enemies move towards you and the more combo presses you'll have to do. To help you, the trigger blasts from Eets can ricochet off several enemies, and you can grab poweups like bombs and such to help as well. It is a pretty fun mode, though it gets really harder fairly soon, as the board gets filled with buttons and you can't see what attaches to what since they blend in.

The only thing on equal with Eets' gameplay is its lovely sense of style and whimsy. Unless the game is centered on a dark level, everything else is bright and cheerful, featuring a color palette so boisterous and friendly even Hello Kitty projects would have to shield their eyes. Eets, though simple in character design, is so cute for that exact reason, as are the apples and marshmallows with faces, and whales that will swallow you up. I was also surprised by the technical level of animation, as all the objects are animated amazingly well, with even some absolutely surprising moments, such as the first time a mechamarshmallow hits you or an object into the foreground or background, and the object's size increases or diminishes depending on the direction; very, very nicely done effect.

Though the background music is reused a great deal throughout the levels, it is still a fun, flighty jazz number that eases you into the puzzle mentality perfectly, so there are no screeching guitars to take you out of the moment and forget what you were thinking about. Other sound effects, like Eets' little puppy dog like nips and exploding pigs, are all cute in their own way and reflect the game world exactly as it should be.

When a huge puzzle fan suggests a game for you, chances are they know exactly what they are talking about, or rather their love for the genre blinds them too the faults of a particular game. However, if someone indifferent to a genre (such as myself), comes forward after spending time with a game and tells you how amazing it is, and it gives it a perfect score, rest assured that game is something special. Eets is something special, and it most certainly does deserve your attention. Give the game a shot!

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