Burger King Xbox/360 games; are they worth it?

By now, most gamers should know that Burger King is offering 3 different Xbox 360 games: Sneak King, Big Bumpin', and Pocketbike Racer. Although they don't advertise it very well, these games come with both 360 and original Xbox versions on them.

I've purchased the latter two, and I have no qualms about buying the 3rd the next time I go to Burger King.

As advertised, each game is $3.99 with the purchase of a value meal. They are supposed to be strict and offer only one game per meal; I'm sure it just depends on your persuasion tactics. If you care that much.

Big Bumpin' is a bumper car game. There's not much to say about it, other than the bumper car hockey game is the best part. Then again, some of the king-of-the-hill maps involve maps and traps. The game isn't bad, but it seems that it would be best considered a party game, similar to something you'd find in Fuzion Frenzy. If you enjoy that type of game, you'll probably like this one.

Pocketbike Racer is my favorite of the two. It eerily deserves the title of "Ghetto Super Mario Kart". PBR would really be a decent mini-racer if it had seen some tweaking. Although there is no major bugs that make the game unplayable, there are some annoying ones such as sticking to walls and questionable physics. When it comes to online mode, the bugs seem to increase ten fold. Several matches froze on me; my guess is the host disconnected. Still, I found myself running through the game to get the achievements and enjoying it.

I continually had to back up on my initial reaction to the bugs, and realize that PBR is a $4. At that price, it's worth every penny. I've paid more for games that had less bugs but were also less entertaining. For example, this game beats the snot out of Smurf Racer, which I bought for girlfriend back in the day on PSOne. In any case, if you want a Mario Kartish game for the 360, PBR is the only nominee, but deserves its place for now.

Now that I think of it, these would make some fairly good XBLA games. I wonder if they'll move them in that direction after the promotion is over? I mean, everyone needs to lose their "advergaming" virginity someday.