The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a 2-D scrolling brawler exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade. It was created by independent developer James Silva, and was the winner of Microsoft's "Dream-Build-Play" contest in 2007 (part of the prize being an XBLA publishing contract).

The player controls the unnamed dishwasher (and presumably, also a deceased samurai) as he battles violently through increasingly difficult minions and bosses. He starts by fighting suited goons with a pair of meat cleavers, and gradually expands his arsenal as he collects currency from defeated bosses. A collection of combos and "Dish Magic" make up the Dishwasher's offensive powers. He also has the ability to finish enemies with a "clean kill" or a "messy kill." Hitting the correct prompt results in bonus currency to use for upgrades.

Along with a 14-level story mode (told through short comic strips between levels), the game offers a Challenge mode (kill increasing waves of enemies while trying for combo points) and an Arcade mode (short rooms with different themes). All of these modes have separate leaderboards, and optional co-op play.

Drop-in/drop-out co-op is also supported for the Story mode, so friends can join a player's solo campaign at any time. The second player takes control of helpful entities earned by the first player, from a demon with a scythe, to a floating guitar. The second player can actually use a guitar controller and play chords to deal bonus damage to nearby enemies.