outhpeak Interactive swung by our offices the other day to show off a chunk of its 2008 lineup. We got our hands on the PS3 update of Monster Madness, Dream Pinball 3D, the DS game Mister Slime and the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade puzzler Roogoo in a marathon demo session. Now that we’ve fully recovered from it all, here’s the lowdown:

Monster Madness: Grave Danger

Monster Madness hit the 360 last year, an old-school romp similar to the classic SNES-era Zombies Ate My Neighbors but with annoying additions like one-hit-kill traps and omissions like a lack of online co-op play. The PS3 update of the game, subtitled “Grave Danger” addresses some of those issues and adds scads more features as a peace offering of sorts.

This time around, characters have more than 100 different power-up items at their disposal—handy for tearing through those pesky monsters. Weapons aren’t the only customizable addition in Grave Danger, either. Fashion hounds will have 16 costumes to pick from, distributed among the four playable heroes.

Probably the biggest addition to the game is the addition of 25 all-new minigames. Most of the ones we sampled were based on familiar games and settings, though they had a decidedly macabre spin. One played similar to Geometry Wars, with players piloting a UFO and taking out zombies on the ground and swarms of airborne aliens. Another stuck our player on a baseball diamond, swinging at zombie-pitched skulls in a home-run derby. The last of the games we checked out was a race against time to torch as many (zombie) cats as possible with a flamethrower, as a zombie cat lady lurched around trying to grab us.

The new minigames and costumes are a fun bonus, and the inclusion of a much-needed online and offline co-op component (with dynamic drop-in and drop-out gameplay) gives the game the edge it needed in its initial release. So while PlayStation 3 owners may be getting it a bit late, they’re definitely getting a much better game.

Dream Pinball 3D

It’s interesting that for the most part, pinball aficionados looking for new tables to play have to turn their attention to the format that essentially killed that industry. Dream Pinball 3D is the latest in a recent stream of video-pinball releases, hitting the Wii, PC and DS. We checked out the Wii and DS versions and played two of the game’s six tables—Dino Wars and Spinning Rotors.

One of the interesting features in Dream Pinball 3D is the capability of using balls made of different materials. Depending on their composition, their physics will be greatly affected, changing both their rolling speed and the velocity at which they’re shot. For example, a marble ball is much faster than one made out of lightweight wood. It seems like a system that could give players more incentive to keep playing.

Since the tables aren’t licensed versions of existing ones or based on recognizable licenses, they did feel a bit generic. While it’s fun to visit a dinosaur-infested island or rescue people in a helicopter, they did feel a bit bland. That’s not to say that the game wasn’t fun, it’s just that the layouts seemed to lack a little personality. Ball physics felt good, and the flippers had a satisfying kick to them. We’ve played too many pinball games where the flippers felt anemic, so it was good to see them whack the balls around like they should. Controls were good on the Wii, with the B and Z buttons taking on flipper duty. Launching the ball into play was done by pulling the Wii’s remote back like a plunger and pressing a button to release it. Sure, it’s gimmicky, but it worked well.

The DS version has the same tables, and from what we could tell they’re identical between the two platforms. The Wii version obviously looks better, but the DS’ two screens did a great job of replicating the vertical presentation of a pinball table. As you might expect, the shoulder buttons are used to work the flippers.