I’m been playing a lot of Xbox Live Arcade games recently and thought it would be fun to make a topic to discuss games released on this service. What games have you purchased? What are your favourites? Are there any that you have earned all the achievements for?
Currently I have licenses for:
Geometry Wars
Lummies Live
Rez HD
Ikaruga
Braid
Rocket Knight
Soul Calibur
Trails HD
Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Knuckles
Marble Blast Ultra
Castlevania: SOTN
One thing I really like about Xbox Live Arcade is that is allows developers to release games without all the demands of a “full” next gen game, but the visuals can still look very clean.
I think you’ve touched on most of the must-haves (though you really should pick up Geometry Wars 2, it’s way better than the original). I’d also recommend:
Alien Hominid HD
Castle Crashers
Earthworm Jim HD
Neo Geo Battle Colisseum
Raystorm HD
And probably several others I’m forgetting. I love XBLA!
Geometry Wars
Braid
Castlevania: SOTN
Castle Crashers
Chime
Deathspank
Magic the Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers (and expansion)
Shadow Complex
Street Fighter II HF
Super Street Fighter II HD
Puzzle Fighter HD
Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
Age of Booty
Carcassonne
Monkey Island SE
Battlefield 1943
Zuma
Penny Arcade Episode 1
Penny Arcade Episode 2
Mega Man 9
Alien Hominid HD
Undertow
Robotron 2084
Joust
Contra
Texas Hold 'em
Uno
I Maed a Game With Zombies
…I apparently play a lot of games
The ones I would recommend, though, are Shadow Complex, Castlevania, Uno, Battlefield 1943, MTG, Braid, Puzzle Fighter, and Geometry Wars.
I would sorta recommend the following, but with heavy caveats: Deathspank, Castle Crashers, Monkey Island, Carcassonne, and Castle Crashers.
Braid (I’ll get that last achievement… eventually)
Chime
Ikaruga
Painting Beats (indie game)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Rez HD (completed all achievements)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement (I bought it when it was on sale but haven’t played it yet)
It’s tough for me to pick favorites; the only lame game of the bunch was Painting Beats.
Chime is probably the least known of the bunch but is surprisingly fun. Part music game, part puzzle game - I like it!
There are many XBLA games I intend to get at some point though. Both Monkey Island remakes (I loved oldschool MI to death), both new Mega Man games, Gunstar Heroes, Triggerheart Exelica (apparently it’s a hardcore shooter with moe characters? MY KINDA GAME), Deathspank, Super Puzzle Fighter, ETC. SO MANY GAMES!!! I have other consoles that I don’t want to neglect…
Raizen1984 - Does Geometry Wars 2 add more diversity to the original formula? There wasn’t really much to the first game, it was just something to play for fun every now and again (like Tetris).
Abadd - That’s a lot of games! Still, the Live Arcade games aren’t as long and often offer an instant gameplay experience that isn’t usually offered by full priced games without having to devote a bit of time to get into the missions or story.
Nemoide - Let me know if Vandal Hearts is any good. I was surpised to see a game like that on Xbox Live Arcade.
Shadow - Going by other games you’ve enjoyed, I recommend Rez HD (similar to Panzer Dragoon) and Rocket Knight (similar to Sonic) the most, although I think they’re both 1200 points (but well worth it IMO).
So far I have all the achievements for Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Soul Calibur. The achievements were too easy for those two Sonic games. Soul Calibur offered a bit of a challenge, which was nice.
[quote=“Solo”]Raizen1984 - Does Geometry Wars 2 add more diversity to the original formula? There wasn’t really much to the first game, it was just something to play for fun every now and again (like Tetris).
[/quote]
The second game adds more variety. There are six games total, all with their own unique rulesets and objectives. It’s an absolute must have if you at all enjoyed the original.
Also, I just downloaded Limbo, which just came out today on XBLA. It’s amazing. It sorta reminded me of Out of this World and Heart of Darkness, in that it’s a side scrolling puzzle game with a fantastic aesthetic. Really creepy and really engaging. Definately try it out, Solo!
Solo: I’ll keep you posted on Vandal Hearts as soon as I get around to it. Which might end up being a while…
Oh, I forgot about another one I had but only really used today - Game Room.
Game Room looks like a seriously awesome thing. It’s free and there are a bunch of free “game packs” for download with classic arcade games on them. The problem? To actually play those arcade games, you need to pay for them. Fortunately, they’re only 200 points each, so they’re not too costly, but the concept of a sub-arcade within XBL Arcade is kind of strange.
I got Gyruss (mostly because I love the music in DDR), which is a pretty fun but it doesn’t really hold up so well to modern games.
All the games available through Game Room are really old, it’s uncommon to see something from even the mid-late 80s.
Limbo does look cool and it’s on the list of games I’ll probably get around to someday.
I’m excited for Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. I love Symphony of Night and the handheld Castlevania series so I assume it’ll be right up my ally.
Following your advice Raizen, I downloaded the demo for Limbo. Really good use of sound effects and the limited colour palette (or lack of it) creates a suprisingly unique atmosphere. It seems really well done. I think I know what I’ll be buying on Xbox Live Arcade next…
Harmony of Despair looks good too, but I think I’ll finish SOTN first.
Game Room has been really disappointing so far. As iconic as some of these games are, they’re just too old to seriously play beyond nostalgia anymore. If they start adding games from the late 80s, early 90s, we’ll start seeing some better stuff.
Another problem is that it’s only Atari and Konami. Where’s Sega, Capcom, and Namco?
Also, is it just me, or is the Intellivison the worst thing ever? I can’t imagine playing any of those games with that numeric keypad.
I’ve actually found myself having fun with Game Room lately, which is surprising me.
I’ve found out that with practice, I can be pretty dang good at Gyruss.
And I got to play Pitfall for the first time in years, which is fun - although I have no motivation for trying to get the “perfect” score.
I hope that Gradius, Life Force/Salamander, and Parodius show up before long. Especially with Otomedius on the way.
BTW, if anyone has Game Room and wants to get the ‘win challenge’ achievements, you should friend me (Nemoid3) and we can send easy ones back and forth until our gamerscores are raised? For great justice.
Alright, I’ve played more!
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - sigh this game could have been so awesome. Single player is a long, monotonous waste of time. Multiplayer is kind of annoying in exectuion. I wish I could find a team based on doing a certain level. But multiplayer is kind of fun. I can’t honestly recommend it to anyone but hardcore Castlevania fans, but I plan on playing more.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - I got all the achievements! But only because I’m a Monkey Island fan. The voice acting is generally good, but the new visuals are lacking IMO. Still, Monkey Island is such a classic, that I think it was a worthwhile experience. I’ll get the second one at some point, despite Monkey Island 2 being my least favorite.
Limbo - this game was fantastic. An entirely satisfying experience, despite being on the somewhat short side. Hard enough so that you’ll die constantly, but is rarely frustrating.
Yeah, aside from the fantastic atmosphere, I was surprised at the creativity behind a lot of the puzzles. There were a couple that were a little obtuse, but other than that, fantastic.
Yes, definitely get one with a harddrive. You can get the arcade version, but you’ll still need to buy memory cards, so it’s not really worth it. If you’re buying new, the 250GB Xbox 360 Slim is probably your best bet. The slim version may fix the dreaded “red ring of death” issue found in the classic 360, although it’s too early to tell if it will be faultless.
