13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Def Jam Fight for New York
Beat em’ ups are awesome. There’s nothing like delivering some blows to a virtual bad guy to calm a rough day. The list of great beat em’ ups is a mile long, but one stands out as a great candidate for re-release on Xbox Live Arcade: Def Jam Fight for New York. Of the four Def Jam fighting games it stands head and shoulders above its peers. Vendetta, the first game in the series, was great, but didn’t have the features New York first exhibited. The PSP version of New York, subtitled The Takeover, had a few new gameplay elements but removed all voiceovers. Finally Icon, the only current-gen title, was absolutely horrible, taking fighting far beyond over-the-top to a point where it’s comically awful.
No, there’s only one in the series that could truly make a comeback.
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Vectorman
During gaming’s golden 16-bit era, Sega released a side-scrolling action-platformer called Vectorman. Players take control of an “orbot” (robot composed of orbs) aptly named Vectorman, with the task of cleaning up Earth and making it habitable again after it has been transformed and polluted by other orbots that have gone insane. Enter Vectorman, a game that had a strikingly unique visual style, smooth action packed gameplay, and a stand out soundtrack that earned it both commercial and critical success when it was released in 1995.
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
In 1997, a unique side-scrolling platformer launched for the Sony PlayStation called Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Featuring innovative gameplay, impressive graphics, as well as a unique, engaging, and creative universe packed full of humor ,the Oddworld franchise officially made its way into player’s hearts. By 2005, the franchise’s creators, Oddworld Inhabitants were ready to take their love child in a bold new direction; Enter Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. Deviating from its platforming and puzzle solving roots, Stranger’s Wrath was a first/third-person shooter hybrid that traded the franchise’s traditional industrial setting for an all new adventure set in the wild west.
After releasing Stranger’s Wrath for the original Xbox, Oddworld Inhabitants closed up shop deciding that they were no longer happy with the direction of the gaming industry. Fans of the franchise were left to fret about what could have been, and the reality that the franchise may have come to an end. Luckily for us, that is not the case. Developer Just Add Water Inc, has inherited the Oddworld mantle and is currently working on a high-definition remaster of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. You know what that means: we want it on Xbox Live Arcade.
13 years ago
XBLA’S Most Wanted: Deus Ex
Before Deus Ex: Human Revolution graced our consoles and reignited our admiration for the FPS/RPG hybrid, there was its predecessor (technically, the second iteration of the series) Deus Ex on the PC that basically created it. Gamers at the time were delighted to discover a game similar–mechanically and atmospherically–to System Shock, but intrigued by a storyline complex enough to challenge contemporary literature. It confronted the social implications of human augmentation as well as the overarching status of the fictional political stage in America–a future rife with corruption and conspiracies but also feuding organizations bent on national hegemony.
You play as J.C. Denton, a government agent of the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO). Denton is your typical anti-hero equipped with a raspy voice and a general curiosity that gets him into many sticky situations. But what makes Deus Ex so great is how it allows the player to approach these scenarios. For example, if the game shoves you into a seedy section of Hong Kong and requires you to bypass a dozen or so criminal types, you can go gung-ho and blast your way through, hack a door that leads to a side entrance, silently take down your foes or even dive into a pool of water and avoid the gunfire all together–all of which lead to the goal of that particular level. The game is about choice.
13 years ago
XBLA’S Most Wanted: Dino Crisis
During the peak of the original PlayStation, legendary game designer Shinji Mikami rose to fame by creating several classic franchises. First in 1996, Mr. Mikami created Resident Evil, and with it, the entire survival horror genre that we know and love today. A few years later in 1999, Mikami created his second survival horror franchise; Dino Crisis. While not quite as commercially successful as its older sibling, Dino Crisis and it’s sequel Dino Crisis 2 were both met with praise from the media and the growing survival horror fan base.
Starring a leather clad red head named Regina, Dino Crisis swapped mindless zombies for everyone’s childhood wonder: Dinosaurs! Players were now struggling to survive in a world that has been overrun by one of the mightiest and most vicious species to ever walk the Earth. Dino Crisis took the survival horror formula, and turned it up a notch by making the enemies deadlier, trading the narrow corridors of a mansion for a facility deep inside the jungle. What could be scarier and more heart pounding than trying to survive a dinosaur infested jungle?
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Half-Life
It was only a matter of time before Half-Life hit our list. While there are mountains of great first person shooters (FPS) out there the list of FPS games that truly changed how we played the game is small. It includes games such as Doom, Quake, Halo, and Half-Life. It was the game that put Valve on the map, the one that paved the way for titles like Portal and Team Fortress 2. It spawned a plethora of amazing mods, some of which have since gone commercial, such as Counter Strike.
But what was it about silent protagonist Gordon Freeman’s adventure that’s so captivating? While the graphics were good for its day, it wasn’t the visual tech. While the multiplayer was fun, it wasn’t until the mod Firearms hit the web that competitive play really caught on. No, we submit that it was a compelling story and incredibly tight gameplay that made Half-Life what it was and still is today–an innovative classic that changed the way we play shooters. While players wait patiently for Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Xbox Live Arcade is a simple-yet-effective way for console gamers to get their classic fix .
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Grim Fandango
Long before Tim Schafer was the head of Trenched developer Double Fine he was a game designer at LucasArts. He started out as a tester in 1989 on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game and worked his way up, taking the reigns of Designer on Full Throttle in 1995. Three years later Schafer designed one last game for LucasArts, Grim Fandango before moving on to found Double Fine.
Grim Fandango marked the beginning of the end of the adventure game era at LucasArts. While the game received critical acclaim sales were lower than expected. It follows Manny, and travel agent at the Department of the Dead who helps those passing into the afterlife find their way to the Ninth Underworld, a place of rest. Sounds morbid, but this title was imaginative, funny, and most importantly it had solid gameplay.
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Battletoads
The Battletoads series is one largely unknown to the younger generation. It was one that ultimately didn’t make it past the Super Nintendo era. Some called it a blatant ripoff of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but in reality it was so much more than that. It starred three toads — Rash, Zitz and Pimple — in an intergalactic beat em’ up complete with a sexy villain and a difficulty level that rivaled Super Meat Boy. To top it all off the toads even had a crossover game where they joined forces with Billy and Jimmy Lee, the two iconic characters from the Double Dragon games.
With all of their success and the fact that publishers seem to be digging into past franchises it surprises us that they haven’t tapped into the trio’s charisma and power. While the classic games may not provide a large enough base to make a retail epic we certainly see the potential in an all new Xbox Live Arcade title.
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Sonic Adventure 2
In the glory days of the Dreamcast Sega produced a lot of high quality titles. Unfortunately the ease of piracy on the DC along with several other reasons killed Sega’s hardware department. Luckily they realize that Dreamcast games themselves are still very much in demand today. They’ve brought Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure to Xbox Live Arcade. Those were bundled with Space Channel 5: Part 2 and Sega Bass Fishing on disc earlier this year, and the former two titles are slated for later XBLA release. Even still we have a long list of titles that are must have on XBLA. Among those are Jet Grind Radio, Shenmue, ChuChu Rocket! and Sonic Adventure 2.
13 years ago
XBLA’s Most Wanted: SWAT 4
Before the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon games were popular there was Police Quest, a point and click cop adventure from Sierra Entertainment. In 1999 the series changed to a first person tactical shooter with SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle. The next in the series, SWAT 4, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. Developer Irrational Games created an amazing experience and moved on to create the Bioshock series.
SWAT 4 follows a fictional Los Angeles SWAT team through several tactical situations. You play as the team leader, giving commands, taking down suspects, and securing evidence. It was powered by Unreal Engine 2.5, one of the most powerful for its time, and still looks strong today.