Microsoft is finally making good on their promise to bring original Xbox games to the Xbox One via backwards compatibility. The initial list of thirteen games is a good one, but we’re all dreamers here, and I put together a list of ten old-ass Xbox games that deserve a second chance at life. They might not be what you expect, though. Since we know everyone wants the Jade Empires and the Halos, we decided to dig into the games that may have been a bit under appreciated in their time. Oh, and I realize some of them may exist in PC form that technically you can still play just fine, but that’s not what this article is about. So here we go. In no particular order:
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
Wreckless was ahead of its time. But despite the stiff driving and nonsensical story, the action was top-notch. The streets were littered with destructible objects, and not only was it okay to go smashing through fruit stands and neon signs, it was encouraged!
It was the time of the particle effect, and sparks and debris flew everywhere, creating a wonderful spectacle of chaos. Unfortunately, the system sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the action.
This wouldn’t be a problem on a beefy system such as the Xbox One or X.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
Okay so maybe this one’s a given, but I have to include it. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was my first foray into the action RPG realm, and being a console gamer, it was the first time that I ever experienced a loot drop system. The real-time combat was a simple as it got, and the game was pretty short by most RPG standards, but the New Game + feature kept me returning as a stupidly powerful warrior. Plus, the senseless slaughter of thousands of rats and lizard people made for a pretty entertaining Sunday afternoon. I played the living hell out of my Gamecube version, and have had an Xbox copy sitting on my shelf for a few years now. The Xbox 360 was supposedly backward compatible with it, but the frame rate is so horrible that it’s practically unplayable.
Again, there’s no reason the Xbox One shouldn’t be able to give us the game as it’s meant to be played.
Hunter: The Reckoning
Hunter: The Reckoning was a top down action RPG also. It was similar in play style to Baldur’s Gate and the X-Men games, but it was the setting that stood out. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, demonic teddy bears (though that may have been the sequel, Redeemer) all infested an overrun insane asylum. It was a great Halloween game to play, and the modern setting made it a cool departure from the fantasy worlds of Baldur’s Gate or Champions of Norrath. It received pretty good reviews for the time, but it always seemed like one of those games no one had ever heard of, and to this day I still think it remains sorely under-appreciated.
I’d be down for playing both The Reckoning and Redeemer. Much like the executed convict that begins the story, let’s bring this one back from the dead.
The Thing
The Thing was a brutally harsh survival horror game based on what is, in my humble opinion, one of the best horror flicks ever made. I’m not talking about that shitty remake/prequel either, but the original John Carpenter classic. The movie wasn’t just a monster flick, but it explored the psychological effects of a group of people stuck together when one of them isn’t what they seem. This theme was brought over to the game in the form of an ever-present “mental health” meter for your NPC companions. The lower their meter got, the more mentally unstable they would become. Eventually they might turn on you, or turn on themselves, and more often than not, it would result in their death. Keeping them alive was crucial to your survival, but it also meant balancing your well-being with theirs. Sometimes a decision would have to be made, and sometimes a mistake would make it for you. The only thing you could do was move on.
This game haunted my dreams the last time, and I would dearly like to give it another shot.
Sudeki
I remember owning Sudeki once, and playing through it and beating it. I don’t remember it being terribly difficult, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was one of Microsoft’s few published action adventures outside of their Fable series. I really feel this game is worth a look for not only nostalgic gamers, but for those that maybe never experienced the original Xbox version back in the day. I don’t know how well the gameplay holds up, or if the world would even feel original in this day and age, but it would be a great feeler for Microsoft to see if there might still be a market for an IP they (maybe?) hold the rights to. Perhaps a revival or a spiritual successor could be a possibility?
In any case, at least we’d get to hear Tal’s weird voice-over again.
Full Spectrum Warrior
Full Spectrum Warrior tried something very different for its time, blending the in-your-face action of a combat situation with a focus on simulation and tactics. It started out as a project by the U.S. Army for training soldiers in combat situations, and introduced the idea of a “fog of war;” the screen would blur anything that wasn’t directly in your line of sight, forcing the player to depend on his A.I. squadmates to follow orders. The game wasn’t a straight up shooter, and the player had to issue commands smartly and quickly. It turned some people off due to its lack of direct control, but those who it clicked with seemed to really love it. It had its day in the sun, and I believe it even spawned a sequel.
I admit I never got to play more than a demo of this game, and I don’t even really know if it would be my cup of tea, but with the price of old, used Xbox games being pretty affordable nowadays, I wouldn’t mind picking it up and giving it a go.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
This. I can’t believe I almost forgot out this. In a time when everyone was trying to cash in on the craze that was Resident Evil, Tecmo hit it out of the frickin’ park with Fatal Frame II. While the first game was good, the sequel was downright terrifying. Two girls get trapped in a Japanese village that appears in the middle of a haunted forest. Filled with vengeful spirits, the only way to combat them is to capture them on film using the Camera Obscura. The game played out in a third person perspective until you equipped the camera, where it switched to a first person view. The only way to see the ghosts was through the lens, and the developers used that tension to great effect. As someone who doesn’t scare easily, this game had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was playing it. I never beat it, but I would love to get another chance.
Recently the series has found a home on the Nintendo consoles, but for some reason the Japanese don’t seem to think we like playing these games, despite repeated fan requests to localize them. So fuck ’em, let’s play this one again for free.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
For whatever reason, it never occurred to anyone over at Eidos to port Soul Reaver to the Xbox. It’s a shame too, because the Dreamcast version was good, if you like carpal tunnel syndrome. Instead we got a couple of Blood Omen titles. The last one being Legacy of Kain: Defiance. It was supposed to be a direct sequel to Soul Reaver 2, and it was actually pretty good. It was also the game that nailed the coffin on the entire series. It also didn’t help that Amy Hennig, the writer/director for Soul Reaver, left Eidos before Defiance was done so she could go work for Naughty Dog making some lame series called Uncharted. Boy I bet she regrets that decision! It was a solid, fun game but just didn’t have the hook that Soul Reaver did.
In any case, I think the time is right for a revival of the Legacy of Kain series. If we can’t have a sexy HD re-master of Soul Reaver, at least we can play Defiance and pretend. Who knows, maybe it’ll renew some interest in the IP and Square-Enix can pull their head out of their ass long enough to see that the technology is finally capable. A Soul Reaver 3 would haunt our dreams.
Outlaw Golf 2
I know there were a lot of games in the Outlaw series, but for some reason their Golf one always seemed to be the best of them from a pure sports perspective. The other games were very arcadey, where as the golf games at least had some degree of simulation. It also probably helped that Outlaw Golf was the only one that got a sequel, so it had that extra level of experience and refinement. For those unfamiliar with the Outlaw series, it was a couple of games that featured a random array of exaggerated characters playing golf, tennis, and volleyball. Each game had put its own spin on the sport (no pun intended) by giving each team or character a meter that could be filled (or drained). For example, if you keep missing a shot in golf, your frustration meter would build, making it harder for you to concentrate. The only way to vent your frustration was to beat the shit out of your caddy, which in itself was a mini-game and pretty damn entertaining. In the Tennis and Golf games you could taunt your opponents to raise your momentum and such. I honestly don’t remember too many details because they were a very short-lived series.
I actually got a bit curious while writing this, and I looked up the game developer to see what they’ve been up to lately. Unfortunately, it was a popular trend at the time for small low-budget developers to be making better sports games than EA. So shortly after Outlaw Golf 2 released in 2005, EA bought up Hypnotix and then split them up to work on Tiger Woods PGA (because of course they did.) The history sounds about right too, it was pretty much around that time that EA went on their rampage, buying up all the competition. Strangely enough, that’s also around the time EA bought out the NFL license because 2k Sports wiped the Madden franchise along the bathroom floor with NFL 2k5.
To this day, EA still doesn’t seem to know how to make a better NFL game. So of course they’ll keep that license till the end of time. Thanks EA, you fuckasses.
The Punisher
Man, this game was fuckin’ brutal. He is the Punisher, and holy crap did THQ live up to his name. In this game, you played Frank Castle himself, doing what he does best. It wasn’t enough that the combat was responsive and fun, but for extra points and info you could grab the occasional bad guy and torture him using whatever means tickled your fancy. But don’t press too hard, or you’ll accidentally kill the perp in some awful, terrible way. I’ll admit, sometimes I even felt bad about it, as the ways to go in this game are things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
It turned out it was a little too brutal, and the death scenes were actually censored before release. Instead of seeing the death in all its full color, crimson glory, the game would flash to black and white and “soften” the impact. Honestly, the censorship didn’t really bother me, and it didn’t impact the game at all. Seeing Frank accidentally drop a broken window on a guy’s throat, or shove a dude’s head in a deep fryer isn’t really something I was looking forward to.
Regardless, it was a pretty fun game, and if you were good at torture, you could get the info you needed without the messy side effects. And that’s something to aspire to, right?
Honorable Mention:
The Splinter Cell Series would be right at home on the Xbox One. Even though we still haven’t gotten any of the Xbox 360 games in the series, how cool would it be for Microsoft and Ubisoft to make the announcement now? BAM! All six games in the Splinter Cell franchise, now playable on the same platform. Pants, peed.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – The PC version is still easy to come by, and is obviously the more desirable version to have due to its console commands, mods, and higher resolution and framerate. But honestly, I enjoyed the Xbox version more. The reason for this is that on the Xbox, you are forced to live within the boundaries and constraints that the developers intended. This was the first version I played, and I’m glad. The second I got my hands on the PC version, it was console commands galore. Sure, the Xbox version had a few cheat codes, but if you played the game as intended, it was much more rewarding.
SSX Tricky – I just want to play SSX again because IT’S TRICKY TO ROCK A RHYME TO ROCK A RHYME THAT’S RIGHT ON TIME IT’S TRICKY! IT’S TRICKY! IT’S TRICKY TO ROCK A RHYME TO ROCK A RHYME THAT’S RIGHT ON TIME IT’S TRICKY! TRICKY TRICKY TRICKY! Admit it, you sang.
Aggressive Inline – Of all the Tony Hawk knockoffs that happened around the Xbox era, this was the knockoff-iest. And it was great. Besides, it wasn’t skateboarding, it was rollerblading. There’s a difference. The fact that the wheels are attached to the feet allowed for a more liberal interpretation of “physics” and thus the playgrounds were more imaginative. In a lot of ways, I actually liked this more than Tony Hawk’s games.
Would Be Awesome But Will Probably Never F***ing Happen:
Burnout 3: Takedown – It was the first game I thought of. But then I remembered that there’s a ton of licensed music in the game. But then I also remembered that the licensed music was generic as shit and EA probably either owned it or weaseled their way into a contract that gave them unlimited usage. Basically we won’t get this because EA hates us.
X-Men Legends I & II – I can’t see Microsoft or Activision touching that licensing nightmare with a ten-foot pole. But then again, there was a re-release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which was probably even more of a snafu than this. Stranger things have happened.
Flatout 2 – I really liked Flatout. Gone are the days of smashing the shit out of your ride during a race and barely rolling across the finish line. The reason I don’t know if this would happen is because of the way the Flatout IP as changed hands over the years. The publisher who owns it now has a new Flatout game (which is basically a re-make of the old Flatout game) but no one behind it had anything to do with the originals. So needless to say, it’s not like they would be all “yeah man! we’d love for our old game to be played by a younger generation!” They’d be like “No assholes, go buy our new-but-not-as-good version.”
Silent Hill 2: Shattered Memories – Why won’t it happen? Because it’s fucking Konami, that’s why.
Well, there you have it. My wish list for Microsoft’s backward compatible Xbox games. What would you like to see join the multi-generational party?
