Well, since my hopes to get an Xbox One X next week were kicked in the proverbial nutsack, there’s not a whole lot I have to look forward to in the gaming world right now. So how about I look back? Way, way back?
Microsoft released their first batch of old school Xbox games in their backward compatibility program, and I’ve had a little hands on time with some of the ones I still happen to own. One of those was the first title announced by MS, and with no disrespect to Ninja Gaiden Black or Knights of the Old Republic, it was the one I was looking forward to the most. It goes by the name of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.
Crimson Skies has a special place in most Xbox gamers’ hearts, because for many it was the game that sold us on Xbox Live as a legitimate online gaming service for consoles. Sure, there were others. Mechassault and Return to Castle Wolfenstein each had a good online component, but Crimson Skies gave us the freedom of the open skies. The (relative) intensity of a dog fight with other players was a fun way to shoot and be shot without the frustration of campers and one-hit deaths. It was a blast.
Now to be fair, I can’t pretend that it’s been 13 years since I’ve played Crimson Skies. It was backward compatible on the Xbox 360, and it ran okay. The emulation was decent. In fact, it probably played exactly as it did on the Xbox. The great thing about it this time around is that the new emulator doesn’t play it as well as the Xbox did, it plays it better.
It’s probably not an accident that Microsoft announced this game first. I’m guessing since it is a first party IP, that it was one of the guinea pigs as MS was figuring this whole thing out. It looks and plays great.
It’s a weird thing to wonder if the game always looked this good, and our old ass picture tube televisions just lost that detail, or if MS did a little extra credit. The planes look a tad sharper in the texture department, while the rest of the game looks like it’s old school low resolution self. This could’ve been the case all along though, as the player’s planes are really the only thing that stay on the screen long enough to see what they look like. If you’re going to put the emphasis on anything, that would be it.
The graphics wouldn’t matter if the game played like crap, but luckily the controls in Crimson Skies were always pretty tight, and now we have the additional advantage of using the Xbox One controller. The planes handle well, and maneuvering through the canyons and structures, or racing through gates is as responsive as ever. If you slam into a building or a canyon wall, it’s your own fault.
I’m not going to go into the game itself, such as the story or mission structure, difficulty, etc. I feel like anyone interested in playing this game is most likely a long lost fan that is considering giving it another spin. But, if you’re a younger generation gamer, and somehow have an interest an older game that’s not nearly as pretty or exciting as the current generation offerings, I can definitely assure you it’s worth the $10 (or even less) that it’ll cost to get it for yourself. The story will be average, and the CGI cutscenes serviceable, but the game is still very playable. Just keep in mind that it was a tough game back then, and it still provides a decent challenge now.
Oh, and also try to ignore the fact that the lead character, Nathan, looks and acts an awful lot like a Nathan from a certain other popular adventure game.
