Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

Five Wanted Xbox Originals

by Dick Ward August 1st 2008 2:23 PM CDT3 Comments

Say what you will about Xbox Originals, but I absolutely love them. Getting to play the greatest games of the console’s last generation without having to jump on eBay or give my money to Gamestop is fantastic. There’s something missing though. Well, five things, and big ones too.

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Jet Set Radio Future

Never mind the amazing and innovative visuals, forget the hook filled music, and ignore the gameplay completely, at least for the moment. All of that aside, there is not a single game like Jet Set Radio Future available for the 360. In fact, I’m having a hard time thinking of a comparable game for any system. It’s unabashedly unique and doesn’t bow to any genre


Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF) isn’t too hard to find, unless you want it on its own disc without Sega GT attached. It’s one of those games that I personally wouldn’t mind having on my systems at all times though. An incredibly highly rated but poorly selling game, maybe JSRF could find a new audience with the Originals.

Knights of the Old Republic

Never has a game captured my imagination and rapt attention like Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR). It was the first Star Wars game in quite a while that really managed to recreate the universe in an interesting way. Taking place 4,000 years before the movies, Bioware was free to play around with the lore, weapons, vehicles, and whatever they wanted to make an incredibly believable environment.


KotOR to this day is considered by many to be the best Star Wars game ever made, high praise indeed, and with an upcoming KotOR MMO, it’s a great time to get people excited about the series again. C’mon, admit it, you want HK-47 living on your hard drive.

MechAssault

Where the hell did all the great mech games go? Sure they’re complicated and involve a lot of system learning before a player can be effective. Still, MechAssault proves that with some slight adjustments, consoles can easily support a relatively deep mech experience.

A new MechWarrior or Steel Battalion is not happening, and I’ve come to terms with that. With Chromehounds and Armored Core being the only options available for the 360, we need to turn to the past to get a solid version of an amazingly underappreciated genre.


The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

It’s hard to find a single person with a bad word to say about Escape from Butcher Bay. Everything in this game is created with such obvious care that it’s damn near impossible not to love it. Quite possibly the best movie tie in game of all time, and certainly the best on Xbox, Butcher Bay is held in high esteem by all. It’s been a favorite of many gamers, but also an inspiration to the developers of other games like F.E.A.R.

Sadly, the follow up to Butcher Bay, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, is in a bit of limbo at the moment. Stated by Sierra to be a reinvention of the original with some next gen features added, this could easily be just what 360 players are looking for. According to a recent announcement by Activision though, Dark Athena is one of the games they’ve decided to pass on. It’s surely coming out, but when is anybody’s guess. In the meantime, Escape From Butcher Bay is just what we need.


Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - Director's Cut

A wonderfully creepy game, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - Director's Cut(FFII) is a ray of hope in the survival horror genre. It’s a dark and scary ray, admittedly, and probably shot by a Martian or something, but a ray nonetheless. The premise is a bit odd, having only a camera as a weapon, but not being having big guns making loud noises to break tension and giving players a sense of security was a great design decision.


Something like Pokemon Snap meets some sort of Japanese horror movie in the most disturbing way. Not relying on shock for scares, but rather creating an atmosphere unlike any other game, makes Fatal Frame II a must play for any fan of survival horror.