By Dimorphic
The Xbox Live Arcade is a great feature of the Xbox Live service that cators for both the family and casual gamers, as well as those that just want to unwind with a quick, easy and fun game. But there are many games out there that are crying for an XBLA version of them and here I’ve ordered my top 10 games that need to have an arcade version;
10: Sim City 2000
Possibly the most well known simulation/city building game of all time, Sim City 2000 was in my opinion the highest point of the series. The advanced graphics (in relation to the previous iterations) and the introduction of land having elevation allowing water pipes, etc to be placed in the city made it very addictive. I burned many hours in front of my computer screen during the holidays building and maintaining my city only to on a whim destory it by unleashing every disaster avaliable to me. You really do play god in this game, perfect for the Arcade.
9. ARL 96
It’s just about impossible to find a good screen shot of this game anymore, but ARL ‘96 by EA Sports was the best Rugby League game ever made. The most recent iterations really didn’t do the sport justice but for some reason I always loved ARL 96, it just seemed to be everything you could ask for from a League game. With updated rosters for 2008 this game would be fantastic. The original game had all the modes you would expect to find, season mode, State of Origin and International matches, but a ‘franchise’ mode would be a welcome inclusion in the arcade version, as would online multiplayer.
8. Sam & Max Hit the Road
One of the most memorable games of my childhood, Sam & Max Hit the Road was around back in the days of floppy disks. Sam and Max are police detectives who are investigating the reports of an escaped sasquatch across a very fictionalised version of America. You visit placed like ‘The Worlds Largest Ball of Twine’ in the search for the sasquatch and the game has a very light-hearted and funny feel about it. Sam & Max used the SCUMM engine allowing designers to create locations, items and dialogue sequences without writing code in the actual language the game source code would end up in.
7. Lemmings
Everyone remembers Lemmings, the game where your objective is to goal is to guide a certain percentage of lemmings from the entrance to the exit of a level. Unless assigned a special task, each lemming will walk in one direction ignoring any other lemming in its way (save for Blockers), falling off any edges and turning around if they hit an obstacle they cannot pass. They die if they fall from a great height, fall into water or lava or off the map, or get caught in a trap; they also die after being assigned the bomber skill. The original version of Lemmings also had multiplayer so Xbox Live play would be something to look into.
6. Killer Instinct
One of the most hardcore arcade fighters of all time, Killer Instinct would make a fantastic addition to the Arcade. Killer Instinct’s story revolved around a compnay called Ultratech sponsering a fighting competition whereby the best fighters in the world entered, as well as some of Ultratechs mutant experimental creatures. Ultratech also discovers a technology to make bridges between dimensions, and to also release from this dimensional prison a two-headed monster called Eyedol, an ancient warrior that was locked away along with his rival. Gameplay elements of Killer Instinct included a double energy bar, automatic combos, finishing moves (ala Mortal Kombat) and combo breakers.
5. Turok: Dinosuar Hunter
As great as the new iteration of Turok is (read my review) the original Turok is what spawned all the hype. I mean dinosuars and guns, you can’t go wrong. The original was found on the Nintendo 64 and had a unique way of making the player feel like they were in a huge, free in game environment; fog. Throughout Turok the player can only see a certain distance in front of him/herself which not only creates the illusion of space, but also helps the game load and keep a steady framerate. The game’s setting takes place in the Lost Land, a primitive world inhabited by dinosaurs and other creatures and Turok finds himself there through time-travel. He must fight through this world, fending off the creatures and hunters long enough to find the Chronoscepter weapon, and by using a focusing array to magnify the Chronoscepter’s power, he plans to destroy the barriers that separate the ages of time and rule the universe.
4. Battletoads
This was the very first game I ever owned, way back on the Sega Megadrive, I’d play it for hours and hours on end, never getting sick of the over the top action and fun gameplay. However, the game was notorious for its difficulty, so the introduction of a ’save’ system for the arcade version is a must. The basics of the game are Rash and Zitz, the battletoads, have to save their friends Pimple and the Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen, ruler of Planet Ragnarok, with the assistance of Professor T. Bird and his space ship, The Vulture.
3. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
One of the best and most under-rated Star Wars games ever, Shadows of the Empire was released first on the Nintendo 64 and later on Windows. The game took place in the backstory of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. You play as Dash Rendar, a mercanary who is delivering supplies to the Rebels on Hoth, he talks with Han Solo who gets him a position in Rogue Squadren and the game starts there, with a fantastic mission of you fighting in the battle of Hoth, taking down AT-ATs with your harpoon cable and shooting down AT-STs. The game overall has some fantastic set pieces, fighting an AT-ST on foot, a huge space battle outside and insidethe core of a space station, fighting Bobba Fetts ship while on foot and flying through Mos Espa on a speeder. The game would be fantastic to relive again.
2. Goldeneye 007
We were so close to getting this released on the arcade until the source of all evil, money, reared its ugly head and staled proceedings. It now looks as if we will never have this gem released on the XBLA, which is a real shame because along with the fantastically fun campaign mode we all know and fondly remember, fully online mutliplayer would have been a smash hit, people would be playing this for years to come, but alas it may not ever come to pass. But we’ll see.
1. Quake 3: Arena
Some months back now, about mid-2007, the ERSB (the American version of the OFLC) had a listing for Quake 3: Arena on the XBLA on its upcoming titles list. Ever since then the speculation has been rampant over when the game will make its debut on the system, and I for one cannot wait. I have so many great memories of playing Q3A at school over LANs, the frantic twitch shooting gameplay where you can’t have a moments respite lest you be splattered all over your computer screen. The game was and is a classic, CTF, deathmatch, team deathmatch its all there and its all fun. Full online multiplayer would be a huge hit and the lengthy campaign, with its unforgiving difficulty settings would keep players occupied for a long time. How long will it be until we hear over our speakers the memorable “headshot” call of the Quake announcer?
great list, and nice new theme mate!!
Great article. I like the bit about Killer Instinct. But mate you forgot about one big game… Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. That is the best thing ever. Oh, NBA HangTime would be pretty cool as well. and Marvel Vs Capcom.
Some good games there. NBA Jam would be awesome or possibly Banjo-Kazooie.
I dunno about Banjo-Kazooie considering Banjo-Threeie is due out this year.
list lacks duke 3d
Duke is coming out, so I didn’t put it on there.
Should have included Jazz Jackrabbit 2