Xbox Live Arcade Games

I figured that this could be a useful topic for people looking to buy Arcade games. And sorry, I don't own a PS3 so I'll let somebody else start a PS3 downloadable game topic.

My Arcade games (ranked on a scale of 1-10, 1 being horrible, 10 being amazing)
Carcassone - 3 - It's a land-grabbing puzzle game that's made to look a lot cooler before you buy it, it gets old quickly
Sonic the Hedgehog - 8
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 8
Sonic and Knuckles - 8
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - 8 - I will score these 4 together, they are fantastic games but as Arcade games, the Xbox Live portion is utterly useless and the save anywhere feature is helpful but it's unfortunately too helpful in that it becomes game-breaking
Watchmen: The End is Nigh - 4 - A 3rd-person beat-'em-up type of game starring Rorschach and (the second) Nite Owl. It doesn't deserve all of the harsh critiques it gets but it definitely doesn't live up to the movie or the graphic novel. It's fun for a while and it helps complete the collection of a true Watchmen fan, but the average person's Arcade game collection would be fine without this one
Limbo - 10 - An incredible and different (for the lack of a better word) game based around a gloomy monotone environment and puzzle solving to accomplish a simple single-player goal. It's a phenomenal game and once you start playing it you can't help but want to play through the whole thing. It's not too long but offers a surprising amount of replay value, it's a definite must-have
Altered Beast - 8
Golden Axe - 7 - These 2 are ranked together. Like Sonic, the online function is never going to see any action. Aside from that it's the same old, except the graphics are a little funny at times
Duke Nukem 3D - 8 - Awesome game, like Doom except more babes and more crude humor, but I can't give it the full score because of the low graphics quality (compared to Duke Nukem 3D on the PC) which sometimes makes environments hard to navigate. But the online (at least before Duke Nukem Forever) actually was active and fun
Doritos Crash Course - 1
Harm's Way - 4 - Both of these games are free Doritos sponsored games, much like Dash of Destruction was a year or two back. Download them now, because I don't know for how long they will continue to be free. Neither of them are good, Harm's Way is a decent game, but they kind of deserve +2 points a piece just because they are free.
DigDug - 6 - Same game as always, except the achievements are buggy and frustrating
Plants vs. Zombies - 9 - Great tower defense game, with zombies! It's fun, offers a variety of different gameplay modes, but still suffers a small bit with replay value, so it's not a 10. Awesome soundtrack too (I can provide links to the PvZ soundtrack store upon request :P)
Dash of Destruction - 4 - NO LONGER AVAILABLE. But don't worry, all you are missing out on is easy achievements
Geometry Wars - 4 - Fun, but outdated and no longer worth buying really. See below
Geometry Wars2 - 7 - Colorful, fun, and fast paced shooter with much more to do than the first GW but it's still limited
Braid - 7 - If you take Limbo, add color, add characterization, add a complex conflict, add catchy music, remove the atmosphere, remove the tension and suspense, remove the addictive qualities, and make the puzzles much more difficult, (usually in a bad way,) you get Braid, the puzzle game about traveling through time within small levels. The only reason I can give it a 7 is because some of the puzzles were infuriating because of how difficult or far-fetched they were, and it has bad replay value
Chessmaster Live - 7 - It's chess with many different opponents to face, both online, and offline in the form of AI with a wide range of difficulty settings. It would be appreciated in the Arcade collection of any true chess fan
Zuma - 3 - Please just get it on the PC if you want to play Zuma
Castle Crashers - 10 - (This review is coming from a NG user.) Out of the games I've played, Castle Crashers is probably the most fun you can have with an Arcade game. It's a hack-and-slash party game (read: [Xbox Live] Party game) with tons of unlockable weapons and characters. It has great music, great online play, and high replay value. The DLC isn't the best, but it's not too bad for a die-hard Castle Crashers fan

I am considering getting Half Minute Hero, but the reviews I've heard are quite mixed, does anyone have this game yet? (And I'm aware it has been out for a while outside of the Arcade, but the Arcade game is probably slightly different so an opinion from somebody who has it on their Xbox 360 would probably be optimum)

So, Energy Ball Jellicent Lair, tell about which Xbox Live Arcade games you do own, how good they are, which ones you are looking forward to getting or are going to get in the near future, so on and so forth.
 
Monday Night Combat - 9/10... Brilliant class based 3rd person shooter only damaged by some character imbalance and a shortage of game modes. Similar to TF2 in a few ways. Has some great humour and a good skill curve for the majority of the classes. Would definitely recommend :D
 

Steelicks

Come here and Battle me!
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
ive got heaps of XBLA games!

The Best:

Beyond Good & Evil HD - makes me sad i missed the original game years ago
Banjo Kazooie HD - the quintessential game of my childhood, in glorious HD
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - awesome throwback to old classic games. and the soundtrack... jesus christ!
Super Meat Boy - this game just fucking owns, so fast paced, hilarious... and hard!

Great:

Castlevania - Symphony of the Night - a classic
Pacman Championship Edition DX - both of those pacman championship games are pure, addicting fun
Limbo - unbelievably unnerving
Castle Crashers - fun and hilarious from start to finish
Marvel vs Capcom 2 - the online play alone makes it worth it
Megaman 9 & 10 - new Megaman titles done with NES graphics. practically gaming nirvana for dorks like me
Uno - yes, Uno. easy to pick up and play, great boredom killer

Okay:

Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles - while these are awesome games, these ports are nothing special
Duke Nukem 3D and DOOM - again nothing too special about these ports
Banjo Tooie HD - just simply not as good as Kazooie
Braid - i found this game, while beautiful to look at, to be highly overrated
X-Men - pretty repetitive but kind of worth it for the broken English ("WELCOME TO DIE!")

Bad/Shit:

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - so much potential but ultimately not very fun at all
Sonic Adventure - here is an example of a game that did NOT age well. seriously, play Banjo Kazooie HD, then this
Quake Arena - just not very fun to me, but others might enjoy it
 
I was literally furious when I saw the first information for Sonic the Hedgehog 4, it's taking a bad new game and throw a misleading good title on it

But if I didn't play something like Megaman (I know, shoot me) or Banjo Kazooie growing up, would they still be worth getting?
 

Steelicks

Come here and Battle me!
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
yeah man i'd say so... Banjo Kazooie (despite dialing up the cutesy meter to 11) is just pure fun from start to finish. the Megaman games probably have a broader appeal to a wider range of audiences. i'd definitely recommend getting at least Megaman 9
 
The Summer of Arcade is on its way, and none of the games really interest me except Toy Soldiers: Cold War which is bound to be great. And I knew as soon as they said "a free game" there would be a catch, and the catch turns out to be that for the last 1200 point game to be free, you have to buy all of the other Summer of Arcade games which is I think 4
 
I thought Sonic 4 was alright...Just wish I got more game than just 4 levels and a Megaman-style boss fight. The whole "episodic release" bit pissed me off too.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. If you like side-scrollers at all that's a good 10 bucks well spent. Good action, and it can be pretty challenging.
 
Sonic 4 failed to break the cycle of bad Sonic platformers. I don't foresee a truly good Sonic game appearing in the near future. On the other hand, Super meat Boy is one of the most challenging, rewarding, and fun games I've played in some time, it is definitely worth your time.
 

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