Help me getting started please (Xbox 360)

[Takumaji]

So my wife gave me a slim black 360 for christmas which came totally unexpected. Gotta love this girl, eh.

Already bought RE5, then there's Forza 3 (pack-in) + Alan Wake (free download, haven't played it yet) and some Sega/Sonic tennis that I also haven't touched yet. At the moment I'm busy with blasting type-3 plagas in RE5, interrupted by quick rounds of Space Giraffe (love it a lot) and Geometry Wars.

Now I'm looking for recommendations of more good games, specially Arcade games. I only marginally skimmed through the many 360 threads we had here about games that are worth the money so I'd be grateful for some good tips.

I'm specially looking for Xbox Arcade versions of classic stuff like Raiden IV/DX and similar games.

My fave genres are shmups, fighters, action platformers, arcade racers, practically anything that isn't an ego shooter, simulation or RPG.

 

[skotgun]

CASTLE CRASHERS (if you don't already have it).
yeah it's old, but it's amazing, and i'm sure you can find lots of people on here to play it with you.
i've had to go purely PC for a while, so i can't reccommend much more than that.

 

[fenikso]

Puzzle Quest - Strangely addicting puzzle game and RPG hybrid
Geometry Wars 2 - If you like the first you'll also like the second
Pac Man CE - Who'd have thought that they could breathe new life into such an old concept
'Splosion Man - I like this game, but it kind of wore thin after a while. I'd say play the demo first

Oldies, but goodies:

Garou MOTW - You most likely own the MVS version of this, so I'm only throwing it out for old times sake
Castlevania SotN - Another game you probably own... I have purchased (and defeated) this game on everything they've ever released it for. Bit of an addiction for me. Still recommending it though.

Then there's the various Street Fighter re-releases and remakes. Hyper Fighting... Super Turbo... Puzzle Fighter II... all good wastes of time and money.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Final Fight , for actual 360 games crackdown 1&2 were pretty fab.

 

[Magician]

If you enjoyed Super Metroid then be sure to give Shadow Complex a try.

 

[Heath]

practically anything that isn't an ego shooter,

lol

 

[Takumaji]

Thanks, already played CC on my buddy's box. Quite nice, will add it to my list.

Here is a list of games I'm interested in, maybe you guys could tell me a thing or two about them:

- Beautiful Katamari

- Castlevania HD

- Galaga Legions

- Heavy Weapon

- Metal Slug XX

- R-Type Dimensions

- Time Pilot

- Tron: Evolution

- Vigilante 8 Arcade

lol

I should have been more precise here, I don't mind FPS per se, just don't really like co-op and all that military stuff (CoD, etc.).

My fave FPS game was and will ever be Quake 3 Arena. Is there anything like it on 360?

 

[supergoose]

360 for christmas

you're the third to confess.

i got mine because of the cave shmups.

 

[skotgun]

i just tried tron: evolution on my pc. i got the shitty end of the deal, since you can obviously tell it's a console game ported to pc, and they were really lazy about it.
key mapping is a joke, and the camera is garbage when attached to a mouse.
i only played it till right after i got the first disc upgrade, so i can't tell you about the rest of the game.
but i got so bored and mad at the camera that i deleted it.

i thought it looked pretty neat, and it plays ALOT like prince or persia (which isn't exactly a bad thing, but it's getting boring now).
except your main weapon is your disc, and so most of the enemies can be kept away/knocked down by throwing your disc at it, which makes combat pretty boring.
just combimations of disk/punch for standard 3-4 hit combos, but you just end up using the same ones over and over.

maybe someone who's played the game more can tell you different, but i just thought it was pretty, but boring, uninspired, typical movie-related-videogame nonsense.

 

[fenikso]

Galaga Legions is fun. I dl'd the demo and enjoyed it, I just haven't gotten around to buying it yet.

 

[Takumaji]

you're the third to confess.

i got mine because of the cave shmups.

Well... originally I wanted to buy a PS3 but I always loved some of the Xbox Arcade games like Geometry Wars and Space Giraffe, so... I probably would not have bought a 360 myself but there we are now.

 

[supergoose]

Well... originally I wanted to buy a PS3 but I always loved some of the Xbox Arcade games like Geometry Wars and Space Giraffe, so... I probably would not have bought a 360 myself but there we are now.

i'm still debating about buying a ps3 later today. saturn will give you a 40€ gift card for your next purchase with any purchase between 200€ and 499€.

i too never wanted a 360.

 

[K_K]

ummm mass effect?

 

[subcons]

Of the ones I've played...

- Beautiful Katamari

If you've played the original, this is pretty much the same with more content. TONS of stuff to collect if that's your thing.

- Castlevania HD

It's good, but only if you have people to play it with. Sort of a bore by yourself as it's a loot oriented game at its core. Some people seem to like it either way though.

- Galaga Legions

You know, as much as I like this game, I never spent much time with it.

- Metal Slug XX

Bad port, period.

- R-Type Dimensions

I haven't played this, but it's because I heard bad things about it when it dropped. Bad/floaty controls or something?

My XBLA recommendations (you've got some catching up to do):

Omega Five - Twin stick, side scrolling shooter by Natsume. Pretty challenging.
Braid - Artsy side scrolling platformer with some interesting puzzle mechanics thrown in. Short, but good.
Shadow Complex - It's like old school Metroid running on Epic's Unreal engine. One of the best XBLA titles available.
Bionic Commando: Rearmed - Awesome remake of the original with a kick ass soundtrack.
Limbo - Another platformer in the same vain as Braid, but much darker in it's atmosphere. Also short, but not to be missed.
Space Invaders: Infinity Gene - Minimalist Space Invaders that you don't really play for score, but just for the experience.
Super Meat Boy - Hard as nails platformer with clever mechanics and a minimalist 8-bit aesthetic.
Trials HD - At it's core, it's a platformer, you're just on a motorcycle. Think Excitebike with shorter tracks, but with an aim at doing them perfectly and as quickly as possible. Not for everyone, but give it a chance.

Those are my top picks.

 

[Poison Sama]

Good choice on Space Giraffe. Awesome game.

Quake 3 Arena should be up on XBLA now. I think it has some"exclusive" stuff.

Castlevania HD (I assume you mean Harmony of Despair), is pretty good. It's like a mix between the old and new Castlevania styles. It's divided into levels with bosses at the end, exploration is there but limited, it has a scoring system, time limits for each level, and RPG-ish character progression (weapons, equipment, skills, items). Co-op is a big part of the game, but it's still fun to play solo. The DLC for it is a bit of a rip-off though.

XBLA games you might like :

Pac Man CE DX
Monday Night Combat
Every Extend Extra Extreme
Shadow Complex
Triggerheart Exelica
Ikaruga
Guwange
After Burner Climax
Geometry Wars 2
Snoopy Flying Ace
Rez HD
ilomilo
Scott Pilgrim
Trials HD
Serious Sam HD
KoF 2k2 UM
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Outrun Online Arcade
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Virtual On Oratorio Tangram
Plants vs Zombies
Lara Croft Guardian of Light
Mega Man 10
Mega Man 9
Peggle
Limbo
Crazy Taxi
Hydro Thunder Hurricane
Super Meat Boy
Trouble Witches Neo (coming soon)

Retail games you might like :

Senko no Ronde (Wartech)
Mushihime-sama Futari (region free)
Espgaluda 2 (region free)
Deathsmiles (coming to EU soon)
Raiden IV
Raiden Fighters Aces
Muchi Muchi Pork + Pink Sweets (coming soon, region free)
Virtual On Force (region free)
Vanquish
Bayonetta
Mirror's Edge
Dead Rising
Condemned
Lost Planet
Deadly Premonition
Ninja Gaiden 2
Red Dead Redemption
Assassin's Creed 2
Dead Space
Crackdown
Blazblue
Virtua Fighter 5
Soul Calibur 4
Darksiders
Blur
Nier
Burnout Paradise

 

[Taiso]

Poison Sama pretty much said it all. I'll only add that the Namco Collection is a very good buy for the value, and it comes with a ton of XBLA games already on it.

And don't forget Radiant Silvergun is on the way (release date unannounced.)

And there's always KOF: Sky Stage, which isn't too bad for a shooter. Unless you a shooter purist, in which case I'm sure you'll find things wrong with it.

 

[brentsg]

I'd highly recommend trying the demos for:

-Braid
-Shadow Complex
-'Splosion Man
-Pac Man CE DX

 

[wataru330]

PSama mentioned many of the games I have and enjoy. Final Fight dbl impct is a steal @ 800 pts. As Taiso mentioned, KOF SkyStage is fine for what it is...I would add that if Raiden III &/or IV were palateable to you, SkyStage is worth a look as it is also by MOSS.

The cave ports are rad, and Trials HD has grabbed ahold of my attention like few games EVER.

It gives me much of the same stoke as a STG...rudimentary controls, twitch gameplay, and the satisfaction of medaling/besting your friend's Leaderboard scores is like finally acing a tough boss.

 

[hoop-jones]

You should try out Mass Effect, though it´s a mixture between shooter and RPG.
It has a great story, nice graphics - one of the best titles on the system imo.

Bayonetta was also great if you like games like Devil May Cry - the 360 version has much better graphics than the PS3...

Many of the arcade titles have already been mentioned, i played the hell out of Outrun Online Arcade, After Burner Climax and Rez HD - but i´m a Sega addict.

If you´re not too old and too slow for bullet hell shooters like i am, you should get the region free Cave shooters for the system like Mushihime Futari (which i have for sale btw.) or ESPgaluda 2.

 

[Darklighterx]

Omega Five
This one is a must XBLA title.

 

[aria]

I don't have a 360, but I've played it a bit at a friend's.

Beautiful Katamari isn't bad, but I think the PS3 edition (Katamari Forever) is better.

I really liked Left 4 Dead, though its available for both systems.

 

[Average Joe]

I really liked Left 4 Dead, though its available for both systems.

360 only

also: lol 360

 

[genjiglove]

I've said this before, but one really underrated game on the 360 is Wanted: Weapons of Fate. Simple, arcadey third person shooter. Can be finished in just a few hours (even on the hardest difficulty) but you can also find it really cheap.

Bayonetta and Vanquish are must owns too.

 

[SonGohan]

Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies,

 

[Takumaji]

Wow, thanks for all the tips, guys!

So far I've downloaded the following demos:

After Burner Climax

Played it before on my friend Stefan's Xbox, it's nothing less than a must-have for me. Really smooth gameplay, great gfx and tons of options.

Limbo

Wow, what is this, Abe's Odyssey gone dark? Great game though, cool atmosphere and nice puzzles, I just fear that Limbo's replay value might not be that high after one or maybe two goes.

Omega Five

Wohoo, it's Alien Solider and EX-RANZA all over again, great game!

Pac-Man CE DX

Another example of a game that manages to bring new life to a rotten old title, looks very well done and is quite addictive.

R-Type Dimensions

Played it for an hour or so but did not notice any control problems, it's good ol' R-Type with a bit of extra gfx trix thrown in. It stays on my to-get list for now, even though I already have dozens of variants and editions of these games.

Shadow Complex

Looks and plays very good, stays on the list.

'Splosion Man

Ahahaha, the little red guy is hilarious, that's right up my street!

Next in line for demo download are Crazy Taxi, Plants vs Zombies, KoF: Sky Stage and Beautiful Katamari and maybe one of the Mega Man games.

Mushihime-sama Futari, ESP2 and Raiden IV also are on the to-get list.

I've also played OutRun Online Arcade, too bad it's OutRun2 SP, I would have preferred the original OR2. Never really liked the new features like slipstreaming and the overall engine changes.

About Trial HD, played it to hell and back on my friend's system already, it's one of the coolest games I've played in a long time. Challenging, highly addictive, and the accidents look terribly funny.

Same goes for Geometry Wars 2 and Rez HD, two more must-have for me that will be bought shortly.

Oh, and last night I finally gave Alan Wake a spin and got sucked into it for hours. Graphics, sound and storytelling are excellent, too bad the camera sucks like hell. Not a good game for people with motion sickness.

So... guess I will have to buy a few more Xbox points this week...