Looking for Xbox games similar to Mario64

January 9, 2007 1:26 PM

I'm looking for an Xbox game that will satisfy like Super Mario 64 did back in the day. What is an equivalent game for Xbox?

I suppose what I'm hoping for is a game where I get to solve puzzles, manuever through obstacle courses, and feel a sense of satisfaction as I get through each step but without it being an easy game to finish in a short amount of time. I just bought the old xbox and don't know anything about the games for it. (not an xbox 360).

posted by toftk to sports, hobbies, & recreation (23 comments total)

Psychonauts
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:33 PM on January 9, 2007

Conker's Bad Fur Day, which is the greatest puzzle game ever made for the Nintendo 64, was remade for the XBox as Conker: Live & Reloaded. It's essentially the same game with added Live-enabled multiplayer games. I cannot reccomend this game highly enough to puzzle lovers.

However, it's rated Mature for a reason - I've heard the X-Box version is more censored than the N64 version, which is a shame. There may be toilet humor and "sexual situations," but I thought it was all very tongue-in-cheek and rather well done.
posted by muddgirl at 1:34 PM on January 9, 2007

modded xboxes can play emulated n64 games

this might be obvious, but thought i'd throw it out there
posted by blueplasticfish at 1:36 PM on January 9, 2007

oh, and the Lego Star Wars games.

This is assuming, of course, that you want fun and relatively innocent (not GTA) gameplay.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:37 PM on January 9, 2007

oddworld stranger's wrath
psychonauts
lego star wars II
destroy all humans (1, not 2)
posted by Señor Pantalones at 1:44 PM on January 9, 2007

blueplasticfish - not obvious as I don't know how to do what you are saying. Help?
posted by toftk at 1:45 PM on January 9, 2007

xbox mod n64
posted by exogenous at 1:49 PM on January 9, 2007

toftk - Modding an xbox requires opening it up and doing a bit of tinkering. As mods go, it's relatively easy, but you would probably need a larger hard-drive than it currently has and a significant amount of confidence.

There are guides on the tubes, I'm sure, but it might be best to pay a college kid to do it for you.

In a realm of hypothetical make-believe, even though I am fairly tech-savvy, I paid a friend to do it. As he did this as his primary source of income in college, he had the practice and included a sizable hard drive preloaded with emulators and games. Also a unicorn. Because this would not, in the real world, be legal.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:51 PM on January 9, 2007

If you do get it modded, the xbox media center is fantastically useful and well made, supporting all major video formats (divx, avi, mpg), so you could "find" video on the web and burn or transfer it via network and watch it on your tv, all without converting it. Music too. And pictures. You can even network it to your computer and set up shared drives and... but I get ahead of myself.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:54 PM on January 9, 2007

Psychonauts was the first thing that came to mind.
posted by GilloD at 2:14 PM on January 9, 2007

A fourth for Psychonauts-- fantastic, fantastic game.
posted by cosmonaught at 2:24 PM on January 9, 2007

Can't say I was ever particularly thrilled with any of the platformers on the Xbox. Psychonauts might be close, but bare in mind that Mario 64 is considered one of the best games of all time (sixth on the all time list over at gamerankings for example) so don't expect miracles.

As far as modding your Xbox, although a larger harddrive is nice, it is not essential if money is tight. You could probably fit every N64 game ever made on to the existing drive were such a thing legal.
posted by markr at 2:28 PM on January 9, 2007

Ack, that should be "bear in mind."
posted by markr at 2:35 PM on January 9, 2007

You'd probably like the Blinx games.
posted by Otis at 4:07 PM on January 9, 2007

You don't need to open the XBox to mod it, you just need the right game and a built or bought adapter to either plug a USB memory stick into an Xbox or plug the Xbox memory card into your computer.

Oh, and you have to download some crap to put on the memory card/memory stick.

Personally, I rented a copy of the necessary game and hacked together an adapter out of some spare cords I had around the house, so it cost me a total of $4 and some change for the game, solder, and electrical tape.

I don't play video games, so I can't help with Xbox games that don't suck..
posted by wierdo at 4:32 PM on January 9, 2007

Dude - Worms Forts - Under Siege.

Also, sixth-ing Psychonauts
posted by ersatzkat at 5:36 PM on January 9, 2007

It's got substantially different gameplay -- not a straight platformer, none of the free-roaming collecting of sparkly things -- but Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an excellent game that meets your criteria. It's got sequels, too.
posted by squidlarkin at 5:41 PM on January 9, 2007

Seventh Psychonauts. It's a very imaginative platformer.
posted by neckro23 at 6:45 PM on January 9, 2007

Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex was perfect when I was seeking the type of game you describe.
posted by sentient at 8:54 PM on January 9, 2007

I'm about halfway through Psychonauts (I know, I'm a couple of years behind) and I have to echo the sentiments above. It's a damn shame the game didn't find a wider audience -- it's a terrifically inventive, rewarding game.
posted by jjg at 9:27 PM on January 9, 2007

The first hour or so of Psychonauts is very dull. It's a mediocre tutorial with way too much exposition for the type of game it is. I gave up on it. I've heard it gets much, much better. But keep in mind that you have to stick with it.
posted by Gary at 1:24 AM on January 10, 2007

PoP Sands of Time may be my favourite xbox game. Pity they put the pointless fighting in the middle of the brilliant jumping bits. Then in the sequel they tried to appeal to all the people who didn't buy the first one by adding even more pointless fighting and pissed off the people who actually liked their game. Apparently the third strikes a better balance again, I really must hunt it down.
posted by markr at 5:25 AM on January 10, 2007

A day late and a dollar short, let me also recommend Psychonauts and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
posted by jeditanuki at 7:54 AM on January 10, 2007