Which original-Xbox games should I get for my 360?

May 14, 2007 6:24 AM

I recently bought an Xbox 360. I never had an Xbox. Of the original-Xbox games which are playable on the 360 (here's a list), which ones are worth picking up, and which ones are to be avoided at all costs?

Please assume for the purposes of this question that I'm an open-minded console gamer with a wide range of tastes, and that I've already played most of the best/highest-profile PS2/GameCube/Dreamcast titles. Neither of these things are entirely true, but they're close enough, and will, I hope, make for more broadly useful responses.

posted by box to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (19 answers total)

I rarely play console games, but the ones I enjoyed from the list you posted were (in no particular order):

Jade Empire
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (albeit on the PC)
Silent Hill 4: The Room (freaked me out too much to finish)
Pitfall: The Lost Expedition
LEGO® Star Wars™ II: The Original Trilogy
Dreamfall

Stay away from Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, it was unfunny, uncool and *so* not in the same calibre as the original games.
posted by esilenna at 6:37 AM on May 14, 2007

I really liked SSX 3, Halo 2 and Splinter Cell. Although, judging from your post, you may have played them both.
posted by einarorn at 6:43 AM on May 14, 2007

Psychonauts
Forza Motorsport 1 (more simulator than arcade racer... pretty difficult until you get the hang of it)

As for actual 360 games that are good:
Crackdown
Forza 2 (coming out in a few weeks)
Project Gotham 3 (gorgeous racer, wheel compatible)
Guitar Hero 2!

There are probably more I'm leaving out, this is just what I've been playing recently
posted by ijoyner at 6:44 AM on May 14, 2007

Psychonauts!!! Fable was also good.
posted by necessitas at 6:46 AM on May 14, 2007

Halo and Halo 2. Halo 2 multiplayer is also playable on the 360.
Black
Fable
GTA series
Panzer Dragoon Orta
KOTOR series
posted by Diskeater at 6:48 AM on May 14, 2007

The only two that stand out to me (the Halos aside) as really, really exceptional are Psychonauts and Panzer Dragoon Orta - the former's an imaginative, artistically stunning adventure/platformer in the tradition of the classic Lucasarts point-and-click adventures, and the latter (if you've not played the old Panzer games on the Saturn) is a beautiful on-rails shooter. Both well worth picking up.

Apart from those, an awful lot of people love Ninja Gaiden: Black, although it's never quite clicked with me, and Fable: The Lost Chapters is great fun and unlike much else out there.

You might have played them already on the PS2, but if you haven't and you have any interest at all in horror games, Fatal Frame and its sequel are among the best out there.
posted by terpsichoria at 6:49 AM on May 14, 2007

Half Life 2
Doom 3
Halo and Halo 2
posted by The Deej at 6:52 AM on May 14, 2007

Halo 2
Call of Duty
Fable
Grand Theft Auto Series (although I detest the XBox controller for GTA)
Lego Star Wars II
Max Payne
Splinter Cell

Throw in Soul Calibur if you want a fighting game and maybe a sports game for variety/teamplay and you've got a solid base. This is coming from a die-hard PC/ Playstation 2 player though. I know these are all great games, I cannot actually vouch for the fact that they made great ports to XBox, as Halo is the only game I ever played extensively on that console.
posted by sophist at 6:53 AM on May 14, 2007

I second Psychonauts. It's one of my favorite games ever. It's adorable without being saccharine, the writing is actually clever and funny, every level is totally different, and it's challenging (especially towards the end) without being impossible.
posted by Wroksie at 6:54 AM on May 14, 2007

And you might want to avoid Barbie Horse Adventure :P
posted by Wroksie at 6:57 AM on May 14, 2007

Assuming you've made up your mind regarding GTA, Half-Life, and Halo here's what's left.

Truly excellent games:
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Fable
Indigo Prophecy
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Psychonauts
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Plus pick one of the following shooters:
Call of Duty 3
Counter-Strike
Far Cry: Instincts
Medal of Honor

And the following while not excellent are all definitely with the time and money to play:
Dead or Alive 3
Destroy All Humans!
Fatal Frame
Genma Onimusha
Jade Empire
LEGO Star Wars
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Ninja Gaiden
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Soul Calibur 2
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
posted by nulledge at 6:57 AM on May 14, 2007

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is one of my favorite XBox games. It's moderately to fairly difficult, but has a really neat storyline, with sort of a wistful sweetness to it that I really enjoyed.

Avoid the sequel; it's appallingly bad. They completely misunderstood what was great about the first one. I've heard that the third one on the XBox was good again, but I have refused to play it because 2 was such a travesty.

Knights of the Old Republic 1 is a great classic on the XBox, one of its best games. It's a Star Wars-based RPG. It's slow-paced, and has lots of disk access, but it's fun. Very worthwhile.

If you enjoy KOTOR1, Jade Empire is the same game mechanic. It's not quite to the same standard, but still well worth your time. Much more active combat in that one; you actually are 'doing' martial arts, where in KOTOR you're just telling the character what to do next... pausable real time.

If you really enjoy those two, KOTOR2 is ... fairly good. It wasn't really finished, and the storylines sort of peter out in weird places, but it's not worthless.

Burnout 3 is tons of fun. It's just a racing game, but what makes it fun is the 'crash sequences' where you're plowing into traffic at high speeds, trying to do as much damage as possible. FUN game mechanic.

Fatal Frame II, Crimson Butterfly is scary as shit. If you like horror games, it's superb. I was too weak-stomached to finish it.

Just as a warning: I didn't care for Fable at all. It gets pretty mixed reactions. Some folks really like it; many don't.
posted by Malor at 7:13 AM on May 14, 2007

Seconing Jet Set Radio Future. One of the best games ever, in my opinion.
posted by davar at 7:29 AM on May 14, 2007

Jet Set Radio Future was indeed a lot of fun. And definitely Soul Calibur 2. You probably already about most of the shooters (Halo, Medal of Honor, etc.) and can pick your favorite.
posted by danb at 7:35 AM on May 14, 2007

halo 1 and 2
sid meir's pirates! (i loved the original and this is basically the same thing with upgraded graphics)
super monkey ball is awesome but maybe you played that on the cube already.



seconding jet set radio future, soul calibur, fable.

avoid the worms games and stick with the one you can download from xbox live.
posted by kneelconqueso at 8:00 AM on May 14, 2007

Here's Metacritic's list of all-time highest scoring Xbox games. But you can't go wrong with these 10:

Halo and Halo 2
Half-Life 2
Beyond Good and Evil
Psychonauts
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Burnout 3
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Jet Set Radio Future
Splinter Cell (pick one; Chaos Theory seems to be considered the best)
posted by jjg at 10:22 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Jade Empire
Burnot 3
Panzer Dragoon ORTA
Psychonauts

Keep your eyes peeled for Beyond Good and Evil, the greatest xbox game I evar played.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:25 AM on May 14, 2007

Argh -- I failed to notice that Beyond Good and Evil isn't compatible with the 360.
posted by jjg at 10:31 AM on May 14, 2007

The Star Wars games are good...

But there's this one game that really got it right... perhaps the perfect video game... what's it called...

HALO! HALO!! HALO!!!

Ah, yes, the Halo...
posted by ewkpates at 10:34 AM on May 14, 2007