10. Pac-Man CE DX
Fast, fun, and frantic, these are the three F's of Pac-Man CE DX. Eschewing the classic gameplay in favor of a rhythmic, patterned game, DX takes the original formula for Pac-Man and injects it with flavor. Instead of completing the maze while avoiding ghosts, DX gives you a number of different mazes with patterns of dots to eat. The name of the game is speed and timing instead of careful avoidance. The idea is the find the best and fastest path through the dots and ghosts while gathering fruit and power pellets. As you pass sleeping ghosts they awaken and chase you. The best part of the game comes when you eat a power pellet and turn on the 30 or so ghosts chasing you. Building up combos like this is how you score the big points. The only thing that kept DX down on the list is it doesn't offer a lot of variety and it got stale after awhile. When it was fresh though, DX was one of the finest XBLA experiences I've had.
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is simply one of the best games ever made. Originally released on the Playstation 1, SotN became a rare and valuable gem to add to your gaming collection. Taking the Castlevania action packed gameplay and injecting it with RPG elements was a flash of brilliance. The voice acting is laughably horrible and the graphics are dated but this is still some of the most fun you can have gaming. It gets held down on my list only because it is basically a port with nothing new added and I'd played it so many times on the Playstation that it was a little bit old hat. I still fire it up from time to time for another go through, and I probably will until the end of time.
8. Limbo
I wrestled with where to put Limbo for awhile. I had it higher up at first but when I started adding more games to the list it got pushed down. When I first started playing Limbo I loved it. Within minutes it was my favorite XBLA game. The black and white style, the visceral gameplay and creative puzzles sucked me in. The spider in the beginning was a thing of my nightmares brought to life. In a word, it was perfect. Then I played some more, and some more and the puzzles got more complicated and introduced new mechanics and suddenly I wasn't having as much as I was before. It got too complicated for itself. Adding in gravity modifiers and such took away what made the game so great to begin with...it's simplicity. When the game was running and jumping from giant spiders and weird humanoid creatures hellbent on your death, Limbo was gaming perfection. If they had kept the puzzles simple and challenging Limbo might have been at the top of this list. The first half hour or so were enough for me to consider it in the top 3. In the end though, the game lost itself near the end and stopped being fun and became frustrating. So, Limbo ends up here. One of the best games on XBLA but not the absolute best.
7. Trials HD
Crazy jumps on motorcycles, vicious crashes, flips, and speed. Trials HD has it all. Simple gameplay belies just how difficult this game is. You control speed and braking and the angle of your bike. Using these controls you navigate a ton of levels. It's more of a platformer then a racer though everything you do is timed. It's a game that starts off easy and very gradually gets finger crampingly difficult. The end levels will leave you a broken husk of a person. It can get frustrating at times, especially when there is a single block that you just can't seem to get past no matter how hard you try. In the end though, when you finally figure it out, the sense of accomplishment is always worth the frustration. With tons of levels, and a healthy amount of mini-games, Trials HD has enough to keep you busy for a long time.
6. Castle Crashers
Castle Crashers was one of the most anticipated titles to come out on XBLA. I remember reading about it for months, looking at pictures and waiting impatiently for its release. There was a very real chance that it would be disappointing after all of the hype. Fortunately, it lived up to the expectations, hell, it might have exceeded them. The one thing that keeps it from being closer to the top of the list is the fact that it for maximum enjoyment, you need at least 2 people. A a single player experience it is still fun, but it gets monotonous pretty quickly. When you get a group together to play the game becomes hectic, fast paced, fun. Also, for being a pretty basic brawler, Castle Crashers has a surprising amount of replay. Each time through the game unlocks new characters to control, there are hidden pets to find, and stats to increase. The graphic style is one of the best to be found with bright colorful characters mixed with blood and viscera. It's a pretty funny juxtaposition if you have a good sense of humor. So whether you have friends or spend your time alone and lonely, Castle Crashers is an excellent way to lose a weekend.
5. Peggle
PEGGLE! God I love Peggle. Another simple game made fun by excellent, excellent gameplay. It's kind of like Plinko and pinball had a baby. The entire premise of the game is clearing the screen of orange pegs by bouncing a small ball off of them. You set the angle and the ball does the rest, careening around until it either falls through the bottom of the screen or is caught by the moving "basket" at the bottom, resulting in a free shot. Different cartoon-y characters host levels, each one offering it's own special shot like multi-ball or zen shot where the AI auto adjusts your shot for maximum point value. For such a simple concept it can be pretty tough. Beating the levels isn't particularly hard, the true challenge comes from trying to max out your score. It is ridiculously addicting and very easy to pick up, even for non-gamers. It's one of the few games my wife plays, and of those few games, it's probably the one she has spent the most time with. Anybody can play because it really is just that simple. Incredibly easy to play, incredibly difficult to master.
4. Shadow Complex
Shadow Complex is the most ambitious of XBLA games. Utilizing the Unreal engine for graphics and borrowing heavily from Super Metroid (one of the greatest games ever made) Shadow Complex is an instant classic and a must play for anyone who considers themselves a gaming enthusiast. If you've ever played Super Metroid, or Metroid, or any other two dimensional action/adventure game, then you already have a good idea what Shadow Complex is all about. It isn't anything original, but it is so well made that you shouldn't care. Tons of hidden collectibles like missile upgrades, giant robot bosses, tons of scrubby guards to shoot, and puzzling puzzles all add up to one of the best experiences available on the arcade. Almost top 3, but it just got beat out. Honestly, any of the games in the top 5 are so close together that I almost didn't bother ranking them...but then this wouldn't be a top 10 list now would it?
3. Puzzle Quest
I love it when genres mix together to make something greater than the sum of it's parts. There are mediocre examples of puzzle RPGs (gyromancer comes to mind) and there are sterling examples that keep you playing for months and months and months. Puzzle Quest is obviously the latter. An excellent example of how you can take two great ideas and make something amazing. Puzzle Quest takes a simple concept, matching same color tiles, coats it in a slathering of RPG elements such as character creation, leveling, magic spells, armor and weapons, fantasy creatures such as orcs, dragons, and elves, and a pretty decent story featuring evil, all-powerful Gods. The whole concept is so simple it's amazing how deep the whole thing can be. You move colored gems to make matches of 3. Each color represents an element and gaining elements allow you to cast spells. Matching skulls on the board damages your opponents. A combination of casted magic and skull matching leads to your enemies demise...or your demise. That's the whole game in a nut shell but it ends up being so much more. I've personally spent hours and hours and hours playing and I still haven't quite finished it. The ability to find hidden relics and craft your own artifacts just adds even more to an already full experience. The cup runneth over when it comes to Puzzle Quest and I am happy to drink.
2. Marble Blast Ultra
The second game I ever purchased from the arcade (Geometry Wars being the first) Marble Blast Ultra is still one of my favorite games to just put on and play. I sound like a broken record, but simple gameplay once again wins the day. You control a marble and you need to navigate from a starting point to a finish point, occasionally picking up a few gems in between. Most levels though rely on the simple start to finish mechanic. In between is where things get awesome. The level design ranges from simple and fun to mind-numbingly difficult. It never gets frustrating though. Even when you've fallen 50 times at the same location, you will always feel compelled to finish. The "skiing" levels are of particular note. Nothing between you and the finish except for a downhill slope and ridiculous speeds. Each level has a par time to try and beat and beating them all is an accomplishment that few will achieve. The final level alone (cleverly named "Schadenfreude" which is a German word meaning to derive pleasure from someone's pain) will defeat most people. I beat it eventually with a time of over 45 minutes. I don't expect I'll ever make par even though I give it a shot every now and then. I'll still be trying in a couple of years unless they ever make a sequel. The online play was fantastic too. I say was because sadly, there is little to no action anymore. Back when the game was still popular though the online play was fantastic. There wasn't a lot to it. Rolling along competing with people for gems on the board. Whoever collected the most won. Very simple, very fast paced, and very fun. There is not a single game on the arcade that needs a sequel more then Marble Blast Ultra.
1. Braid
Simply the best...the title belongs to thee, Braid. This didn't take a lot of thought. When I was putting together the list Braid started at number one and nothing even came close to knocking it out of the top spot. It really is a game that has it all. Story, atmosphere, gameplay...everything. Such a simple idea. Make a basic platformer and give the player the ability to control time. That's all it is. So simple, yet so intriguing. The story is really what sells it. I'm not going into much detail but you control Tim, a man who is searching for something or someone, a man who has made a mistake he regrets and wants to fix. The story is revealed by little books between the levels and through pictures you put together by finding pieces in the levels. Like the game itself, the story is very minimal but completely sucks you in. You feel genuine emotion for this man and his princess. It's presented so brilliantly that I can't do it justice with words. This sounds cheesy but you have to really play the game to understand it. I could go on and on about how amazing it is, how using the time mechanic to open doors and kill enemies while trying to find keys and puzzle pieces is unbelievably fun, but it would be a waste of time. My words will not do it justice. If you read this and you have the means, go play Braid right now.
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