The Xbox 360 had a rather complex and problematic launch, the ever-present curse of the “red ring of death” being the bane of many Xbox 360 owners in the late 2000s. It was a tough time for Microsoft, but overall, the console by the end of its life did super well and it’s not hard to see how. It was powerful, easy to develop games for, and was curvy like a mf. It sold around 84 million units worldwide.
In this article, we have a mixture of classics and hidden gems that we at Underlevelled think are worth playing. If your entry didn’t make the list, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.
1. Kameo: Elements of Power – Riley
Unleash the powers within you.
Back when Rare used to make more than one game a decade, they released an ambitious little title named Kameo. An action platformer with a gimmick isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but the gimmick they do present here is a strong one.
Kameo is an elf who can wield a magical power that allows her to transform into one of ten fantasy creatures. Each creature has its own elemental abilities that are used in combat and to solve puzzles. Each creature is wonderfully designed, and the presentation of the world as well as the creatures is bright, vivid and colourful.
This is a stark contrast to most of the rest of the generation, in which developers enjoy the lovely hues of yellow and grey to make a gritty “realistic” style, which got boring pretty quickly into the generation. This makes Kameo, a launch title for the system, a lovely contrast to what this generation had to offer and a great upgrade and holdover from the previous generation. Not peak Rare, but pretty close in my opinion.
2. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – Melty
It might’ve sold badly, but it was a winner in my eyes
As someone who was brought up on Tekken games, it’s my (very correct) opinion that the only game that can top Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is Tekken 3. Unfortunately, Tekken 3 is not on the Xbox 360. Tekken Tag Tournament 2, however, is.
As the name suggests, this game excels in tag teams. You can, however, play with a solo character if you wish, though these aren’t the only team layouts. You can also play 3 vs. 3, 3 vs 1, 2 vs. 3, etc. Working in your chosen team, you must work your way through the tournament and the story, beating up and fighting each team along the way. Though this game’s storyline isn’t canon to the series, some of the characters’ endings are, making it a must-play if you want to organically discover each character’s story.
This game holds the largest playable roster in a Tekken game to date; the roster consists of almost every character from the previous games in the franchise. This makes the total character count 59. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is also the first game that we get to see Jaycee, Slim Bob, and Sebastian as playable characters, as well as giving some characters dialogue in their native languages. Portuguese Eddy Gordo! To make things even more fun, you can import your own music into the game if the original music isn’t to your taste… Maybe I’ll replay this game, duking it out to Tiny Tim’s Tiptoe Through The Tulips.
3. The Witcher 2 – Azza
Edgy old man monster slayer, the game. Title work in progress.
The Witcher 2 is a clunky yet fun game, with the combat and monster variety being the most fun aspects.
Combat, I found, is pretty clunky, even more so if you compare it with The Witcher 3. However, for its time, it works decently if you can get to grips with it. Equipment makes all the difference, depending on what signs you wish to spec into, as the bonuses runes provide can be pivotal.
The story is a big highlight and is one of the big reasons to play the game. However, if you are coming from The Witcher 3, it’s best to have realistic expectations before diving into this, as it’s thin on the plot and exploration in comparison. The Xbox 360 version is actually really interesting, as graphically it’s much different from the PC version. Not in a bad way, it uses a different lighting system to compensate for the lack of processing power, so it makes the Xbox version stand out as something different rather than something worse.
Overall, The Witcher 2 is definitely worth a play, more so if you managed to pick it up during the “Games with Gold” era!
4. XCOM: Enemy Unknown – Azza
Attachment was a sin according to XCOM.
War never changes; it doesn’t matter if you’re fighting aliens instead of human beings, the loss of life is no less painful. XCOM broke me as a human in some aspect; it made me cold and bitter. As I watched brave men and women sacrifice themselves for the greater good, my resentment toward the situations I found my team in grew and grew. I then realised I was playing a video game and grew up.
XCOM has both a turn-based action component and a tactical facility management system that lets you choose how to fight the war against the alien menace. The turn-based action pits your troops against the aliens in tactical combat. If your troops die, they are gone for good, similar to games such as Darkest Dungeon.
The facility management has you developing technology and assisting different countries in researching the alien threat. It’s great fun to have near full control of all these aspects of the game. You dictate your run of XCOM, and bear all the consequences for your actions. It’s an amazing experience, and you have to at least give it a go just for the sheer thrill alone (and emotional damage).
5. Skate 3 – Azza
Injury lawyers’ worst nightmare
I wasn’t one for skating games back in the day. However, Skate 3 really shocked me with how fun it is despite the jank and clank that it comes with. It’s part of the game’s charm and makes it all the more fun to play.
The tricks you can pull off defy gravity, logic and everything else. Making it just a gem of a game that allows you to live out the fantasy of being a pro skater, without the risk of horrible injuries. If you really want a more authentic experience, wear a Thrasher Magazine jumper and live the dream.
There are many modes to play, such as the iconic “hall of meat” to the more skill-based “1-up” mode. You will find what you are looking for, and, unsurprisingly, there are still plenty of players to play with online too. Custom maps are still a massive thing, and they are so fun. Honestly, the community is still really supportive of the game, and it shows.
I had lots of fun memories with Skate 3, and I hope to have many more in years to come.
6. Mafia II – Azza
Joe is the new Roman
One of the most underrated open-world games to date, Mafia II takes you through a gritty narrative that revolves around the dying 1950s Mafia scene. You play as Vito, an Italian immigrant turned Mafia man, who commits crimes with his best friend Joe. The Banta between the pair of them is amazing, they’re like the goombah equivalent of the Chuckle Brothers.
The gameplay consists of driving, shooting and stealing, similar to most GTA games. The narrative holds this game together, and I would argue it’s better than GTA 4 in terms of story and gameplay. It has a lot less filler and way more narrative. However, the side content, while present, isn’t great and can be left alone for the most part.
The reason I would recommend this over the “Definitive Edition” is that the game runs without as many bugs and glitches. Such glitches include everything from textures blasting all over the screen, no music and even cars falling out of the sky!
7. Minecraft – Riley
Before this, we had Castle Miner Z or Minecraft with guns
You can’t have an Xbox 360 list without its benchmark Xbox Live Arcade title that changed the world. Minecraft was a phenomenon before its console edition release, sure. But releasing a port for console opened the floodgates to an entirely different generation and player base the game had not seen before. Helmed by legendary porting studio 4J Studios, of Oblivion fame, the developers managed a form of witchcraft in getting Minecraft on 360. From 4-player splitscreen with a targeted frame rate of 60fps in single player mode, it ran extremely well for such dated hardware.
360 Edition had continued support up until 2018, one of the most supported and updated games on the console itself. This is a testament to its large player base, and the fact that the game still pulls in hundreds of players a day demonstrates how well this port was received. It sold 12 million copies, which is small fry when you consider it’s now the best-selling game of all time, but this was nearly 15% of the total install base of the console, very impressive.
8. SAW – James
I want to play a game.
If you’re not familiar with Saw as a movie franchise, I’ll give you a quick rundown. The main villain of Saw, Jigsaw, places his victims in murderous traps designed to activate their fight or flight instinct. If they survive, they’re reborn and liberated from their past sins. If they die, they simply didn’t want it enough. He does this for various reasons, usually because he sees this person as unjust and wants to show them the flaws of their ways. The movies usually follow these victims as they begin to unravel the mystery of what they need to do and why they’re there.
You play as Detective Tapp, the detective in charge of the Jigsaw case in the first movie. You may have seen him hanging from a hook in Dead By Daylight, don’t worry about it. Tapp has been captured and forced to navigate an enormous facility in order to find out the identity of the killer and bring him to justice. Only, he’s going to have to play a game to get what he wants.
Play or die, make your choice
Saw is a third-person survival horror game with a lot of puzzles to solve. It’s effective in being spooky while not too crude. By today’s standard, most horror ‘gore’ on the 360 is not much more than some blood splatter. Much more than that, and you’d risk having the game be banned. That changed later, though (Looking at you, Outlast and Resident Evil 7, yowch).
There are a lot of references to the movies in this game; the shotgun collar is used extensively, firstly as a way of keeping you from escaping and secondly as a way of laying traps that will leave you headless. Obi and Amanda, and of course Jigsaw himself, are present. There’s also a lot of lore hidden around in the form of collectable notes for those mega fans out there (me, me, me!)
9. Halo 3 – James
It’s time to finish the fight (corporate greed notwithstanding)
From the beautiful era when sprint and loadouts didn’t infect every single first-person game, we have Halo 3. In my personal top 5 games of all time, this is something special. You have a fantastic campaign and an impeccably balanced multiplayer able to be wholeheartedly enjoyed at an amateur and professional level.
It had a suite of never-before-seen features. There was a theatre mode, allowing you to no-clip around your previous campaign and multiplayer games for the easy creation of machinima sketches. You had forge mode, where you could edit maps to your heart’s content. All of these clips, maps and custom game types could be shared on your profile and, if you were lucky, featured in-game. There was a real sense of community that I’ll never forget.
The staying power of Halo 3 was something to behold. Throughout my life at school my friends would always be playing progressive Call of Duty games. “CoD will kill Halo, man.” “Why aye waddn’t dare play that like.” Every time until the release of the next-gen consoles, they’d CoD hop and I’d stay on my Halo. I’d eagerly anticipate the Heroic, Cold Storage, Legendary and Mythic map packs. Mythic had the map sandbox, which was everything you could ever hope for. Upon the release of Halo 3 ODST, there was also the Mythic 2 map pack. Not quite as good, but it was enough.
Finish the fight. At a reasonable pace.
Something I appreciate about the game and mentioned briefly earlier is that there’s no sprint. In my opinion, sprint leads to an entirely different design philosophy than one without it. Not having sprint slows the game down, allowing players to be more methodical in their play. You’ve seen sprint shooters where everyone is running around like Speedy Gonzales just hoping for the next guy to show up in front of them. There being no loadouts, to me, makes the game entirely more fair.
Everyone starts out with the same weapons, and it’s on you to know where they are and when they will respawn. The only way to get the coveted sniper rifle is to find it or kill the guy who has it. Skilled opponents will call out when a weapon is taken, and then will know exactly to the second when it’ll respawn. In the past, I’ve often thrown the sniper off the map to get it out of play, just so the enemy can’t have it.
Halo 3 is available in the Master Chief Collection, in an improved resolution and frame rate. It has mouse support, something that was lacking in the Xbox 360 locked original. Adding all of that together, you’d think that’d be the best way to play. To me personally, it’s nowhere near. Original or nothing. If you haven’t, watch the Halo 3 documentaries filmed during development. You see a dev team who are genuinely enjoying creating something fun. They’re passionate and in high spirits, something you don’t see as much today.
10. Sega Superstars Tennis – Melty
Game: Set and Match.
Sega. One of the biggest companies in modern gaming, and some of the most recognisable characters of all time.
Tennis. One of the biggest games in modern sports, and some of the most recognisable players of all time.
Combine these two powerhouses in their respective communities, and you get Sega Superstars Tennis: a truly magical piece of art. Now, while I’m not a massive fan of tennis, this game gets me in the mood for ball-whacking shenanigans. I love the roster of characters, from the ever-famous Sonic the Hedgehog, to the ethereal Nights, the out-of-this-world Ulala, all the way to the forgotten classic Gilius Thunderhead. Some of these characters are unlockables, with Alex Kidd being the most difficult to unlock, in my opinion. The unlockability of these characters makes the game addictive in ways that I can’t describe. To me, anyway.
Migrating Minigames
Tennis isn’t the only game within this guilty pleasure. Yes, you still use the tennis racket and ball as your main weapon; however, the minigames in different worlds give you different tasks to complete. Whether it’s smashing down hordes of zombies in the House of the Dead world, graffitiing your tag in the world of JetSetRadio, or smacking Monkey Balls into their respective goals, the fun never ends when playing this game. You can also choose your favourite tracks to play in the background when you’re focusing on defeating the flying enemies in Space Harrier or popping the little beans of Puyo Pop Fever.
Sega Superstars Tennis is one hell of a good time, and it plays much better on the Xbox 360 than on any other console it’s available on. I’d love to see a new instalment of this game. Could you imagine some of the newer Sega characters battling it out on the court? Ichiban Kasuga losing a tennis match against Charmy Bee? You’d love to see it. With Sonic Crossworlds being a new instalment to the company’s roster, maybe a sequel to this game isn’t too far-fetched.
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