The first group of original Xbox games released on October 24th, 2017 had quite a few gems. There were lots of fan favorites like Ninja Gaiden Black, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fusion Frenzy, and a few other titles. This was certainly a good start to introducing people to the classic titles that were found on the original Xbox, but now as we are almost into March. It feels like a good time to start talking about what other games we wish that would come to the backward compatibility program. This is my personal list of 5 games I hope to come in the upcoming months!
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Jade Empire
Jade Empire is a 2005 classic action-RPG from developers Bioware (Pre-Mass Effect era) and published by Microsoft Game Studios. This game represented classic early Bioware giving an amazing in-depth story influenced heavily by Chinese mythology and brought about a whole new combat system that many had not seen in the genre yet. This game is an absolute must play for any RPG fans, while many of us are still hoping beyond hope for a sequel. The likelihood of this happening, however, is very low. Adding the original to backward compatibility would be great for the fans and maybe just maybe garner enough attention for a sequel.
I can hope anyways.
2. Morrowind
This one pretty much goes without saying for many people, the third installment of the Elder Scrolls series developed by Bethesda Softworks. This was the first Elder Scrolls game to arrive on console way back on June 6, 2002. For many this was their first experience with the Elder Scrolls series and this title did not disappoint. Many people, myself included were wowed by the freedom and size of Morrowind. While now after Elder Scrolls V, we are used to huge and detailed worlds full of life. Morrowind, however, set the standard for this experience back over 15 years ago and was truly ahead of its time.
3. Def Jam: Fight for NY
You ever wonder who would win in a brutal fight to the “death” between Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav? This game perfectly answered this question. Combining wrestling, kickboxing, and street fighting into a perfect violent blend with some of the biggest rappers at the time. Using both the environment and special moves to brutally beat down your opponent plus possibly one of the best hip-hop soundtracks to be found in a video game. This game is truly a gem of the 6th generation and with Microsoft’s well-known track record with Electronic Arts, there might be a sliver of hope that this game could find its way to EA Access. However, I can only imagine this game would be a huge licensing nightmare.
4. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
This game was and still is considered to be the standard for stealth-based games. While many games have improved on the stealth mechanics in this game. Chaos Theory is the third game in the Splinter Cell series and if often regarded as the pinnacle of the series. Refined stealth mechanics combined with a thrilling story of espionage as well as a separate short co-op campaign which was a blast to play with a friend. The competitive multiplayer of Spies Vs Merc’s also made a return with many improvements thanks to changes and adding more gadgets to the spies arsenal. Changes were also made making combat more refined for the Merc’s which made the multiplayer a very enjoyable and balanced experience. This game was truly the whole package, and will forever be in my top 10 greatest games.
5. Need for Speed: Most Wanted
No, we are not talking about 2012’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted. We are talking about 2005’s legendary game, which in my opinion was one of the best arcade racer’s of the 6th generation. While the Underground series was a fantastic duo of racing goodness. Most Wanted combined the racing aspects of the Underground series with the police chase action of 2002’s Hot Pursuit 2. The combination became a classic, racing for pink slips, knocking out rivals off the “Black List” and completing pursuit challenges for reputation. The game gave you so much variety in things to do you really never felt like you did the same thing twice. This game would be a fantastic addition to the backwards compatible library.
This caps off my list for my most wanted games, what games would you like to see come to Original Xbox backwards compatibility?
