The Xbox 360 is officially a retro console, even though it seems like just yesterday that the Red Ring of Death was a thing. While the 2005 launch, due to this controversy, was troubling for Microsoft, they still managed to have a great console lifecycle thanks to their console-exclusive offerings.
10 Underrated Xbox 360 Games That Have Aged Like Fine Wines
These Xbox 360 games were surprisingly underrated, but hold up better than some modern Xbox Series X/S games.
Compared to the Wii and PS3, the Xbox 360 had more variety in terms of first-party and third-party exclusives that still wear to this day, including Lost Odyssey and Halo: Well. Let's rank the best console exclusives that celebrated the Xbox 360's heyday, taking into account action, stories and solid gameplay.
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Viva Piñata
Animal Crossing With Piñatas
Viva Piñata
- Release date
-
2006 – 2010-00-00
- Network
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YTV, FOX, CW
- Directors
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Daniel DeSerranno, Ezekiel Norton, Ian Freedman, Michael Dowding, Steve Sacks, Andrew Duncan, Rick Allen, Craig Roberts
Among the brutal action RPGs and shooters of the Xbox 360 generation was the chill life sim from Rare called Viva Piñata. Players will be given a gloomy plot to tend to, which can attract critters that resemble piñatas. A squirrel, donkey, bird and so on have exaggerated patterns and personalities.
Creating a bog by digging around water or fencing in a grass structure will attract more animals to the garden, but it can also cause more problems as not all animals get along, plus there are intruders. At times it can feel more like an RTS than a life sim as there is a lot to deal with, but the gameplay loop is addictive once players get into the flow of things.
Forza Horizon
Driving has found a new calling
Forza Horizon
9/10
- Released
-
October 23, 2012
- ESRB
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t // Drug reference, language, suggestive themes
The Forza Horizon franchise has come a long way since the Xbox 360 days, where it began, but this first entry is still a magical trip to Colorado. Forza Horizon was an attempt to bring more of a story and structure to racing games, giving players access to a music festival tied to status, allowing them to participate in new events, races, and so on.
There were traditional races on tracks, but the cooler exhibits allowed players to openly navigate the streets or race helicopters in big matches. Although the images have certainly aged a bit, Forza Horizon is still one of the best racing games on the Xbox 360.
Dance center 3
Agree with the beat
Dance center 3
- Released
-
October 16, 2012
Dance center 3 is the last core game in the franchise on the Xbox 360, and Harmonix did it all. There are more songs in the game than the previous two entries, there are more moves to learn, and there is more side content to read.
Learning a dance routine is always more difficult in one Dance center game than in a game that Just dancebecause body movement is more important. That said, there's nothing like a good workout to get warmed up, followed by the old sweats all in the name of fitness, and it's still fun alone or in a party setting.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Geralt The Deal Maker
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was the first game in the series to come to consoles, and to this day is still a console exclusive for the Xbox 360. The game picks up shortly after the first game, with Geralt recounting his time with a king defending his kingdom from would-be conquerors.
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The rest of the game is action-focused, but dialogue options can change how the story goes. It's a more linear game than The Witcher 3: Wild Huntbut the action-based gameplay, storytelling and world design of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is still good.
Super meat boy
A sloppy masterpiece
Super meat boy was one of the first indie games to make it big on the Xbox 360, which would later be ported to consoles. Like the Meat Boy title, players had to enter every level expecting to save Bandage Girl from Dr. Fetus. In the end, players were rejected by Dr. Fetus and had to move on, sometimes with elaborate boss battles at the end of worlds.
It was a game about rescuing Princess Peach in multiple castles throughout Super Mario Bros.but the pixel perfect design of Super Meat Boy's the levels made it more challenging and exciting to complete, between the platform itself and avoiding traps like spinning saw blades.
Gears Of War
A 21 Chainsaw Gun Salute
Gears of War helped refine cover-based shooting mechanics and overall game design for an entire generation. The game can now be enjoyed on other consoles, but the original trilogy made its home on the Xbox 360. This first game focused on ex-prisoner Marcus Fenix being reinstated in the military to fight back against the new Locust army, which was the alien species of this franchise.
Teaming up with troops made encounters more engaging, along with the rush between cover and active reloading also added excitement to the gunplay. Best of all, sawing through an enemy with the chainsaw rifle was sheer luck.
Lost Odyssey
A reimagining of Final Fantasy
Lost Odyssey was an exclusive turn-based RPG for the Xbox 360, which is now backwards compatible on Xbox consoles, but nowhere else. It was developed by Mistwalker, who was the father of Final FantasyHironobu Sakaguchi, studio after leaving Square Enix. Set in a fantastical world constantly at war, immortals are recruited into the war effort to stop a world ending.
The gameplay is pretty standard for a turn-based RPG, but the storytelling is what really sets this game apart decades later, thanks to the writing, the characters, and the high drama of following immortal beings through the ages and the melancholy that comes with longevity.
Mass effect
Star Wars crossed with Star Trek
The original Mass effect began as an Xbox 360 exclusive before being ported elsewhere at the end of this console generation, but even with the port, this is a fully immersive Xbox RPG for many. Developed by BioWare, this was their chance to create one Star Wars-as sci-fi universe after-Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and it worked.
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Creating a character through Commander Shepard, getting to choose where the conversations and story went, the deep knowledge of planets and races and everything in between helped to Mass effect a memorable universe. The team-based gameplay, cover shooting, and powers didn't hurt it either.
Fable 2
Shape the hero's journey
Fable 2 is almost everything the first game promised and then some. The start is slow, giving the player-created character time to grow in their almost Dickensian snowy town, but eventually the player's sister is murdered, setting things off. For RPG fans, they got a lot to interact with, from making friends in town to tackling quests.
They had a whole host of guns, weapons and magic to fight enemies with in real time, and their canine companion made the wandering times through caves and forests more enjoyable. With good and bad choices and realistic reactions from NPCs, Fable 2 world of Albion felt more alive than most games on the Xbox 360.
Halo: Well
Goes out with a bang
Halo: Well
9/10
- Released
-
September 14, 2010
Halo: Well is a crowning achievement for Halo franchise, not seen since the original game. It managed to tell a compelling yet predictable story of how the last Spartan unit, outside of the Master Chief, held their own against the Federation on the planet Reach.
The dynamic between Noble Teams was compelling, the power-based armor mods made the encounters more exciting, and the weapon variety, along with the franchise's golden gunplay, made this a great late Xbox 360 gem. The multiplayer was also a solid piece of the puzzle, and overall this was a great swansong for Bungie regarding the franchise before taking on something bigger: Fate.
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