Old-School Games With A Twist

Update:

There is a minor update to the Xbox Arcade Hit Castle Crashers available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

To learn more about the DLC King pack, check out The Behemoth blog.

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Original Post:

The Xbox 360 is my favorite game system. Obviously I enjoy a good online Halo 3 match or Gears of War 2 battle as much as the next gamer, however I have found myself extremely excited about the Xbox LIVE Arcade/Community game scene lately.

The New Xbox Experience has brought around a lot of cool advancements in home/online gaming: Friend Parties | Extensive Avatar System | Intuitive Interface | Netflix Integration and lots more. One of the more notable features is the availability of more “Arcade” style games ready for download in the Game Marketplace.

I say “Arcade” because the games sold in the Arcade section are not only old arcade games updated to run on the Xbox 360, they also include classic games from systems like the NES and the Nintendo64. Built more for the casual gamer, Arcade games have really pique my interest because they take me back to a time when games were more linear. Meaning rather than having a huge story line and enormous back stories, you can simply download and start having fun with these retro games, jumping right into the action. The arcade section of the Xbox LIVE Marketplace boast classic titles such as: (Xbox LIVE Marketplace Links) Banjo-Kazooie | Metal Slug 3 | TMNT 1989 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Pac-Man and Defender.

However, the titles I have been most excited about are the new ones! Don’t get me wrong classic games have their spot in my heart, but developers have really taken hold of this new outlet for creating/distributing games over Xbox LIVE and have made some really stellar games. My favorites include:

(Xbox LIVE Marketplace Links)
• Braid
• Geometry Wars 2
• N+

Click to enlarge

So why not give them a quick play and let me know what you think. Come on, I know you still have some Microsoft Points left over from Christmas! If that isn’t the case however FREE DEMOS are available for all of the games mentioned above. Have fun!

Also noteworthy, Castle Crashers by Behemoth another amazing Xbox LIVE Arcade game, has some awesome figurines in their store.

Aren’t these little guys awesome! (Click the image to enlarge.)