The 10th Hour 07.24.09: Top Xbox Live Arcade Games

Posted by Adam Larck on 07.24.2009

From ports to remakes to new creations, see what Adam Larck’s Top 10 Live Arcade games are in this week’s 10th Hour.


Welcome back to another week of the 10th Hour. Before I do a few reader comments, I want to do a brief update.

- This really is a dead time of year as far as games go. For sports fans, NCAA just came out, and Madden will be out next month. For me? Nothing. I probably won't even look at getting a new game until late August, when the new Batman, Professor Layton, and Final Fantasy PSP games come out on the same week.

For now, I keep playing my usual games and trying to catch up on games I bought but never played a lot. Sacred 2 is still big on my list, as I've gotten even more friends to get it. I may try to get into some retail games for a week while I wait for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 to come out next week.

Reader Feedback

Last week's column was all about ninjas. What did people think about the column?

First up we have a short little comment from doom H. Which game does he think belonged up on the list?

"Naruto?"

Hmm. Naruto was a strange scenario for me. I know that it's a ninja series, but I have never played any of the games. I really would not have known what to go off of when writing about why it was on the list. So, instead of enraging Naruto fans, I took the safe road here and just left it off the list.

Next up is M:-X, who left a two-part comment this week.

"Tenchu deserves to be much higher than #5, especially since games like Shinobi & Strider have almost no stealth aspect to them at all."
"Also, Tenchu 2 is pretty much regarded as the WORST of the series, with the original and Wrath of Heaven being the 2 that are actually good."

As far as the first part of the comment goes, each game chooses to exemplify a different aspect of ninjas. Tenchu was more of the stealth based side, while Shinobi and Strider focused more on their weapons and fighting. On my list, I liked the weapons side more than the stealth side, which was represented by the picks on my list.

As far as Tenchu 2 being regarded as the worst in the series, have you played Tenchu on the 360? I liked Tenchu 2 personally, and Wrath of Heaven was good as well. It's just a matter of opinion as far as favorites in a series.

Finally, we have Lee Price mentioning a game I completely forgot about. What do you have for us Price?

"Mystical Ninja Goemon would like a word! Otherwise good list, though I'd personally place Shinobi over Ninja Gaiden."

I definitely forgot this game from the Super NES (The Legend of the Mystical Ninja). The gameplay in Goemon was fun, and the way they did the level designs were interesting. I especially remember the carnival level, and just walking through there exploring everything. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to try the N64 version of the game. Maybe I'll get around to that someday.

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The 10th Hour – Top Xbox Live Arcade Games

With the Summer of Arcade starting this week, I wanted to do a column on my favorite Xbox Live Arcade games. The games range from just releases, to completely new games. Let's get started on my favorites, shall we?

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10. Castle Crashers - I'll be honest; I still haven't bought this game on my own system due to the price. I bought Alien Hominid when it first came out, and just can't warrant paying more for a similar game.

That being said, I have played the trail a lot and played the game on my friends systems. I always like being the blue knight, and just running around with my friends beating up enemies. The experience system in this game is surprisingly well done as well. What I like most about the co-op mode, though, is the fact that you can revive teammates during the game. It's great to be able to rejoin in the action than to get punished by just sitting on the sidelines watching. Still, I wish that this game would drop price as a Deal of the Week so that I could go ahead and pick this game up.

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9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - My favorite Castlevania game in the series, directly ported to the Live Arcade. I've put a ton of hours into this game, just trying to explore the area and uncover all the secrets.

Unfortunately, I've been at a standstill with this game for months. I forget where to go, and not sure where I'm actually at. I know I've missed stuff, but I already turned the castle upside down so not sure how to get to it. Because of this, I haven't played this game in about six, seven months. Hopefully when I head back to campus next month I can start this game again and try to figure out my next area to go to.

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8. Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie - I never did own this games for Nintendo 64, yet they were two of my most played games. I'd always play them at a friend's place or I would just borrow the games for months at a time. These games also cost me nothing. The first game I got with a Nuts and Bolts preorder, while Tooie I got through a downloadable code given away by Trixie from Xbox Live.

These are the type of platformers that I miss. It's something that seems to be lacking on Live Arcade. Plus, for a collector like me, these games were great. Collecting all the puzzles pieces and Jinjos were great time wasters, and I always tried to get them all. While I still haven't beaten all of these games on Live yet, I need to have a marathon some week with the games and do that.

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7. Ikaruga - This was the second Deal of the Week game I picked up, but I had played it long before on Gamecube. I had liked the game then, and I still like it now. But, I forgot how hard it was. I'm currently stuck on the third level. However, this game has something that can help me beat that soon: online co-op. This feature is great, and I hope that this weekend I can finally sit down and find some people to play with online.

Like my previous two choices, I kept this game down on my list because they weren't really anything new, just ports of previous games. However, the ports were great to be able to own again.

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6. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved - This was the first game I bought over Live, and was amazed at how simple the game was. It's just basically Asteroids, with a lot more enemies flying at you at once. The enemies are also varied as well, from slow moving diamonds, to homing squares, to snakes that keep growing. I also like to play the evolved mode, and try to see how long I can actually survive without firing a bullet.

I never have got to try the second game, but would like to see the different gametypes there. Geometry Wars is fun, but it's one of those games where I play until I lose all lives, and get either bored or annoyed and go to a different game.

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5. Braid - I always like a good puzzle game. And an action-puzzle game with time bending abilities seemed right down my alley. The puzzles ranged from easy to downright evil. My best memory, though, was the final level. I'm not going to ruin the game, but just seeing the level and finally understanding the game was a level of deepness I did not expect from an Arcade game.

I try to jump back to this game from time to time, but now that I know the ending, the game just feels bland to me. It's still a great action-puzzle game that's worth checking out, just to see that a good storyline can be built into an Arcade game.

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4. The Maw - The Maw is a game where the objective is to eventually devour all creatures in sight as you get bigger. What can go wrong? I picked this game up after seeing a lot of talk about it on Twitter. I had a lot of fun while I played it. The powers Maw would get during the game were great to see, and I had fun running around on Maw after devouring the Beetull. Also, the final level is an interesting change of pace, and I liked flying around the giant Maw.

If only the game was longer, or had more replay-ability. I really haven't touched it much since I completed the game. I know there are a few more episodes out now, but I can't justify paying 100 Microsoft Points for a short level extension.

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3. Penny Arcade Episode 1 - This was the first Deal of the Week incentive I actually found that interested me. I had wanted to check out this game for a while, but the price had been holding me back. When I finally got it, though, I had a blast with it. I explored every area and got all the collectibles. I also thought the enemies were great. It just felt right destroying hobos and mimes with a rake.

Like most RPGs, though, this suffered the problem of replay-ability after beating the full game as well. However, I spent a good two weeks messing around with this game, and still have fond memories of it.

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2. Space Invaders Extreme - While this is one of the newest releases on my list, this has also been the most fun for me and my friend to play. Don't get me wrong, the single player is just as fun. But, playing this game with friends on the co-op was fun. Whether it was deciding patterns to attack waves that were giving us problems, or yelling at each other over who took a powerup, we keep having fun with this game.

The only reason it's not top on my list is because of longevity. This game has only been out for a few months. My top game has been out for a few years.

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1. Marble Blast Ultra - This is the other game I got at the same time as Geometry Wars when I got my system. It's also my most played Arcade game. I still get on this game quite often to just roll around. Sometimes to try for new scores, sometimes just to mess around in the game.

I've beaten all the levels, played a decent amount of the multiplayer, but still keep coming back for single-player fun. Probably my favorite level is the Black Diamond. It's just a straight downhill level that's more for speed than anything else. I just like rushing down there and seeing what the quickest time I can get is. It's a simplistic game, but it's always fun just to pick up and play for a short time between other games.

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Well, that's all I have for this week. Like or hate what I said? Shoot me an email at [e-mail] or leave a comment below. Any feedback is appreciated.

Screenshots
All 9 The 10th Hour Screenshots