The 12 Games of Xbox Article

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4. Ninja Gaiden

• Review
• Xbox 360 compatible? Yes

What we said then:

'This ought to take its rightful place alongside Halo and Knights of the Old Republic as part of a key troika of influential fantasy titles on Xbox. We know you'll get more enjoyment out of this than virtually every game due this side of Christmas...you've never played a game that's simultaneously as gorgeous, entertaining, inviting and downright hardcore as Ninja Gaiden. No other game manages to deliver on the potential of controlling a ninja with this much flair and authority - it is one of the finest action games ever made.'

What we say now:

Rob: Yes, it's difficult - indeed, its name is almost a byword for difficulty. However, it's also one of the most rewarding games I've ever played; its difficulty level never really became frustrating, because there was a real sense that the more you played, the more honed your skills became. With the exception of the first boss, the difficulty level was almost perfectly honed so that you made slow but steady progress, and going back to play the early stages again after finishing the game was a real eye-opener to just how much the game was teaching you. Not to mention, of course, that the game was utterly gorgeous - a real showcase for the system. Now if only Itagaki and the rest of Team Ninja would stop breathing heavily over Dead or Alive XBV2, maybe they could get to work making a proper sequel for us...

In Ninja Gaiden, timing needed to be perfect. Ironically, it wasn't released here for ages.

Tom: The only thing that I don't like about Ninja Gaiden is that I'm no longer any good at it. But it still creeps along the walls of my imagination, prancing away from them every so often to remove some lesser game's head in one gorgeous sweeping arc of swishy death. If only Itagaki spent more time doing things like this...

Kristan: Unfortunately, Ninja Gaiden was perhaps one of the most hardcore games ever released, and it's no great surprise that it sold to a select few -we're all too chicken! If I wasn't so busy reviewing current games, I'd definitely invest the time to play it. It's like the hackandslash badge of honour to say you've finished this.

How well has it aged?

Amazingly. It's still technically one of the most impressive games ever made on any system, and scrubs up well in terms of scenery, character models and animation against any current title. In fact, running it on a 360 even now makes you realise what a capable machine the Xbox was when developers really pushed it. It's a shame we didn't see this level of performance too often from the big black box.

5. Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2

• KOTOR 1 review
• KOTOR 2 review
• Xbox 360 compatible? Yes

What we said then:

'The best Star Wars game since X-Wing and/or Tie Fighter, if not ever. Unless something entirely unbelievable descends from the heavens, it's the RPG of the year. If the remaining major players fumble even slightly, it's game of the year. Along with Halo, it's the reason to invite Bill Gates into your house.'

What we say now:

Ronan:Of all the games on this list, you could argue that KOTOR took the biggest step forward. It reinvigorated a genre once associated with cliquey groups of anorak boys into an acceptable form of entertainment. And that's just Star Wars. After this, we could never go back to the overtly pen-and-paper inspired RPGs of yesteryear, nor would we want to. KOTOR took the underlying depth of Baldur's Gate an and clothed it in one of the most cinematic storytelling systems seen in games to date. In years to come, when games become more comparable to TV shows, KOTOR - and its spiritual successor Mass Effect, if its showing at X06 is anything to judge by - will be considered the pioneers.

Rob: Star Wars is the exception to the rule when it comes to those sci-fi epic adventures I love so much. This game looked great, but I couldn't bring myself to care, sadly. Kristan: My copy's still sitting on my shelf waiting for when I magically get some extra time to play it. Apparently it's really good.

How well has it aged:

In a gameplay sense, it hasn't aged at all. It's still regarded by most fans as one of the best Western RPGs around. Technically it was never the best looking game on Xbox, so you could argue it hasn't fared brilliantly in that respect, but BioWare still has a style of its own that makes you forget about the slightly rough edges.

6. Panzer Dragoon Orta

• Review
• Xbox 360 compatible? No

What we said then:

'It's beautiful game - and stands as a landmark 3D shoot 'em up; a refined, well-designed and intelligent title and marks a real progression in the genre. If strategic blasting sounds like your idea of gaming nirvana then look no further.'

What we say now:

Kristan: In early 2003, perhaps the last thing the Xbox needed was a hardcore shoot 'em up for gaming purists, so it no surprise that the game's distributor, Infogrames, elected to push Sega's game out into stores with zero fanfare. Bleh. Marketing spend be damned, this was a game that had serious crossover potential, thanks to some of the most beautiful visuals ever seen before or since, and gameplay to die for that makes it one of the genuine Xbox classics that every serious gamer should own. Combining Rez's on-rails shoot 'em up gameplay with somewhat more traditional bosses, it delivered a rare intensity that demanded precise aiming and the right selection of weapons at any one time. Initially fiddly, it was one of those games that rewarded persistence and patience with one spectacular level after another. Even now, it's simply one of the best traditional shooters ever, and we pray that one day Microsoft will make it compatible with the 360.

Rob didn't like this after a while, but we didn't like him instantly, so it balances out.

Rob: Looked absolutely lovely, but after one playthrough I was done with Orta. Great graphics couldn't turn this on-rails shooter into anything more than the sum of its parts - beautiful, but only skin deep. Without the synesthesia-like hook which made Rez into an instant cult hit, Orta just didn't have much to recommend it to me - and I'm constantly surprised at how highly other people seem to rate a game which was basically just a tarted up but less well balanced Starfox.

How well has it aged?

Visually, incredibly well. Like many Japanese games developed exclusively for the Xbox, it was a poster child for the system -only a poster that remained rolled up in the back of the publisher's cupboard. Built around glorious scrolling 3D environments, the deliberately on-rails nature of the gameplay allowed Smilebit to really push the system -and with few games employing the same technique, it feels very different to pretty much any other game on the console.

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