Staff Picks: 7 Favorite Xbox Live Arcade Games

Xbox Live Arcade is home to a lot of unique titles of all types of genres. The Spawn Kill crew fished for each of one of our favorite picks available on the marketplace that we’d recommend to our readers. As usual PopCap games sneak in and are some of our coveted addictions, but don’t be surprised if a zombie or explosionary icon sneaks up on you either. There’s a little something for everyone out there so check out our list of XBLA favorites and let us know what your favorite is!

Stephanie’s Pick:

Feeding Frenzy

Feeding Frenzy was one of the first few Xbox Live Arcade games I bought when I got my Xbox. Usually I prefer arcade-style games to be on the go with me or at an actual arcade. But Feeding Frenzy is so robust of a game that I can’t imagine where else I would finish it besides the comfort of my room. There were nights where I was playing this game until 3, 4, 5 o’ clock in the morning when clearing through the arcade mode and time attack mode for the first time.

You play as several different sea creatures as you progress through arcade mode. You start off as small fry and later in the game you’ll top it off as a killer whale. Each set of stages your goal is to eat fish that are smaller than you as fast as possible (to keep the FRENZY meter rising). The FRENZY meter stays high if you don’t have a lull in your dinner hunt, and keeping the meter high raises your points faster which in turn increases your size. Every time you increase size (about 3 times per level) you can munch on the bigger fish. It’s a seriously addictive process, where you’ll actually care about getting as many points as possible once you learn the tricks and get used to the power ups. Obviously, if a bigger fish eats you - you lose a life and your frenzy meter resets.

There are two Feeding Frenzy games on XBLA and both are great - but the first one has this extra appeal to it that makes the game more addictive. They lengthened the arcade mode to drag out a bit in part two, and made the levels a lot larger so it has a different sort of appeal to it.

Dana’s Pick:

Peggle

I had a really difficult time picking a favorite Xbox Live Arcade game. I completely forgot how many great games there are for the XBLA, until I looked at my list of purchased games. After much deliberating, I’ve picked Peggle for its extremely addictive nature. This is probably one of my favorite Popcap games next to Plants vs. Zombies and have this way of sucking me in to play it for a half hour here and there when I’m in between things. I’ll turn it on while waiting for a TV show to start, and I’ll wind up playing it much longer than I intended to. The game is long enough to make me feel as though I’ve accomplished something without being too long, and it has plenty of replay value. The online mode is also pretty enjoyable.

Dave’s Pick:

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

I’m going to go against the grain a little here and recommend something that I haven’t even played that much of. It’s a game called The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, and it’s so hard that I couldn’t make it past the 3rd level on the easiest difficulty setting. This might prompt someone to then ask, why would you recommend such a game, you prick? Well, I have a few answers to that. For one, I hate you and I want you to break your controller in frustration. Two, the game is incredibly…cool. The art style is slick, dark, and it feels like playing a comic book.

The game is essentially a brawler, but you play as an undead dishwasher who happens to be a super-ninja. You can collect various weapons, each giving you a distinct set of moves and in many cases cool powers, and when you aren’t dying or slashing your way through zombies and robots, you’re treated to some very stylish comic book cut scenes. It’s the kind of game that pisses me off while I’m playing it, but that I will continually play just because I like what it has to offer despite its major flaws. It’s also a game with maybe not as much recognition as some other XBLA titles, which prompts me to spread the word. James Silva, the same guy behind I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1, created The Dishwasher by himself using just Xbox’s XNA development tools, but you wouldn’t know that by playing it as it’s better than many multi-staffed studio projects. Check it out, it’s only 800 points and if you didn’t hate me before playing it, you will after!

Eric’s Pick:

‘Splosion Man

This really was a no brainer for me. ‘Splosion Man is still one of my favorite games to ever come out on XBLA. I’ve already said a lot about this game in my review, but I’ll say it again: ‘Splosion Man is awesome! Ultimately, it’s the mixture of humor, unique platforming, excellent multiplayer, and great puzzle solving that makes ‘Splosion Man stand out. Best of all, the easy controls makes this one of the best party games on XBL. Even the achievements are full of personality: “Not a Portal Reference” for collecting all the hidden cakes and “You’re the best around” for completing the game. There are plenty of “WTF” moments in the game, especially with ending cutscene and credits; it’s completely ridiculous, yet at the same time hilarious. Really all you have to do is YouTube the end cutscene to get an idea of the type of game this is, but to best sum it up, here’s a quote directly from the game after you’ve beaten it for the first time:

“You’ve unlocked hardcore mode but please don’t play it. It is masochistic, cheap and stupid. No checkpoints, everything kills you in a hit, it’s not worth it. You don’t need that high gamerscore. Besides you couldn’t handle it — it would ’splode your sanity. Just walk away.”

If you love platformers and have been looking for a game that brings something new to the genre then ‘Splosion Man is the game for you! Just go and get it now. ‘SPLODE!

Jason’s Pick:

Castle Crashers

As much as I love some other XBLA titles, namely Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Shadow Complex, and Limbo, I have to choose Castle Crashers simply for the insanely fun co-op play. Much of my playing time with XBLA titles is spent with single-player, so Castle Crashers is the definite title that separates itself from the pack. It’s silly, it’s funny, it’s fun, and it’s still challenging. I’ve never finished the game, with or without buddies, but it’s still been a satisfying gameplay experience that is filled with laughter and excitement. With up to four players and a range of characters of variable abilities, you hack and slash, shoot arrows, cast magic to save some princesses and to defeat some evildoers. You really get that old-school side-scroller beat-’em-up vibe here with the bosses and simple combat. Your characters can level up their skills, wield new weapons, and have an animal companion that performs useful tasks. The art style is vibrant and brings the game to life, despite its cartoony feel. Highly recommended for anyone, even if you don’t plan to play this with friends.

Fonzi’s Pick:

Shadow Complex

When I first heard about Epic Games creating a 2D/3D hybrid game in the style of Super Metroid-vania, it sounded like an amazing idea, but I was still a little skeptical about how the project would turn out. Needless to say, Epic showed that they had the right stuff to pull it off. Epic Games’ Shadow Complex redefined what it was to be an Xbox Live Arcade game. With an interesting story, astonishing graphics, innovative gameplay, and incredible replay value, Shadow Complex is easily one of my favorite XBLA games of all time. Not only did it revive the classic genre, it looked damned good doing it too. I would easily have paid almost $30-$40 for this game, and at a modest price of $15 (1200 MSP), I would have to say this isn’t just one of the best games on the XBLA; I would go so far as to say it’s pound-for-pound one of the best games on the 360. Period.

I will never forget the first time playing this game. I couldn’t drop my controller, even after I finished it. Sure, the campaign may be somewhat short, but getting all the achievements, grabbing all the items, and just trying to explore this whole game will keep you coming back for more every time. Although there may not be any multiplayer in Shadow Complex, it didn’t bother me one bit. The Proving Grounds were enough for me to go back and challenge my friends constantly. Hell, my buddies and I still go at it sometimes at the Grounds. Honestly, all I can do is praise this game, but play it and you’ll see why. I know many of you have already had the chance to enjoy Shadow Complex, but here’s a message to the few who haven’t: Buy this game. I promise you won’t regret it.

Amanda’s Pick:

Zombie Apocalypse

Konami’s Zombie Apocalypse didn’t allow me any time to bat an eyelash, that’s why I enjoyed it. Pressure! It’s not a special snowflake or anything considering it happened to only be worthy of a one-night stand. It sure was well-endowed, though; I went through a 55 level survival game comprised of seizure-inducing blinkering. It’s a dumbed-down mixture of Left 4 Dead plus Zombies Ate My Neighbors while it doesn’t exclude the joy of teamwork, complicated strategic planning is unnecessary-which is nice. All that’s required of you is to dodge, shoot, keep your eyes peeled for irritating booby traps, and rinse n’ repeat! Progression offers an enjoyable challenge as the days grow longer; bragging rights and leaderboards will give you a small incentive to maintain your survival streak, though. The environments get krunking crazy. The weapon “power-up” aspect is fun. They’ve included a flamethrower. It’s a good excuse to take a siesta from my typical single-player gaming routine and put my headset to good use. The zombies flow like diarrhea. What’s the most amusing part? It’s definitely carrying the burden of my dead teammates when they’ve run clean out of lives. Its simplistic co-op gameplay is why it’s the perfect XBLA game. It’s worth it’s small price tag and it’s that simple.