Retro|Spective 190: The Final Tour of Xbox

[Neon Ignition]

I'm in the camp that vastly prefers JSFR to the original, the first game has enough of a touch of frustration about it that I never took to it like others did. The sequel ironed out the issues I had with it and has always remained one of the very best memories of the system I have and it's always been a huge shame that it never got the exposure the first one did.

Crazy Taxi 3, I think it's interesting mostly because it's the least familiar entry. It retains the jumping that killed the gameplay in the sequel and altered the feel of the vehicles so they felt less snappy and a bit more sluggish. The original game is without doubt the best in the series. That being said, if you aim to play an entry beyond the original this would probably be the best one, Crazy Taxi 2 is pretty much entirely redundant for this one existing.

[wakka]

Very interesting.

I've been scanning Ebay for Crystal version machines in good nick, and it's entirely down to this thread

[Neon Ignition]

That's how I ended up with mine too, looking into this sent me into a spiral of hardware research They come up pretty frequently and aren't too expensive given how expensive the green crystal versions are. Ended up paying extra in the end for the bigger HDD and for a refurb to avoid HDD degradation and the clock capacitor issue

[Asura]

Dead or Alive 3 / Dead or Alive Ultimate / Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
It's easy to forget that the DOA series, now so famous for milking every dime it can, was once limited to just the Xbox platform and for its third game and celebration of the first two it still is. Whilst Ultimate is a straight forward affair, the third game was an early visual showcase for the system. For many, whilst XBV represents the series at its basest level, it's also still the best entry in that subseries too.

Gonna disagree here; Dead or Alive Ultimate is one of the most important games of that generation, and has an important place in the fighting game pantheon which is often forgotten about - because it was the first fighting game with a competent online implementation.

Prior online fighters were generally poor. The lag made the gameplay very uneven, which actually affected game balance, as certain characters became better than others due to how the games operate, like characters who relied on a counter-game or parries became much worse. They were only 1-v-1, with no lobbies, and their ranking systems were rudimentary. I have memories of trying to get good games of Capcom vs SNK2 EO and Street Fighter III Third Strike and it really was pot-luck.

DOA2U had a full ranking system and a non-ranked mode, critically with 8-person winner-stays-on lobbies, full voice chat, and whilst I don't think it had modern-style rollback netcode, it was a gigantic leap over what had come before.

It was essentially the template that all good online fighters would follow; Dead or Alive 4 basically repeated the formula with a few improvements but the bulk of what we wanted was finally in place in DOA2U.

[charlesr]

Can't believe how many of these I never played.

[charlesr]

Do World Racing 2. Because the first one was so good* they had to make another.

[Neon Ignition]

At current pace we still have a solid little run ahead of us too, today was a day for fairly notable ones but we're plunging back into the lesser knowns tomorrow.

[wakka]

That's how I ended up with mine too, looking into this sent me into a spiral of hardware research They come up pretty frequently and aren't too expensive given how expensive the green crystal versions are. Ended up paying extra in the end for the bigger HDD and for a refurb to avoid HDD degradation and the clock capacitor issue

That's exactly where I am. Did you end up getting a crystal machine in the end? I'd love one of those obnoxious lime green Mountain Dew branded ones they did in the US, but there's no way I'd pay the asking for them (~£400 plus import duty). The green crystal ones are surprisingly pricey too as you say, I remember those being on sale and they weren't hard to get hold of at all at the time.

Deffo going to avoid the black if I pick one up, it's just so dull. Transparent plastic is so 2000s, gotta love it.

What's the story with the clock capacitor by the way - should I be looking for a unit that's had this replaced?

[Neon Ignition]

Yup, back in the day I'd had standard, crystal and green units but looking back the crystal has aged best. I do like the Japanese crystal blue version but it goes for insane money too and the OG Xbox is too tempermental at this age to spend big money on. I was glad the crystal goes for decent rates so got one of those, mine came with a duke controller so I ordered a seperate crystal controller too.

The clock capacitors degrade and leake destroying the board. You can use pliers or a careful touch and wiggle it till it snaps off the board which stops the issue altogether as the console doesn't need it but buying one second hand it's a bit of a gamble as to whether the one inside will have started leaking already so I went for a listing where it stated it had already been removed.

[Neon Ignition]

Welcome to your Tuesday line up of obscure Xbox exclusives!



Kabuki Warriors
Launched in the wake of the consoles own launch, this title was developed by Genki and has at times been labelled one of the worst games of all time which kind of makes it all the more alluring as an early curio of the Xbox era. The game used just one button for attacks and was also torn into for poor graphics, also attaining the accolade of receiving EDGE magazines first ever 1/10 review score.





Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal
Developed by a studio made up of members of Dream Factory and Microsoft, Kakuto Chojin is a three dimensional fighter born of a tech demo intended to showcase the graphical capabilities of the Xbox console. Each of the 13 fighters has two fighting styles, playing somewhat like Tekken (given some of its staffers were from the Tekken teams also) and it received middling reviews. At the time it was most well known for being pulled from release due to it being discovered that chants from the Quran played in the background music for the games middle eastern character. Microsoft pulled the title, amended the content and reshipped but unable to control existing stock of the original version that still existed in the market they were eventually forced to pull the game from sale worldwide forever.





Kung Fu Chaos
Players control a range of characters as they make a kung fu movie with gameplay used to produce footage of the film which players can watch later on. The game was well received from is mostly notable for being the first title made by Just Add Monsters, the studio that would take what it learnt here and go on to rebrand itself as Ninja Theory.




Mad Dash Racing
In a way this is the Xbox's very own Pen Pen Trilcelon has players race on foot around one of nine tracks in a plotted racer. Like so very many of the systems exclusives it received mixed reviews so isn't an often talked about title.




Maximum Chase
Genki returns once again, this time with its attempt at recreating the PGR style of racer but with shooting sections and objectives mixed in to give it more of a Hollywood experience vibe.




Does todays batch of exclusives contain any nostalgic memories?

[charlesr]

Maximum Chase! Best name ever.

[samanosuke]

Can't believe how many of these I never played.

Innit. But back then I remember the Xbox being a PES and Halo machine for me and my mates. It wasn’t that there weren’t a lot of good games, it’s just Halo (and its sequel) link up (we even tried a hub with four ‘Boxes a couple of times) was soooooo good. Then we had hacked Xboxes with all the custom levels and it just went on and on…

PES… was just PES… amazing to play against mates.

[Neon Ignition]

The Wednesday line up revealed!


MechAssault / MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
These mech games were amongst the first Xbox Live enabled offerings in a series that saw warring factions battle in mechanical machines against one another. The online aspect was the key draw though with both games receiving positive reviews though the sequel found itself hampered by allowing the visuals to become dated and not putting enough into the single player.






Midtown Madness 3
At the time this was one of Microsofts most well known pre-existing franchises so making the jump from PC to console seemed like an obvious move. The game arrived with vastly better visuals than its predecessors and saw players free roam an open city exploring and completing missions. Like several other Xbox titles it also made use of Xbox Live to feature an online multiplayer mode but in the end fell foul to abandoning its PC audience and not having enough meat to it to keep players engaged on console which led to MS abandoning the property.





N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment
Despite its attention seeking name, the game isn't a lewd hentai title but instead a game focused on training up a virtual humanoid robot in a type of Seaman styled title. Only capable of basic functions at first, players use the Xbox headset to teach the robot language skills and how to complete various tasks with the consoles internal clock also factoring into the tasks and development of the robot.





NightCaster / NightCaster II: Equinox
A third person single player adventure title, the player travels through the game fighting off enemies by use of spells. Despite mixed reviews the game did well enough to receive a sequel which added co-op to the experience but this title was less well received.




Otogi: Myth of Demons / Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
Developed by FROMSOFTWARE, this third person hack and slash series has players take on the role of a former executioner who is trying to rid Japan of demons that have overrun the lands. Players tackle enemies whilst upgrading their abilities throughout the adventure. Both games were well received in reviews but failed to find an audience on the small westernised Xbox market.




Did you race to your nearest midtown for any of these and did they leave you in madness?

[charlesr]

Innit. But back then I remember the Xbox being a PES and Halo machine for me and my mates. It wasn’t that there weren’t a lot of good games, it’s just Halo (and its sequel) link up (we even tried a hub with four ‘Boxes a couple of times) was soooooo good. Then we had hacked Xboxes with all the custom levels and it just went on and on…

PES… was just PES… amazing to play against mates.

There was an NTSC-uk meetup at my house with 4x Halo link. Good times. And 10 player Saturn Bomberman.

[Neon Ignition]

Thursdays delectable line up:

Panzer Dragoon Orta
Sega could have taken the seminal work with Saga and continued in that direction on a better suited system like the PS2 but still stubbornly seeing that as a rival they continued with the western favoured Xbox and reverted back to the limited appeal of the rail shooter roots of the series. What emerged tried to follow up on the story of Saga and was one of the companies best regarded releases at the time. It remains locked to Xbox, with backwards compatibility on later Xbox consoles the only other modern access with no sequel ever made.





Phantom Crash
Genki returns with another commitment to Xbox with this vehicle combat title where players can customise loadouts etc. Surprisingly this did receive a sequel on PS2 titled S.L.A.I.




Project Gotham Racing / Project Gotham Racing 2
I mean, most wouldn't have a need to revisit these in light of the two well regarded sequels that followed on the X360 but here the legacy of Metropolis Street Racer first continued with the city based skill racer. Despite the success of the franchise MS would itself eventually go on to abandon it like Sega had.




Quantum Redshift
Headed by the designer of Wipeout, Quantum Redshift aimed to replicate the success by offering a similar futuristic racing experience but in a visual showcase for the system utilising real time reflections, eater splashes and high-res textures. A planned Xbox Live enabled sequel was dropped by Microsoft after the game flopped at retail despite good reviews.




Racing Evoluzione / Apex
An arcade style racer, the games main mode is one where you can manage a dealership and create your own cars. Players build up R&D Fundss to develop new cars from blueprints and race them against other creations.




Did any of these get some Xbox era love from you?