Retro|Spective 190: The Final Tour of Xbox

[Neon Ignition]

The Original Xbox - Turning 20 years old this November

As we enter the final days of Retro|Spective we are going to be building up to looking at some classic franchises that, to be honest, it's amazing they haven't already received a dedicated thread in this series. But as part of our journey we will also be revisiting each of the biggest consoles of the 128-bit generation because they sit just on the right edge of being retro enough to warrant attention but are still recent enough to evoke strong memories and have titles that are either unique to the systems or interesting enough look back at.

In between covering the last of the franchises that will covered we will take a look back at each of the four main consoles of this era beginning with Microsoft's debut machine in the powerful and short lived original Xbox. From the birth of Xbox Live, the true beginning of the modern online gaming networks, to the rapid evolution away from the infamous Duke controller into the S controller that would become the first significant stride towards todays lauded design phase, the technological progression of the Xbox brand and its infamous black and green hues began here.

Each day, till either interest or available games dries up, we will look at a different title that is a noteworthy game in the systems history or library and discuss what that game means to us, if it was and still is a worthy title and its place within the systems history.

And now, it's time to begin...




Amped / Amped 2
These games, along with a third game on the X360, birthed one of Microsoft's first franchises in a series of snowboarding games that saw players focusing on tricks rather than racing. The games main unique feature was how it used the systems internal hard drive to load the entire mountain model so that players could free roam their way as they saw fit rather than streaming a set course. It also used the hard drive to allow players to play their own custom soundtracks, a feature that was unique to the Xbox and has sadly vanished from modern systems that technically remain capable of the feature.





Did the snowboarding series leave you feeling amped?

[chopemon]

I never played the first two games but Amped 3 on the 360 was a hell of a good surprise at launch. Really funny (not sure if it is now) and stylish and great to play.

[charlesr]

I was a big fan of 1080 and SSX. Coming to Amped was a bit of a shock. I was impressed with the visuals, but didn't quite get fluffy feeling from the controls. I much preferred Stoked on the 360.

[samanosuke]

But as part of our journey we will also be revisiting each of the biggest consoles of the 128-bit generation because they sit just on the right edge of being retro enough to warrant attention but are still recent enough to evoke strong memories and have titles that are either unique to the systems or interesting enough look back at.

Interesting you refer to it as the 128-bit generation when the Xbox was a 32-bit machine. Someone will probably correct me here but as I recall the PS2 was the only console in that generation with a 128-bit CPU, with the Dreamcast having a 64-bit Hitachi and the GameCube having a 64-bit PowerPC variant.

[wakka]

Yeah sort it out Neon. You've really messed this one up bud.

EDIT: I have never played Amped.

[Brad]

X is 32 bit
Ps2 is 64 bit

Which goes to show that the bitness meant nothing!

[samanosuke]

X is 32 bit
Ps2 is 64 bit

Which goes to show that the bitness meant nothing!

The Atari Jaguar is twice as powerful as the Xbox, and the CD32 is equal to it, as are four ZX Spectrums configured for parallel processing.

[Neon Ignition]

But a Dreamcast 2 is 256-bit! Zack Morris told me so!

I miss the 'bits' era.

[Neon Ignition]

Azurik: Rise of Perathia
One of the earliest action adventure games on the Xbox and exclusive to the system, this title saw players take on the Avatar looking lead role of Azurik has he travels the realms of Perathia looking for elemental disc fragments that will help him to save the world. Though an early key release for the system response was mixed and the game remained a one shot tied to the system.



Did you play through this game and was it worth the effort?

[Neon Ignition]

This is a game I pretty much remember for existing on store shelves, seeing the box art but little else. Watching gameplay vids it doesn't seem that good which probably explains it but it still seems odd that such an early exclusive is so forgotten

[Neon Ignition]

Blinx: The Time Sweeper & Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
The duo of titles from Artoon which at the time represented Microsofts first real direct tackle of the family platformer market. The titles focused on Blinx the Cat and his time manipulating abilities to solve puzzles and work through obstacles.



Did you enjoy Blinx or would you manipulate time backward so you never played it?

[Asura]

Azurik I always remember because when the Xbox first came out, they reduced the price very early, and offered people 2 free games from a shortlist as compensation. Azurik was one of them. It was... Okay. Not great.

Can I just say, Amped 2 is one of my favourite games ever, and next to 1080 is my favourite title in the entire boarder/skater/trick genre, more than any Tony Hawk or SSX game. The first one was great, but the second one was exceptionally good.

[Atticus]

Nothing matched 1080 for me but I did have some fun with Amped. Says something that my enduring memory was the ability to play your own soundtrack in the game. Was a good feature to be fair.

[Asura]

Nothing matched 1080 for me but I did have some fun with Amped. Says something that my enduring memory was the ability to play your own soundtrack in the game. Was a good feature to be fair.

It had "radio stations" like GTA, also. I seem to remember there were about 5, with different music types.

[samanosuke]

I got Amped together with Oddworld as my two “compo” games. I didn’t give Amped more than five minutes as it didn’t have pick up and play mechanics like 1080 or SSX, the two games I’d hoped it’d be similar to. Loved Oddworld but I was a fan of the original 2D games anyway.

The launch title I ploughed most of my time into was JSRF.