Xbox’s backward compatibility program has been an essential part of the company’s strategy. Countless games from the last twenty years have been brought to the present. Many of the games include targeted enhancements but all of them benefit from the more powerful hardware.
Faster load times and smoother frame rates are just a few of the best features when playing older games on the newer hardware. It’s also great for preservation. More games being available to play and experience is a good thing for everyone.
Xbox has brought dozens of essential classics but there are still a few games that need to make their way to the future.
5 Xbox Originals That Still Need to Come Series X|S
1. Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights
Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights is a very underrated third-person platformer that was first released in 2002 on PS2 on Gamecube. It came to Xbox a year later and it hasn’t been re-released since.
Microsoft, Warner Bros, and whoever ended up with THQ’s publishing rights for the game would need to untangle some licensing issues but then fans could explore this haunted mansion with Scooby and Shaggy.
The game has light action and the platforming isn’t overly complex but it’s a really fun time.
2. Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout 3: Takedown is literally one of the greatest car games ever and I’ve only played a few of them. I like movement and physics but I’m indifferent on what the object is.
I learned this after Burnout 3: Takedown pulled me into the possibilities of games with cars. Cars are just a mode of transportation for me or at least that’s what I thought. Burnout 3: Takedown features high-octane action, expensive explosions (literally) and racing.
The game’s signature mode is called Takedown and it puts players in areas filled with nothing but possibilities. AI-controlled drivers in other cars move around different locations while pick-ups, boosts, cash, and more are sprinkled between different obstacles.
Your mission? Get into the most expensive accident you can. The camera slowly pulls the player through the wreck and adds up the dollar amount for all the damage. It’s delightful and no one could get enough of it. And it was only released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
It didn’t even get a PC release. EA published the title and the company has a pretty good relationship with Xbox. Maybe the two companies need Burnout 3: Sit Down and Have a Conversation About Putting This Game on Xbox Game Pass.
3. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and 4. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings games are absolutely iconic action games. The Two Towers and Return of the King are often brought up in conversation surrounding classic multiplayer games.
Many gamers have a lot of fond memories with the games and would gladly throw money at experiencing them again. The two games put players in control of Aragorn, Legolas, and other characters from the films as you hack and slash your way to Mordor.
It’s got footage from the movies, along with all kinds of extras. The Tolkien Estate, Xbox, and EA should be able to make something happen. Everyone could make money off a remake or remaster too.
I’d be happy with online multiplayer being added to the original version though. There’s a reason these games come up so often in nostalgic-fueled conversations and they’ve held up really well.
5. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
PlayStation has two incredible Spider-Man games already but Spider-Man 2 is too important to get left in the past. It was one of the first big open-world sandbox games. The Batman Arkham games and Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles may have done more but the future of games is built on the past.
Spider-Man 2 might be old but it had everything. Linear scenarios along with smaller side objectives were spread through virtual New York City. It was pretty massive at the time. It had portions of Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island.
The Nokia N-Gage didn’t deserve a port of this game but it happened. Activision, Sony, and Xbox could right this wrong today. And actually, since Sony has to get involved for licensing anyway, maybe we could just get a remake instead.
Related: Xbox Game Pass Makes It Easier to Take Things Slow – And That’s Good for Games
