Watching the DMC5 trailer and people are throwing around “greatest character action game ever” all over it.
I mean:
On another note, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is my favorite in the series and I played it on Xbox. It’s sort of a more arcade-y Dark Alliance or DnD Heroes. Highly recommended in co-op.
Ninja Gaiden Black is, to me, peerless. As good as Bayonetta and DMC are, I don’t really think they’re even close to what Team Ninja accomplished on the original XBOX. Not even Team Ninja could replicate it with ports and sequels.
Agreed! It was a real accomplishment getting through that game.
What separates Ninja Gaiden from all other action games in my experience is smoothness. It is just so much smoother than anything else. Combat flows so effortlessly, Ryu will move and react absolutely as fast as you can, and even without knowing a large portion of the move set, you feel capable and versatile. The enemy AI makes each fight feel tense and important as well, it’s tuned to near perfection. In the DMC5 trailer I can already see the sporadic beats in the combat that means it won’t be as smooth.
Plus the original still holds up 100% today. I don’t think Sigma is bad like some others do, but I do agree Black is the definitive version. Upscale that bad boy and it’s as good as anything in the genre.
Is NG Black Backwards-Compatible on XB1?
Yes.
I have the original Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast, Xbox 360/XB1, PSP and Android, along with Crazy Taxi 3 on the XB. I find West Coast map on the Xbox to be the best version of Crazy Taxi. The control is the tightest on the Dreamcast and Xbox. The frame rate is the best on the Xbox and also has the sharpest graphics at 480p. The Xbox West Coast also has multiple passengers to pick up at one time, which adds an extra layer of depth to the game.
One cool feature on Crazy Taxi Fare Wars for the PSP, is that it had a head-to-head two player mode. I’ve never tried it, but it might be a blast.
So with the holidays coming up, I realized with so many people around the house and so many screens, system link games would be perfect to get everyone playing. I have Halo 1/2, what are more of the best system link games for Xbox?
EDIT:
Looks like I’m getting some wavy interference lines on my current Xbox component cables (cheap 3rd party multi-console ones). I’m looking at better component cables now and I’m seeing multiple options between OEM and Monster cables. I was planning on getting the official HD AV pack since that’s what I’ve seen the most, is there a better option?
Halo CE and Halo 2 are the best, but Unreal Championship, MechAssault I & 2, Crimson Skies, Project Gotham Racing 2, Outrun 2 & Outrun 2006 C2C can all be fun in system link.
Sweet, I’ll definitely be trying UC and MechAssault! I have another copy of Crimson Skies on the way but I don’t think it’ll be here in time.
As an aside, I found these Intec Xbox component cables and ordered them for $20 new from Amazon.
Had some good reviews compared to the $7 ones on there. Will report back once I get to try them.
I owned these for years now and they are really good cables!
Awesome to hear! I’d been looking for an alternative to the OEM or Monster cables and these seemed to be pretty decent. I have been burned by many cheap cables over the years. Having to rewire my setup really showed me how important cable length and quality can be. It’s something that I overlooked and dismissed for a long time.
Richard Burns Rally is the best rally game imo (haven’t played Dirt Rally yet), but RalliSport Challenge 2 is the most fun. Such an enjoyable game!
I replaced a broken thumb stick on my og Xbox controller today so had to test it out, ended up playing 2 hours of RS2.
The Intec cables finally came in, and I have to say they’re better than the generic multi-system cable I was using, no interference or wavy lines in the picture.
Solid metal (assuming brass due to the heft) connectors, gold plating, solidly insulated wires, all in all no reason to doubt it.
But let me tell you, the Amazon reviews aren’t lying when they talk about the oily residue and smell. I guess after being sealed for 10+ years the plastics have broken down and these things are pretty gnarly. I washed mine down with soapy water and it eliminated most of it but if you are sensitive to the smell it may take some elbow grease or prolonged airing out to make these thing give up the stink.
I’m glad you are loving them, I like them too. But the smell does go away, in fact I don’t even smell mine anymore as the smell is completely gone.
okay, so i got my setup going (thanks again, @fester !) & the component cables and switch box he recommended work like a charm, both for my SCART to component adapter & gamecube
…but the weirdest thing, my OG xbox displays the OS just fine on my trinotron CRT, right? only, the games ive tried tonight, they go all jaggedy and display like uh, like how porn channels looked back in the day when you didn’t pay for them. yeah.
the “VIDEO 4” input that usually fades on my TV stays on the screen while this happens. puzzled, i go back to the OS and select standard (rather than letterbox or widescreen) and check the box for 480p but not 720p or 1080i. this effect still happens. the fact that the OS looks great and then whatever resolution is chosen for games doesn’t tells me it’s likely a setting issue & not the cable/system, yeah? anyone have any ideas here?
i’m gonna go try a few more games and uncheck 480p as well, see if anything works. sucks!
*edit haha that was it, uncheck 720p and it works like magic. why wouldn’t a trinotron with component support that res? starting to think maybe i should have this one hooked up to the LED next to it, see what the input lag is like on that set & just let it fully display…frees up a component slot on the SD for the PS2 anyway!
720p wasn’t supported by a bunch of CRTs and rear projection displays. 1080i was the bread and butter target for these displays. On fixed pixel displays of that time, it was the opposite - 720p was the target and most would scale for 1080i to a 720p native resolution for the panel.
It’s odd to think about, but back then interlacing wasn’t as frowned upon as it is today. And non-fixed pixel sets can support interlaced formats easily and natively.
That’s one of the complications of the Xbox (and to a lesser extent the Gamecube, PS2, and Dreamcast). Many games support 480p+, so unless you have a multi-scan CRT you must choose to play them on a 480i set with all that entails, or a flat panel/hi-scan CRT which will possibly add some soft scaling and lag.
Of course there are ways around this, but it makes that generation of consoles tricky. I play my Xbox on a SD set since that’s what I have everything else going to. Once I figure out a way to get a flat panel integrated into the setup, it’ll be split.
I’d say Xbox is best played on a multi-scan CRT but if you had a component>VGA transcoder a PC CRT would be really neat for 480p+ games (that may be the route I take). The OSSC and a low-lag flat panel would be good too.
A few multiscan crt’s can handle 480p+ too.
Widescreen also throws a wrench in this because Xbox has so many games in 16:9 that look great.
Good tutorial on current soft mod route
