November 22 marks the 20th anniversary Xbox 360Microsoft's most successful home console. My brother and I got our first Xbox 360 on Christmas Eve in 2006, a year after it first launched. We didn't know we needed a memory card or hard drive to save the data, so we spent the following days as much as we could. Dead Rising Play through and without turning it off Gears of War campaign in one sitting. These are some of my fondest gaming memories, and the 360 will become my favorite console of all time.
Months later, our first Xbox 360 hung on the red ring of death. We went through three or four things before finally getting a new model that never had a problem and still works. From activating funny easter eggs Call of Duty Being blown away by stories in games like zombies bioshockThe Xbox 360 was the machine that imprinted key memories of the seventh generation for me.
Xbox 360 updates unexpectedly
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In honor of the Xbox 360's 20th anniversary, I decided to replay 18 of the console's launch titles. For sports and racing games, I basically played until I got bored, but for games with a proper story, I played until I saw the credits roll. Fortunately, none of the Xbox 360 launch titles are particularly long, especially by today's standards. I also tried additional game modes in each title and made mostly fruitless attempts to play their online multiplayer.
18
NBA Live 06
I think I actually had a lot of fun NBA Live 06 More than a couple of other games on this list, but I have to put this last because it's the only 360 launch title that literally made me nauseous. The default “broadcast” camera mixes queasy pans and quick cuts that make the action hard to follow and cause me physical pain.
A trend among early Xbox 360 game titles, especially those published by EA, is that they generally lack the same kind of feature suite as their previous generation counterparts, and this is the case. NBA Live 06 Also. The game has a season mode and Play Now options, and it's pretty much the idea of a dead online. Other sports games are pretending to be the only option in the projection, but for fans to play a basketball game on 360 was a very good day.
17
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
Look, I'm not a golfer. But I still played a lot of golf games and enjoyed them. Of all the golf video games I've played over the years, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Xbox 360 may be one of the weakest. It features a suite of different game modes, but not as many as other golf games, and its online functionality is dead. Due to the fact that most achievements are completely unattainable Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Being one of the many games EA has shut down, beyond the fact that no one is playing it online these days. But competing in 1,000s of online games and achieving the #1 ranking in any online game mode would never happen.
I will say that the character models are surprisingly good for a 360 launch title, although some of the details in the courses are poor. It's also fun to hit the audience with golf balls and watch them fall. Otherwise, not much value here.
16
FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup
FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup Another Xbox 360 launch game is a title that's seriously light on content. It has a tournament type and title “Road to FIFA World Cup” mode, but that's about it. Online is dead and there's honestly little else to say about it, but the core gameplay is fun enough. It fills the football void on 360, but the launch was clearly rushed to meet.
15
Madden NFL 06
As with other EA Sports games released for the Xbox 360, there isn't much to do Madden NFL 06And this is definitely the worst version of the game. Still, the graphics are pretty good for the time, crazy The formula is always fun, and it's an easy 1,000 gamerscore if you can be bothered to sim the 30 year franchise mode. The contrast between sports game achievements in the early days of the 360 is astounding. Madden NFL 06 100% can be completed in just hours, while Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 A ridiculous commitment is required and has made all the achievements impossible to unlock after 20 years.
14
Ridge Racer 6
Three racing games were available at launch for the Xbox 360 and Ridge Racer 6 is the weakest of the bunch. A competent arcade racer, Ridge Racer 6 Exactly what you would expect and nothing more. I found the courses to be quite lackluster, and even though the game is an Xbox 360 exclusive, some of the textures look a bit behind the gen. What I really don't recognize is the announcer, who repeatedly shouts “Niiiitrus!” It rings with silly comments that add nothing like that. After using boost. It got it Pac-ManHowever, that definitely gives it an edge over other 360 launch titles if nothing else. Winning races with all combinations of courses and machine classes is a feat without any confrontationGood luck to any achievement hunters out there.
13
Earthquake 4
I love the older one Earthquake Games, but never got around to playing Earthquake 4 Until this marathon. The first thing I noticed was that, aesthetically, Earthquake 4 Very similar Doom 3But with better light levels and more focus on action. unfortunately, Earthquake 4 Runs like absolute junk on Xbox 360. There are massive frame drops throughout the game and in every single level, with one particular tram section practically evolving into a slideshow. It's not like this Earthquake 4 Either was highly demanding graphics. It doesn't look far from the original Xbox game.
however, Earthquake 4 It's fun. Raven Software knows how to make solid FPS campaigns, and that's exactly what it did Earthquake 4. The dashing vehicle segments are also fun and action-packed. There are cool guns, and the story goes in some unexpected directions.
Achievements are also good for a laugh. You can tell this is an early Xbox 360 game because the achievements are absolutely ridiculous. Hard achievements don't stack up to campaign completion like they do in most modern games, and there are a lot of online-centric ones that were impractical in 2005 and practically impossible in 2025. There is one to reach the number one ranking on all game type leaderboards, which is absurd to say the least. I tried playing some online matches for the fun of it, but after 20 years, no one is playing anymore Earthquake 4 On the Xbox 360.
On the bright side, playing through the campaign unlocked some GamerPics and the Xbox 360 version Earthquake 4 actually comes Earthquake 2 And its expansion as a nice bonus.
12
Perfect Dark Zero
There is a lot of hate Perfect Dark ZeroBut actually having a lot of fun with this game. Prequel to the critically-acclaimed Nintendo 64 game Perfect Dark, Perfect Dark Zero sticks to Goldeneye 007– The style of FPS combat was admittedly dated even in 2005. The campaign is a boring drag for many, but it's at least playable in co-op. Where the game really shines is against multiplayer. It might be impossible to get into an online game these days (there was only one person playing when I checked), but the game's 4-player split-screen and support for bots – many of which are named after classic rare characters – means multiplayer can be live. My friends and I would spend hours battling bots on the Old Town map with their difficulty cranked up to max to see how long we could survive. including the goldeneyeGives the feature map Perfect Dark Zero An old edge and it may feel dull by today's standards, it's still a blast with the right group of friends.
11
NBA 2K6
NBA 2K6 Hits the Xbox 360 perfectly NBA Live 06 out of the water The character models are great, the courts look great, and overall, it's easily one of the best looking games to debut on the 360. While NBA Live 06 barren land, NBA 2K6 Full of features and can keep a basketball fan busy for hours, even if online multiplayer is no longer a factor. This is a sports game with all kinds of modes and super easy achievements for those who want to increase their gamerscore. In fact, I unlocked three achievements in the game without doing anything they asked. playing NBA 2K6 And it's refreshing to see no microtransactions at all compared to how games are presented these days.
10
Amped 3
Where EA largely dropped the ball when it came to the launch of Xbox 360 sports games, 2K delivered some high-quality games. It was one of its best offers Amped 3A zany snowboarding game with a great sense of humor, solid soundtrack, and solid core gameplay. Essentially Tony Hawk with a snowboard, Amped 3 There are also snowmobiles and sleds for added variety. The only drawback is that while some of the mini-games support multiplayer, there's a painful lack of a proper, dedicated multiplayer mode to keep up. Amped 3 Top up and earn yourself a high spot on the list.
Something strange is happening with delisted Xbox 360 games
In some regions, the Microsoft Store is showing some strange information regarding a handful of previously removed Xbox 360 titles.
9
NHL 2K6
NHL 2K6 A completely exclusive hockey experience with franchise mode, season mode, tournaments and air hockey. Like all other sports games released at launch for the Xbox 360, online is dead, but there are so many offline options that it hardly matters. I'm not even really into hockey, but I was very impressed with what I played. In terms of time, it probably wasn't much different from other games in the series, but in a vacuum it's the best Xbox 360 game available at the system's launch.
