Stubbs the Zombie...and other original Xbox oddities!

[Bobbety_F]

I've recently hooked up my original Xbox and been trawling through my library. There are a lot of PS2 ports on the system, but also a lot of really original titles: Blinx 1&2, Crimson Skies, Fable and Stubbs the Zombie, a real little gem, built using the Halo engine. Anyone else been pleasantly surprised by Microsoft's old black box recently?

Here's my short video on Stubbs. Be aware, the usual silliness abounds

https://youtu.be/uNtAIxRVo5c

 

[pookie101]

i remember stubbs fondly on the pc back in the day and its pretty much a lost title these days so i envy you

 

[bjj hero]

A Lucas Arts title called Gladius was my favourite on the xbox.

It was a turnbased tactical RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics but the world was a high fantasy/magic ancient Rome. There were 2 main charecters in the campaign who changed the story and so many troop types making it massively replayable.

Ive played it through with a gang of gladiators, a group of roman soldiers, wolf packs, monster teams, all viking, a zoo of animals...

I might check if there was a steam version now Ive thought about it. I doubt it though as its controls were very console.

 

[DarklordKyo]

There was Breakdown. Otherwise known as that one first person beat 'em up.

 

[Cycloptomese]

A Lucas Arts title called Gladius was my favourite on the xbox.

It was a turnbased tactical RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics but the world was a high fantasy/magic ancient Rome. There were 2 main charecters in the campaign who changed the story and so many troop types making it massively replayable.

Ive played it through with a gang of gladiators, a group of roman soldiers, wolf packs, monster teams, all viking, a zoo of animals...

I might check if there was a steam version now Ive thought about it. I doubt it though as its controls were very console.

WOW! I remember Gladius! Cloven hooved units! Satyrs I think? That game occupied me for awhile and I haven't thought about it in years.

Also, Stubbs yeah. My son and I used to play that in co-op. The goofy dialog from your victims was priceless. I loved Stubbs.

 

[Daymo]

I always liked brute force as a co-op focused shooter, but Halo kind of absolutely crushed it after the first couple of weeks.

 

[bjj hero]

WOW! I remember Gladius! Cloven hooved units! Satyrs I think? That game occupied me for awhile and I haven't thought about it in years.

Also, Stubbs yeah. My son and I used to play that in co-op. The goofy dialog from your victims was priceless. I loved Stubbs.

I liked the secutor. He was small and could sneak attack the bigger guys. Yetis were fun too. Stubbs passed me by unfortunately.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I never cared for 3D platformers; I didn't care about Super Mario 64, I didn't care about either of the Banjo Kazooie games and, the only N64 platformer I really cared about was Conker...specifically, Live and Reloaded because I didn't know about it when I had an N64. When it comes to Xbox oddities though, Voodoo Vince did something for me that the other 3D Platformers just couldn't do. It really wasn't a spectacular game but I'm kinda surprised it hasn't been remastered or given a sequel. There's a lot of potential for growth and expansion based on the premise alone. Vince himself is only the third-best Voodoo doll in Madame Charmaine's shop! I want to see those other two voodoo dolls! I wanna see what became of Cosmo the Inscrutable! I wanna see a game mechanic that utilizes specific Voodoo attacks rather than randomizing them.

 

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

The original Xbox had a great number of unique games, but like all their systems, it was only really popular in the west. A shame, because From Software, like they did on the GameCube with the Lost Kingdoms series, had a wonderful series call Otogi on it. Beautiful visuals based on Japanese mythology in a hack and slash with fully destructible environments. If your ever curious, I recommend playing them. Fantastic games.

 

[gorfias]

Way before Uncharted, there was a pretty good Indiana Jones game on the original Xbox. Great machine for the time.

Though, there was a PS2 version too



Funny you mention Stubbs, I just had a topic about a Humble Bundle that includes Destroy All Humans (1 and 2) for the PS4 and I couldn't remember the name of Stubbs but wish they'd included that too.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Not exactly an "oddity" per se, but Painkiller: Hell Wars

It's how I was first introduced to Painkiller. Thought it was a great port actually all things considered.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Voodoo Vince and Vexx i vaguely remember enjoying. Whether they were actually any good under critical observation though is a different matter. Huh?...All "V"s. Weird. It's probably nothing.

 

[Tanis]

Blood Wake

Gun Valkyrie

Oddworld - Stranger's Wrath

Panzer Dragoon Orta

Phantom Crash

Phantom Dust

 

[Blitsie]

Way before Uncharted, there was a pretty good Indiana Jones game on the original Xbox. Great machine for the time.

Though, there was a PS2 version too



Funny you mention Stubbs, I just had a topic about a Humble Bundle that includes Destroy All Humans (1 and 2) for the PS4 and I couldn't remember the name of Stubbs but wish they'd included that too.

Oh man remember before that we had that Indana Jones game with the horribly tanky controls? "and the Infernal Machine" was the title if I remember correctly, I was so frustrated with that game as a kid but I have only the fondest memories.

Before I completely derail here haha, good gosh Stubbs!! I remember replaying that game so much I had to throw my discs away in the end from all the wear and tear of reinstalling it. That cascading effect that occurs every level as you zombify your first enemy and he starts infecting others, ultimately leading to you leading a whole armada against people desperately trying to survive, still ranks to this day as one of my top most fun gaming things.

Whats the deal anyway with it never hitting any digital stores and being impossible to get now outside of either illegal means or insane luck at a second hand store? I thought it was a pretty successful game, I never heard any exceptionally bad things about it?

 

[gorfias]

Oh man remember before that we had that Indana Jones game with the horribly tanky controls? "and the Infernal Machine" was the title if I remember correctly, I was so frustrated with that game as a kid but I have only the fondest memories.

I think it was Emperor's Tomb. I think Machine was a point and click PC adventure. Just saw there's one for the Wii. $20 at Amazon. Very tempted.

Before I completely derail here haha, good gosh Stubbs!! I remember replaying that game so much I had to throw my discs away in the end from all the wear and tear of reinstalling it. That cascading effect that occurs every level as you zombify your first enemy and he starts infecting others, ultimately leading to you leading a whole armada against people desperately trying to survive, still ranks to this day as one of my top most fun gaming things.

Whats the deal anyway with it never hitting any digital stores and being impossible to get now outside of either illegal means or insane luck at a second hand store? I thought it was a pretty successful game, I never heard any exceptionally bad things about it?

Aggravating. The Xbox store is selling the sound track to the game! That's it! I don't get it either.

 

[Elijin]

Is there any problem that cant be solved by peeing into a dam?

Also I can never remember what the game was called...
Future sports.
Get the ball through the floating ring the most times OR render all of the opposing team unconscious by straight up fighting them.
Between matches you got offered things. The usual affair, player swaps, sponsorships, advertisement opportunities, illegal performance enhancing drugs, blackmail material to expose/frame opposing team star players.
You know, standard stuff.
Was playable in split screen. Eventually it got too hard to beat the AI up because their resistance and counter was so high. We worked out that if one player full speed spear tackled the goalie while the other went for a scoring shot, you could still ez mode it due to the 2-3 seconds it took for the goalie to resume standing, even if it didn't really hurt him.

I have never loved a sports game more than this. Don't know the release year, but played it on Xbox between 2003-2005.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Poor Stubbs. It was taken off Steam, broken. I bought it, the game doesn't run, and the developers said they weren't going to fix it, no refunds.

 

[Blitsie]

I think it was Emperor's Tomb. I think Machine was a point and click PC adventure. Just saw there's one for the Wii. $20 at Amazon. Very tempted.

Oh oh! That one was the Fate of Atlantis! Infernal Machine was the horribly tanky one haha. Here's the vid I found during my nostalgia trip today;


God.damn. did it not age well hahaha.

I faintly recall the Wii one, I never played it but it always looked like a decent spiritual successor to Emperor's Tomb in terms of gameplay. Gosh I remember at one stage they made a big ruckus about Indy coming to the PS3 and X360 as well but that also just got canned and never to be heard of again.

 

[Bobbety_F]

...Voodoo Vince did something for me that the other 3D Platformers just couldn't do. It really wasn't a spectacular game but I'm kinda surprised it hasn't been remastered or given a sequel.

I really like Voodoo Vince too, and Grabbed by the Ghoulies too, which I've just remembered!The latter wasn't well reviewed at the time, if I remember right - I think they tbought it not enough of a 'Rare' game, and too short!

 

[Squilookle]

Ahh the original Xbox. The console that put me off buying a console ever again..

I bought it because Microsoft had just bought Rare, and I expected more stellar games like Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day and Diddy Kong Racing. What a waste of money it turned out to be