"Must Have" XBLA Games?

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Let's skip the preamble foreplay and get right to it -- what XBLA games are worth buying, if any?  I keep hearing Geometry Wars and I do enjoy it, so I'm thinking about buying that.  Same re: Uno.

Alternatively, how's the "XBLA Unplugged" retail disc in terms of bang for the buck?  And does buying that disc let you play the games from your HDD, or do you have to insert the disc?

[rrmorton]

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Played it to death on the PC unfortunately.

[Captain Caveman]

I loved the marble game. Played it to death.

[metallicorphan]

I really enjoyed cloning clyde,a platformer with nice graphics and pretty good humour

[EngineNo9]

So far none of the Live Arcade games have made me want to buy them.  I'm really looking forward to Assault Heroes and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, though.  Small Arms looks a bit like Smash Brothers with guns, so that could be cool to play with friends. 

[disarm]

i've had a great time with Geometry Wars...got hooked on it immediately and still have fun playing it nine months later.  i've also picked up Marble Blast Ultra and would say it's well worth the price.  other than those, i also have Zuma, Bankshot Billiards, Hexic, and Texas Hold'Em...only paid for Zuma and got the rest for free.  i'm not sure i'd recommend the billiards game.  i got it 'free' with my Live membership and have barely played it...aiming isn't great, making the game more frustrating than it should be, and i just think it's kind of boring when compared to so many other good games. 

i'll recommend Geometry Wars and Marble Blast Ultra without hesitation though...lots of fun

[Knightshade Dragon]

I'm going to try to resist Dig Dug.  Other than that, Uno is a must have.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I assume Marble Blast is like Marble Madness/Monkey Ball?

[The Grue]

Don't ask me as I own most of them.

[TheMissingLink]

Street Fighter 2 if you're into Street Fighter 2.

Geometry Wars if you're into frustration.

Joust is fun co-op (assuming you live with your bro or something).

Uno if you're into...Uno, I guess.

[Old Negus]

I'm curious, have you not been able to get a good enough feel for the games with their free trials? I've been able to tell pretty quickly which games I'd like to buy after playing the trials.

To answer your question, I've been playing the snot out of Marble Blast and Uno. And Hexic, but that came free with the 360. Don't think I would have bought it if it hadn't though.

[motodd]

Geometry Wars, Geometry Wars, and more Geometry Wars.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I'm curious, have you not been able to get a good enough feel for the games with their free trials? I've been able to tell pretty quickly which games I'd like to buy after playing the trials.

I have, but beyond the binary "I want to see more of this" or not, I want to know what has legs, so to speak.  And what's worth the points.

For example, I tried that Mutant Blast game or whatever, it's basically like Smash TV meets Geometry Wars, and though it was enjoyable and I wanted to continue playing, 800 points seemed a little steep for it.  Likewise, I missed the glory days of Doom multiplayer, so Doom was sort of tempting, but again, 800 points seems pretty steep for something I could easily nab on my PC.

[Bullwinkle]

Yeah, Doom was not worth it, IMO. 

I have to second Cloning Clyde, though.  That's not getting enough love here.  Never got the hang of its multiplayer, though.

GW was great, of course, and Uno is probably my most played XBLA game.  Second might be Marble Blast, but some of those levels get pretty tough.

I also enjoy Wik and Outpost Kaloki X, which never get any mention, really.

[Nth Power]

I play quite a bit of Uno, Bejeweled, Hexic and Crystal Quest. 
Geometry Wars is good for a quick game, but that's because I'm pretty bad and don't make it past a few minutes.

I bought Zuma and Jewel Quest too.  They occupied me for a fair amount of time, but I became burnt out on them.  Still, I'll probably go back and play them in the future.

[Destructor]

Geometry Wars, Geometry Wars, and more Geometry Wars.

+1

Best Live Arcade title on the 360 right now, IMHO.

[Misguided]

My tastes run so differently from most of you. I couldn't stand the XBLA version of Zuma because of the controls, though I played it a bunch on PC and have Magnetica on DS. I much prefer Mutant Storm over Geometry Wars--go figure--and looking forward to Mutant Storm Empires or whatever the new one is called. Cloning Clyde has a nice sense of humor, though I haven't played it extensively. If Lumines Live gives you the ability to start at any unlocked level, I'll be quite interested.

Hexic is probably the one I've played the most, then Jewel Quest, though it would have been bejeweled if I didnt have it on PC.

[Zimix]

Uno is probably my most played. 

I enjoy Texas Holdem when I get into a good game.  What frustrates me are the games where everyone goes ALL IN every single hand right from the start.

[Bullwinkle]

I enjoy Texas Holdem when I get into a good game.  What frustrates me are the games where everyone goes ALL IN every single hand right from the start.

Agree with that.  I haven't played recently, though.  I wonder if the herds have thinned.