Tier A – Deeply Underappreciated
In my last post I wrote about the most influential, awesome Xbox 360 games that never got their due. These games are all either very well-made, creative or important. This is part two and features Tier A games (even the honorable mentions are Tier A). While the criteria isn’t as strict as for Tier S, these games were not just underappreciated at the time they came out, but are still underappreciated and overlooked today.
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New Game: Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is one of those rare licensed games that really understands why people love the original series. It’s not just about the fights, but also about the everyday life in Konoha, where you can explore, take on challenges, and just have fun in the village. The game captures the feeling of “early Naruto” by mixing open village exploration and platforming challenges like rooftop runs, races, and errands with a separate combat mode that starts when a fight breaks out. This means you get to switch between relaxed adventure and exciting, easy-to-follow battles. For a game from 2007, it’s a confident mix of action-adventure and fighting, and it’s much more charming than you might expect.
Most critics liked the game when it came out, but it never became a classic like some other multiplatform fighting games. That’s partly because it was only available on the Xbox 360 and still isn’t backward compatible, so many people missed out or moved on. If you want a Naruto game that focuses on what makes Naruto special—training, exploring, and small-town rivalries—rather than just a big roster of fighters, Rise of a Ninja is still the best example out there. It’s a shame that it’s stuck on old hardware and original discs, while less impressive licensed games keep getting re-released. Rise of a Ninja deserved a longer life than being limited to one console.
New Game: Shadowrun (2007, FASA Interactive)
Shadowrun is one of the Xbox 360’s most misunderstood experiments. It’s a tactical FPS where guns, gadgets, and magic all come together in cross-play lobbies years before that became common. This isn’t just a Halo clone with spells. It plays more like an early hero shooter, where your race and abilities determine in your role and strategy. The mix of teleporting through floors, turning into smoke, and dropping anti-magic fields creates a game where positioning, economy, and team composition really decide who wins.
Back in 2007, Shadowrun took a lot of criticism for being a full-price, multiplayer-only spinoff that left behind its tabletop RPG roots. Most reviews focused on the lack of content and value, not the game’s systems. Looking back now, in a time when games like Overwatch and Valorant are popular, it’s obvious that Shadowrun was ahead of its time. The servers are still running, it works on newer consoles, and the core gameplay still feels modern. Shadowrun created a space that the rest of the industry wouldn’t explore for years.
New Game: FlatOut Ultimate Carnage (2007, Bugbear Entertainment)
If you miss the days when racing games were built on pure friction, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage is the Xbox 360’s hidden masterpiece. It’s an HD, content-packed rebuild of FlatOut 2 that turns every corner into a contact sport and every finish line into an accident report. The destruction isn’t just for spectacle. The handling, the pack density, and that absurdly readable damage model mean every collision has a purpose. You can see the exact moment a rival’s suspension gives way under your bumper. With wild stunt challenges and high-octane arena modes, the physics engine feels like it’s actively daring you to play dirty, which is exactly why it’s so satisfying.
The problem was timing. It launched while Burnout was dominating the genre and got unfairly brushed off as just an “enhanced port.” It never received the big modern remaster or the retrospective treatment that usually turns cult racers into legends. But that lack of recognition is exactly what makes discovering it now feel like finding a buried treasure. It remains one of the premier demolition sandboxes of its era, and it’s high time it got its flowers.
The Club (2008, Bizarre Creations)
The Club is one of the Xbox 360 era’s sharpest arcade shooters that almost nobody bought, a ruthless score-attack experiment that deserved far better. Bizarre Creations built it like a “racing game with guns,” where you sprint fixed routes to keep a combo timer alive, chasing leaderboard perfection rather than scripted set pieces. You pick from eight fighters—a Russian convict, a detective hunting The Club itself, a gambler dodging the mob—all forced into modern gladiatorial combat by a shadowy elite betting on who survives.
It flopped commercially yet inspired later hits: Bulletstorm’s Skillshot system owes a debt to its combo-chaining DNA, and Resogun echoes its score-multiplier obsession. Critics admired its speed and depth, with Kotaku noting it was constantly name-checked by designers despite not being a hit. Eurogamer’s 2013 retrospective calls it a misunderstood hybrid that is still worth playing for its pure, unforgiving arcade thrills. With disc-only availability, it remains a hidden gem on original hardware.
Earth Defense Force 2017 (2006, Sandlot)
Earth Defense Force 2017 is pure B-movie fun: one soldier, 150 ridiculous weapons, and huge swarms of giant ants leveling cities you can destroy. It skips cover systems and backstory for pure chaos, with split-screen co-op and over-the-top voice lines that make you smile nonstop.
Still, the game flew under the radar. It was released as a budget title, had rough graphics and frame rate issues, and missed out on online play when Xbox Live was taking off. Big-budget games with flashy marketing stole the spotlight. Critics said it was janky but too much fun to ignore. That roughness was part of the charm. In the end, fun mattered more than polish, and this game proved it.
Ms. ‘Splosion Man (2011, Twisted Pixel Games)
Ms. ‘Splosion Man is a wildly energetic 2D platformer sequel that takes everything great about the original and cranks it up a notch with sharper level design, inventive environmental challenges, and a playful sense of humor featuring sassy dialogue and absurd scenarios. It builds on a unique explosion-based mechanic, delivering fast-paced gameplay that’s perfect for both solo runs and cooperative chaos.
Players blast through increasingly complex levels, experiment with new multiplayer abilities, and master chain-reaction platforming that rewards precision and timing. Whether you’re a casual player enjoying the absurdity or a speedrunner chasing perfection, it has something to offer.
Critics loved its creativity, visuals, and replay value, but it sold only around 70,000 copies in its first year—far below peers like Super Meat Boy and Limbo. Its mechanics anticipated the minimalist precision platforming wave, but no major retrospectives have celebrated its influence, leaving it largely forgotten outside enthusiast circles.
Ms. ‘Splosion Man stands as one of Xbox Live Arcade’s best-kept secrets—a hilarious, polished platformer that deserves way more attention. Grab it on Switch or PC and see why this gem still explodes with fun.
Shadows of the Damned (2011, Grasshopper Manufacture)
Shadows of the Damned is a wild passion project uniting three industry legends to create something unlike anything else. You play Garcia Hotspur, a demon hunter storming through Hell to rescue his girlfriend from the Lord of Demons, armed with a talking, shape-shifting gun named Johnson that’s as crude as it is deadly.
The gameplay blends Resident Evil 4-style over-the-shoulder shooting with a light-versus-dark mechanic where enemies are only vulnerable under illumination. It’s survival horror through a grindhouse B-movie lens: juvenile humor, grotesque boss fights, and an atmosphere oscillating between creepy and absurd. Yamaoka’s haunting soundtrack elevates the visuals into a hellscape that’s both beautiful and macabre, where talking skulls deliver punchlines and every weapon feels alive.
Despite its pedigree, EA’s minimal marketing and the game’s tonal whiplash left players confused. It sold roughly 120,000 copies worldwide—far short of the millions needed—effectively ending future collaborations between its creators.
Today, it stands as one of the most unique horror-action games ever made: scary, funny, and utterly unhinged, but discovered far too late.
Hexic HD (2005, Carbonated Games)
Yes, Hexic. Hexic HD is a brilliant puzzle game that came preloaded on every Xbox 360 yet somehow became one of gaming’s most overlooked gems. Created by Alexey Pajitnov—the mastermind behind Tetris—it trades the familiar square grid for a hexagonal layout, where players rotate clusters of tiles to trigger matches and chain reactions. Easy to grasp in minutes, it hides surprising depth: managing pearls and stars, defusing bombs, and engineering chain multipliers that demand chess-level foresight.
Its crisp visuals, smooth animations, and ambient soundtrack create a rhythm that makes hours vanish. Three modes—Marathon, Timed, and Survival—cater to different play styles while preserving that “just one more game” pull.
Critics loved its elegance and strategic depth, but as free bundled software with no marketing, most players never took it seriously. Hexic HD remains a masterclass in puzzle design from one of the genre’s greatest minds—proof that sometimes, the best games are hiding in plain sight.
Deathsmiles (2007, Cave)
Deathsmiles is a horizontally scrolling bullet-hell shoot-’em-up that was very solid and well-designed, but slipped into obscurity. Instead of the usual top-down barrage, it scrolls sideways and lets you fire both forwards and backwards, demanding constant vigilance against threats from all directions.
Its gothic-lolita art style—witches, demons, and haunted landscapes rendered in hand-drawn sprites—makes it instantly recognizable in a genre dominated by neon space battles.
The game blends hardcore challenge with player-friendly design. Adjustable difficulty, infinite continues, and forgiving hit detection ease newcomers in, while deep scoring systems and intricate bullet patterns keep veterans chasing perfection.
Critics praised its polished mechanics, atmospheric presentation, and rich extras like the Mega Black Label update. Released during the late-2000s decline of shmup popularity, Deathsmiles sold modestly and became a cult favorite without mainstream attention. It’s an underappreciated gem that proved the genre could evolve in both style and accessibility, but never found the wider audience it deserved.
Blur (2010, Bizarre Creations)
Blur dared to do what most racers wouldn’t even attempt: fuse realistic driving physics with Mario Kart-style power-ups. Licensed cars from Ford, BMW, and Audi tore through authentic street circuits while homing missiles, shock blasts, and defensive shields flew around corners. It sounds like a design disaster waiting to happen. But somehow it worked brilliantly: every vehicle had weight and momentum you could feel, and the power-ups added tactical depth without wrecking the fundamentals.
Developed by the team behind Project Gotham Racing, Blur earned 81/100 on Metacritic and drew praise for its inventive execution and polish. Its 20-player online multiplayer was years ahead of its time, offering progression systems, clans, and social features long before they were industry norms.
And yet almost no one played it. Blur launched in May 2010, the same week as Split/Second and ModNation Racers. Three innovative racing games hit at once, cannibalizing each other’s sales in a market that could barely support one. Its gritty tone alienated casual kart fans, while hardcore sim racers dismissed it as “too arcade.”
Blur sold poorly, a commercial flop so severe it helped close Bizarre Creations for good. It remains an underappreciated masterpiece—a racing game that broke the rules, nailed the landing, and paid the price for bad timing.
The Maw (2009, Twisted Pixel Games)
The Maw is a charming action-adventure that earned praise but slipped past most players. Winner of the PAX 10 Audience Choice award and nominated at the Independent Games Festival, it puts you in control of Frank, an alien janitor, and his ever-hungry companion The Maw—a growing purple blob that gains abilities like breathing fire or flying as it devours its way through each level.
The storytelling is told entirely through animation and sound—no dialogue—giving it the feel of a Pixar short brought to life. This silent charm forges a genuine bond between Frank and The Maw, while evolving environments turn into puzzle-filled playgrounds as your companion grows.
Critics loved its personality and inventive mechanics but noted its short runtime and limited replay value. As a digital-only release before XBLA’s boom years, it never reached the physical collectors or broader exposure it deserved.
Ironically, Twisted Pixel’s later hit ‘Splosion Man overshadowed it entirely. The Maw remains an underappreciated gem—proof that indie games could deliver both mechanical creativity and heartfelt storytelling long before it was common.
Under Defeat HD (2012, G.rev)
Under Defeat HD brings G.rev’s 2005 arcade shooter into widescreen twin-stick action. Instead of piloting neon spaceships, you control a WWII attack helicopter in a dark, dieselpunk war, flying through rain, snow, and smoky battlefields. The unique lock-shoot system lets you move your gun pod separately, so you can fire while retreating, strafe, or circle enemies. Each fight becomes a test of positioning.
The game’s five tough stages reward careful aim more than quick reflexes, with powerful explosions and a somber soundtrack. Even though reviews were positive, its digital-only release, simple visuals, and high difficulty meant most players missed out. It’s a shame, this is a great game.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (2010, Arc System Works)
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend stands out as the most complete version of this great 2D fighter. It includes all DLC, adds the new character Relius Clover, and brings important balance changes. The story mode is much bigger thanks to Calamity Trigger Reconstruction, and new modes like Unlimited Mars and Abyss make the game even deeper. Alongside the precise, combo-heavy action, you’ll find a fully voiced story with branching paths, helpful tutorials, and a soundtrack that blends metal with symphonic elements.
This game didn’t get much attention when it came out, since big titles like Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 were in the spotlight. Frequent re-releases also made players lose interest. On Xbox 360, it mostly stayed within the anime-fighter community, with little marketing in the West and fewer players online. Even so, it’s a stylish and technical game that deserved more recognition. It remains a strong, complete package today.
Stacking (2011, Double Fine Productions)
Double Fine’s Stacking was one-of-a-kind in a mechanical sense: set in a gorgeous vintage world of living Russian nesting dolls, you stack into larger dolls to use their unique abilities. The innovation hook was its core design philosophy: every single puzzle has multiple solutions, encouraging a level of player creativity that was way ahead of its time.
Despite glowing reviews, it never found a mass audience. As a smaller, digital-only title, it was overshadowed, and some critics griped about its shorter length. The real injustice is that its brilliant, multi-solution puzzle philosophy—which felt like an adventure-game take on what the Hitman series would later perfect—was largely forgotten. It’s backward compatible on Xbox One and Series X|S, and it’s dirt cheap on Steam, making it an accessible gem that still holds up beautifully today.
Resonance of Fate (2010, tri-Ace)
Resonance of Fate turned JRPG gunfights into choreography and paid the price for being too weird for its moment. Set on a poisoned Earth inside a giant clockwork tower controlled by a machine, three mercenaries stumble into a conspiracy tied to the fate of humanity itself. Its Tri‑Attack system fuses real-time positioning with turn-based planning: build scratch damage with SMGs, cash it in with handguns, and trigger synchronized dives that melt bosses.
The steep learning curve meant lots of players bounced before the elegance clicked. A later 4K/HD re-release kept it accessible, and it still holds up because almost nothing else nails stylish, positional gunplay like this—that lack of recognition remains genuinely unfair to the genre.
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (2010, The Odd Gentlemen)
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is one of the most stylish puzzle-platformers ever made, and almost nobody remembers it. It oozed more creativity than almost any other game on Xbox Live Arcade, with a gorgeous macabre art style that perfectly mimicked silent film and a time-cloning mechanic that turned puzzle-solving into brilliant slapstick. You recorded your actions to create clones who could serve as platforms, collect pies, or even give you a smack with an umbrella.
It was criminally overshadowed despite rave reviews. Born from a student project, it launched into a crowded digital marketplace where its puzzle design got buried. The real injustice is that while Braid is remembered for its time mechanics, Winterbottom’s playful, clone-based system was arguably just as inventive and has been quietly influential in puzzle design ever since. It’s fully backward-compatible on modern Xbox consoles and remains a testament to a forgotten era of indie creativity that still holds up today.
Cloning Clyde (2006, NinjaBee)
Cloning Clyde was one of the most bizarre and inventive puzzle-platformers ever made, and it’s been almost completely forgotten. CC was a creative masterpiece on the early Xbox Live Arcade that introduced a bonkers premise: you played as a dimwitted test subject who had to solve puzzles by creating dozens of clones of himself, then splicing their DNA with chickens, sheep, and frogs to gain their abilities. It was a hilarious, ahead-of-its-time mashup of Lemmings-style puzzles and slapstick humor that felt fresh and new.
So why was it buried? As a quirky, low-priced title in the very early, wild-west days of XBLA, it was a victim of being too strange, too early. It lacked the marketing muscle to break through and became a footnote in gaming history. The real injustice is that its creative DNA—mixing cloning with ability-based transformations—was a brilliant formula that the indie scene would later embrace in games exploring similar mechanics. It’s fully backward-compatible on modern Xbox consoles and still holds up as a weird, wonderful gem that deserved far better.
These are all great titles, and if you have a 360 and haven’t played them yet, they are still great to get into.