Welcome to the thread for the odd, strange, and funky. XBox’s platformer, and platformer adjacent games are one of the most underloved titles from the past two decades and that needs to change, especially as we move to being more open to the vastness of titles that exist in this industry. From Blinx to Voodoo Vince. From Psychonauts to Super Lucky’s Tale. From Ori to (some people forget) Cuphead. This thread is for all of the above AND MORE with the focus of celebrating what makes them beautiful in spite of Microsoft’s ABYSMAL handling of their IP and hardware. No matter what the future holds, we had a good time with all of these games, and this is a thread for sharing those good times.
Let’s talk about the platformers that make other platforms green with envy!
(Until Microsoft ports them to other consoles because :/ )
I've always had a soft spot for Malice. It's not great, however I've played through it multiple times over the years. The Xbox version is a lot better than the PS2 version, too, likely because it was supposed to be an Xbox exclusive at one point. That said, it looked nowhere near as good as what was promised early on:
There's also a prototype out there that still has some Gwen Stefani voice acting in it before she was removed from the game.
I'm starting to ask myself the question Will Xbox stay or will it suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast ? I'm curious what Microsoft will do because they can talk everything up nicely but the truth is always different. But if in the end only the Playstation and Nintendo remain, I think that would not be so good either, hmm questions upon questions ?
For me, Blinx is my baby. A rare thing to say, since the character has been the butt of jokes for years, that is if people even remember him.
The first XBox game I ever bought, which I bought before I had an XBox, was Blinx. As a series, it brings this vibe of being a lost SEGA game, while also having that polished early 3D that I expect from XBox. I look at Blinx and my first thoughts are “2000’s”, because aesthetically, what other decade could this have been made? It’s funky, weird, and represents XBox as a platform in its youngest and hungriest era. Where it didn’t know what would work, so they threw everything at the wall and actually valued what the customer wanted by putting demos for most of their 2002 lineup on every major disc printed.
What makes and made Blinx so special was that time mechanic. It is the centerpiece of the game, and being good at the game is all about using it correctly. You collect a minimum of three icons (seen below the logo above) in a chain and you get a Time Power. You’re limited in the number you can have, which I will say is one of the games’ worst aspects, but the game IS designed around that fact and is still pretty open. Stages are of the seek and destroy variety. Blinx has a vacuum that can suck up environmental objects and then blast them back out at enemies, and the whole gameplay structure is based around manipulating time to make battling enemies and collecting items easier. Oh, a bridge just fell in the area? With “Rewind”, no it didn’t. The only way through is to be in two places at once? Well, with “Record” you can literally create an on the fly time clone of yourself. Or what if you’re just smothering in enemies and you can’t take it? Well, at the push of a button, “Stop” will give you around 15 seconds of frozen time to clear the area while nobody can even retaliate.
And let me tell you: this is still impressive. All of these time powers feel like they shouldn’t be possible in this generation of consoles, especially this early on in said generation and SPECIFICALLY this console. But man, Blinx does that kind of impressive stuff with its eyes closed. Something people always talk about with Blinx is the water. Freeze time, and you’ll walk through water. No big deal, aside from the fact that you carve a path through the water while time is frozen. And once time is restored, a realistic fluid simulation will move that water back into place. It’s crazy. NOT TO MENTION BLINX HIMSELF! He’s a fluffy cat, tons of fur, LESS THAN A YEAR after Pixar had to struggle with fur simulations for Monsters Inc. Yet, here’s the original XBox of all things giving a pretty convincing fur look this early into its life like it’s nothing.
More than everything though, what stuck with me about Blinx was how freakin’ fun of a speedrun game it is. Stopping, rewinding, fast forwarding… all these things affect the clock too! So, you’re realizing very quickly that this game is one which WANTS YOU to speedrun it. Not to say it doesn’t have content! It has more than most Sonic games, actually…
But it wants you to learn its levels back to front. Finding the enemies and items? That’s step one. Learning the perfect route to take, the EXACT MOMENT to use a time power to maximize your play time, and even just getting the most out of your time powers in general! All of these things become the hook, and man does this game hook you. I absolutely love it.
Blinx is special to me. I care for it so deeply. I’ll have to make a write up about the second game sometime, since while I prefer the vibes of the first, it’s the second which is actually in contention for “best unknown platformer ever made”. Dead serious about that, by the way! I made a write up for that some time ago, but I’m ready to keep talking Blinx until the end of days. I know I’m screaming into the void by trying to explain why I love Blinx to most people. Most folks will see those renders where they give Blinx Stallone lip, say “no thanks!”, and never return to see what they’re missing. Most folks will stop at Halo when discussing XBox. Blinx is unfairly unloved, and I can only describe my deep love for it in so many ways. What you see above this section is a song. A musical piece from the game that I think is the best Hail Mary I can give to connect people with Blinx. The soundtrack, like the rest of the game, is this stellar reflection of a bygone era of games. I don’t often say “they don’t make them like they used to” because that’s such an old man thing to say and isn’t remotely fair to the new games being made.
But they really…. REALLY don’t make games like this anymore. Blinx is the last hurrah of a lost era for games that we will never see again. And while one could be sad and mourn that loss, I think it’s more productive to smile and play what came out during that time. Play what you may have missed from that time. If the new games being made aren’t hitting for you, always remember: you will never play everything that has ALREADY BEEN MADE. But you can damn well try. This is Blinx. It’s waiting for you. And don’t worry about wasted time, because playing this game will take you back in time like nothing else can.
(Also, here is the Blinx plushie. He is a perfect little kitty cat and I love him. I just wish he wasn’t worth more than my kidney nowadays, otherwise I would have him in my home and kiss him goodnight every night because he deserves it.)
I've always had a soft spot for Malice. It's not great, however I've played through it multiple times over the years. The Xbox version is a lot better than the PS2 version, too, likely because it was supposed to be an Xbox exclusive at one point. That said, it looked nowhere near as good as what was promised early on:
There's also a prototype out there that still has some Gwen Stefani voice acting in it before she was removed from the game.
For me, Blinx is my baby. A rare thing to say, since the character has been the butt of jokes for years, that is if people even remember him. View attachment 69155
The first XBox game I ever bought, which I bought before I had an XBox, was Blinx. As a series, it brings this vibe of being a lost SEGA game, while also having that polished early 3D that I expect from XBox. I look at Blinx and my first thoughts are “2000’s”, because aesthetically, what other decade could this have been made? It’s funky, weird, and represents XBox as a platform in its youngest and hungriest era. Where it didn’t know what would work, so they threw everything at the wall and actually valued what the customer wanted by putting demos for most of their 2002 lineup on every major disc printed. View attachment 69157
What makes and made Blinx so special was that time mechanic. It is the centerpiece of the game, and being good at the game is all about using it correctly. You collect a minimum of three icons (seen below the logo above) in a chain and you get a Time Power. You’re limited in the number you can have, which I will say is one of the games’ worst aspects, but the game IS designed around that fact and is still pretty open. Stages are of the seek and destroy variety. Blinx has a vacuum that can suck up environmental objects and then blast them back out at enemies, and the whole gameplay structure is based around manipulating time to make battling enemies and collecting items easier. Oh, a bridge just fell in the area? With “Rewind”, no it didn’t. The only way through is to be in two places at once? Well, with “Record” you can literally create an on the fly time clone of yourself. Or what if you’re just smothering in enemies and you can’t take it? Well, at the push of a button, “Stop” will give you around 15 seconds of frozen time to clear the area while nobody can even retaliate.
And let me tell you: this is still impressive. All of these time powers feel like they shouldn’t be possible in this generation of consoles, especially this early on in said generation and SPECIFICALLY this console. But man, Blinx does that kind of impressive stuff with its eyes closed. Something people always talk about with Blinx is the water. Freeze time, and you’ll walk through water. No big deal, aside from the fact that you carve a path through the water while time is frozen. And once time is restored, a realistic fluid simulation will move that water back into place. It’s crazy. NOT TO MENTION BLINX HIMSELF! He’s a fluffy cat, tons of fur, LESS THAN A YEAR after Pixar had to struggle with fur simulations for Monsters Inc. Yet, here’s the original XBox of all things giving a pretty convincing fur look this early into its life like it’s nothing. View attachment 69160
More than everything though, what stuck with me about Blinx was how freakin’ fun of a speedrun game it is. Stopping, rewinding, fast forwarding… all these things affect the clock too! So, you’re realizing very quickly that this game is one which WANTS YOU to speedrun it. Not to say it doesn’t have content! It has more than most Sonic games, actually…
But it wants you to learn its levels back to front. Finding the enemies and items? That’s step one. Learning the perfect route to take, the EXACT MOMENT to use a time power to maximize your play time, and even just getting the most out of your time powers in general! All of these things become the hook, and man does this game hook you. I absolutely love it.
Blinx is special to me. I care for it so deeply. I’ll have to make a write up about the second game sometime, since while I prefer the vibes of the first, it’s the second which is actually in contention for “best unknown platformer ever made”. Dead serious about that, by the way! I made a write up for that some time ago, but I’m ready to keep talking Blinx until the end of days. I know I’m screaming into the void by trying to explain why I love Blinx to most people. Most folks will see those renders where they give Blinx Stallone lip, say “no thanks!”, and never return to see what they’re missing. Most folks will stop at Halo when discussing XBox. Blinx is unfairly unloved, and I can only describe my deep love for it in so many ways. What you see above this section is a song. A musical piece from the game that I think is the best Hail Mary I can give to connect people with Blinx. The soundtrack, like the rest of the game, is this stellar reflection of a bygone era of games. I don’t often say “they don’t make them like they used to” because that’s such an old man thing to say and isn’t remotely fair to the new games being made.
But they really…. REALLY don’t make games like this anymore. Blinx is the last hurrah of a lost era for games that we will never see again. And while one could be sad and mourn that loss, I think it’s more productive to smile and play what came out during that time. Play what you may have missed from that time. If the new games being made aren’t hitting for you, always remember: you will never play everything that has ALREADY BEEN MADE. But you can damn well try. This is Blinx. It’s waiting for you. And don’t worry about wasted time, because playing this game will take you back in time like nothing else can.
View attachment 69163
(Also, here is the Blinx plushie. He is a perfect little kitty cat and I love him. I just wish he wasn’t worth more than my kidney nowadays, otherwise I would have him in my home and kiss him goodnight every night because he deserves it.)
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I’ll need to play this sometime! Another inexpensive hidden gem for my XBox collection is never a bad thing.
I always wanted to try some Xbox games but to get the original is expensive these days and the 360 can't even run them properly. I wish they could at least be emulated.
I'm starting to ask myself the question Will Xbox stay or will it suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast ? I'm curious what Microsoft will do because they can talk everything up nicely but the truth is always different. But if in the end only the Playstation and Nintendo remain, I think that would not be so good either, hmm questions upon questions ?
i heard a while ago that most of the employees at microsoft didn't like working on games very much; mostly because they wanted to make easier stuff like basic software stuff. and i remember reading that microsoft loses money on the consoles that they sell.
but that was a few years ago. and even if they stopped making consoles and games, they still make computers so it wouldn't really change the current dynamic much. it would just shorten it to playstation vs nintendo vs pc.
it's interesting to bring up the dreamcast, since people still love it to this day. and going by what i've seen and heard about the xbox line up; the original, 360 and one x will most likely be remembered quite fondly by gamers for years to come, just like the dreamcast.
i heard a while ago that most of the employees at microsoft didn't like working on games very much; mostly because they wanted to make easier stuff like basic software stuff. and i remember reading that microsoft loses money on the consoles that they sell.
but that was a few years ago. and even if they stopped making consoles and games, they still make computers so it wouldn't really change the current dynamic much. it would just shorten it to playstation vs nintendo vs pc.
it's interesting to bring up the dreamcast, since people still love it to this day. and going by what i've seen and heard about the xbox line up; the original, 360 and one x will most likely be remembered quite fondly by gamers for years to come, just like the dreamcast.
For me, Blinx is my baby. A rare thing to say, since the character has been the butt of jokes for years, that is if people even remember him. View attachment 69155
The first XBox game I ever bought, which I bought before I had an XBox, was Blinx. As a series, it brings this vibe of being a lost SEGA game, while also having that polished early 3D that I expect from XBox. I look at Blinx and my first thoughts are “2000’s”, because aesthetically, what other decade could this have been made? It’s funky, weird, and represents XBox as a platform in its youngest and hungriest era. Where it didn’t know what would work, so they threw everything at the wall and actually valued what the customer wanted by putting demos for most of their 2002 lineup on every major disc printed. View attachment 69157
What makes and made Blinx so special was that time mechanic. It is the centerpiece of the game, and being good at the game is all about using it correctly. You collect a minimum of three icons (seen below the logo above) in a chain and you get a Time Power. You’re limited in the number you can have, which I will say is one of the games’ worst aspects, but the game IS designed around that fact and is still pretty open. Stages are of the seek and destroy variety. Blinx has a vacuum that can suck up environmental objects and then blast them back out at enemies, and the whole gameplay structure is based around manipulating time to make battling enemies and collecting items easier. Oh, a bridge just fell in the area? With “Rewind”, no it didn’t. The only way through is to be in two places at once? Well, with “Record” you can literally create an on the fly time clone of yourself. Or what if you’re just smothering in enemies and you can’t take it? Well, at the push of a button, “Stop” will give you around 15 seconds of frozen time to clear the area while nobody can even retaliate.
And let me tell you: this is still impressive. All of these time powers feel like they shouldn’t be possible in this generation of consoles, especially this early on in said generation and SPECIFICALLY this console. But man, Blinx does that kind of impressive stuff with its eyes closed. Something people always talk about with Blinx is the water. Freeze time, and you’ll walk through water. No big deal, aside from the fact that you carve a path through the water while time is frozen. And once time is restored, a realistic fluid simulation will move that water back into place. It’s crazy. NOT TO MENTION BLINX HIMSELF! He’s a fluffy cat, tons of fur, LESS THAN A YEAR after Pixar had to struggle with fur simulations for Monsters Inc. Yet, here’s the original XBox of all things giving a pretty convincing fur look this early into its life like it’s nothing. View attachment 69160
More than everything though, what stuck with me about Blinx was how freakin’ fun of a speedrun game it is. Stopping, rewinding, fast forwarding… all these things affect the clock too! So, you’re realizing very quickly that this game is one which WANTS YOU to speedrun it. Not to say it doesn’t have content! It has more than most Sonic games, actually…
But it wants you to learn its levels back to front. Finding the enemies and items? That’s step one. Learning the perfect route to take, the EXACT MOMENT to use a time power to maximize your play time, and even just getting the most out of your time powers in general! All of these things become the hook, and man does this game hook you. I absolutely love it.
Blinx is special to me. I care for it so deeply. I’ll have to make a write up about the second game sometime, since while I prefer the vibes of the first, it’s the second which is actually in contention for “best unknown platformer ever made”. Dead serious about that, by the way! I made a write up for that some time ago, but I’m ready to keep talking Blinx until the end of days. I know I’m screaming into the void by trying to explain why I love Blinx to most people. Most folks will see those renders where they give Blinx Stallone lip, say “no thanks!”, and never return to see what they’re missing. Most folks will stop at Halo when discussing XBox. Blinx is unfairly unloved, and I can only describe my deep love for it in so many ways. What you see above this section is a song. A musical piece from the game that I think is the best Hail Mary I can give to connect people with Blinx. The soundtrack, like the rest of the game, is this stellar reflection of a bygone era of games. I don’t often say “they don’t make them like they used to” because that’s such an old man thing to say and isn’t remotely fair to the new games being made.
But they really…. REALLY don’t make games like this anymore. Blinx is the last hurrah of a lost era for games that we will never see again. And while one could be sad and mourn that loss, I think it’s more productive to smile and play what came out during that time. Play what you may have missed from that time. If the new games being made aren’t hitting for you, always remember: you will never play everything that has ALREADY BEEN MADE. But you can damn well try. This is Blinx. It’s waiting for you. And don’t worry about wasted time, because playing this game will take you back in time like nothing else can.
View attachment 69163
(Also, here is the Blinx plushie. He is a perfect little kitty cat and I love him. I just wish he wasn’t worth more than my kidney nowadays, otherwise I would have him in my home and kiss him goodnight every night because he deserves it.)
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I’ll need to play this sometime! Another inexpensive hidden gem for my XBox collection is never a bad thing.
Blinx is an unfortunate case of a good game coming out at the wrong time. His game on its own merit is not bad, in fact it's actually pretty creative and makes great use of its time manipulation mechanics. However it came out at the tail end of the 3D platformer era while the market was gravitating more towards mature shooters so a lot of people let their preconceived bias get in the way. Over time Blinx has seemed to of gained a greater appreciation at least.
Blinx is an unfortunate case of a good game coming out at the wrong time. His game on its own merit is not bad, in fact it's actually pretty creative and makes great use of its time manipulation mechanics. However it came out at the tail end of the 3D platformer era while the market was gravitating more towards mature shooters so a lot of people let their preconceived bias get in the way. Over time Blinx has seemed to of gained a greater appreciation at least.
MANY of the XBox platformers are like that. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong audience frankly. The XBox became so ubiquitous so quickly with American college frats and older American men who wanted to play war sims and sports sims that everything under it suffered. That’s why it was such a shock for me to find this absolute treasure trove of secret bangers in the XBox’s library.
Blinx is the poster boy for that. Don’t forget, with how good Blinx 2 is, it had to come out the same month… as Halo 2. Halo 2 is Halo 2, one of the best “mainstream” shooters ever made, one of the most fondly remembered myltiplayer games ever made, and only surpassed in cultural relevance by Halo 3. Blinx never stood a chance, and Blinx was the LUCKY ONE of the mountain of beautiful overlooked gems that are contained within the XBox and 360’s library.
I made this thread for a reason. As XBox as a brand implodes and is certain to die, I think it’s important now more than ever to celebrate the good things that came out of it while the ride lasted, as well as give a second chance in any small way I can to the games that were doomed to be sacrificial lambs to the Microsoft machine.
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