- The franchise must have at least two games in the series
- The franchise debuted during the 360's generation (so you won't see any Halo on this list)
- And, if a friend was buying the 360 today and asked "What games should I play on this system?"
#4 Assassin's Creed (2007)
Assassin's Creed II (2009)
Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood (2010)
Assassin's Creed:Revelations (2011)
Assassin's Creed III (2012)
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
I was at E3 2006 when they announced Assassin's Creed and at that time it was only confirmed as a PS3 release. All the Sony fanboys were smugly chanting "Exclusive!" and the Xbox players just shrugged but secretly were envious. Thank goodness Ubisoft came to their senses and released it for multi platform. Although the first entry was pretty rocky with lots of wonky and redundant gameplay, everyone loved climbing tall towers and going in for the stealth kill. It wasn't until the next year where AC really showed what it could do, both with gameplay AND with the story. Ezio made for a compelling character, so much they they brought him back for two more games! The question is whether this annualized franchise has the legs to get people to plop down $60 every year for the next chapter of AC. So far, so good!
#3 Bioshock (2007)
Bioshock 2 (2010) Bioshock: Infinite (2013)
Bioshock's debut was a huge event. It had high expectations based on it's previews but because it was a new franchise, it was an unsure bet whether it would connect with an audience. Well, it did. And it ended up on many industry lists as Game of the Year. Very few games have created the level ambience that Bishock did with Rapture, the decaying art deco underwater city. The story line has one of the most memorable twists in gaming (however many balked at the final "boss battle.") Although Bioshock 2 didn't quite live up to the original, Infinite was an amazing extension of the world and story, leaving the under sea setting and taking place in a floating city in the clouds (sans Lando...well kinda...) It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here in the next-gen consoles. In the meantime, the original Bioshock still holds up after six years and is worth a replay!
#2 Mass Effect (2007)
Mass Effect 2 (2010) Mass Effect 3 (2012)
Having both Bioshock and Mass Effect come out in the same year made 2007 an awesome time for gamers. Particularly since PS3 owners didn't get Bioshock until a year later and never got to play the original Mass Effect due to it's Xbox 360 exclusivity. (Xbox fanboys loved rubbing that in.)
Mass Effect is an epic sci-fi RPG adventure with many characters and branching story lines. One of it's main features was that choices players made would have repercussions in subsequent games. Basically that meant if you caused a supporting character to die, they wouldn't be back in the next game. Players who kept them alive would be able to enjoy seeing and/or playing with that character again. This caused many gamers to try very hard to get the "perfect" ending by not losing anyone.
Due to Mass Effect's character creator, you could play this entire series as a male lead or...as a fem-Shep! I've played through with both and it really gives a different vibe for the game. Both are great!
#1 Rock Band (2007)
Rock Band 2 (2008)
The Beatles: Rock Band (2009)
Rock Band 3 (2010)
Oh Rock Band. You shined SO bright, and then you were gone. Like the many of the rock legends this fantastic music rhythm game tributes, Rock Band took the world by storm, got overplayed, and then got passed over for the next fad. But I won't ever forget you and will long for your return!
Rock Band combined many things I love in life: singing, video games, great music, performing, and social interaction. Although Guitar Hero invented this genre, Rock Band did it better on all counts. Having the fantasy of putting together a "faux" band with you and three of your friends was an amazing experience! My buddies would come over once a month for a Rock Band night (yes, in rock costumes too) and we'd jam all night in the garage...just like a real band (in a fake, plastic sorta way)! We were good too. I would take pride in being able to sing and play lead guitar on expert and 5-star most songs. My friend Kyle was a amateur drummer and could tear it up on drums. One my favorite nights was when they released the full first album from Boston and the Screaming for Vengeance album from Judas Priest and we played through all the tracks straight though. Bliss.
I really loved how Rock Band introduced me to new music, and gave me an opportunity to fantasize playing all the great songs I grew up with. Rock Band also made it possible for non-gamers to participate in something they could connect to, mainly good music and living out their rock star fantasies. Rock Band truly was a unique experience they may never be seen again. I'm hoping all my plastic instruments will hold up as time goes on. (Can you imagine 20 years form now saying, "Hey, remember Rock Band? We should play it!" Only to find your plastic guitars and drums are broken....")
When the Beatles game was announced, people went crazy. The games creator, Harmonix, was even able to unite the last two living Beatles on stage to make the announcement at E3. The final entry in the series was perfect, allowing you to import all the songs from Rock Band 1 & 2 plus any of the over 2000 DLC songs they released weekly into the final game, making it essentially a Rock Band karaoke machine, perfect for parties! Being able to have three-part vocal harmonies and even a keyboard, you could effectively have a band of 7 members! As many tracks as there were, I still wish they would have been able to pull of releasing Prince's Purple Rain album. Oh well.
As I write this now, It's been over two years since my faux-band "broke up." And like a washed up rock star, I still long to pick up my axe again and relieve the former glory!
XBLA Honorable Mention - Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Plainswalkers (2009-2014)
I've been a big Magic: The Gathering fan since the card game came out in the mid-90s. The card game is still extremely popular today. Even though I had a pretty big collection of cards and decks, my biggest gripe was that I didn't have enough time or players that I knew to actually play the physical game as much as I'd like. When MTG:DOTP was released, it fixed all of that...for the most part. Even though you didn't have access to all the cards printed, and you were limited to the decks the game gave you, it still allowed players to get their M:TG fix by playing others online. If you are a M:TG fan or you've never played M:TG before, check out the latest 2014 release on Xbox Live Arcade and friend me! I'll play ya!
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