Top Ten Xbox 360 Games with Backwards Compatibility you Have to Play Again

When regarding your backlog of old games, you usually think: “man, I wish I didn’t have to dig out my old console to play that awesome old game.” Thankfully, Microsoft has been implementing backwards compatibility with select Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One. If you’re wondering which of your favorite 360 games are playable on your modern-day system, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our ten favorite 360 games with backwards compatibility! 

10. Braid 

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This trippy, time-bending puzzling platformer is a great adventure to relive. If you missed it the first time, its new lease on life on the Xbox One is a great chance to replay it. Braid features a crazy story told in reverse and quaint, charming graphics. If you always wanted a more mature, thought-provoking take on Mario, Braid is for you. 

9. Mirror’s Edge 

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Mirror’s Edge is a slick, polished action game with a sweet “fight-the-power” narrative. If you’ve ever been interested in parkour or free running, check this one out. Mirror’s Edge features a unique first-person perspective, making the action feel very immediate and pressing. What’s more, the game’s protagonist is an empowering and believable bad-ass lady! Those are in short supply in the gaming world, so it’s worth mentioning! 

8. Gears of War 3 

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Where the first entry in the series defined action games for a few years, Gears of War 3 set a new benchmark for horde modes in action shooting games. The series’ signature chainsaw guns and muscular protagonists are here, front and center. While the series has stumbled in recent years, GoW 3 is a great reminder of just how awesome the series once was. The action is pulse-pounding and white-knuckle, rewarding smart use of cover and good aim. If you’re looking for a blast from the past of shooting games, Gears of War is for you.  

7. Super Meat Boy 

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Super Meat Boy defined the indie formula for blistering difficulty balanced with rewarding gameplay. Allowing the player to respawn instantly saves this game from being mind-numbingly frustrating. The influence of SMB can’t be overstated: indie platformers have been taking inspiration from this masterpiece for a little under a decade. Notably, 2018’s breakout hit Celeste follows in the footsteps of SMB’s balanced, thumb-breaking gameplay. If you want to relive the meat grinder, give this one another shot. You won’t regret it… but the Meat Boy will.  

6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution 

Photo Credit: Square Enix 

The sleek, sexy and thought-provoking reboot of the legendary Deus Ex series is as fresh today as it was seven years ago. With a surprisingly deep story and rewarding, branching gameplay, Human Revolution never fails to engage the player in the action. If you’ve ever wanted to be a super-powered assassin with robot arms, this is your game.  After you’ve enjoyed Human Revolution’s backwards compatibility, check out the sequel, Mankind Divided, which released in 2016. 

5. Fable II 

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Remember when Fable was awesome? Before some seriously awful spin-offs, the name Fable signaled excellence in western-style RPGs. If you want to experience the magic again, Fable II, arguably the best of the series, has backwards compatibility. Fable features a beautiful, storybook world made with loving attention to detail. The gameplay and combat are both tight and satisfying, and progression is always rewarding. It almost hurts to wonder what might have been in store for this series in they hadn’t made that awful Kinect spin off… 

4. Portal: Still Alive 

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What can I say about this seminal first-person puzzler that hasn’t been said? It’s amazing. The writing is consistently hilarious, the puzzles are mind-bending, and the portal gun is awesome. You play as a test subject being tormented by an all-powerful, rampant AI. Your captor forces your through a series of increasingly deadly puzzles, outfitting you only with a portal gun. The portal gun can open a two-way portal on certain surfaces, testing your spatial knowledge and challenging you to think outside the box. 

3. Dark Souls 

Photo Credit: Bandai-Namco 

Haunting, oblique and unapproachable, Dark Souls is a game that refuses to be easily engaged with. You’ve doubtless heard all the talk about “hardest game ever,” but that’s only part of the story. Dark Souls is difficult in the way watching Begotten is difficult. It’s so grand, so epic, so utterly alien, that you have to change the way you approach it to appreciate it. The game is art in the true sense of the word: it makes you feel. Feel alone, outnumbered, isolated, up against positively absurd odds. 

When you first cross swords with a screen-filling demon, your heart fills with dread. How could you possibly fell such an imposing monster, an engine of raw destruction? But you persevere, you learn, and dodge and you kill the beast. And then you face another monster, this one even tougher and meaner. Then you face a dragon. Then you face gods. It’s hard to really describe the feeling of growing power, the satisfaction of winning in a world so bleak. But do yourself a favor: play this ugly, mean, triumphant game. And prepare to die. 

2. Red Dead Redemption 

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Red Dead Redemption tasks you with bringing in the members of your old gang to save your family from a corrupt FBI agent. In the Old West. Yeah, it’s as awesome as it sounds. Rockstar’s magnum opus, Red Dead Redemption climbs into your heart and lives there. The voice acting, and world building, are absolutely top-class, unmatched before or since, and give the game a sense of place unseen in the medium. If you missed this one the first time around, it sports backwards compatibility now, so you owe it to yourself to experience it again. If you missed it (shame on you) try it out now: it hasn’t aged a day since it was released. 

The Best Xbox 360 Game with Backwards Compatibility: Halo Reach 

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Legendary developer Bungie’s swan song to their incredible Halo series, Reach is a triumpant achievement. While both Bungie and the Halo series would stumble along into the 2010’s with middling-to-awful entries, Reach stands head and shoulders above all first-person shooters that have come after. With the possible exception of Overwatch, no competitive first-person shooter has matched the raw fun and intensity of Reach.  

Sporting a storyline that ties into the original and adds great depth to the universe, Reach delights on all fronts. It also features the return of the excellent Firefight mode from ODST. If you never caught this one and have always wondered what Bungie did before they made a disastrous deal with Activision, it’s available now with backwards compatibility. Go forth, and enjoy a reminder of how awesome the series once was.