Ask anyone to describe the appearance of an Xbox Original game to you, and you’ll probably get a description close to this: a green case, black on the top most times and black on the bottom, the Xbox logo in the top left, a flash of green in the top right, and a rating in the bottom left.
Off this general backdrop, Xbox developers managed to think up some covers that were funny, sleek, spooky, entertaining, thought-provoking, and filled with action. Unfortunately, many of these games did not stand the test of time and have been largely forgotten. If you were to judge a book by its cover, the following Xbox games would be worth playing.
11 Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
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Crazy Taxi 3's cover depicts a yellow checkered cab with the license plate 602 FUN rushing towards the player driven by a man escorting two showgirls whose heads stick out of the vehicle. In the back are glittering lights and hotel-looking buildings that suggest the lures of Las Vegas. The most noticeable thing on the cover, though, is the Crazy Taxi: High Roller symbol, which looks like it is on fire. This game is so bombastic that it also has a lightning bolt running through the title.
You play as one of several taxi drivers trying to deliver people to their destination on time. As one of several Crazy Taxi games, the game received average reviews despite featuring a classic 2002 soundtrack with songs from the Offspring and Bad Religion.
9 Crimson Skies: Road To Revenge
The cover of Crimson Skies looks like the poster for a movie that would play alongside Casablanca. In the background, in traces of brown and silver, are a man and woman's faces, standing against each other like companions of some sort. The bottom of the screen depicts a plane flying toward the screen as it is being shot at by other planes behind it. The game suggests that it would play like a World War II fantasy.
The 2003 game occurs in an alternate version of the 1930s, where the United States splintered into various sovereignties. Crimson Skies is a fun and unique game with good graphics for the time and environments that were unparalleled in 2003. The game's single-player campaign is also compelling due to its storyline and is less frustrating than many other contemporary flight games.
8 Ghost Master
Ghost Master looks like an outtake from an unreleased Tim Burton film. The cover’s background is full of birds, gravestones, crosses, and what looks to be a chapel. In the foreground are a green glowing spirit with broken teeth, what appears to be a zombie, and another figure with glowing eyes. The game suggests a funny, childish Halloween game.
The 2003 puzzle strategy game involves you taking the role of the titular Ghost Master, who is a spirit tasked with various duties. While you mostly haunt things in the game, you can also be requested to do things like avenge deaths or increase spiritual beliefs. Largely forgotten now, the game is an interesting and fun take on spooky subjects.
7 Night Caster II: Equinox
The Night Caster 2 cover looks like an RPG that'd be compelling to play. There's the scroll-like design around the text, the glowing orb in the background from a player's staff, and the player in the immediate front, who appears to have green-blue skin, is clutching a sword and dressed in armor. This art promises a fantasy world in which the player can get lost.
Unfortunately, Night Caster 2 was not a well-received game and was hailed by many as a miss in the series. While the game promises to let players both aim spells and maneuver, the difficult controls and poor level design ultimately turned this game into obscurity.
6 Whiplash
Whiplash's cover depicts a rabbit with an attitude who appears to be busting out of a cage. In the air is a weasel with comically large eyes. Chasing behind the rabbit appears to be a group of bad guys. This game looks like it’s got all the attitude of a Bubsy or Crash Bandicoot.
Today, the game is best remembered for the conversations it raised about animal cruelty. Whiplash involves a weasel and a rabbit who try to find their way out of a product testing lab. The 3D platformer features difficult controls and a bland landscape.
5 Whacked!
The cover of Whacked features the subtitle "Game Show Gone Wrong," suggesting that the blue-haired girl in the front, the girl with the gap-toothed smile in the back, and the several strange creatures surrounding them, including one that looks like Elvis and another looks like a Jester are contestants or hosts.
Whacked offers arena-style mini-games, including dodgeball, king of the hill, deathmatch, and collecting stars. The arenas include car crash sites, bathroom ceilings, and below Christmas trees. Despite simplistic gameplay, the game's novelty and voice-acting are strange and enjoyable.
4 Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal
Kakuto Chojin looks like a game that would beat up Mortal Kombat based on its cover. There's a muscle beast-like creature in the background, a man with his shirt off, a masked fighter, and a girl fighter. In the front of the cover stands a man who looks like Street Fighter 2’s Dhalsim.
The game is set in a three-dimensional arena and features thirteen fighters. Each participant fights in either Kakuto or Chojin style. Heavily hyped at the time, Kakuto Chojin offers weak gameplay, a lackluster story mode, and few bonus elements. The game also contains offensive religious text due to Quran verses cited in the background of a character's theme song.
3 X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse
X-Men Legends 2's cover looks better than most of the X-Men comic books you could pick up when the game was released. The background features Apocalypse's grimacing face, while the front of the cover features Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Magneto, and Bishop. The cover suggests an X-Men storyline that you need to know about.
For the most part, X-Men Legends II delivered on the promises of its cover. The game offers destructible backgrounds, fun gameplay, a variety of characters, and an engaging storyline. The game sees the Brotherhood of Mutants team up with X-Men to stop a force bigger than either of them.
2 Red Ninja: End Of Honor
The sleek, cool cover of Red Ninja: End of Honor features a woman who is pulling something with her teeth and who appears to have already stabbed someone. The white backdrop of the same and long, slanted title suggests a quick-moving game with sharp graphics.
Released in 2005, Red Ninja follows Kurenai, who kills enemies with either a blade or a blunt iron weight. Kurenai also utilizes a hook to swing between locations and can enter "bullet time" to defeat enemies. Red Ninja is a miss of a game. While the game tries to be unique, it does not do enough to separate itself from the crowd. The camera angles in Red Ninja are also frustrating.
1 Panzer Dragoon Orta
Panzer Dragoon's cover looks like players will be able to epically ride dragons as players who would be at home in an RPG setting.
The game follows the titular Orta as she joins the dragon that frees her on a quest to protect ancient relics from being taken advantage of. The game delivers on its cover and offers an even better storyline. Offering great visuals as well as freedom for players, Orta is a memorable game despite its difficult and short length.