The original Xbox, the real Xbox One, launched on November 15, 2001. This was right off the heels of SEGA throwing in the towel in the console market, thus making room for a new competitor for Sony and Nintendo's sixth-generation systems. It was a bold move and one that raised quite a few eyebrows, but also one with real value.
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The results of Microsoft's decision ultimately speak for themselves. While the system did not sell as many units as the PS2, primarily due to having fewer games and a lack of established franchises; the titles it did get were pretty killer and many of the franchises they represent are still around today.
Updated August 15, 2021 by Tom Bowen: When Microsoft made the decision to enter into the home console market in the late nineties, the company faced a monumental task. The competition was strong and the margins were tight, as Sega would come to realize just a few short years later. Armed with some creative thinkers and a ridiculous amount of cash, the company quickly realized that it needed more than just powerful hardware to stand a chance against Nintendo and Sony and so set about securing a strong library of Xbox exclusive titles. Not all of the exclusives on the original Xbox found their mark, but many did and would go on to become hugely successful; selling millions of units and spawning multiple sequels.
18 Fuzion Frenzy
Developer: Blitz Games
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studio
Release Date: November 15, 2001
Genre: Party
Metacritic Score: 70
Originally released in 2001, Fuzion Frenzy may not have been the most complex game on the market, but it provided hours of simplistic and over-the-top antics akin to Nintendo's Mario Party series. It may not have had the iconic characters, but it arguably provided just as much fun.
As would perhaps be expected from a fledgling party game, it didn't score too highly with critics, exemplified by its 70 Metascore. However, the game sold extremely well; amassing nearly 700,000 sales in the United States, which is very impressive considering the original Xbox's fairly limited sales.
17 Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Developer: Artoon
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: October 7, 2002
Genre: Platformer
Metacritic Score: 71
Given the huge success of series like Mario, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot, it's easy to see why Microsoft was so keen to secure a platforming franchise of its own. As it happens, Blinx ended up being a little more Bubsy than Banjo, but it still had plenty of redeeming qualities that made it worth playing.
The game performed reasonably well with critics and sales were strong enough for Microsoft to greenlight a sequel. Unfortunately, however, the response to Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space was fairly lackluster, which led to the franchise being kicked to the kerb. It wasn't the last Xbox exclusive title that Artoon would work on though, with the studio later going on to co-develop Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360.
16 Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Release Date: January 22, 2003
Genre: Sports
Metacritic Score: 73
Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball caught a lot of flack when it was first released, though its strong sales suggest that not all of this was fully justified. It was definitely a game of its era and, though certainly a little risqué, was still a well-put-together volleyball game.
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Of all the fighting game spinoffs that exist, Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is right up there with the best of them and is certainly one of the most unique. At the end of the day, if there is a market for this type of game, then there should be nothing wrong with developers answering that demand.
15 Ultimate Fighting Championship: Tapout
Developer: DreamFactory
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Release Date: February 17, 2002
Genre: Fighting
Metacritic Score: 74
The Ultimate Fighting Championship brand was far smaller in 2002 than it is today, but that didn't stop a tie-in game from releasing for the original Xbox. It featured some of the sport's biggest stars like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Frank Shamrock; as well as, for some reason, 80s rapper Ice T.
Considering the year it was released, Ultimate Fighting Championship: Tapout developer DreamFactory did a solid job of implementing the vast range of mixed martial arts styles into balanced gameplay mechanics. They did so well, in fact, that a sequel was released the following year.
14 Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
Developer: Revolution Software
Publisher: The Adventure Company
Release Date: December 8, 2003
Genre: Adventure
Metacritic Score: 77
Though arguably the worst entry in the classic point-and-click franchise, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is still a very good game. It brings George Stobart and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Nico into the third dimension and features an elaborate story that's full of epic twists and turns.
Interestingly, Microsoft only went as far as securing exclusivity for the title in North America, meaning that those in Europe were able to play the game on the PlayStation 2 a month earlier than Xbox owners in the states. It was definitely worth the wait though, as the Xbox port looks and controls far better than its PS2 counterpart.
13 Steel Battalion
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: November 21, 2002
Genre: Vehicle Simulation
Metacritic Score: 83
Steel Battalion was a costly investment back in the early 2000s and not a lot of copies of the game exist in the wild anymore as a result. A lot of people chose to focus on cost at the time of its release, but, looking back, it's perhaps Capcom's ambition that deserved to be the main talking point.
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Technology is getting close to offering some visceral VR experiences, but the feeling of having physical controls just isn’t the same. What made Steel Battalion so great was its elaborate controller that mirrored that of the player’s cockpit. The dang thing even had an eject button! It was hard, but it felt good when victory was clenched at the last second.
12 Conker: Live & Reloaded
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: June 21, 2005
Genre: Platformer
Metacritic Score: 78
A remake of the cult classic N64 title Conker's Bad Fur Day, 2005's Conker: Live & Reloaded released exclusively on Xbox following Microsoft's acquisition of Rare in 2002. This didn't sit too well with Nintendo fans, but certainly helped raise awareness of the Xbox brand.
Among the game's changes was the implementation of Xbox Live to the multiplayer mode, as well as significant graphical and sound improvements. As a result, many consider it to be the definitive version of the game and one of the few great games released by Rare since being acquired by Microsoft.
11 The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Developer: Starbreeze Studios
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
Release Date: June 1, 2004
Genre: Action-Adventure
Metacritic Score: 89
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay had a lot going for it in 2004. Not only was it a tie-in to the popular media franchise, but Vin Diesel also reprised his role for the game. As a result, it scored an impressive 89 on Metacritic, though the game struggled to perform commercially.
Thankfully, the game's developer Starbreeze Studios was at least rewarded for its efforts, picking up awards for Best Game Based on a Movie and Unsung Hero Game of the Year. The franchise has since faded away into obscurity, but the game remains one of the original Xbox's very best.
10 Project Gotham Racing 2
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: November 18, 2003
Genre: Racing
Metacritic Score: 90
With a whopping Metascore of 90, Bizzare Creations' Project Gotham Racing 2 is not just one of the best racing game's on the original Xbox, but one of the best racing games of the entire industry for its time. It looked and played like a dream, and still holds up pretty well to this day.
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Much like with its predecessors, Metropolis Street Racer and Project Gotham Racing, the gameplay is centered around the franchise's fantastic Kudos mechanic. Kudos is amassed through skillful driving and can be used to purchase new and improved cars.
9 Jet Set Radio Future
Developer: Smilebit
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: February 25, 2002
Genre: Extreme Sports
Metacritic Score: 88
After Sega failed with the Saturn and the Dreamcast back to back, the company decided to call it quits on consoles and instead focus on being a 3rd party publisher. After the quick turnaround, a lot of their properties planned for the Dreamcast made their way onto the Xbox as exclusives.
Along with stuff like Crazy Taxi and Panzer Dragoon, the stylish Jet Set Radio Future also made its way into Microsoft's grateful hands. Unlike the first game, however, it has sadly never been re-released with an HD upgrade, meaning that players will have to settle for an upscaled experience on the Series X or S.
8 Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
Developer: Oddworld Inhabitants
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: January 25, 2005
Genre: Action-Adventure
Metacritic Score: 88
The Oddworld series, up to this point, had been PlayStation exclusive puzzle platformers. They were fun, but not necessarily groundbreaking. What the franchise did offer, however, were imaginative worlds filled with nightmarish imagery that complimented the slower gameplay pacing.
Stranger’s Wrath is Oddworld meets Clint Eastwood westerns with the fun gadgetry of Ratchet & Clank. It’s a bizarre twist for the series, but arguably one for the better. It has since received an HD upgrade as well as two sequels, the latest of which came in 2021 in the form of Oddworld: Soulstorm.
7 Ninja Gaiden Black
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Release Date: March 2, 2004
Genre: Action Adventure
Metacritic Score: 94
Granted, Ninja Gaiden was later ported to the PS3, but, in its original run, the game was marketed as an Xbox exclusive. Strange too, considering that this was once a big Nintendo franchise. Microsoft was taking every exclusive it could get its hands on though and this was one of the better deals that the company struck.
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Ninja Gaiden is brutally and sometimes unfairly difficult, but no more so than the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy on the NES. It was also an excellent example of how to reboot a franchise the right way; something that not all developers have yet mastered. If only the sequels had kept this nostalgia train going.
6 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: June 6, 2002
Genre: Action RPG
Metacritic Score: 87
Nowadays, The Elder Scrolls is most heavily associated with Skyrim. Before 2011's beloved entry or even Oblivion though, Bethesda broke into the console market with Morrowind. Even at the time, the RPG had a rough quality to it, with the load times being incredibly slow.
This was because the game featured a vast open RPG world the likes of which had never really been seen on a console. Skyrim is arguably the best entry in the series, but it wouldn’t be where it is today without Morrowind. Of course, Morrowind debuted on PC, but this remains the only console version around.
5 Jade Empire
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: April 12, 2005
Genre: Action RPG
Metacritic Score: 89
When people think of BioWare, they probably get sad because of how far the studio has fallen. That being said, the developer's history is filled with masterpieces like Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect, just to name a few.
Jade Empire tends to be forgotten among those other big names, despite having that classic BioWare charm and gameplay. Plus, Jade Empire is like a Hong Kong kung fu movie in game form! Why exactly more people aren't clamoring for a sequel is anybody's guess, because Jade Empire really is a great game.
4 Shenmue 2
Developer: Sega AM2
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: October 28, 2002
Genre: FREE
Metacritic Score: 80
Given that the two companies had worked so closely together during the development of the Dreamcast, it came as little surprise to many when Microsoft began snapping up exclusivity deals for Sega's strongest IPs. Aside from Sonic, Shenmue was arguably the pick of the bunch, with tens of millions of dollars having been spent on the development of the two groundbreaking games.
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Much like Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Microsoft's exclusivity deal only covered North America, meaning that European and Japanese players got the game on Dreamcast more than one year earlier; albeit at the expense of an English language dub. Despite the lack of a dub though, the Dreamcast release fared much better with critics, managing average scores of 90 and 88 with GameRankings.com and Metacritic respectively.
3 Fable
Developer: Big Blue Box Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: September 14, 2004
Genre: Action RPG
Metacritic Score: 85
Morrowind was great and all, but the best fantasy game on the original Xbox was arguably Fable. It also had a vast scope; some of which it lived up to while some it did not. The visionary behind the game, Peter Molyneux, has always made incredible promises with his projects, but Fable delivers on more than most.
Even though the RPG did not quite live up to all of the hype surrounding it, Big Blue Box Studios' Fable is still nothing short of a brilliant game. Regardless of its faults, Fable offers up an incredible journey and proves that not all great RPGs need to come from Japan.
2 Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: LucasArts
Release Date: July 15, 2003
Genre: RPG
Metacritic Score: 94
Prior to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, most Star Wars video games ranged from okay to bad. There were a few gems in there, like Jedi Outcast, but no one could have guessed that a prequel set four-thousand years prior to the events of the original movie trilogy could have been this good!
BioWare's epic RPG can be played on the latest Xbox consoles with improved load times and smoother textures; at some points, legitimately feeling like a current-gen game. That is to say, it holds up extremely well. These days it's playable on other platforms, but it was a defining title for the original Xbox at launch.
1 Halo
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: November 15, 2001
Genre: FPS
Metacritic Score: 97
Microsoft had a lot to prove by jumping into the console market. Along with Bungie, the Xbox aimed to change what people thought about first-person shooters on consoles. Since then, Halo has made its way to the PC and is even available on Steam, but nothing defined 'exclusive' on the original Xbox more than Halo: Combat Evolved.
Halo greatly improved the genre while also creating a brand new multiplayer sensation. It even spawned a fan cartoon called Red vs Blue, which paved the way for its creators, Rooster Teeth, to become a media giant. To say that Halo has been successful would therefore be a bit of an understatement.
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