Believe it or not, many Xbox 360 games aren’t available on PC despite the company’s recent streak of same-day releases on consoles and computers. Now that the 360 store is gone forever, there are fewer ways to enjoy these games, and the wait for official ports can take years.
Enter the Unleashed Recompiled project.
Thanks to the recent Sonic Unleashed Recompiled project, fans can enjoy this fan-favorite title on PC and Steam Deck. If that wasn’t exciting enough, these same devs revealed the new open-source Xenon Project, which theoretically allows for more of these recompiled 360 games.
Recompiling older games to make native PC ports is nothing new, though it’s still exciting. Fans have enjoyed recompiling Nintendo 64 classics like Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Star Fox 64 for PC. We never expected to see Xbox 360 games get that treatment this quickly, so it’s very exciting.
We won’t expect to see these projects soon, but some great Xbox 360 games could use the Unleashed Recompiled treatment.
Lost Odyssey
After gamers were disappointed with Final Fantasy XIII, many flocked to Lost Odyssey and called it the real 13th entry. It was hard to disagree, as the story of immortals with lost memories stuck with many. The game also had gorgeous visuals, a solid turn-based combat system, and a big world map, hitting all those classic JRPG tropes.
Since Lost Odyssey is stuck on Xbox, albeit with backward compatibility for Series X and S, we think this game should get the recompiled treatment. Emulating Xbox 360 can be a pain, especially with the multiple discs needed for this game. It would be awesome to get all of the new features seen in the Unleashed Recompiled project, but fans just want a straightforward way to replay this Xbox 360 gem.
Blue Dragon
Can you tell this writer loves JRPGs?
In all seriousness, Blue Dragon was another great game for the 360 and one that gave fans a competent Dragon Quest-style experience. Akira Toriyama's art style will keep this title timeless, and fans love the turn-based battles. While this game did get sequels on the DS, we’re all still waiting for a remaster of this gem.
Given how good this JRPG still looks, we would love to see it get the Unleashed Recompiled treatment. Imagine how good it would look with an uncapped framerate and upscaled visuals. That would make us Toriyama fans happy, that’s for sure.
Dead or Alive 4
Unfortunately, the Dead or Alive series has been more dead than alive lately, after 6 confused its perverted audience. Not all games need to be sexy, but when your brand is entirely built on sexy, and you try to take that away, fans will be confused.
It would be nice to see the fourth entry in this series get an Xbox 360 recompiled release. Because this busty fighter is stuck on Xbox systems, fans might not even know that a character sexier than Mai Shiranui is in it: Master Chief! The fighting is also pretty good, so fans who want depth might be surprised by how satisfying the throw and counter mechanics are.
This writer will never complain about Kasumi and Ayane, but the addition of Halo’s Master Chief makes this package special. It would be amazing if this could be recompiled for computers.
Snoopy Flying Ace
Now for something on the complete opposite of the sexy spectrum.
Over the past few years, we haven't had many Star Fox-style games, minus a few indie titles trying to scratch that itch. Fans didn’t know how good they had it in 2010 because Snoopy Flying Ace is a great game.
Shooting down enemy airplanes like Snoopy might feel weird, but the cute visuals and tight gameplay will soon change minds. Add some of the benefits of being recompiled, like HD visuals and over 4K resolution, and this would be a great time for any gamer.
Toy Story 3
We’re putting this here because the Steam version is just an upscaled port of the Wii game. Granted, this is still a pretty solid game, but the HD version looks and plays a lot better, so the Unleashed Recompiled treatment for the Xbox 360 version would be ideal.
Disney fans will tell you that Toy Story 3 on PS3 and Xbox 360 is one of the best movie tie-in games ever released, and they’re correct. With gorgeous visuals, a fun open-world mode that inspired Disney Infinity, and great platforming, this makes it a must-play title. It would be great if Disney released a port of this and Toy Story 2 in the future, but we’ll gladly take a recompiled native port from the Xbox 360.
These 360 games deserve the Unleashed Recompiled treatment. Which Xbox 360 games do you want to see recompiled? Let us know on social media.