5 Games Worth Looking at from XBOX LIVE Arcade

Probably one of the coolest additions to XBOX LIVE for the XBOX 360 is the XBOX LIVE Arcade. What XBOX LIVE Arcade gives you are tons of newer and classic arcade games such as Pacman, Galaga, Contra and more. You can also get favorites such as Texas Hold'em and Solitaire. Recent additions include Golden Axe and Sonic The Hedgehog. Each of these games all cost something too purchase and download of course but almost every game on the arcade are very much worth it. Here are my top five XBOX LIVE Arcade games worth checking out.

One of the coolest games ever created has to be Sonic The Hedgehog for Sega Genesis back in the day. I was around six or seven years old when this game came out and it was a blast back then. Finally it has made it's way to XBOX LIVE Arcade and was one of the most popular downloads back a few weeks ago when it was released. You get the full game from Sonic number two and it plays very nicely using an XBOX 360 controller and you can adjust the screen size based on your TV set. This game retails for 400 Microsoft Points as do most XBOX LIVE Arcade games.

The next game you should also check out would be Texas Hold'em off the arcade. Everyone loves poker but some people don't know how to play it. I learned how to play poker from this game thanks to its rules and hint page in the game. It will show you the different hand types and playing techniques. There are several challenges in single player and tournament mode as well. The A.I. in the game can be pretty easy to bluff but it's still a fun experience by your self. Online is where this game is the best. You can have a full tournament with up to eight people if you choose to. Texas Hold'em retails for 800 points I believe but it may be 400 points.

One of the classics of all time has to be Contra. This was before my time a little bit but still a pretty fun and challenging game. I was awarded this game from a contest Microsoft held back in March so I didn't have to pay for it. I've only gone part way into the game it self but it's a side scrolling shooter. You can get different weapons upgrades along the way and enemies will tend to come out of nowhere, which is a frustrating challenge sometime. This is a classic shooter that most people would enjoy and you should at least check out the free trial version you can download.

Another classic arcade game of all time would have to be Pacman. Games like Pacman and Galaga are big time classics and are definitely two arcade games worth looking at. Both offer the same exact things you found on the arcade games way back when but now you can play it from the comfort of your living room or bedroom. Both of these games are both available for 400 Microsoft points but both offer trial versions as well for free.

One of my favorite games of all time and my very first XBOX LIVE Arcade was DOOM. I remember playing this game when it first came out back in 1992 or 1993 for the PC. It was revolutionary in first person shooters and is legendary from that point. You get four full episodes in the download of DOOM and you can even play multiplayer against four other people, which is surprisingly fun for a 2-D game from over ten years ago. If you're easily upset by extremely fake looking 2-D violence, you should avoid this. For any fan of DOOM or Wolfenstein, you should definitely try out DOOM.

All of these choices are just my opinion and the games I really enjoy but I know for a fact that everyone of these XBOX LIVE Arcade games are very popular from a download standpoint and multiplayer standpoint. There are tons of awesome games on XBOX LIVE Arcade worth checking out but these five are my personal recommendations. You don't have to buy them and you can always download the free trial versions to check them out.