Xbox 360 Games Added To Xbox One Backwards Compatible List: ‘Sonic & Knuckles,’ ‘Dig Dug’ Among Classic Additions

More Xbox 360 games have been added to the list of Xbox One backwards compatible titles, bringing the total to 10 for the week. The list of potential titles is still extensive, including the Batman: Arkham series prior to Knight, but it seems to be a given that Microsoft is working on it.

The ability to play your older titles on the current generation’s hardware could have been a selling point when the Xbone launched, helping Microsoft at least compete with Sony for sales. As the saying goes, though, it’s better late than never. Of course, now PlayStation 4 gamers are going to have to settle for either waiting for remastered, definitive, or port versions of their older games to hit the console, and buy them all over again. Due to hardware conflicts, the PS4 simply can’t play PS3 discs natively.

10 new titles added to Xbox 360 backwards compatible on Xbox One https://t.co/JCRWhJRF3b pic.twitter.com/BhEycM3UJt

— SA Gamer (@sagamersforum) May 4, 2016

Apparently, it’s too much to ask for the upcoming “Neo” to have an extra drive and processor for PS3 games.

Subscribers to PS Now do have the option to stream older titles to the PlayStation 4. That’s as close as Sony is likely to get, especially with the upcoming “Neo” hitting this year with 4K display capabilities, VR headset support, and the added advantage of enhancing current games to run with more consistent frame rates.

This week, the list of Xbox 360 games playable on the Xbox One appears to be focused on classic releases, mostly Xbox Live purchases, which give older titles fresh new life.

Earlier this week, we saw the releases of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I and II (Star Wars Day releases), Jet Set Radio, MX vs ATV Reflex, and Texas Hold ‘Em. Jet Set Radio was originally made for Sega’s ill-fate Dreamcast, a console doomed by generally ineffective advertising and a controller almost bigger than the console itself. The fact that you needed watch batteries to power the mobile memory unit didn’t help.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I and II were made for the Xbox 360 alongside MX vs ATV Reflex, but that appears to be all of the actual last generation titles made backwards compatible for Xbox One this week.

Runner 2 may be the newest of the five latest releases, an arcade-style game, the type of which was made popular on Android and iPhone. It incorporates the main character being unable to stop moving forward as you steer them around obstacles and attempt to grab power-ups along the way.

The oldest addition to the Xbox 360 games now available with Xbox One backwards compatibility is Dig Dug. In this game, you control a pest control expert with a pump who braves subterranean dangers like fire-breathing lizards and falling boulders. It hails from the classic Atari days when games didn’t have to look amazing — they just needed to be fun enough to get you playing again.

Phantasy Star II is a Sega RPG hailed as one of the best of its kind ever made. Back then, its biggest competition was Ultima, Final Fantasy, and the arcade-like Gauntlet.

Also from Sega is Sonic & Knuckles, which in the 16-bit days was based on new technology where cartridges could be plugged into each other to add content. In this case, the content was the ability to play as the “tough guy” echidna Knuckles in previous Sonic the Hedgehog titles. It was also its own game offering different paths in each level depending on whether you chose to play as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles.

SNK’s Samurai Shodown II was among the first fighting games to incorporate the controversial trend of blood in a video game. It also borrowed the idea of finishing moves from Mortal Kombat, giving the side-scrolling animated characters an extra edge, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Are these Xbox 360 games a welcome addition to your Xbox One backwards compatible library?

[Image via Sonic & Knuckles/Sega]