While Xbox is in a rocky place with layoffs, lackluster exclusives, and an ever-changing launch philosophy, it is still home to some incredible games and series. Over the past 25 years, its franchises have become global icons, yet there are many that have been forgotten. With Project Helix in development, Microsoft has another chance to challenge Sony and Nintendo in the console space. While its flagship titles have put in some excellent work, they cannot stand alone against the heavy hitters on PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch 2.
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This opens the door for Microsoft to look in Xbox’s past and revive abandoned series. Many of Xbox’s library haven’t seen a new game in decades, let alone been made available through backwards compatibility. I’d love to see the return of incredible RPGs like Lost Odyssey and Jade Empire, but there are other larger series that desperately need a reboot when Project Helix launches. The next generation hardware from Microsoft gives these older titles a new chance to shine with improved mechanics, characters, and worlds. Of these, five stand out in particular that are perfect for a revival.
5) Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Blinx: The Time Sweeper was one of Microsoft’s earliest attempts to create a mascot for the console. Artoon released it in 2002, and it starred a cartoon anthropomorphic cat who worked as a Time Sweeper. Players could use his signature vacuum cleaner to manipulate time, slowing, accelerating, rewinding, and even stopping time. It was Microsoft’s effort to create a “4-dimensional” platformer completely revolving around controlling time.
It received a sequel, Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space in 2004, which expanded the core premise. The story took on new layers and delivered a more narrative approach to platforming. Players could now control other Time Sweepers and rival Tom Tom pigs while attempting to undo the damage done by the destruction of the Big Crystal. The sequel implemented intentional story glitches and space-manipulation abilities, as well as cooperative and competitive gameplay.
The original games had their flaws, but modern hardware has the power to address these with a reboot. The games had depth, but the characters and story were questioned as to whether they had enough personality to justify Microsoft’s focus on them. With Project Helix, the world can get more depth and attention while the gameplay can be refined and expanded. Platformers are in a fantastic place right now, and Blinx could easily fit in this new world.
4) Crimson Skies
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge was a unique and thoroughly entertaining Xbox exclusive. Released in 2003, it felt like a cinematic adventure movie combined with the action of arcade-style aerial combat. It followed Nathan Zachary, an air pirate in an alternate 1930s America, hunting down those responsible for the death of his best friend. As a kid, it had everything I loved: air pirates, enormous zeppelins, and fantastical aircraft.
The gameplay was distinctive, favoring accessible and flashy aerial combat over realistic flight physics. Players could attack enemy aircraft, fight enormous airborne targets, and explore a fictionalized version of 1930s America. It also supported multiplayer, including split-screen, and seemingly had something for everyone. Looking back, it is a shame that it never received the sequel it deserved, but Project Helix can fix this.
Rebooting Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge would let Microsoft expand the aerial adventure game with cooperative missions, competitive dogfights, customizable aircraft, and a reimagined open world built around Nathan or a new generation of pilots. The biggest reason Crimson Skies deserves another opportunity is that there isn’t much like it. Realistic flight sims aside, players get very few opportunities to play a game fully focused around aerial adventure and combat. Project Helix can revive this series and this gameplay.
3) Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct may be a strange choice given it saw a reboot in 2013 after nearly a decade without a new installment, bringing back the series’ famous characters and combo-focused fighting system. It had a rebuilt combat system, new characters, a new story, progression features, and matchmaking designed with competitive play in mind. The game received incredible post-launch support, but there is a bigger picture that Microsoft seems to be neglecting.
To put it plainly, Killer Instinct needs a sequel, not to maintain its status as a live service fighting game. While Microsoft has maintained it well, the game is showing its age. With titles like Street Fighter 6 and the newly released Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls dominating, Killer Instinct just doesn’t have the legs to keep. Seasons and new characters can only do so much and feel more like patching holes than genuinely improving the game.
A sequel is a chance to fix that. It could preserve the game’s core foundation while expanding on it. Faster matchmaking, extensive training tools, cross-platform competition, robust tournament features, and a cinematic story campaign could do wonders for pushing Killer Instinct into mainstream focus. The series already has the history, characters, and competitive foundation required for another installment, t simply needs Microsoft to decide that the time is right to break the combo counter again and put a sequel on Project Helix.
2) Viva Pinata
Viva Pinata is easily one of Microsoft’s most unique and charming series. Rare released the original on the Xbox 260 in 2006, and it allowed players to explore the colorful world of Pinata Island. They were tasked with building and managing a garden on the island, which would then attract more than 60 different species of pinatas. Players were free to tame, customize, and care for them, further enhancing the personality of the game.
Rare expanded the formula with Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. It added new species, activities, environments, features, and secrets. Players could explore deserts and icy regions while still upkeeping their gardens and maintaining the pinata population. To this day, it is one of the most charming and relaxing series on Xbox, and that is precisely what Microsoft has to reboot it on Project Helix and its modern hardware. Currently, Xbox doesn’t have anything to compete with it, so this makes it the perfect time.
A reboot could introduce bigger-scale gardens, deeper ecosystem interactions, online play, seasonal events, expanded customization, and of course, more pinata species and ways to interact with them. Project Helix could transform Viva Pinata into one of the coziest games in modern history. The rise of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and even the more recent Pokemon Pokopia shows there is success to be found in charming and colorful worlds.
1) Banjo-Kazooie
No game deserves a reboot more than Banjo-Kazooie. While it technically began in 1998 on the Nintendo 64, Rare and the series have since moved to Xbox, meaning Project Helix can finally give players the dream revival they’ve wanted for decades. Platformers are at a great place right now thanks to Astro Bot, and few duos are as iconic in the genre as Banjo and Kazooie. The two almost single-handedly made the partner platforming genre as popular as it is today.
The game, and its sequel, Banjo-Tooie, cast players into a charming world through the eyes of a talking bear and bird, the bird perhaps talking too much. The pair set out to stop the witch Gruntilda, exploring magical worlds, collecting Jiggies, and learning unique abilities. The first two games are hailed as some of the greatest 3D platformers of all time and inspired countless other games, including Yooka-Laylee, a game developed by many former Rare employees.
Yet the bear and bird are nowhere in sight. The last game was a complete disaster, so much so that fans like me refuse to admit Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is even a part of the series. Considering this title released in 2008, fans are desperate to see Banjo and Kazooie return to their platforming roots. The pair’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate inspired hope, and Project Helix could be the platform where one of the greatest games of all time makes its triumphant return.
