The Best of Xbox Live Arcade

You spent a big chunk of money on an Xbox 360. You've turned the lights off on Perfect Dark Zero, made an appearance with Kameo, and condemned Condemned to your shelf after beating it with a 2x4. Now what? It's time to kick back with some more bite-sized, mass-market games in the little fun-filled area Microsoft calls the Xbox Live Arcade.

Xbox Live Arcade allows gamers to download new and old titles directly to their 360 hard drives. The choices range from the classic Joust to the Monkey Ball-esque Marble Blast Ultra. In fact, you have more games to pick from on Live Arcade than you do in video game retailers. Like the full-price 360 games, Arcade titles support high-definition, feature achievements to boost your gamer score, and many have online multiplayer options.

Downloading one is simple. First, feel free to try a demo to make sure it's worth your hard-earned points. If you're feeling it, a full version can be had for around 400 to 800 points -- which equates to between $5.00 and $10.00. After that, it's all yours. They're even small enough to fit on a memory card.

While that's a cheap price of admission, you still don't want to waste time and money on something you won't like. That's why we've played everything Xbox Live Arcade has to offer, and have compiled a list of the top five games for the service. This won't include coin-op classics like Gauntlet or Robotron -- you know what to expect from them. These are games you won't find on any other console.