The 5 Best "Summer of Arcade" Games Of All Time

With "Summer of Arcade" 2K12 right around the corner, we're looking back at some of the best games to come out of the series.

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Complex Original

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Summer is here, and you know what that means... Sun, fun, and Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade! Yes, smack dab in the middle of the games industry's traditional dry season, Xbox gamers are getting a five-week excuse to stay inside.

Since it began in 2008, Summer of Arcade has risen to become the biggest event in console gaming's downloadable games space, and not just because of the sales: More than a few fantastic downloadable games that have come out of the series, giving us good reason to get excited for it to come back year after year.

Summer of Arcade is going into its fifth year in 2012. It's been awhile; long enough that maybe you've forgotten some of truly amazing games that were released in past years. We've put together an Summer of Arcade all-star lineup: They're the créme de la créme - the five best games from the entire Summer of Arcade back-catalog.

If you haven't picked these games up, then I seriously recommend picking them up and starting the downloadable game-fest early...

RELATED: The 30 Best Arcade Games From The '90s

Braid

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Castle Crashers

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Shadow Complex

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Limbo

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Bastion

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