Overlooked and Underrated

by Louis Bedigian

A look at the most important games you shouldn’t have missed.

Every year great games are released that everybody plays.  Medal of Honor, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto – no one needs to tell you to play those games.  You will anyway.

There are also great games released that nobody plays.  Great games that might look or sound different, and perhaps do not fit in with typical American and European gaming culture.  More often than not it is the overlooked and underrated games that I am compelled to play the most.

You won't find games like ICO or Vib Ribbon in this list.  As much as I love ICO (and wish I could play Vib Ribbon), the last thing anyone wants to hear is another journalist praise it.

The following games never really had their fair shot at fame.  Either their marketing campaigns were small, they didn't receive enough attention from the press, or both.  If a game company doesn't heavily advertise, we are your last hope.  And if we don't talk about the games with smaller marketing campaigns, how will you know they exist?

Metal Slug 3

Console: Xbox

Is reviewing this game enough?  When I beat a game, walk away, and forget it exists -- yes, a review is enough.  But when I stop writing and continue playing months after the review is finished, I know I have a game that's more than a masterpiece.  More than a game that was fun to review.  More than another weekend-killer.

Take me to your leader, snowman.

Who would have thought that a game that classifies as being torture could be so much fun?  There's so much more depth here than you can get from other 2D action-shooters.  Not to discredit the Contra series (which I love very much), but Metal Slug 3 blows it out of the water.

The vehicles are one of the game's most rewarding aspects.  Each vehicle controls differently, not only by necessity (a helicopter shouldn't feel like a plane, nor should a space ship feel like a tank), but by creativity as well.  You'll command tanks, planes, mobile suits, submarines – even jump behind a mounted gun turret to take down a helicopter.

Metal Slug 3's replay value is unfathomable.  By all accounts it's a short game.  You get five levels of non-stop carnage, as well as a few bonus missions that are exclusive to Xbox.  But after that, what else is there?  In most cases I'd be asking that question in my review, followed by an answer saying how disappointing it is to finish a game so quickly.

But Metal Slug 3 can't be finished quickly.  If you're true to the difficulty (and do not enter a cheat code), the game will knock you down night after night.  The two-player co-op mode makes it easier to beat the game, but you won't feel like a true master until you've conquered it all by yourself.

And when all is said and done, you'll say the heck with sleep and start all over again.

Nothing like a giant robot fight at sunset.

Fire Emblem

Console: Game Boy Advance

Every morning I sit down to watch a re-run of The Practice.  At least that’s my intention.  I always hear what the lawyers are saying, but I never seem to see their faces.  Why?  Because my eyes are taken away from the television screen, distracted by the destructive addictiveness that is Fire Emblem.

It’s dubbed a strategy game, but when you get deep into this turn-based sleep-stealer, you’ll know that this is pure RPG.

There are many different characters in this game, and depending on the mission’s limitations, you may have more than a dozen warriors under your command.

Most of the characters bring something different to the table – a different story, different strengths and weaknesses, and different abilities. 

The combat is perfect, and the difficulty is so well balanced that you won’t be able to kick anyone but yourself for losing.

And, in a shocking twist that no one ever expected, anyone can die!  Lost party members will not come back from the dead.  If a really important character dies the game automatically ends.  I reset the game a lot to avoid losing party members that I liked, but still ended up losing one in the process.  If Square did this with the Final Fantasy series we’d need a box of tissues to get through each quest.

To sum things up: Fire Emblem is the perfect GBA RPG.  If I reviewed it today I’d give it a 9.5 out of 10.

Hopelessly devoted to you.

Fun Fact: Marco Beltrami composed music for The Practice during the series’ last few seasons.  He is also one of the three composers who worked on the Resident Evil movie.  (The other two composers being Marylin Manson and Kevin Manthei.)   Most recently Marco scored the music for I, Robot.

Tetris Attack

Console: SNES

The challenge: immense.  The gameplay: entirely new!  The replayability: endless.  Tetris Attack is the game that made the genre exciting again.  While the puzzle genre has always been a great source of unique concepts and innovation, the majority of the games (Columns, Puyo Pop, etc.) are offshoots of Tetris.

Tetris Attack, on the other hand, is not an offshoot.  Blocks aren't dropped down a rectangular playing field; they rise up.  The blocks do not differ in shape, only in color.  And you can't flip them around to fit them into place like some virtual puzzle.

Tetris Attack does things that no other puzzler did before its release.  The gameplay is very unique, giving gamers a cursor to eliminate blocks.  The cursor covers two blocks, and you can move it all around the area to switch the blocks from left to right.  Example: three red blocks (vertically positioned) with yellow block in the center.  If there's a red block next to the yellow block, you can switch the two and make all of the connected red blocks disappear.

Sounds simple, and it looks very easy.  Newcomers will have no trouble getting the hang of it.  But there is so much more to this game than meets the eye.  Blocks at the bottom of the screen can be eliminated, creating a gap, forcing the other blocks to drop down.  If done properly, an awesome chain of events will occur.  For even more devastation, you can eliminate more than one color of blocks at the same time (this technique is called a combo).

The two-player mode is unbeatable.  Removing blocks three at a time will do no harm to your opponent.  But if you perform a chain or a combo, thick blocks will fall on your opponent's screen.  The size of the block your opponent receives is dependant on the size of your chain or combo.

Frantic, heart-stopping, and without any flaws whatsoever, Tetris Attack is by far the most enjoyable, action-packed puzzle game available for the SNES.  I don't care if the game is eight years old -- it's still played frequently in my house.  I doubt that will ever change.

(Note: If you can't find Tetris Attack or want more of TA's relentless action, look for Pokemon Puzzle League for Nintendo 64.  It includes a revolving 3D playing field, and has very little to do with Pokemon.  It's not as widespread as TA but should be easy to find, and should retail for no more than $20.)

Gotta solve ‘em all.

Pikmin

Console: GameCube

Peaceful.  That's how I would describe this game.  There's a war to fight – many battles to win – but there's no real sense of chaos.  No agony, no suffering.  The music is simple but beautifully orchestrated, and the graphics are true to Shigeru Miyamoto's vision (Pikmin was inspired by his garden).  How could a game like this be any fun?  I wondered the same thing.  "It looks stupid," I said after viewing the game's E3 demonstration.  Then I played it and took back every rotten thing I said about it.

Some call it a puzzle game, others call it a game of real-time strategy.  I call it the best GameCube game of 2001.  It's the little things that make it such a joy to play, and many of those are hard to put into words.  One-hundred Pikmin can be sent into battle, sent to find parts, or ordered to break down a wall, build a bridge or collect items at any time.  You can split them up and multi-task, completing several objectives at once, adding to the complexity.

These gameplay features are nothing new, and thus deserve no praise.  Pikmin's beauty comes from the way that each element is presented.  The levels are like giant puzzles.  You'll encounter new obstacles at every turn.  Sometimes you'll be faced with three hefty bugs and their children, other times you'll be required to transport several Pikmin across a narrow platform that sits above a large pool of water.

I’ll squash you like a…bug!

I know all of this seems like an adventure for the kiddies, so I'll stop now before I make the game sound any less appealing.  But if you've read this far you must take what I say seriously.  So please ignore the image that Pikmin portrays.  Ignore the silly name, and the silly box cover, and let yourself become immersed in this strategic adventure.  Give it just one hour and it will give you one of the best times you'll ever have.

Honorable Mentions

Those aren't the only games that have been overlooked and underrated.  Here's a list of honorable games that deserve your attention. 

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PSone) -- A mysterious, wondrous gem.  A work of art.  An unforgettable classic.  Those are the words that come to mind when I think of Klonoa.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (GBA) -- The best original platformer on the Game Boy Advance.  Sonic Advance is great, but it's no Bandicoot.

Silent Bomber (PSone) -- You'll have a heck of a time tracking this one down, but if you do, you'll be rewarded with a unique game that's all about blowing stuff up.

Wario World (GameCube) -- Sometimes a game is abolished when its hype outweighs the quality of the final product.  Wario World isn't the Mario replacement you may have hoped for, but the semi-3D, bash-the-enemies-to-death-style gameplay is very rewarding.

Tales of Symphonia (GameCube) -- Yeah, it just came out.  And your point is?  Look, I know it ain't gonna sell a million copies in North America.  That doesn't mean that you shouldn't play it.  Anyone who overlooks this game is making a terrible mistake.  Full Review