It's funny how things work out in the games industry. If that deal between Sony and Nintendo had worked out, for instance, PlayStation could have been a very different machine. If not for a release date that saw a game outshadowed, it may have become a legend in its genre and a now-huge title or series might never have taken off. Sometimes, excellent games just don't make the impact they deserve to.
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These indie horror games are on the fast track to becoming beloved cult classics, and for good reason.
Here are some titles that you may never have played, or that you might have completely forgotten about until your memory was jogged here. They're all worthy of being remembered as cult classics, though, whether you have them in your collection or not.
6 Speed Punks
A Kart Racer With Attitude
Mario Kart, of course, is commonly regarded as the gold standard of kart racers. Arouund the turn of the Millenium, though, the original PlayStation had some very solid genre entries of its own. Crash Team Racing is well-known as a fully-featured racer that perhaps even tops Mario's offerings in some respects (with a robust story mode for instance), but around the same time, Speed Punks arrived on the system.
This underrated release features a young cast of racers, created for the game rather than gathered from classic series as with the aforementioned two racers. Among them are Tempest, Monica, Brains, and the rest of the gang that call themselves the Speed Punks. They delight in racing each other and, of course, have access to a wide range of weapons while doing so, from missiles and bombs to puddles of slime and a short-lived stealth mode. They're not very different to their Mario Kart equivalents (as is typical of kart racers), and the different weight stats of characters work in much the same way too. What separated Speed Punks from its competition at the time, though, was its sense of speed. Turbo tokens can be picked up around the tracks to fill a meter, and the player can save them for a huge, lengthy boost or use quick bursts to overtake a pesky rival. Tracks are well-designed, bright and vibrant, and varied, and the challenge races to unlock new characters are a significant challenge. The multiplayer is the competitive core of the experience, though, as it usually is.
5 Soul Sacrifice
A Horrifying Quest To Defeat A Dark Sorcerer
The PSP and PlayStation Vita were home to some excellent hunting games, from the Monster Hunter series entries to the futuristic Freedom Wars. Each of them, of course, had to differentiate itself from the crowd with a unique plot, its own take on the mechanics, and a varied selection of weapons. Perhaps the most unique of all these action RPGs was Soul Sacrifice.
In this 2013 Vita release, the player character is a new magic wielder who has been captured by a formidable sorcerer named Magusar. This villain has them locked in a cage and intends to sacrifice them, and at the beginning of the story, they have slim to zero chance of defeating Magusar in combat. Their potential salvation is Librom, a sentient book that essentially acts as the game's elaborate mission select screen, while also being much more than that. The story is a grim and distorted version of various fairytales, with characters such as the three little pigs being adapted into huge hideous bosses to defeat. Instead of selecting weapons, the player learns an arsenal of magic spells, which can be crafted into a loadout. They can summon melee weapons with different elemental effects, ranged spells, and supportive effects like healing or a buff to movement. There are also ultimate techniques that you must literally sacrifice parts of your body to use, such as a huge attack using your eyes that then limits your view of the screen until the effect is reversed.
The levelling system is interesting, too, because saving or sacrificing (or opting for a netural path in the expanded Soul Sacrifice Delta) opponents sees your character develop differently. Predominantly, sacrificing will dramatically boost your damage and cut your health all the way down, while saving has the opposite effect. It's all about how strong you want to be and how much you trust yourself not to take a hit. This dark and creative title is sure to stick with you.
4 Alien Soldier
Another Treasure From Treasure
If you're a run and gun fan with a fondness for the Sega Genesis, you'll probably know all about Gunstar Heroes. This was the first title from genre legends Treasure, and tasks the player with taking the role of Gunstar Blue or Gunstar Red and blasting through the Empire's forces to defeat their captured brother, Green. It has, particularly in its latter stages, a futuristic space-faring theme, and is well known for its weapon-swapping system, brilliant boss designs, and general chaos. The injustice is that another Treasure effort, Alien Soldier, shares all of these brilliant traits, and yet is largely forgotten in comparison.
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The Sega Genesis went head-to-head with the Super Nintendo in the 90s, and came away with a library loaded with iconic and influential games.
The protagonist is Epsilon-Eagle, bird-like leader of the Scarlet organization, "the secret society intended to destroy the entire human race" according to the game's intro. Epsilon is targeted in an assassination attempt and Xi-Tiger takes command of Scarlet, leaving the weakened Epsilon to pursue their towering foe. With the power of flight and six different types of weapons (Ranger Force, Buster Force, Sword Force, Homing Force, Lancer Force, and Flame Force), the player has firepower to match their maneuverability, and must power hrough stage after stage of peculiar-looking aliens and mechanical enemies. There's no stage select or respite between levels, making for a non-stop and relentless ride with fantastic visuals and animation.
3 Elebits
An FPS With An Adorable Difference
Of course, "adorable" isn't a word we'd often associate with the FPS genre. From Doom to Anger Foot, these titles are traditionally all about extreme and explosive violence. Early in the Wii's life, though, Elebits arrived, demonstrating how fun, silly, and non-violent an FPS game can be.
Bringing light to a world of darkness is a common theme we can all get behind, and Elebits takes it rather literally. Using motion controls, the goal is to explore environments such as a bedroom, street, and ultimately an amusement park and collect Elebits, this world's source of electricity. The protagonist is Kai, a young boy who is well-placed to do so as his parents are experts in these critters. His 'weapon' is the Capture Gun, which he steals in an attempt to restore power after the mysterious disappearance of these creatures. In each stage, the player is given a time limit and an amount fo watts to reach, with each Elebit counting towards that goal. They could be hiding in boxes, cupboards, or anywhere, and you've got to search to flush them out. Reaching certain thresholds energizes particular objects in each stage, such as a TV or toy train, thereby leveling up the Capture Gun and allowing for the manipulation of larger objects. It becomes incredibly chaotic later, as you're searching everywhere for these elusive little creatures. It was built around motion controls, but practical use of them rather than shoehorning them in.
2 Evil Genius
"I've Been Expecting You, Mr. Bond."
Legendary Bullfrog strategy title Dungeon Keeper cast the player as a malevolent entity who leads horrific armies against the forces of all that is good and pure. It's fun to play the villain sometimes, and the game's dark and ghastly aesthetic served it well. It's not necessarily about the horror, though. Evil Genius is another PC strategy classic, but here, subterranean magma caverns are replaced with sleek, metallic underground lairs worthy of James Bond's classiest foes.
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The grand strategy genre can be daunting, but for PC players looking to jump in, these games are a great introduction and a perfect re-entry point.
You must connect a series of corridors to specific rooms, each with its own vital use for your cause. A Barracks and Armory are essential for keeping your minions equipped and organized, for instance, while the Vault is storage for your ill-gotten gains and the Control Room keeps your staff on task and up to date. Through their efforts there, you can consult the World Map to pick tasks and assign your most capable staff members to them. It's all in the name of cementing your reputation as a supervillain, but as you accrue wealth and infamy, you'll also attract the attention of those who wish to stop you. Defending your base is as essential as expanding it (just as in Dune Awakening), then.
1 ChuChu Rocket!
An Adorably Chaotic Puzzler
The Dreamcast is well-known as one of the quirkiest consoles of all time. It was home, unsurprisingly, to some wonderfully inventive titles too. ChuChu Rocket! Is a particular highlight, a puzzle game featuring the cutest little space-mice you ever saw. They're the ChuChus, and they're being menaced by feline foes called the KapuKapus. Both species march across a grid, and the player's role is to lead the ChuChus to the safety of their rocket.
The four-player mode is especially chaotic, with four different streams of mice constantly emerging and making a bid for freedom. Each player is a different color, and places arrow tiles of that color on the game board to send the ChuChu in the corresponding direction. There will also be occasional rule changes to stir things up, with Mouse Mania and Cat Mania being favorites. The formula is switched up somewhat for singleplayer modes, but the charm at the title's heart always shines through.
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