$20 Game of the Week: Dark Void Zero (IPhone OS, DSiWare, PC)

If you believe Capcom’s ‘history’ of this downloadable title, then the company discovered this secret cartridge of a game that was in development for the NES. Supposedly, Capcom began work on the title only to cancel it due to the emergence of the Super Nintendo, only to rediscover it in a vault 2 decades later. Late Night talk show host Jimmy Fallon’s name is in the game as part of a supposed ‘contest’ that he won as a kid. Of course after seeing this game in action, I’m sure that most of you briefly forgot that this game was released in 2010 and not 1989. I know I sure did.

Dark Void Zero is a prequel to the ill-received Xbox 360/PS3 release Dark Void. You play as Rusty, a pilot sent into a region known as the void in order to defeat a race of aliens and close the portal they are attempting to use to invade our world. The gameplay is similar to Metroid, as you explore the Void’s area’s attempting to steal the portal control codes. You’ll have use of a jetpack, but you’ll have to pick it up first, and it cad be destroyed if you enter a force field. You also find several weapons that will assist you, and you’ll need some of them to access certain areas. This is classic 2-D platforming gameplay, and the 8-bit music is almost reminiscent of Mega Man. If you’re playing this on the DSI, you’ll have to blow into the system’s microphone just like when you had to blow out those old Nintendo cartridges.

Like Bionic Command Rearmed, Dark Void Zero is a downloadable title that manages to surpass the bigger name console game that it was made to promote. Available for $5 on the DSIWare store, it’s an excellent value for gamers who enjoy the classics.