For as long as I can remember, GI Joe has been a staple of every young man’s childhood. They’ve come a long way since they used to be nameless 12-inch dolls. The Joes have graced multiple TV shows, comic book lines, and several lines of the famous action figures, but what of video games? You think that the real American heroes would be a perfect fit for a video game right? Well, yes, but not greatly. Alson with a slew of computer and atari 2600 games, the name has graced 2 little-known NES games that were actually pretty good.

The games were side scrolling shooters which allowed players to take control of one of several Gi Joe characters, each of which having thier own abilities and upgradable weapons. The first, which was published by now-defunct publisher Taxan, had players select a three-man team of Joes before the start of each mission. The first of which was a preselected team leader. 5 characters were included; Duke, Snake-eyes, Rock-n-roll, Gridiron, and Blizzard. Hawk was playable in the game’s final mission. Each level was broken into 3 parts. First you make your way to the base, then you search around and plant bombs at various checkpoints, then you escape and battle a boss. The second one, which was published by Capcom, was a little less linear, as you could select which order to take the stages in. You started out with General Hawk this time, although you would run into Wet-Suit, Duke, Roadblock, Storn Shadow, and others after you found them in certain stages.

Although these games didn’t do as well commercially, they were still pretty decent games. Your best bet is to hunt down the roms, seeing as how there is a very slim chance of them being bought to the virtual console. (Seeing as how they are licenced games and such. It dosen’t help matters that the first game’s publisher is out of business as well.) Also, check out Konami’s arcade game while you’re at it.

Sorry I was late this week, but I was caught up in the holiday. So without further ado, here’s the $20 GOTW.
For all of you wishing for a return to the 16 bit glory days of gaming, and don’t plan on buying a Wii (even if you are and don’t want to wait until these games come to virtual console) this one is for you: Sega Genesis Collection on PS2
If you thought system fanboy wars are bad now, you should have been there when Nintendo fanboys went head up against Sega fanboys. Even though multiplatform releases on the SNES were better most of the time, Sega had a lot of classic games as well. They pretty much had to, since they had to catch up thanks in no small part to Nintendo’s rough licencing policies. The Genesis was graphically inferior to the SNES, so Genesis game programmers had to make the most out of the hardware. When they did however, some pretty sweet games were the result. Sega has packed nearly 30 games from thier genesis catelog as well as a few unlockable arcade games into this one handy dandy PS2 disc.
Many of your favorites are here, such as Sonic, Phantasy Star, and the Golden Axe series (including 3, which was never before released in the US!). There are also several cult classic titles such as Comix Zone, Ecco the Dolphin, and Vectorman. Of course, what Sega comp would be complete without Altered Beast? Each title is accompanied by a history feature, as well as artwork and game tips.
Even though there are some glaring omissions, (NO STREETS OF RAGE? WTF?) this is an excellent alternative to shelling out the cash to grab these on virtual console or hunting them down in your favorite gaming stores. Hopefully Sega will give us a sequel with even more classic goodness.

I really like my robot ninjas.  Last week I featured another robot ninja game, Hagane.  This week is Taito’s Ninja Warriors.  This is actually based on the sequel to the arcade Ninja Warriors, and is called “Ninja Warriors Again” again in Japan.  I guess somone figured the name was pretty dumb, but enough of that, lets get to the game.  It’s a side-scrolling beat-em-up, similar to X-men Mutant Apocalypse.  You have your choice of three characters, the Big strong slow guy, the fast but weak girl, and the guy who is in between.  Each character has a lot of moves in thier arsenal, and can pick up and throw things at enemies.  There is also a super power bar which allows you to unleash a mega attack.  Yeah, it’s familiar territory, but damn if it ain’t fun.  Download the rom, you won’t regret it, especially if you like robot ninjas.

Okay, so this is no Halo killer, or even Doom 3 killer.  However, it’s unique storyline, cel-shaded graphics, and comic book styled presentation make this game stand out from other FPS games.  You play as agent XIII, a man without his memories who may have killed the president.  It’s your job to get to the bottom of the conspiracy going on.  You rely on a small arsenal of weapons (including a crossbow) as you battle terrorists and corrupt government agents to unravel the cover-up.  The cool part of this game are the interactive flashbacks which give you insight into the man and his mission.  Rapper Eve, Adam West (from the 60s Batman TV show) and David Duchovny all provide voice work.  This won’t make you toss out your copy of Halo or Half Life 2, but this is good enough to get your FPS fix until the next big shooter comes along.

A cyborg ninja. How cool is that? Hudson Soft’s Hagane was one of those games that didn’t rely on some special gimmick to shine. It didn’t have any FX chip, pre-rendered graphics, open world gameplay, cart racing, or RPG like stat building. It was just you taking control of a robot ninja, making your way to the end of the level while destroying everything in sight, and generally being a total bad ass. It was like a 16-bit version of ninja gaiden. You used every weapon at your disposal to defeat a wide variety of enemies. It’s a shame that this didn’t do nearly as well as it could have, but hopefully the Wii virtual console can give it new life.

Lets see, I already featured Silent Hill 2 and 4 here, so it’s only natural I feature number 3. Many people like this better than 4, and it’s larger than 2, with a greater variety of enemies and weapons to use. You play as Heather, a teenage girl who gets caught up in the bizzare alternate universe of Silent Hill while enjoying a day of shopping at the mall. However, there is more to Heather than she seems, as you find out later on in the game through a big plot twist. The neat thing about this game, and the Silent Hill series in general, is that each entry in the series is stand alone, and they tell you just what you need to know about the previous titles. Though, there are several nods to the previous games in the series that are sure to make fans of Silent Hill happy. Another part of Silent Hill’s allure is the alternate world you find yourself in. At any moment, the tranquil world around you will dissolve into a horrifying alternate version with bloodstained walls and floors made of human skin. It’s terrifying and sure to provide several sleepless nights. Fans of survival horror should pick this game up already. If you’re lucky, you can even get a free soundtrack cd included with the game.

Lets head back to 1989. Hudson soft released this often overlooked but high quality action game on the NES. You play as Apollo and your goal is to rescue the princess. Okay, so the plot isn’t all that original, but the levels offer up a mix of side scrolling shooter levels and platforming. It’s linear, but there are hidden areas to discover, as well as new upgrades and abilities. It’s kinda like Gradius meets Mega Man and Metroid. There is a small chance that this could come to the virtual console, so check out the rom until then.

This week’s $20 GOTY and lost classics are gonna take you waaaaaay back. First, lets take a trip back to the PS2 launch. Although there weren’t many titles worth grabbing at the time, (except Timesplitters and Tekken Tag Tournament) Capcom gave us fighting game fans something to tide us over.

You either love the EX series or you hate it. Those who like it, (me for instance) like the cool music, intresting new characters (although some are somewhat dull), and the fact that our favorite 2-d series translated so well to 3-d. Those who hate it harp on it’s static backgrounds, dull characters, and consider it blasphemy to take a 2-d stalwart and take it into 3-d. Capcom’s 3-d fighters have been more of a test run than anything, and the fact that they still continue to produce 2-d games speaks volumes of thier apprehension to make the jump to 3-d. Be that as it may, beside Rival Schools and Tech Romancer, this is probably thier best 3-d effort.

Although the only new character introduced here is Ace (a robot who you can set special attacks for in an all new mission mode), many of your favorites from the EX series have arrived. A new Tag Team mode, similar to the Marvel vs Capcom games is also included. You can’t change in and out as rapidly here as you did in MVC though, so it adds a layer of strategy and timing. A new single player mode tries to do things differently by having you fight more than one opponent at once, and giving you the option to recruit defeated opponents to your team. Finally, beating the aforementioned single player mode treats you to the wildest credit sequence ever; a free-for all brawl where the goal is to take out as many enemies as you can.

As I mentioned before, not everyone will like SFEX3, particularly series purists. I kinda miss the remixed barrel breaking game from the original EX. For those who don’t mind a little change now and then however, you can’t go wrong with this PS2 blast from the past.