Before God of War, one game successfully managed to integrate Greek mythology into video games.  Broderbund software, better known for the original Prince of Persia and the Carmen Sandiego games, crafted this tale of Orpheus, a Greek lad who adventures to Hades in order to save his love Helena.  You’ll recieve items from the gods and encounter enemies such as the Cyclpos, Medusa, and others which have been ripped from your Greek mythology textbook.  The gameplay is inspired by Zelda 2, so fans of that game should definently track this game down.

Before Resident Evil and Silent Hill made us scared of the dark, Namco’s Splatterhouse was the main cause of our sleepless nights. The TG-16 version of the original was one of the first games to receive a warning label, and for good reason.

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It’s been a while since I had a Dreamcast title here, so here goes one. This game is also available on PC, and there is an enhanced version on PS2. In late 2001, Sega’s final attempt at console success was on it’s last legs. As a result, and also due to publisher fears of not being able to turn a decent profit, several high profile games had seen only Japanese and European releases (such as Capcom vs SNK 2 and Shenmue 2) while others were simply cancelled altogether. Among the latter was the Dreamcast version of Half Life. However, another game would arrive to alleviate the pain of what had happened: Soldier of Fortune.

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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.

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.

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 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.

Tecmo’s Deception series is one of those games that refuses to be piegonholed into a single category. Is it an action game? Is it an RPG? Is it a puzzle game? It is varied enough to compete in any genre. This is the third installment of the series. Instead of killing enemies with swords and magic, you use specalized traps that you set up before entering the level. You can even create new ones between levels by combining certain objects found during the game. This new game tells the story of a girl abducted alongside her adopted family on her birthday, and forced to use her newfound powers to survive and gain revenge on the king and queen responsible for her predictament. It’s funny as hell to watch a body fly through the air after stepping on a catapult. There is a sequel of sorts out called “Trapt” on PS2. Although this is a pipe dream, a next-gen installment of the serie making use of Havok physics and realistic gore effects would be awesome. Until then, pic this up and satisfy that inner sadist in you.