As I promised, this week I’m doubling up on the $20 GOTW. One game brings back something that hasn’t been seen since the days of the SNES: a pack in game. The other is yet another good gaming compilation that may seem familiar to some PSP owners. If you have yet to spend the money grandpa gave you for X-mas, here are a few good cheap games.
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To those not in the know, the Dynasty Warriors series is little more than mindless button mashing. However, to longtime fans of the series, Dynasty Warriors is one of gaming’s best kept secrets. It’s fun to pick up and play, there are dozens of hidden features, and it’s educational! Learn all about the 3 kingdoms period by taking the warrior of your choice and hacking and slashing your way through hundreds of foot soldiers while helping conquer ancient China!

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With EA sports in firm hold of the AFL, NFL, NCAA football, and just about any other conceivable real-life football alternative, similar fears were held about other sports, namely Basketball. Thankfully, the NBA realizes it can get more of a profit by having NBA Live, NBA 2k, and Sony’s NBA on shelves as well as arcade styled hoops games such as NBA street, and more notably, this 2004 entry from Midway.

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Yes, I know there is an enhanced version of this out (MGS 3 Substance), but I couldn’t wait to feature this game. Besides, the enhanced version of the game is already $25, so it will drop in price soon enough anyway.
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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.

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.

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.

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.