Yeah, I’m gonna catch some heat for this, but I don’t care. This game is underrated in the fighting game arena. It had a solid fighting system, excellent graphics, and cool characters. It also went a long way to proving that Nintendo’s systems weren’t just for kids. Developed by Rare using Nintendo’s ‘Ultra 64’ hardware, and published in the arcades by Midway, this game would serve as a demonstration of the technology that would make up then unreleased Nintendo 64. It borrowed parts of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, and made them into something totally different. It may not be the greatest fighting game ever, but it set itself apart from other 2-d fighters of the period.

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Before Bungie jumped through Halos with Microsoft, they ran the Marathon on Macintosh. Even before creating the instant Xbox seller, Bungie was innovating the first person shooter. Released in 1994, the first installment of the series introduced complex storytelling. Later installments would involve time travel, alternate universes, and Artificial Intelligences going insane. With Halo 3 hitting stores next month, now is a good of a time as any to take a look at Bungie’s other FPS series.

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In the early 90s, Final Fight style beat em ups were a dime a dozen. Few managed to separate themselves themselves from the pack. However, there was one that managed to make itself into something classic. Taito’s Sonic Blastman began life in the arcades as a punching game which used two large punch pads and specialized gloves to complete certain minigames. It was bought to Super Nintendo as a beat-em-up. You bashed your way from the city streets to outer space as you fought off hordes of villains. The arcade minigames came to the SNES game as bonus levels. A sequel was released a few years later adding in two extra characters (your prerequisite slow strongman and fast woman, with Sonic Blastman being the balanced team leader) and a two-player simultaneous mode so you and a friend can take on the forces of evil together. Sure there are many beat-em-ups, and many games about superheroes, but there were none like Sonic Blastman. Hopefully we can expect a Virtual Console release sometime in the near future, since Taito already has the not nearly as awesome Legend of Kage available on the service.

A while ago, I featured this game’s predecessor. Empire interactive decided to bring this one over to the states, leaving the Xbox version in limbo. This game packs in over 1/3rd more contend than the previous Taito legends, and it takes a large number of games from the 90s. Along with some more remakes of Space invaders, the game contains a large number of beat-em-ups, platforming, and puzzle games. While Quix, Elevator Action 2, Arabian Magic, and Growl are some of the standouts on this disc, the real gem of this compilation is G Darius, a shooter utilizing polygon graphics. This compilation may not have very many big names, but like the previous entry, there is something for everyone on here, and for $20, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Also of interest is Taito Legends powered up for PSP. It’s also $20 and may receive it’s own entry at some point.