7. Paper Mario
Console swan songs have this bizarre tendency to be incredibly good, but sell very poorly. Panzer Dragoon Saga, Ogre Battle 64, Okami (more on that later) etc. all followed the same pattern. One such title was Paper Mario that, launching during the N64’s last days in 2001, had a more limited print run than it deserved. Was such a fate fair? Not at all, and Nintendo have been sagacious enough to see this, gifting it with sequels and a Virtual Console re-release. Good to see it finally getting the attention it deserves.
6. Okami
The PS2’s final and forgotten classic, a million and one writers greater than myself have echoed Okami’s greatness and the unfair commercial reception it received. One thing I will say is that I think Okami is actually having a minor laugh at the expense of its poor sales. Though it didn’t shift a lot of units, it has become a huge cult hit, and this continued presence in the industry has spawned a Wii remake and a direct sequel on DS. Though those two haven’t sold what they deserve either, the series remains ingrained in gaming culture with Amaterasu even making an appearance in the fairly recent Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
5. Metroid Prime
Having skipped a console generation, fans were rather sceptical of the return of Samus Aran in Metroid Prime. The shift in development to Retro Studios and the alien first person perspective meant a lot were concerned that Samus’ return would be an ungraceful one. The haters were silenced when the game released though, as it was incredible. It was good enough to spawn two equally successful sequels at least, which must count for something. The Metroid Prime trilogy are now considered some of the best games ever made, so it goes to show that you shouldn’t shirk changes and progress within an established franchise.
4. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Something about comic book heroes makes it very difficult to find solid games based on them. Despite some fun Batman games in the 8-bit generation, videogames have generally been unkind to the dark knight. When Rocksteady Studios then, a developer with only one other moderately enjoyable title under their belts, announced a new Batman title, I wasn’t exactly hopeful. Well I was wrong about you Rocksteady, and I apologise. Arkham Asylum was awesome in every way, and completely blew peoples’ expectations out of the water. Let’s just hope Arkham City can deal with they hype that is now surrounding it as a result of the Arkham Asylum’s success.
