In the recent wake of Nintendo scaring ROM site runners, there’s been a lot of discussion popping up concerning game preservation. The thing that’s weird about video games is their exclusivity. When you buy a DVD or Blu-ray, you’re not wondering whether, or not your system can play it because all devices are universal. That doesn’t mean your DVDs will be supported forever. Thankfully Blu-ray players have allowed access to them, but who’s to say the next iteration will then support DVDs, Blu-rays, and the next disc-based technology. If we even have disc-based technology after this. The trend for movies seem to point to either streaming, or digital content, which is great, but it has setbacks.
The point here is that video games have to be played, for the most part, on the platform they are made for. Yes, some systems have backward compatibility, but that is a rare occurrence. Just think about all of the games for the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, PS1, and so on that you can’t play anymore. Thankfully some have been re-released with remasters, or through digital shops, but when you take into account that there are thousands of games lost to time due to licensing agreements, well, emulation is a way to preserve that history. With that subject in mind, I went back and grabbed some Nintendo games from the 2000s that are worth remembering even though a lot of them haven’t resurfaced since.
30 Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
Without question, there have to be over a hundred video games based on Dragon Ball and its successors. Of that number, at least half, if not more, are probably dedicated to fighting games. It’s the easiest way to adapt a show like Dragon Ball — as it is centered on fighting. However, there are a few that break this mold like this genuinely good GBA game. It’s an action platformer. Because most licensed based games are trash a lot of people probably dismissed this hidden gem.
29 Wario Land: Shake It
I know the world is rejoicing over WarioWare Gold on 3DS right now, which is awesome. It’s not the Wario game I want though. Whatever happened to his amazing platformers? Wario Land: Shake It is the last of its kind and it rocks. The hand-drawn art is just, oh, there are no words. If this got an HD upgrade it would be one of Nintendo’s best-looking games ever. This was criminally ignored in 2008 and I won’t stand for it. If you find this in the wild, buy it!
28 Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is not the name we got for this Game Boy Color spin-off. That’s the far superior Japanese title to our confusing one of Metal Gear Solid. That may make people think this is a demake of the hit PS1 title, but it’s not.
A mini solid adventure in the palm of your hands!
It takes place in a separate universe and plays like the NES games aka top down. It’s also not open world, but level based. It may not be the experience you think you want, but it’s definitely worth a look.
27 The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Did you think The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was the first direct sequel to A Link to the Past? That assumption is wrong. Way before that there was Four Swords Adventures, which was ahead of its time. It took place in a similar world to its predecessor, but had a cel-shaded look akin to Wind Waker. It also emphasized four-player co-op. While it was clunky to do at the time, a re-release of it now with our wireless technology would make the game far more accessible.
26 Sonic Advance
If you’ve kept up with my writing then you know I’m not shy about the fact that I’m not too thrilled about Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve always emphasized the 3D dismissal though because there was a trilogy of games on the Game Boy Advance that were pretty stellar. That would be Sonic Advance. It’s the true sequel to Sonic CD not in terms of story, but gameplay. I’m highlighting the first one now, but all three are worth your time.
25 No More Heroes
Not all of these 2000 nostalgia trips are good. While No More Heroes is unique in premise, it just doesn’t hold the weight that it once did. What’s not to like about a love crazy unemployed otaku that becomes a contract attacker just to get some?
It’s zany and oozes with style, but the gameplay is so repetitive. It’s a good idea that’s bogged down by excessive padding.
24 Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
Unlike my example with Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is actually a port of a PS1 game. It ruins what was, and still is, an awesome game. The pixels were turned up too bright for some reason. It added in dumb touch control sections like puzzles and having to knife enemies. I do like the inclusion of the mansion’s map on top making exploration a bit easier, but there are so many better ways to play this classic. Don’t waste your time on the DS.
23 Muramasa: The Demon Blade
So many great titles on the Wii were ruined with lousy motion controls. This made some people steer away from the console even if games appeared without crazy controls. One of those examples is Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which is kind of like a Metroidvania with Devil May Cry combat and samurai. The better version is on PS Vita, but this is also super on Wii.
22 Grand Theft Auto Advance
This might be an obvious fact if you think about it, but did you know no Grand Theft Auto game has EVER been on a Nintendo home console? Instead of begging Rockstar for ports they got weak spinoffs for their portables. Isn’t that weird?
Will GTA V ever come to Switch?
Grand Theft Auto Advance says nothing about its content despite the fact it’s an original game. That said it’s not good as it mirrors the first two games’ top-down perspective. For desperate GBA owners that wanted a GTA experience, well, I guess this worked in a pinch.
21 MadWorld
PlatinumGames is one of the best Japanese developers we have right now. That said they’re not without fault. MadWorld is a satirical take on arena films. In order to escape this trap of challenges, you need to make people well… take a lot of dirt naps. While the black and white visuals are stunning even on the Wii’s low resolution, it’s just another game with repetitive gameplay. It’s all style and comedy without much thought put into the actual game.
20 The World Ends With You
I never thought this game was going to come to consoles, but thankfully The World Ends With You is and to the best current platform: Switch. I would have preferred a sequel of course, but this as good excuse as any to replay this classic. It’s easily the best RPG on the DS. Is that crazy? No, I don’t think so. The story is mesmerizing, the gameplay is unique, the music is pumping, and there’s so much more. What a perfect way to celebrate its 10th anniversary!
19 Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings And Lost Ocean
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and Lost Ocean is a mouthful, but it comes with the territory. That is to say, this is a 2000s RPG for the GameCube. It’s pretty obscure even though it got a sequel — definitely for the most hardcore Nintendo/RPG fans of the era. It didn’t have the best premise or voice acting, but some people still loved it. That being said, it was from an era with obscure JRPGs were still very much a thing.
18 Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hands
Does Boktai need its subtitle? No, but it does tell you what this game is about. See on the back of the cartridge there was a solar panel. Why? This was a game about fighting vampires. In order to fight them and other creatures, you needed to destroy them with sunlight that, you guessed it needed to be charged with the real sun. Oh yeah and this was from the mind of Hideo Kojima so that should tell you everything you need to know.
17 Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Silicon Knights are best known for this game and it is essentially their masterpiece. That’s not to say the work prior to this, or after is bad, but that’s a whole other topic. For those unaware the groundbreaking thing about Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is the fact that it messed with player’s minds much in the way Hideo Kojima did with Metal Gear Solid from time to time. It’s a horror classic that is a bit clunky now, but still a great entry in the genre.
16 Contact
The DS is well known now for its enormous library of RPGs rivaling that of the SNES, PS1, and PS2 in terms of legit content. Early on it had trouble though. Take Contact for example, which wanted to be a quirky RPG like EarthBound with its meta humor.
You’re essentially trapped in the DS and there’s a small man inside the system prompting you to help him escape. The RPG elements are action based and it’s all very, uh, let’s say basic.
15 The Conduit
The Wii tried desperately to compete with the PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of content, but it failed miserably. It sold amazingly well, but again, the games were lacking. The Conduit was their attempt at a first-person shooter. It’s kind of cool for an average shooter about aliens taking over the world. That’s just it though. Compared to its contemporaries at the time on other consoles, it was just okay. Not a great selling point, but the Wii owners had to make do.
14 Tactics Ogre: The Knight Of Lodis
If Final Fantasy Tactics Advance disappointed you in terms of a sequel then may I suggest Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis? It shares the same cute aesthetic as that game, but offers a far more robust, and mature story. This is still the Game Boy Advance mind you so intense pixels aren’t going to explode off your screen. This was my first game in the Ogre series and one still worth seeking out. Not as good as Let Us Cling Together on PSP, but still very good.
13 Viewtiful Joe
Capcom was at the top of their game on the GameCube. They made the excellent remake of Resident Evil, which is still amazing on its original hardware let alone with its HD ports. Then they created stellar originals like Viewtiful Joe, which burned hot before fizzling out.
Henshin a go-go baby!
It was too much of a good thing with a sequel, a PSP fighter, a reimagining on the DS, and an anime. We were not ready for its awesomeness.
12 Elite Beat Agents
Rhythm games were huge in the 90s and 2000s and they have since dissipated, which is weird considering digital platforms are the perfect place for small games with quirky ideas to come out. Anyway one of the best on the DS was Elite Beat Agents, which followed a group of secret agents tasked with helping out the less fortunate…by singing to them. How this helps someone with baby-sitting problems, or the loss of a loved one I’ll never know, but I think this Mega64 video will suffice for an explanation.
11 Opoona
The Nintendo DS was a great system for RPGs, as I established earlier, but its counterpart, the Wii, was severely lacking. So when one came out I paid attention. Enter Opoona, a weird turn-based RPG starring a spaceman that looks like he was ripped right out of Pikmin. Even though it’s from a big company like Koei Tecmo, it’s relatively obscure and thus forgotten. However, Opoona did make an appearance in last year’s Warrior All Stars game, which is something.
