Yeah, all the stuff that didn't get 500/10 from IGNorant, d'you know what I mean?
Way of the Samurai (PS2): I hear it's like Bushido Blade (which I've never played) mixed with adventure and RPG elements. You come into a small town and spend two days there, affecting the fate of the town and its inhabitants. There are 61 weapons in the game (mostly katanas, few oddballs like a flail and a giant... beating stick) that all have their own unique moves. They're categorized by stance type (Up is a high stance with good power but low defense, Ninja opens up insane acrobatic attacks). You could probably finish the game twice in three hours, but there's a lot to see in the game. You eventually catch on to the different scenarios happening at different times to see how it changes the game. It also lets you get into a fight where you can kill 100 people... thumbs up, boyeeee-eeeee. The music's pretty nice, too.
Armored Core 3: My first Armored Core game, and it pretty much got me hooked. It made me wonder why people considered the game so complicated, I figured it out without a manual (and a complete ignorance of ingame help, silly me). Decently quick giant robot action (once you figure out how to design a good AC) and interesting missions that involves blowing all sorts of stuff up. Aside from missions, there's an arena where you can fight other AC pilots and earn parts and such. A neat touch that I didn't notice at first is that defeating an AC pilot in a mission usually results in their death, knocking them out of the arena. Among all the AC games I've played, this one is the best. There aren't too many parts, so it's less confusing for a beginner. Once you've gotten the game system down, there's an "expansion" called Silent Line that lets you take your data from AC3 into it. It has a lot more parts... in the hundreds, I think. I haven't gotten it yet, though.
Gungriffon Blaze (PS2): From the good folks at Game Arts and Englishized by Working Designs. First person mech game that's really quite fast, and you can fly and stuff, it's crazy man, with all the guns and all that. But seriously, it's an excellent game. You start out with one body type (HIGH-MACS III? II? I haven't played in a while) that has two built-in weapons, then there is a slot for an extra weapon and two enhancement part slots. However, these parts get "used up" once you complete the mission, so you can't use a gun endlessly just because you unlocked it. You actually unlock stuff by earning a certain amount of points during a mission, and from points added to your total score all throughout playing (meaning that even a lack of skill won't stop you from eventually getting stuff). You can get more of a certain part or weapon by picking up item boxes during missions. Depending on the difficulty and whether you beat or failed the mission, you can open a certain amount of boxes. There are also item boxes that add units to the gallery, so you can see details on all the neat mobile weapons in the game. It's a little disorienting with the left control stick is to look/change heading during flight and right is to move, but you get used to it after a while. Too bad you can't change it. It's got a very arcade-y feel to it, but you have to pay attention to the mission briefings to succeed. Since you still get points and can open item boxes even for failing missions, it's not that punishing if you lose.
I totally had more in mind when I started writing, but I've completely forgotten the rest. Teehee.
Nintendo Touch Golf. Got me into golf games, really calm to play. First thing I'll be booting up when my DS returns!
Excite Truck. The world seems to hate this but I'm too addicted to listen to what they say. The entire car physics and game motion is beautiful. SD card full of driving songs and it's good to go. Scary thing is that I know this will be rubbish once the real racers come out for the Wii... and my free time fears for that day.
Prey? Didn't seem to go down well either. I thought it was buckets better than Quake 4, but not as classic as HL2.
Dr Drago's Madcap Chase (PC)
Seriously that game was really fun. It got a bit to easy though since all you have to do is to by a credit card and a debit card and then go buy some expensive city and just dump the whole debt on another dude (preferably a computer since the AI was to stupid to do something about it). Well still the whole game idea about racing first to a city in Europe where the last guy get's chased by a madman who steals from you was pretty damn fun.
Tyrian (PC)
Well it's not really underrated but I thought I'd mention it. I'm currently in the business of finishing it again (the 2k version) even though it is dead easy even on the impossible setting.
Schwaaaaaa? Off-topic, fellas! ABE LINCOLN WILL EAT YOU.
Gundam: Encounters in Space (PS2): It seems to be luck of the draw when Bandai makes a good game, and this was one of those times luck was on our side. Even Zone of Enders fans say it beats the first ZoE (but not the second, which I understand). Although the massive unit list isn't really that massive since many units on the Zeon ("evil") side are different ace paint schemes of the same mobile suit ("giant robot"). Still, there's a fair enough variety to choose from. This is one of the few games where I actually made the effort to unlock everything (COUGHwithoutcheatingCOUGH). As for S ranks, well, no game can prevent me from giving that challenge a hearty "Hell no."
Street Fighter EX3 (PS2): Yeah yeah, SF isn't supposed to be in 3D and all that, but this game is pretty neat. Its fighting system is slightly less robust than its 2D brethren, and movement feels... loose? Nevertheless, it's good, solid fun. You can unlock all the characters with eight playthroughs on Easy using heavy attacks nonstop (and the odd Meteor Combo for a sweet finisher), then switch up to Normal and Hard to unlock all the medals (which require fulfilling certain challenges each stage). During the credits, you get to beat up a bunch of generic thugs with infinite health and unlimited specials, which is always a hearty pat on the back after the fight with Bison (or one of those hidden bosses, if you don't lose any rounds). It also has the Character Edit mode, where you do challenges similar to the ones for medals, but you earn experience instead. You can then buy moves and (almost) made the fighter of your dreams with moves from any fighter in the game. Admittedly, most of the Arika characters aren't as cool as Capcom's, but the roster as a whole is pretty good. Most of the sound is good, the music's arcade-y, and Blanka's "voice acting" is TERRIBLE. It also has a tag-team mode, so you can bring a friend along. S'fun, go play.
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