4 months ago
Tecmo has released video games since 1981. But did you know they started as a supplier of cleaning equipment? The Game Guys tidy up a list of Tecmo's Top 10 video games.
10. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3 - 2007)
Announced in 2006 and released a year later, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is technically a remake of the 2004 Xbox release of Ninja Gaiden. The cell processor of the Playstation 3 allowed Team Ninja to completely overhaul the graphics and use larger textures. During the game's overhaul, changes to the game itself occured including save points, shops, and even completely new areas. According to Tecmo, the game has sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.
9. Rygar (NES - 1987)
Rygar is one of the few Nintendo Entertainment System games that probably sent electric bills through the roof in 1987. The game was long, difficult, and had no password or save feature. So your only option to avoid re-doing the game from scratch was leave your NES on overnight while you slept, or all day when you went to school. This game frustrated me like all get out as a kid, but when I went back and played it again I have some respect for the "Warrior from Argus." The game also features one of the best 8 -bit soundtracks around.
8. Monster Rancher (Playstation - 1997)
While never as popular or as profitable as it's rival Pokemon, the Monster Rancher games were another game series tied to a cartoon, and involves raising, fighting, and breeding monsters. However the original game featured a revolutionary theory, the virtual monster breeder, by using other cd's to create special monsters. For example a christmas music cd unlocks a santa monster. While Beck: Mellow Gold unlocks the monster moo. It was an innovative feature, to separate it from the catch em all mentality, earning it a place on our list.
7. Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 (Xbox 360 - 2006)
The first game to boast individual breast "physics" Xtreme 2 took the babes from the Dead or Alive series, and put them on the beach. A total of seven mini-games, including beach volleyball, "round" out the action. Known for its eye-candy and controversial treatment of the opposite sex, gamers could upgrade their girls with different revealing swimsuits that offered changes in tan lines. One event was sure to set back women's rights 10 years: 'Butt Bumping' in which two females would bang their hips into one another, in an effort to knock the other into the water. Drooling aside, the controls weren't as great as the graphics and player models.
6. Mighty Bomb Jack (NES - 1986)
Debuting on the Nintendo Entertainment System - Mighty Bomb Jack refined the platforming of the original Bomb Jack. It can be compared to the Mario series for its race against the clock and coin collecting. It also featured warps and a versus mode. Having the NES Max control pad with turbo buttons was a major advantage in this adventure.
5. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (PlayStation 2, Xbox - 2003)
Labeled by some as one of the scariest games of all-time, Fatal Frame II had players sneaking around abandoned homes, and snapping pictures of ghosts with a camera. The photos are the only way to exorcize the demon spirits. If you can find it, or still have your old Xbox, there is also a director's cut of the game that features a first-person perspective mode.
4. Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox - 2005)
The second Ninja Gaiden title on our list, came in with some contention. Should we have awarded Ninja Gaiden the spot, but decided that Black with it's new difficulty levels including the mocking "Ninja Dog" level and the somehow even harder "Master Ninja" level, deserved the nod. The game is the Xbox classic with new mission modes, more special bonus features, and the ability to upload Karma scores to the Xbox leaderboards. Ninja Gaiden featured every skill and move you could imagine a ninja pulling off in any anime, or movie. The fighting controls, while tough to master, put you on par with any enemy and the wide variety of weapons gave players options to how they wanted to dispatch foes. Ninja Gaiden Black somehow made a great game even better.
3. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 - 2000), Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate (Xbox - 2004)
Dead or Alive 2 improved upon almost every aspect of the DOA series. It was one of the first fighting games running at a full 60 frames per second, featured incredible detailed graphics, and doubled the number of stages and costumes. Dead or Alive eventually upped the ante on the next-gen systems, but many gamers remember its earlier leaps on the Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox.
2. Ninja Gaiden (NES - 1989)
Two words Ninjas and NES. That alone gives this game a place on the list. However the NES version of Ninja Gaiden will always have a special place in my heart. It featured the first great cut scene in home console history. The opening ninja fight sequence, your father fighting a faceless ninja to the death, under a full moon, is the stuff that would fuel ninja fantasies for pre-teens for years. Your quest of revenge through city skylines, and final shown down in a demon temple, is the stuff of video game legend. The final nearly five minute end story caps off an excellent adventure. It kicks the crap out of Mario's end of the game "congratulations!"
1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES - 1991)
This NES classic improved upon Tecmo Bowl in all the right areas. It featured all 28 NFL teams and many of the official NFL players thanks to the NFL license. It also had a full-length season schedule, complete with playoffs, the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl. Super Bowl also tracked player stats for the entire season, allowed gamers to change playbooks, and had players getting injured and substituted. True old-school fans also probably remember the NFL players NOT in the game, thanks to their generic names. Jim Kelly, Randall Cunningham and Bernie Kosar were called QB Bills, QB Eagles and QB Browns. Super Bowl started many of the features taken for granted in the Madden franchise today. It also crafted a generation of football video game fanatics who still line up at midnight to get the newest Madden.
Honorable Mention - Metroid: Other M (Nintendo Wii - 2010)
Technically, this isn't a Tecmo game. It is, however, being made by Team Ninja. And we understand this game hasn't come out yet, and it doesn't make sense being on our top ten list, but hear us out. We have seen the trailer, and the promise of a game that goes "behind the mask" of cannon arm carrying bounty hunter Samus has us salivating. From the trailer you can see game will also feature a mix of 3D/2D the visor view. IT also looks like it borrows from Ninja Gaiden taking full advantage of "brutality" moves. So we are hoping this game will be incredible, and take the Metroid franchise in a new direction. Till 2010 this is our most anticipated upcoming console games.
- This article by Game Guys Kevin Durawa kdurawa@news10.net and Trevor Tamsen ttamsen@news10.net
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