Retronexus: Out of This World

Out of This World, or Another World if you live in Europe, is another one of those cult games that has a massive following. Why? When it came out in 1991 for the Amiga Personal Computer it was extremely innovative at the time for its cut-scenes, animation, graphics and the way the characters communicated with each other. But it wasn't until it's release on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis did it really start to move copies. Though it did only cap out at around 1 million sold across all platforms.

Don't work on one of these during a thunderstorm.

The story was about Lester Knight Chaykin, a physicist who decides one night to work on his experiment involving particle accelerator in the middle of the thunderstorm. Needless to say he should've taken the night off as lightning strikes his lab right before his experiment is completed. This then teleports him to a barren alien world. You then follow Lester's journey on this planet, while never knowing if he is trying to find a way back home.

Something tells me the giant black animal with glowing eyes isn't friendly.

The gameplay is that of a platformer though certainly not in the usual way. Think of it more like an adventure game mixed with a platformer. There are more puzzles to solve then enemies to defeat. The thinking game aspect works simply because it goes on the fact that Lester is a physicist and nothing more. Not to say there isn't any action because there are parts where you can get into rather lengthy gun battles with the planet's humanoid race. The game even has the one hit kill mechanic making deaths plentiful while you try to figure out just what to do. At least they were kind enough to put in unlimited continues.

If you want to know how influential this game is then look no further. Developers like Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear) Fumito Ueda (Ico) and Goichi Suda (Killer7, No More Heroes) all admitted to being influenced by it.

Out of This World can be called both an interactive movie and a thinking man's platformer, there is no denying that its one of the best hidden gems out there. Even if you look only at innovation alone.

- Ryan P.