Mega Man is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise developed and published by Capcom, featuring the protagonist of the same name. The original game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, and spawned a franchise that expanded to over 50 games on multiple systems. As of July 2024, the series has sold 42 million units worldwide. Mega Man has been popular among gamers and has been reimagined and evolved as a video game character for over 30 years.
In video games, a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character created as an opponent to players. A fight with a boss character is referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the players have faced up to that point in a game. Boss battles are generally seen at climax points of particular sections of games, such as at the end of a level or stage or guarding a specific objective. A miniboss is a boss weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level, though usually more powerful than the standard opponents and often fought alongside them. A superboss is generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot and is often an optional encounter. A final boss is often the main antagonist of a game's story and the defeat of that character usually provides a conclusion to the game. A boss rush is a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession.
Jet Force Gemini is a 1999 third-person shooter developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. The game follows the story of three members of a galactic law enforcement team as they try to stop a horde of drones led by an insectoid called Mizar. It features a single-player mode where the player must explore a galaxy and save Tribals, a race of survivors who have been enslaved and imprisoned by Mizar, and places strong emphasis on shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The game also includes a multiplayer mode where two to four players can compete in traditional deathmatch games.
Cave Story is a 2004 Metroidvania platform-adventure video game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed over five years by Japanese independent developer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. Cave Story features 2D platform mechanics and is reminiscent of the games Amaya played in his youth, such as Metroid and Castlevania. After its initial self-published release, the game slowly gained popularity on the internet. It received widespread critical acclaim for many polished aspects of its design, such as its compelling characters, setting, story, and gameplay. Cave Story is considered by many as the quintessential indie game because of its one-person development team and influence on the video gaming world.
Mega Man III is an action-platform video game by Capcom for the Nintendo Game Boy. It is the third game in the handheld version of the Mega Man series. The game follows the title character Mega Man as he fights the evil Dr. Wily, whose latest attempt to conquer the world involves sucking energy from the Earth's core to power a new machine. Along with foes from his past, Mega Man must contend with the next robot in Wily's line of "Mega Man Killers", Punk. Like its two consecutive predecessors on the Game Boy, the game combines elements from two previously released Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) titles: Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 4. In 2013, Mega Man III was made available on the Virtual Console of Japan's Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. It was later released in the North American and PAL region eShops the following year. In 2024, the game was added to the library of Game Boy games available through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service.
Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon is a futuristic shooter video game developed by Dynamix and released by Sierra On-Line in 1991 for the PC as the second sequel to the game Stellar 7.
Overlord is an action role-playing video game developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Linux and PlayStation 3. It was released in 2007 in North America on 26 June, in Europe on 29 June and Australia on 6 July.
Aquaria is a side-scrolling action-adventure game designed by Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, who published the game in 2007 as an independent game company Bit Blot. The game follows Naija, an aquatic humanoid woman, as she explores the underwater world of Aquaria. Along her journey, she learns about the history of the world she inhabits as well as her own past. The gameplay focuses on a combination of swimming, singing, and combat, through which Naija can interact with the world. Her songs can move items, affect plants and animals, and change her physical appearance into other forms that have different abilities, like firing projectiles at hostile creatures, or passing through barriers inaccessible to her in her natural form.
Bionic Commando Rearmed is an enhanced remake of the 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bionic Commando. It was developed by Grin and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, and was released in August 2008. The BlackBerry version was developed and published by Beeline Interactive and released on April 23, 2009. The remake serves as a prelude to the 2009 video game Bionic Commando.
Overlord II is a 2009 action role-playing game and sequel to the 2007 video game Overlord and its 2008 expansion pack in the form of Overlord: Raising Hell. It was developed by Triumph Studios and published by Codemasters for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. All versions were released in North America on 23 June 2009, in Europe on 26 June and Australia on 9 July 2009, alongside two spin-offs; Overlord: Dark Legend and Overlord: Minions for the Wii and the Nintendo DS, respectively. Ports for Linux and OS X were released on 26 July 2016.
Iji is a freeware 2008 video game featuring platform and shooting elements, developed by Daniel Remar using Game Maker over a period of four years. In the game, the player controls Iji Kataiser, a young woman enhanced with nanotechnology, as she navigates a research facility on modern day Earth in the wake of an invasion by the Tasen, an alien species. Awakening after an aerial bombardment, Iji finds herself enhanced with nanotechnology and, learning of the Tasen and their invasion, resolves to convince the aliens' leader to retreat from the planet, guided by her brother Dan via the complex's loudspeaker system. Iji was generally well received. Reviews praised the replay value, the player's ability to guide Iji on different moral paths, and that it was created by a single developer.
Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a 2010 platform video game developed and published by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo DSi. The second installment in the Shantae series, Risky's Revenge is the sequel to the 2002 Game Boy Color video game Shantae, and follows series protagonist Shantae as she sets out to stop the ambitions of the nefarious pirate Risky Boots.
Transformers: Cybertron Adventures is an action-adventure video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by Next Level Games and published by Activision. It is a companion game to High Moon Studios' Transformers: War for Cybertron, released exclusively for the Wii in June 2010. Like War for Cybertron, it features separate campaigns for the Autobots and the Decepticons, with the player being able to choose either faction to play as. The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Daniel Remar is a Swedish game developer. His most notable games include Iji, Hero Core, Hyper Princess Pitch and MURI. He also has various other games, the majority made in Game Maker. Most of his games are freeware and are available on the internet, the exception being MURI. Remar is currently working as a game designer at Swedish indie studio Ludosity.
Aliens: Infestation is a 2011 Metroidvania video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS handheld console. It is a tie-in to the Alien franchise. The cover art as well as the character designs and avatars were drawn by comic book artist Chris Bachalo.
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation is a first-person shooter video game, both a remake of and a sequel to Painkiller, developed by The Farm 51 and published by Nordic Games. The game was released on October 31, 2012, for Microsoft Windows and for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 28, 2013, in Europe after suffering multiple delays. It was released in North America for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live on October 1, 2013, and for PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Store on November 26, 2013.
Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series Metroid and Castlevania, based on the template from Metroid (1986), Castlevania II (1987), Super Metroid (1994), and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997).
Hearthstone is a digital collectible card game released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2014, available for Microsoft Windows and macOS PCs and iOS and Android smartphones. The game is free-to-play, with players gaining in-game currency and card packs via winning matches and completing quests, while real-world money can be spent to acquire additional card packs and cosmetic items. The game has been critically well-received and financially successful, estimated in August 2017 to earn nearly US$40 million per month. As of November 2018, Blizzard has reported more than 100 million Hearthstone players. Blizzard has continued to expand the game with the addition of multiple expansions, adventures and game modes.
Dracula's Castle is the main setting of the video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), which was designed by Koji Igarashi. Players control the protagonist Alucard as they explore the castle, which was based on the traditional depiction of Castle Dracula from the horror novel by Bram Stoker and related media, and is one of numerous incarnations in the Castlevania series. Upon defeating Shaft, a minion of Dracula, players are able to enter the Inverted Castle, an upside down version of the original castle that was included because the designers wanted to add more content without having to create new assets. The Inverted Castle served as inspiration for multiple games, such as 2014's Strider and Igarashi's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
