Getting games is easier now than it has ever been before thanks to most stores like Target or Amazon having delivery systems. There is also a huge digital market on all of the major console platforms as well as PC-focused ones like the Epic Store and Steam. As great as it is to click a button and get and game digitally in an instant, there are drawbacks.
Companies, at any moment’s notice, can take these games away. This might be for legal reasons such as licenses expecting but it still hurts all the same. Thankfully there has also been an effort from companies like Limited Run Games to preserve these once digital exclusives with physical editions and here are just a few.
10 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game first released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2010. This brawler RPG based on the film then got delisted in 2014 much to the dismay of fans.
In 2020 it was announced that the game was coming back in 2021 to modern platforms including the PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and PC. Limited Run Games also announced physical options for Switch and PS4 versions.
9 Axiom Verge
Axiom Verge first launched in 2015 on PC and PS4. This Metroidvania would get ported to a various number of digital platforms in the coming years. In 2017 it even got physical releases thanks to Badland Games for most major platforms.
Limited Run Games then released the game with their own exclusives, trumping any of those copies. In 2019 a physical copy was made for the Wii U which might be one of the last games released on the system.
8 Rogue Legacy
Rogue Legacy first came to PC in 2013. It would get many ports to consoles from there but it would take six years before it got a physical release. It is a roguelike action platformer that some credit for popularizing the genre.
Limited Run Games made PS4 and Switch copies in 2019. Now fans are waiting for its sequel to finish up and hit a 1.0 status on Steam Early Access.
7 Shadow Complex
Shadow Complex was a 2009 Xbox 360 exclusive. It’s a Metroidvania crossed with a cover shooter. It would not hit another platform until Shadow Complex Remastered released in 2015 for PC. After that, it hit some other platforms like the PS4 which is the only version that got a physical edition in 2016 via Limited Run Games.
6 Mercenary Kings
Mercenary Kings released first in 2014 on PC and PS4. It can be best described as Metal Slug meets Monster Hunter. In 2018 it then relaunched as Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition which came to more platforms with various updates. That same year Limited Run Games released a physical copy on Switch and then in 2019 a copy for PS4. Also in 2019, a company named Eastasiasoft released a PS Vita physical copy of the game.
5 Bastion
Bastion was Supergiant Games’ first title, almost a decade before Hades hit in 2020. The game has a similar hack and slash gameplay style to that game although it is not a roguelike. It released on PC and Xbox 360 in 2011. It would eventually hit other consoles several years later. After that, it got physical editions for PS4 and PS Vita via Limited Run Games in 2018.
4 Broken Age
Broken Age, for a time, was Kickstarter’s most famous project. It earned a lot of money for Double Fine in order to make a new adventure game in the classic style of LucasArts titles like Grim Fandango. The first part released in 2014 for various platforms and the second part released a year later.
In 2017 Limited Run Games would then release the game on the PS4 and PS Vita with physical copies for both acts combined together. In 2018 the Switch got this treatment as well.
3 Dust: An Elysian Tail
Dust: An Elysian Tail was an Xbox 360 exclusive in 2012. It got a lot of attention for being a Metroidvania with Devil May Cry-like fluid combat animation. It was also darker than what one may have thought seeing as it starred cute anthropomorphic animals. After getting ported to other consoles eventually, it would get a physical copy for just the Switch in 2018 via Limited Run Games.
2 Guacamelee
Guacamelee released in 2013 for PC, PS3, and PS Vita. It would come to many more consoles after this along with receiving a sequel. The game is a melee-focused Metroidvania starring a luchador who can go between the land of life and death.
In 2019 Limited Run Games would release a physical copy of just this game on PS Vita. Also in 2019 another company Leadman Games released combo packs of both games combined into one on Switch and PS4.
1 Kero Blaster
Kero Blaster released in 2014 on PC. It was made by Studio Pixel who most may know from Cave Story which is often heralded as the first major indie game. Kero Blaster is not a Metroidvania like that but is instead a 2D shooter with some light RPG elements.
It didn't get as much attention as Cave Story, but it is certainly well worth a look. Limited Run Games released it on PS4 with a physical copy in 2018. In 2019 a physical copy would be made for the Switch but by 1Print Games instead.