Konami is not the Japanese juggernaut it once used to be. During the early years of the NES, Konami was putting out so many games that they had to make a subsidiary company, Ultra Games, to get past Nintendo’s strict release laws. They were on top of their game until the HD generation.
It was here that things started to slow down. Now, Konami is more like a nostalgic name that occasionally puts out some low-effort console experience. What happened to them is a long story but for now, it’s time to remember some of their odder titles. Can Konami make an effort to bring these games back at the very least?
8 The Legend Of The Mystical Ninja
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja is part of the Goemon series which was huge in Japan. Sadly this game is one of very few that ever made it to the West. It’s a combination of a 2D action side-scroller and a top-down adventure game similar to The Legend of Zelda.
This iteration also featured co-op for some extra fun. It’s one of those classic SNES games that would be perfect for a Switch return either on the free SNES application or as part of some sort of remastered collection.
7 Vandal Hearts
When it comes to tactical RPGs on the PS1, most tend to remember Final Fantasy Tactics. While many regard that as still the best tactical game around, on any system, there were other choices for RPG fans on the PS1. For example, Konami made two games as part of the Vandal Hearts series.
They featured similar strategy gameplay but with an even darker tone than Final Fantasy Tactics. Finding either game now is like trying to find a needle in an RPG haystack which is such a shame.
6 Lifeline
Lifeline is one of the wildest concepts to have ever happened on the PS2. The main character was a waitress aboard a space hotel that eventually gets invaded by alien bugs. Players did not control her directly but instead issued commands with a microphone that was packaged with the disc.
The concept was that players were safe in a security room which was how they were able to see what everyone else was doing. The idea was interesting for a survival-horror experience but the voice command input did not work 100% of the time. It was ahead of its time, so it may work better now as a remaster.
5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Konami made some of the best TMNT games on the NES, SNES, and in arcades. Most fans don’t remember anything past Turtles in Time, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the first in a trilogy of 3D brawlers for consoles of the PS2 generation.
This first game, released in 2003, featured two-player co-op whereas the sequels thankfully featured the more normal four-player co-op. All three of these games are better than what they were credited for at this time. They still look amazing thanks to the cel-shaded artwork, but admittedly the gameplay can be repetitive.
4 Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hands
Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands was another wild concept on the same level as Lifeline. This was a GBA game that had a solar panel etched into the back of the cartridge. This was an action game with gameplay similar to Metal Gear Solid except players fought zombies, vampires, and other creatures of the night.
Players were armed with a solar-powered gun that had to be charged with the sun, hence the solar panel. Leave it to Hideo Kojima to think outside the box.
3 Shaman King: Master Of Spirits
Konami helped usher in the era of Metroidvanias thanks to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. There are a lot of great Metroidvanias in that series past that first example but Konami also made several based on anime. One example is Shaman King: Master of Spirits, which did have one sequel.
They were both on the GBA and featured the main hero, Yoh, going after spirits in a side adventure. The world map was interconnected, but it didn’t take place in one big castle, unlike most Metroidvanias. Still, they count as some of the most underrated games in the genre.
2 NeverDead
NeverDead was a wild ride between it being announced at E3 and the game itself. It was a third-person shooter starring a zombie which doesn’t sound that dramatic at first. Upon getting hit, the player would lose limbs to the point of just being a head rolling around on the ground.
Eventually, players could recall their body parts and jump back into the action. The game was filled with some of the cheesiest dialogue around, hearkening back to some of the best zombie B-movies. It wasn’t a masterpiece but Konami and the developer, Rebellion, certainly swung for the fences with this zombie game.
1 Metal Gear Survive
There are a few games in this series that got overlooked upon release. The most recent one was Metal Gear Survive, which received a lot of backlash because of how the fallout between Hideo Kojima, Konami, and Metal Gear Solid 5 happened.
The game itself was a decent survival simulator with classic Metal Gear Solid action. There were too many microtransactions and other glitches, but it was better than it had any right to be. Some other examples include Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes on GameCube, both Metal Gear Acid games on PSP, and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel on GBC.