Hidden Gems Throughout Video Game History

More and more, the video game business is becoming sequel and remake-driven. Hopefully, it's just part of a cycle like what the movie biz went through, but creativity in the video game industry is a bit lacking right now.

With that in mind, now is a good time to go back in history and pick up some unique, entertaining games you may have missed the first time around.

Every gamer has a similar list of sleeper titles floating around somewhere in their head, and they’re all different. Here are mine. Let's get started with the Playstation 2 and work our way back through each of the systems I've owned.

Monster Hunter (Playstation 2)-

Maybe it was the run-of-the-mill name or the fact that it got almost no press, but this online role-playing/hack-and-slash game slipped through the cracks during a strong era of Ps2 releases.

Once gamers caught wind of the addictive stat building, item-collecting and trading, boss-slaying game play, however, Monster Hunter built up a fairly strong roster of online contestants. Think Phantasy Star Online but simplified, with plenty of customizable weapons and other items to collect. Quests are doled out in the main town and you are instantly transported to each new area to carry out your missions, so you don’t spend much time wandering around looking for clues and wondering where to go.

It’s the simple joy of building up your character (using a solid although unspectacular character creation tool at the beginning of the game) that keeps you going. If you don't have the time and money to sink into mammoth online RPG's like World of Warcraft, this game just might be for you.

Tail of the Sun (Playstation)-

This quirky, open-ended adventure game came out near the beginning of the PSX’s life cycle and was a frequent rental for me, especially after the rental price dropped to a buck and people stopped noticing it.