The Punisher (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Games based on comic books were were pretty hit and miss during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.  Batman games were generally pretty good, X-Men not so much.  For me, The Punisher was decent, but not spectacular.  The game was typical beat 'em up fair, but it was a distraction for my friends and I after we got bored of the Streets of Rage games but still wanted something similar to play.

Saturday Night Slam Masters (SNES / Super Famicom)

I'm not usually one for wrestling games, but there is one such game that I'm willing to make an exception for, and that's Saturday Night Slam Masters.  It's one of Capcom's less recognized titles on the SNES in comparison to Mega Man X, Final Fight, Breath of Fire, and Street Fighter II, but it's definitely one of my favorite that they put out on the system.  It had a nice arcade feel to it, a good mix of characters (even Haggar was there!), and a fun multiplayer mode.

Satazius (PC)

I like the games that come out of the doujin scene, so I've been quite happy to see companies like Carpe Fulgur, Rockin' Android, and NyuMedia translating these games for a Western release.  One such game is Satazius, which is very much a homage to the Gradius series.  It has a nice 16-bit visual style, good music, well laid out levels, and solid controls.  If you like old school non-bullet hell shmups, I recommend checking it out. =)

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PlayStation)

This has to be one of the most charming video games that I've ever played.  Between the art, the Saturday morning cartoon vibe, the servebots, and some fun missions, there's a lot to like about The Misadventures of Tron Bonne.  I actually like the game a bit more than Mega Man Legends.  Scandalous?  Perhaps.  Unfortunately it's extremely hard to track down a copy of the game these days.  I don't see it up on eBay very often, and it's usually going for a fair bit when one does go up for auction.  Still, one of Capcom's greatest games ever as far as I'm concerned.

Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine)

One day as a kid on a shopping trip to the local mall with my family, I wandered into the arcade there to see what games they had, and there was one that really stood out to me: Side Arms.  This was when Robotech was being aired in the West, and I was absolutely hooked on giant robots and Veritech Fighters, so, seeing a game where you could play as a plane that turned into a robot just blew my mind.  The game also had really cool power-ups, and it was possible to combine your robot with another to become a super robot.  Amazing!  So, when I found out the game was coming to the TG-16, I ran out and got it.  A tough shoot 'em up, and probably nowhere near as good as a lot of other entries in the genre, but I loved the game. =)

UN Squadron (SNES / Super Famicom)

I remember first seeing a review for this game in that infamous buyers guide from Gamepro where they wouldn't make a definitive decision as to whether the Genesis or SNES was the better buy for 16-bit systems that year.  Anyway, UN Squadron was a pretty neat shmup with its somewhat non-linear nature, being able to buy new planes, and weapons, and the anime motif was just icing on the cake.  The game did suffer from slow down, though, and enemy planes maneuvered in ways no plane has any business maneuvering.

Street Fighter IV (PC)

I haven't played many fighting games in recent years, and I'm certainly not the competitive sort when it comes to the genre, but I decided to snap up Street Fighter IV a while back on the cheap.  It's taken a while to get reacquainted with the series, and I'm still bloody terrible, but it's been a lot of fun.  Lots of new and familiar characters, the graphics are great, theme song not so much.  Decided to learn Crimson Viper for kicks, and she's pretty neat.  I don't see myself getting serious about fighting games, but I think I'd like to play them a little more in single-player mode against the CPU.  That's more than enough to keep me entertained. ^_^