10 Best Sci-Fi Video Games You've Never Played
4. Axiom Verge (2015)
Axiom Verge is an interesting title for a number of reasons, but most importantly, it was developed entirely by one person. Thomas Happ developed it as a passion project, which took him five years to complete and release. Axiom Verge is something of a love letter to Metroid and shares numerous elements with the NES classic.
The game is a side-scroller action-adventure, which puts players in control of Trace, a scientist who suffers a serious injury and awakens in an ancient high-tech world unlike his own. Matroid's influence is clear, but it also shares many things in common with Contra, Bionic Commando, and Blaster Master.
When it was released, Axiom Verge received a great deal of attention due, in large part, to the fact that Happ did everything on his own, including the artwork, music, and coding. Unfortunately, because it is technically an independent game, it didn't receive as much attention as it would have were it released for the NES in the '80s.
When it was being developed for release, it was expected to come out on the PC and Xbox 360, but due to a delay, that didn't happen as expected, and some players missed out. Eventually, it was released for every platform out there, so you can still play, which is a good thing as this is easily one of the best sci-fi 2D side-scrollers released in the last 25 years.