10 Guilty Pleasure Video Games We All Played More Than Any Blockbuster

9. Ninja: Shadow Of Darkness

One of the more obscure games on the list, 1998's Ninja: Shadow Of Darkness was a rather shameless attempt by Eidos to ride on the coat-tails of the excellent Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, released earlier that year. While Tenchu incorporated stealth, authentic martial arts and real Japanese mythology, Ninja didn't bother with such gimmicks. It's a rather run-of-the-mill 3D action platformer - but it was also a lot of fun. The main criticism levied at the game is that it's just too hard. In very much the same vein of sadistic difficulty as the likes of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, this is a game that won't let you relax. Whether it's the waves of (always varied) enemies, end-of-level boss battles or the endless booby traps, Ninja will break even the most seasoned gamer eventually. If you can take the difficulty, this is a guilty pleasure if there ever was one. The game looks lovely with a variety of levels - lush forests, snowy mountaintops and gloomy dungeons that easily stand up visually against the best platformers of the time. The sheer variety of goons and bosses, as well as various power-ups and special abilities also keeps things fresh. That's of course, if you haven't thrown the controller through the TV by that point.