10 More Underrated Video Games Way Ahead Of Their Time

Let's pour one out for Blinx: The Time Sweeper, an early action-platformer for the original Xbox which was initially conceived as the platform's furry-faced mascot - basically Microsoft's answer to Mario or Sonic.

Yet Blinx received only broadly positive reviews upon release and failed to make a dent commercially, before a similarly-received sequel planted the final nail in the IP's coffin.

And though the game's controls were understandably criticised, Blinx was absolutely revolutionary in introducing the ability for players to manipulate time - reversing it, slowing it down, speeding it up, and freezing it entirely.

This is a mechanic that's considerably more commonplace nowadays in video games and, per the more complex architecture of modern gaming hardware, basically something we all take for granted.

But back in 2002 it represented a major technological breakthrough, with the rewind feature achieved by having the Xbox continuously record gameplay onto its 8GB hard drive, allowing it to then be freely and comprehensively manipulated.

The time-altering gimmick enjoyed far more mainstream success with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time released the next year, which while a far better game overall, wasn't nearly as nuanced or complex as Blinx due to the technical limitations of the other platforms it released on.