10 Painfully Overlooked Video Games From Iconic Studios

Much like a filmmaker becomes heavily associated with their best work, video game developers likewise are renowned for the acclaimed titles they release.

Just as Spielberg's name has become synonymous with all-time cinematic classics like Jurassic Park and Jaws, it's hard to mention Ubisoft without immediately thinking about Assassin's Creed, Rockstar without Grand Theft Auto, or FromSoftware without Dark Souls.

While there's nothing wrong with celebrating developers for their greatest achievements, the downside is that some of their lesser-known creations consequently don't get the attention that they rightly deserve. Though some of these games eventually become rediscovered as cult classics, there are just as many (if not more) excellent games that are buried under the successes of the studio's other releases, eventually becoming forgotten about by most players.

Even if a game is well-recieved by fans and critics upon release, there are several reasons why it can fall into obscurity. Whether that be the difficulty in obtaining and running older games on newer hardware, or the game simply not reaching a wide enough audience to become established, it's easy to see how a game from even the most iconic studios can be overlooked.

A developer so influential within the industry that they have a cheat code named after them, Konami is the studio responsible for heavy hitters like Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and Castlevania. However, there are just as man hidden gems to be found scattered throughout their treasure trove of releases.

One such underrated achievement is Hybrid Heaven. Released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, this title was a hugely ambitious game for its time which blended elements from different genres to tell a story as over-the-top as any of the studio’s other madcap outings.

In it, players take on the role of Mr Diaz, a human-alien hybrid who turns on his creators at the start of the game. Heading deep into the aliens' lair located under New York, players uncover a twisting plot as they work to dismantle the invaders' plans to take over humanity.

Alongside its bonkers story, the game's unique mix of shooting, puzzle solving, and wrestling, all of which was wrapped up in an action RPG, made for a delightful concoction of gameplay mechanics.

Despite its ideas sounding like they shouldn't work on paper, Hybrid Heaven managed to pull everything off in classic Konami fashion.