Bottom of the barrel: cheap, fun, noteworthy games

[CMoon]

I had thought to originally limit this to the PS2, but can't see any reason to limit it. Yes, we're talking cheap games. We're talking game under $15 (under $10? under $5!?) that you'd have never paid full price for, maybe never even thought of playing, but there they are, sitting in the budget bin at your local game store.

I imagine there are other threads like this, but I don't see them, and the PS2 has a whale-load of really, really, REALLY cheap games. Bonus points if the game is actually really good, but you'd have never even considered playing it if it wasn't so incredibly cheap. IE, I know the SNK packs are cheap, but that's not what I'm talkin' 'bout.

My submission for this right now are the Sly games (notably Sly 2). Perhaps one of the best $10 games in my collection, yet it isn't the sort of thing you'd sink full title price on (hmmm, maybe some of you furries here would of...)

C'mon, you know you can make this list huge. What games are the winners of the low budget special olympics?

[ZOM]

Bujingai - IMO beats even devil may cry. Stylish high speed hack n' slash with Gackt? Awesome.
Too bad it's a bit on the easy side. I dunno how's the price in the US but over here there was a time you could find this one for roughly $10. Now it's a bit rare to find so I wouldn't be surprised to see it a bit more expensive.

[Acid King]

+1 for Bujingai. I got that new from Play Asia for about $10. Fun game.

[CMoon]

Never even heard of that one, but there it is on Amazon for $4. Awesome!

[BulletMagnet]

the PS2 has a whale-load of really, really, REALLY cheap games.

By now there are a STUPID amount of cheap-but-worthy games on the PS2, even some that used to fetch a pretty penny - double goes for the original XBox, if you're still on the lookout for those games (off the cuff, is there ANY original XB game aside from MvC2 that'll set you back more than 20 bucks these days?). Off the cuff I immediately think of The Red Star, though most people around here already know about that one...when you mention Sly Cooper I'm reminded that most of the Ratchet and Clank titles are dirt cheap by now (heck, the PS3 one recently dropped to 30), though again they're not exactly obscure.

[Ed Oscuro]

If Bujingai is finally that cheap I might go pick up a copy.

I should also go find some copies of the Onimusha games, as well. I probably would get the PC ports (fingers crossed) since I don't have a PS2. :S

[nikkos010]

Omega Boost for PS1. I'm sure many here know of it, but the general public never did.
Lowest one on ebay is about 4 bucks for a sealed copy.

[ZacharyB]

Omega Boost for PS1.

Very cool sci-fi story made me want to beat the game in this one, instead of just playing for the challenge of beating it itself.

[Zaarock]

The Red Star for PS2, fun mix of beatemup and arena shmup gameplay with pretty cool bosses.. I've seen it for 7 euros in various shops around finland so I dont see why it would cost more elsewhere

It's also got a pretty fun and difficult arena mode which you unlock after beating the main game.

I think We Love Katamari is being sold for very cheap now as well, its the sequel to Katamari Damacy. I consider it to be the best of the series though Beautiful Katamari gets close if you've got all the DLC.

[Zeether]

Sanvein.

[Limbrooke]

I haven't tried it, but I just picked up Sega AM2's Aero Elite: Combat Academy for three dollars and change at EB. I've heard good thing about this one and with AM2 at the helm, it seems like it couldn't be too bad, especially not for three bucks anyway. Konami's Airforce Delta Strike, also PS2, might be good as it has a lot of Konami IP unlockables like Vic Viper and the ship from Trigon to name a few. Vic Viper in combat flight sim is a go in my books, especially for less than $10.

[Ed Oscuro]

Airforce Deltra Strike vs. Airforce Delta Storm for Xbox - Storm still looks pretty bad IMO, but fun enough missions (at least the first few dozen times you play the same thing, that is).

[KMM]

I can't really fairly answer this because it's very rare that I'll pay full price for any game (both because I'm poor and because of how few cases there are where I'd willingly pay $50 for a game), and I didn't have any of the last-gen consoles when a lot of the big games for them came out (and still don't have a working Xbox, not that I particularly care about that). As a result, I've waited until a lot of really popular games I want/wanted had their prices repeatedly slashed (or, in the case of Gradius V, until I finally found a copy at GameStop). So, trying to ignore that fact...

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, like the other games in the series that have seen US release, was overshadowed by Final Fantasy (seemingly on purpose this time around - it included a playable demo of Final Fantasy XII, which I'm sure accounted for some sales because fans are crazy). It's now down to the $10 area. It's a Dragon Quest game through and through, so expect beautiful music, Akira Toriyama's signature art style, an utter lack of characters who aren't clearly defined as good or evil, and fully turn-based RPG combat.

The Nightmare of Druaga, also PS2, combines the Druaga series with the "punish the player heavily for dying" style typical for Mysterious Dungeon games (which in turn are basically just graphical Roguelikes). I think this is less than $5.

Most GBA games (as long as they're not from certain series or somewhat rare) are $15 or less used, and many of them wouldn't have been worth the $30 or so originally asked but are worth it at the mega-discount price.

A handful of DS games are worth getting and are cheap, but for the most part, the best games on the system (regardless of genre, unless you count "games for young girls" as a genre) are impossible to find, need to be imported (either from Japan or, in more cases than usual, from Europe), or are $25 or more regardless of whether they're new or used. Stick with the GBA games unless you have a DSi.

...I'm afraid I ended up being pretty vague on everything except PS2, which is weird because usually I'm vague about consoles but not handhelds or PC.

[mr_m0nks]

spotted R-Type Final for £1.50 at my local CEX recently