Liam's Top 5 Vidya
 

BIONICLE: The Legend of Mata Nui was a canceled video game that was planned to be released in the Fall of 2001. The game was meant to be canon and cover the 2001 BIONICLE storyline, featuring the Toa Mata on their quest to gather the Kanohi Masks of Power and defeat Makuta after facing his Infected Rahi.

Initially, the game was planned for release on PC in Fall 2001 and Nintendo GameCube in Spring 2002. The PC release date was later pushed back to December 2001. It may have also possibly been planned for release on PlayStation game consoles. By October 2001, development of the game was ceased, with an official statement by the LEGO Company citing "chip compatibility and timing" among the issues that led to its cancellation.

Shortly after the game's cancellation, senior staff members at Saffire Corporation copied the game's most recent build onto CDs, which were given out privately to members of the development team. Because the game was never officially released, the only way one could play it is to find one of these development CDs. Most of these CDs are currently property of the LEGO Company.

One anonymous source known as Deep Brick is known to possess a development CD of the game in beta. On May 29, 2004, Deep Brick shared screenshots and a summary of Onua's level on the BIONICLE fan website Mask Of Destiny. Throughout 2010, Deep Brick recorded video footage of the game and its cinematic cutscenes, which were uploaded onto YouTube by MarkOfMoD.

In 2018, version 0.006 of the alpha build was streamed on YouTube, and subsequently leaked. In the following April, the most recent known beta build, (dated October 23, 2001) was obtained by Liam Robertson of Game History Secrets, and then made available for download on the BioMedia Project website.

After nearly 20 years, the game has now resumed active development by Litestone Studios, helmed by Liam Scott of BioMedia Project and The Beaverhouse. The first version of the new build, titled "BIONICLE The Legend of Mata Nui REBUILT", is set to release this August.

Sonic the Hedgehog (commonly referred to as Sonic ’06) is a 2006 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the Sonic series' 15th anniversary, and intended as a reboot for the seventh generation video game consoles. In the game's story, Doctor Eggman kidnaps Princess Elise of Soleanna in the hopes of harnessing the Flames of Disaster, a destructive power sealed within her. Aided by his friends Tails and Knuckles, Sonic works to protect Elise from Eggman, eventually meeting up with Shadow, Silver, and various other characters new and returning to the franchise who will either help, or imepde Sonic's progress.

Development began in 2004, led by Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka. Sonic Team sought to create an appealing game in the vein of superhero films like Batman Begins, hoping it would advance the series with a realistic tone and multiple gameplay styles. Problems developed after Naka resigned to form his own company, Prope. The team split to work on the Wii game Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007), resulting in Sonic the Hedgehog being rushed for the holiday season. It was released for Xbox 360 in November 2006 and for PlayStation 3 the following month. Versions for Wii and Windows were canceled. Downloadable content featuring new single-player modes was released in 2007.

Sonic the Hedgehog received praise in prerelease showings, as journalists believed it could return to the series' roots after years of mixed reviews. However, it was a critical failure. Reviewers criticized its loading times, camera system, story, stability, and controls. It has been frequently described as one of the worst games in the series. In 2010, Sega delisted Sonic the Hedgehog from retailers, following its decision to remove all Sonic games with below-average Metacritic scores to increase the value of the brand. Its failure led to a rethinking of the series' direction; future games ignored its tone and most characters.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, known in Europe and Australia as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer, is a 1999 platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the second game in the main Spyro series following Spyro the Dragon, as he decides to take a vacation to Dragon Shores with his friend Sparx a few years after defeating Gnasty Gnorc. The portal he enters accidentally takes him to the land of Avalar because the Professor, Elora and Hunter are trying to bring a dragon to Avalar. A sorcerer, known as Ripto, has invaded the world of Avalar and is wreaking havoc on its citizens with his magic. Idols come to life and attack their creators, Eskimos are encased in ice cubes, and a civilization of seahorses has had its water confiscated. Spyro must travel through the land of Avalar, undoing the damage done by Ripto and ultimately defeating him.

The game was tentatively titled Spyro the Dragon 2 during its pre-production phase. The music for Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! was composed by Stewart Copeland and was engineered and co-produced by Jeff Seitz. The character Spyro is voiced by Tom Kenny, replacing Carlos Alazraqui from the first game, while additional voices are provided by Kenny, Gregg Berger, Melissa Disney, Milton James, Mary Linda Phillips and Marcelo Tubert. The game's sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Harry Woolway and Ron Horwitz of Universal Sound Studios.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! received critical acclaim. With a score of 87% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of 15 reviews. GameSpot's Joe Fielder gave the game an 8.6/10, saying that it "injected a dose of soul and variety into a game that was already pretty fun to play". IGN's Doug Perry gave it an 8.8/10, stating that it "is a fun, and excellent platformer". Ripto's Rage! received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

A remastered version of the game was released as part of a compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2018, titled Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a platform-adventure action role-playing game developed and published by Konami in 1997 for the PlayStation. It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director. It is the direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, taking place four years later. It features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard as the protagonist, rising from his slumber to explore Dracula's castle which has re-appeared after Richter Belmont vanished. It marks a break from previous games in the series, introducing exploration, non-linear level design and role-playing elements.

Development started on a Castlevania game slated to be released for the Sega 32X. Sometimes using the title "The Bloodletting", this game had a playable version but Konami decided to move away from that console, and put its focus on the PlayStation, so the game was cancelled. Changes were made to these initial ideas and the project became Symphony of the Night. Role-playing mechanics were added because Igarashi felt the classic Castlevania games were too challenging for average players. To change that, the team implemented a leveling-up system with experience points, which rewarded players with better attack and defense statistics as they beat enemies. This system, combined with a variety of items, armors, weapons and spells, allowed the exploration to become less difficult for unskilled players.

Initially, the game's commercial performance was mediocre – particularly in the United States where it was meagerly publicized – but thanks to praise by critics, it gained sales through word-of-mouth and became a hit. It has been re-released on several consoles and is considered a sleeper hit, a cult classic, and one of the best video games of all time.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, known in Europe and Australia as Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros., is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream for the Nintendo 3DS. Revealed on Nintendo Direct on February 14, 2013, it is the fourth entry in the Mario & Luigi series of Mario role-playing games. The game opens at the Mushroom Kingdom when Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Toadsworth are flown to Pi'illo Island. There, they meet Broque Monsieur and Starlow, both returning from the previous game in the series, Bowser's Inside Story. Soon after they arrive on the island, the gang gets introduced to Antasma, the bat king, who soon teams up with Bowser. They seek to acquire the Dream Stone, a powerful artifact that grants its user endless wishes. Together, Mario and Luigi must defeat them to save the island while battling enemies and traveling through Luigi's dreams along the way. In the Dream World, Mario meets "Dreamy Luigi", his brother's Dream World counterpart, who helps Mario navigate and battle in the Dream World. They also encounter Prince Dreambert, the ruler of the Pi'illos, who helps them in their quest. Once Mario and Luigi make it to Bowser and Antasma, Bowser reveals he'd been using Antasma the whole time and betrays his partner. He escapes with the Dream Stone, leaving Antasma to be defeated by Mario and Luigi. The Dream Stone is soon destroyed by Peach and Starlow, only for its fragments to be inhaled by Bowser, who transforms into an empowered living nightmare of himself called "Dreamy Bowser". Mario and Luigi defeat Bowser, who turns back to normal, rescue Peach, and finally return to their vacation on Pi'illo Island.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team spent three years in development because studio AlphaDream chose to render the characters in 2D pixel art and shade them to look 3D, while all backgrounds were initially created in 3D. In a conversation with former Nintendo of Japan CEO Satoru Iwata, the development team for Dream Team said it took around a year and a half to build the alpha version of the game off the original prototype, and another year an a half to create the beta version and eventually a third gamma version. Backgrounds were made from the start in 3D, but making 2D pixel art characters look three-dimensional and rendering their animations was difficult to create for the Nintendo 3DS stereoscopic capabilities. The larger the on-screen character, the more readily apparent the 2D rendering became. The art team went through many iterations of scenes using larger figures, such as boss battles. AlphaDream had to render animations for Mario and Luigi moving in 16 different, distinct directions. The studio couldn't simply mirror the data for each movement, which the team explained was because Luigi has an "L" on his hat and Mario raises his left arm when he jumps - both movements that can't be mirrored and kept identical. In instances where multiple Luigis appear and clump together, each one is positioned differently and moves in a slightly different way - details that took an enormous amount of effort, since no pre-existing data was used.

Dream Team received positive reviews, praising the gameplay, humor, and soundtrack, but some criticisms were drawn towards the overabundance of tutorials and some pacing issues. The game currently holds a score of 81% on Metacritic based on 75 critics and 294 ratings, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Dream Team has made 2,000,000 worldwide sales as of December 31, 2013.

The game was one of many Luigi-themed games released during Nintendo's "Year of Luigi" from March 2013 to March 2014, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary since his original appearance in Mario Bros. in 1983. As a result, Luigi has a larger role in the game than he did in previous installments of the franchise.

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