Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition

This is not a 'port' as other have said. It started life on the Amiga before being moved to the PC, then to other platforms. The controls are how they are and were when I played it back in the day... The story is why you play this game. It is an unspoken story but at the same time, extremely rich. What most don't know is there is a sequel that continues that story called Heart of the Alien and tells the story of the alien you escaped with. -1 star for not including the Heart of the Alien in this release. I think the Sega CD version is probably the definitive version of this game as it may be the only one that also includes Heart of the Alien.

...20 years later! My parents would rent this game for my brothers and I for our SNES. Perhaps we were too young, and our attention spans too short because we never got very far. I do remember we all thought it was "Out of this World"! It's the name the game was released as back then. Fast forward to its release on the Wii U some years ago now, and I managed to beat it. I'm not sure how long it took, maybe somewhere between 4 to 8 hours. With each additional playthrough I would knock off time until I was beating the game in about 20 minutes. The 20th Anniversary Edition looks better and sounds better than the original all while keeping the original's feel. You can easily switch between the two versions while playing which is kind of neat to see how it was then vs now. This game was a classic then, and still is today! I can't recommend it enough! I'd liken it to games like Journey by thatgamecompany except this game makes you work for the story. Fair warning though, if you can't handle trial and error, or sluggish controls, or a complete lack of hand holding then you'd better stay away from this game.

Though sadly, it had a cliffhanger ending and never saw a sequel and richly deserved one, this is a truly great marker in gaming history. I played it initially on the Amiga, SNES, and Genesis, then later on the PC. I must have played the "spiritual" sequel, Flashback a dozen times across console and PC platforms as well. Called Out of the World in the states, this was one of the first puzzle-action side-scrollers, but also one of the first that told a mature story where you felt invested in the main characters. It was intense, poignant, and intelligent. Totally worth re-experiencing, or experiencing for the first time.

It was meant to be a routine experiment. You run the project, open a soft drink can and take gulps from it, waiting for the experiment to initiate. Suddenly lightning strikes and for a split second it seems that you have been blinked out of existence. You look around and instead find yourself in a place you have never been. You must fight your way past poisonous slugs, armed guards and spike traps to have a chance of ever emerging from this alien and inhospitable environment. Welcome to Another World. Beautifully rendered graphics capture the vast, cold atmosphere of this planet that the physicist Lester Knight Chaykin lands on through a freak accident. Gameplay is challenging but not so much that overcoming the obstacles of the game feels impossible. The player can relate to Lester since we are not told any more than he is; there is no health bar, hint button, map or list of objectives. Instead we must figure out the strange rules of this planet for ourselves. Sometimes shooting and running are the best solutions. Other times the answer lies in a subtler approach, such as using switches and walls to make enemy grenades backfire. Boasting groundbreaking cinematic sequences, enjoyable platforming/shooting elements and a heartfelt conclusion, Another World is an essential experience for young and veteran gamers alike. Originally released in 1991, the 20th Anniversary edition also includes an option for HD graphics, difficulty levels and remastered sound effects.

One of those rare gems giving games a respectable name and truly a work of art.