(Here are the other notable North American game releases from April 2002 to June 2002!)
Ultra Nintendo:
Metal Gear Gaiden
Metal Gear Gaiden is a hybrid action/stealth/RPG created by Hideo Kojima and Konami. It serves as a prequel to the original Metal Gear Solid, and takes place between Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid in the series' chronology. The game plays very similarly to the game Hybrid Heaven. When Solid Snake encounters an enemy, he can choose to hide, engage stealthily, or engage head-on. If Snake engages stealthily, he'll start the battle with an advantage. Either way, once combat begins, it plays out much like a turn-based RPG, but with very quick commands, with actions taking place instantaneously after they are chosen. Snake can choose to target a variety of areas on the enemy's body, and the enemy can do the same to him. Like in Hybrid Heaven, individual limbs can be leveled up with more use, and Snake can learn a variety of combination techniques and specials. The combat is generally faster paced than in Hybrid Heaven, with more options for the player to select from.
The plot of the game itself involves Snake being deployed on a secret mission to an island known as Shangri-La. The island is being used as a base for human experimentation, led by the scientist Dr. Elliot Craven. However, upon further exploration, Snake learns that Dr. Craven's purposes are benevolent, and that the experimental subjects are all volunteers. Indeed, the real threat on the island is an operative codenamed Demon, who volunteered for Craven's experiments as a mole working for an unnamed organization. Demon ends up killing Dr. Craven and several of the test subjects, while recruiting numerous others to him (some voluntarily, others through brainwashing). Snake has no choice but to hunt down and kill the surviving test subjects one by one, eventually battling Demon himself. Despite being a midquel, Metal Gear Gaiden occasionally refers to events taking place after Metal Gear Solid, at one point alluding to Lyra's fate during a cryptic flash-forward in which one of the drugs Demon used to subdue and brainwash one of the test subjects has also been requisitioned by a member of the mysterious Patriots organization. Though Snake never learns about Demon's employer over the course of the game, it's heavily hinted to the player (after Demon's death) that he was working for Revolver Ocelot. It will be revealed in Metal Gear War that despite being killed by Snake, Demon was able to complete his mission: stealing Craven's research in order for it to be used to transform Lyra into Vapor Snake, the Patriots' new ultimate weapon.
Released on June 24, 2002 in North America (after a Japanese release in early May), Metal Gear Gaiden is considered to be the game that perfected the ambitious RPG/action hybrid gameplay of Hybrid Heaven, and is seen as a worthy sidestory in the Metal Gear series. Thanks to the residual hype from Metal Gear Solid, Gaiden sells quite well, though it's not as big a seller as the main series games are. Critically it's seen as one of the best Ultra Nintendo games of the first half of the year, and a competitor with Fairytale 2 for the title of one of the year's best RPGs.
Mega Man Zero 2
Released for the Ultra Nintendo in May 2002, Mega Man Zero 2 is a Metroidvania-style game starring X's ally Zero. In this game, Zero teams up with his love interest Sclera to hunt down a gang of robotic assassins targeting humans and former Mavericks attempting to negotiate a peace treaty. The game takes place in a massive residential/commercial/governmental complex that's sort of like a cross between the UN Building and the Mall of America, and throughout the game, it's gradually being more and more destroyed by the evil robots, blocking off certain paths and requiring Zero to complete certain objectives in order to re-open them. Eventually, Sclera is kidnapped by RogueLAN, the leader of the assassins, and Zero has to rescue her and stop RogueLAN from destroying human/robot peace forever. Though the game maintains the series' difficult gameplay and sense of exploration, it's received slightly less favorably than the previous title due to its somewhat cliched plot (and the transformation of Sclera, a highly capable and tough character, into a damsel in distress at the end of the game) and repetitive areas. All in all, it's considered a decent game, and sells well enough (especially in Japan) to justify continuing the series with a third installment.
1080 Snowboarding 2
Nintendo's hit snowboarding game finally returns for a sequel, with better graphics, more tricks, and more snowboarding locales. It's a bigger and more complex game than the previous title, but with White Mountain dominating the snowboarding game landscape, it's difficult for this title to find a foothold. It does have a slightly more refined trick system than White Mountain or its sequel, but it lacks the hip music and fun characters that define the current market leader. Still, it's a first-party Nintendo game and it gets a good deal of hype, so sales are strong even if critics compare it somewhat unfavorably to White Mountain. It's still a decent game, but Nintendo probably made a mistake by not developing it as a launch title for the Wave instead.
Armored Core 3
The continuation of the mecha action series by FromSoftware, the plot differs somewhat from OTL's game: Armored Core 3 depicts a group of joyriding mecha pirates on the run from the government, who, in the course of their flight from the authorities, come across an oppressive warlord subjugating a colony and must choose whether to help defend the colony or continue to run and hide. The game has a heavier character focus than previous titles in the series, while still featuring the same strategic mecha action of the previous titles. It's probably the most difficult game yet in the series, which the game developer says “helps to communicate to the player the against-the-odds struggle of the characters as they are caught between a powerful government and a dangerous warlord”. Despite the game's difficulty, it manages to do well as a niche title.
WWF vs. NWO
Though the NWO stable hasn't yet appeared in the WWF, the game depicts a fantasy scenario of what would have happened had the WWF not been invaded by WCW, but by the NWO. Other than that, the game is your typical wrestling title, updated with the new WCW wrestlers on the roster. It plays decently but is somewhat limited compared to the next-gen titles on the Katana and Xbox, particularly the Xbox's WWF Raw.
Syrielle: Underland
The first game in the Syrielle series to largely eschew its visual novel roots for a more action-type game, this is an action platformer with dating-sim/visual novel elements, and also has elements from creator Suzanne Collins’ real-life Underland Chronicles series, which are butterflied away here. Syrielle and her friends meet the inhabitants of a vast subterranean realm underneath her hometown, and in doing so, she comes to learn the true secret of her spiderlike powers. This game takes the series full fantasy, and is somewhat controversial among longtime fans of the franchise, which started out as a fairly non-descript high school dating sim type game. However, the game's new setting also addresses certain storyline elements such as war and prejudice that were only very mildly touched upon in previous titles, and thus begins to win new fans for the series. The game is accompanied by a book tie-in series written by Collins, though the books are only very faintly like the OTL Underland Chronicles series. By now, Syrielle has become a mainstay franchise, though it still isn't a huge seller overall. It's got its dedicated fans, and this series brings in a few more to the fold. Sales are decent, not fantastic but not disappointing, and the series maintains its cozy little niche in pop culture.
Ultra Frederico: Quinceanera Chaos!
Frederico returns, and this time he must battle Generalissimo Garcia’s 15-year-old daughter Paulina, who is celebrating her quinceanara by trying to take over the world with her dark magic powers. Frederico must battle Paulina's friends, who embody various school stereotypes. In order to avoid the controversy of a grown man Frederico beating up on teenagers, Paulina's friends either leap into giant robots or transform into various monsters before being fought by Frederico, and when they're defeated, they're only mildly hurt, more annoyed and angry than anything else. A bit wacky even for the Frederico series, it’s a fun game but a fairly generic action platformer, the series seems to be ripping off Commander Keen a bit by this point as well. Sales take a bit of a dip from the previous title, and Silver Sail decides to take a brief respite from the series to focus on Quixsters and other games. Frederico will return down the road in the form of a mild reboot.
Shantae: Rise Of The Djinn
Shantae makes its home console debut in this game, which features Shantae going head to head with a powerful but evil djinn who takes over her kingdom after being summoned by Risky Boots in an attempt to destroy her rival once and for all. The djinn uses its powerful magic to isolate the various parts of Shantae's realm from one another, and Shantae has to restore the world to its proper state by defeating the djinn's various evil creatures. At one point, she even has to team up with Risky, who's clearly bitten off more than she can chew! Though the game's not quite up to par with games like Metroid: Darkness, it's got a lot of charm, plus competent voice acting (with Shayna Fox, who played Reggie Rocket in the OTL Rocket Power, as Shantae, and Rachel Lillis, who ITTL moves to Los Angeles in 2001, as Risky Boots). Reviews are quite good and sales are better than WayForward expected (and better than those of the most recent Nightsquad game).
Kessen
A tactical war game developed by Koei, Kessen is for the most part similar to OTL's game, depicting various battles that took place in feudal Japan. ITTL, the game takes a long time to get here from Japan: it was released in Japan in late 2000, and doesn't reach the States until April 2002, due to heavy demand from gamers who'd seen good reviews of it in Japanese magazines and footage of the game on TV (including a preview of the game on a late episode of GameTV back in August 2000). Kessen gets okay sales upon release, due to the hype, but sales fall off quickly afterward.
Sol Rising
A traditional turn-based JRPG from Atlus, about a group of heroes who must protect an ancient sword from evil. It’s got a fairly complex battle system for such an otherwise traditional game, with characters able to equip two weapons in battle, and with special techniques dependant on what type of weapons characters are equipped with. Like most Atlus RPGs, it's a very difficult game, but the battle system and the plot make the effort rewarding for those willing to take on the challenge. It's reviewed well, not on the level of Fairytale 2 but well enough to be considered one of the Ultra Nintendo's better late RPGs, though sales are fairly poor.
Sega Katana:
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon is a 3-D action/beat 'em up title released for the North American Katana system on April 22, 2002, after the game appeared as a launch title for the Japanese Katana more than a year earlier. It's intended to be the franchise's “definitive game”, in that it contains battles and sections from every season of Sailor Moon, covering the initial season with Queen Beryl and going all the way up to the final battle against Chaos at the end of Sailor Stars. The controls are rather simple, with Sailor Senshi able to use melee strikes or their magical attacks (though these attacks must be charged by collecting items or defeating enemies). The game takes place over 25 “missions”, each season of the show covered by five missions a piece. For most missions, you can choose amongst up to ten different Sailor Senshi, though other missions restrict your choices based on what characters appeared up to that point in the show (in other words, no Uranus or Neptune for the first ten missions). Missions usually involve reaching a certain point on the map, collecting certain items, or simply defeating a specific enemy. Each mission ends with a boss fight against one or more foes, either some of the monsters from the series or some of the major enemies that the Sailor Senshi have faced. Though the gameplay itself is fairly simple (earning the game some harsh reviews, especially from many Western journalists), the game includes much of the series' classic music, moments, and visuals. Most of the original voice actors reprise their roles (in Japan, ALL of them do, while in America, substitutes are used when they can't get all of the Ocean actors on board). Sales in the West aren't very strong, though Sailor Moon fans do have a positive reaction to the game.
Gundam Wing Crisis
A combination tactical/mecha action game, Gundam Wing Crisis takes place after Endless Waltz, and depicts a rogue colony that had been secretly harboring powerful mobile suits underneath the surface of Pluto suddenly appearing on Earth and attempting to take over. Though the situation seems hopeless at first, a team of scientists had prepared for this possibility and stowed away replica Gundams for the five original pilots (Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei). The Gundam pilots are joined by several allies in their fight, including a fully recovered Mariemaia Khushrenada, who pilots an upgraded version of her father's Tallgeese in battle. The gameplay resembles a typical tactical RPG type game, but once an enemy is engaged, shifts to a Gundam battle that plays out like a 3-D fighter. Released for the Katana in Japan in 2001 and in North America in May 2002, the game is considered a hit for its genre. It's released at the same time that interest in the Gundam series in North America is building due to the impending release of Gundam Soul, and is heavily promoted on Toonami (though TOM gives it a 7/10 review, stating that the Gundam fights eventually get repetitive).
Microsoft Xbox:
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Developed by Ubisoft for the Microsoft Xbox, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a stealth action title starring protagonist Sam Fisher. IOTL, the original Splinter Cell was released for a multitude of consoles, but ITTL, realizing the importance of securing exclusives and in an attempt to prevent a very potentially lucrative game from coming to Sega, Microsoft paid a large amount of money to secure the original Splinter Cell as an exclusive for the Xbox, precluding it from coming to the Katana or the Wave (future games in the series, including spinoffs, would be multiplatform). The game plays much like OTL, with stealth elements heavily emphasized and the use of force discouraged through the limitation of ammunition and firearms that Fisher has on his person at any one time. However, the game does have a somewhat improved melee combat system from OTL, allowing for more creative stealth takedowns or giving Fisher a limited ability to fight his way out of trouble. This comes at the expense of a slight reduction of gadgets and non-lethal weapon types afforded to Fisher, though it doesn't alter the basic gameplay.
The game's plot is somewhat different, due to the fact that the Metal Gear Solid sequel isn't on a next-generation system ITTL. Because of this, the need for the team to create Splinter Cell to directly compete with that game is reduced, and instead, Splinter Cell focuses more on science fiction elements and computer hacking, with Fisher's hacker friend Grim playing a somewhat larger role. This has the effect of putting the game more into competition with Velvet Dark: Synthesis, though ultimately, it carves out its own niche as a stealth classic. The main plot of the game actually invokes circumstances from OTL's 2016 election, with Russian hackers attempting to plant compromising information about a presidential candidate. In tracing these hackers, Fisher stumbles on a much larger plot to infect every computer in the United States with a kill switch virus that Russia would have control of. Fisher must also deal with a female Chinese agent named Lin Taifong who has intercepted this kill switch and is attempting to return it to China (but is in fact part of a secret splinter cell in the Chinese military hoping to topple the country's Communist regime). Fisher must untangle this complex web of espionage and sabotage if he is to protect American national security and prevent World War III.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is released on June 24, 2002. Though Splinter Cell's convoluted computer hacking plot is somewhat lampooned by critics, the game's stealth action is said to be the best ever seen in a video game, even better than that featured in Metal Gear Solid. The game becomes an immediate hit for the Xbox and a borderline killer app, showing off the system's graphical potential and demonstrating that the system has become a home to a number of very attractive franchises. Splinter Cell's success drives sales of the Xbox, which by now is outselling the Ultra Nintendo in North America by a significant margin (though due to the Xbox's misfortunes in Japan, the Ultra continues to hold a slim lead worldwide).
Wipeout: 2200
Wipeout: 2200 is the sequel to the 1997 Ultra Nintendo racing game Wipeout. Developed by Psygnosis (which Microsoft acquired in the leadup to the Xbox release), the game takes place on a futuristic Earth where daredevil racers hop into hovering vehicles that race on tracks around the world at hundreds of miles per hour, blasting each other out of the sky with a variety of weapons while equipping defensive shields to protect themselves. Though the sequel doesn't add much to the basic gameplay formula, it's a MASSIVE step up in terms of presentation, with gorgeous tracks and vehicles rendered by the Xbox's powerful graphics. The gameplay itself, while difficult, is highly praised, and Wipeout: 2200 becomes a significantly bigger success than the previous game.
Deus Ex
A fairly straight-up port of the PC game from 2000, Deus Ex takes place decades into the future and features protagonist JC Denton as a cybernetic supersoldier who fights terrorism and comes face to face with a corrupt world government. The original PC game was considered one of the best games of the year, and was one of the Xbox's most highly anticipated PC ports. It's well received upon release (moreso than The Witcher, which was Xbox's flagship launch port) and is a critical and commercial success.
WWF Raw
Featuring current WWF superstars (including the new WCW and ECW wrestlers), WWF Raw is the best looking wrestling game to date, and features a robust create a wrestler mode that allows players to import their own entrance themes using the Xbox hard drive. It's a fairly successful game, compared favorably to Nintendo's last-gen WWF vs. NWO.
Serious Sam
Another fairly highly anticipated PC port, Serious Sam is a first person shooter that stars protagonist Sam Stone, who travels through time to defeat alien invaders. Released simultaneously with what is considered the game's second episode on the PC, the Xbox version contains both the first and second episodes of the game, and is considered one of the best PC ports to date for the Xbox. Because of competition with other FPS games on the system and the lack of an online multiplayer mode, it doesn't sell quite as well as other shooter titles on the system, but it's still a decent seller.
Command And Conquer: M.A.D.
Command And Conquer: M.A.D. is an Xbox exclusive installment of the Command And Conquer real time strategy series, with gameplay closest to the OTL and TTL game Command And Conquer: Red Alert 2. It incorporates events from that game and its expansion, Yuri's Revenge, but also introduces a rogue American faction led by a warmongering general, General Storm, who comprises an enemy faction in the Allied campaign and becomes the main enemy of the Soviet campaign. General Storm is a truly insane man who relishes any opportunity he gets to launch nuclear weapons, making him even more dangerous than Yuri. Nuclear weapons are a frequent motif in the game, in keeping with its subtitle: “M.A.D.: Mutually Assured Destruction”, and at several points during the plot of both campaigns, nuclear weapons are launched (it's established by the series' writers that the Xbox game represents an alternate universe and isn't canon to the main series). There's even a special mode in the game where the object is to destroy as much of the world with nukes as possible. Though the game is well reviewed and Command and Conquer fans embrace it, most Xbox players stay away, and it's considered a niche title at best.
Flame Squad: Third Degree
The third game in the previously Nintendo-exclusive series about a band of flame-thrower wielding soldiers goes full 3-D. It gets criticized for going slightly gritty (though it’s not full-on edgy like OTL Bomberman Zero), but it’s a decent enough game. Sales are actually a bit better than expected, and indeed, it becomes the best selling game to date in the series.
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
The Activision car racing title remains an Xbox exclusive ITTL, and plays fairly similarly to its OTL counterpart, with its main selling point being its excellent graphics. Though not a blockbuster, it sells well, and shows off the Xbox's capability to produce great looking racing games, with it and Wipeout: 2200 becoming the games most frequently cited by critics as a demonstration of this.
Game Boy Nova:
Final Fantasy Tactics Nova
Final Fantasy Tactics Nova is a handheld spinoff of 1998's strategy RPG for the Game Boy Nova. Like OTL's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, it's significantly lighter in tone than the original game, but unlike OTL's game, it no longer has a “dream/fantasy world” plotline. Instead, it takes place in a storybook that is implied to be read by people living in Ivalice. It, like Final Fantasy Tactics, involves the collection of twelve Zodiac Stones, and the primary protagonists are a team of mythic treasure hunters led by a moogle named Montblanc, a young thief boy named Letty, and a girl named Nora. The treasure hunters must collect the Zodiac Stones before the evil Queen Scathe finds them, and engage in dozens of battles along the way. Gameplay wise, the game has many similarities with OTL's Tactics Advance, though the judge system is completely gone, and there are a new race of humanoid fairies known as the Fae, inspired by the protagonists of Fairytale. Fae can be male and female and specialize in jobs emphasizing magic and speed. The storybook theme of the game allows for a number of fantastical creatures and occurrences, and the musical score is very upbeat and majestic. Though it does get criticism for being too easy and “kiddy” (like OTL's game), it's still a high quality and commercially successful tactical RPG.
Nintendo Wars 2
A sequel to Nintendo Wars Nova, Nintendo Wars 2 (the second in the series to be released in North America, it drops the “Nova” from its title) introduces more levels (including a customization mode to make your own maps), more units, and more cutscenes, and employs an “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” approach to the franchise that serves it well. It's considered an improvement on the already excellent original game and becomes a strong seller.
Quixsters Nova 2
Because of the success of Quixsters Nova, this sequel was rushed into production, and though it was made to be released quite soon after the original, it's still a high quality game, with even more levels than the original. Introducing new enemies and new characters, Quixsters Nova 2 becomes one of the year's top selling Game Boy Nova games.
Mistlandia: The Hidden World
Mistlandia: The Hidden World is Camelot's sequel to the 2000 Game Boy Nova RPG Mistlandia. Starring the same four protagonists as the previous game, The Hidden World takes place after the defeat of Seros, and begins when mysterious portals begin to open up all over the world. These portals lead to a parallel world where a new threat reigns, and once this new enemy becomes aware of the portals, it begins sending its forces into the original world to conquer it as well, forcing the heroes to take action. Building on the original game's motifs, The Hidden World is considered a bit of a rehash but is still an excellent game for handheld RPG lovers.
Metal Clash Nova
A handheld spinoff of the Ultra Nintendo robot-building series, Metal Clash Nova is a somewhat simplified take on the original game. It features a new plot but retreads many of the original game's locations and characters, and the robot building and robot combat isn't quite as robust as the original. Reviews are decent, but it doesn't sell nearly as well as the console version and is considered a disappointment.
Moto X
A motocross game, Moto X features more than a dozen tracks from all over the world, and a large cast of racers, with customizable motorcycles that players can improve as they win races. It's easy to learn, but quite hard to master, and even features local wireless multiplayer. It gets excellent reviews and due to word of mouth and good promotion, it becomes a commercial hit.
Zombies Ate My Classmates
The classic Konami run and gun game returns on the Game Boy Nova. Zeke and Julie return to fight zombies, who have invaded their school. The two must save their friends and (somewhat reluctantly) their teachers from becoming victims of the zombie horde. Features nearly identical gameplay to the original with a bit of voice acting and some improved graphics. It gets very favorable reviews, as fans who clamored for a handheld version of the game are quite pleased to get a brand new title for the Nova.
Chains: An Inescapable Adventure!
An anime-styled game about a hapless boy who gets chained to an ancient goddess who has lost her powers. The boy must find a way to break the chain while the goddess bosses him around. The gameplay has a top-down style, similar to Pocky and Rocky, where the boy has to fight off enemies while protecting the goddess (who occasionally helps him fight when she can). It’s a sales flop in the States but gets great reviews and becomes a cult hit.
Picky
A gross-out platformer about a booger who crawls up people’s noses. He must dodge various enemies, including the giant fingers that try to pick him out. It’s a pretty average platformer, but kids really enjoy it and it gets better sales than it has any right to get.
Crash Bandicoot 2
A somewhat downgraded port of the Ultra Nintendo game, it gets average reviews and average sales. However, it's still a possibility that Naughty Dog may develop more original Crash games for the Nova.
Multiplatform:
Mortal Kombat: Revenge
The TTL analogue to OTL's Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Revenge is the fifth main game in the Mortal Kombat series. It's initially released for the Ultra Nintendo in May 2002, and would come to the Xbox in December (partly to develop an enhanced version for the next-gen system and partly to protect its sales from Divine Wrath 2, also developed by Midway). Revenge refers to the quests undergone by Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Kitana to get revenge on their enemies who have brutally murdered people close to them, but also refers to the revenge quest of the game's primary antagonist, the original villain Xu Gong, a resurrected Chinese general who was forced to witness his entire army being buried alive. Xu Gong blames Liu Kang for this because it was Shaolin monks who assisted in the defeat of his army (but it is later revealed that those monks were being manipulated by Quan Chi). Plotline aside, the game features the same brutal fighting of previous titles to the series, and a total of 26 playable characters (15 returning, 11 new). The Ultra Nintendo version gets decent reviews, while the Xbox version gets much more favorable reviews and sales (along with 4 guest characters from Divine Wrath 2).
Medal Of Honor: Frontline
Medal Of Honor: Frontline continues the hit FPS series and is released for the Ultra Nintendo, the Sega Katana, and the Microsoft Xbox on June 24, 2002. The plot is mostly identical to OTL's game, featuring a soldier who lands on D-Day and is tasked with locating a Nazi secret weapon. Like its predecessors, it features realistic combat, a stirring musical score, and outstanding production values, and in a very crowded month, it's easily the top selling game (though on the Katana it's slightly outsold by No One Lives Forever over their first month of release).
Star Wars Heroes
An action/beat 'em up title for the Ultra Nintendo, Sega Katana, and Microsoft Xbox, Star Wars Heroes allows players to take control of one of more than 20 characters throughout the Star Wars series. The game is in a top down style, and supports up to four player co-op, with a versus mode also available. The plot is a sort of cross-mash of all the Star Wars films (sort of like Star Wars: Grandmasters), allowing heroes and villains from across the galaxy to team up to take down a collective villain, in this case Lord Conqueror, an extra-galactic evil who seeks to eliminate all life in the galaxy. Lord Conqueror deploys his powerful army of cyborg troopers called the Death Guard, and sets out on a campaign of conquest and destruction. Though the primary protagonist is Luke Skywalker, Luke soon teams up with Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, and eventually comes to gain the services of characters like Young Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and eventually even characters like Boba Fett and Asajj Ventress join the fray as Lord Conqueror becomes a threat to all. However, in the end, the game's final villain is Emperor Palpatine, who kills Lord Conqueror after the heroes defeat him. The heroes must then defeat Palpatine in one last epic clash. Though the game is a multiplatform title, it has significantly more features on the Katana and Xbox. It's a serviceable game on the Ultra Nintendo (and sells quite well on there), but is clearly better on the next generation systems. It's a fun game and a mild hit, though die-hard Star Wars fans somewhat balk at the game's lighthearted tone and anachronisms.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
The sequel to the original Hitman game, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin continues the story of Agent 47 as he tries to retire from the business of killing, only to be dragged back in after one of his old partners and one of the very few people Agent 47 trusted is brutally murdered by an international consortium that wants 47 dead next. The game is released originally for the Katana alongside the PC version, and is released for the Xbox a few months later with some enhancements and extra missions. Both versions sell well, though the Xbox version sells somewhat better.
State Of Emergency
Developed by Rockstar and released for the Xbox and Katana in April 2002, State Of Emergency is somewhat of a follow-up to Rockstar's earlier Chaos City (indeed, the game originally went under the working title State Of Emergency: Chaos City 2). Unlike OTL's game, which was considered somewhat of a disappointment, Rockstar learned its lessons from Chaos City and went out of its way to make the game's combat a lot more fun. It played like a more beat-em-up style Grand Theft Auto, with less bonus missions but an increased focus on humor and random chaos. It features six playable protagonists, with its most memorable being Mr. Chunky, an ice cream man gone completely postal who kills people by shoving ice cream down their throats (he's compared somewhat to Twisted Metal's Sweet Tooth, though Mr. Chunky doesn't have a psycho clown design and doesn't drive around in a tricked out ice cream truck). With its tighter focus than OTL's game and it's improved combat, State Of Emergency is seen as a fun open world beat-em-up and a serious improvement on Chaos City. It's not as good or as successful as Grand Theft Auto, but unlike OTL's hugely hyped game, it was never expected to be.
Exhilaration
A racing game featuring sexy women drivers, it’s sort of to racing titles what Dead or Alive is to fighting games. The racing itself is completely mediocre, but the game features a ton of fanservice, and the developers even paid Lyssa Fielding to use her likeness as one of the main characters (the character is named Charlotte instead of Lyssa, but it looks just like her). It's released for the Katana and the Xbox in May 2002, and while reviews are mediocre-to-poor, the game itself is a big seller due to its sexy drivers and the subsequent controversy.
Andrekah Takes Flight!
This game is a rail-shooter starring Andrekah and her friends. With elements of adventure titles, it’s a fairly unique rail shooter and compared almost to a sort of “cotton candy Panzer Dragoon”. While it’s a departure from the series’ normal formula, which disappoints some fans, it’s still a pretty good game. It's released for both the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana, and while both games are identical in content and gameplay, the Katana version features some really nice anime style cel-shaded graphics. Even so, the Ultra Nintendo version sells slightly better.
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Top Selling Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):
April 2002:
1. Zodiac World 2 (Sega Katana)
2. State Of Emergency (Microsoft Xbox)
3. Fairytale 2 (Ultra Nintendo)
4. 1080 Snowboarding 2 (Ultra Nintendo)
5. World Series Baseball 2K2 (Sega Katana)
May 2002:
1. Turok: Evolution (Microsoft Xbox)
2. Turok: Evolution (Sega Katana)
3. Quake III: Arena (Microsoft Xbox)
4. Turok Trilogy (Ultra Nintendo)
5. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (Sega Katana)
June 2002:
1. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Microsoft Xbox)
2. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Ultra Nintendo)
3. No One Lives Forever (Sega Katana)
4. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Microsoft Xbox)
5. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Sega Katana)
Ultra Nintendo:
Metal Gear Gaiden
Metal Gear Gaiden is a hybrid action/stealth/RPG created by Hideo Kojima and Konami. It serves as a prequel to the original Metal Gear Solid, and takes place between Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid in the series' chronology. The game plays very similarly to the game Hybrid Heaven. When Solid Snake encounters an enemy, he can choose to hide, engage stealthily, or engage head-on. If Snake engages stealthily, he'll start the battle with an advantage. Either way, once combat begins, it plays out much like a turn-based RPG, but with very quick commands, with actions taking place instantaneously after they are chosen. Snake can choose to target a variety of areas on the enemy's body, and the enemy can do the same to him. Like in Hybrid Heaven, individual limbs can be leveled up with more use, and Snake can learn a variety of combination techniques and specials. The combat is generally faster paced than in Hybrid Heaven, with more options for the player to select from.
The plot of the game itself involves Snake being deployed on a secret mission to an island known as Shangri-La. The island is being used as a base for human experimentation, led by the scientist Dr. Elliot Craven. However, upon further exploration, Snake learns that Dr. Craven's purposes are benevolent, and that the experimental subjects are all volunteers. Indeed, the real threat on the island is an operative codenamed Demon, who volunteered for Craven's experiments as a mole working for an unnamed organization. Demon ends up killing Dr. Craven and several of the test subjects, while recruiting numerous others to him (some voluntarily, others through brainwashing). Snake has no choice but to hunt down and kill the surviving test subjects one by one, eventually battling Demon himself. Despite being a midquel, Metal Gear Gaiden occasionally refers to events taking place after Metal Gear Solid, at one point alluding to Lyra's fate during a cryptic flash-forward in which one of the drugs Demon used to subdue and brainwash one of the test subjects has also been requisitioned by a member of the mysterious Patriots organization. Though Snake never learns about Demon's employer over the course of the game, it's heavily hinted to the player (after Demon's death) that he was working for Revolver Ocelot. It will be revealed in Metal Gear War that despite being killed by Snake, Demon was able to complete his mission: stealing Craven's research in order for it to be used to transform Lyra into Vapor Snake, the Patriots' new ultimate weapon.
Released on June 24, 2002 in North America (after a Japanese release in early May), Metal Gear Gaiden is considered to be the game that perfected the ambitious RPG/action hybrid gameplay of Hybrid Heaven, and is seen as a worthy sidestory in the Metal Gear series. Thanks to the residual hype from Metal Gear Solid, Gaiden sells quite well, though it's not as big a seller as the main series games are. Critically it's seen as one of the best Ultra Nintendo games of the first half of the year, and a competitor with Fairytale 2 for the title of one of the year's best RPGs.
Mega Man Zero 2
Released for the Ultra Nintendo in May 2002, Mega Man Zero 2 is a Metroidvania-style game starring X's ally Zero. In this game, Zero teams up with his love interest Sclera to hunt down a gang of robotic assassins targeting humans and former Mavericks attempting to negotiate a peace treaty. The game takes place in a massive residential/commercial/governmental complex that's sort of like a cross between the UN Building and the Mall of America, and throughout the game, it's gradually being more and more destroyed by the evil robots, blocking off certain paths and requiring Zero to complete certain objectives in order to re-open them. Eventually, Sclera is kidnapped by RogueLAN, the leader of the assassins, and Zero has to rescue her and stop RogueLAN from destroying human/robot peace forever. Though the game maintains the series' difficult gameplay and sense of exploration, it's received slightly less favorably than the previous title due to its somewhat cliched plot (and the transformation of Sclera, a highly capable and tough character, into a damsel in distress at the end of the game) and repetitive areas. All in all, it's considered a decent game, and sells well enough (especially in Japan) to justify continuing the series with a third installment.
1080 Snowboarding 2
Nintendo's hit snowboarding game finally returns for a sequel, with better graphics, more tricks, and more snowboarding locales. It's a bigger and more complex game than the previous title, but with White Mountain dominating the snowboarding game landscape, it's difficult for this title to find a foothold. It does have a slightly more refined trick system than White Mountain or its sequel, but it lacks the hip music and fun characters that define the current market leader. Still, it's a first-party Nintendo game and it gets a good deal of hype, so sales are strong even if critics compare it somewhat unfavorably to White Mountain. It's still a decent game, but Nintendo probably made a mistake by not developing it as a launch title for the Wave instead.
Armored Core 3
The continuation of the mecha action series by FromSoftware, the plot differs somewhat from OTL's game: Armored Core 3 depicts a group of joyriding mecha pirates on the run from the government, who, in the course of their flight from the authorities, come across an oppressive warlord subjugating a colony and must choose whether to help defend the colony or continue to run and hide. The game has a heavier character focus than previous titles in the series, while still featuring the same strategic mecha action of the previous titles. It's probably the most difficult game yet in the series, which the game developer says “helps to communicate to the player the against-the-odds struggle of the characters as they are caught between a powerful government and a dangerous warlord”. Despite the game's difficulty, it manages to do well as a niche title.
WWF vs. NWO
Though the NWO stable hasn't yet appeared in the WWF, the game depicts a fantasy scenario of what would have happened had the WWF not been invaded by WCW, but by the NWO. Other than that, the game is your typical wrestling title, updated with the new WCW wrestlers on the roster. It plays decently but is somewhat limited compared to the next-gen titles on the Katana and Xbox, particularly the Xbox's WWF Raw.
Syrielle: Underland
The first game in the Syrielle series to largely eschew its visual novel roots for a more action-type game, this is an action platformer with dating-sim/visual novel elements, and also has elements from creator Suzanne Collins’ real-life Underland Chronicles series, which are butterflied away here. Syrielle and her friends meet the inhabitants of a vast subterranean realm underneath her hometown, and in doing so, she comes to learn the true secret of her spiderlike powers. This game takes the series full fantasy, and is somewhat controversial among longtime fans of the franchise, which started out as a fairly non-descript high school dating sim type game. However, the game's new setting also addresses certain storyline elements such as war and prejudice that were only very mildly touched upon in previous titles, and thus begins to win new fans for the series. The game is accompanied by a book tie-in series written by Collins, though the books are only very faintly like the OTL Underland Chronicles series. By now, Syrielle has become a mainstay franchise, though it still isn't a huge seller overall. It's got its dedicated fans, and this series brings in a few more to the fold. Sales are decent, not fantastic but not disappointing, and the series maintains its cozy little niche in pop culture.
Ultra Frederico: Quinceanera Chaos!
Frederico returns, and this time he must battle Generalissimo Garcia’s 15-year-old daughter Paulina, who is celebrating her quinceanara by trying to take over the world with her dark magic powers. Frederico must battle Paulina's friends, who embody various school stereotypes. In order to avoid the controversy of a grown man Frederico beating up on teenagers, Paulina's friends either leap into giant robots or transform into various monsters before being fought by Frederico, and when they're defeated, they're only mildly hurt, more annoyed and angry than anything else. A bit wacky even for the Frederico series, it’s a fun game but a fairly generic action platformer, the series seems to be ripping off Commander Keen a bit by this point as well. Sales take a bit of a dip from the previous title, and Silver Sail decides to take a brief respite from the series to focus on Quixsters and other games. Frederico will return down the road in the form of a mild reboot.
Shantae: Rise Of The Djinn
Shantae makes its home console debut in this game, which features Shantae going head to head with a powerful but evil djinn who takes over her kingdom after being summoned by Risky Boots in an attempt to destroy her rival once and for all. The djinn uses its powerful magic to isolate the various parts of Shantae's realm from one another, and Shantae has to restore the world to its proper state by defeating the djinn's various evil creatures. At one point, she even has to team up with Risky, who's clearly bitten off more than she can chew! Though the game's not quite up to par with games like Metroid: Darkness, it's got a lot of charm, plus competent voice acting (with Shayna Fox, who played Reggie Rocket in the OTL Rocket Power, as Shantae, and Rachel Lillis, who ITTL moves to Los Angeles in 2001, as Risky Boots). Reviews are quite good and sales are better than WayForward expected (and better than those of the most recent Nightsquad game).
Kessen
A tactical war game developed by Koei, Kessen is for the most part similar to OTL's game, depicting various battles that took place in feudal Japan. ITTL, the game takes a long time to get here from Japan: it was released in Japan in late 2000, and doesn't reach the States until April 2002, due to heavy demand from gamers who'd seen good reviews of it in Japanese magazines and footage of the game on TV (including a preview of the game on a late episode of GameTV back in August 2000). Kessen gets okay sales upon release, due to the hype, but sales fall off quickly afterward.
Sol Rising
A traditional turn-based JRPG from Atlus, about a group of heroes who must protect an ancient sword from evil. It’s got a fairly complex battle system for such an otherwise traditional game, with characters able to equip two weapons in battle, and with special techniques dependant on what type of weapons characters are equipped with. Like most Atlus RPGs, it's a very difficult game, but the battle system and the plot make the effort rewarding for those willing to take on the challenge. It's reviewed well, not on the level of Fairytale 2 but well enough to be considered one of the Ultra Nintendo's better late RPGs, though sales are fairly poor.
Sega Katana:
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon is a 3-D action/beat 'em up title released for the North American Katana system on April 22, 2002, after the game appeared as a launch title for the Japanese Katana more than a year earlier. It's intended to be the franchise's “definitive game”, in that it contains battles and sections from every season of Sailor Moon, covering the initial season with Queen Beryl and going all the way up to the final battle against Chaos at the end of Sailor Stars. The controls are rather simple, with Sailor Senshi able to use melee strikes or their magical attacks (though these attacks must be charged by collecting items or defeating enemies). The game takes place over 25 “missions”, each season of the show covered by five missions a piece. For most missions, you can choose amongst up to ten different Sailor Senshi, though other missions restrict your choices based on what characters appeared up to that point in the show (in other words, no Uranus or Neptune for the first ten missions). Missions usually involve reaching a certain point on the map, collecting certain items, or simply defeating a specific enemy. Each mission ends with a boss fight against one or more foes, either some of the monsters from the series or some of the major enemies that the Sailor Senshi have faced. Though the gameplay itself is fairly simple (earning the game some harsh reviews, especially from many Western journalists), the game includes much of the series' classic music, moments, and visuals. Most of the original voice actors reprise their roles (in Japan, ALL of them do, while in America, substitutes are used when they can't get all of the Ocean actors on board). Sales in the West aren't very strong, though Sailor Moon fans do have a positive reaction to the game.
Gundam Wing Crisis
A combination tactical/mecha action game, Gundam Wing Crisis takes place after Endless Waltz, and depicts a rogue colony that had been secretly harboring powerful mobile suits underneath the surface of Pluto suddenly appearing on Earth and attempting to take over. Though the situation seems hopeless at first, a team of scientists had prepared for this possibility and stowed away replica Gundams for the five original pilots (Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei). The Gundam pilots are joined by several allies in their fight, including a fully recovered Mariemaia Khushrenada, who pilots an upgraded version of her father's Tallgeese in battle. The gameplay resembles a typical tactical RPG type game, but once an enemy is engaged, shifts to a Gundam battle that plays out like a 3-D fighter. Released for the Katana in Japan in 2001 and in North America in May 2002, the game is considered a hit for its genre. It's released at the same time that interest in the Gundam series in North America is building due to the impending release of Gundam Soul, and is heavily promoted on Toonami (though TOM gives it a 7/10 review, stating that the Gundam fights eventually get repetitive).
Microsoft Xbox:
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Developed by Ubisoft for the Microsoft Xbox, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a stealth action title starring protagonist Sam Fisher. IOTL, the original Splinter Cell was released for a multitude of consoles, but ITTL, realizing the importance of securing exclusives and in an attempt to prevent a very potentially lucrative game from coming to Sega, Microsoft paid a large amount of money to secure the original Splinter Cell as an exclusive for the Xbox, precluding it from coming to the Katana or the Wave (future games in the series, including spinoffs, would be multiplatform). The game plays much like OTL, with stealth elements heavily emphasized and the use of force discouraged through the limitation of ammunition and firearms that Fisher has on his person at any one time. However, the game does have a somewhat improved melee combat system from OTL, allowing for more creative stealth takedowns or giving Fisher a limited ability to fight his way out of trouble. This comes at the expense of a slight reduction of gadgets and non-lethal weapon types afforded to Fisher, though it doesn't alter the basic gameplay.
The game's plot is somewhat different, due to the fact that the Metal Gear Solid sequel isn't on a next-generation system ITTL. Because of this, the need for the team to create Splinter Cell to directly compete with that game is reduced, and instead, Splinter Cell focuses more on science fiction elements and computer hacking, with Fisher's hacker friend Grim playing a somewhat larger role. This has the effect of putting the game more into competition with Velvet Dark: Synthesis, though ultimately, it carves out its own niche as a stealth classic. The main plot of the game actually invokes circumstances from OTL's 2016 election, with Russian hackers attempting to plant compromising information about a presidential candidate. In tracing these hackers, Fisher stumbles on a much larger plot to infect every computer in the United States with a kill switch virus that Russia would have control of. Fisher must also deal with a female Chinese agent named Lin Taifong who has intercepted this kill switch and is attempting to return it to China (but is in fact part of a secret splinter cell in the Chinese military hoping to topple the country's Communist regime). Fisher must untangle this complex web of espionage and sabotage if he is to protect American national security and prevent World War III.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is released on June 24, 2002. Though Splinter Cell's convoluted computer hacking plot is somewhat lampooned by critics, the game's stealth action is said to be the best ever seen in a video game, even better than that featured in Metal Gear Solid. The game becomes an immediate hit for the Xbox and a borderline killer app, showing off the system's graphical potential and demonstrating that the system has become a home to a number of very attractive franchises. Splinter Cell's success drives sales of the Xbox, which by now is outselling the Ultra Nintendo in North America by a significant margin (though due to the Xbox's misfortunes in Japan, the Ultra continues to hold a slim lead worldwide).
Wipeout: 2200
Wipeout: 2200 is the sequel to the 1997 Ultra Nintendo racing game Wipeout. Developed by Psygnosis (which Microsoft acquired in the leadup to the Xbox release), the game takes place on a futuristic Earth where daredevil racers hop into hovering vehicles that race on tracks around the world at hundreds of miles per hour, blasting each other out of the sky with a variety of weapons while equipping defensive shields to protect themselves. Though the sequel doesn't add much to the basic gameplay formula, it's a MASSIVE step up in terms of presentation, with gorgeous tracks and vehicles rendered by the Xbox's powerful graphics. The gameplay itself, while difficult, is highly praised, and Wipeout: 2200 becomes a significantly bigger success than the previous game.
Deus Ex
A fairly straight-up port of the PC game from 2000, Deus Ex takes place decades into the future and features protagonist JC Denton as a cybernetic supersoldier who fights terrorism and comes face to face with a corrupt world government. The original PC game was considered one of the best games of the year, and was one of the Xbox's most highly anticipated PC ports. It's well received upon release (moreso than The Witcher, which was Xbox's flagship launch port) and is a critical and commercial success.
WWF Raw
Featuring current WWF superstars (including the new WCW and ECW wrestlers), WWF Raw is the best looking wrestling game to date, and features a robust create a wrestler mode that allows players to import their own entrance themes using the Xbox hard drive. It's a fairly successful game, compared favorably to Nintendo's last-gen WWF vs. NWO.
Serious Sam
Another fairly highly anticipated PC port, Serious Sam is a first person shooter that stars protagonist Sam Stone, who travels through time to defeat alien invaders. Released simultaneously with what is considered the game's second episode on the PC, the Xbox version contains both the first and second episodes of the game, and is considered one of the best PC ports to date for the Xbox. Because of competition with other FPS games on the system and the lack of an online multiplayer mode, it doesn't sell quite as well as other shooter titles on the system, but it's still a decent seller.
Command And Conquer: M.A.D.
Command And Conquer: M.A.D. is an Xbox exclusive installment of the Command And Conquer real time strategy series, with gameplay closest to the OTL and TTL game Command And Conquer: Red Alert 2. It incorporates events from that game and its expansion, Yuri's Revenge, but also introduces a rogue American faction led by a warmongering general, General Storm, who comprises an enemy faction in the Allied campaign and becomes the main enemy of the Soviet campaign. General Storm is a truly insane man who relishes any opportunity he gets to launch nuclear weapons, making him even more dangerous than Yuri. Nuclear weapons are a frequent motif in the game, in keeping with its subtitle: “M.A.D.: Mutually Assured Destruction”, and at several points during the plot of both campaigns, nuclear weapons are launched (it's established by the series' writers that the Xbox game represents an alternate universe and isn't canon to the main series). There's even a special mode in the game where the object is to destroy as much of the world with nukes as possible. Though the game is well reviewed and Command and Conquer fans embrace it, most Xbox players stay away, and it's considered a niche title at best.
Flame Squad: Third Degree
The third game in the previously Nintendo-exclusive series about a band of flame-thrower wielding soldiers goes full 3-D. It gets criticized for going slightly gritty (though it’s not full-on edgy like OTL Bomberman Zero), but it’s a decent enough game. Sales are actually a bit better than expected, and indeed, it becomes the best selling game to date in the series.
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
The Activision car racing title remains an Xbox exclusive ITTL, and plays fairly similarly to its OTL counterpart, with its main selling point being its excellent graphics. Though not a blockbuster, it sells well, and shows off the Xbox's capability to produce great looking racing games, with it and Wipeout: 2200 becoming the games most frequently cited by critics as a demonstration of this.
Game Boy Nova:
Final Fantasy Tactics Nova
Final Fantasy Tactics Nova is a handheld spinoff of 1998's strategy RPG for the Game Boy Nova. Like OTL's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, it's significantly lighter in tone than the original game, but unlike OTL's game, it no longer has a “dream/fantasy world” plotline. Instead, it takes place in a storybook that is implied to be read by people living in Ivalice. It, like Final Fantasy Tactics, involves the collection of twelve Zodiac Stones, and the primary protagonists are a team of mythic treasure hunters led by a moogle named Montblanc, a young thief boy named Letty, and a girl named Nora. The treasure hunters must collect the Zodiac Stones before the evil Queen Scathe finds them, and engage in dozens of battles along the way. Gameplay wise, the game has many similarities with OTL's Tactics Advance, though the judge system is completely gone, and there are a new race of humanoid fairies known as the Fae, inspired by the protagonists of Fairytale. Fae can be male and female and specialize in jobs emphasizing magic and speed. The storybook theme of the game allows for a number of fantastical creatures and occurrences, and the musical score is very upbeat and majestic. Though it does get criticism for being too easy and “kiddy” (like OTL's game), it's still a high quality and commercially successful tactical RPG.
Nintendo Wars 2
A sequel to Nintendo Wars Nova, Nintendo Wars 2 (the second in the series to be released in North America, it drops the “Nova” from its title) introduces more levels (including a customization mode to make your own maps), more units, and more cutscenes, and employs an “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” approach to the franchise that serves it well. It's considered an improvement on the already excellent original game and becomes a strong seller.
Quixsters Nova 2
Because of the success of Quixsters Nova, this sequel was rushed into production, and though it was made to be released quite soon after the original, it's still a high quality game, with even more levels than the original. Introducing new enemies and new characters, Quixsters Nova 2 becomes one of the year's top selling Game Boy Nova games.
Mistlandia: The Hidden World
Mistlandia: The Hidden World is Camelot's sequel to the 2000 Game Boy Nova RPG Mistlandia. Starring the same four protagonists as the previous game, The Hidden World takes place after the defeat of Seros, and begins when mysterious portals begin to open up all over the world. These portals lead to a parallel world where a new threat reigns, and once this new enemy becomes aware of the portals, it begins sending its forces into the original world to conquer it as well, forcing the heroes to take action. Building on the original game's motifs, The Hidden World is considered a bit of a rehash but is still an excellent game for handheld RPG lovers.
Metal Clash Nova
A handheld spinoff of the Ultra Nintendo robot-building series, Metal Clash Nova is a somewhat simplified take on the original game. It features a new plot but retreads many of the original game's locations and characters, and the robot building and robot combat isn't quite as robust as the original. Reviews are decent, but it doesn't sell nearly as well as the console version and is considered a disappointment.
Moto X
A motocross game, Moto X features more than a dozen tracks from all over the world, and a large cast of racers, with customizable motorcycles that players can improve as they win races. It's easy to learn, but quite hard to master, and even features local wireless multiplayer. It gets excellent reviews and due to word of mouth and good promotion, it becomes a commercial hit.
Zombies Ate My Classmates
The classic Konami run and gun game returns on the Game Boy Nova. Zeke and Julie return to fight zombies, who have invaded their school. The two must save their friends and (somewhat reluctantly) their teachers from becoming victims of the zombie horde. Features nearly identical gameplay to the original with a bit of voice acting and some improved graphics. It gets very favorable reviews, as fans who clamored for a handheld version of the game are quite pleased to get a brand new title for the Nova.
Chains: An Inescapable Adventure!
An anime-styled game about a hapless boy who gets chained to an ancient goddess who has lost her powers. The boy must find a way to break the chain while the goddess bosses him around. The gameplay has a top-down style, similar to Pocky and Rocky, where the boy has to fight off enemies while protecting the goddess (who occasionally helps him fight when she can). It’s a sales flop in the States but gets great reviews and becomes a cult hit.
Picky
A gross-out platformer about a booger who crawls up people’s noses. He must dodge various enemies, including the giant fingers that try to pick him out. It’s a pretty average platformer, but kids really enjoy it and it gets better sales than it has any right to get.
Crash Bandicoot 2
A somewhat downgraded port of the Ultra Nintendo game, it gets average reviews and average sales. However, it's still a possibility that Naughty Dog may develop more original Crash games for the Nova.
Multiplatform:
Mortal Kombat: Revenge
The TTL analogue to OTL's Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Revenge is the fifth main game in the Mortal Kombat series. It's initially released for the Ultra Nintendo in May 2002, and would come to the Xbox in December (partly to develop an enhanced version for the next-gen system and partly to protect its sales from Divine Wrath 2, also developed by Midway). Revenge refers to the quests undergone by Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Kitana to get revenge on their enemies who have brutally murdered people close to them, but also refers to the revenge quest of the game's primary antagonist, the original villain Xu Gong, a resurrected Chinese general who was forced to witness his entire army being buried alive. Xu Gong blames Liu Kang for this because it was Shaolin monks who assisted in the defeat of his army (but it is later revealed that those monks were being manipulated by Quan Chi). Plotline aside, the game features the same brutal fighting of previous titles to the series, and a total of 26 playable characters (15 returning, 11 new). The Ultra Nintendo version gets decent reviews, while the Xbox version gets much more favorable reviews and sales (along with 4 guest characters from Divine Wrath 2).
Medal Of Honor: Frontline
Medal Of Honor: Frontline continues the hit FPS series and is released for the Ultra Nintendo, the Sega Katana, and the Microsoft Xbox on June 24, 2002. The plot is mostly identical to OTL's game, featuring a soldier who lands on D-Day and is tasked with locating a Nazi secret weapon. Like its predecessors, it features realistic combat, a stirring musical score, and outstanding production values, and in a very crowded month, it's easily the top selling game (though on the Katana it's slightly outsold by No One Lives Forever over their first month of release).
Star Wars Heroes
An action/beat 'em up title for the Ultra Nintendo, Sega Katana, and Microsoft Xbox, Star Wars Heroes allows players to take control of one of more than 20 characters throughout the Star Wars series. The game is in a top down style, and supports up to four player co-op, with a versus mode also available. The plot is a sort of cross-mash of all the Star Wars films (sort of like Star Wars: Grandmasters), allowing heroes and villains from across the galaxy to team up to take down a collective villain, in this case Lord Conqueror, an extra-galactic evil who seeks to eliminate all life in the galaxy. Lord Conqueror deploys his powerful army of cyborg troopers called the Death Guard, and sets out on a campaign of conquest and destruction. Though the primary protagonist is Luke Skywalker, Luke soon teams up with Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, and eventually comes to gain the services of characters like Young Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and eventually even characters like Boba Fett and Asajj Ventress join the fray as Lord Conqueror becomes a threat to all. However, in the end, the game's final villain is Emperor Palpatine, who kills Lord Conqueror after the heroes defeat him. The heroes must then defeat Palpatine in one last epic clash. Though the game is a multiplatform title, it has significantly more features on the Katana and Xbox. It's a serviceable game on the Ultra Nintendo (and sells quite well on there), but is clearly better on the next generation systems. It's a fun game and a mild hit, though die-hard Star Wars fans somewhat balk at the game's lighthearted tone and anachronisms.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
The sequel to the original Hitman game, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin continues the story of Agent 47 as he tries to retire from the business of killing, only to be dragged back in after one of his old partners and one of the very few people Agent 47 trusted is brutally murdered by an international consortium that wants 47 dead next. The game is released originally for the Katana alongside the PC version, and is released for the Xbox a few months later with some enhancements and extra missions. Both versions sell well, though the Xbox version sells somewhat better.
State Of Emergency
Developed by Rockstar and released for the Xbox and Katana in April 2002, State Of Emergency is somewhat of a follow-up to Rockstar's earlier Chaos City (indeed, the game originally went under the working title State Of Emergency: Chaos City 2). Unlike OTL's game, which was considered somewhat of a disappointment, Rockstar learned its lessons from Chaos City and went out of its way to make the game's combat a lot more fun. It played like a more beat-em-up style Grand Theft Auto, with less bonus missions but an increased focus on humor and random chaos. It features six playable protagonists, with its most memorable being Mr. Chunky, an ice cream man gone completely postal who kills people by shoving ice cream down their throats (he's compared somewhat to Twisted Metal's Sweet Tooth, though Mr. Chunky doesn't have a psycho clown design and doesn't drive around in a tricked out ice cream truck). With its tighter focus than OTL's game and it's improved combat, State Of Emergency is seen as a fun open world beat-em-up and a serious improvement on Chaos City. It's not as good or as successful as Grand Theft Auto, but unlike OTL's hugely hyped game, it was never expected to be.
Exhilaration
A racing game featuring sexy women drivers, it’s sort of to racing titles what Dead or Alive is to fighting games. The racing itself is completely mediocre, but the game features a ton of fanservice, and the developers even paid Lyssa Fielding to use her likeness as one of the main characters (the character is named Charlotte instead of Lyssa, but it looks just like her). It's released for the Katana and the Xbox in May 2002, and while reviews are mediocre-to-poor, the game itself is a big seller due to its sexy drivers and the subsequent controversy.
Andrekah Takes Flight!
This game is a rail-shooter starring Andrekah and her friends. With elements of adventure titles, it’s a fairly unique rail shooter and compared almost to a sort of “cotton candy Panzer Dragoon”. While it’s a departure from the series’ normal formula, which disappoints some fans, it’s still a pretty good game. It's released for both the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana, and while both games are identical in content and gameplay, the Katana version features some really nice anime style cel-shaded graphics. Even so, the Ultra Nintendo version sells slightly better.
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Top Selling Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):
April 2002:
1. Zodiac World 2 (Sega Katana)
2. State Of Emergency (Microsoft Xbox)
3. Fairytale 2 (Ultra Nintendo)
4. 1080 Snowboarding 2 (Ultra Nintendo)
5. World Series Baseball 2K2 (Sega Katana)
May 2002:
1. Turok: Evolution (Microsoft Xbox)
2. Turok: Evolution (Sega Katana)
3. Quake III: Arena (Microsoft Xbox)
4. Turok Trilogy (Ultra Nintendo)
5. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (Sega Katana)
June 2002:
1. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Microsoft Xbox)
2. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Ultra Nintendo)
3. No One Lives Forever (Sega Katana)
4. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Microsoft Xbox)
5. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (Sega Katana)