This is going to sound absolutely wild if you’re a younger reader, but Konami, the Pachinko machine titan, was once a video game company — a great one, even. For over three decades, Konami found so much success across all existing video game genres that they even straight-up created some of their own. Here’s a list of my favorite Konami games.
10. Gradius
For some time, Space Invaders and Galaga were the hottest space shooters in the world. Then Gradius showed up, brought in side-scrolling elements, and the genre finally felt like it had actually made the jump to space.
Ducking and jumping to avoid enemy projectiles from time to time? Not anymore. When you’re playing Gradius, you must keep an eye open to enemy fire at all times and be ready to move to any position on the map to stay alive. Also, Gradius also brought a bunch of different weapons to use in different combat situations.
Gradius brought both brains and adrenaline to the once stationary genre, and nobody ever went back.
9. Contra 3: The Alien Wars
When it comes to pure sidescrolling action, it’s hard to beat the Contra series. There are many other great titles in this franchise, but I’m going to democratically elect Contra 3 as the best in the series.
Maybe it’s because I prefer the idea of destroying invading aliens over the idea of killing fellow humans. Maybe it’s because of its absolutely crushing difficulty — even if you’re not playing in hard mode.
Contra 3 rocks and is easily one of the best Konami games ever released, whether you’re on a one-man war against the aliens or teaming up with a brother-in-arms.
8. Frogger
Frogger, aka that game about the highway crossing frog, feels more like a meme than a game nowadays. Still, it’s real, and it was a genuinely deserving phenomenon back in the day. Not many games can turn something so mundane into this much fun.
Frogger gets bonus points from me, at least, for making me constantly keep an eye out to try to avoid running over frogs whenever I’m driving. I’m sure there’s no way that will one day turn out very badly for me.
7. Dance Dance Revolution
There’s no greater testament to Konami’s greatness than looking at how much this company has crushed it in every single gaming genre. The Dance Dance Revolution series predates Guitar Hero and remains very popular long after we stopped caring about the other contender for the crown of the king of rhythmic games.
This is an arcade classic that so many still play today. Quite the achievement, considering how most of us barely remember arcades were even a thing.
Dance Dance Revolution gets extra points for how its controller, a huge and cumbersome mat designed specifically for rhythmic input, has become a popular alternative controller for games such as Dark Souls. Now that’s range.
6. Zone of the Enders 2
As you should know by now, it’s illegal to rank the games of a Japanese games studio without listing at least one mech game. Luckily, Zone of the Enders 2: The 2nd Runner really does deserve to be here.
Have you just finished Armored Core 6 and don’t know what to do with your mech-less life? Then consider giving Zone Of The Enders 2: The 2nd Runner a chance. It’s great because it’ll quench your thirst for high-octane robot-piloting action and also allow you to rest a bit from the challenge of the AC series by offering you a less demanding campaign.
The original Zone Of The Enders hit many of the right notes, but it suffered from a lackluster conclusion. The sequel is bigger in all the right ways and also manages to tell a complete story in a much more satisfying manner.
5. Suikoden 2
There’s a reason why Suikoden 2 is one of the most expensive PS1 titles you can buy in the used market. It’s because it was so ahead of its time that few people cared to buy it upon release, which resulted in it becoming an ultra-rare title. It was only in the 2010s that people started looking back into it and realized that we’d slept on a masterpiece.
Suikoden 2 is one of the best Konami games, but it’s also just an excellent RPG. When you think about RPGs in the PS1 era, chances are you immediately think about Squaresoft and the Final Fantasy series. Still, most of the (few) people who got to play this upon release claim that it’s even better than its more popular rival.
4. Castlevania Symphony Of The Night
There are many other excellent titles in the Castlevania series, so if you’d rather go with the original or Aria Of Sorrow, please know that you also rock and are properly prepared to go on a vampire hunting trip.
That being said, SOTN‘s higher production values, beautiful music, fast action, and hilarious memes gave it the edge for me.
Even if you don’t agree that this is the best Castlevania game ever made, it’s hard to argue that it’s not one of the best 2D titles ever made. Also, Alucard is just the coolest main character in the series.
3. P.T.
Oops, Konami execs probably won’t like to see this one here, but it’s true. It’s not a retail game, but it’s still a full experience. Also, it’s the closest we’ll ever get to Silent Hills since Konami gutted the project that P.T. was attempting to promote, making it a dark horse candidate for one of the best Konami games.
On top of P.T. being one of the best experiences in horror ever made for any medium, it also came out of the best possible package. In an age where branding is all, it dared to just appear on the PlayStation store one day. A random free game made by an unknown company.
No one knew what they were getting into. Experiencing P.T. as Hideo Kojima wanted us to was the modern-day equivalent of watching The Blair With Project back in the ’90s when we didn’t know anything about it. It’s not just a great experience in and of itself; it also totally inspired the renaissance period of the Resident Evil series that we’re currently living in.
2. Metal Gear Solid
I know there are high chances that you’d rather see Metal Gear Solid 3 on a list of the best Konami games, but please hear me out. First off, each franchise gets only one entry on this list. Otherwise, I’d at least feel very tempted to make it 50% MGS-based.
Secondly, MGS3 is great, but it simply didn’t surprise me. At that point, I just knew it was going to be great. MGS1, on the other hand, blew everyone’s minds and opened the eyes of many skeptics to the possibilities of video games as a vehicle for art. Also, I’d argue it remains the more interesting to play of the two nowadays. Yeah, MGS3 rocks — if you play its Subsistence iteration, the version with the improved Splinter Cell-inspired camera.
The original MGS still barely needs any tinkering. Yeah, I’d take its rough PS1 look and feel over the looks and gameplay of the Twin Snakes remake any day.
1. Silent Hill 2
While MGS was the game that changed everything for Konami, I believe Silent Hill 2 was the game that showed the company at the peak of its powers.
If the original Silent Hill gave us the perfect antithesis to the camp of the Resident Evil series in the survival horror arena, the sequel destroyed our previously held ideas of what constituted peak horror.
The gorgeous aesthetics combined with a heart-wrenching plot based on the themes of Stanisław Lem’s Solaris result not merely in the best Konami game but one of the best narrative experiences in any medium, period.
Published: Oct 8, 2023 09:25 am