Our Favorite Games Appear When We Least Expect Them, So We Should Stop Struggling To Follow Trends
About ten years ago my PS3 kicked the bucket, offering me the yellow light of death like a miniature middle-finger. I couldn’t afford a new one, so I begrudgingly dug out my PS2 and went to the local second-hand store to see what games I could buy with a tenner. It only took a quick browse of the shop to realize there was an ocean of titles I’d never even heard of. I was spoiled for choice. As the PS2 is backwards compatible, there were two generations to explore.
I began with Silent Bomber, an arcade action title from 1999. The thumping soundtrack, the cheesy dialogue, the challenge, it all aged like the finest of wines. Taking control of mercenary and war criminal Jutah Fate, players infiltrate a spacecraft to save the world by blowing stuff up. It’s a hackneyed story, but the gameplay is special. It plays like Bomber Man crossed with Metal Gear Rising. Jutah, the titular bomber, can either plant bombs where he stands, or cast them onto far-away targets, either by free aiming or locking on. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t think of a game like this before or since.
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What I find scary is how coincidental my discovery of this game was. If my PS3 hadn’t packed in, or if I had more money in my wallet, I would have just carried on with the latest releases. It was only because I had no other choice (apart from quitting gaming altogether) that I found this hidden gem. If I host a gaming party, Silent Bomber is the game I blow the dust off to show guests, like a music aficionado’s favorite vinyl. It has a special place in my heart. That I only discovered it by chance is a sobering thought.
Silent Bomber is the antithesis of ‘trending’. It isn’t on the PlayStation store outside of
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