XIII
PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC (2003)
An undeserved casualty of the cel-shaded game explosion, this conspiracy thriller-killer FPS was taken from the pages of a Belgian comic, bringing its methods of storytelling as well as its looks to the small screen.
It wasn't completely satisfying - take away the terrific style and it's a fairly ordinary shooter - but that style was so well-captured it's a shame there was never a XIII II to work on bringing the other side up to scratch. Not least because the game's storyline finishes just as the comic's begins to hot up - everything was ready for a sequel except the sales.
Above: A game that's not afraid to shout 'BAOOMM', you could build your own comic out of paused action scenes from XIII
Burning Rangers
Saturn (1998)
Burning Rangers cornered the futuristic fire-fighting market when it was released but it asked a little more of Saturn than it could give in terms of technology (and, at that stage of defeat by PlayStation, an audience). So it joins the ranks of obsessive Sega fan treasures - but you don't need Dreamcast pyjamas to appreciate how well the game could work with an engine that doesn't look more dangerously unstable than the blaze.
It's already tense, slickly made and honestly air-punchingly heroic - a next-gen version could light a fire under third-person action complacency.
