There are so many games on the horizon or already released that desperately need my attention. I’ve figured that the number of games I need to play this moment will amount to no less than five-hundred dollars of credit card debt. The funny thing is, the world has gone to hell, and I’m now too poor to afford Halo 9: OECB, Gears of War 12, and Rock Band: 17th Century Classics. So what have I done? I’ve been digging through my old stack of games, attempting to dredge up some new enjoyment. And what have I found? Pure ecstasy. I’ve tried to focus on games that were ignored when they came out. Games that despite being absolutely transformative and genre bending, were not purchased by the general public. What a mistake! But now you have a chance to make up for the wrongs that you committed against innovative games of old! Here are some that are available in stores, are perfectly playable, and are eminently enjoyable in these rough and tumble times.

1. Beyond Good & Evil (2003-Xbox, PC, PS2, GC)

This was honestly one of the first games to come to mind when I started writing this. It’s a game that even today inspires the same feelings of freedom and wanderlust that it first did when I popped it into my disc drive six years ago. For the uninitiated, BG&E mixes Action, Adventure, and RPG elements into a seamless and wondrous whole. It follows the adventures of a young woman named Jade and Peyj, her Boarlike sidekick, through the world of Hillys. This world is at war and under siege, but without Steven Seagal to defend it. As you wade into the story, you’ll truly understand why the game is called “Beyond Good and Evil.” The elements hold up well. The writing is witty, graphics solid, and the story straight out of a big budget film. A good big budget film. But the details truly make this game special. One of the best RPG elements in the game consists of slowly building different upgrades onto your boat so you can access new parts of the world by leaping over obstacles, blasting sentry drones, or even launching into space. An interesting diversion built into the game is the photography of the flora and fauna of Hillys for scientific cataloging. You’ll be surprised at just how cool it can be to hunt down all the different creatures or to find the perfect angle to photograph that damned penguin thing on the lighthouse. ($5-10 used)

2. Rallisport Challenge & Rallisport Challenge 2 (2002/2004-Xbox, PC)

Not everyone likes racing games or even rallying games, but these gems have a vast amount of appeal even years after release. Both of the RC games were penned by D.I.C.E, the studio responsible for the Battlefield series of FPS games, and now tragically swallowed up by EA. These were first party racing games and among the first released for the original Xbox. The aesthetics of these games still impress even today. Now, they aren’t perfect for the hardcore sim racing fans, and are maybe a little too technical for those that just want casual one button racing a la Kirby’s Air Ride. However, the developers nailed a driving feel that is a perfect balance of the two. Not annoyingly taking you to task for rounding a bend at 60 mph. And keeping you accountable enough so that you can’t hit a hairpin turn at 120 mph. The ice racing still looks amazing even in the age of HD graphics. And it is so hilariously fun to play one of these modes with a few friends. I still remember blundering around an ice track with two friends for hours in the original RC. If this is the kind of thing you’re looking for, either of these games will do you well. ($1/$5 used)

3. Grim Fandango (1998-PC)

A seminal adventure game released a whole hell of a long time ago for the PC, Grim Fandango is the brainchild of Tim Schaffer, the genius responsible for the amazing Full Throttle, Psychonauts, and soon enough, Brütal Legend. GF is an old-style PC adventure game. One of the last truly great titles in this genre. This was before dual analog, rumbling, tracking your movements control schemes. Instead, you use those cool little arrow keys on the keyboard. That’s right, the arrows. You play the part of a dead man, Manny Calavera, who works as a travel agent for the recently deceased entering the land of the dead. Those that lived good lives qualify for the “Number Nine” train that jets through the land of the dead to the Ninth Underworld in four minutes. However, Manny always manages to get the assholes that lived as such. These wretched souls qualify for a walking stick with built in compass, and embark on a four YEAR journey across the land of the dead. The game wears a Mexican “Day of the Dead” theme, and the world is brilliantly colored with its culture. After growing sick of his job as a travel agent and finding that his bosses have been cheating him out of the good clients, Manny decides to strike out across the land of the dead in pursuit of a virtuous soul cheated out of her ticket on the Number Nine. You have a chance to live this epic four year journey. This game is old, and you’ll have to be a bit patient with the technical gap between 1998 and the present day. But, if you’re willing, you’ll be rewarded with a rollicking good time marked by dark humor and an epic and memorable tale. Now I’m taking a bit of a liberty here, because Grim Fandango is a little harder to find and a tad more expensive. But I’m guessing that some of you have a really cool friend that lives down the street, or know some really cool person from grade school that probably has a copy of this game for you to borrow. And now their coolness has been validated through their ownership of this game. Do yourself a favor…borrow or buy it, and play! ($25 used)

4. Kameo: Elements of Power (2005-Xbox 360)

What a vastly underrated and generally ignored game. Even though the reviews it received were favorable, this game was way more innovative and interesting than the reviews allowed. My jaw still drops every time I see this game in action. You play the part of Kameo, who has the power to transform into ten different creatures. This is essentially a platform game, but the twist is that you must use the skills of these creatures to pass through the varied environments and to defeat enemies that block your path. Seemingly a simple idea, but the execution is great. Now, Kameo is a tad on the short side, but packs quite a punch. It’s also an example of a very cheap game that will make you feel like you’re playing something very new and fresh. Production values are top notch, just as they are in basically every game made by Rare. Oh, that’s what I forgot to mention! This was Rare’s first truly good and innovative game after they were absorbed by Microsoft in 2002. And it inherits the mantle of truly innovative Rare efforts from gems like Blast Corps, Diddy Kong Racing, Goldeneye, and the like. Find it, and plop that disc into your Xbox360! ($4 used, $11 new)

5. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox, PC) & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Many of you have probably heard of or played the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion before. For those that haven’t, get out of your chair right this instant and go pick it up! Both the Elder Scrolls III and IV have the same general idea: completely open ended gaming and an adventure that can occupy hundreds of hours, depending on how nerdy you are and how many days you’re willing to do without a shower. I logged over a hundred hours on the recent release, and probably twice as much on the original Morrowind. Don’t worry, this is over a course of years, but it should go to show you just how much bang for your buck you’ll get from these games. Each takes place in a fantasy realm, with Morrowind in particular having an amazing diversity of environments. There’s a main quest in each of the games, and many side quests to do, but the astounding thing is that you can dive into these worlds and become a merchant if you’d like. You can buy houses, trade goods, explore, make potions, become a virtuous knight or a dastardly assassin or thief. The possibilities are endless. Even walking through the countryside is enormously fulfilling. One of the things that amazed me about Morrowind was that I could go out into the middle of the desert and drop a pillow on a hill, play for fifty hours, and return to find the pillow right where I left it. It’s truly a world that you can make in your own image, and an incredible time waster. One warning I have is that Morrowind on the Xbox is a tad on the choppy side. There are frequent load times and hiccups relating to the difficulty of bringing this complex game to the Xbox. However, the experience comes through intact. And each of these games are experiences that you’ll need to see to believe. ($2-$10 used for Morrowind, $10-$20 used for Oblivion)

6. Sim City 4 (PC)

Maybe this is a bit of an odd choice for this list and not the first to come to mind for quite a few people, but I’ve recently logged many an hour building up cities, and watching them thrive or descend into chaos. This game is brilliant and not for the faint of heart. As you can probably guess or know already, the entire idea is to build and maintain a city from the ground up. But this is a far more involved experience than is something like “The Sims” Every choice that you make, from type of powerplant to the positioning of your city streets, will impact how well your city will run. Zone industry too close to homes and residents will complain. Make a convoluted transportation infrastructure, and business will be difficult to conduct in your city. Everything depends on a master design and excellent planning and foresight. The next time you’re stuck in a traffic jam in Los Angeles or crammed into a subway car in Tokyo, you’ll appreciate what urban designers must go through to make your hometown just right. If you’ve touched a computer in the past five to ten years, you’ve probably played some iteration of Sim City, but I’ve found that it’s a good and refreshing change of gameplay for those with empty wallets. ($5-$10 used)