Outstanding Openers Vol. 5

Not every game immediately thrusts you into the gameplay. While its common place to have some kind of introduction scene in games these days, even before the HD era, we had games that took a bit of time to provide some plot before placing you in control. Outstanding Openers centers around intros that managed to grab my attention, make my jaw drop or say, "Wow, that was neat." Just click on the title of the game to see the opening unfold.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)

The first console Turtles game gets a bad rap, much of which is undeserved. Sure, the game is hard. Really hard. Like, excruciatingly, rage quite hard. But it isn't as awful as the haters would lead you to believe.

If for some strange reason, you picked up this game and had no idea who the four heroes are, the game introduces you to them. The game even goes a step further and not only tells you the weapon each one posses, but shows you the weapon in action as well, using the in-game sprites. Nice. After the turtles finish giving the demo of their weapons, we cut to April being kidnapped by Shredder. Now, this may lead you to believe that your key goal of the game is rescuing April, but that's only the first mission. The game continues long after she's been saved,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES has an incredible soundtrack and graphics that are impressive to this day. The game is based off of the 1987 cartoon series, but the art style comes from the original 1984 Mirage Studios comic series, giving the game a dark, gritty tone.

Mega Man 7 (SNES)

Something incredible happened when Mega Man defeated Dr. Wily at the end of Mega Man 6. The mad doctor was actually caught! Having gave Mega Man the slip five times now, Mega Man planned ahead and brought a rope with him and acted fast enough to prevent Wily from escaping. With Wily finally behind bars, the world is at peace. Well, for six months, anyway.

Mega Man 7 does a really good job of handling Dr. Wily. He uses Mega Man's all-too-trusting nature to grant Bass and Treble access to Dr. Light's lab later in the game and in the game's opening, we see that Wily is quite the advanced planner. Wily knew he'd eventually get caught and planned for such an scenario. Having the next line of Robot Masters hidden away in his lab, four of them activate since Wily hasn't checked in in months. These robots wreak havoc on the city, looking for Wily, ending half a year of peace.

Tekken 3 (PS)

Namco always went the extra mile when it came to bringing their arcade games over to the PlayStation. New modes, arranged music and sick intros that you wouldn't see in the arcade. 20 years have passed since the previous King of Iron First Tournament. Heihachi is no longer rocking that black hair, Paul is in his mid 40s, Law has a son and we've got some new players stepping into the ling like Eddy Gordo and Jin  Kamaza, the son of Jun Kamaza. I still think Tekken 2's intro is better than 3's but it like the previous game, it was enough to get me hyped.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)

Storms and boats can't seem to get along. If you're on a boat in any fictional medium, a storm has it out for you and Link is no exception. Link's ship is torn to shreds and his unconscious body rests on an island where Link's next adventure will soon begin.