The Holidays are here, and all the worthwhile game companies have made sure that their biggest blockbusters are on the shelves just in time for Christmas, Hanukah, Ramadan (we are a few months late, but still), or for whatever reason people may want to buy games for. However, biggest doesn’t necessarily mean best, and it definitely doesn’t mean original. If you can’t get that special someone the game they want, here are a few great substitutes. Or maybe you can’t get enough of your favorite game? Or maybe you are just too full of yourself to play the mainstream games, even though you really want to. Or maybe you rather buy five games for the price of one. Whatever the reason, here they are.

Run Like Hell (PS2, Xbox) – This is the only game on the list that unanimously isn’t as good as its current cousin. But hey, Dead Space is a pretty good game, probably the best new IP this year. It ’s actually a bit surprising there aren’t more space monster games. Run Like Hell was originally a PS2 launch title, but it was stuck in development hell (hehe) for the better part of five years with several major overhauls. Because of that, the gameplay isn’t as smooth as it should be, but the story is very fleshed out. One thing about this that really seems impressive in hindsight is that this was an action-first survival horror game, long before Resident Evil 4 made survival horror games action-first. Your guns make it so you won’t be doing too much running, but the crazy creatures are straight out of the corners of hell.

Graffiti Kingdom (PS2) – Spore just may have been the most hyped game of all time. And while the general conscience is that it falls short of replacing evolution, or whatever Will Wright promised it would do, most people really dig the creature creator. Graffiti Kingdom, the sequel to Magic Pengel, were quite the opposite of Spore, in the fact that they went fairly unnoticed, but they had a very fun creature creator. Of course being on the PS2, it is much more clunkier than Spore on the PC, but it still has a very deep and open creature creator. As for the game itself, it plays much more like a traditional plat former, with the player changing creatures to fit the occasion. Simple, almost kiddy, but the over ambitious nature of Spore’s little bit of everything is the biggest downfall of that game.

Shinobi (PS2) – Ninja Gaiden was HUGE for the first Xbox, and it was sill huge both times it was re-released with minimal upgrades. So why did Ninja Gaiden 2 fall flat on its face? Beats me. It’s still a pretty good game, and not a shooter like oh so many 360 games, but it hasn’t found nearly the fanfare. Shinobi did not see much attention either, which might be a blessing seeing how Sega runs games into the ground these days, but it is also quite sad seeing how this game was awesome. Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden were both classic ninja series back in the day, they both got long awaited facelifts, and those were both very hard. In fact, I would place Shinobi as the tougher of the two, and Ninja Gaiden is pretty commonly listed among the hardest ever. It may not have the same pizzazz as the shiny Ninja Gaiden, but Shinobi has everything that has to offer and then some. And it’s semi-sequel Nightshade was pretty cool too while not being as unforgivably hard.

Audio Surf (PC) – Guitar Hero and Rock Band will be topping many lists this year. I guess you could drop three figures to pick up one of those sets, or you could pay ten bucks and get a game that not only fills that void, but can nurse the appetites for F-Zero and Tetris fans too. Audio Surf is an independent game released through Steam’s digital distribution service. You play as a little hovercar that must fly over the notes of your favorite song. I say favorite song because you can import any song from your computer, and the game will make a track for it right then and there. Furthermore, each song has its own leader board for each of the many different controlling cars. It won’t teach you how to play fake guitar, but you’ll get pretty good with the arrow keys. Besides, it can make a pretty good screensaver.

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy  (PS2,Xbox, PC) – Psi-Ops is the game that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed wishes it was. Let me scratch that, Psi-Ops is the game that me and everybody else wishes Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was. That game was a dud, and some people were actually surprised by that. I could go on with all its problems, but something so many people noticed was how similar it was to Psi-Ops (Weird. Where were these people buying it when it first came out?). Even the main characters look alike. Star Wars has the lightsaber, but the force powers are the way to go. Well Psi-Ops is a third person shooter at heart, but his telekinesis are the main attraction here. And unlike Star Wars, they are actually fun. You gotta love throwing bodies everywhere and making heads explode. This offers everything and more that the Force Unleashed offers, minus the Star Wars of course, but is that even a positive anymore? Still not sold? The game is free on Fileplanet’s website, with advertising, but that‘s what runs our world anymore.