Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
(Konami, 2003)

I played a lot of Boktai the summer before my senior year of college. I walked across town to a park and sat on a bench near the playground, angling the GBA cartridge’s photometric solar sensor toward the sun.

In Boktai, your hero (Django!) is tasked with killing vampires and other Undead, creatures that are defenseless against sunshine, using his solar-powered gun. Since this is a game designed by Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Django sneaks around a lot, trying to remain undetected. It is the first game in the Japanese Boktai series of RPGs. The cartridge itself is irregularly shaped, jutting from the slot so that light can strike the sensor.

I’ve recently restarted Lunar Knights for Nintendo DS and, although no solar sensor is required for playing it, sure enough! the game recognizes the Boktai cart in the GBA slot and allows me to play Lunar Knights (ahem) as it was meant to be played.

Boktai was included on GamesRadar’s Fantastic Flops: the Greatest Games that Nobody Bought.