Games with epic back stories you didn't know?

[Droid party]

I was tooling around at work on ebay and whilst looking at a Sega master system I noticed they had a back story written for Alex Kidd in Miracle world (the built in game) which went like this.

Storyline:
What's Happening
Many centuries ago, on the planet Aries, there lived a boy named ALEX KIDD. for seven years he lived on Mt. Eternal studying Shellcore, an ancient art that makes one strong enough to break rocks into pieces.

One day, as he was leaving the mountain for his spiritual homeland, he encountered a dying man who told him that the peaceful city of Radaxian was in grave danger. Before taking his last breath, the man gave Alex a piece of a map and a medallion made of Sun Stone.

What does it all mean? The only way to find out is to journey through The Miracle World looking for the answers.

Now this details a bunch of back story that I didn't even know existed despite the fact that I put many hours into this game as a kid which got me wondering , how many games had big detailed back story that we didn't even know about? If you know of any ,please share em.

[Flake]

A lot of NES games were like this for me. Captain Skyhawk and Metroid come to mind.

[GSZX1337]

Alien Soldier.

[Opa Opa]

From the back of the box of Space Harrier on the SMS:

"You are Harrier, the resourceful extra-terrestrial warrior. And space is your battlefield. Your mission is to save the Land of the Dragons from vicious creatures led by the vile and crafty One-eyed Mammoth. Aided by your only friends, the Dragons, you find yourself attacked again and again. You fight off one heavily-armed alien after another. You must use every trick in the book. Every skill at your command. The clashes are thrilling and demanding. The combat scenes are powerful. Can you survive the intense fighting? For your sake. For the sake of the Land of the Dragons. You must!"
---
The entire time I've been playing this game I had no idea there was an epic struggle going on between the Dragons and the One-eyed Mammoth. I just thought I had to shoot things.

[GSZX1337]

I just thought I had to shoot things.

You do have to shoot things. FOR THE DRAGOOONS!

[Ziggy]

Mortal Kombat comes to mind. Let's face it, it's a fighting game, the story doesn't matter at all. So even when it was just the first game... why such a huge story?

[Opa Opa]

Mortal Kombat comes to mind. Let's face it, it's a fighting game, the story doesn't matter at all. So even when it was just the first game... why such a huge story?

Because it's totally awesome to have more unnecessary information about a game or game series.

(No sarcasm at all)...

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Mortal Kombat comes to mind. Let's face it, it's a fighting game, the story doesn't matter at all. So even when it was just the first game... why such a huge story?

Actually, my favorite fighting games are the ones with unnecessarily extensive back-stories!
Some that come to mind: Battle Arena Toshinden, Tekken/Soul Calibur, Fatal Fury, and Guilty Gear.

But the best back-story in a video game, hands down, goes to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
As an 11-year old kid, this was the first game I obsessed over, (even dreamt about,) and the first game where I passionately followed the protagonist's plight. And it was mainly because of the instruction manual:



I can honestly say that this game was the sole reason I grew up to earn a BA in English Lit...

[Jrecee]

If you ever want to read more backstory than you could ever need (or than sega actually provided) just read the wikipedia pages for old sonic games.

"At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Dr. Robotnik's Planet facility was destroyed in Never Lake, but the evil doctor narrowly escaped. Now Robotnik is back and plans to conquer the world once more. He secretly follows Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, to his vacation spot, West Island. According to legend, an ancient civilization once abused the power of seven "power stones" on West Island."

[YoshiEgg25]

If you ever want to read more backstory than you could ever need (or than sega actually provided) just read the wikipedia pages for old sonic games.

"At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Dr. Robotnik's Planet facility was destroyed in Never Lake, but the evil doctor narrowly escaped. Now Robotnik is back and plans to conquer the world once more. He secretly follows Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, to his vacation spot, West Island. According to legend, an ancient civilization once abused the power of seven "power stones" on West Island."

You totally just ruined Sonic CD for me. Now if I ever want to play it, I know what happens in the end.