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That has been released for PS2, GameCube, Xbox and GBA. You can find it at retail stores.
I'd say that shows it can be done :)

The Website

Yes, Flash is ok. Just look at how Alien Hominid got started.

The days when one or two programmers could make a game just as good as anyone else's in their spare time, and proclaim it a big success if they sold 1000 copies and made $20,000 out of it are long gone. Nowadays, partially _because_ of the photorealism, game budgets are in the millions range, so you need a publisher.

The little guys aren't dead yet! Every once in a while there's a game developed by a small company that either sells like crazy, or gets a lot of industry buzz. In fact, because these companies don't have the money to focus on photo-realistic graphics, they put more focus on gameplay.

Two examples that come to mind include Snood, and Alien Hominid.

Alien Hominid, which was originally just a flash game and has now been released for all three console platforms.

Try this one: Alien Hominid.

You like Metal Slug? Contra? You'll like this.

Counterexample: Alien Hominid.

While they're not entirely inovative, I reccomend you take a look at both Viewtiful Joe and Alien Hominid (which started life as a flash game). They're excellent examples of great fun, great looking games that forego realism and even 3D graphics.

Global Defense Network

Wik and the Fable of Souls

Rocketbowl

N

http://www.steermadness.com/
Alien Hominid

Gish

Protothea

Personally, I think the open category is between Alien Hominid and Gish.

Alien Hommid is the only non-PC (PS2 and Gamecube) game in competition, and has a very solid following via Newgrounds since the game started as a flash-based game.

Gish wins out in both looks and physics. Epically the physics. It also shares a fan base from Newgrounds as they advertised heavily on NG and post NG content.

Personally, I hope Alien Hommid wins. I have no real reason that it beats out the other. Both are very good games.

Now next year, I'm hoping Antidote sweeps the awards!

* Poster is the creator of Antidote.

Here's the list of entrants for the 2005 festival.

If you want to try any out, start with Alien Hominid. It's a great side-scroller that they've ported to PS2 and GameCube.

Too bad they don't tell which games work on which platforms, though. I'm always looking for some new Linux games.

Here are some examples of hardware accelerated 2D games for you (just to prove this guy has a point).

Starscape by moonpod
Wik & the fable of souls by reflexive
alien hominid by thebehemoth All these games are good (IMO), 2D and hardware accelerated. The first 2 have free demoes available and you can just buy online but the last one shows the problems that go with success. Alien Hominid was lucky enough to get a publishing deal and is available on PS2 and GC, but as a result they haven't made a PC version. So there is no free demo and if you buy it you have to wait for the snail mail CD to arrive. All the games above could be implemented without hardware acceleration, but you would need an extremely powerful PC to run it. It isn't just the number of sprites being thrown around it is also the colour blending special effects being displayed. So maybe there are new markets for 2D even amongst graphics whores.

and a new, stellar Metroid Advance

Did I miss a Metroid game somewhere? Are you referring to Metroid Fusion (a "new" Metroid game in that it's not a remake like Metroid: Zero Mission, but it's not "new" as it was released a few years back)? Some would say that Metroid Fusion was a departure from the normal Metroid formula. The addition of the ship computer giving you missions added a sense of urgency and linearity to the game that other Metroids didn't have. Because of that, you were often limited on where you could go (doors were opened by the storyline, and not by 5 missiles or super missiles or super bombs) and how much time you could spend there (the story urged you to run through an area rather than spending time exploring). It was still a good game IMHO, but not up to par with Super Metroid or Metroid: Zero Mission. It was better than Metroid Prime, though.

As for other side-scrollers, Metal Slug was recently published on XBox, and Alien Hominid is available on PS2 and Gamecube (great development story behind this one -- it went from a fun little Flash game to a full-blown console side-scroller, and was developed by literally a handful of people like back in the days of "garage game developers"). The Mega Man Anniversary collection is available for PS2 and GC if you want to get your old school Mega Man game on. Also, even though the DS looks like it will recycle N64 games, there's still a ton of side scrollers available for the GBA to keep you happy for quite a while (everything from Mario to Mega Man to River City Ransom).

Check out Viewtiful Joe for the Gamecube though - a great reinvention of a sidescrolling game for the modern gameplay ear.

Also available on the PS2 now, if you don't have a Gamecube.

Even though it's a totally separate game style, these guys seem to have a good sense of humor Alien Hominid

I believe Alien Hominid has about a million dollar budget and is entered this year.

It did start as an "indie" game and I believe it still retains that feel even though it has managed to secure financial backing.