Today's (Friday, June 9th 2006) recommendation:
Play Doukutsu Monogatari!
Doukutsu Monogatari (known in English as Cave Story) is the title of a free PC game completely made by PIXEL, and despite being free, it contains as much gameplay as many commercial games of today, or even more! You are in control of a little guy with a gun, and you must traverse through expansive 2D levels defeating enemies and looking for items to advance in your quest and improve your power. The gameplay is definitely reminiscent of Metroid, with increasing weapon and life levels, highly complex maps that can be throughly explored and may require a decent amount of backtracking, and intense boss battles.
Still, great gameplay isn't the only thing about Doukutsu Monogatari, and its presentation is truly incredible for a free game. The graphics are completely 2D, and done in an 8-bit fashion that will make pixel art lovers drool over it instantly. Moreover, the detail level is simply incredible, and makes you think of an insane amount of work. The concept design is elaborate and beautiful, and the artwork is on par with that of games like Disgaea. Music has been composed by PIXEL, and it's extremely catchy. And, to top it all, the story is extremelly well written, with some really witty dialog.
All in all, a 10/10 that you should be playing right away!