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Lord Chainsaw
08-02-2004, 03:01 AM
This is where we bring to light those severely underrated games that no one has ever played. There's quite a bunch of excellent games out there that for some reason, don't quite get the recognition they deserve.

I've got to mention Sparkster for the SNES. I was browsing through my library Friday and I came across this gem. I've had it for years but hadn't beaten it. The last boss was just so ungodly hard.

I put it in and realized just how awesome the game was. The story is pretty ordinary, but something I never grow tired of. You're a possum in armor with a rocket pack on. Some giant ship comes to the castle and the baddies hijack Princess Fiora. Throughout the game you try to get her back. She appears at the end of a few levels, but every time you're about to save her, Axel Gear, (who is a clone of you in black armor) always nabs her first and jets off.

The levels start out with a lakeside cliff and a warship. The second is a machine factory. The third is a strange racer level atop a giant ostrich. The fourth is a submarine. The fifth is your classic desert level. The sixth is by far the best level in the game. The seventh is a shooter level in space, and the eighth is the villain's starship.

By far the best moment in the game is at the end of the sixth level. You walk a long path hearing organ music, and at the end of the path there's a gigantic organ. Axel Gear is sitting in the middle of the screen playing the monstrous organ Ocarina of Time style. Of course, he's such a badass he doesn't get up to fight you when you enter. He waits until he finishes his song, then he fights you.

I can't say I liked the controls to this game. The rocket pack on your back made you zoom in any direction when you held down the attack button. I usually found myself thrusting straight into an enemy wolf, or even worse, into a crusher in the machine factory.

The music was alright. Nothing memorable except maybe the title theme in the 7th level and perhaps the chilling tune of the final level.

Overall, I recommend anyone with an SNES find this game and try it out. There's also a Genesis version of this game. They are both different, and I can't comment on the Genesis version as I have not yet played it. This is definitely a game that any SNES fan should look into though. It's fairly short and easy, but it's also helluva fun.

As one who appreciates old and obscure games myself, I'm curious as to what other hidden gems exist. I'd be glad to look for a few forgotten classics that I would have otherwise not known about. What are your favorite obscure yet awesome titles?

Erdrick Holmes
08-02-2004, 04:08 AM
OMFG Record of Lodoss War for Dreamcast. That game freaking ruled.

Also, Vagrant Story was without a doubt the coolest RPG I had ever played.

Del Murder
08-02-2004, 04:11 AM
Mappy Land for NES.

Rainecloud
08-02-2004, 07:29 AM
Ico for the Playstation 2 is one of the most atmospheric games I've played in the last few years, Body Harvest for the Nintendo 64 is an enjoyable arcadey shooting game, Lost Eden for the PC is a very satisfying RPG (with excellent music) and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil for the Playstation 2 is a great platform game.

These games all deserve more recognition.

Lord Chainsaw
08-02-2004, 08:33 PM
Yeah I've played Klonoa. I thought it was awesome. The second one was great, but I liked the first one even more. That Gradeis guy or whatever he was called really freaked me out. I couldn't really understand what exactly he had on his face. Reminded me a lot of Alhazad from Wild Arms.

The gameplay was solid, and the bosses were a lot of fun. Klonoa 2 had some really cool levels, like that snow one and that raft one in the King of Sorrow's world.

chu52
08-02-2004, 08:48 PM
Zone of the Enders 2, Very deep storyline, giant robots, challengeing and original boss fights, and cutscenes done in anime! what more could one want (other than a fight with sepirtoth)

Shoeberto
08-02-2004, 09:26 PM
Tomba!

RPG-meets-Platformer-meets-evil pigs-meets-pink hair. Fuunnn game.

chu52
08-02-2004, 10:32 PM
I prefered Kloana to to Tomba

aeris2001x2
08-02-2004, 10:52 PM
this FANTASTIC survival horror game on the ps1 called HELLNIGHT. (or DARK MESSIAH in Japan)

after Silent Hill it was the scariest game i,ve played. there is only i monster but u cant kill it and it chases u throughout the game and u die in two hits(well u have a partner, they will die for the first hit, then u) :eek:

initially u have a girl who can sense it and the monster appears on the map. but if she dies u can get new partners with weapons that can slow it down but u cant c it on the map! many times it has just ran at me out of the darkness and killed me :cry:

and the story line was brillant, almost FF quality.

however its graphics suck, which is why all the graphic tart maginzines gave it like 5/10 :mad2:

just stunning

UltimateSpamGrover
08-02-2004, 11:09 PM
Lufia 1 Fortress of Doom (SNES), Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES), Lufia 3 The Legend Returns (GBC) , and Lufia 4 Ruins of Lore (GBA), and Zombies ate my Neighbors (SNES)

chu52
08-02-2004, 11:31 PM
Magic the gathering the playstation game

Del Murder
08-03-2004, 01:35 AM
Blackthorne for SNES. Quite an interesting game that uses the Prince of Persia style gameplay. Also the old Sierra games for PC: King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and their many sequels. Finally, Lost Vikings for PC, Genesis, SNES.

edczxcvbnm
08-03-2004, 03:14 AM
Ico for the Playstation 2 is one of the most atmospheric games I've played in the last few years, Body Harvest for the Nintendo 64 is an enjoyable arcadey shooting game, Lost Eden for the PC is a very satisfying RPG (with excellent music) and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil for the Playstation 2 is a great platform game.

These games all deserve more recognition.

ICO got all the recognition it deserved at this point. It has won many awards and has sold above and beyond expectations at this point due to word of mouth. It took a while but it got there. The rest of that list is true.

Here are my games
Gitaroo-man
Frequency
Gun Valkyrie
Incredible Crisis
Tales of Eternia(Destiny II)
Blast Corps

That about completes my list. All those game kick serious ass!

Raistlin
08-03-2004, 03:22 AM
Tales of Destiny(I believe that's what it was called - it's been a while) was a pretty good RPG for Playstation. Nothing extraordinary, but it kept me playing. A solid PS1 RPG.

Xander
08-03-2004, 01:52 PM
Donald Duck on the C64, the Toejam and Earl games on the Genesis, GHOSTBUSTERS on the C64 (okay not that obscure but whatever).

Mr. Graves
08-03-2004, 05:25 PM
Impossible Mission - C64
Gauntlet - NES
Flashback - Genesis

BatChao
08-05-2004, 10:11 PM
I remember that Sparkster game... some Possum with a rocketpack, right?

And Incredible Crisis is pretty damn awesome... you are correct, edczxcvbnm.

Another pretty cool, yet not that popular game is Magic Pengel for the PS2. You can draw your own monsters and they come alive and you battle them at arenas and stuff. They gain stats and moves depending on what colors you use, what kind of body parts they have, etc. It's pretty damn original, and drawing your own monsters is fun too!

Symphonic
08-06-2004, 05:08 AM
Beyond Good & Evil. That was a great zelda-style game with an awesome storyline and surprise ending.

Storm
08-06-2004, 06:17 AM
Also the old Sierra games for PC: King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and their many sequels.
Damn, those games rock. I spent my pre-teen years playing all of them. Quest for Glory was pretty good too, but King's Quest was by far my favorite.

I think Actraiser 1 and 2 were underated.