Obscure game recommendation thread

hooperre · 1 Jun 2017, 20:12

I don't know how well known this game is but it was a childhood favorite of mine. Maybe it's because I'm a quarter native american ha.

rig · 28 May 2017, 01:45

Willow for arcade

The game plays like a really good snes platformer. Not your typical arcade fare. Really hard to beat on one coin but doable. I haven't beat it on one coin yet. There is some cool stratagy involved with what you purchase from stores in the game (when you are trying to beat it on one coin).

Beautiful game that follows the movie prety good. Made me want to watch Willow.

I find that these arcade games are not much fun unless you set some boundries for yourself, i.e. only using 4 continues.

beamquaker · 28 May 2017, 07:37

Azure dream on the PlayStation. You play a young boy who follows in his father's footsteps as a monster tamer. You have to enter a tower that randomly generates new levels every time you enter. The aim is to reach the top of the tower and you can help upgrade the town .

DorkVonWaterfall · 28 May 2017, 10:39

Psychic5

i dont even know how to explain the gameplay

its......just so japanese strange.....but my favourite game

mediamogul · 28 May 2017, 16:58

@meleu

I haven't been able to scrape together more than fifteen minutes of game time in the past couple of days, but I used that time to test out 'Formula One: Built to Win' and I really like it so far. It could have used a little more work in the sound design department, but it's a minor criticism, as the core game mechanics are very impressive and somewhat unparalleled for the era. My hopes were confirmed in that it plays a lot like SquareSoft's 'Rad Racer', which is easily my favorite 8-bit racing game. I have the whole day tomorrow to relax, so I look forward to putting some serious time in.

rig · 28 May 2017, 20:53

@DorkVonWaterfall haha wow! Psychic 5 is something else. Thanks for sharring. I never heard of this one. I'm gonna show my son. He likes weird games

A2ra3L · 28 May 2017, 21:07

@mediamogul WOW, Sweet Home looks awesome. I had never heard of it that I remember despite being a long time fan of the Resident Evil series, I tracked it down yesterday and after watching reviews of both it and the movie I found that too since they were both highly recommended.

I played a little bit last night and right from the start it gets the horror atmosphere spot on, there is a feeling of tension and even with the limits of 8bit gaming it achieves more than some modern horror games do.

Sadly in my short time with it I already lost a character when I couldn't figure out how to save them from falling. Figured it out when the second person was falling though. The death scenes are really something else. Especially considering this is Nintendo that censored Mortal Kombat on the SNES a few years later.

mediamogul · 1 Jun 2017, 10:21

@A2ra3L

I'm glad you're liking it. I was also surprised at how effective horror elements can be on an 8-bit platform. This never really stood a chance outside of Japan, due to Nintendo's more aggressive censorship policies in regions other than their own. It's a real shame too, because I've always been a horror fan and would have loved this when I was a kid.

Like you, I sought out the 'Sweet Home' movie as well. I actually played and finished the game throughout most of October a few years ago and then screened the movie with a couple of friends on Halloween night. All-in-all, It's OK and well worth a watch, but it's not nearly as noteworthy as the game. On a side note, if you like Japanese horror movies, be sure to check out 'House', directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi in 1977. It truly is one of the strangest movies ever made. The trailer alone is like a bizarre fever dream.

space cadet · 31 May 2017, 14:42

I just discovered neutopia for the tg16

backstander · 31 May 2017, 16:54

@space-cadet
I loved playing Neutopia back in the day! It was the TG16's answer to The Legend of Zelda. I still haven't played the sequel Neutopia II.

cafarellidigital · 6 Jan 2017, 05:52

Two games: Ranger X and Einhander.

Ranger X was for Genesis and it's awesome. It's like a 2D side scrolling action/shooter (but I wouldn't call it a Shoot'em Up). You play as a mech that can fly around and hop into a mech-cycle that follows you around. Story doesn't matter here, the gameplay is great, although you really needed the 6-button controller to enjoy playing it (which thankfully I did as a kid). You can get these alt fire weapons that give you different abilities throughout the stages. I loved using GameGenie to start off the game with all of the abilities and just clean house. So much fun.

Einhander was for PlayStation 1, and this was more like a proper Shoot'em Up. Everything was awesome, the gameplay, the music, the subtle story that plays out. The gimmick was that you piloted ships that had an arm (Einhander, "one-handed weapon"), and could steal enemy weapons after you destroyed them. But not just boss weapons, every weapon in the game can be handled by the player, it was awesome. There toes of shops the player can pilot, with three different strategies in how you use the weapons you pick up. Another game where I loved using cheats to have crazy weapons at the beginning of the game and just wreck havoc.

DorkVonWaterfall · 6 Jan 2017, 05:29

@cafarellidigital said in Obscure game recommendation thread:
had an arm (Einhander, "one-day weapon"))

Einhänder = onehanded

cafarellidigital · 1 Jun 2017, 04:53

@DorkVonWaterfall said in Obscure game recommendation thread:

@cafarellidigital said in Obscure game recommendation thread:
had an arm (Einhander, "one-day weapon"))

Einhänder = onehanded

oh for christ-- I totally meant for that to say "one-handed". Stupid auto-correct. Thanks @DorkVonWaterfall !

dankcushions · 1 Jun 2017, 10:21

@mediamogul hausu rules! i saw that in a cinema a few years ago. so funny...

i am currently playing through king's field 1 (in japan it's king's field 2), and i've already finished king's field 2 (in japan, 3). they are great games that are by 'FROM software', who eventually went on to make the (very similar) demon/dark souls games.

they are basically real-time dungeon crawlers. they're ugly, sluggish and very hard, but there's just something about them. i get the same feeling exploring as i do with dark souls.

rig · 1 Jun 2017, 19:54

@cafarellidigital , thanks dude. Ranger x looks like my kind of thing. I'm gonna give it a try.

meleu · 1 Jun 2017, 20:12

@hooperre Whomp 'Em seems to be nice platformer. And has some cheevos: http://retroachievements.org/Game/2075

Planned to give it a try. :-)

bobcat987 · 4 Jun 2017, 04:24

Don't know if it's especially obscure, but The Guardian Legend on the NES was a pretty cool game that none of my friends at the time were familiar with. It was a strange mix of vertical shooter and open world adventure that somehow worked more often than not. Imagine Legend of Zelda, but the dungeons are shooter levels.

meleu · 4 Jun 2017, 04:29

@bobcat987 said in Obscure game recommendation thread:

The Guardian Legend

haha. Pretty unique game indeed. I didn't know it.

And it has cheevos: http://retroachievements.org/Game/1726

ainmosni · 4 Jun 2017, 07:53

I'm loving all these posts, I now have a long list of games I've never played or even heard of that I will try when I'm in the mood for a new game.

pjft · 4 Jun 2017, 09:32

If you'd be open to ZX Spectrum recommendations added to the lot, I'd have a few.

Super Stuntman is a nice arcade car shooting game, kind of reminiscent of Spy Hunter. ZX Spectrum.
Target Renegade on the ZX Spectrum. This is the definitive co-op brawler for the system.
Special Delivery on the ZX Spectrum. Kind of a Santa simulator, but very arcade-y.
Parasol Stars on the TG16. A sequel to the sequel to Bubble Bobble.
Rodland for the arcade. A two player co-op in the vein of Bubble Bobble or Snow Bros.
Tumblepop for the arcade. A two player co-op in the vein of Bubble Bobble or Snow Bros, but with a ghostbusters-like vibe/mechanic.

These are the ones off the top of my head!

Happy Sunday.