Obscure game recommendation thread

A2ra3L

@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

@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

I just discovered neutopia for the tg16

backstander

@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

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

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

Einhänder = onehanded

cafarellidigital

@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

@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

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

meleu

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

Planned to give it a try. :-)

bobcat987

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

@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

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

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.

A2ra3L

Probably not so much obscure but possibly games that people wouldn't look at if they didn't know.

Super International Cricket: Super Nintendo
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Still, I think, the best cricket game around. I spent hours playing this with my cousin and I don't like cricket :p
The controls are well setup and intuitive, the graphics are fairly standard snes and you get to pick fielders up by the head with the hand of god when you rearrange the field. It's also hilarious when you catch the batsman in the head with the ball and watch them pass out in a little window.

Cybernator: Super Nintendo
alt text

One of my favourites of all time. Being a massive Robotech fan the design of this game appealed to me from the start. Big Mechs, Big guns, fast action.
You can kill/maim/destroy just about everything, there are even tiny people running around for scale. There are different weapons to collect and an upgrade system. I never got very far but used level codes to check out later levels and they get pretty hectic.

The graphics are nice and the gameplay is about as good as it gets for platform shooters. Protip: If you clear the first level without shooting anything except the boss and not dying you get a fully upgraded napalm cannon. Yours to keep for the rest of the game. Handy for level 2 ;)

And last for today

The Firemen: also Super Nintendo

[This game was amazing. When you have had enough of shooting people/zombies/robots for a bit. Go shoot some fire with a hose. You have many different types of fire to look out for. There are large flames that you spray head on. Small mat like fires that blanket the floor that require you you aim your hose at your feet, embers that fly around the air and moving fires that can start more fires if you don't get them quick.

Clear the levels with the help of your buddy that can open doors and rescue injured people while you take care of business and watch for the backdraft if you accidentally smash a window in an enclosed room.

The graphics have a nice jrpg style to them and the smoke effects look great.

I also found an Amiga game today called Dalek Attack. I havn't played it yet but it looks pretty cool. A Doctor Who platformer with 3 Doctors to choose from (2, 4 and 7) I thought I should add it here so others can look at it too

pjft

@A2ra3L I'm going to check out The Firemen, even if just because my oldest son loves firemen, so it should be a fun one to try out.

EctoOne

I never was into Sportsgames but one game got my attention when i was young.
Track Meet for the Gameboy. It's an Track & Field clone. The obscure thing about it are the crazy opponents you have to compete with. Like a Ninja or Fakir riding a carpet.
Skip to minute 14 in the video to see another special.

Omnija

GBA
-Car Battler Joe

-CIMA - The Enemy

-Lady Sia (The art.. so well done)

GBC
-Hands of Time

-Samurai Kid

-Toki Tori (Figured id mention this one for those with little kids)

-Azure Dreams (the psx version was mentioned above, figured nobody knew about the gbc)

GB
-Avenging Spirit

-Cave Noire

-Mole Mania

pjft

@Omnija Toki Tori is a really nice puzzler.

If we're going for gbc, I can recommend the two Tomb Raider games, which are nice platformers a la Prince of Persia.

Also on the GBA I've recently caught wind of Ninja Cop/Ninja Five-O which is a surprisingly competent shinobi-like platformer.

ZioDarkmage

So I know that Phantasy Star IV on Sega Genesis/MegaDrive really isn't that obscure, but it is what really got me into the RPG genre. But in the RPG vein, I would like to recomment Koudelka. It is an RPG set with a horror story.