lesser known old games that are still worth to play?
 

Well, just recently I'm googling for old games, ranged from msx, nes, snes and gameboy, I just want to know if you have some recommended lesser known games in old consoles.

Currently I'm trying to play Angelus the devil gospel by Enix, it's kind of visual novel game running on MSX, for such home family computer with limited color and limited sound driver, the graphic is very good, though I couldnt figure out what they are talking about. The story is basically telling the stories about brian and Eris, some kind of detective investigating global cases where suddenly humans turn into corpses. I must say the story is very interesting, too bad it's written japan.

Screenshot

Angelus
http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/003.png http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/004.png http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/007.png http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/008.png http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/009.png http://www2.licorp.co.jp/pugly/oldpc...mbnail/010.png



other game I'm also playing is Dragon Quest IV in NES, dragon Quest V in SNES which are terribly hard.

Screenshots

Dragon Quest IV
http://content.answers.com/main/cont...42px-Dq4-1.jpg

Dragon Quest V
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7...8630400ke5.gif

EDIT: post some screenshots if you have. That could draw more attention rather than some descriptive paragraph.

Shadowrun on the Genesis! I spent so much time on that game.

But what really shines is Truxton. It was a top-down space shooter that was actually really challenging, especially when the baddies starting coming from behind you. All in all, if I had my Genesis, I would be playing that instead of many of the newer games.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...creenShot2.gif

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...n205BEUR5D.jpg

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ol/truxton.png

EDIT: A picture is worth a thousand words.

Moderator edit: changed a table-stretching image to link.

I'm not entirely sure of the scarcity of this game (none of my peers knew that it existed before I showed it to them), but Super Buster Bros. for the SNES is worth taking a look. There appears to be arcade stations designed after the game, and it might be more popular than I realize.

Super Buster Bros (SNES)- This is a very addicting puzzle/action game. Basically, you travel all over the globe busting giant bubbles which pop into two smaller bubbles (or just pop in the case of the smallest ones). The game requires some strategic thinking in the sense that if you go out busting everything in sight haphazardly, you might be caught in a barrage of smaller, but still deadly, bubbles. These levels range in difficulty and require patience, timing, quick reflexes, or any combination of the three. The endless mode is also quite entertaining. It basically boils down being fast enough to pop everything on screen, but playing conservatively so you don't wind up with more than you can handle.
EDIT:
The picture is from Wikipedia's entry on Super Buster Bros. (although the article itself isn't very descriptive)

Ya know, I really don't know how "well-known" or lack of appreciation this game got.




This is basically one my few top side scroller action games that I enjoyed playing to death for the Sega Genesis. You can easily find ROMs of this game so I'd advise you to try. I think this was one of the first side scrollers that I played where your character didn't die just by havinng an enemy touch you, but they shoot at your guy and do melee or judo attacks. Furthermore, I loved the simple yet awesome weapon customization. Lightning + Plasma for MASSIVE DAMAGE.

Gunstar Heros seemed to be more of a cult hit kind of thing. I know some people who swear by that game...

It's strange as most of the people I've talked to either worship or have no fucking idea; there isn't a middle ground. Furthremore the ratio seems like 20:80 of love it to don't know what it is. I don't know if it would be classified as "underappreciated" since those who play it LOVE it, but rather the lack of people who've played it. Perhaps the same could be said for Valkyrie Profile (since the lack of games) comparing that to say FFVII.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...sRingU0000.png
Zelda with bows and arrows, but better.



http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...bicleU0000.png
This game is very different, sort of like those block pushing puzzles from Zelda mixed with Bomberman. Some of the puzzles are extremely frustrating. The objective is to freeze your enemies and push their bodies into the water to make bridges to collect magic bags of something. It gets more complex as different mechanics (springs, cannons, gears, hammers) are required to complete the stage.

Well I've played Gunstar Heroes and in my humble opinion it's release day should the a worldwide holiday.
Yes the game is that good.

I have to play this game myself, but Super Smash Brawl has brougtht this hero back into the limelight. Created by the same guy who did Metroid, this game earned a cult following but never really turned into a winning franchise.

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_i...creenShot1.jpg

http://nestra.linuxgames.com/kidicarus.gif

http://www.flyingomelette.com/kidica...dusabattle.gif

If you're looking for a fun classic GameBoy game, play Qix.

http://nindb.classicgaming.gamespy.c...es/ss/qx_1.jpg
http://www.mobygames.com/images/shot...3270524-00.jpg

You draw lines to trap the devious, untamed line monster! And, you have to avoid sprites using those drawn lines! It's so much fun...

That sure explains why it was so damn addictive back then.
Hope they make a new one for the Wii. And then let's hope it survives the transistion to current gen.

I totally second this one--well worth playing, if only for the superb Hip Tanaka music. But really, the game is shockingly involved for its time and still stands as one of my favourites.

Balloon Fight is probably pretty popular by now but I still want to mention it. If you haven't played it, you're really missing out on gameplay that I would consider to be very original even today.

http://content.imagesocket.com/image...enShot4a0d.gif

But here's a game that I'm almost certain nobody has played: Hello Kitty World. No, don't scroll down yet. I won't call you gay if I catch you playing this game. After all, it's a combination of Balloon Fight and a scrolling platformer, and the mix is a very good one indeed. The sprite artists weren't the best of their time, but the gameplay is (perhaps unintentionally) very good. The trade-off of letting the balloons go in order to be able to kick ass is very clever indeed. It also features music by Hip Tanaka, perhaps not his best work but it's still pretty kick ass.

http://content.imagesocket.com/image...World_1555.png
(I know it looks like crap, but it's really good, honest. ._. )

Also, I really liked the Sonic games on the Master System at the time.

I'm sure I'm missing loads so I might make some addendum posts at some point, haha.

For my money, no series is more criminally overlooked than the Rocket Knight series. At first glance, it's just one of very, very many would-be Sonics of the 90s, but when you actually play it...oh, my it's so much more. The first game alone was chock full of Konami goodness, right down to a shooter level paying direct tribute to Gradius.
Behold, and bask in its glory:

http://www.geocities.com/dollydeux/1rka.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/dollydeux/rka-1.png

http://www.geocities.com/dollydeux/genesis_0006_140.png

If that doesn't get the old-school mojo workin', I don't know what will. The game was given two completely independant sequels, but were decimated in holiday sales by Sonic & Knuckles and Donkey Kong Country.

http://www.geocities.com/dollydeux/sparkstergen-1.png

http://www.geocities.com/dollydeux/sparkstersnes-6.png

Alas...

Very good one SonicPanda. I really liked that game too.

Thought of another one... If you're not adverse to drawing maps on gridded paper, Shining in the Darkness for the Megadrive is a "white" RPG that will not only give you hours of gameplay, but also reward you with some of the best music ever composed on the machine (Streets of Rage and Sonic the Hedgehog have equally exceptional music, but they're not lesser known to say the least). The game is entirely worthwhile for the second dungeon music alone. But there's a lot of fun to be had if you've got enough perserverence. It's a tough game.

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Yeah, a really good one there. Shining in the Darkness.

I was obsessed with it several years back. It's one of few exceptional dungeon crawls (which were mostly prevalent on PCs at that time) ever released for a console. It had great presentation and great music. Searching and mapping each level thoroughly for all the hidden treasures (and elusive mythril fragments) were the highlights.

Arkista's Ring was good as well, if a tad short.

I can't post images yet. ;_; So I apologize for the lack of screenshots..

I don't know how you'd define 'lesser known', but I thoroughly enjoy these games (all SNES cause I heart that console :))

Animaniacs
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animaniacs_%28video_game%29
(can't post links either, goshdarnit!)

I never beat this game, I'll admit it. I guess it did grate my nerves after a while. (Keep in mind I last played this years ago and my memory is fogged, but I do remember certain areas being especially difficult.) However, what I did play was enjoyable and fun, much like the show itself. If anything, I loved their 'butt dance' sprites from when you were idle. XD I really wish I could post images, then I'd show you what I mean. According to Wikipedia this game existed on Genesis too but was easier there. I dunno.

Clayfighter
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClayFighter

I dunno, I just liked this one. The characters had personality and the game was just a lot of fun. There isn't much else to say! I wish I owned the cart.

Kirby Super Star
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Super_Star

This one is probably well known, but I figured I'd include it anyway. This is by far one of my favorite SNES games. I don't own the cart, but I remember renting it a LOT when I was younger. I loved how you could eat enemies and gain their powers. So much fun. XD And the 'helpers' were great too. I can't pick a favorite.

Mario Paint
hxxp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Paint

I know this one is at least somewhat well known. ;) I just have a few words for you: FLYSWATTER GAME! :biggrin:

I recommend Mappy Land for the NES!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y95...mappyland2.gif
You're Inspector Mappy (the mouse) and you had to steal/reclaim electronics all over the place before cats kill you by touching you. Sure, you can check out the original which has a very fun chiptune and intense trampoline fun, but Mappy Land has a couple of neat new ways to temporarily stun the cats apart from slamming doors in their faces. Both are highly advised for quick arcade fun.

Agreed, mappy is one of my favorite NES games, I still like it till now, but ironically, I havent been able to beat it yet.

Baloon fight is still the hardest game in NES to beat, has anyone actually passed the baloon trip mode?

First time I've heard of it as Buster Bros, seems Capcom changed the name of the series for America. It's called 'Pang' in other parts of the world, sequels appeared on all sorts of systems, even Game Boy got one along the line. It was horrible, the game emulated the speed of a dead snail covered in glue when you started popping the bubbles. But yeah, awesome game in 2 player. =D

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/4...gsnes01ss2.png

Hmm, I never knew that. I'm guessing that the American Buster Bros/Pang had a different processor or something because I haven't had all that many instances of (what I think you're talking about) sprite lag, with the only time when there were upwards of 50 bubbles on-screen. Anyway, if eriol33 wanted to get a ROM of it or something of it, it probably should be the Americanized version.

EDIT (to avoid spamming, sort of): Whoops. :( I didn't play any other versions of the game, so I naturally assumed you were talking about the SNES game. Sorry about that.

Oh no, I was talking about the Game Boy version. =x

I never played it on console, but Pang can be found all over the net as a flash game as well. We played it online in high school, definately alot of fun.

Bubble Bobble was another fun one. Features those same little dinosaurs as Bust a Move. However, like Pang, its also not that 'unknown'. They actually are currently releasing a new Bubble Bobble for the DS. Its out in Japan already. Not sure on when it'll be released state side though. I <3 Bubble Bobble.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...bobble_box.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../65/Room30.gifhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../40/Bb_nes.gifhttp://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...ble_Bobble.png


Trouble Makers / Mischeif Makers, while not quite as old (N64), was always fun. Each level had different aspects, and so each level was a sort of unique expierance. I don't think ti did very well at all, but I always found it to be alot of fun.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ublemakers.jpg

http://n64media.ign.com/media/images...ytrouble26.jpghttp://n64media.ign.com/media/images...ytrouble20.jpghttp://n64media.ign.com/media/images...ytrouble18.jpghttp://n64media.ign.com/media/images...ublemaker7.jpghttp://n64media.ign.com/media/images...yytrouble8.jpg

I think it's been pushed back to late October or something now. Been out here since late last year, it's pretty good! Reviews have been brutal so far because everyone's expecting it to be some sort of epic experience for whatever reason. Though the graphics are probably the shittiest I've seen on DS. Also includes the original game on it, which is emulated really well.

The Pang formula was used a bit on the 'net, but none of them seem to apply the same type of physics (for lack of a better term for Pang) and gameplay. I dunno, I guess I'm just used to the original game after playing for several years rather than on a computer.

I second Mischief Makers. The side-scrolling levels were very intuitive and the "Shake, Shake" of Marina was definitely a unique touch. The boss fights were also entertaining. *sigh* I regret only renting the game when I did.

A few days ago, out of nowhere, I got the music of the game stuck in my head. And I haven't played the game since I was 10 or so. =D

Skyroads--Another game I spent most of my youth playing. Racer? Not really. Puzzler? I guess...

But whatever it is, it's a great game. It gets excessively tough in the later levels, so I never managed to beat them all. When I say "excessively tough", I mean "half an hour of pixel-perfect keyboarding required".

You can grab the game here since it's so old that even the original makers feel guilty about selling it.

http://content.imagesocket.com/images/skyroadseff.gif

What the hell, that is a total and utter ripoff of Pang 3.

Also, I am liking the amount of Rocket Knight Adventures this thread has.

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This image was a bit small, but it was the best I could find. If you guys haven't tried Toejam and Earl yet, you should. It's a pretty mellow and relaxing game, where you wander around earth collecting presents and rocket ship pieces. The whole story in a nutshell is basically, Earl's crashed your ship, it's in a million pieces, and now you need to find them.

There's 25 levels, but they aren't all that long. The great thing about this game is that the two player mode is split screen, and when you meet up together the screen merges into one again. The maps can be set to random, so they're randomly generated. This leaves for quite alot of fun. It's more fun with a friend, though.

Presents can be picked up and dropped, and you can exchange them with your partner. Since all presents you pick up are simply question marks, you won't know what you have until you've tried it. If you get another present with the same wrapping, it won't be covered in question marks and you'll know what it is. You can hold up to 20 presents maximum per character, or something.

The game's just peaceful. When everyone was playing Sonic and Street Fighter II, I was playing this. I still play it today. With the random maps, it really doesn't get old. But it's much more fun with someone to play with.

God, I remember using an insane amount of time in this game. Sitting with my face into the monitor, tapping, tapping *BOOM* yelling profanities at several kinds of gods, none of them fit for a human world.

*Downloads*

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4198/92fda1.png

The Incredible Machine

I know. I rave on and on about this game, but it's because it's that good. You get some assignments and using the equipment you have to complete these assignments. It would be something like "Catch the cat". First you have to lure the critter, using a fish, then by using monkeys on bikes, bowling balls and loups and candles, catch the cat. Words just can't do the game justice. Download it at Home of the Underdog.

Boomers Adventures in Asmik World for Gameboy. Weird title, fun as hell game. There are numerous levels and each level has a key, but it's hidden and you have to dig it up from underground. (You can't see it at all, you have to use devices to find it such as a compass, etc.) Simple yet harrowing gameplay as enemies chase you through the maze. By comparison, the boss fights are insane. The bosses are large, the boss levels are large, and the fact that you have to dig up items to use to fight the boss is unique. This is a very unique game.

Gargoyle's Quest for Gameboy. So underappreciated it's sad. Definitely one of the best platformers on the old Gameboy. It's in the Ghosts N' Goblins series. The gameplay was just so varied.

Rolan's Curse 1, Rolan's Curse 2 for Gameboy. These were standard fare, Zelda-clones, but for some reason they just grabbed hold and didn't let go.

Interestingly enough, the games I thought of were all Gameboy games...

As long as we're talking Gameboy games, I'd like to express my love for Batman. That game was just a top-notch platformer. Superficially similar to the equally wonderful NES game (also by Sunsoft), but not the same at all. The biggest difference was the fact that Batman had a gun here instead of using his BatFists. A large selection of weaponry, a (at the time traditional) R-type style scrolling shooter bit, and the music was incredibly cool, it made the GB hardware sound like it had guts.

http://content.imagesocket.com/images/batmangb2fb.png

I know. :/ I think I just hit the mark where I can post them though, since I did a little earlier today. I might edit my post in here later if I'm not feeling too lazy.. (which means I probably won't but whatever XD)

And I'll check out your guide now, even though I beat the game years ago. :edgartpg:

MC Kids for the NES. I shit you not, for a McDonald's themed game it's a damn fine platformer and I've played it as much as any Mario Bros. game.

May I suggest the little known platformer/ semi-Castlevania-rip-off-that-is-actually-pretty-good game called, Valis. Its a little hard to look Valis in the eyes right now (Thank you Telenet for releasing Valis X and ruining my childhood), but it is still a pretty good game. Its about a school girl who gets a magical sword and has to go kill some monsters.

2 amazing NES games, both aren't too well known.

1. The Guardian Legend

This game combined top-down shooters with top-down adventures, and successfully brought them together into an extremely deep and fun game. One of my all-time faves.

2. Jackal

A top-down adventure game that I like to call "Contra on wheels." Basically, you're a badass commando, and you take your jeep and kill everything in sight with your guns and grenades. Very fun and very challenging, as expected from Konami.

Tyrian/Tyrian 2000. PC arcade upward scrolling shooter. This is game is totally badass. I remember the first time i played it, i got hooked immediatly.
Great gameplay and music.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~vannevar/tyrian/

agreed, that's one of my most favorite game all the time. The music is great too!

Valis is fun, although I wouldn't consider it that good of a game. Although I never played the original version, only the Genesis port (Okay) and the NES one. (Terrible.) The ports for III on Genesis and IV on Super NES were quite cool, though.

That one rocks. Lovely tracked music, I really miss that style. The game was VERY involved, I don't remember ever playing a game in this genre (outside perhaps Raptor) that had similar freedom of weapon choice.

Speaking of which, Raptor was a pretty sweet game too. (Full game here, because 3D realms are enormous twats and don't put their old games up for download even though they won't even run properly on a normal PC.)

Here, I got one.

Ufouria - The Saga (also known as Hebereke in Japan, the first game in the Hebereke series)

http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/976/40il9.png

It's a pretty obscure NES game that was never released in the US, and only limitedly in Europe and Australia.

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/7058/41pp1.png

You play as Bop-Louie (shown in the above screenshot) who sets out to find his buddies, Freeon-Leon, Shades and Gil, after getting lost in a strange, bizzare world. The game plays quite a lot like Metroid where you got this one huge maze-like world to go through with many different areas to search for your missing friends, in addition to the special weapons for each character & several different items.

http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/2005/44iv0.png http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/5210/47fy8.png

With each character you find, you can get to swap between them, each having different abilities, and with it, access to previously inaccessible areas. For example, Bop-Louie may be the fastest walker, but only Freeon-Leon can walk on ice. Shades has the highest jump, and Gil is the only character that can swim underwater.

http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/6154/48sk2.png http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/5263/49zu4.png

The game is quite enjoyable if you like this style, and has great graphics and music that you would expect from a Sunsoft game.

I've always loved Sunsoft's music team in the NES days. Like I said before, Batman GB has had a tremendous influence on me compositionally. I never really played all that many Sunsoft games though, so I'll definitely give this one a spin, thanks!