VideoGame_Discussion

I don't know if it's underated, but I loved Legacy of the Wizard on NES. Exploring a giant dungeon with a family of characters who have unique abilities was pretty novel at the time.

I still love Dungeon Explorer for Turbografx 16. Many think it was like Gauntlet but Dungeon Explorer was only similar with the way the enemies tend to come on the screen. Its actually a side scrolling/RPG with leveling up but there is a story. Like so many Turbografx games it has awesome music. I always thought it left me in a trance like state that captures your attention with its incredible music. I wish I still had a Turbografx system just to play this but I sold mine off when the Wii system came out. I have it on Wii and Wii U and is still fantastic but nothing can beat playing it on Turbografx 16 or TurboDuo. I just wished they had released part 2 for download but this game but never did on any Nintendo system so far. Not having Dungeon Explorer 2 and either of the SNES Lufia games released on those Nintendo systems still aggravates me to this day.

I really feel like Nintendo misled us as they knew people collected this stuff because it was our belief these games would be released digitally. So many people believed we were going to get the entire library for these systems. I can still hear that great music for Dungeon Explorer as I type away here.

I’ll never play it again but I loved my time with “I am Setsuna”

I could write a book on this topic.

Kirby Mass Attack - amazing Kirby spin-off that trumps the rest of the series if I'm being honest. The gameplay of tapping, flicking, and dragging the stylus is put to great effect, and the levels are so varied that it never gets stale. Shogo Sakai's music is top-notch, the graphics are beautiful, and the difficulty curve is just right. Plus, it has fun sub-games to unlock as you go!

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! - executes its gimmicks very well and has a lush Canadian landscape to keep you emersed. DKC's 3D-rendered graphics never looked better than they do here. It's also difficult but satisfying to beat.

Pandora's Tower - brilliant RPG similar to 12 3D Zelda dungeons. The unfolding drama and gothic horror makes the game flatout epic, and the well-crafted lore really enriches the experience. Those who love dark stories and enjoy helping those in turmoil definitely have something to sink their teeth into.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - from a 3DS gem beloved by many to a black sheep that most whine about, I've loved LM2 the entire time. It's an excellent point-and-click styled adventure game with a solid combat system and a sense of humor. The ScareScraper is extremely addicting, to the point that I've 100%ed that mode on around four save files... soon to be five!

Banjo-Tooie - A bigger, more bloated sequel to Banjo-Kazooie. Most people dislike that, and it does indeed have flaws. But most ignore the things it does better than its predecessor, like better boss fights and darker humor that isn't totally reliant on potty jokes. Plus, the massive worlds make everything feel grander in scope.

Find Mii II - one of my favorite 3DS games that no one talks about. It's a simple RPG where you StreetPass other 3DS owners (or buy heroes with Play Coins) and then use their Miis on a quest. There's a surprising amount of metagaming depth if you play that way, and the music is superb.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - a quality 2D action game. It's seriously tough, but that makes it satisfying to master. Getting upgrades, leveling up your stats, and tricky battles make this one great for the NES.

Super Scribblenauts - a brilliant puzzle game where you can summon and use any object you can think of (minus obscene ones), then apply adjectives to give them crazier properties. Like a lot of 5th Cell's DS games, it's priced like shovelware on eBay. While that saddens me, it also means you buy this awesome game dirt-cheap.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. - this Valkyria Chronicles wannabe is also dirt-cheap. It's a solid strategy shooter with a distinctive art style and a weird story. I highly recommend it.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - though a botched Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover, it stands on its own as a marvelous RPG about Japanese pop idols. They fight mirages (ghosts/demons) to protect the population's Performa (a person's creative inspiration). When you do get a FE or SMT reference, it's a nice cherry on top. The soundtrack is fantastic here!

Wario: Master of Disguise - much to Benstylus' ire, I quite enjoy this game. It's cool to have a chapter-based Waroidvania with an intriguing story. Wario actually develops as a character here, which is bonkers to see! Many decry it for reasons that are scarcely provided--most people just say it's awful and won't elaborate further on why. I assume they don't like the controls? I never had a hard time using the D-pad to move and jump while using the stylus to interact with the environment and enemies.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Grade-A junk food gaming. It's the quality 2D Mario adventure to save Princess Peach, now with coins pouring out your ears. It's light on original ideas, sure, but it makes up for it by having a defined theme (get money), a mission statement ("Can YOU collect one million coins?"), and a fun mode to help you achieve that mission (Coin Rush). It's more challenging than the DS original and not as sparcely-populated as the Wii and Wii U entries. It's worth playing, trust me!

I might post more later. I've got tons of 'em, like I said.

Cadash
and Gain Ground for Genesis

Both were super hard and 2 player I used to play with a neighborhood friend who owned them when I was like 7 I got found memories of both finally get em and beat them years later solo.

UnderMine on PS4.

Imagine old school Zelda but no puzzles, it’s a roguelite, and there are a ton of powerups of all different types that completely change things from one run to another. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had with a roguelite not named Hades.

Outside of Bonk and Bomberman, pretty much the entire TG16 library isn't mainstream. Bloody Wolf, Cratermaze, Parasol Stars... I'd have to say the game I played the most though was Final Lap Twin. The RPG style Quest mode was a lot of fun.

The Game Boy also has a sizeable library of underappreciated classics nobody talked about because they were too busy playing Tetris, or didn't consider the GB a "real" system. Those Takara fighting game ports like Battle Arena Toshinden, Samurai Spirits, and World Heroes are more fun than they have a right to be.

Zoom on the Genesis is one I was thinking about yesterday. I rented this one back in the day and when I started building a Genesis collection I made sure to pick it up. It's a simple arcade style maze chase (i.e. pac-man) kind of game, but with lots of charm and weird character design.

Wario Land Master of Disguise. Recently decided to give this one another chance based on Sarna's recommendation and just kidding it's a smelly poo. Great idea but bad execution. Gimmicky controls forcing touchscreen use where it 100% isn't needed suck all the fun out like sucking pus or of an infected wound. Should have gone with Waluigi.

And of course the GOAT: Urban Champion.

SupremeSarna wrote:

I really enjoyed Pandora's Tower when I played it around a decade ago, and I've recently been wanting to replay it. I also really like Zelda II, and I've played through it numerous times.

benstylus wrote:

I really started exploring the Gameboy library between 5-10 years ago, and it really is excellent! One nice thing about the GB library being underappreciated, there are a lot of great games that are still pretty cheap to this day.



I have a lot of underrated games I like, so I'll try to think of a few of my favorites to list later.

Didn't realize I wasn't the only person who thinks Mass Attack is the best Kirby game.

I always liked Wizards & Warriors 3 on NES. There was a game called CIMA the Enemy on GBA that just kinda came and went. I thought that was a pretty solid game. Onimusha Tactics is another that just came to mind.

benstylus wrote:

Yeah for sure. I think now the vast majority of older games are not as well. It can be a hard term to qualify though. I'm just going to rattle some stuff off that I think fits the spirit of the thread.

Evergrace and Eternal Ring
PS2 era From Soft and even with the popularity explosion for them these games don't see a ton of play. I'd easily recommend both of them over King's Field Ancient City on the same console. Evergrace might even be a bit closer to Dark Souls design wise than KFAC.

Sands Of Destruction
One of my favorite jrpgs on the DS. Filled with anime tropes but overall a great time. In general I find imageepoch games to be largely underrated.

Code of Princess
Awesome action game on the 3DS. I replayed stages a ton since there are multiple characters. Wasn't surprised to find out this is the same developer that made Umihara Kawase, a very fun franchise. They also did the super obscure and also good Doki Doki Poyatchio!!.

Arc the Lad 2
Phenomenal game. Super late release for PS1 in an anthology.

Wild Arms 4
Not exactly obscure as a franchise in jrpg circles but I think this game is certainly underrated. I'd rather play it over WA2 or 3 today.

Eyeshield 21: Max Devil Power
Fun little football game on the DS. Uses the touch screen in a fun way.

Dreamcast section

Tokyo Bus Guide
Bizarre and pretty difficult bus driving simulation game for Dreamcast.

Napple Tale Arsia in Daydream
Very cool 2.5D platformer for the Dreamcast.

Zusar Vasar
Pod racing with super badass vehicles. I think this actually has some good youtube videos now (I impulse bought it in 2013 and couldn't find too much on it at the time) so check those out if it sounds intriguing.

Frame Gride
Janky mech fighting game by From Soft hell yeah.

Also wanted to touch on Star Ocean Second Story. It probably doesn't qualify anymore due to the recent remake but that game is awesome and one I felt was criminally underrated when people would bring up PS1 jrgps. I'm glad that game is getting more play due to the remake.

Might add some more to this thread as stuff comes back to me. I've played a lot of weird Dreamcast and PS1 imports.

Also good mention on Pandora's Tower @SupremeSarna That's a game that used wii mote stuff in a fun way. Great game.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - a surprisingly bullied Kirby game that sold poorly (thanks, Wii U) and isn’t highly regarded. I disagree. It’s a beautiful, challenging sequel to the popular Kirby: Canvas Curse, now with transformation sequences replacing Copy Abilities. It has WarioWare-esque challenge rooms to keep your blood pumping, quality bosses, and a magnificent soundtrack. I’d call the OST the third-best in gaming.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Hot take: Both of them are among the worst Kirby games (even Amazing Mirror is better).

Canvas curse only sold as well as it did because it was a DS launch title.

There is a reason we didn't get a 3DS game in that style, or even a quick n dirty switch port with a new funky mode. They just aren't very fun games.

I didn't think Canvas Curse was all that good, but I thought Rainbow Curse was fantastic! I thought it was a major improvement over Canvas Curse in pretty much every way, and it's one of my favorite Kirby games. I actually started re-playing it just a little while back, and I need to take some time to finish it up.

I wouldn't call it challenging though.

Rainbow Curse isn’t afraid to hit you with instant-kill attacks, like crushing Grindarrs, lethal Dethskullks and pouring lava. So unlike the average Kirby game where you’ll never die at all, Rainbow Curse keeps you on your toes a decent amount.

Magnavox Odyssey^2 Games: Monkey Shines, Turtles, Pick-Axe Pete, K.C.'s Crazy Chase, Alien Invaders. The system didn't catch on so the library is small, but my biased opinion says it rivals the Atari 2600. The games I listed are a few of my favs.

Felix the Cat (NES) Pretty awesome game. Owned it once, traded it away here.

Fire'n Ice (NES) One of my favorite NES games. Never heard of it until the early 2000's. Only had 1 opportunity to buy it in person, but passed at $180. Beaten it 4-5 times. Glad it's on NES Online. Solomon's Key (its sister game) is also great, but much harder.

Caveman Games (NES) Great mini game collection. Funny stuff.

Virtual Bart (SNES) Only for the tomato/egg throwing mini game. The rest was mostly trash.

Order Up! (Wii, PS3, 3DS) I've beaten this game on 3 systems. It's a simulation of working in a restaurant. It's a game that simulates working, and I've beaten it 5-6 times. I don't care how popular or highly rated it was, that is underrated. Not 100% sure, but I recall playing a game very similar on a PS1 demo disc, but it was all in Japanese.

Mutant Football League (Switch) No Madden on Switch? No problem. Think Blitz without the NFL license but has free range to knock off both the NFL and NFLPA without fear of a lawsuit. This game was great, had at least 3 years of free roster updates. Full dynasty mode. Ended up buying all the DLC. I hope the sequel improves upon it and comes to Switch 2.

My top pick here has got to be Blaster Master. It gets some recognition, but not nearly enough. So many gamers never even played it, or know what it is. It's extremely unique with two equally fun game modes. In one mode, you drive a tank (that can jump!) around a huge set of interconnected, non-linear labyrinths filled with enemies, searching for sub-areas where you can get out and explore on foot in a top-down perspective (the second mode). The soundtrack is amazing (probably my favorite in the NES library, it's seriously impressive), graphics are solid, and it just has a somewhat creepy/unsettling element to it that really draws you in.

Others (in no particular order):

Dr. Chaos - Also a rather unique game. I wonder how many people played and quit this game without ever finding the platforming sections. I have so much nostalgia for the point-and-click portion of this game. It was always so exciting when I would find something new in that mansion. I like the non-linear nature of it, sometimes you find an area and start to go through it, just to find you need some other item before you can clear it. So then you have to make note of where the entrance is located and come back later once you find that item in another area. This one also has that creepy factor to it, much more so than Blaster Master.

Milon's Secret Castle - This one has gotten a pretty bad rap ever since the AVGN did a video on it. But, that's just for entertainment and not every game he reviews is actually terrible. This is a perfect example, IMO. It's another very unique game. I love how big the castle is, with so many areas to explore and so many secrets to find. Some secrets are in the main castle "hub" area, while others are within the "levels" themselves. There are tons of unique enemies and bosses, plus so many power-ups to collect along the way. I'll never forget my first time exploring the well, that's when the game really kicks it up a notch and just gets insane. I'd say the only real downside to this game is that the final boss is pretty lame and disappointing.

Startropics - Probably the most popular/well-known NES game on my list, but still pretty underrated if you ask me. It has a great story, great gameplay, lots of mystery and secrets to uncover. Again, a pretty unique game (I'm sensing a theme here).

Secret of Mana - This may be my most controversial pick. I'm sure a lot of you think Secret of Mana gets plenty of recognition. But the truth is, the number of "top" SNES game lists I've seen over the years that don't have Secret of Mana on it is way too large. This game very frequently gets overlooked in such discussions, and it's a shame. It's another unique game. It has a great story, amazing graphics, and easily one of the best SNES soundtracks (my personal favorite).

Secret of Evermore - More will probably agree with this one, and they are right to. I only played this game once, back when it was relatively new, but it really stuck with me. I love how it's just you and your dog, that's such a cool team for an action RPG. The story is wild, combat is fun, great graphics and soundtrack. Everyone should play this game.

Blast Corps - Such a weird game, but I love it. I really like how many different types of levels there are, and the medals make for a ton of replayability.

Bomberman 64 - This game was awesome. The single player mode was really fun and had so much content packed in, and the multiplayer was also a blast (no pun intended).

Link's Crossbow Training - I freaking loved this game. I liked the 3 different styles of levels it had, and it was so fun replaying each one trying to top your best scores.

Yoshi's Woolly World - As many of you know, I adore this game. I know Yoshi's Island (SMW2) gets all the love, and I do like that game. but Woolly World is the perfect Yoshi game IMO. This game is just so freaking charming. The graphics, the music, the level design, the collectibles, everything just comes together so perfectly. I especially like how pretty much every level has a brand new idea/gimmick that it's built around, and the game never really repeats any of this. It makes every level really stand out on it's own as a fun, unique experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening + Oracle of Ages/Seasons - Zelda games? Underrated? Well, yes, these 3 are severely underrated. A lot of people haven't even played the GB/GBC Zelda games. Even those that have, most just don't seem to give them the credit they deserve. It's always the 3D Zelda games that get all the love. The only 2D Zelda game that really gets a ton of attention is A Link to the Past. Heck, even Minish Cap gets a lot of appreciation. LA, OoA, and OoS are all amazing Zelda games, and any Zelda fan should be very familiar with them.

Metroid: Samus Returns - This one is really disliked in the Metroid community, but I freaking love it. It's actually my FAVORITE Metroid game, with Dread very close behind. Dread did a lot of things better for sure, but Samus Returns wins for two reasons: music and atmosphere. The music and atmosphere of this game are just other-wordly, and really suck you in to the game.

Agree with @SupremeSarna on Donkey Kong Country 3, it really gets overshadowed by DKC1 & 2. If not for the unnecessary overworld stuff, it would be nearly tied with DKC2 for me. DKC2 would still win out though, since the Diddy/Dixie pair is far superior. As is those, it's still a pretty close 2nd for me, definitely better than DKC1.

Disagree with @SupremeSarna on Zelda II though. Maybe 15 years ago I would have agreed, but every year this game gets more and more love. I feel like most of the Zelda community pretty much agrees now that it's a really good game, albeit very different, and if you took Zelda out of the title, it would easily be considered one of the best games on the NES.

Scott wrote:


I never put a lot of time into this game myself, but I used to watch my mom and uncle play it a lot. Since this made it onto the Wii and 3DS Virtual Consoles I'm surprised it isn't in the NSO app.

KCPenguins wrote:

It's getting a LRG release on Switch in the near future (we'll the preorder for the release anyway) so I would expect a digital release sometime too

Biker Mice From Mars on I had lots of fun with this game back in the day, even though I wasn't too familiar with the cartoon it was based on. Around a decade later they tried to reboot the series I guess, and another game was released on DS and PS2 but I've heard those were awful so I never played them.

Wario Land on it's not so much that this game is underrated, because the people who did play it seem to have enjoyed it. It's more that being stuck on Virtual Boy means not enough people ever got the chance to play it, and that's a damn shame they didn't even put in the effort to try and bring it to 3DS as a remaster or full colored remake or anything.

@PizzaTheHutt This might be the closest thing you get to a Wario Land port: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFIbwMm_WWo

Some that come to mind for me

Jackyl (NES)
UN Squadron (SNES)
Medal of Honor: Infiltrator (GBA)
Speed Devils (Dreamcast)
Super Mega Baseball 2 (Switch)
Knockout City (Switch)

Orlandu wrote:

I love this game! I wrote in to Nintendo Power several times with questions to help me beat this. What I really want to do is check out the MSX2 version, since some of areas are laid out differently, especially Lyll's area…

Star Fox Assault - a short but earnest attempt to tell a new story in the Star Fox universe. While its story mode isn't too much to write home about (aside from the fact that Pigma canonically died before Star Fox Zero rebooted everything), the multiplayer mode is the star of the show. You can do on-foot TPS action, dogfights in space, tank battles, jetpack brawls, and so much more. Almost every stage from the single-player mode is usable, and they even added more maps and items just for multiplayer.

My favorite way to play is what my brother christened, "Peppy Snipe Mode." You play a timed match on Simple Map 3 as Peppy Hare with sniper rifles as the only weapon. You run slowly, jump high, and kill opponents with a single shot. It's perfect.

I thought of a lot of titles I could list, but I narrowed it down to 5 I really wanted to mention.

Spider-Man(Arcade) - This is one of my favorite beat-em-ups, and I rarely ever see it mentioned. The game also zooms out occasionally, and plays somewhat Shinobi-like. It's a Sega game, and I'm surprised it doesn't get nearly as much recognition as the licensed Konami beat-em-ups.

Wario Land Shake it! - I generally see praise for the Wario Land games, but for some reason I rarely see this one mentioned. Like in 4 you need to race back to the beginning of a level upon reaching the end, but I think that the levels are a bit more straight forward and action focused, which I prefer.

Paper Mario Color Splash - This game seems to get almost as much hate as Sticker Star, but I feel like it improves upon Sticker Star so much; I do think battles could still be better(still no EXP), but I think it has much more interesting areas and events.

The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates - I also rarely see this game mentioned. It's a platformer with a pretty unique gimmick; you have a vacuum you use to both suck in and launch objects, as well as stick to walls/ceilings. It takes a little bit to get used to, but I think the game is very fun once you do.

Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans(DS) - I feel there are a number of Dragon Ball games that are underrated, due to not being fighting games. This one is a solid RPG, with some pretty cool mechanics; you can build your characters stats how you like, it features timed presses for defending, and it has unique team attacks depending on who is in your party.

dunno001 wrote:

Awesome game. Definitely underrated even among Nihon Falcom fans.

Otaku100 wrote:

This is one where I imported from Australia. Even with shipping it was still way cheaper than the US release.

benstylus wrote:

Wow, I just looked up prices, and it sure is expensive! I bought my copy years ago.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

Oh dang, I thought it was. Writing about it yesterday got me wanting to play it, and I was thinking it would be nice to play it on the Switch.

Otaku100 wrote:

I actually have bought several aussie or euro releases of games just due to the price differential compared to the US counterparts.

(And also plenty that just didn't get a US release but that's a different topic)

beavis wrote:

Almost listed this one too but my list was already so long. I've always loved this game! The last time I re-visited it (around 2019, I think) I finally beat it on Hard mode, which was pretty dang challenging. Come to find out, there's an even harder hidden difficulty called "Gamer". Maybe I'll try that one next time.

benstylus wrote:

Yeah, I've bought dozens of Japanese releases, because they were a fraction the price of the U.S. release.

If you love rpgs, learn Japanese. So many of them are so cheap. CIB Chrono Triggers all day long for less than $20

Scott wrote:

I recently added it to my steam deck and enjoyed going back and giving it another shot. Love the music too.

benstylus wrote:

My Japanese could definitely be better, but I do play a lot of RPGs in Japanese.

Wouldn't recommend it for JRPGs really, but using a phone app to quickly translate is a nice way to be able to play more Japanese games. Really helpful for quickly getting menu translations down if the menu isn't in English.

Is Gunstar Heroes considered underrated? It's my favorite game ever, but since it was exclusively on the Genesis (not counting GBA re-imagining) I wonder if a lot of people missed it. So great.

Other titles that come to mind:

Alien Storm (Genesis)
Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)
Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis)
Bad News Baseball (NES)
Rollergames (NES)
Shatterhand (NES)
Cybernator (SNES)
Demon's Crest (SNES)
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (PS1)
Ape Escape 3 (PS2)

I'm sure there are others that are escaping my mind.

And I absolutely loved UN Squadron. Great music too.

Rollobobo wrote:

I think it has become pretty well known over the years. I usually see it mentioned in lists of best Genesis games. Have you played the sequel on GBA(Gunstar Super Heroes)?

I’m willing to say Fire Emblem Engage is underrated, though overhated fits it better. It’s a buttery-smooth FE game at its core, with most of the battle mechanics fans have grown to love over the years. It has its shortcomings, like a predictable story and thin characters (take a shot every time Chloe mentions fairy tales, eating weird food, or the word, “picturesque”). But on the whole, it’s a quality game that can be easily forgiven in my eyes. The stuff it does wrong was done worse in Fates, and people tend to like that one—why not Engage?

I think it’s mostly a case of comparison. Three Houses was more serious and dramatic while Engage is more lighthearted and approachable, so TH fans feel disappointed. Engage was supposed to be an anniversary game, so I think a more feel-good celebration of the series fits here. I’m also a much bigger fan of the Somniel hub than Garreg Mach Monestary, with the former’s cheery guitar music and vacation resort atmosphere. That’s just me, though.

Otaku100 wrote:

Yes, I did play gun Star superheroes a bit on the GBA. It felt pretty good. It didn't blow me away or anything but I'm glad they made it. The one game that really played well by treasure for the GBA was Astro boy: Omega Factor. It still holds up very well.

dunno001 wrote:

I had no idea there was a different version. I may have to give that a shot. The only bummer is the end game where you have to warp around to get to the dragon. I don't know how you're supposed to know what to do.

I don't know how they're rated among gamers, but two games I played the heck out of that none of my friends (save for one) cared about playing are

Little Nemo: The Dream Master on NES

and

The Humans on Genesis

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H5bjSjvONZY


If I had the cash I'd buy the systems just so I could play those games.

Orlandu wrote:

This was a time in Japanese video games of very cryptic puzzles. Tower of Druaga really made a huge impression over there with every level having some kind of secret, many with extremely obtuse methods of finding them. Walk over the exit before you get the key, touch both the far left and far right wall, block an attack from a specific enemy, kill all of one enemy type but none of another... those sorts of things.

Developers of the time went to town on making cryptic and obscure secrets which are required to beat a game. Legacy of the Wizard is a part of that... Legacy.

Nowadays those super random requirements are typically just for bonus secrets or Easter eggs.

Miranda wrote:

Ah, Little Nemo. That's another great game. Had that one as a kid too. Fantastic game by Capcom. I definitely agree, that one was ahead of it's time.

Rollobobo wrote:

You also know it's underrated because it's not $100

As for The Humans, I remember it got a lot of magazine ads when it was released but I never played it and don't remember anyone talking about it either.

Anyone remember Pushover? One of only a select few games where dominoes are the main mechanic

My list consists of relatively newer games:

A Dog's Life (PS2) - why aren't there more games with smell-o-vision? The canine minigames were pretty fun (and not too difficult, if I remember correctly) and the plot was something out of a classic Disney cartoon. I don't recall any game-breaking bugs, and it was an enjoyable experience all the way through.

Summoner 2 (PS2) - vibrant and creative world-building with good combat mechanics and a steady learning curve. I think I only had one game-breaking bug - it was in the Arena and the game would freeze at high levels. I'm not sure why this game didn't get much attention, and I'm disappointed that Volition never did more games in this series (they focused on Saints Row instead, iirc). I wish some dev would snap up the rights to Summoner and launch a reboot/remake. I have Summoner 1 but have yet to play through it. I found the combat to be accessible and an interesting hybrid: it has turn-based mechanics (queuing actions) but feels more like real-time combat.

Majin & the Forsaken Kingdom (PS3) - a solid little game that I found charming. It might not have done anything groundbreaking or innovative in terms of gameplay mechanics, but the things it has are done well. Maybe not a high-budget production, but the quality is steady all the way to the end of the game - unlike, say, Two Worlds 2, wherein the last 4th of the game take an epic nose-dive in quality.

Some great picks here with Beyond Oasis and Little Nemo. I also liked Secret of Evermore (and hope to get another cart someday).

Trax It's a HAL game! (applause)
You play as a silly-looking tank, lumbering along with your rotating turret and shooting stuff. Would love to see this, Lolo GB (European version please), Uchuu Keibitai SDF, and the NES Lolo trilogy on Switch Online.

Monster Tale Well, I wrote a whole dang review for this one. Shame the remake probably won't see the light of day.

Silent Hope Yes, I'm being very loud about a game with "Silent" in the title. It's good, y'all. If you like dungeon crawlers, it's worth playing. YOU. CAN. PET. THE. COW.

sailorneorune wrote:
Monster Tale was on my DS backlog waaaaay back. And then the Nintendo Switch came out... 😅

I’ve gotta mention Wario World. It’s a 3D platformer/collectathon/beat’em-up. It’s a STUPID game with insane characters and a bizarre protagonist—it’s a great experience. Every stage has around 30 mcguffins to collect, tons of weird enemies to bash, puzzle rooms to solve, and a freaky boss to defeat. From an anthropomorphic bull in a speedo to a circus performer whose demented face is underneath his detachable head, you don’t forget these beasts.

Wario has tons of moves to mess around with, like punch combos, pile drivers, shoulder bashes, and Whirling Swingadings. Wario makes all manner of humorous sounds as you play. He grunts on every rung of a ladder, demands that his enemies “have a rotten day,” and taunts you on the pause screen (he stops taunting and apologizes after 50 straight minutes of this). Wario’s funniest move is where he waddles around with his mouth open wide, inhaling money and producing guttural noises. This game is beyond stupid!

It’s a short play, too: There are only eight stages, so right when you think the gameplay is getting stale, it’s over. It’s a wonderful game that you’ll want to play again and again.

@benstylus At least we can agree that Wario World is the superior Wario game. Right? Right?

SupremeSarna wrote:

I picked up Wario World a while back, and I've been meaning to play it. It looks like it'll be a lot of fun!

Scott wrote:
I love Zelda 2. It was my first Zelda game I ever played. It is easily in my top 5 NES games ever, although I know it's not a particularly good Zelda game. There is actually a lot of story and lore to the Zelda franchise that comes from Zelda 2.

One game I feel like mentioning in this thread is Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. It got good reviews, but I feel like it's not given enough love, especially since all of the follow up games were subpar. GW:RE is easily one of my favorite games of all time. I have played the hell out it. I even bought it again on my Steam Deck just because I wanted to have it portable. It's one of the reasons why I need to have an Xbox.

bonham2 wrote:


Oh yeah, this was one of my favorite Xbox Live Arcade titles from back in the day. I spent a lot of time playing the one on DS too.

Here’s a decent one: Spotto! It’s a cute little DSiware game where you chuck bombs in a parabolic arc and try to get ‘em into the mouths of goofy ghosts. Perform trick shots off walls and floating furniture and watch the ghosts blast into pieces!

Intelligent Systems needs to reference this game in some future project. Maybe a Fire Emblem weapon themed after Spotto or something.

Ribbit King (Gamecube) - I will sing this game's praises until my last breath. There is just something so novel and unique about Ribbit King's approach to golf. One of the most fun games I’ve ever played in a local multiplayer setting because the things that occur are just so madcap and absurd. Also, the game comes with a bonus disc that includes a bunch of little vignettes that overflow with charm.

Softball Tengoku (Famicom) - This was released in the US as Dusty Diamond's All Star Softball, but I greatly prefer the Famicom version. A solid NES baseball game where you start each match by picking your team. There are at least 40 different characters to choose from, and most of the characters have unique attributes. You want to make sure the miner is batting cleanup, as he uses a pickaxe and can OBLITERABTE the ball if he hits it well. But for your right fielder you will want to use the bird as he can literally fly, which helps when trying to catch a potential home run. The 5 stages each have unique rules and the variety of different lineups keep the game fresh. I prefer the Famicom version because all the cool characters (the witch, the mouse, the demon) and replace them with generic humans.

Mutant League Football (Genesis) - This one might be too popular to be truly underrated, but screw it, this game rules. Based on the madden engine of the Genesis era, MLF adds some spice to American football by adding murder. My parents were very controlling over what games we could play in our youth, but our fun uncle bought us this game and since it was a sports game I guess they didn’t bother to check the content.

bumsplikity wrote:

For me Mutant League Hockey was the one to get. Never been a football fan and even Mutant League Football couldn't change that.

@benstylus And that game is probably more appropriate for this topic as it's not as well known. We weren't really football fans but since I grew up in the south we knew absolutely nothing about hockey outside of what we learned from The Mighty Ducks.

I didn't spend much time watching pro hockey either. But the NES had both Ice Hockey and Blades of Steel, which were both excellent.

8 bit football was... not so excellent. So I naturally gravitated towards the hockey games in the 16 bit era.

benstylus wrote:

Blades of Steel RULES

Todd's Adventures in Slime World - purely for the co-op w/ multiple different game modes, some competitive some cooperative, even though you can still hurt each other in co-op.

Ever heard of Chalvo 55? It's a practically unheard-of Game Boy game--so obscure, in fact, that it's only really known for starring a character who debuted in a cancelled but leaked Virtual Boy game. I played it, and I thought it was a pretty good puzzle-platformer with satisfying physics and great music. The last stage goes overboard with hazards, but other than that, it's a keeper!

Rock n Roll Racing was also over looked by so many on Genesis and Super Nintendo. Had great music but much like RC Pro Am for NES you can only go around in circles so many times before you need to move on to something else but both versions are always fun and it still holds good value on each system.

Is the 2010 Splatterhouse underrated? I don’t think it reviewed well, but I liked it a lot. Same with the Wanted movie game. That game was pretty good.

Saga Frontier 2
This game introduced a lot of new mechanics that I hadn't seen in a game before, and any game that includes such things gets positive points in my book.
- A storyline spanning generations
- Unlocking new skills based on how much you use your previous skills in combat. Forces you to vary your attacks
- More than one combat system. Traditional turn-based and turn-based strategy via a few wars that take place in the game.
- difficulty, especially towards the end

Bioshock 2 (Multiplayer)
Bioshock 2 wasn't as good as the first game, but the multiplayer was addictive for me. Sadly, the community didn't last long and servers were shutdown early. I don't know what's better than freezing another actual player and then shotgun blasting them to fractals. or timing a lightning shot to fry a player in a pool of water. It was fast-paced, brutal, and unique. Possibly the first competitive FPS I played that went beyond the "everything is military-based" run & gun.

Robotrek
Turn-based strategy on an otherwise traditional RPG style battlefield. You can customize your bot to do different attacks. Change the color of your bot, etc. The customization is what really makes this game stand out. This is Mega Man Battle Network before MMBN. Which by the way is an entire series of games that are probably underrated as well.

Front Mission 3
Special mention because I'm not entirely sure that it was underrated in its time. Despite being an awesome mech building turn-based strategy game from Squaresoft, this game had it's own internet! It was possibly my favorite thing built into the game. You open up the in-game "web browser" and you can venture across many websites. Some are for useful information, others you can make purchases at, and some are just for fun like "downloading" new wallpaper. It really brought the world of the game to life for me.

Without adding more detail, I would also agree with the following games that have been brought up by others:
- Crystalis
- Star Tropics
- Secret of Evermore