HIDDEN GEMS

Video games that you consider to be underappreciated.

GANPURU: Gunman's Proof

Fun little SNES ARPG that never left Japan. Something about the graphics just feels really timeless to me. There's a fan translation online, thankfully.

Guardian's Crusade

Weird JRPG for the PS1 that didn't get a whole lot of attention. Definitely worth a play if you like JRPGs and want to try something new

Croc Legend of the Gobbos

Everybody knows about the original, but about a month ago a remaster kinda flew under the radar for most people. They fixed the shitty camera and used a higher quality copy of the original music. It's on GOG and most of the consoles

The Legend of Edgar

FOSS game that reminds me of Zelda 2. It's clunky but has charm.

FATE

Old-school Diablo clone. This was included with Compaq Presario computers in the early 2000s along with a bunch of other games. I put hundreds of hours into this. It has a few sequels that are of varying quality.

Good games. Have a free bump

nice

This reminds me of that stardew minigame.

good thread OP

Singularity

damn, you unlocked a core memory for me anon, unironically better than diablo 1 too

Thanks :)

We Want YOU

2009 PC indie game. It's a satirical, prodecurally generated war platformer. It's really simple but surprisingly addicting to play.

ZAN

Turn-based puzzle game made for PC in 2001. Game is pretty fun, but the music is incredible.

myabandonware.com/game/zan-iqz

This one
It's a neat game and I think it looks really pretty but I never see it being mentioned by anyone

It's a fun game for sure. There was a remaster released on Steam about a month ago, although it's a bit buggy at the moment.

Another Day in the Life of Bob

2011 PC indie game that is a bit similar to Stick RPG. I haven't played through this one entirely, but it is definitely interesting.

Vantage Master Online

Freeware edition of Falcom's Vantage Master V2. It's a hex-based strategy game where you summon monsters (called Natials) to take out the opposing Master. The game has a pretty deep tactical system, including terrain & height difference, unit facing, different stats for each Master, rock-paper-scissors elements, day/night cycle, Magic spells...

The AI can be pretty brutal in this game, so don't feel bad if you get pummeled in the first few scenarios. With practice you'll get better.

Ato

A small scale Metroidvania that separates exploration and combat by only having boss fights break up the puzzle-platforming. It's the first semi-recent game in a while that actually felt like an indie game to me.

On the topic of Zelda-likes, Crusader of Centy is a good one

Kartia

I like the look of this one, I'll check this out

Mini Car Racing by eGames

Weapons-based isometric racing game for Windows9X. I played the shit out of this when I was young. It's really fun.

Forgot the pic

oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah nigga

I believe Aquaria is a underappreciated game. Its one of those games that just feels good to play.

That game has blackface
I don't have much to say about it other than saying there are common enemies that look like blackface.

Marvelous another treasure island

I don't know to describe this game with something better than Zelda but with 90% of the combat replaced with puzzles.

Senseless War

2008 castle defense indie game for the PC. It was never completed but it's still a lot of fun to play. This brought my shitty computer to its knees back in 2008.

to this day the most interesting and cool level up and semi turn based/real time combat system ever.

it feels great to basically beat down reptilians with MMA and pro wrestling moves.
kick a lizard in the head and give them a piledriver. incredibly based

Ostranauts

Same devs of NEO Scavenger. Sandbox space rpg sim with autistic detail and complete freedom to build ships how you want.

Twisted Tales of Spike Mcfang (SNES)

I've seen some reviews on youtube saying it's shit, and I refuse to acknowledge them. This game was actually pretty cool, but you do have to grind to get cool equipment and items.

My nigga, there is still nothing close to this game. The fact it had a vs mode where you could take ur custom single player character and fight your friend's was unbelievable

It's the first semi-recent game in a while that actually felt like an indie game to me.

What does that mean?
On another note the game actually looks good but man, I have this weird hesitancy about short metroidvanias for some reason. My only exception is arguably iconoclasts but thats because its arguably not even a MV due to being dense as fuck and there virtually being a puzzle or challenge literally every other screen that isnt strictly combat (and even then, combat scenarios are varied)

Digging Jim

1999 abandonware puzzle game that somewhat reminds me of Dig Dug but with an added emphasis on puzzle-solving and collecting. Installer only seems to work on Windows 9X unfortunately. I believe there is a remake out there but I have not tried it.

myabandonware.com/game/digging-jim-cjw

Bookworm Adventures (Volumes 1 and 2)

Remember that Bookworm game where you'd spell to earn points? This is that game but they've turned it into an RPG. Spell words to deal more damage. It's really fucking good and I wish they would re-release it on Steam as it's a bit hard to find these days.

Fantastic thread that isn't trannies larping as gamers and pol trash having schizophrenic rants. Also videogames.

This one looks good too. I like to try these types of games blind without reading reviews. I feel like sometimes reading reviews prior to trying a game can alter your perception of it

if you know this game you're a champion (and my friend)

On one hand I think a lot of games I like are underappreciated but on the other hand I feel like Anon Babble would probably disagree if only because some of them might be better liked specifically here, hard to say. I'm going to go with Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu/Revival Xanadu and Brandish, two older Falcom titles. Very fun action RPGs.

i played this on release, love the ost. I feel like it was one of the first big indie games

Nice blog bro

These are genuinely my favorite threads on Anon Babble, hidden gem sharing is the best and some of these already look fun

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

Not really hidden... or a gem. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I really enjoyed playing this game. I find myself coming back to play it every couple of years.

If you are the type of autistic that enjoys GameCube era Sonic Team games, this one might interest you.

Magical Pop'n
An action/adventure game for the snes

honestly the only reason I come to Anon Babble at all is because sometimes some based anon will drop a great recommendation for a game, a book, or some music, and it'll change my perspective on things. It's utterly impossible to get that kind of exposure irl or elsewhere on the internet in my experience

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
This game is designed for kids, but the battle system is genuinely amazing, and I haven't seen it replicated anywhere. Fun, chill game worth playing.

Anon Babble is the only place where a recommendation can't be abused to make it about the poster instead. Here are no views, names or upvotes.

I think this game might legitimately be worse than Quest 64. The PS1 had actual decent RPGs so you don't have to stoop this low

"hidden gem"

look inside

it's shovelware slop

I guess I mean like old-school indie, where it felt like the game was made because the dev wanted to make it instead of wanting to make their take on a popular game to get eyes on it.

Iconoclasts

I've had that for a while but never played it. If it's like you say, then that's more of what I've wanted ever since beating Ato. I'll play it asap, thanks anon

One more recommendation while I play it:

Helen's Mysterious Castle

A short and somewhat easy RPG with a unique battle system where you acquire weapons and level them up instead of yourself. Despite being a VIPRPG on steam, it basically never gets talked about in comparison to Enchant Farm. It's better appreciated if you're familiar with the limits of RPG Maker 2000, it abuses a lot of quirks of the engine to make what it does possible.

Oh yeah, that one is fun. You can absolutely break the game by enchanting an item again and again and again until it's obscenely powerful. There's a risk of it losing all stats when enchanting goes wrong, but that doesn't matter much, you can just start again from scratch. Money is not an issue at the later stages. Simply buy all high-end unenchanted items from a store, enchant them all and sell them at a profit.
Looks like a Boulder Dash clone at first glance.
Check out Letter Quest if you're looking for something similar.
store.steampowered.com/app/328730
That's a good one. I got it for free somewhere and played through it. Pretty nice characters and it took me a while to finish it. Too bad it kinda ends with what felt like a cliffhanger to me and there's no sequel in sight

As for another hidden gem, there's this tiny freeware dogfighting game called Aerostyle. It's only a bit bigger than 1MB and it's more fun than it looks.
archive.org/details/AeroStyleWindows

Clash at Demonhead

1989 NES game similar to Mega Man but with some more RPG elements. Pretty challenging and sometimes a bit confusing without a guide, but it's fun.

Letter Quest

oh, this looks interesting, thanks! I think this genre is super underrated.

Forbidden Siren series
I still hope for a proper sequel/remaster/whatever

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story (1 & 2)

More of a hood classic at this point, but a very charming GBA crafting + adventure game with very endearing characters.

I could never get combos to work or fists to be worth using. Wrestling every enemy to death? Works like a charm.

Everyone knows that game because Racketboy mentioned it in his monumentally popular "Hidden Gems" article series about 15 years ago.

Christ, even my mum knows that game.

They just put out a remaster for this. (It's shit.)

it basically never gets talked about in comparison to Enchant Farm

Enchant Farm has a dedicated autist who shills it at every possible opportunity, so I wouldn't take this as "people talking about it" more than Helen's.

Fair, I'm probably just biased since I was hanging around the vrpg threads when it was translated.

Seconded.

Same can be said about the PlayStation Summon Night games aside from the crafting.

Yeah I bought the remaster and it's pretty buggy at the moment. They have been slowly releasing patches though, so hopefully it will decent eventually.

SuperTux

Everyone has heard of this by now but I still think it's underrated. It's genuinely a fun game. They put it on Steam a couple of years ago as well.

which of the front missions are worth playing? I feel like they're hidden gems

The Powder Toy

I wasted so much time playing this in the computer lab during high school lol. Looks like it's on Steam for free now. Not sure if it's made by the same guy who made the original, but it has great ratings on Steam as well.

Oooooh. 3 is worth playing at least. I remember thinking it was cool that there is a seemingly innocuous choice in the very first chapter that sets you on one of 2 entirely different campaigns. Obvious replay value, and the game is pretty good if you like strategic combat, mech customization, and political/military intrigue. So think Metal Gear, but focused on the actual metal gears instead of foot soldiers. Would recommend.

what sucks is saga never released this game on their classic hits. would have loved to see it on switch

Swordcraft Story is a fantastic game on its own merits and it's hilarious how often that fact gets overshadowed by the girls. I heard Pratty and Sugar make out before I heard a single thing about the gameplay

only leftie racists care about blackface

i'll check it out, thanks anon

And speaking of mech customization...

Zoids Legacy

Surprisingly long and deep GBA game with a hefty number of mech customization options. You get 6 mechs in your party, a bunch of different mech models/variants to chose from, and each mech has several part slots to slot in different weapons and systems. All that, and the game is very long with appearances from all kinds of pilots from the Zoids anime series.

i spent so much time with my mom on this

Astlibra

CrossCode

Nexomon

Prodigal

good thread, this

something about talking time was always really funny to me. probably the ridiculous portraits they came up with.
ill tack Shatterhand onto your post because demonhead and that game live in the same place in my head.

Pratty and Sugar make out

Fucking hell, and I got the dumb airplane thingy instead.

And it's crazy to think 2 is even better.

It's got a really funky english translation.

you defeat the evil ice demon golem with... hot bowls of soap

the main character, despite being a vampire, consumes tomatoes instead of hearts

it's incredibly hard to tell if the MC is traveling with two women, or if the one is just a really feminine boy

Honestly, I also like the soundtrack. It's eclectic and wacky.

Sounds like a good excuse for a replay

looks like Zelda/Earthbound but it's a western adventure

I would have played the fuck out of this if I could when I was a kid.

Outward

Hardcore survival RPG by Germans that focus on survival with hot & cold weather affecting your temperature & needing to eat & drink

Phoenotopia: Awakening, a 2D sidescrolling Zeldalike about a girl whose family get kidnapped, so she goes on an adventure to find them.
Not quite "hidden" at over 2k reviews on Steam, but at 4 years old, it definitely doesn't get talked about much.

the dev giving up development on games forever because of its failure is sad, but at least he left behind one quality game.

Croc Legend of the Gobbos

More like Croc of Shit. This game is mediocre.

Speaking of German survival games. This one was peak comfy. Too bad the sequel is taking forever, the guy had just switched engines.

Old Popcap was like high quality flash games. Then they turned into low quality mobile games. It's remarkable how thin yet notable that line was.

store.steampowered.com/app/2936030/Botworld_Odyssey/
I found this one like 2 weeks ago and it's been a very pleasant surprise. It doesn't make a very strong impression as a mobile-ported autobattler, but the fights actually involve a good bit of skilled input from you and are strategic and fun, plus the thing is overall quite comfy, if slightly janky. 120 reviews doesn't do it justice. Don't buy full price though, no game should be more than 25. I got it on sale for 15, was worth it.

I think you got the better end of the deal. I was excited to see what thirsty shenanigans she'd get into but she was the weak link in an otherwise extremely likeable cast. I guess they had trouble characterizing her when there were like 3 other summons that needed to slot into her place.

I really didn't think so. The environment was pretty generic compared to Wystern and I hate how they reduced durability to a persistent annoyance to throw stones at instead of something to think about. The soundtrack was fucking sick, though. Also Arno's my boy (female??)

Jury's still out on how this actually is, but I saw that this game called Wonder Trek for PS1 recently got an English translation. It's some sort of adventure puzzle game. Controls/hitboxes are rough so far, due to your character being a prerendered sprite in a 3D environment, and the perspective being slightly tilted in a way that doesn't line up with the 8 cardinal directions (think of how some rooms rendered at certain angles can be awkward to navigate in FF7). But I'm not writing it off just yet.

Ayakashi no Shiro for Gameboy.

You play as the strongest shinobi "Hayabusa" under Oda Nobunaga's command to conquer Genbuden, Suzakuden, Byakkoden, and Seiryuuden in order to stop the evil Onmyoushi, Ashiya Douman.
You get to use a bunch of cool ninja skills like mizukagami no jutsu, hayabusa no jutsu, kagerou no jutsu, raijin/fuujin no jutsu, migawari no jutsu, idaten no jutsu, kageshibari no jutsu, and utsusemi no jutsu along with a host of ninja tools like dokubari, kongougan, ryuuougan, taima no fuda, shuriken, kayakudama, kemuridama, and kugutsu.
Even with all that you'll still die a lot. Enemies like yousou, ikkakuki, tsuchigumo, honemusha, kappa, kamaitachi, and yoroboshi, kyuubi no kitsune all block your path through the first person dungeons.

line through lowercase "f" sits several pixels below x-height

this triggers my autism like you would not believe.

Looks interesting. I kinda dig the pre-rendered look these days

The environment was pretty generic compared to Wystern

That's crazy.
Maybe just 1's hub area is a bit cooler to look at than the village in 2 but you see way more environments in that game than 1's single big dungeon.

reduced durability

In place of that you get way, way more tools to play with. And besides, it's still a factor.

I think you're just dumb or something.

Speaking of Game Boy, play Cave Noire. It's a fan translated deterministic puzzle roguelite thing that's really easy to get into

That sounds awful.

deterministic puzzle roguelite

the fuck does that mean?

It's just sort of weird because I live in the realm of games that get 0-20 reviews or so. To me, 2000 reviews means success. but it isn't really.

One of the best games ever made.

I really loved this game I didn't know the name of it from all the zoids games so thank you for reminding me.

I know about all the games. You could name any game type and I would be able to provide an example.

In roguelikes you can just roll badly and die but Cave Noire's rooms are short little puzzles you plan out and can usually clear without damage. It's fun. It came out in 1991 and obviously has nothing to do with modern slop

Puzzle games are not fun.

WRONG
however a puzzle roguelite sounds meh, so is it like that "toughest game of all time" flash game where I just go through motions of 40 puzzles to reach the one I didn't get last time? weak if so.

yeah

2000 reviews CAN be success.
The big distinction comes down to a combination of time/effort/money investment and expectation.
A game with a ton of time (say a decade), money (hiring a bunch of people), or effort (sacrificing all your free time and even ceasing work for periods of time to crunch on said game) put into it only garnering 2000 reviews (and the comparable sales tied to it) can feel like a failure. But something you popped out with relatively little investment, made in say 2 months solo without digging into your normal life activities much getting that much would feel like a huge success.

meh, unsubbed

Best RPG on the Wii bar none.

ITT: games for children you might have liked as a child, but would skip without a second thought as an adult

What makes it best?

youtube.com/watch?v=XVmC4I3jb4Y

I saw the thumbnail and was prepared to laugh at you calling Void Stranger a hidden gem. But I love those Gameboy top-down games so thanks for the rec.

best zelda game nintendo never made

One popular game really can just uproot and forever change the perception of an art style like that. Modern platformers really feel like they can't escape the Hollow Knight labelling if they choose to have a hand-drawn 2D animated style.

Kowloon
youtube.com/watch?v=acCovp7bNQA

fucking alundra fanboys are obnoxious

That was ok I guess. Is the game wiimote only? Might give it an emulate if it isn't.

shill thread, buy an ad
now that I have your attention I think you should play jelly boy for the SNES

Oh, they can, they just have to do something other than be Garfield art over Tim Buckley blurred backgrounds.

never going to touch it, you are not a seller either no one is. I hate zoomers so much it's unreal.

It's nunchuck only. (you can still use other controllers)

imagine if this was a hentai game, it would be glorious.

Interesting. I have a hacked Wii but I never figured out how to play actual pirated Wii games on it so I'm stuck with emulating.
Thanks.

NTA, but here's another 2D Zeldalike on the PS1 worth a look: Brave Prove. Can be a bit unintuitive figuring out where to go/what to do at times though.

I think this game aesthetics is very good but I am fairly certain it's impossible to beat it, I never could and still can't

I would say EVO Search for Eden for the Snes, but mostly for normalfags and zoomers. Here it gets mentioned regularly and mostly positive takes. For a while Terranigma but now someone must have made a video or something because I've heard people outside here commenting about it

Do-Re-MI Fantasy on the Super Famicom / SNES. Never got released in English but there's a fan translation. Really surprisingly fun platformer with great visuals and a fantastic soundtrack. Unfortunately the only English translation has a fanmade ending appended to it. I have a version of the patch without the fake ending and without the translator's ugly splash screen if anyone gives enough of a shit.

Original poster.
The music was composed by Hitoshi Sakamoto who did FFX if I remember right, and the game itself has a lot going for it.

Good visual style

A wide variety of 'jobs' that increase your stats or friendships with various NPC's throughout the game

Great bestiary with some of the most creative designs in a game

Battles don't drag out too long, you have a two minute time limit but battles only take less than thirty seconds and you use the Wii Nunchuck to aim your bonbon to attack enemies in certain areas (Some have shields, armor, etc.)

Translation is charming, a lot of messy parts but nothing too big that you can't comprehend what's what

Because it only uses the nunchuck, if you play it on a console it takes next to no battery power from the Wiimote

It's a charming game, reminds me of a lot of games on the Dreamcast. Give it a go. There was a site that had a lot of information on the game but it's long gone. Recheck every area after you progress through the plot, there's some missable stuff throughout the game.

By definition most of you are incapable of naming hidden gems because you just repost what others have told you. If you actually found them on your own, without being told, you could be certainly of their hidden quantity.

You just regurgitate what you were told in the last thread. It's pretty pathetic.

For me, it's Battle City.
This is just that tank minigame from Wii play, but better

The Great Battle 5 for snes

I see ass, I download.
Didn't read your post. That is more than enough for me.

Alundra is not a hidden gem by any means. It's just forgotten. Kinda.
One game I don't see mentioned here is Record of Lodoss war. I can't remember if it was ps1 or dream cast. Kinda rough but I loved the word upgrade system and having different weapons for different monsters. I never found a game like that until Shining Force Exa for the ps2. Idk if it's the same team but they play exactly the same. And after that one I never found another one with the same premise. I recommend both

EVO is kinda shit.

charming game

Any time I see people use this term its an insta nope from me. Usually it means "the game sucks but I want to like it so I'll just pretend I like it""

Jesus, multicart creators LOVE this game. This and Circus Charlie. No idea why.

I probably should have said

"IT'S FUN PACKED WITH CONTENT"

Your loss, though.

maybe you should form a secret terrorist organization to rid the world of the term "charming" and other deleterious adjectives.

You could call yourselves Synonymous.

Oh yeah, I remember that one.
Nuts and Milk was the shit

I'll join him. I'll be leader of the Cozy Crew.

Rollerdome, hands down

basically early era Tony Hawk, but as a 3rd person shooter and with rollerblades

tricks refill your ammo

certain enemies require certain approaches, keeping you on your toes

collectables scattered across the map, some more hidden than others

combo multiplier feels good to upkeep

slow motion balances out your speed so that you're not punished for going too fast

game was pulled from digital storefronts for no reason. you can only pirate it.

Legend of Valkyrie on Namco Museum Vol 5 for ps1

i miss hudson soft, bros...

in early access for 5 years

version 0.15

announced 1.0 to be released soon

that huge jump in version numbering

red flags everywhere

I've never understood how version numbering works. Why is that a red flag?

Wo Long comes to mind. For me it's Nioh 3 despite the Chinese setting. Game levels get more verticality, the double jump adds a lot for exploration and platforming and the combat gameplay is still one of the best I've experienced. It's very satisfying and technical. It's a shame Team Ninja can't make good launches because it ruins the review score.

Well, when people are retarded, they draw conclusions from irrelevant details.

I played that.
It was good.
Duckstation fucked up all my screenshots so I'm mad.
I liked the remixes especially.
None of them are uploaded on Youtube so I'm mad.

basically going from pre-alpha to """complete""" in one go. it's guaranteed to be a buggy mess.

That's pretty relevant as far as details go, honestly. Tells me that the developers are just phoning it in at this point and want to have something "done" whether it's actually there or not.
Source: got burned by World of Horror on this.

Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3 seem to get a lot of discussion (Localized as Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana respectively), but I almost never see talk of the first game (localized as Final Fantasy adventure). It's a really damn good Zelda clone for the gameboy, I like it a lot
Man fuck Konami. Super Bomberman R (short for retarded) was awful, and I want nothing to do with those gay Bombergirl games. When the fuck is Symphony of the night going to be officially available outside of faggot playstation consoles?

I had that.

hidden gems thread

more than half the games are very known titles

FF Legend and FF Adventure are different, FF Legend games are turn-based rpgs that became the Saga series

what if we just called all our games Final Fantasy

Uhhh, pic unrelated? That's the game that's actually Final Fantasy, as in turn based RPG

Because with youtube being what it is these days all of the hidden gems aren't so hidden anymore.
I know. Everyone knows. That was the only picture of my gameboy games I have on my PC, jackass.
Here's your (you).

Those games were too good for the gameboy

game was pulled from digital storefronts for no reason. you can only pirate it.

whaaaaat I got it from the hb monthly few months back

fuck off retarded nigger

Lagoon, particularly the Sharp X68k version, which is a solid Ys clone. I also enjoy the SNES version despite its inferiority.

Bomberman Generations

Not sure how popular this game was but I loved it as a kid. The creature-collecting bit of the story mode is fun. Wish they would put this on PC.

Nobody's gonna play this shit but I'll post it anyway
store.steampowered.com/app/396640/TowerClimb/
store.steampowered.com/app/799640/Dungeon_Munchies/
store.steampowered.com/app/1943240/Dismantled_Directors_Cut/
store.steampowered.com/app/684000/Wooden_Ocean/
store.steampowered.com/app/556710/Marrow/
store.steampowered.com/app/1878350/Prayer_of_the_Faithless/
store.steampowered.com/app/607780/Toymaker/
store.steampowered.com/app/1184040/D1896/
store.steampowered.com/app/304850/Worlds/
store.steampowered.com/app/935920/Fallstreak/
store.steampowered.com/app/1727140/CYNOROID_FORSAKEN/
store.steampowered.com/app/2243110/EMPTY_SHELL
store.steampowered.com/app/318860/Malebolgia/

The last good game square ever made.

The REAL bomberman gem no one wants you to know about is picrel.

underappreciated for sure. used to play the dodge battle mode over and over with my friends

Freeware "wacky" shmup from the 90s. Runs in DOSBox.

I played Jetters on the gamecube, is this one better or worse than that?

I believe this game is slept on if you wanted a stealth focused tactics x-com type game.

Not sure, I didn't hear about Jetters until I was in my 20s. Never got a chance to play it as a kid. Tried to play it on Dolphin a few years ago but it wasn't playable unfortunately. I've always wanted to play it, though

They're recent, but Journey to the Savage Planet and Revenge of the Savage Planet.
Journey is a first person metroidvania and Revenge is third person metroidvania.

store.steampowered.com/app/752470/CINERIS_SOMNIA/
store.steampowered.com/app/3061970/Hydra__Poseidons_conspiracy/
store.steampowered.com/app/3125120/Rodland_of_Pipes/
store.steampowered.com/app/2351860/Tower_of_Kalemonvo/
store.steampowered.com/app/362860/Sylvio/
store.steampowered.com/app/1032830/Eldervale/

>what if we just called all our games Final Fantasy

NTA but in Mana 1's defense, it WAS a Final Fantasy spinoff even in Japan, 2 is when it became its own thing proper

1 and 3 are both good, 1 is very basic though (the ds rerelease is good, also has a second campaign)

A programming miracle on the NES. The ultimate proof that only Nintendo themselves had greater mastery of the hardware than Konami.

void stranger devs cite cave noir as an influence

Gedonia, solo dev open world RPG with excellent class system and fun combat. Sequel just came out in early access recently. I sunk 70 hours into it on one character.

the more you post hidden gems the less hidden they become

woah

store.steampowered.com/app/249680/Marlow_Briggs_and_the_Mask_of_Death/

spectacle fighter

I don't think I've ever seen this tag, what is that?

this was pretty good

Devil May Cry or old God of War

Oh, gotcha. I do miss the old God of War games

You have.
Marlow Briggs was an old flavor of the week back in the 360 days. Budget title, lots of fun.

store.steampowered.com/app/564150/Rosenkreuzstilette/
store.steampowered.com/app/564160/Rosenkreuzstilette_Freudenstachel/

Very solid Mega Man clones.

I signed up for Xbox Gold a week after this was offered through Games With Gold. Kind of disappointed about missing it.

It has 2-player co-op, too.

One of the best puzzle games ever.

store.steampowered.com/app/1286010/Godless_Tactics/
Fire Emblem Tactics in a post apocalyptic Europe. Very fun. Play without a guide (you won't need it to beat the game but the true ending might take some hints).

people posting steam links

now this thread devolved into shilling your own game

you caught me with your genius and absolutely NOT RETARDED detective skills. My real name Is Takuya Immamaru and my disguise was perfect if it wasn't for your brilliance.

LITERALLY EVERYONE knows Ms. Pac-Man, but what surprisingly few know is that there is a version developed for NES by Tengen that is arguably THE single greatest Pac-Man version EVER and EASILY is THE best version of Ms. Pac-Man specifically. It's got simultaneous 2-player, alternate maze types, several difficulty setting, a super speed feature, and customization game options. One of the peak arcade gaming experiences of all time. (Was later ported to Genesis and SNES, but I think the original is still the best one.)

Poi is a fun 3d platformer collectathon, it's really fun is on Steam, Switch, and a couple others. Refunct is fun platformer too but is short, it's on Steam and I think Switch.

tranny game

They don't think it be like it is but it do.

Play this and be amazed. Few games have ever pushed their hardware harder.

Pretty much why my 3DS is still plugged in (and in sleep mode, I should probably stop doing that).

One of the few genuine gems on the Atari 2600. Basically "inside out Tempest". SUPER HECTIC!

store.steampowered.com/app/22200/Zeno_Clash/
youtu.be/CwAaJsjZnYk?si=2ISwjV1lHGQX7-31

Possibly the most underrated shmup of all time. Essentially Tempest, but without the tubes (so it's just a flat plane).

The box is from the 2600 version, but it was on like all the major 2nd gen consoles. Just try getting an emulator working and try it out. Worth it if you're a Tempest fan and want more of that style of shooter.

Compaq Presario

That’s funny because I remember I got a laptop around 2009 with Fate installed yet never opened it because I assumed it was some bloatware slop that would try to get my credit card info within 3 seconds of gameplay. Now I wonder if I missed out on something good.

Ghost Sweeper Mikami on the Super Famicom.
A fun, albeit easy, action platformer.

Fate is genuinely fun, yeah.

This game is probably the hardest RPG I've played, where you can pretty easily die within 3 random battles, some of the bosses scale with your level. Though Defend actually giving 1.5 damage on your next attack gave a somewhat strategic element too. I also got filtered anon.

I think people know about this one, but yeah I'd love to see the ship models and textures remastered. Fun mix of Rock Paper Scissors, Puzzle placement and VN. I found Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius to be a pretty good Space Opera too.

This game was really difficult for me. It felt like I was missing something.

Young Merlin

Golvellius for the Sega Master System was a pretty sick Zelda-like

store.steampowered.com/app/799640/Dungeon_Munchies/

I played that. It owns. Given that it has 6k reviews, I suspect others played it too.

Yeah but I've never ever seen it mentioned anywhere, so in some way it can be called "hidden gem".

made by Derek Yu (Spelunky) and Alec Holowka, the latter would go on to kill himself after being PoundMeToo'd by Zoe Quinn of gamergate infamy and subsequently bullied off his own game dev project (Night in the Woods) by subordinates who sided with her.

I remember absolutely loving it and beating it multiple times as a kid, but when replaying it as an adult I found it to be kind of boring and way too grindy, and stopped paying shortly after beating the first chapter.

Didn't know he worked on those.
Man, early indie devs were so fucked. You either had cases like him, raving lunatics or people with a massive ego and a strong lust for penis.

"Chakan: The Forever Man" for the Sega Genesis.
Battletoads tier of difficulty where it's bullshit insane at the start until you get the hang of the controls, after which it just asks you to go through more and more complex and precise challenges. Not a fun ride initially, but trust me, once you learn how to control those swords you're chopping shit down so fucking fast. One of the best titles in the entire MegaDrive catalog I'd say.

Netstorm is a weird old RTS but unique as shit

maybe not a hidden gem for being a mascot game and the game that launched iguana entertainment. But I never seen anyone, not even on youtube, talk about this game and it's a fairly decent platformer

I second Helen's Mysterious Castle, charming little game. I bought on a whim at random just because I really like the sky tower music that plays in the steam page demo vid. Catchy song.
youtube.com/watch?v=ZwNfeNmT81w
I went fully blind and didn't regret. The atmosphere is wholesome and the battle system is unique. I like that guarding with shields plays a big strategic role but the combat is so fast-paced that it doesn't slows down gameplay.

I remember as a kid I had to restart the entire game and do it over and purposely take the elf bitch as a companion just so I would never have to fight her in the 1v1 duels because she was so impossible to beat. Whenever I replay it on emulator I use the built-in game genie to cheese those particular fights.

I think seven kingdoms 2 is the best RTS ever made even if humans are completely garbage

This is the first game I recognize and memes aside it's genuinely bad, so I don't trust OP anymore

how is metalwalker one of the best games ever made seems like a lot of rng bullcrap to me

It's not an amazing game, but I think it's worth a play now with the remastered version.

FATE was great. At first glance it looks like an uninspired Diablo clone with shamelessly bad 3D graphic but the game had genuine innovative ideas. Like being able to load your pet with junk items and order them to go to town and sell them and bring back the cash. So satisfying.

thats robotek you retard

i dont know what metalwalker is, but that screenshot is from robotrek.

Genuinely really great if not a bit too easy. But then again you're making it expecting children to play it. I'd play a tougher hack or something if it existed.

its not that great, the lore is kind of retarded, battle system even more retarded, and understanding how to progress can be confusing

arc rise fantasia is the better wii exclusive jrpg if you play the undub. excellent battle system

does anyone know a game, either genesis or snes, with a character that looked like a generic mascot with spiky purple hair, chinese eyes and it was a vampire? I can't for the life of me remember the name or find that game

whoops, metalwalker is a gb game where you fight with robots on a 2d plane instead of pokemon battling, i confused them somehow

Kino

people generally don't like this game
i still have the manual i stole from the blockbuster copy i borrowed as well as the jade cocoon manual also lol

That looks like Kid Dracula, but that was for the NES.

Makes me think of Kid Dracula, but no purple hair.

the US version of the game is much harder than the original Japanese release, buffing up enemies and drastically nerfing the playable characters' stats and drastically reducing all experience earned, necessitating much more grinding. Fights with the other seven champions are no easier than their Japanese counterparts, however, which can result in these battles being nearly impossible (or literally so, see above) as they scale with your main character's level. At a certain point in the game you will also travel back in time, and enemies in the past are far, far beyond the level of enemies in the present; if you haven't leveled up enough by that point, you'll be unable to overcome even the weakest enemies here and your run is basically over.

I looked at gameplay and it kinda remind me of the game but at the same time I swear the graphics were a 16 bit and he had purple hair. I may be having a severe brainfart

Maybe your memory is mixing up characters?

oh shit I found it, it was technically kid dracula but it was actually parodius and the purple thing was the umbrellas. Thanks

It’s on NSO my dude. You can play it right now

Akuji the heartless (Psx)

Yokai buster (super famicom)

Eternal Filena (Super famicom)

Battle cross (Super famicom)

Little magic (GBC)

Cave noire (GB)

Last legion UX (N64)

There are few movie games as good as this. Yes, it's a kids' game. Extremely high effort.

You should play culdcept it’s like monopoly but better

anyone know this game i've played circa 2005? it's a 2d unofficial "dragon ball z" fighting game with big maps and tiny characters. you could fly around quickly around in the 2d space, shoot beam attacks and turn super saiyan. it was local 2-player too. i think i got it from a german gaming magazine's cd called "computer bild spiele". please tell me if you know!

I agree but what other game of the Snes era had that mechanic? It was unique at least for the Snes afaik.

Chakan was absolute metal. Death challenged him to a duel and he won so he can never die. The irony is that you die a LOT. I played it and got owned, never beat it not even close. I should try it again

They made a movie version of this with all the cut scenes. I like it because of the art design

Defense of the Oasis, a fairly unique little game that can be described as Civilization meets Minesweeper.

Played it a few years ago and absolutely loved it. Strange that we never anything else with this concept.

Tactics Ogre: Lets Cling Together

Often overshadowed by Fire Emblem

SuperTux

The level editor and script programming with Squirrel was excellent and triggered my autism. My very first programming experience. Having the level editor once again bundled withim the main game was such a retarded decision
Shame they cant seem to deliver the complete forest area. They literally reverted yeara of work within latest releases

Yo awesome, never thought I'd see someone other than me post this here.
I made a map for this a while ago. I wish I could dive into the game's code to solve all the mysteries because there's so many items that I couldn't find a use for like the mushrooms.
Also made a speedrun to get the biggest building in the game. 18 minutes.
litter.catbox.moe/qlkruj.webm

And a map for the first game in the series, which isn't as good but is still worth checking out as it has some fun things to explore. It requires the Gamemaker conversion tool to play on modern operating systems.
litter.catbox.moe/x36xdb.png

I played this on mobile. I think it was the first MM game released by Ubisoft after buying the rights, and sure enough it had nothing to do with any previous title

Does Blood Will Tell apply? I dont think its mega obscure but it was never actually mainstream.
Its based on the Tezuka manga.
Guys father sells his sons body to demons and they take all of his body parts. Some blacksmith finds the fucked to shit remains in a river and builds it a cyborg body, including blade arms and a bazooka knee.
The game is then about hunting down the 48 demons to reclaim your body and every body part you get back buffs you in some way. As an example the game starts off with black and white vision but after killing the first demon you get your eyes back so color vision returns.

hakoniwa explorer plus

Chulip.
Its one of the strangest puzzle games ever made.
The goal is to Kiss the Girl, but you need to level up first, which you do by kissing everyone.
But people don't want to just be randomly kissed, so you have to solve complex puzzles before you kiss.
And then a Power pole comes out of nowhere and tells you "You'll never understand how I feel".

Tactics Ogre is WAY better than Fire Emblem.

ZELIARD
COMING THROUGH

store.steampowered.com/app/835650/Rising_Lords/

but WAY less popular

well, their fault for making the last new game 50 years ago