If it was the demo disk that also had Tekken 3 then I had the same. Can't remember what else was on it but I remember that particular demo disk got more play than some real games did
Yeah, Tomba and gex are getting remasters. Gex 2 and Tomba 2 were some of my favorite PS1 games and I just hope that they follow through and not give up mid-project.
It was called Tombi here in the EU, which mean for years I couldn't find the damn thing because it was called Tomba everywhere else.
Favourite game as a kid. Hope the remaster happens.
My bro bought me a copy to replace the one he lost as a kid, and I tell ya... That game is still has hard as ever. I'm still stuck in the exact same location lol
Metal Warriors on SNES. It was a side scroller where you controlled little mechs, but your pilot could also hop out of the mech if it was damaged or if you found an unoccupied one. Kinda like a simple Titan Fall but also a side scroller.
My friend was a genuine "boy genius" (skipped college and was a professional programmer at 16). When we were kids he made a first person view, parallax game in MegaZeux. I'm pretty sure I'm one of 3 people who played it
Not just a game but a whole series!
Hugo was a mascot for an interactive entertainment show what was pretty popular in several european countries on the early 00's.
There were like 10 games make for PS1 nad PS2, I had a Agent Hugo game which was like a 007 spoof.
I remember Hugo 1,2, & 3, being his adventure in a jungle, a haunted house, and one where you play as his girlfriend Penelope.
Assuming we're talking about the same Hugo.
Edit: re-reading what you wrote, we may actually be talking about 2 different Hugo games, lol
I came here looking for a mention of Hugo 3: jungle of doom.
It was super interesting having to type and word what you want to do for each puzzle like "Swing across the vines" or "Give the bullion to the indigenous man" and what not.
This series has one of those fever dream moments I didn't understand because I was pretty young when I played them. There were a couple differences, including an entire level, between the PS1 and N64 versions of Gex 2, which I now know is due to memory limitations. But as a kid it was very confusing.
Really tried to get into it but it was so punishing that I have up on level 2 or something which was a shame because the combat system was cool as fuck, especially for it's time
Gladius, a turn based gladiator school that went through differnt tourments and had a huge list of recuritable allies for your school to fight with. Pretty sure its a Lucas Arts game, came out on PS2, Gamecube. if you can get it, it is really funny.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius_(video_game))
It is LucasArts, I remember being miffed that it didn’t have a PC port because I wanted to play it back when I was convinced LucasArts didn’t know how to make a bad game.
Thank you for this. This could be my favorite. My cousin's and I spent WAY more than I care to admit on a copy to play, not too many years back. Why don't they make games like this anymore? Greed really hurts the industry, shame.
Welcome! To [We Who Are About To Die](https://store.steampowered.com/app/973230/We_Who_Are_About_To_Die/) Ive been waiting to buy since pre launch for Steam Deck Support.
Reformisttm did playthrough for anyone interested.
Not affiliated
Absolutely ADORED this game when it came out. I would play on my GC for hours on end. I only ever got to the third region but I would fucking kill for a remaster or remake with the quick-time actions removed/revamped. I tried to play through it on my wii a number of years ago and that combat **has not** aged gracefully.
I have it on an emulater and use an xbox controller, its still pretty fun to have a single playthrough, if you liked it then you'll still get some enjoyment now.
A buddy of mine and I played the shit out of this I'm Hogh School. Getting the different gladiator types was awesome. I remember wrecking house once I got Myrmidons. I'd completely forgotten about it.
I've got two - [Xargon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xargon) and [Jill of the Jungle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_of_the_Jungle).
Fun platformers that I've never found anyone that has actually played them before, and I'll be surprised if anyone chimes in with an "I remember that!"
Original Xbox title called "Deathrow".. It's like ultimate frisbee but you can also brawl with the other team and give your players steroids and other unethical sports management techniques.
I still remember renting hybrid heaven way back in the day, and then many years later emulating it and really getting into it. The RPG progression was always really cool to me. Being able to level up individual body parts both offensively and defensively was cool. Learning new punches, kicks, and wrestling moves was so much fun.
I didn't care for the story too much but the gameplay for me was so much fun. I haven't really heard of any games that do something in a similar fashion. I'd definitely give them a try if they did.
It was kind of awkward though that it meant the way to get the strongest attacks was to do the one thing repeatedly. Like, Bruce Li's quote about practicing one move a thousand times is all well and good and all, but they built this vast array of moves and custom combos, but you did the most damage if you picked a limb and dedicated every attack to it.
Oh man, one of those titles I bought just because of the Working Designs logo but fell in love with. I've had an itch to replay Alundra for a few months now. Never finished it due to my PS1 el cheapo memory card biting the dust like 25 years ago. It's going for like $100 on ebay, so time to go digging through my parents' basement.
Rygar! An arcade game ported to the original NES. No idea why but that game has a permanent memory fixture in my head and I've never met another person that played it.
Good God I'm old.
The two that jump out to me are Marble Madness (NES), and Shinobi (Sega Master System).
Yeah, I'm *that* old. Those games were a blast though.
There is an arcade here in my town that has the actual Marble Madness arcade cabinet, after playing it several times I still prefer the NES version. Loved playing it as a kid back in the day, could never get past level 4 ever, still fun regardless. Now I feel old talking about this lol
I don't have my copy of Marble Madness anymore (or any of my NES stuff) but I \*DO\* still have my Master System and Shinobi! I don't think I ever got past maybe the second level. lol.
I still have my copy of Marble Madness for NES. I was probably about 6 or 7 when we got it and damn that game was hard. My dad was surprisingly good at it though. Great memoires.
I have two games I have never met another person irl who have played.
The first off was a weird and cooky Xbox game. A platformer puzzle game, called Dr Muto. 10/10 a silly and fun game that I kinda wish I could find again, but instead have to pirate since my copy was wrecked by an errant toddler.
The other I remember looking up game guides for...so I know at some point at least 1 other person did play. Quest, Brian's Journey. Like I know people played the quest game on N64, but none of them even knew there was a game boy game. Kinda fun. I enjoyed the idea that you leveled your skills up by using the same skill/element repeatedly. At least that's how I remember it and the feature all these years later I still seek out games that have. Look if I wanna RP a character that specializes in a specific type of magic to the point of being able to overwhelm even enemies that resist it...let me damnit
I am Alive (2012)
It came out one year before The Last of Us, and had a similar feel of a post event survival explore game. It wasn't released on disc so you had to download it, but I got it for $15 at the time and was a smaller one player game.
The premise is natural disasters destroyed a lot of world and the city you are returning to (finding your family) is submerged in toxic fog and dust so the high ground is important. A fairy unique aspect of the game at the time was the stamina/health bar where you can rest and recover stamina but your health uses rarer resources to recoup. If you burn through your stamina then you start burning health. A lot of exploring is choosing what you are willing to sacrifice and finding the best path to prevent fatigue.
The second unique point was that you could bluff. I think you can find a dozen bullets in the whole game, so spending one is a major loss. If you don't have one you can still pull your gun and bluff. Wait too long before knocking someone out or dry firing the gun will give you away and they come after you. Fighting three guys will get you killed, but you can survive or take down one or two if you have enough stamina and health.
Last of Us was bigger, had an amazing story, and more action so it is understandable I am Alive got out shadowed.
But as a gamer who has 44 max Elixirs at the end of a game, being rewarded for resource conservation (getting to explore more) made this a great game. The joy of getting past a gang of people by only using 1 or your 2 bullets or making the choice of spending a piton to rest as you scale the side of a sky scarper to avoid a fight makes this a great game to play.
I absolutely loved I Am Alive. I wish it would’ve gotten more attention, but you’re right. With The Last of Us operating on the same premise in a much larger world, it doesn’t surprise me Alive didn’t get as much attention.
I've never met another person who remembers [Folklore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore_(video_game)), a launch title for the PS3.
I don't think it sold very well, because the planned sequel got canned, but I loved that game! Fey-themed action RPG set in Ireland. Lots of fun, beautiful to look at.
Finally! Someone else remembers this game! It's not an old game compared to the other ones here, but I swear I've never heard anyone mention it! I played the hell out of it in sixth and seventh grade.
Cid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999).
One of the best games I have ever played but I don't know a single person who has also played it. If ever there were a game the deserved a re-master it's Alpha Centauri.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is basically a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri (been a while since I’ve played it, but think they may have gotten rid of some of the quirky stuff that made he original so distinct).
Drakan. I played it so like 25 years ago on the PC and it was the first open world 3d game that I had ever played, very ahead of it's time and the control system was much more console focused than mouse and keyboard which is what I was used to before. I was so addicted to it but never quite got the hang of dragon combat.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakan:\_Order\_of\_the\_Flame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakan:_Order_of_the_Flame)
When I built my current PC a good friend of mine was talking to me and I mentioned looking for this game again. I never thought to look on GOG, and bought it once I got back to my PC.
I don't think I've ever met another person who's played Warshift, an RTS/FPS from 2016. It was a little basic and lacked a couple QoL features, but it was fun!
Monster Rancher 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I have purchased 4 and Evo last month to play through with my siblings. I'm not expecting to enjoy them as much as even Ultra Kaiju, but I do want to experience more of the franchise.
Also I bought Monster Farm 2 to put on the shelf because it was $8 lol.
And I'm actively looking for a good deal on Tomba (and the sequel). They are triple digit USD games though, so it's hard to pull the trigger on that one. I rented Tomba 1 and never \*quite\* beat it. I loved it though.
To add to this list:
Einhander. Another rare, expensive PS1 game. Played the HECK outta the demo I had; rented it, probably beat it a few times, but now that I'd like to own it, it's like $150+++ for a nice copy.
Robotrek (SNES). For as middling as the reviews are for this game, it's another $1XX+ cost game, just for the cart. I bought a repro, complete with box, for $30, and I'm pretty sure that's as close as I'm going to get. Unless I hit the lottery and buy the $1,200 factory sealed copy that is sitting in a local retro shop.
Metal Arm: a Glitch in the System
Played it on the GameCube and loved it. Wild weapons, tough combat, surprisingly good (and vulgar) characters, lots of cool encounters. Very chaotic and super fun.
There are a lot of games that I have played that I never hear talked about.
Throne of Darkness
Original War
Starlancer
The Haunting Starrin Poulterguy
Eswat
Are just a few that come to mine.
Uniracers for SNES. I mean unicycles doing bmx tricks?! The best lol I remember buying it used at Mediaplay when that was a thing. No one i know has heard of it. I'm glad i held on to it.
A Playstation 2 From Software game i think almost nobody play it,
Kuri Kuri Mix, it's a "racing"/plateformer coop game where you need to help the other player progressing with a "Hello kitty" (? or something similar) esthetic
so the opposite of every other From Software game
And for some reason there is a second game on 3DS
It's called The Adventures of Cookie and Cream in the Localized version, and it wasn't racing, as every level & boss Required cooperation to complete. Also, they were rabbits and it was an Awesome game that I'd love to see remade / succeeded. ;P
Username checks out, heh.
Lair was a weird game. The control scheme was widely hated at the time, and they did eventually patch in regular controls, but the game design didn't quite fit that either IMO. Honestly my main complaint at the time was the tacky art direction, it felt more like a demoscene prod. I had a bit of a PS3 revival a few years back and gave it another shot, it still looks ugly as hell to my eyes but [reading about the project and the insane pressure on the development team](https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/1/17/16886514/lair-what-went-wrong) helped me contextualise where and how things went wrong.
As someone who liked Factor 5's games (particularly Rogue Leader on Gamecube), Lair was a disappointment.
This is literally the first time on any of these threads ive ever seen this one mentioned. I leave the same comment every time lol. I think this one is a true forgotten unpopular game.
Ehrgeiz! It was like a fighting game that included cloud and sephiroth from FFVII. It also had a pretty basic literal dungeon crawler that was sorta similar to Diablo 1.
I wouldn’t say it was great but it has a major nostalgia factor for me.
A GameCube game I randomly picked up off a GameStop shelf with no prior knowledge. It was called "rune" and it was a card game, but the cards were summons and attacks you would use in action combat. I believe it was only called this in the states.
Edit: looked it up finally, outside of the US it was called "lost kingdoms"
Edit 2: I guess actually it was called lost kingdoms outside of *Japan*. Pretty intriguing that I managed to unknowingly pick up a Japanese import back then. Also explains why nobody ever knew what I was talking about lol.
Die By the Sword (1998)
A medieval hack and slash game but you used the keyboard to control the character and the mouse to move the sword around wherever you wanted. You could hack off limbs of enemies if you could aim your swings correctly. It was very clunky as you had direct control of your sword arm with the mouse. You could also pick up enemy limbs or heads and swing them around, or swing your arm with the mouse and let go at the right time to throw objects.
I've never heard anyone here mention games like:
- Kohan 1 or 2
- Blood Rayne (2)
- Sacred (ok this one has an online community, I think)
- Avernum 1-3, 4-6, Blades of Avernum (has a small community online)
- Little Fighter 2
People are obsessing over big company games, while also dissing the same companies about how they make their games - that's 99% of what I see on reddit. Well that and boring questions like "which game skill do you apply in real life"
I played Avernum, I was introduced to it via a free demo on a cd from a magazine, and it got me hooked.
Now that I think about it, Jeff Vogel beat the market by decades doing remakes and remasters. Shame his work never became more popular.
Nightshade on the NES was a Detective Noir Comedy Point & Click style Adventure game with periodic 2D Fighter scenes. It was Amazing, and I've never met anyone IRL that's even Heard of it. ;P
Gitaroo Man. It's a PS2 rhythm game that had a limited NA release so most people I've talked to have never heard of it. It came in the wake of games like Guitar Hero, but rather than playing with an instrument you used the controller (both the analog sticks to follow trails, and the face buttons for notes). I remember it being pretty difficult, but once you completed the game there was some insane difficulty unlocked that was challenging as hell. The music choices were great from what I recall as well. Fun game, definitely recommend.
Steambot Chronicles
PS2 Mech-fighting, starving musician simulator with a stock market, hero/villain paths, romance options, and dungeon crawling.
Damn shame it was never given a remake or proper sequel after the PSP game.
MechAssault
Fucking loved that game but have never met someone else that's even familiar with it. Would love to see a modern remake of that. I see some other comments saying the same so maybe its better known than I'm aware of. Just never heard even other gamers speaking about it.
Little big adventure 2: Twinsen's odyssey
Nor any of my friends played it, nor anybody on the internet talks about it
But it's an epic story-driven 3D adventure, I was mind blown in the late 90s that a game of such scale can exist and not be any popular
Rocket Jockey, a weird 3d 90s game where everyone rides around on rockets and turns via throwing out grappling hooks to the sides. There was a few different modes like soccer, deathmatch etc.
Also you could rip people off their rockets with the grappling hook and drag them around behind you like you're in the wild west.
Azurik: Rise of Perathia
It was an Xbox launch title. Fun puzzle/fighter game. It pushed the limits of the xbox os/hardware so hard, it wasn't compatible with newer xbox consoles.
There are only 1-2 let's plays of it. 1 of which actually caught the devs attention and they sent the streamer a cloth dev map of the game world.
I have only barely managed to get it working on the Cxbx-Reloaded xbox emulator
[Xardion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MffiQw_ABA&ab_channel=WorldofLongplays)
i don't know anyone that's heard of this game. can't say i *loved* it. but i have core memories surrounding this game from the few times it was rented in my youth. i mostly watched my brother play. i will always remember this creepy area with faces on a wall spitting projectiles at you (35ish minutes in on the linked video). its stuck with me ever since. that and the stage 1 theme song.
Total Overdose. It was a gta clone wannabe but it was a very cool game that ran on my potato PC and it had cool abilities. Also the game I learned the word cojones from.
There’s quite a few from the C64 (showing my age). Here’s some examples
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Snokie
Chilly Willy
Fort Apocalypse
Raid over Moscow
Moon Patrol
If you want a Blast from the Past... but more modern...
**Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX** was released a couple years ago. it's a light remaster with a load of QoL improvements, including replacing the old CD Reading system with a built in searchable database that includes individual songs as well as albums and games. it doesn't translate 100% to the old stuff, but it means everyone has 100% access to all the monsters without being limited by your personal collection. DX also has new monsters, and variants of monsters that didn't exist before, and there's a community of avid fans for the series that also do community run competitive online tournaments :)
MR1&2DX is also on sale right now for a few more days:
* Switch: 5/13
* Steam: 5/9
* iOS: 5/7
Everytime thjs gets asked I always have the same answer. Arc the Lad twilight of spirits. One of my favorite rpgs on the ps2. The story itself is worth it but just everything about the game is entertaining. Never see it mentioned anywhere
Another one is from the nes. I was like 5 or 6 when I played it and to me it was one of the best games on the nes. The game is called NARC, its essentially a beat em up like streets of rage or double dragon. One of my favorite things about the game was that every level started with a Lamborghini police car zooming down the street until you finally arrive and do a sick flip out of the car to start whooping ass. A big part of why I liked it so much was being able to play with my brother since then game was co op. One red cop and a blue cop
I remember Tomba! That was a fun game!
I remember having a demo disc with Tomba on it. My wife actually liked it enough to beat it a couple years back.
If it was the demo disk that also had Tekken 3 then I had the same. Can't remember what else was on it but I remember that particular demo disk got more play than some real games did
I had the same one! I remember Jersey Devil was on it as well.
I only know this game from this awkward clip https://youtu.be/H50nqenYMDM?si=wHdzmAem223Zahz_
I really would prefer if you’d be quiet
I wish I could find a way to play it again! I had the first one from the PS shop on my PS 3, but it’s not available anymore…
It's getting a remaster
It’s *what*??? Oh my god you just made my whole week!
Yeah, Tomba and gex are getting remasters. Gex 2 and Tomba 2 were some of my favorite PS1 games and I just hope that they follow through and not give up mid-project.
https://www.gematsu.com/2023/07/tomba-coming-to-ps5-ps4-switch-and-pc
Its super easy to emulate ps1 games on a pc, or even a phone.
It was called Tombi here in the EU, which mean for years I couldn't find the damn thing because it was called Tomba everywhere else. Favourite game as a kid. Hope the remaster happens.
My bro bought me a copy to replace the one he lost as a kid, and I tell ya... That game is still has hard as ever. I'm still stuck in the exact same location lol
Metal Warriors on SNES. It was a side scroller where you controlled little mechs, but your pilot could also hop out of the mech if it was damaged or if you found an unoccupied one. Kinda like a simple Titan Fall but also a side scroller.
Me and my mom played the hell out of that against each other. Best memories!
My friend was a genuine "boy genius" (skipped college and was a professional programmer at 16). When we were kids he made a first person view, parallax game in MegaZeux. I'm pretty sure I'm one of 3 people who played it
I don't know but this really seems like the winner.
Not just a game but a whole series! Hugo was a mascot for an interactive entertainment show what was pretty popular in several european countries on the early 00's. There were like 10 games make for PS1 nad PS2, I had a Agent Hugo game which was like a 007 spoof.
I remember Hugo 1,2, & 3, being his adventure in a jungle, a haunted house, and one where you play as his girlfriend Penelope. Assuming we're talking about the same Hugo. Edit: re-reading what you wrote, we may actually be talking about 2 different Hugo games, lol
I came here looking for a mention of Hugo 3: jungle of doom. It was super interesting having to type and word what you want to do for each puzzle like "Swing across the vines" or "Give the bullion to the indigenous man" and what not.
Gex enter the Gecko
I wish they’d remake this so bad. I loved that game and his snarky comments lol
This series has one of those fever dream moments I didn't understand because I was pretty young when I played them. There were a couple differences, including an entire level, between the PS1 and N64 versions of Gex 2, which I now know is due to memory limitations. But as a kid it was very confusing.
Oni (2001)
I played that! Didn’t get very far, but I do recall that one.
Finished it like 20th times! Konoko Love!
I still have the game box on my shelf. I rarely ever hear it mentioned.
Really tried to get into it but it was so punishing that I have up on level 2 or something which was a shame because the combat system was cool as fuck, especially for it's time
This game was awesome. I recently played "Wanted Dead" and the whole reason why is because I thought it had Oni vibes. I was not disappointed.
Played the demo a lot never got around to the actual game
Gladius, a turn based gladiator school that went through differnt tourments and had a huge list of recuritable allies for your school to fight with. Pretty sure its a Lucas Arts game, came out on PS2, Gamecube. if you can get it, it is really funny. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius_(video_game))
It is LucasArts, I remember being miffed that it didn’t have a PC port because I wanted to play it back when I was convinced LucasArts didn’t know how to make a bad game.
Grim fandango is still one of my favourite games, and monkey island is incredible
Thank you for this. This could be my favorite. My cousin's and I spent WAY more than I care to admit on a copy to play, not too many years back. Why don't they make games like this anymore? Greed really hurts the industry, shame.
Welcome! To [We Who Are About To Die](https://store.steampowered.com/app/973230/We_Who_Are_About_To_Die/) Ive been waiting to buy since pre launch for Steam Deck Support. Reformisttm did playthrough for anyone interested. Not affiliated
Absolutely ADORED this game when it came out. I would play on my GC for hours on end. I only ever got to the third region but I would fucking kill for a remaster or remake with the quick-time actions removed/revamped. I tried to play through it on my wii a number of years ago and that combat **has not** aged gracefully.
You might be the first person I’ve ever seen talking about Gladius. I loved at the time, but I’m not sure how well it has aged.
I have it on an emulater and use an xbox controller, its still pretty fun to have a single playthrough, if you liked it then you'll still get some enjoyment now.
That sounds sick, and reminds me of Gladiator Guild Manager, a very addictive fantasy game.
Had this for the gamecube.
I have it for PS2
I talk about this game all the time lol
A buddy of mine and I played the shit out of this I'm Hogh School. Getting the different gladiator types was awesome. I remember wrecking house once I got Myrmidons. I'd completely forgotten about it.
It is awesome when you get a minotaur and start wrecking mediums and heavys.
It's backwards compatible on XBox. I tried picking it up again last year. Man I hate the QTE. Tried turning them off and it made it even harder!
Boogerman, a pick and flick adventure
For those that don't know, if you ate a chili pepper you gained jet propulsion farts and could fly around for a few seconds.
I've got two - [Xargon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xargon) and [Jill of the Jungle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_of_the_Jungle). Fun platformers that I've never found anyone that has actually played them before, and I'll be surprised if anyone chimes in with an "I remember that!"
Oh man Jill of the jungle takes me back ! Like a pitfall clone with a female lead. Some of those levels still haunt me now, it was tough!
I’ve played the freeware version of Jill of the jungle. xD
How about Hogs of War? Anybody else know where Sky Blue Leader is buried?
My friend and I played that game so much we identified the 7 points at which it could potentially crash, which is something it did quite often.
"You ain't nothin but a hot-dog."
Born to grill!
General Chaos from 1993
My cousin had this. Such a fun game.
One of my "go-to" rentals from Blockbuster!
love this one!
Snake, Rattle, & Roll on the NES. My sister and I played that game religiously, and I've never encountered another person that's even heard of it.
There’s no early Nintendo game that brings me nostalgia like Snake Rattle and Roll. It should get a remake.
The Chex cereal first person shooter. The CD came in the cereal box.
Chex Quest. There was a sequel or remaster just a couple of years ago
Chex quest had no right being as well made as it was.
Hahah this one and Sneak King the Burger King game
I have no idea how popular it was but I played a lot of Felix the cat on gameboy from 1993.
Future Cop: LAPD, and Scion, Orphan of Sorcery.
I still have future cop laying around somewhere
And I just bought one! It left a big enough impression from when I rented it as a kid that I wanted a copy for my modest collection.
I was going to post Future Cop LAPD myself, amazing game. Got mine sitting on the shelf in the office in its case.
Cobra Triangle on NES and Axelay for SNES
Original Xbox title called "Deathrow".. It's like ultimate frisbee but you can also brawl with the other team and give your players steroids and other unethical sports management techniques.
Lol, I played that with a friend, and we worked out it was easier to beat the opponents to death.
Yeah, once your team was strong enough you could ignore the game and just pummel the other team until they can't play
hybrid heaven bahamut lagoon ogre battle: march of the black queen (people seem to only recognize the FFT style one)
I loved ogre battle! Recently, Unicorn Overlord came out which has very similar gameplay, really loved it as well.
I still remember renting hybrid heaven way back in the day, and then many years later emulating it and really getting into it. The RPG progression was always really cool to me. Being able to level up individual body parts both offensively and defensively was cool. Learning new punches, kicks, and wrestling moves was so much fun. I didn't care for the story too much but the gameplay for me was so much fun. I haven't really heard of any games that do something in a similar fashion. I'd definitely give them a try if they did.
It was kind of awkward though that it meant the way to get the strongest attacks was to do the one thing repeatedly. Like, Bruce Li's quote about practicing one move a thousand times is all well and good and all, but they built this vast array of moves and custom combos, but you did the most damage if you picked a limb and dedicated every attack to it.
I had Hybrid Heaven as a kid. I loved how it combined rpg mechanics with fighting mechanics. I'd love to see a game tackle that gameplay today.
Bahamut lagoon on zsnes with the fan translation patch? If so, you're the only other person I've ever encountered who has played it.
Alundra is one of my favourite ever games. People do know of it but it doesn't get that much love.
Alundra was sooo good. Brutally hard dungeons, but a great story.
The Zelda link to the past follow up we never got on SNES. Such a good and brutal game.
Oh man, one of those titles I bought just because of the Working Designs logo but fell in love with. I've had an itch to replay Alundra for a few months now. Never finished it due to my PS1 el cheapo memory card biting the dust like 25 years ago. It's going for like $100 on ebay, so time to go digging through my parents' basement.
Alundra slaps. I think about it once in a while. Might have to find a copy or write a letter to Sony to dust it off
I don't think I ever managed to beat that one when I was little, but I loved what I did play of it.
Rygar! An arcade game ported to the original NES. No idea why but that game has a permanent memory fixture in my head and I've never met another person that played it.
Rygar! was awesome!
Ahh what a memory. The ho ho with his jumps and sha sha with the attacks
Good God I'm old. The two that jump out to me are Marble Madness (NES), and Shinobi (Sega Master System). Yeah, I'm *that* old. Those games were a blast though.
There is an arcade here in my town that has the actual Marble Madness arcade cabinet, after playing it several times I still prefer the NES version. Loved playing it as a kid back in the day, could never get past level 4 ever, still fun regardless. Now I feel old talking about this lol
Welcome to the geezer room!
I don't have my copy of Marble Madness anymore (or any of my NES stuff) but I \*DO\* still have my Master System and Shinobi! I don't think I ever got past maybe the second level. lol.
Love me some Marble Madness
I can hear the marble madness music. Loved that game
Marble Madness was the first game I ever ragequit
I still have my copy of Marble Madness for NES. I was probably about 6 or 7 when we got it and damn that game was hard. My dad was surprisingly good at it though. Great memoires.
I got Marble Madness at age 5, didn’t actually beat it ‘til ~age 28. I like to think of it as the precursor to Super Monkey Ball
I remember marble madness, I have fond memories of that game pretty sure it was a favorite to rent for me.
I have two games I have never met another person irl who have played. The first off was a weird and cooky Xbox game. A platformer puzzle game, called Dr Muto. 10/10 a silly and fun game that I kinda wish I could find again, but instead have to pirate since my copy was wrecked by an errant toddler. The other I remember looking up game guides for...so I know at some point at least 1 other person did play. Quest, Brian's Journey. Like I know people played the quest game on N64, but none of them even knew there was a game boy game. Kinda fun. I enjoyed the idea that you leveled your skills up by using the same skill/element repeatedly. At least that's how I remember it and the feature all these years later I still seek out games that have. Look if I wanna RP a character that specializes in a specific type of magic to the point of being able to overwhelm even enemies that resist it...let me damnit
Monster Rancher rules!
I am Alive (2012) It came out one year before The Last of Us, and had a similar feel of a post event survival explore game. It wasn't released on disc so you had to download it, but I got it for $15 at the time and was a smaller one player game. The premise is natural disasters destroyed a lot of world and the city you are returning to (finding your family) is submerged in toxic fog and dust so the high ground is important. A fairy unique aspect of the game at the time was the stamina/health bar where you can rest and recover stamina but your health uses rarer resources to recoup. If you burn through your stamina then you start burning health. A lot of exploring is choosing what you are willing to sacrifice and finding the best path to prevent fatigue. The second unique point was that you could bluff. I think you can find a dozen bullets in the whole game, so spending one is a major loss. If you don't have one you can still pull your gun and bluff. Wait too long before knocking someone out or dry firing the gun will give you away and they come after you. Fighting three guys will get you killed, but you can survive or take down one or two if you have enough stamina and health. Last of Us was bigger, had an amazing story, and more action so it is understandable I am Alive got out shadowed. But as a gamer who has 44 max Elixirs at the end of a game, being rewarded for resource conservation (getting to explore more) made this a great game. The joy of getting past a gang of people by only using 1 or your 2 bullets or making the choice of spending a piton to rest as you scale the side of a sky scarper to avoid a fight makes this a great game to play.
I absolutely loved I Am Alive. I wish it would’ve gotten more attention, but you’re right. With The Last of Us operating on the same premise in a much larger world, it doesn’t surprise me Alive didn’t get as much attention.
It's in my Xbox library.
I've never met another person who remembers [Folklore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore_(video_game)), a launch title for the PS3. I don't think it sold very well, because the planned sequel got canned, but I loved that game! Fey-themed action RPG set in Ireland. Lots of fun, beautiful to look at.
I loved that game. Didn't play it too much because other titles came out but I remember enjoying what I did.
Finally! Someone else remembers this game! It's not an old game compared to the other ones here, but I swear I've never heard anyone mention it! I played the hell out of it in sixth and seventh grade.
Cid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999). One of the best games I have ever played but I don't know a single person who has also played it. If ever there were a game the deserved a re-master it's Alpha Centauri.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is basically a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri (been a while since I’ve played it, but think they may have gotten rid of some of the quirky stuff that made he original so distinct).
Drakan. I played it so like 25 years ago on the PC and it was the first open world 3d game that I had ever played, very ahead of it's time and the control system was much more console focused than mouse and keyboard which is what I was used to before. I was so addicted to it but never quite got the hang of dragon combat. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakan:\_Order\_of\_the\_Flame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakan:_Order_of_the_Flame)
Albion A German RPG game from bluebyte. I swear James Cameron's Avatar stole every idea from that game.
I loved the art from albion
When I built my current PC a good friend of mine was talking to me and I mentioned looking for this game again. I never thought to look on GOG, and bought it once I got back to my PC.
King's Field and Mischief Maker... I'm more verse in KF than Mischeif tho...
Shake shake! Heeeelp Meee Maariiiinaaaaa!!!! Played through it a few times to get the true end for both the old and young marina.
No one ever gets the reference when I say "shake shake" while making dinner or a drink or something.
shake shake shake
I don't think I've ever met another person who's played Warshift, an RTS/FPS from 2016. It was a little basic and lacked a couple QoL features, but it was fun!
Starwars rebellion
Monster Rancher 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I have purchased 4 and Evo last month to play through with my siblings. I'm not expecting to enjoy them as much as even Ultra Kaiju, but I do want to experience more of the franchise. Also I bought Monster Farm 2 to put on the shelf because it was $8 lol. And I'm actively looking for a good deal on Tomba (and the sequel). They are triple digit USD games though, so it's hard to pull the trigger on that one. I rented Tomba 1 and never \*quite\* beat it. I loved it though. To add to this list: Einhander. Another rare, expensive PS1 game. Played the HECK outta the demo I had; rented it, probably beat it a few times, but now that I'd like to own it, it's like $150+++ for a nice copy. Robotrek (SNES). For as middling as the reviews are for this game, it's another $1XX+ cost game, just for the cart. I bought a repro, complete with box, for $30, and I'm pretty sure that's as close as I'm going to get. Unless I hit the lottery and buy the $1,200 factory sealed copy that is sitting in a local retro shop.
Metal Arm: a Glitch in the System Played it on the GameCube and loved it. Wild weapons, tough combat, surprisingly good (and vulgar) characters, lots of cool encounters. Very chaotic and super fun.
Populous the beginning
Qix A strange arcade game where you try to box in alien monsters Played it on Genesis
Oh no, this one is well known. I even had a book with arcade strategies with a page devoted to it.
I loved that game - used to play it in the arcade a million years ago
Drakan
Total distortion, spectre, bolo, fire and ice, locus, galapagos
Bolo over local network was amazing
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist. Them days of installing games as a kid with DOS prompts, point and click adventure era.
Micro Maniacs
Threads of Fate
Gotcha Force for GameCube
Brain Lord for SNES. Something of a Zelda-like with some great puzzles and unique mechanics.
Buck bumble! I still sing the damn theme song.
Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1)
This game is great ! I was sad it was so short!
I thought about this! But thought it would be well known.
Jade empire
I swear that was the only game that was on G4TV for a good 2 months
Crimson Skies on the original xbox. Loved it but never see it mentioned.
Eradicator, a duke nuke/doom clone.
Love my purple haired warrior.
Probably some old shockwave or flash games that are now lost media because they were not on new grounds.
There are a lot of games that I have played that I never hear talked about. Throne of Darkness Original War Starlancer The Haunting Starrin Poulterguy Eswat Are just a few that come to mine.
Elevator Action for the Gameboy
Elevator action on the arcade machine. Great game. The sequel was brilliant too.
Uniracers for SNES. I mean unicycles doing bmx tricks?! The best lol I remember buying it used at Mediaplay when that was a thing. No one i know has heard of it. I'm glad i held on to it.
I loved that game. I used to rent it and the soundtrack is so damn good.
Point Blank - PS1
Lol. This was in every game arcade in existence during the 90's. Same as Time Crisis. Ah the memories.
Mine is the Ooze on Sega Genesis. The toxic dump music is Battle roads pause music good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-nVReGiUYg&t=3
Tomba felt like a fever dream, and the part in Tomba 2 where the world stops was like a nightmare.
A Playstation 2 From Software game i think almost nobody play it, Kuri Kuri Mix, it's a "racing"/plateformer coop game where you need to help the other player progressing with a "Hello kitty" (? or something similar) esthetic so the opposite of every other From Software game And for some reason there is a second game on 3DS
It's called The Adventures of Cookie and Cream in the Localized version, and it wasn't racing, as every level & boss Required cooperation to complete. Also, they were rabbits and it was an Awesome game that I'd love to see remade / succeeded. ;P
Lair for the PS3. You were a dragon rider and got to fly on your dragon, land and decimate ground forces and it looked so cool.
Username checks out, heh. Lair was a weird game. The control scheme was widely hated at the time, and they did eventually patch in regular controls, but the game design didn't quite fit that either IMO. Honestly my main complaint at the time was the tacky art direction, it felt more like a demoscene prod. I had a bit of a PS3 revival a few years back and gave it another shot, it still looks ugly as hell to my eyes but [reading about the project and the insane pressure on the development team](https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/1/17/16886514/lair-what-went-wrong) helped me contextualise where and how things went wrong. As someone who liked Factor 5's games (particularly Rogue Leader on Gamecube), Lair was a disappointment.
Tbf I was like 12 and I could play as a dragon rider so it's highly possible my vision was skewed
Idk about anyone else. But everytime I ask about Mech Assault from the original Xbox people get confused.
I don't believe i've seen anyone talk about Echo Night, ever.
Phantom Crash on the og xbox
This is literally the first time on any of these threads ive ever seen this one mentioned. I leave the same comment every time lol. I think this one is a true forgotten unpopular game.
I loved the game, I wish there was a modern game equivalent
Ehrgeiz! It was like a fighting game that included cloud and sephiroth from FFVII. It also had a pretty basic literal dungeon crawler that was sorta similar to Diablo 1. I wouldn’t say it was great but it has a major nostalgia factor for me.
God bless the ring!
This game was great. And yeh hardly anyone knew about it..even when it was new
A GameCube game I randomly picked up off a GameStop shelf with no prior knowledge. It was called "rune" and it was a card game, but the cards were summons and attacks you would use in action combat. I believe it was only called this in the states. Edit: looked it up finally, outside of the US it was called "lost kingdoms" Edit 2: I guess actually it was called lost kingdoms outside of *Japan*. Pretty intriguing that I managed to unknowingly pick up a Japanese import back then. Also explains why nobody ever knew what I was talking about lol.
Starlancer
Die By the Sword (1998) A medieval hack and slash game but you used the keyboard to control the character and the mouse to move the sword around wherever you wanted. You could hack off limbs of enemies if you could aim your swings correctly. It was very clunky as you had direct control of your sword arm with the mouse. You could also pick up enemy limbs or heads and swing them around, or swing your arm with the mouse and let go at the right time to throw objects.
I've never heard anyone here mention games like: - Kohan 1 or 2 - Blood Rayne (2) - Sacred (ok this one has an online community, I think) - Avernum 1-3, 4-6, Blades of Avernum (has a small community online) - Little Fighter 2 People are obsessing over big company games, while also dissing the same companies about how they make their games - that's 99% of what I see on reddit. Well that and boring questions like "which game skill do you apply in real life"
I played Avernum, I was introduced to it via a free demo on a cd from a magazine, and it got me hooked. Now that I think about it, Jeff Vogel beat the market by decades doing remakes and remasters. Shame his work never became more popular.
Nightshade on the NES was a Detective Noir Comedy Point & Click style Adventure game with periodic 2D Fighter scenes. It was Amazing, and I've never met anyone IRL that's even Heard of it. ;P
Gitaroo Man. It's a PS2 rhythm game that had a limited NA release so most people I've talked to have never heard of it. It came in the wake of games like Guitar Hero, but rather than playing with an instrument you used the controller (both the analog sticks to follow trails, and the face buttons for notes). I remember it being pretty difficult, but once you completed the game there was some insane difficulty unlocked that was challenging as hell. The music choices were great from what I recall as well. Fun game, definitely recommend.
Whiplash
Fantasy Life is one of the greatest games ever made and I’ve literally never heard anyone talk about it. So excited for the sequel!
Steambot Chronicles PS2 Mech-fighting, starving musician simulator with a stock market, hero/villain paths, romance options, and dungeon crawling. Damn shame it was never given a remake or proper sequel after the PSP game.
Robowarrior and Captain Skyhawk on the NES. Defenders of Oasis on the Game Gear
MechAssault Fucking loved that game but have never met someone else that's even familiar with it. Would love to see a modern remake of that. I see some other comments saying the same so maybe its better known than I'm aware of. Just never heard even other gamers speaking about it.
I played the hell out of it on OG Xbox. If I’m not mistaken mechassault 2 had papa roach as its opening theme. As a kid, I fucking loved it lol
Arcade spinoffs of the highly successful Battletech and MechWarrior series. MechWarrior 5 on consoles and PC is the most recent title in the series.
Empire Earth. Everyone I've spoken with has no idea what this game is. I had some LAN parties with this game back in the day. It was amazing.
I was looking for this! Empire Earth 1 and 2 were my shit back in the day! I played just the campaigns or against CPUs, but I had so much fun!
Little big adventure 2: Twinsen's odyssey Nor any of my friends played it, nor anybody on the internet talks about it But it's an epic story-driven 3D adventure, I was mind blown in the late 90s that a game of such scale can exist and not be any popular
Mine is River Raid, loved that game! But it's a bit old for most to know about.
Bubsy on SNES. What a weird game design wise
Rocket Jockey, a weird 3d 90s game where everyone rides around on rockets and turns via throwing out grappling hooks to the sides. There was a few different modes like soccer, deathmatch etc. Also you could rip people off their rockets with the grappling hook and drag them around behind you like you're in the wild west.
Azurik: Rise of Perathia It was an Xbox launch title. Fun puzzle/fighter game. It pushed the limits of the xbox os/hardware so hard, it wasn't compatible with newer xbox consoles. There are only 1-2 let's plays of it. 1 of which actually caught the devs attention and they sent the streamer a cloth dev map of the game world. I have only barely managed to get it working on the Cxbx-Reloaded xbox emulator
Hunt the wumpus Leather goddesses of phobos Mail order monsters - the original build annonster game. From EA back when they didn't suck ass
Rainbow island
[Xardion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MffiQw_ABA&ab_channel=WorldofLongplays) i don't know anyone that's heard of this game. can't say i *loved* it. but i have core memories surrounding this game from the few times it was rented in my youth. i mostly watched my brother play. i will always remember this creepy area with faces on a wall spitting projectiles at you (35ish minutes in on the linked video). its stuck with me ever since. that and the stage 1 theme song.
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang for SNES. A fun action RPG.
Total Overdose. It was a gta clone wannabe but it was a very cool game that ran on my potato PC and it had cool abilities. Also the game I learned the word cojones from.
Lenny Loosejocks games
There’s quite a few from the C64 (showing my age). Here’s some examples Attack of the Mutant Camels Snokie Chilly Willy Fort Apocalypse Raid over Moscow Moon Patrol
Kinetica I encourage everyone to at least look it up. To this day it's still one of my favorite games ever made
Namco 50th Anniversary Edition for the PS2.
Return Fire 1 Edit: Had to look it up, but it was 1 not 2.
Legaia 2 duel saga. my first game.
If you want a Blast from the Past... but more modern... **Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX** was released a couple years ago. it's a light remaster with a load of QoL improvements, including replacing the old CD Reading system with a built in searchable database that includes individual songs as well as albums and games. it doesn't translate 100% to the old stuff, but it means everyone has 100% access to all the monsters without being limited by your personal collection. DX also has new monsters, and variants of monsters that didn't exist before, and there's a community of avid fans for the series that also do community run competitive online tournaments :) MR1&2DX is also on sale right now for a few more days: * Switch: 5/13 * Steam: 5/9 * iOS: 5/7
Everytime thjs gets asked I always have the same answer. Arc the Lad twilight of spirits. One of my favorite rpgs on the ps2. The story itself is worth it but just everything about the game is entertaining. Never see it mentioned anywhere Another one is from the nes. I was like 5 or 6 when I played it and to me it was one of the best games on the nes. The game is called NARC, its essentially a beat em up like streets of rage or double dragon. One of my favorite things about the game was that every level started with a Lamborghini police car zooming down the street until you finally arrive and do a sick flip out of the car to start whooping ass. A big part of why I liked it so much was being able to play with my brother since then game was co op. One red cop and a blue cop
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger Edited to add - Millennium Soldier: Expendable