Hidden Gems: The Games that Seemingly Only You Played

[Twewy]

I played the first Summon Night on a slow day in Drafting once. It was fun and unique.

 

[LasermasterA]

I loved the 2 Summon Night Swordcraft Story games on GBA! They were amazing! 100% completion for the win

Haven't played any of the main series games yet though...

 

[WideMouthInk]

Spoiler

Not gonna lie when I say it kinda grinds my gears a little to know only a handful of people have even heard of this little Game Freak gem that isn't a another Pokemon title (the other ones being Pulseman and Harmoknight, among some smaller projects).

It's a simple, charming, and sometimes over-the-top puzzle platformer with a unique drill rotation mechanic. You play as a young girl named Jill who'se the daughter of the leader of a band of thieves known as the Red Dozers. The plot revolves around getting your deceased Mother's Gem back from the antagonist, Croog. You basically go around on a stage based adventure drilling enemies, blocks, unique bosses and using your drill in more creative ways (most notably, a screw driver).

It's a real a fun title. I'll admit it has it's flaws but I wouldn't hesitate to say this is a game that should not be as overlooked as it is.

Also an honorable mention.

Spoiler

Quirky little game with bizarre characters.

You're the land lord of a hotel of random tenants of many weird and varied personalities. The game is kinda like a puzzle games where you set up rooms and tenants in blocks and place them in positions where they can share good or bad vibes with their adjacent neighbors.

Your job is basically to make sure the tenants are happy and you meet the mission goal of the stage set by the game's antagonist, who also sends members of his organization to try and mess with your business. You get rid of them (and "bosses") by sending out all the bad vibes towards them until they literally explode from the stress.

Your own character has to get out of his own box too, whenever these guys start to wreck havoc (as they do so by leaving their rooms and going to others floors to stress out everyone else).

It's a nice game, but might be a bit niche.

 

[DakotaBonez]

Go Vacation

Spoiler

This game is my guilty casual pleasure.

You're sent to an island with 4 massive resorts to explore where you can do whatever ya want, because yer on vacation.
The 4 resorts are HUUUUUUGE. Oh, and did I mention that this game has 4 player co-op? That's right, open world exploration with up to 3 other friends. It's like the sequel to Kirby Airride's city mode that we always wanted.

Each Resort has games scattered throughout, stunt challenges on snowboards/skateboards etc, ****ty generic point at the screen and shoot games, plain ol vacation activities like Kayaking in a boat with your friends, scuba diving or snowman building. For the most part the games are terrible or feel like watered down versions of wii sports games. The real appeal lies in just exploring, looking for secret areas, performing the achievements, and finding hidden treasure chests. Of course this is all a million times funner with a friend, but playing by yourself can be very relaxing.

You can travel around on the resorts by foot, but there's a few vehicles unique to each resort to travel around with. Ride in SUVs, Horseback, Waterjet, ATV, Snow Tube, Skiis and a few others I can't recall. In the city resort you can Skate on a board or roller blades and have fun performing stunts around the cityscape, grinding across rooftops, leaping from monument to monument. Its very reminiscent of Jet Grind Radio. The mountain resort feels like Hyrule Field combined with death mountain, after navigating your way up the trails and mounting the summit, I love jumping off the waterfall and into the rapids. The snow resort is massive, you can take a helicopter to the top of the mountain and slide down it on a tube and end up on a different path each time. There's a couple of towns scattered throughout too. The beach resort is okay, I don't really play enough of it to do it justice though, but the surfing is a fun distraction and the water acts so realistically, like assassins creed 4 realism in the waves.

You can play as your miis, which was a huge plus because the game has alot of clothing customization. Its pretty cool to see your mii wearing actual clothes and it just makes the game funner when you can play as your avatar. The treasure chests I mentioned before unlock more outfits and funny costumes.

I mentioned before that most of the games were pretty ****, but there are a few gems. Some of my favorite's are Air Hockey, which plays like ya think it would, and capture the flag. In Capture the flag, you run around a portion of the selected resort and try to keep the flag away from your friends for as long as possible, seeing who can hold it the longest within the time limit. Ya gotta out maneuver them with the vehicles available, or go on foot to access certain areas. This game is compatible with Wii Motion Plus and the Balance Board, which unlock some pretty unique games. If you have Wii motion Plus controllers, you can have a lightsaber battle that kicks wii sports resort's Sword fighting game in the ass. When I first got the wii about 6 years ago, I dreamed of all the cool sword fighting games that would come out, unfortunately they all sucked, but not this one, this one is the real deal. Here's a clip of the sword fighting action against a CPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CYowiCxH0Y
If you have a second controller you can fight a friend.

Here's a multiplayer clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-cTlMnNTq8

The game grumps did a short couple of lets play clips, and theres a full lets play by dazran303

I can go on and on about this game but...TLDR, heres the summary.
KIRBY AIRRIDE 4 PLAYER CO-OP WII SPORTS RESORT OPEN WORLD 100 MINIGAMES LIGHTSABER BATTLEZ!

 

[The Last Great Adventurer]

Spoiler

Not gonna lie when I say it kinda grinds my gears a little to know only a handful of people have even heard of this little Game Freak gem that isn't a another Pokemon title (the other ones being Pulseman and Harmoknight, among some smaller projects).

It's a simple, charming, and sometimes over-the-top puzzle platformer with a unique drill rotation mechanic. You play as a young girl named Jill who'se the daughter of the leader of a band of thieves known as the Red Dozers. The plot revolves around getting your deceased Mother's Gem back from the antagonist, Croog. You basically go around on a stage based adventure drilling enemies, blocks, unique bosses and using your drill in more creative ways (most notably, a screw driver).

It's a real a fun title. I'll admit it has it's flaws but I wouldn't hesitate to say this is a game that should not be as overlooked as it is.

Isnt there an item in Smash 4 from this game?

EDIT: Oh yeah. I've got an obscure Gem I never hear anyone raving about...

Spoiler

Space Station Silicon Valley is a very cool 3D action platformer from the N64. Its loaded with puzzles and a huge variety of abilities. You're a micro chip trapped on an out of control space station full of robotic animals. You have to take control of the robots and solve environmental puzzles with their unique abilities.

Its great fun. Though the controls can be a little loose. But its one of the best games of its type on the system.

 

[InfiniteTripping]

ActRaiser and Joe and Mac were among the five SNES games that I owned as a kid with no money. Joe and Mac might be pretty well known among someone with video game history, but ActRaiser was such a creative and original game that I never hear referenced at all. Most played the sequel which took everything that made the first one interesting, out of the game.

 

[WideMouthInk]

Isnt there an item in Smash 4 from this game?

If you're referring to the drill arm, that's actually an Uprising item. Shame though, cause this isn't the first I read that item referred to as a Drill Dozer item in this forum.

I also heard a bit and have seen some videos of Silicon Valley. Should really give that game a try.

 

[Komenja]

Spoiler

 

[finalark]

Spoiler

I played this game a long time ago on Dreamcast. I still think it's pretty creative with its characters and themes, but unfortunately the game play doesn't really hold up.

How about this game?

I don't really think Alan Wake is that obscure but I actually really like this game. But nobody ever seems to talk about it.

 

[smashbroskilla]

My friend and I used to rent this game from blockbuster all the time. It was the first 16 bit game to offer a full stereo sound track of black Sabbath so it was ahead of its time.

 

[ShyGuy16]

My friend and I used to rent this game from blockbuster all the time. It was the first 16 bit game to offer a full stereo sound track of black Sabbath so it was ahead of its time.

Oh, man. My brothers and I STILL play Rock n' Roll Racing. I thought I was the only one who ever played it. Classic.

 

[smashbroskilla]

GAUNTLET LEGENDS. We used to play that for days. Gets really tough. Dark Legacy was cool too but the original wins imo.

I played Gauntlet a lot.

A friend of mine built an arcade cabinet room for his son and I just had a friend sell him the smash TV cabinet. Took about 50 dollars in parts to get it working but it runs like new.

Just a random shot

 

[finalark]

I just had a friend sell him the smash TV cabinet.

For a split second I thought that was a custom arcade cabinet for Smash Bros.

WHICH WOULD BE AWESOME.

 

[Violenceman]

Spoiler

If you are looking for a two player adventure game that is both coop and competitive (and Four Sword Adventures has already ruined enough friendships), this might be the game for you. Put Legend of Zelda II, Mystical Ninja, and Final Fantasy in a big blender and you get the general idea.

Spoiler

Best Bubble-based game since Bubble Bobble. Spanky the monkey (Yes, Spanky the monkey) bounces bubbles on his head to grow them in size until he can pop them and turn them into a variety of sports ball attacks in order to take out vindictive anthropomorphized fruit. I can't make this stuff up. Try it for the wacky premise, keep playing because it is somehow addictive.

Spoiler

This one...is actually not that great. Gem is a real stretch. But the ideas and atmosphere it puts forth are worth the price of admission. Starship Troopers with time travel. Driving around in a series of time-period specific vehicles gunning down giant bugs is surprisingly engaging.

 

[WideMouthInk]

Spoiler

If you are looking for a two player adventure game that is both coop and competitive (and Four Sword Adventures has already ruined enough friendships), this might be the game for you. Put Legend of Zelda II, Mystical Ninja, and Final Fantasy in a big blender and you get the general idea.

Oh god, somebody knows this game! I remember when I was a kid me and my sis used to rent this game a lot. Was pretty fun.

Here's another oldie that's probably not as well known as some other classics.

Spoiler

The premise alone should pique anyone's interest. As the name and box art implies, it's a game about evolution. It's a platforming action RPG where you start off as a fish and have to eat lesser species until they become food. Eating that food will recover your health, but it will also give you EXP. With that EXP you "buy" new body parts to evolve into a new species.

Goes through the whole time periods, with a few tweaks to some of the historical events to make up it's own story.

The only real downside to the game is that it gets a bit grindy even in early stages of the game. That and it apparently has something against horns over carnivorous teeth. Still, I'd recommend giving it a try.

 

[Alakaslam]

Kinetica.

Ps2 racing game . . .

Legendary Axe. Castlevania iv of the Turbografix 16

Romance of the three kingdoms ll

I have no clue how to finish this game, the guy who made it never made it possible to even to first of all understand his English, and go to the first gym leader. But still, it is pretty fun.

orange version lol

Toronja would be even funnier, Grapefruit version XD

 

[Misery Brick]

Perfect Dark
Clayfighters
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.
I remember these games, but never came across someone who played or heard of them.

 

[WideMouthInk]

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.

I actually have this game on Steam. Gotta admit it's a bit different than the action games that I'm used to (and harder).

 

[Alakaslam]

Perfect Dark
Clayfighters
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.
I remember these games, but never came across someone who played or heard of them.

Perfect dark is actually pretty commonly played. Just a bit less than goldeneye.

It is comparable to Luigi's Mansion for played-ness.

 

[Crescendo]

I see a lot of people talking about Treasure games, and how they're amazing. Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, Sin & Punishment, Alien Soldier, Dynamite Headdy... all of their games are easy the top of the top when it comes to action games and even if they're busy these days trying to survive with Gaist Crusher, a lot of their products are considered classics.
For some reason, I don't see that one too often so I'd like to mention it.

On top of being a pretty good beat em up, it's the most amazing love letter to Tezuka's mangas that exists. You got Astro Boy, but a lot of other characters from the author appear, be it as cameos or as central point to the story, but it's still very easy to follow if you're not familiar with the guy. It's satisfying to play, the music is amazing and the plot is actually quite good, with some very emotional parts. More people should try it, be it to indulge in fanboyism, introduce themselves to Tezuka's work (which you should definitely check out by the way) or simply have fun beating armies of robots with punches and laser beams.

 

[LivewiresXe]

Aww man, I missed a Rock 'n' Roll Racing discussion? I rented the crap out of that game back in the day, and still play the GBA version a lot. To the point that any time Paranoid or Bad to the Bone come on the radio, I instantly think of it.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Anyone know this game? "Legacy of the Wizard", known in Japan as "Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family". One of only four games in this large series to be released in the U.S. (the other three being "Faxanadu", "Sorcerian", and "Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes"). Probably the earliest example of "Metroidvania" before the term was even coined. The gameplay, RPG elements, non-linear aspect, as well as the music were quite great for a game on the NES.

Spoiler: NES cover art

Spoiler: Famicom cover art

Spoiler: Soundtrack cover art (also used for MSX cover)

 

[LivewiresXe]

Unfortunately my only knowledge of "Faxanadu" comes from it getting name-dropped in the PSP fan translation of Danganronpa 1.

 

[lavagolem123]

Tagging this thread for suggestions! I'm not sure if you'd consider it a gem but Nier for the PS3/X360 is one of those games that nobody I know had played (took me forever to convince someone to try it and guess what, they LOVED it too lol). Ninja Blade for X360 (PS3?) was wicked for a hack n' slash. The Burnout series (PS2 &3 I think?) series was really fun for the racing genre, as was Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Gamecube). Dead Space: Extraction(?) on the Wii was an impressive on rails-shooter with a great story too. It felt like you were in a movie with how good the flow of the game was.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Tagging this thread for suggestions! I'm not sure if you'd consider it a gem but Nier for the PS3/X360 is one of those games that nobody I know had played (took me forever to convince someone to try it and guess what, they LOVED it too lol.

I own Nier. I've played and beaten the crap out of it. I f****** love that game, even with some of its shortcomings. Laura Bailey and Liam O'Brien providing the voices of Kainé and Grimoire Weiss respectively was the cherry on top for me.

 

[Twewy]

FATE and Sacred are pretty good Diablo clones. Try them sometime, someone.

 

[finalark]

FATE and Sacred are pretty good Diablo clones. Try them sometime, someone.

I actually have a copy of Scared. It's not bad, but I just really couldn't get into it. It was a game that came in a humble bundle I got once. I started it up, played for a bit and said, "This game looks pretty complex. I'll have to give it a go when I have the time for it." And then I never got around to it.

Although one of my favorite bands did this song for the game so that counts for something in my book.

 

[Gryffin]

Shadow Hearts as a series is underappreciated in the West. It's too bad Midway went bankrupt, because I would have loved to see more of these games made. Great battle system, quirky characters, creepy-*** enemies...I really liked it. Also the voice acting made me laugh my *** off sometimes.

Oh! I always wanted to play that.

 

[TimeSmash]

I feel bad for using guides but at the same time sometimes I have no idea what the hell to do, like in Terranigma. Does that make me a bad person??

 

[Twewy]

I feel bad for using guides but at the same time sometimes I have no idea what the hell to do, like in Terranigma. Does that make me a bad person??

No, it's perfectly okay to mess up and have to resort to a guide. After all, we're only human. Yes, you're going to video game Hell. Gaming Jesus only wants the best and most hardcore gamers for his paradise.

 

[TimeSmash]

You can't imagine the remorse I feel! I've been gaming for over 17 years, you'd think I'd be better haha

 

[finalark]

I don't think there's any shame in using a guide. To some extent. If you use a guide immediately upon getting stuck that's just laughable. Using a guide when you've tried absolutely everything you can think of to progress is another thing.

And then there's those games that I swear to god have at least one part in it where you need a strategy guide to progress. Like Crystal Chronicles, for example. Want to beat the game? You have to solve a vague puzzle in a completely random level with minimal hints. Sure, there's hints that show up in your journal. But chances are you won't realize that they're hints and even if you eventually do have fun digging through pages upon pages of "Today I killed Monster King Doofus III and saw a bird. It was pretty" to find them.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and once you find them you have to decode them too. Did I forget to mention that for as nostalgic as CC is it's also the bane of my childhood since its one of the few games from my boyhood that I just couldn't beat.

 

[Narigo1]

Spoiler

Spoiler

This last one might not be a hidden gem but Sega definitely needs to make a sequel to this

Spoiler

 

[Claire Diviner]

Alright, someone mentioned "Terranigma", and I was taken aback at memories of how awesome the game and most especially its music was, not only at the time, but even today.

With that out of the way, here's a game I really loved playing as a kid:

The thing about this game's hate, is that people often hate on this game because it has "Street Fighter" in the title and tries to create some bogus story with Ken and the Street Fighter circuit. The game originally never had anything to do with the fighting game series, "Street Fighter", and the protagonist's name is actually Kevin Straker. When they localized it in the U.S., they made a couple of stupid changes to the story to make it seem like it ties in with the fighting game series, which created confusion among players, and thus made the game criticized for what it was never supposed to be.

Other than that, the gameplay, levels, and music are actually quite good in my opinion.

 

[finalark]

In the far flung future of four years ago we will be fighting monsters and robots in space.

 

[Alakaslam]

In the far flung future of four years ago we will be fighting monsters and robots in space.

KASLAM!

 

[TimeSmash]

I don't think there's any shame in using a guide. To some extent. If you use a guide immediately upon getting stuck that's just laughable. Using a guide when you've tried absolutely everything you can think of to progress is another thing.

And then there's those games that I swear to god have at least one part in it where you need a strategy guide to progress. Like Crystal Chronicles, for example. Want to beat the game? You have to solve a vague puzzle in a completely random level with minimal hints. Sure, there's hints that show up in your journal. But chances are you won't realize that they're hints and even if you eventually do have fun digging through pages upon pages of "Today I killed Monster King Doofus III and saw a bird. It was pretty" to find them.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and once you find them you have to decode them too. Did I forget to mention that for as nostalgic as CC is it's also the bane of my childhood since its one of the few games from my boyhood that I just couldn't beat.

Well, there were a couple things I used it for that were legit, and then towards the end I got a little pissed off and indulged. But the legit parts I had were not knowing what to do next, which resulted in me having to go to the second floor of an INN which I never would have ever done in a million years, and some boss stuff.

Where the hell was that in Crystal Chronicles? I want to find my GBA cables and three other people with GBAs and time to play it!!

And @ Claire Diviner I mentioned Terranigma. <3

 

[finalark]

Where the hell was that in Crystal Chronicles? I want to find my GBA cables and three other people with GBAs and time to play it!!

CC gives the illusion of being an endless game where eventually all you do is grind dungeons to get increasingly better stuff but it does actually have an ending with a final boss and final dungeon. The actual final boss is locked behind a stupidly obscure puzzle where you have to cast random spells on random rocks hidden in the desert.

 

[TimeSmash]

For a minute, I thought I actually said all that haha. I vaguely remember what you're talking about now though ha

 

[finalark]

/raisethread

Has anyone else played this underrated masterpiece?

I got this way back '05 as a birthday gift. You would think the DK Bongos would be really gimmicky and kind of lame but surprisingly enough the game implements them very well to create a game that plays like nothing else. I can genuinely say that this game is some of the most fun I've ever had on my GCN. Everyone I've ever introduced to this game loved it and yet ten years later nobody talks about this game. Needs more love IMO.