Not sure if this has been created yet, but whatever. What are some of the best little-known games you've played?
Phantom Dust I couldn't find a video that did this game justice without making it look boring. You really have to play it to understand how fantastic it really is. Just as the cover says, there is nothing else on the xbox quite like this. In fact, I don't think there's ever been a game quite like this. A brilliant mix of a 3rd person shooter and a trading card game, the gameplay consists of players (in single player there's a variety of different cpu enemies, but the game has a vs mode for multiplayer) situated on either side of a destructible arena with 3 colour-coded orbs next to them. You can equip these orbs to either the A, B, X, or Y buttons. There's a variety of different orbs which have defensive or offensive effects, along with a multitude of other types of abilities (such as floating, teleporting, or even stealing your opponents abilities). Think of it, as I said before, as a trading card game, in which you have to strategically use these orbs to overcome your opponent. It's truly outstanding, and one of the single most unique games I've ever played.
Hypership Out of Control [youtube:t-6IY3jyi_k] Available on both iOS and Xbox Live Indie Games, Hypership Out of Control is a vertical space shoot-em-up. Except it's anything but typical. Instead of shooting enemies and eventually taking down a boss, the game has you avoiding obstacles such as asteroids, blocks, mines, and space bees while collecting coins and powerups. But here's the kicker; you are constantly speeding up. As the levels go on (so long as you don't die, as this resets your speed to 0) you will get faster and faster. The game features 5 modes, normal, in which your speed has a maximum that only raises after each wave; hardcore, in which you only have 1 life; super speed, in which there is no max speed; coin down, in which you start off with 100 coins, and they constantly go down and when they hit zero, you die; and practice, which is just normal mode but you can choose any completed wave. Then you can also choose to mirror any level, and to add a seizure inducing colour-strobe effect to the background. There are also 20 "awardments" to acquire for those completionists, and four-player support. Oh, and it's only a dollar. So if you have an iPhone or a 360, buy this game now. Seriously, right now. Buy it.
Decimation X3 I'll let this video do the talking [youtube:YdYh8pk9Xlc] Essentially a bullet-hell, flashy, space invaders on steroids. And it's also only a dollar.
How many times must I say it? Marathon is one of the best but also one of the most underrated games of all time. All the games are free to download on the Internet and the original Marathon is free for iPad on the App Store.
I know someone who played what I believe was a japanese only Klonoa RPG and he thought it was pretty legendary.
Drill Dozer was fun.
Drill Dozer doesn't get enough attention, which is sad since it rocks. And I forgot about Klonoa Heroes. I should eBay it someday. Anywho:
Breath of Fire(GBA) - a long forgotten RPG series about a boy who can turn into a dragon. While the combat is pretty standard, in the overworld, every character has a certain ability that can be used, whether it's fishing, hunting, bashing rocks, swimming, or turning into a dragon. Other than that, the adventure is rather quirky and pleasant, with some interesting puzzles to solve and plot twists. The game isn't overly serious or anything. What I like most about it is it's attention to detail: There's a golden city that sparcles; when you're out in the overworld and encounter an enemy, the environment you're standing on is reflected in the backround; there's a day/evening/night system and villagers are in different places depending on which one part of the cycle you're on. There's also seems to be reasons to go back to places when you get new characters, though I'm not sure if they'll be forced or not yet. Overall, it's just a very enjoyable game and I'm always looking forward to playing more of it (currently about halfway through).
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation - It's an SRPG from a series that's popular in Japan, but mostly unknown in the west. It has an complex story about a war with the Divine Crusaders, who are trying to use an impending alien invasion, who are aptly dubbed "The Invaders", as an excuse to unite the world through force, using advanced "Personal Troopers" (Mecha). While I found the story rather confusing, the characters involved are pretty charming, with interesting personalities and backstories, and I liked Ryusei's character development. Anyways, the game is more about giant Robots killing each other in a chess-like fasion than it is about story (much of it is told through Talking-head panels with dialogue text anyways), and it does that quite well. The gameplay is reasonably complex, without being too difficult, and there's quite a bit of variety to the levels. Best of all, it has enjoyable animations of Giant robots doing increasingly intense attacks.
Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars - Zone of the Enders is already pretty obscure, but I'm sure even fewer gamers have heard of this GBA SRPG entry in the series. Released in 2002, this game could be easily dismissed as a Super Robot Wars clone . However, for a clone, it's a pretty darn good one. The story is actually pretty good for an SRPG, if a bit confusing. It's told through Still panels using portraits, which display a surprising about emotion, mixed with some fitting tunes.
The gameplay is also pretty good. It plays mostly like SRW: you move your units along a square grid, taking terrain (unless your unit can fly) and stats into consideration. Once you got your units in place, you engage the enemies using various weapons (some of which can only be used once the unit has gained enough "Spirit") with different ranges. What's unique here is that when you attack, yoiu actually aim at the enemy by aiming a cursor at it (and of course it'll move around trying to evade). All this is timed, so you have to aim quickly and carefully, because if you miss or the time runs out, they avoid your attack. Of course, when you're on the recieving end of an attack, you can avoid it, too, by moving around a cursor (which represents your unit) away from the target, which will chase your cursor until either the time runs out or they make contack for more than a second.
Other than that, the music is good, the graphics are okay, the mech designs are great, and the characters are likeable. It's just a good game, and I highly suggest playing it if you're interested.
Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars - Zone of the Enders is already pretty obscure, but I'm sure even fewer gamers have heard of this GBA SRPG entry in the series. Released in 2002, this game could be easily dismissed as a Super Robot Wars clone . However, for a clone, it's a pretty darn good one. The story is actually pretty good for an SRPG, if a bit confusing. It's told through Still panels using portraits, which display a surprising about emotion, mixed with some fitting tunes.
I definitely recommend this as well. I remember playing the game when I was around 7 and beating the game in a single day. The plot twist at the end was crazy awesome and I really need to go back and beat this game again sometime. :3
“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” - "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them."
The only hidden gems I know would be Medabots Medabee and Rokusho versions for the gba. Kind like pokemon only more like a traditional rpg, with a few neat battle tricks of it's own. You will need both though to get everything and you'll need a guide to get every hidden object, medal and part, plus multiple play throughs to get everything on top of that. The games them selves seem to be rare these days, as I have never seem more then one excluding the two I own. There is even some clever writing and funny things if you search carefully.
Guest on NFR 57: http://nintendofreeradio.podbean.com/category/episode-57/
Scurge Hive On paper, its basically Metroid in an isometric perspective, even the lead is virtually identical to Samus only this time, the MC is infected and has her HP constantly depleting. Thankfully, it depletes slowly and can be replenish through a save room(Which are abundant). You make your way through different areas and exploring each area to reach your destination while grabbing new weapons to add to your disposal. Some of the enemies you face will have specific strengths and weaknesses depending on the weapon you use. The Controls can be awkward especially on the DSi Dpad and the various terrain can be a bit confusing as the Iso view makes them seem to blend, but these are just some minor gripes.
Metroidvania fans should ought to track this game down, It's at least worth one playthrough.
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter needs more people to play it, we need a sequel! Scurge Hive sounds pretty cool
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Phantasy Star Online was pretty popular on the Xbox and Dreamcast, though. I agree more people should've bought the GCN version, but I think the series is popular enough, especially with a true sequel on the way, that I wouldn't say it's all that hidden. Not like, say, Lost Kingdoms (though I wouldn't call that a gem).
ClaytonLuigi wrote:
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter needs more people to play it, we need a sequel! Scurge Hive sounds pretty cool
Or at least make a movie, since that's obviously what the developers have been dying to do, judging from nearly every game they've ever made.
@spriteking Me and my brother played that game like crazy. Definitely one of the better kart racers. I especially loved how most items had a trick to dodging them, unlike certain blue shells...
I don't know how popular they were, but Tomba 1 and 2 for PS1 were excellent. Unfortunately, they're pretty expensive now, often upwards of $50, and not available on PSN for some reason...
I'd also recommend several anime games on the Gamecube. Zoids: Battle Legends in particular was awesome. Giant robot animals blowing each other away with lasers, explosives, and claws, plus great graphics (at the time), tons of upgrades, and excellent controls made this one of my favorite titles on the 'cube. Its only problem was that it failed to get the same voice actors as the show, and the ones it got weren't very good... I also had a lot of fun with Rave Master, Beyblade, and Ultimate Muscle, each extremely unique, even now. Ultimate Muscle even had a "create your own wrestler" mode that could be both engrossing and hilarious at the same time. I'd say these are all gems because, even if popular at the time (and I don't think any of them really were), as the memory of the shows fades, so will they. Most people won't buy a game based on a show they've never heard of, and so these great games get passed up.
More modern, I'll mention a game I'd never heard of before a certain youtube reviewr mentioned it: The Munchables, for Wii. It's similar to Katamari in that you go around collecting stuff small enough to collect until you get bigger. It's also, like Katamari, ultra-colorful and bizarre. A little on the easy side, it won't take long to beat, but it'll be weirdly fun while it lasts.
I just remembered one more game to mention: Ninja Town for DS. A game made with the license of a plushie company might not sound very good, but I've yet to find a tower defense game I enjoyed more. I don't recall how I tried it, but afterwards I had to get it. It's exceedingly addictive, fairly funny, surprisingly challenging sometimes (though I'm far from a tower defense expert), and currently pretty cheap at $9 used at Gamestop.
Man, so many great games out there.
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Topic: Hidden gems recommendation thread :D
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