Topic: Most Underrated Games

over at destructoid.com (which sourced NintendoLife today! or maybe yesterday) they do a weekly feature called "Games Time Forgot." The idea is they pick a CRIMINALLY underrated or underplayed game from over the generations. In other words, these are games you consider classics, while the rest of the world fails to see their greatness. I'm interested to see what you guys pick. I'm nominating:

Ikaruga (DC)

This is one of those games that a lot of people know about but far too few people OWN.
Ikaruga is IMO king of the top down bullet hell shooters. Its also developed by Treasure, who brought you such genius games as Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, and Sin and Punishment. The idea is all enemies are either black or white and with the push of a button you can change your ship to one of these polar opposites, to either absorb enemy fire of the same color, or do more damage to an enemy of the opposite color.
The GC reissue isn't too hard to find or pricey.

Parasite Eve 2 (PS)

While I did beat the first Parasite Eve, it was less because it was an awesome game and more because I was like 14 and had oodles of time to kill. I enjoyed the story and cutscenes, but I just didn't find it that fun. Parasite Eve 2 however, was for some reason ridiculously fun. Maybe it was the reworked combat and spell system, maybe it was the extra dash of survival horror thrown in. Whatever it was, it made Parasite Eve 2 a classic, in my book. Those who don't dig RPGs and survival horror games need not apply, but the beauty of PE2 is that its an RPG that appeals to survival horror fans and vice versa.

Killer7 (GC/PS2)

Before No More Heroes, there was Killer7. You play as the distinct 7 personalities of one seriously disturbed cripple. This game is madness. And its about madness... kind of. Kind of a shooter/kind of an adventure game. All in all, a genre bending mind blower. If you liked No More Heroes please do yourself a favor and buy this game. In my top 10 all time favorite games without a doubt.

I'll be adding some more games from earlier console generations. In the meantime, let me know what games you felt deserved fame and acclaim, but barely received either.

I agree with both Ikaruga and Killer7 ill also put Chibi Robo, Baton Kaitos Origins, Drill Dozer, Gunstar Super Heroes, Ogre Battle 64, and Zoda's Revenge

Legend of Dragoon- (PS1) Wasn't really remembered enough to be forgotten, but those people who did play it will have it's amazingness inscribed into their brains forever. The only things that were bad about were bad translations and voice-acting, but the stellar battle system, amazing story, and fun adventuring make up for it and go beyond.

Shinobi III- (Genesis) One of the most unique and diverse games ever created. One second you'd be riding a horse, next you'd be fighting a giant robot on your surfboard. It had so many perfect elements combined with a great soundtrack and amazing controls that makes it deserve way more recognition than it gets. Sure, it had it's fifteen minutes of fame, but then it was swept aside for other lesser games like Sonic Spinball.

[youtube:ZSyhF3xPtU0&feature=related] (The guy makes it look way easier than it actually is. Be warned.)

@Kingbuilder
Nice! I'll have to check out Shinobi. Never had a Genesis as a kid.

next up:
Tetris Attack (SNES)

The mother of all colored block puzzlers. The combo chain and garbage system makes this the most 2P fun to be had on an SNES. Definitely logged more hours on this bad boy than any other cartridge.

@Kingbuilder: I loved Legend of Dragoon in fact I though it was a much better game than FF7 yet FF7 got all the glory. I still have my copy and still pop it into my PS2 from time to time to play it. I wish they would have made a sequel to it.

@Lockelocke: Tetris Attack is one of my favorite puzzle games. It can get so intense. I still have the SNES cartridge for it but I dont have a SNES to play it on. I remember time that my whole family me, my brother, and my mother would sit around the tv for hours battling it out.

I don't know if you can really say time forgot Ikaruga or Tetris Attack. Ikaruga got a release on XBLA a year or so ago, and Tetris Attack has been re-released a few times with the Tetris references removed.

I still remember LoD....and love it. Anxiously awaiting a PSN release.

This thread could just focus on Dreamcast games and we could talk for hours. Games I feel get little to no recognition are Shatterhand and Metal Storm on the NES, the Bubsy games, Taz Mania and most of the Looney Tunes games for the SNES, despite it's flaws, I always enjoyed Mission Impossible for the N64. Why did every gun have to be a handgun?

@The Fox
I had no idea Ikaruga was on XBLA. That's great news.
As far as Tetris Attack goes, I know there's been Panel De Pon iterations to come out over the years, but Tetris Attack still trumps them all. The music, characters, settings, challenge mode, and the fact that it COUNTS YOUR COMBOS (some Panel De Pons for some reason don't) still sets it aside for me as the cream of the crop.
Don't read too literally into the title of the thread. I thought it would be fun to mirror the "Games Time Forgot" feature from Destructoid, which includes a lot of games that weren't necessarily "Forgotten By Time," just underrated or more obscure.

You guys are for getting one Game, that I think no one played.
It was called "Pacman 2: The New Adventures" and it was a Great game.
[youtube:d4a1VUbFEt4]

The Trick to the game was to help Pac-Man, but it was more fun to make him go through Hell.
and also theres 3 other Pac-man game in there too, 'like "Pac-Man', "Mis.Pac-Man" and "Pac-Jr ", and you can unlock there games by finding the ,Game Cartridge in the game.

I used to play far too much Speedball 2 when I was younger. But I really don't know if it was that popular outside of my friendship group at the time. I think it's been forgotten.
[youtube:T4s2IimFn-c]

@billy-beauts & JumpMad
awesome! thx guys. I've never played either of these games. I'll definitely check them out. I'm a huge Pac Man fan, so The New Adventures is a must.

Next up, I'd like to pay tribute to a couple of beautiful games out of France's Delphine Software dev house. Out of This World and Flashback have reached cult classic status over time, so again, these aren't really OBSCURE games in the sense that no one has played them, but IMO they're games that made an understated impact on how games and art have become intertwined. The rich stories, expressive visuals, and vivid worlds created by these games warrant CLASSIC status. While both games have SNES and MD iterations, the best versions of these games were available on PC, which is probably why they've slipped somewhat into obscurity. If you haven't had the joy of playing either of these bad boys, imagine a point and click style adventure game, but with no cursor interface and with realtime combat.

Out Of This World

Flashback

alright. here's one people like to make me feel embarrassed for loving.

Pokemon Snap (N64)

It sounds stupid. An on-rails "shooter" that has you... yes, taking pictures of Pokemon. While I was very hesitant to even play it after a glowing recommendation from a friend, I found that the game appealed directly to my obsession with exploration and 100% completion. While strolling through a level, you'll notice Pokemon hiding out, or get a feeling that there just HAS to be a way to interact with a certain area, but you just can't quite figure out how to make it happen. This game had me revisiting levels time and time again.

@lockelocke

Trust me, mac, no one forgot Pokemon Snap.

@mickeymac
haha, damn, maybe I should've rethought the forum topic. again, its not that anyone FORGOT the games, its just that they're innovations and influence were generally understated and skimmed over. Pokemon Snap, while not forgotten, was never really revered. And that's a damn shame.

It's a game about taking pictures. Who the hell's gonna revere that? It was a fun sideshow. Nothing more, nothing less.

But thanks for clearing up the definition, that narrows the roster down from 1 million to just about 0. Seriously, I can't think of any game that had some major innovation that didn't work out well in the end. I suppose I could mention ^Metal Storm*, an under-appreciated NES platformer that was one pf the first to utilize changing gravity as a gameplay mechanic and used it extensively to create some incredible stages and hectic boss fights, but in retrospect, the whole gravity thing was just a gimmick, albeit one that was used to its full potential. Sure, it was different and it worked out well, but it never felt like it was truly moving anything forward. I never found myself saying, "wow, I wish more games used mechanics like this!" I just thought it was fun, unique game.

I guess the only one I could mention with a straight face is Maken X for the DC, which perfected the "first person slasher" genre. Not that that's saying much, since it's the only FPSlasher that's any good. Still, I greatly enjoyed it and I would love it if they would make more games like it, even a sequel. It'll probably never happen, though.

Jr Pac-Man (Arcade)
[youtube:I0Jy_CPwWjM]
A lot of people have played Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man but probably not Jr. Pac-Man. The gameplay is the same as it's predecessors, but now the mazes are larger and the bonus items can make regular pellets large and can destroy power pellets. The game had some ports as most arcade games of that era did, but that's it. As far as I know, Namco hasn't even released it on one of their half a million compliations. A shame too as it's a fun little game.

I want more Body Harvest!!! VC, or a new one, just gimme! <3

@MickeyMac There are tons of games that were innovative, given some love, then just completely forgotten. Metal Storm and Maken X may be the only ones you can think of, but I'm sure plenty of other people have their own fair share of games that they think still need attention.

@LockeLock Maybe you could rename the thread "Games that Never Got the Attention They Deserved" or something along those lines. It'd probably clear problems up and prevent more users from getting confused.