What is your favorite obscure Retro Game?
What is your favorite obscure Retro Game?
Mine is Lady Sia for GBA. It's just a platformer but I just love it played and completed more 20 times. Will probably speedrun it in future.
Solomon's Key (NES)
Finally beat it last year after trying for 35 years. Such a good game. It's one of my favorite games of all time. Action platform puzzle game. It has two endings, and there is zero chance you'll get the good ending without a guide. Not to beat each puzzle room, but to find all the hidden items. You see, if you miss one, all the ones after that don't appear! So hunting for them naturally is nearly impossible. It also has a secret continue mechanic, too, without which the game is also pretty much impossible.
If we're talking RPGs like a lot of people in this thread are, while the Zelda GBC/GBA games were great of course (although not so obscure), I also really enjoyed Golden Sun. I believe another game I also played when I was younger was Racing Gears Advance, I think that one was a bit more obscure.
I don’t know if this is obscure anymore, but “Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!” was always one of my favorite GBC games. The artwork was adorable, the way they communicate with each other is adorable, it’s just great.
Blaster Master on NES. I was so addicted. And then I got the NES Advantage controller and it was just pure Blaster Master bliss.
3D MonsterMaze
I personally loved ice climbers on the nes
Legend of Dragoon was so good, even if several twists were the kind you see coming. And it was insanely long!
I wish it would get remade so badly. I own it, and tried to make it work, but I don't have a CRTV, so it went very badly.
Treasure are such a famous developer within the retro subculture that it's hard to call any of their stuff "obscure" at this point, but I want to give my nod to Light Crusader for the Mega Drive (Genesis).
Light Crusader Full Soundtrack on Youtube.
It's got a bit of that isometric controls jank, but it's just got the perfect vibes for a Genesis game. The right level of difficulty (hard but beatable), awesome art, quirky as hell, and one of my favorite soundtracks of the entire 16-bit era. Do yourself a favor and check it out--at the very least, give the soundtrack a listen, as it's some of the best that the Genesis has to offer, in my opinion.
Crush for PSP, it's a puzzle game where you switch between 2d and 3d. The style is cartoony, the music is amazing, and the puzzles are generally engaging without being too difficult. It's really a shame it only came out for PSP and a slightly different version on 3ds.
Maybe it's not obscure enough, but for me, Starflight on the Sega Genesis remains the greatest space exploration game ever made.
It was unforgiving the way games were back then, which added to the feeling that you're just out there in unexplored space.
More than 800 different planets, most of them empty (except for resources), but that just makes it so exciting when you find an artifact hidden in ancient ruins.
And an incredible story on top of that. A huge mystery unfolds organically as solar flares start destroying planets across the galaxy and your explorable space slowly shrinks.
The back of the manual was a journal written by another starship captain who sent it to you from the future. It serves as a guide and a warning, giving some valuable locations and clues, in case you're having trouble finding the path.
Oh, and the soundtrack! I can still bring it to mind thirty years later. Haunting.
Not sure if obscure, but I really like Buggy Run from Master System
Quest 64 / Holy Magic Century / Eltale Monsters is a bad game that nobody played, except for me, and I absolutely love it. It was my third favorite game on the N64 behind Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64. I still play this game via emulation every now and then, maybe once a year or so.
This guy also played it and wrote an LPArchive story that contains all the lore this game should have had included in it. If you already know and like the game, this is an incredible read, highly recommend. If you don't like the game this might arguably be a better way to experience it than playing it.
There are also a few YouTube videos on it for those inclined, I'll leave finding those as an exercise for the reader.
Pretty sure tons of people played Quest 64 when they saw their PlayStation-owning friends fawning over Final Fantasy VII and wanted their own RPG.
Unfortunately, they got Quest 64 instead.
I have a certain amount of nostalgia for Quest 64.
It kind of feels like half a game, and really doesn't compare well to other RPGs of the era, but it definitely has some kind of appeal that's hard to pin down. Sometimes I think about the game that Quest 64 could have been and it makes me wish that more love could have been put into it before release, but I'm guessing that business and time just stopped it from being what it was meant to me.
Maybe one day people will decompile it and we can mod it into something truly awesome. :)
Shout out to https://bsky.app/profile/quest64official.bsky.social
Ok this is incredible and way more active than I expected. There are dozens of us Quest fans! Dozens, I say! Thanks for this.
Legend of Legaia. It’s a JRPG from the PS1 golden era, which was completely overshadowed by larger releases like FF7 and Legend of Dragoon. And when I say “completely overshadowed” I mean that the first time I played through it, it didn’t even have a GameFAQs listing.
Nowadays it has a sort of cult classic following, because the combat system was pretty unique and the plot line is surprisingly long for only being one disc.
The American version of the game is apparently much harder than other versions for some reason; They decided to slash the exp and gold drop rates across the board, then bumped them back up for the European release. So the American version is extremely grindy in comparison.
This was the first one that came to mind for me! I had a ps1 growing up, and I think my grandma bought me this game or something lol. No clue how she picked it out. Maybe the person at checkout recommended it or something. It was probably the first rpg I ever played, and I had no idea what I was doing. I remember complaining to a friend at school how I was just stuck at the first castle area, and he was like, "you need to hang out outside that area for a bit and grind some levels", and I was like, "wtf does that mean." I go back and play it every once in a while, but I've never actually beaten it. It is a long game!
Man, playing massive JRPGs without the internet is just something kids will never be able to experience again...
Tomba 2 baybee
I like this really old game called Skyrim, I like to cast the spells
I remember that one, my dad used to play it when I was a child! I should go dig out the old retro hardware..
Gorillas.bas
Great game, learned the basics of programming from fucking around with the source code in QBasic
Yes! And I updated the BASIC code to add cheats. I thought I was quite the let haxor. 😆
moonstone: a hard days knight on amiga.
and of course zzt
Crysalis for Famicom/NES
Such an underrated masterpiece
It's not super obscure, but I think I'd have to go with Star Tropics. Gameplay wise it's very similar to Zelda, but the setting and story is more like EarthBound. Interestingly the game is a first-party Nintendo game that has never been released in Japan despite being developed there. Another thing is that it's been almost completely ignored by Smash Bros. I think it got a mention in Brawl's chronicle, but that's it. Even Ultimate forgot about it despite having all kinds of deep cuts among the spirits.
Staying on the Zelda tip, I'll always have a place in my heart for Crystalis (1990) on the NES. More linear than Zelda but with significantly more RPG elements worked in.
If you want to get even more obscure, both Neutopia (1989) and Neutopia II (1991) for the TG-16 are great! Extremely obvious Zelda inspiration but they hold up well on their own merits.
Depends on how you're defining "obscure" and "retro".
If by "retro" you mean SNES, Genesis, NES etc... the game I was super into for a time was Xevious. A pretty simple top-down space shooter/bomber that for some reason I remember getting absolutely obsessed with completing. It wasn't even a particularly good game. It was repetitive, and when you DID reach the end it just started all over again. But for some reason I played the absolute shit out of it.
If you move "retro" up to the PS1 era, my favourite seemingly forgotten games of all time are the Colony Wars series (Colony Wars, Colony Wars: Vengeance, Colony Wars: Red Sun) Great story lines and a super fun conceit where in the second game, you're playing as the now-defeated enemy of the first game, rebuilding after their loss.
Xevious was big in Japan. Even got a 3d version on 3ds
xevious was great
M.C. Kids for the NES. It was a rock solid platformer held back by the McDonald's theming. It was a bit too hard for the target audience, but it's a fun romp otherwise.
I loved playing a game called Zeliard when I was a kid. I never hear it talked about, but think it could be pretty fun even today for people willing to tolerate 30 year old PC platformers.
I haven’t played it in a long time, though, so maybe I’m forgetting some terrible aspect of it. Should try and dig that up...
I really like the old PSP Patapon games. They're catchy. After playing, I find myself humming the beat. The original creators are making a spiritual successor called Ratatan. Still not out yet, but I'm looking forward to playing it.
my niece thinks Morrowind is retro
There are college graduates who are younger than Morrowind. Yeah, it’s fucking retro.
I'm upvoting you but I need you to know that you are wrong, sir.
Morrowind is ancient lmao
Look, I was born in the 80s, I played Morrowind about the time it was released (closer to GOTY edition, but whatever), but even I have to kinda agree with your niece at this point.
Though its gameplay and world-building certainly aged better than Oblivion's.
For me its screamer. It's a pretty nice PC arcade racer with a great soundtrack. I still listen to it from time to time.
Agreed. Great game and had a LAN mode, and I believe a direct cable mode? Had hours of fun.
I don't know how obscure this is. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. illusion of gaia/illusion of time was one of my favourites growing up. It had a cool story, kind of a dystopia fantasy. I don't think I ever actually finished it. Come to think of it, that might be a good idea to put on my list for this year.
I’m so happy and surprised to see you bring up IoG! I think the game qualifies as obscure these days since I never see it mentioned outside of SNES retro groups.
It’s my favourite story of any game on the SNES. For those who haven’t played it, it’s a coming of age story about a group of friends travelling together. What makes it so special to me is that although your character (Will) is the only one in the party who does any fighting (you’re not a typical RPG fighting party) your friends are still travelling through some dangerous situations with you. Outside of combat, your character is just another one of the group, albeit the main PoV character for the story.
I love it so much! The story was written by a woman science fiction writer, Mariko Ohara, which I think was pretty rare at the time. I didn’t learn this fact until recently and as a kid I never would’ve known but looking back at it, the game is so much the better for it. The characters just feel so much more like real people than I’m used to from games of that era. Even the Final Fantasy games of that era, as great as they are, have characters that feel more like cartoon characters than real teenagers.
I was going to bring up Soul Blazer, which i think is an earlier game in that series. it's a very straightforward top down action rpg but i played it a lot.
Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars
I found the disk at a Dollar Tree Store when I was a teen. I spent hours in endless matches trying to build my empire. I remember the spy system in this RTS was incredibly fun and nothing I've seen in any other game. Truly a gem with so much potential to become a cult classic with its charming art style.
Not sure if it is considered particularly obscure, but mine would be Rock n' Roll Racing on SNES. The game was like an improved RC Pro Am from the NES with vehicular combat and a great metal/rock soundtrack (hence the name).
Olaf scores a first place knockout!
Rip finishes second!
Shred takes a weak third.
Viper is in another time zone...
Maybe Hover!. Basically hover bumper cars in the future playing capture the flag. Was a lot of fun and never saw any rereleases or remakes or another game like it.
Hey, I know that one!
Maybe not obscure but certainly underrated - Civilization II :Test of Time. You get regular Civ2 plus fantasy and sci fi versions. Sci fi version felt like budget Alpha Centauri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_'Em_Sock_'Em_Robots_Arena?wprov=sfla1
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena was pretty good. A robot fighting game where you could focus damage onto specific parts of your opponent to knock them off. Not only would they be unable to use that part in that match, but then you'd have the option of swapping out your own parts between matches in the tournament mode.
I'm not particularly fond of fighting games, but the gimmick really drew me in to this one. I remember a lot of fights where I had to choose whether to prioritize just plain winning vs trying to get a specific part for a build.
Hey, I have played it.
Is a game like Vib-ribbon or Devil Dice considered obscure? Because those would probably be tied for my choice.
NFS Porsche Unleashed aka Porsche 2000 for PC. It had great physics and tons of realistic modifications you could purchase for every car. So many details in the game that made it truly great.
One of my favorite NFS games. I love how you work through the history of Porsche starting with their old cars.
One of my favorites was definitely Kororinpa (Wii) Yes, the Wii is now considered retro. It is now older than the NES was when the Wii first was released.
Quarantine the killer taxi game including the australian alternative rock soundtrack https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarantine_(video_game)
Classic, I had the demo on a coverdisk, played it several hundred times for a few years before getting the game.
"Magic & Mayhem" - https://www.bestoldgames.net/de/magic-and-mayhem
Some ancient PC role playing games.
The Dark Heart of Uukrul I like this one because I think your party is restricted to having a character of each class: Fighter, Paladin, Cleric and Wizard. I learned what a Paladin was from this game and fell in love with the class. Lots of exploration and tactical battles that are on a map that is the same as where you are in the dungeon were all pretty awesome features of this game. Has permadeath but you can recruit a new person to replace the old one. Always hated doing that though.
Disciples of Steel Team of 8 characters going on an adventure to save the world. The endgame actually has you setting up armies in different parts of the world to help you when the final battle comes. Pretty neat game.
Disney Princess is a very underrated gba game and that's the hill I will die on.
Is The Last Blade obscure or just old?
I don't know how obscure it actually is, but I played the hell out of Threads of Fate when I was a kid.
Fantastic soundtrack on that one.
Yes!! Super good.
Soldam immediately comes to mind as the deepest cut I can think of. You might not be too impressed the first time you put a quarter in, the singleplayer modes are nothing too special. But if you can get a second player, it has one of the most interesting versus modes I've seen in a puzzle game. Sadly, you do need a second player, there is no versus CPU.
This game got a modernized remake on Switch a while back, they added online play... but they still didn't add CPUs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiklus
Great game. Seems simple at the start. But it's deeper than you'd think. Beautifully made game.
Road Trip Adventure
I think the last game I bought for my 386 was Nomad. ISTR having to make space since it required like 9Mb of the 40Mb drive.
30-polygon-per-ship level 3-D space RPG with limited combat sequences. I think I played it wrong because I seemed to walk largely linearly through the story and defeat the Big Bad without seeing more than 1/10 of the galaxy
Breath of Fire 2 for me
Whiplash!
