# Obscure game recommendations



## x65943 (Apr 5, 2020)

What's an off the beaten path game that you played that you wish more people knew about?

For Zelda ALttP fans I recommend Marvelous for SNES, runs off the same engine and is a well polished gem that we never got stateside - full translation available and an early project Aonuma (Zelda guy) was involved in


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## slaphappygamer (Apr 5, 2020)

Kings bounty for the Sega genesis and gadget racers for the gba.


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## Zense (Apr 5, 2020)

Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime 3D for 3DS - Very unique and fun adventure game. Got a fan translation last year.
For the King PC/Switch/PS4 - Coop turn-based rpg and board game-like.
Metabots Metabee GBA - Interesting rpg with interesting customization options.


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## Akorax (Apr 5, 2020)

*Lego Rock Raiders*






*Info:*

Released: 1999
Released (HD Fan remake): playable since 2019 but still in development.
Platforms: PC and PS1
Genre: PC=Real time strategy (tactics), PS1=Action
Objectives: Collect energy crystals to help your lego figures store up enough energy to power their space ship so that they can travel home. To do so you'll have to mine, build up you base and defend against various kinds of monsters.
Levels: 
*HD Fan remake:*

A guy nicked baraklava on the fan forum started a thread mid 2019 about a remake made in a modern game engine. Since then it has developed to become the most successful fan remake of the game ever announced. Currenty the main channel for the project is it's (very) active discord channel. If you have interest in the remake or the original game I suggest you pay the channels a visit.
*Links:*

Wikipedia
Rock Raiders United (fan forum)
Manic Miners (RRU Forum Thread)
Manic Miners (Reddit)
Manic Miners (Discord)


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## Sonic Angel Knight (Apr 5, 2020)

Ganbare Goemon series is hugely and criminally underrated outside japan... or inside for that matter since there hasn't been any new games in years, but even less outside japan. 

Xenogears is another... obscure game. Only released in Japan and North america for playstation (and as psone classic on psn) it's a rpg with good music, interesting concepts and flashy moments. But it's slow pacing and overreliance on story telling may seem more like a visual novel with rpg gameplay than a actual video game.

Sin & punishment only had two games (And it would have been nice to have ported it to 3DS like other N64 or wii games games) In a time where rail shooters are lacking presence, that would have been nice. (but we did get kid icarus uprising on 3DS)


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## Taleweaver (Apr 5, 2020)

Hmm... About half the games on my yearly list (https://gbatemp.net/entry/taleweavers-top-games-of-2019.16526/)..

But from recent years :

Hardback (android) : deck builders are fairly common as board games. Word games... Sorry of as well. The combination is fairly unique. Now wrap that in a video game, and it's like no other

Race for the galaxy(android) : okay, okay... The board game is pretty popular among gamers, but still... This is a high watermark for all mobile games out there

Cool, serve, delicious series : typing games revolving around a restaurant. While they're commonly part of humble bundles, I had it where I have copies away but got no takers. Either way... The third 's in early access right now, and certainly better than 2.


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## DinohScene (Apr 5, 2020)

For anyone who hasn't played it yet, Okami.
RPG wise, Eternal Sonata.
Open world wise, The Saboteur.


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## JuanBaNaNa (Apr 5, 2020)

NES: I would like people to play *Magic Jewelry*
GAMEBOY: I would like people to play *Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R *
SNES: I would like people to play *Dragon View / Brandish / Pirates of The Dark Water*
GAMEBOY COLOR: I would like people to play *Bomberman Max Red*
SEGA GENESIS: I would like people to play *The Flintstones*
TURBOGRAFX 16: I would like people to play *Ninja Spirit*
N64: I would like people to play *Carmageddon*
GAMEBOY ADVANCE: I would like people to play *Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure / Broken Sword*
GAMECUBE: I would like people to play *Time Splitters 2*
NDS: I would like people to play *AGAIN / 999*
WII: I would like people to play *Puzzle Bobble + *
ARCADE: I would like people to play: *Bomberman World / Hook! / Snow Brothers 2 / Toki / Caveman Ninja / Gals Panic *


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## BillyBrush (Apr 5, 2020)

Definitely Apidya on Amiga...stage 1-1 misic brings back good memories


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## Nobody_Important4u (Apr 5, 2020)

Sword of destiny- a good devil may cry clone
Space channel 5- short but sweet rhytm game
Under the skin- very funny arcady game made by capcom
Shadow of memories- a fun adventure game
Radiant historia- chrono trigger but better


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## deSSy2724 (Apr 5, 2020)

The whole original Soul Blazer trilogy (Soul Blazer, Terranigma and Illusion of Gaia/Time) for the SNES (action RPG), especially Illusion of Gaia/Time (from unique characters, story to graphics and OST/Music), btw for me personally Illusion of Gaia/Time has one of the best sountracks in video games I have ever heard of (and I gamed since the NES days to this day). The Granstream Saga is considered part of them but not really that good. Even AVGN didnt reviewed those mentioned games, this tells you how much it is unknown/underrated, sadly considering how many broken games there are out in last 40 years and how they are still noticed.....


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## strawpoll-legend (Apr 17, 2020)

Otomedius is a Konami title, so it's not the most obscure, but it's pretty awesome. It's easy to dismiss as a generic cute anime girl game, but it's really fun. It was released for arcade and Xbox 360 (as Otomedius Gorgeous). It's a Gradius spin-off, so it has the fantastic level design elements from Gradius and Parodius, and each level is ridiculously memorable in its theming. For a game released in 2008, the graphics are still quite impressive. My favorite level from the arcade original is the Tokyo level (pictured below) because of its iconic visuals.


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## Deleted User (Jun 5, 2020)

JuanMena said:


> GAMECUBE: I would like people to play *Time Splitters 2*



I wouldn't call Timesplitters 2 exactly obscure. The series seems to have a decent following, there's multiple videos on youtube with 150k+ views, it was released on all three consoles and the game was also in the movie Shaun of the Dead. Then again, not sure if it had much sales on GameCube... Underrated? Maybe.

My recommedation would be *Red Rope: Don't Fall Behind *on PC. It's mainly meant for a shared screen co-op experience. Both players are tethered to each other with a rope, and must defeat ghosts and navigate the labyrinth. It needs really good communication skills with your partner, as you the rope required constant collaboration. It does not look like much, but was both fun and stressful. Since the game has no other buttons than moving around, it's also possible to play with yourself controlling both characters. It's quite a mind-bending challenge. The developers also made pixelated versions of first 50 (...i think they allowed 10-20 more later?) who beat the game and they were immortalized to the game with a quote. The game is so unknown that me and my partner were able to get that like after a year the game was released... and it still has like 60 Steam reviews. I think the game should've been ported to Nintendo Switch, it would fit it nicely and could be played with no extra controllers.


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## Sora de Eclaune (Jun 5, 2020)

Papyrus - Game Boy Color
Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu - NES, Turbografx 16
Rhyme Rider Keroikan - WonderSwan Color
Kaze no Klonoa: Moonlight Museum - WonderSwan
No One Can Stop Mr. Domino - Playstation


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## Nobody_Important4u (Jun 5, 2020)

Sora de Eclaune said:


> Papyrus - Game Boy Color
> Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu - NES, Turbografx 16
> Rhyme Rider Keroikan - WonderSwan Color
> Kaze no Klonoa: Moonlight Museum - WonderSwan
> No One Can Stop Mr. Domino - Playstation


Thank you for reminding of Mr. Domino it's a really fun puzzle game that people don't really talk about (and what a shame!) There was also similar game on Wii named minon everyday hero (i think that it had diffrent name in north america) i am not sure if it is by the same developer or they decided to clone it.


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## Sora de Eclaune (Jun 5, 2020)

Nobody_Important4u said:


> Thank you for reminding of Mr. Domino it's a really fun puzzle game that people don't really talk about (and what a shame!) There was also similar game on Wii named minon everyday hero (i think that it had diffrent name in north america) i am not sure if it is by the same developer or they decided to clone it.


Oh yeah! Domino Rally! I forgot about that game! They're similar, but not exactly the same. They're very distinctly different.


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## deSSy2724 (Jun 7, 2020)

The Lawnmower Man sidescroller for SNES (which is a Sci-Fi game) but even non Sci-Fi fans would like the game, im sure. Many might not like the movies (two of them) and the 3D PC game is pretty bad (one of the worst games I played on PC) but the game for the SNES is one of the best 2D co-op (yes, it has co-op too) games for SNES, PERIOD!

Game never gets boring, each level is basically unique.....


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## emigre (Jun 14, 2020)




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## hippy dave (Jun 14, 2020)

I've been playing Hatena Satena for GBA, a puzzle game which is basically a mashup of Picross and minesweeper. Japan only, with cutesy characters and pages and pages of Japanese text to plough through between puzzles. I've just found a faq which might help figure out what's going on http://bankbank.net/hatena/FAQ.txt - have been managing without so far and loving the puzzles.


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## Jayinem81 (Jun 14, 2020)

The Shadow Hearts games for PS2, well not as much the third one but 1 and Covenant are two of the best rpgs. They always went under the radar.


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## afeufeufeu (Jun 14, 2020)

Tex Murphy series on PC (Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive...)
And Alundra on PSX, awesome Zelda-like game
Love them to the death


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## 64bitmodels (Jul 5, 2020)

Adventure Island IV for the Famicom. it was the last game for the console and it was a great swan song. it plays pretty different from the other adventure island games but that doesnt make it bad. its way more metroidvania like.
Also corpse party too, for the 3ds, PSP and PC. 3ds version is the best as far as i know, its psp version with a better camera and second screen. but its at 240p tho. im not sure if corpse party is considered obscure though...


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## slaphappygamer (Jul 5, 2020)

emigre said:


>


You can add Eye of The Beholder to that collection.


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## Deleted member 515616 (Jul 6, 2020)

im not sure how obscure this game is but I haven't seen many people talk about it. picross 3d is probably one of my favorite ds games of all time. it has a bit of a steep learning curve but once you get that over with, it's really fun to break bricks and find out what's inside!

i havent tried round 2 yet though, hopefully its as good as the first!


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## Jayinem81 (Jul 7, 2020)

Obscure
Obscure: The Aftermath


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## FGFlann (Jul 7, 2020)

afeufeufeu said:


> Tex Murphy series on PC (Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive...)
> And Alundra on PSX, awesome Zelda-like game
> Love them to the death


I remember Alundra being extremely difficult to get into and it never successfully held my interest. I never progressed much in the game as a result. It would be interesting to revisit it now and see how I react to it.


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## Stealphie (Jul 7, 2020)

Cars 2 for the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii (the PC version is godawful, get the 360 version if possible).
It's a really fun mario kart clone.


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## hippy dave (Jul 7, 2020)

kbstratus said:


> im not sure how obscure this game is but I haven't seen many people talk about it. picross 3d is probably one of my favorite ds games of all time. it has a bit of a steep learning curve but once you get that over with, it's really fun to break bricks and find out what's inside!
> 
> i havent tried round 2 yet though, hopefully its as good as the first!


I love all the picross games, and the 3D ones are brilliant. You're gonna love Round 2.


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## eyeliner (Jul 7, 2020)

Hostages, for the  ZX Spectrum


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## MothCult (Jul 14, 2020)

Overlord : Raising Hell and Overlord 2






These two games are genuinely two of my all time favorites!  If you have ever played the Pikmin series, it is has somewhat similar mechanics.  You are the Overlord, and your job is to rule the world with EVIL!   It is somewhat like a twist on the classic fairy tale, if the main character was evil and the setting was comedic.  They are really fun games, with some nice looking character designs (especially in Overlord 2) They have some really funny writing along side the gameplay, and Overlord 2 is just an amazing improvement on pretty much everything that Overlord : Raising Hell did.  It does show some of its age with Overlord : Raising Hell, with some awkward controls at times, but usually the controls work fine (better with a controller if on hand, but not required.)

Overlord : Raising Hell is the base Overlord game with the DLC, which is also super fun and I highly recommend!


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## Arecaidian Fox (Jul 14, 2020)

Shining Soul II, for GBA. The story is terrible, but the Diablo-lite gameplay loop kept my hands on that Game Boy for hours.
For that matter, the 3DS' Heroes of Ruin is kind of a similar story. Didn't spend as much time with that, though.


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## dpu (Jul 14, 2020)

Gauntlet which is on the sega master system is a pretty good game and well a little obsure as well.


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## TheCasualties (Jul 15, 2020)

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division was a weird one. Half mecha game, half FPS, full on anime lol. I had a lot of fun with it when it came out, and still enjoy revisiting it sometimes. Being a mech and squashing enemies is always fun.

There's lots of open areas to explore and some fun guns too. There is fun to be had just by messing around with cheats, as this was from the era of developers experimenting with cheat codes and secrets. 



Spoiler: one weird "weapon"











It was a pretty amazing game for the time, imo. And I just learned it's a Monolith game!

Also available on GoG


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## Little_Anonymous_Hacker (Jul 17, 2020)

Gubble


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## CanopusFox (Jul 31, 2020)

All the Pokemon Ranger series to NDS. This games are amazing, but i don't see many people talking about them.

(btw i don't recommend playing this games on an emulator because of the use of the stylus during the game. You have to spin your stylus as crazy to capture a Pokemon and doing this with a mouse may give you a little bit of pain.)

-Kuro

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MothCult said:


> Overlord : Raising Hell and Overlord 2
> 
> 
> 
> ...


THESE GAMES ARE AMAZING! I used to play them on my old computer when i was like 10. I really want to play them again someday.


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## AnimeIsDead (Aug 1, 2020)

GBC: survival kids
N64: Body harvest, Extreme-G XG2, Lego Racers, Paper Boy, A Bugs Life, Monopoly, Glover
PS1: Monster Rancher 2, Twisted Metal 2, Tomba!,Toy Story Racer, sock em rock em robots arena
DS:Spectrobes series, Pokemon ranger series, Rune Factory series, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Scribblenauts series


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## ericgobbo (Aug 7, 2020)

If you want, i can give you a list of a lot of obscures games of multiple systems.


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## Seliph (Aug 7, 2020)

Bug Fables! It's a fantastic spiritual successor to the original Paper Mario games and no one seems to know it exists.

It's available on all platforms, and only 20 bucks.



Spoiler: Here's some screenshots!



















Awesome game.


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## Chary (Aug 7, 2020)

Little Busters. A comedy visual novel for PC/Switch about a group of friends who try to make the most of their high school lives. It has a cat named Hitler as well.


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## Jokiz (Aug 7, 2020)

*Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4*, the best but unfortunately japan exclusive entry in the Clash of Ninja series for the Gamecube.
A great 3D fighter that can be enjoyed whether you're a fan of the Naruto anime or not!

The graphics still look great, especially with emulators having the ability to upscale the graphics to 1080p or even 4K. While obviously not as pretty as the newer games in the series, I still believe the cell shaded style holds up pretty well.

Custom textures and translations gives you the ability play most of the game in english, so the game being a japan exclusive is no longer an issue.

The gameplay is easy to pick up, but hard to master, and gets a lot more fun when you discover the more advanced techniques like y-cancelling. It's get's surprisingly deep, depending a lot on reading your opponent and properly managing your meter.
The game includes 39 characters, offers up to 4 player multiplayer, as well as both single and team battles.

Thanks to emulation it also has a somewhat active online community, with tournaments running regularly now during the pandemic!

Here's a great video introducing the game and it's mechanics if anyone's interested:


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## kosterix (Aug 13, 2020)

grandia on playstation, knight and baby. I finished them and sold them. That was a stupid idea.

I played obscure shit like demon's winter before you were even born lol.


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## BlackZero500 (Jan 27, 2021)

AnimeIsDead said:


> GBC: survival kids
> N64: Body harvest, Extreme-G XG2, Lego Racers, Paper Boy, A Bugs Life, Monopoly, Glover
> PS1: Monster Rancher 2, Twisted Metal 2, Tomba!,Toy Story Racer, sock em rock em robots arena
> DS:Spectrobes series, Pokemon ranger series, Rune Factory series, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Scribblenauts series



Oh my god! Tomba! That was one of the First PSX Games i ever Played. We did not have the money for the console and Games, so for starters we only had that one Multi Demo CD and one of my Favorites was Tomba!. Really sad i never had the Full Game.

Also:
*Scurge: Hive* for GBA/NDS. One of the best Metroid like Games ive ever seen.

And i dont know if its quite as Unknown as i think it is, but somehow very Few People even Mentioned it when it released:
*Dragons Dogma - Dark Arisen *PC. It was released for Xbox 360 back in the day and got a remaster for PC a while back. While the port is not perfect its still an incredible game. Still thinking this game was meant to have a real multiplayer mode but it was cut in the end.

Oh and Snowboard Kids for N64. Was like Mario Cart but better.


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## UltraDolphinRevolution (Jan 30, 2021)

There are actually two low-budget helicopter games with good controls on Wii. I could look up their names if anyone is interested.


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## Deleted member 397813 (Jan 30, 2021)

Crash twinsanity on PS2/OG XBOX

It may have a lot of problems but it has some of the best platforming in a crash bandicoot game.


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## AmandaRose (Jan 30, 2021)

Incredible Crisis on the PlayStation 1 is an awesome game somewhat similar to Warioware but with a proper and hilarious story running through it. If you have never played it you should definitely give it a go.


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## subcon959 (Feb 3, 2021)

FRAK! for the BBC Micro. One of my favourites for the trusty 8-bit machine.
Very tricky platformer where you climb ladders and knock monsters away with your yo-yo.
The graphics were impressive for the time and the music will get stuck in your head for days.


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## ILuvGames (Feb 3, 2021)

subcon959 said:


> FRAK! for the BBC Micro. One of my favourites for the trusty 8-bit machine.
> Very tricky platformer where you climb ladders and knock monsters away with your yo-yo.
> The graphics were impressive for the time and the music will get stuck in your head for days.



Used to play that and Boffin at school except my copy of Frak! was called F*ck! (u instead of * in the name of course) and was definitely NSFW. 'Frak! (1984)(Aardvark)[h8][FRAK]' is the name of the file should you wish to find it.


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