What is the most obscured games you have played?

[ForteReborn]

This topic has came to my mind while dipping into some old classic PC games spanning the beginning to the era of polygons becoming a norm. So I made this thread to discuss, share, or learn of games that hardly anyone has heard of.

Heart of Darkness ( For the PS1, and PC.)

If you are familiar with the context with 'Out of this World', then you should be already predict with how this game pans out to be. I have only seen a LTP of this, but the game is amazingly well animated and the plot is pretty much deeper than you could possibly imagination. But that is to be expected when the same makers who get inspired by wild, and crazy tales that actually happen.

LBA, or Relentless Twinsen's Adventure. It also has a sequel called LBA 2, or Twinsen's Odyssey. (Game is now for free, and is on multiple ports. Not sure for the second, though.)

I was introduced to this game by the LTP, Frankomatic. It is one of those VERY early polygon games that was considered ahead of it's time. Since it has aged, the tanky controls can be a bit uneasy to learn and the game itself can be difficult. Overall, the aesthetics and music can be very pleasing. I haven't really played this game much myself since it does take some time to get into due to those controls.

LSD (For PS1)

I known this game before it became a 'meme' for some reason or another. Especially having a book to see paths where the next dream will take. I happen to like dreams, especially doing lucid ones, so it takes the cake. My only complaint that sometimes the emulator kinda flickers way too much, or graphics flash way too fast for my eyes. I also had a jump scare a few times, especially with the baby man that appears randomly.

Secret of Evermore ( For Super Nintendo.)

One of my favorite obscured games. Ever since I was a child, and seeing the commercial for the first time...

It still sends chills down my spine like no other. Oddly, this game had MORE depth behind it than what was going to be applied. Due to rushing it out, the game never got to show off beyond what it was capable of. This was an American answer to the Secret of Mana, and thus, never came out over in Japan. A strange move by the now Square Enix, I must say.

But what this game did was feature the now, and famous Jeremy Soule. This was his first game to work on, and probably one of my most favorite OST.

Other honorable mentions...

The Neverhood, Pulseman, Dynamite Headdy, Mischief Makers, Congo's Capers, Live-A-Live, Dino City, Uniracers, abadox, Golgo 13, EVO, And others I can't seem to list off the top of my head....

 

[Sgt. Puffling]

Lemmings. I have no idea why, but it's just so eerily creepy and odd when you get deeper into it... Especially the level "All the sixes".

I know this is a small image, but this is what the level actually looks like.

 

[ForteReborn]

Lemmings. I have no idea why, but it's just so eerily creepy and odd when you get deeper into it... Especially the level "All the sixes".

I know this is a small image, but this is what the level actually looks like.

Earthworm Jim had a level literally called 'what the heck', and plays this demonic theme throughout and you know it is 'hell' for pete sakes. (Pete Sakes is also an ACTUAL name for another level.)

Games from the 90s couldn't help but parody this theme, huh? Hahaha...

 

[ZEROrevive]

Lemmings. I have no idea why, but it's just so eerily creepy and odd when you get deeper into it... Especially the level "All the sixes".

I know this is a small image, but this is what the level actually looks like.

I only played Lemmings for the NES when I was little...I have a feeling it may have not included this level- my childhood memory doesnt recall it at least, hahah.

Earthworm Jim had a level literally called 'what the heck', and plays this demonic theme throughout and you know it is 'hell' for pete sakes. (Pete Sakes is also an ACTUAL name for another level.)

Games from the 90s couldn't help but parody this theme, huh? Hahaha...

90's games deserve their credit where credit is due- some 80's games too.

I need to post about some obscure games later when I get the chance...I have ALOT that I love.

 

[Sgt. Puffling]

I only played Lemmings for the NES when I was little...I have a feeling it may have not included this level- my childhood memory doesnt recall it at least, hahah.

It was only in the PC version. They removed it (and a bunch of other disturbing ****, including a trap that legitimately showed the guts of a dismembered Lemming hanging from it) from the SNES version because they wanted to avoid a higher rating. Sort of like how in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, the Japanese version has an outline of a toad on the floor and what appears to be blood in a Bandit hideout, while the English version did not contain the outline.

(Sorry for the small pictures again.)

Japanese:

English:

 

[ZEROrevive]

It was only in the PC version. They removed it (and a bunch of other disturbing ****, including a trap that legitimately showed the guts of a dismembered Lemming hanging from it) from the SNES version because they wanted to avoid a higher rating. Sort of like how in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, the Japanese version has an outline of a toad on the floor and what appears to be blood in a Bandit hideout, while the English version did not contain the outline.

(Sorry for the small pictures again.)

Japanese:

English:

..Well I learned something new today, yikes. PP TTYD Certainly was odd enough with the things they DID leave in (the hanging noose in the town square, among other things...). Rest in peace, Toad.

Now I want to bring attention to one of the greatest musicals in video game history...as presented by "Mystical ninja Staring Goemon":

GORGEOUS MY STAGE

That said, I highly recommend the Goemon series. Highly underrated over here in the west, but the two n64 games for it are just chock full of weird and hilarious Japanese humor, great music, and challenging fun levels! The SNES game released here is great as well. Not sure about the Gameboy game, but seems decent.

And did I mention that Goemon can go Super Sayian in one of the games?

 

[ForteReborn]

@Sgt. Puffling Wow, that is weird. But they did not suspend the hanging noose that is in the middle of the square with small traces of what appears to be dried blood. (Nintendo, you silly you!) By the way, I don't mind if you bring the paper series, or the other Mario rpgs. I consider them obscure as well since they aren't directly the main canon of the series. Same goes for Mega Man Legends, being more Zelda like even before Ocarina of Time did the targeting system.

If you want even more weirdness, the people who made the Mario & Luigi series made THIS game.

Also another trivia, they made the first Mario RPG game, so there, yeah. Funny how long they came. It's too bad Paper Mario was going to be a sequel, which is now debunked.

Now onward for you, @ZEROrevive ...

Ah, Goemon. I was hoping you brought this up. I played this game back on the SNES in the early days, and up till now I own most of the games that was released in America. Right now Konami kinda turn this game into a slot machine frenzy, which I am not too crazy over for the spin offs.

 

[Dessgeega]

Obscure? How about Zig Zag Cat? I randomly downloaded this and played it years ago, it's a weird breakout-type game with upgrades, a cat for a ball, and the "villains" are apparently some trio of Japanese comedians. Very strange, and not too bad! Here's a full playthrough I found.

 

[GreatGateway]

Um Jammer Lammy for PS1. It's a sort of sequel to Parappa the Rapper, but insanely better because freestyle on a guitar makes much more sense. Plus it's catchy but cheesy, always makes me smile!

And also, Ghost Trick (DS), The World Ends With You (DS), Sheep Dog n Wolf (PS1) and a Sonic PC game I am struggling to remember more of. All I remember is a 2-player side scrolling race between Sonic and Tails, with a "Win, Lose" screen after.

 

[Nuddlmaus]

Well its not that obscure but i highly recommend Terranigma some scenes feel like this game is made from an outerworld being watching our society and planet throught a microscope.

 

[Drew Sebastino]

 

[ZEROrevive]

...I was honestly fooled for a moment, thinking that I was looking at a Metal Slug game. Interesting!

(And I see where your avatar comes from now, clever.)

 

[Drew Sebastino]

It's really the predecessor to Metal Slug. The company that made this game (Irem Corporation) went bankrupt, and many of the staff would leave to form Nazca, that was then bought out by SNK. Irem was most popular for the R-Type series, but also made several other games, including Undercover Cops, (top picture) In The Hunt, (bottom picture) and actually Ninja Baseball Batman if you've heard of that game. All three of these games run on the Irem M92 arcade board, which is similar spec to the Neo Geo. (I actually tried to program for it in MAME, because is uses an 80186 knockoff, and while I got the screen to change color, I could never figure out how to get sprites to display because the existing technical documents for this admittedly obscure platform are garbage.) Irem Corporation would be bought out and brought back as Irem Software Engineering after much of the staff had left and release arguably the best R-Type game (R-Type Delta) and unarguably the worst (R-Type Final).

...As a little Easter egg, in Mission 3 of Metal Slug, underneath the rubble of the building that explodes, there's actually an enemy from Gunforce II.

 

[ZEROrevive]

It's really the predecessor to Metal Slug. The company that made this game (Irem Corporation) went bankrupt, and many of the staff would leave to form Nazca, that was then bought out by SNK. Irem was most popular for the R-Type series, but also made several other games, including Undercover Cops, (top picture) In The Hunt, (bottom picture) and actually Ninja Baseball Batman if you've heard of that game. All three of these games run on the Irem M92 arcade board, which is similar spec to the Neo Geo. (I actually tried to program for it in MAME, because is uses an 80186 knockoff, and while I got the screen to change color, I could never figure out how to get sprites to display because the existing technical documents for this admittedly obscure platform are garbage.) Irem Corporation would be bought out and brought back as Irem Software Engineering after much of the staff had left and release arguably the best R-Type game (R-Type Delta) and unarguably the worst (R-Type Final).

...As a little Easter egg, in Mission 3 of Metal Slug, underneath the rubble of the building that explodes, there's actually an enemy from Gunforce II.

View attachment 5399

Aaah no wonder why I was fooled then! Something I learned yet again today. More of a reason for me to try it out someday.

 

[ForteReborn]

Sorry for my delay, I've been horribly sick for the past for days that I have neglected to post as of recent. So my apologies everyone, I do detest this sickness. Now since Metal Slug, and it's predecessor has been brought up.

Congo Caper is a predecessor to what Joe & Mac is today. Another game that is also one Tomato Adventure, an inspiration for the art style, and gameplay mechanics for Mario & Luigi later. It's music can be found while hacking the game. (Of course the following is that it is funny how Alpha Dreams were formed right after creating the very first Mario RPG series.)

And this is a fun one to bring up since it is not spoken about much. Mario 64 DS is actually the original game, and not the one everyone is familiar with that is on the N64. Without yanking in Larry's videos in to explain the whole concept, but it is a long story short:

Miyomoto tends to be a bit of a tard, especially back then. It happened with the Donkey Kong series, claiming the game isn't as good as his, so for rare's reply, made Donkey Kong a damsel in distress for most of the series till today. So with this one, Miyomoto was given a concept where Yoshi inhibit in a large sandbox world with many levels. (Argonaut suggested the idea, spoilers.) After having a rocky relationship with the company after StarFox 2 being put into a closest for over two decades, Nintendo later has them invited to a convention that shown a screening of their upcoming projects. One of them was Mario 64, having a strong resemblances to their hard work that was denied.

Feeling torn by their betrayal, they left their final word, and Miyomoto was going to pay them for his fault at giving them the hoot. So after these years, Croc: Legends of Gobbos is what you have, and Mario 64 DS.

Interesting times, really.

 

[Raxel920]

Some random games I had downloaded on my old Wii. I don’t even remember where they came from.

And Yet It Moves
A platforming game where you can freeze time and shift gravity by pressing and holding 1. But you retain momentum when shifting gravity, and fall damage is a thing, so the puzzles get pretty tricky.

You, Me and the Cubes
A puzzle game where you throw little people on to a tilting, growing and shifting cube to balance it out. I personally suck at it.

I also had this weird console when I was a kid. Apparently it’s called the UltiMotion Swing Sports Resort and it’s basically two remotes with 5 sports games and 5 coresponding plastic balls or tools to clip the remotes in and play games. I didn’t even realize that it could be considered a Wii knockoff until now.

 

[IHaveAToaster]

The most obscure game I've ever played is an odd little number called Fur Fighters.

It was developed by Bizarre Creations, who are better known for making the Project Gotham Racing series.

The plot of the game involves the Fur Fighters rescuing their families from General Viggo, the game's main antagonist, who has kidnapped their children and turned their spouses into robotic beasts.

The original came out on the Dreamcast when it was virtually dead in the water, so got practically no recognition. An updated version was later released on the PS2, but it didn't do much better. It was very quirky and parodic in nature, sort of like a more family-friendly Conker's Bad Fur Day. I would recommend it if you like classic third-person shooters.

Also, a fun bit of trivia for you: the game was so obscure that the lead designer bought the copyright for the entire series for five pounds.

 

[SAHSWAMPY]

One game I used to play when I was much younger was a racing game on my old computer called Walt Disney Magical Racing Tour, it was kinda like Mario Kart (probably the reason I enjoyed it a lot since I love Mario Kart even today!) only Disney world! You would race around Disney Park Rides as Race Courses with quite a big selection of playable characters you even used items such as acorns that were like the green shells or even tea cups which were kinda like the banana skins. the only Disney characters I knew were Chip N Dale and Jiminy Cricket the rest I think were just made for the game... not sure... I'm also not sure how obscure it actually is but I've never really heard anyone talk about it so...yee...

some gameplay of it on the dreamcast in case anyones interested ^_^

 

[Либра]

Yeah, I can remember two that I used to play when I was a kid and would classify as such especially nowadays. :D

Dethkarz
While nothing spectacular for a futuristic racing game it kept me busy for so many hours because of its addictive nature. Nothing like blasting your opponents while hearing that electronic trance music in the background, amirite?

Spoiler

3D Ultra RC Racers
Oof, don't even know where to start. Don't know if it's the annoingly funny sounds the rc cars are making all the time or the annoying commentator or the super special ultra 3D look™ but there was just no way in hell I could ever forget its existence as the sounds are stuck in my head forever. x_x Spent lots of time with that game as well. Guess I had a weakness for strange racing games back in the day, lol. It had two elements you can find in Mario Kart like items and stage hazards.

Spoiler

Honorable mention as it seems to be more well-known among my peers but long forgotten by many:
Jet Force Gemini ;-;