Nintendo NES Games - HIDDEN GEMS!

[Metal Jesus]

Here are 10 lesser known fun games that should be in every NES game collectors library! w/ John Riggs

I have to say this is one of the most fun videos I have made. John & I were tired after a day of PAX and we are just sillier and looser than normal. It made for some funny conversation and teasing! I hope you guys enjoy it!

 

GAMES SHOWN:
Cowboy Kid
Kickle Cubicle
Rescue: The Embassy Mission
The Legend of Ghost Lion
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
Monster Party
Nightshade
North and South
Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Krion Conquest

 

What games should we cover in Parts 2 & 3?

[+wongojack]

Incredible video. I hadn't heard of more than half of those and the only one that I played BitD was North and South. I can't wait to check out these games.

[0078265317]

I have rescue.

[high voltage]

Rescue the embassy mission is original called Hostages and came first on Atari ST and Amiga (and C64) from Infogrames.

North and South is also from Infogrames and also first on ST and Amiga, plays a bit better on computer too

[Pixelboy]

Really? You hadn't done a NES Hidden Gems video yet? Wow...

 

Some suggestions for the next video:

 

- Arkista's Ring

- Athena

- The Battle of Olympus

- Battle Tank

- Cabal

- Captain Skyhawk

- Castelian

- Clash at Demonhead

- Cobra Command (a true hidden gem, this one!)

- Crystalis (okay, no exactly osbcure, but a gem worth mentioning nonetheless)

- Cybernoid

- Darkwing Duck

- Dr. Chaos

- Faxanada

- Felix the Cat

- Fire 'N' Ice

- G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero

- G.I. Joe - The Atlantis Factor

- Gargoyle's Quest II

- The Goonies II

- The Guardian Legend

- Guerrilla War

- The Immortal

- Kabuki Quantum Fighter

- Karnov

- The Last Ninja

- Legendary Wings

- Little Nemo: The Dream Master

- Low G Man

- Lunar Pool

- Magic of Scheherazade

- Mendel Palace

- Metal Storm

- Milon's Secret Castle

- Mission Impossible

- The Mutant Virus: Crisis in a Computer World

- Mystery Quest

- Power Blade

- R.C. Pro-Am

- Robowarrior

- Rock 'n Ball

- Rod Land (PAL only)

- Rygar

- Shadow of the Ninja

- Shatterhand

- Solomon's Key

- Solstice

- Star Trek - 25th Anniversary

- StarTropics

- Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight

- TaleSpin

- Thunder & Lightning

- Thunderbirds

- Tiger-Heli

- Tiny Toon Adventures

- Werewolf - The Last Warrior

- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

- Willow

- Wizards & Warriors

 

I probably missed several other interesting ones, but I guess the list above is a good start.

[Andromeda Stardust]

My local GameXChange has a Kickle Kubicle. I should probably pick it up before it walks...

 

Really? You hadn't done a NES Hidden Gems video yet? Wow...

 

Some suggestions for the next video:

 

- Athena

 

I probably missed several other interesting ones, but I guess the list above is a good start.

Athena is a buggy mess. I saw it on a 20 worst games list and it sucks. That said, Bible Adventures wasvalso on said list and I found it rather enjoyable so... Edited September 13, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Pixelboy]

Athena is a buggy mess. I saw it on a 20 worst games list and it sucks. That said, Bible Adventures wasvalso on said list and I found it rather enjoyable so...

Yeah, some games in my list may not be worth being called "gems", but I think they're worth trying, at least.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Yeah, some games in my list may not be worth being called "gems", but I think they're worth trying, at least.

Sad truth; as "hidden gems" become more well known, the value drives up. Todays affordable "hidden gem" will be tomorrow's "unicorn."

 

Look at some of the up-and-comers, Fire-N-Ice for instance. Not that long ago it was a $5 game. Ditto for almost any late era 1992-1993 sequel to a popular first game with a "2" or "II" in the title.

[mikey.shake]

Metal Jesus & Crew haven't steered me wrong yet, and most of these are "new" to me (familiar, but haven't played). Next time I need something to play, I'll look into one of these!

 

And how come these lists never include Stinger? I'd definitely suggest it for Part 2 or Part 3. About ten bucks, the only of the three 8-bit Twinbee games to make it Stateside, with great (colorful, action-packed) horizontal AND vertical shooter action from Konami, including a novel power-up system. Hard to beat, if cute 'em ups aren't a turnoff to you.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this, as always! Mrs. Shake and I always really enjoy your vids!

[jd_1138]

Kung Fu

Volleyball

[+wongojack]

Growing up, we always had a lot more fun with Volleyball than we expected. Nice choice!

[Lentzquest]

Vindicators

Toobin'

Thundercade

[Metal Jesus]

We are back with more Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games that are HIDDEN GEMS! These are games most people don’t know about but are fun to play and should be in every game collection.

GAMES SHOWN:

Tiny Toon Adventures

Faxanadu

Felix The Cat

Space Shuttle Project

Destiny of an Emperor

Flying Warriors

Metal Storm

Xexyz

Spot the Video Game

Vice: Project Doom

[teh_lurv]

Good choices except for Space Shuttle Project.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

And now I'm going to have "Tiny Toon Adventures! What!? What!?" stuck in my head the rest of the day. In any case, great video and game recommendations! I had heard of a few of those games before but most were totally new to me and looked like a lot of fun.

 

As far as recommendations for the next time go, I'll toss in votes for Zanac, Freedom Force, and Mechanized Attack. Zanac has got to be one of the best and most affordable shmups on the NES, and provides one of the most intense frenetic 8 bit shooter experiences you'll find outside of the insanely rare and expensive Summer Carnival '92 Recca on the Famicom. Freedom Force and Mechanized Attack are both awesome and largely unheard of light gun games that were clearly designed with the NES zapper in mind. They both look and sound great, and they play even better.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Good choices except for Space Shuttle Project.

Yeah I kinda went like "what?" when referring to Space Shuttle. To their credit, I have not played this game. It might be impressive for it's time, but generally simulators that try to be as realistic as possible make for poor game play. It starts to feel like a job. I'd rather take any cutesy platformer, gnarly SHMUP that let's you blast aliens, or a kill 'em all run-n-gun over a "realistic" simulation of anything. One reason why I'm such a fan of kart racers over pure driving sims. I play games to escape reality, not relive it. That's why I thought EA's Sims series was such a stupid concept. I once had a roommate that played Sims 2 on his PS2 almost religiously, and it looked like the most monotonous piece of crap I'd ever seen.

 

And now I'm going to have "Tiny Toon Adventures! What!? What!?" stuck in my head the rest of the day. In any case, great video and game recommendations! I had heard of a few of those games before but most were totally new to me and looked like a lot of fun.

 

As far as recommendations for the next time go, I'll toss in votes for Zanac, Freedom Force, and Mechanized Attack. Zanac has got to be one of the best and most affordable shmups on the NES, and provides one of the most intense frenetic 8 bit shooter experiences you'll find outside of the insanely rare and expensive Summer Carnival '92 Recca on the Famicom. Freedom Force and Mechanized Attack are both awesome and largely unheard of light gun games that were clearly designed with the NES zapper in mind. They both look and sound great, and they play even better.

Tiny Toon Adventures is awesome. They also made a decent sequel, and unlike many 3rd party NES games that released a sequel late in it's lifetime (Bubble Bobble, Bomberman, Flintstones, Chip N Dale, Rescue Rangers, etc...), Tiny Toon Adventures 2 is actually a common ten dollar game rather than a rare, expensive unicorn.

 

I also own Zanac and also Xexyz, and I've heard they're both good SHMUPs but haven't tried them yet...

[Metal Jesus]

I also own Zanac and also Xexyz, and I've heard they're both good SHMUPs but haven't tried them yet...

 

 

I need to give Zanac a try as well... heard good things

[Pixelboy]

https://youtu.be/fiFlYZ9w1yQ

Please tell me the eyes in that still picture were photoshopped in...

[HoshiChiri]

I have a friend who's been hunting for Felix for years now- she used to play it with her grandma on grandma's nes. She was always told that, when grandma passed, the games were promised to her. When the time came, she got the box in the mail from her mom- and only then did anyone learn that a couple of opportunitistic cousins had raided grandma's stuff for valuables. Any game that was worth more than about $20 was gone. Apparently grandma also had that really expensive Flintstones game- she's accepted that's never coming back.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I need to give Zanac a try as well... heard good things

It's definitely a great game for avid shoot 'em up fans who have a lot of experience with the genre, but be warned that Zanac will pretty much eat anyone else alive within the first few minutes. For a more approachable hidden gem I'd recommend Dragon Spirit: The New Legend. It's like Xevious with dragons (which would be pretty awesome alone) and power-ups, plus it's got some really cool and diverse level designs, end bosses for each level, and a neat story to tie it all together. Zanac is probably the premier "hardcore shmup" on the NES, but Dragon Spirit is a game that everyone—expeienced shoot 'em up fans and casual players alike—can enjoy.

[+GoldenWheels]

I know debating what is a "hidden gem" or not is a fool's errand but...VICE: Project Doom was a game that got a ton of press. It was a Nintendo Power cover story with a huge spread and I believe it got high reviews all around the mags. Maybe you can say time has buried it since then, but I'd consider even that debatable. It IS a gem though!

 

Hidden gems like Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Seta deserve attention. A game designed for speed runs before speed runs were a thing.

 

Or Starship Hector, a neat schmup with horizontal and vertical areas.

 

I do like seeing games like Rescue get some love...they are the type of game you can still get for a measly few bucks in a lot and have a lot of fun with. To ME that would be more interesting...budget NES games actually worth playing....

[icemanxp300]

I love zanac. I highly recommend getting a modded ps1 and getting a copy of the ps1 import zanac x zanac. It is awesome and it even includes the original nes zanac.

 

As far as hidden gems. I am partial to KId Kool even though the screen hopping is annoying as all hell. I think everyone should play Thrilla's Surfari, that game is really fun.

 

Going back to zanac, Space Megaforce is zanac on the snes, freaking awesome.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

I love zanac. I highly recommend getting a modded ps1 and getting a copy of the ps1 import zanac x zanac. It is awesome and it even includes the original nes zanac.7

 

Thanks for the info, have a modded PS1 (and PS2) Getting the ISO right now.

[icemanxp300]

Thanks for the info, have a modded PS1 (and PS2) Getting the ISO right now.

 

You will love it. Don't forget to try and unlock the achievements. I would have to look it up but there is a list that translates what they are. They are all in Japanese but they unlock when you do them. I do remember one is going through the entire game w/out dying.

 

I went through the whole game did not die one time, then I beat the end boss and was like YES.... sadly I forgot he blew up into a circle of bullets, one of the fn bullet hit me and I spawned just to see the credits. I was like wtf and It didn't give me the achievement so I played it again and didn't forget about the exploding end boss lol.

 

Basically I played it back to back twice in a row w/out dying.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Here are some of my favorite hidden gems for the NES.

 

Tiny Toon Adventures: A very fun Mario 3 inspired game.

 

M.C. Kids: Don't let this game fool you, it is fun too and Mario 3 inspired as well.

 

Adventures of Tom Sawyer: One of the most underrated games for the NES. A fun game and easy to pick up and play.

 

The Goonies: If you have a famicom system or a 60 pin to 72 pin adapter get this game! It is fun! A shame they originally released it in Japan.

 

Wrecking Crew: A great black box game where you demolish all the doors, walls, and ladders. You have to use strategy as it's a puzzle game mixed in.

 

The Guardian Legend:In the game, the player controls a lone protagonist, the Guardian, who is on a quest to destroy a large alien-infested world named Naju before it reaches the planet Earth.

 

Baseball Stars: A great game to play and earn money in league play or in a 2 player matchup!