Obscure NES/SNES games

[LordOfChaos43]

I'm posting this because i am interested in finding some more uncommon games to purchase for the NES or SNES that are really fun to play, i am not a collector so my knowledge of obscure/uncommon games is somewhat limited but i know that there are a lot of good games that i don't even know exist. When i say obscure games i really mean games that you wouldn't really see in a normal persons game collection but are still a lot of fun to play. I am interested to see what kind of games people know about that not a casual retro video game player would know about.

[+GoldLeader]

Man there are so many great SNES games! Where to begin? If you like arcade games, there is a version of Mr. Do! that is Fantastic! The AI of the enemies is a little more predictable and patterned than in the arcade game, so you can employ some strategy instead of just using off the cuff random moves...

 

Everyone will probably tell you about the RPGs, and of course you should check out the Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound. But for something standard, yet slightly more obscure I totally recommend Breath of Fire. And these days there's guides on the internet if you get stuck....I played it for months on end!

 

I also always liked the graphics and music of Cool World, but it has weird and quirky gameplay....Still quite an atmosphere for its time. I can't think of SNES without thinking of it. Of course anything Mario and I liked the Bubsy games. Your mileage may vary on all of these...There's so many Great Shmups and Platformers, I almost don't know where to begin...Of Course Super Metroid and Zelda but those aren't obscure...And Anything Castlevania, any and all Bomberman...maybe Demon's Crest, King of Dragons, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

 

I'll give you one more I Love. If you have Super Famicom capability (If not hit the internet,...Maybe even get an adaptor if you don't want to cut your SNES) I recommend a Pinball game called JAKI CRUSH...It is the sequel to ALIEN CRUSH and DEVIL'S CRUSH on Turbografx (DRAGON'S FURY on Genesis)...It is absolutely Amazing!

 

Cheers and good luck on your quest!

[+GoldLeader]

Oh, and I totally forgot to mention the NES!....Off the top of my head FAXANADU, DEADLY TOWERS, PINBALL QUEST, and SNOW BROTHERS...

[LordOfChaos43]

Man there are so many great SNES games! Where to begin? If you like arcade games, there is a version of Mr. Do! that is Fantastic! The AI of the enemies is a little more predictable and patterned than in the arcade game, so you can employ some strategy instead of just using off the cuff random moves...

 

Everyone will probably tell you about the RPGs, and of course you should check out the Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound. But for something standard, yet slightly more obscure I totally recommend Breath of Fire. And these days there's guides on the internet if you get stuck....I played it for months on end!

 

I also always liked the graphics and music of Cool World, but it has weird and quirky gameplay....Still quite an atmosphere for its time. I can't think of SNES without thinking of it. Of course anything Mario and I liked the Bubsy games. Your mileage may vary on all of these...There's so many Great Shmups and Platformers, I almost don't know where to begin...Of Course Super Metroid and Zelda but those aren't obscure...And Anything Castlevania, any and all Bomberman...maybe Demon's Crest, King of Dragons, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

 

I'll give you one more I Love. If you have Super Famicom capability (If not hit the internet,...Maybe even get an adaptor if you don't want to cut your SNES) I recommend a Pinball game called JAKI CRUSH...It is the sequel to ALIEN CRUSH and DEVIL'S CRUSH on Turbografx (DRAGON'S FURY on Genesis)...It is absolutely Amazing!

 

Cheers and good luck on your quest!

 

 

Oh, and I totally forgot to mention the NES!....Off the top of my head FAXANADU, DEADLY TOWERS, PINBALL QUEST, and SNOW BROTHERS...

thanks for the suggestions!

[hwj_chim]

Don't know how obscure anymore. But Plock for the SNES is very fun.

[toiletunes]

for obscure NES fun, try Death Race.

[+frankodragon]

There's also Captain Comic, a Color Dreams dream game for the NES that surprisingly, people like even though other Color Dreams games have been kind of "meh". http://atariage.com/forums/topic/253639-so-i-like-a-color-dreams-game/?hl=%2Bcaptain+%2Bcomic&do=findComment&comment=3540962

[Trinity]

There is a game called Star on my 400 n 1 nes cart, real trippy. No other info is on 'this' rom. Anyone else have this game? Instructions would be awesome!

Edited August 27, 2016 by Trinity

[HoshiChiri]

My personal favorite NES game is the Guardian Legend. Half-shooter, half Zelda, all awesome.

[Emehr]

For NES, I enjoy Legend of Kage and Renegade.

 

In Legend of Kage you run around in a forest, can jump really high, throw throwing stars, and swing a sword to deflect other throwing stars being tossed your way. The next few levels take place in different areas and offer new challenges. There are about four stages so it's kind of short but offers some challenge until you get the hang of the game play and enemies. It's not a great game by any means and it may be my nostalgia glasses since it was a game I occasionally rented back in the day but I still find it fun to toss in every once in a while.

 

Renegade is actually more enjoyable to me than Double Dragon. It is faster-paced, there's no leveling up, and the fighting feels a lot more gratifying. Double Dragon feels slow and plodding in comparison. Plus the music in Renegade fits the action perfectly. There's a maze-like sequence on the last level but it doesn't take much to map the proper sequence of doors to go through. Renegade is a short game but the fun factor is way up there.

[GameGirl420]

Love Guardian Legend. Got the cart of that too! I had no idea people consider it obscure. I always saw it advertised in comicbooks.

 

 

Lately I've been playing Panic Restaurant on the NES. Very obscure from '92. Great game that was overlooked.

 

 

Also Felix the Cat and Action in New York on the NES!!! Recommended to me by my friend Mike Matei lol. Reminds me I need to call up Kevin"The Glitch Gremlin"Finn soon.

[HoshiChiri]

Love Guardian Legend. Got the cart of that too! I had no idea people consider it obscure. I always saw it advertised in comicbooks.

 

 

I never really know if something counts as properly obscure or not, since there's no clear criteria for it. For me, it's a matter of 'have I ever come across someone else talking about it without specifically looking for it?' If the answer's no, it's obscure enough.

 

Plus it's just an awesome game regardless.

[+GoldLeader]

 

I never really know if something counts as properly obscure or not, since there's no clear criteria for it. For me, it's a matter of 'have I ever come across someone else talking about it without specifically looking for it?' If the answer's no, it's obscure enough.

 

Plus it's just an awesome game regardless.

 

Obscurity is an interesting phenomenon, huh?

 

For example when the Coleco Chameleon debacle happened, there seemed to be people not recognizing LEGEND and That 3D Jim Powers game (Hey there's 2 more recommendations I guess)...and people began to mention obscure games...And I had both of those from back in the day so never thought of them as obscure at all...Yet I now own certain Mega Drive games that I'd never heard of BITD (Or were unreleased on Genesis), and even though I own them I think of them as obscure...

[madhatter667]

An oddball piece of silliness is Operation Secret Storm. It's Color Dreams, but kinda fun. End level will have you scratching your head with a "WTF?"

If you are emulating, or have a Famicom, Star Wars is unusual. Kickle Cubicle, Holy Diver, there is a cool pirate port/demake of FFVII with English translation out there, Daiku no Gensan/Hammerin' Harry. I'll second Guardian Legend.

There are some really good late release NES titles, like Metal Storm, Little Samson, and Bubble Bobble part 2... but legitimate copies of these will run you more than a pretty penny.

 

For SNES.... PLOK. Fun goofy sidescroller. Paladin's Quest, and 7th Saga for RPGs that are a little different. If you opt for SFC, options broaden.

[icemanxp300]

There are lots of obscure games, but I think if you want games w/very limited exposure you could dwell in the area of Famicom and translations.

 

Sanrio World Smashball is a cool little air hockey-wind jammers type game w/hello kitty characters lol.

 

Ancient Magic English translation or Arcus Spirits are pretty cool as well.

 

Jaki Crush is a sweet little pinball game that should not be overlooked.

 

I'm sure the list goes on.

 

I have always been a fan of nes Thrilla's Surfari. It is a sweet game where you are a Gorilla riding a skateboard in a jungle collecting coconuts and bananas while jumping over snakes, scorpions, and pits. Surfing down waterfalls and dodging rocks and eels.

 

Thousands of nes games go through my hands and I have only seen about 3-4 of this game and that included at game stores. By all rights it should be worth a hell of a lot more than it is.

 

I always have to give props to nes Kid Kool lol. The split screen will get annoying such as you jump up a certain height and the game pauses slightly while the scree goes up to the next level and again when you drop down. Other than that I like it.

 

A few more games that have are not widely known for snes would be incantation, sky blazer, and sparkster.

[electricmastro]

Troddlers, a puzzle game that’s like a combination of Lemmings and Solomon’s Key: 

 

[Lord Mushroom]

Not very obscure, but not amongst the most famous either:

 

NES:

F-15: Strike Eagle (single player, flight game)

R.C. Pro-Am II (up to 4 players, racing game)

Robo Warrior (single player)

Stinger (up to 3 players, shoot´em up)

 

SNES:

Rock´n Roll Racing (up to 2 players, racing game)

Street Racer (up to 4 players, racing game)

 

If you go to You Tube and search for NES or SNES hidden gems/underrated/obscure, there will be plenty of suggestions.

 

By the way, does one call games where you fly "flying games" or "flight games"?

[Reaperman]

Since this came back up, Visco's Super Drift Out on SFC is one of my favorites--it's an overhead racer where the screen rotates along with the car. (as did the first Drift Out arcade game) As far as gameplay it's what I call a 'here comes the curve' arcade rally racer, where they flash the corner on the screen a moment before it hits.  That used to be a common genre, but it's a dead one today.  

 

This version plays in english and even has a track editor.

 

I did an accidental playthrough of it once for youtube--as in I didn't think I'd make it through, but then the game ended. Linked vid below starts when the gameplay starts. It looks normal for a second until the background starts rotating.

 

 

[+GoldLeader]

4 minutes ago, Reaperman said:

Since this came back up, Visco's Super Drift Out on SFC is one of my favorites--it's an overhead racer where the screen rotates along with the car. (as did the first Drift Out arcade game) As far as gameplay it's what I call a 'here comes the curve' arcade rally racer, where they flash the corner on the screen a moment before it hits.  That used to be a common genre, but it's a dead one today.  

 

This version plays in english and even has a track editor.

 

I did an accidental playthrough of it once for youtube--as in I didn't think I'd make it through, but then the game ended. Linked vid below starts when the gameplay starts. It looks normal for a second until the background starts rotating.

 

 

Gameplay looks kinda fun!  But yeah I couldn't watch your video...I get motion sick and I could handle about 20 seconds before I had to turn away.

[Tanooki]

Wow Neo Drift out has a Super (Nintendo) Drift Out port from the arcade??

[Steven Pendleton]

10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Wow Neo Drift out has a Super (Nintendo) Drift Out port from the arcade??

I believe it predates Neo Drift Out.

[+GoldenWheels]

There are some neat Super Famicom games out there, and the "region lock" on a SNES is two plastic tabs that are easily snapped/cut/sawed out. Coincidentally I played The Hudson Soft Shooting collection just last night....it has the NES (I think) versions of Star Force, Star Soldier, and Starship Hector on one cart. This was cheap when I bought it, but no longer appears to be.

 

There is also a Nichibitsu Arcade classics for the Super Fami which has Moon Cresta, Crazy Climber and Frisky Tom. Not as good as the former but not bad.

 

NES, well, hmmm...I have always had a giant, stupid soft spot for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was the first NES game I ever completed. It's good simple fun, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

[electricmastro]

Flying simulator Ultimate Air Combat, loosely averaged $32:

 

 

[+Black_Tiger]

Far East Of Eden Zero finally has an English translation.

 

If you don't have a fancy enough flashcart to run it there are people selling modified original carts.

 

It's the closest thing the SNES has to an epic CD JRPG.

 

 

[Tanooki]

12 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I believe it predates Neo Drift Out.

I did some digging since I made that post.  It's a four game series, the SFC one is #3, and the NG came just after as the last, but they're closely similar other than what better the NG could do with its hardware for visuals etc.  I think it would be a solid game to go fishing for, though I really should get it for my neo geo.

 

10 hours ago, GoldenWheels said:

There are some neat Super Famicom games out there, and the "region lock" on a SNES is two plastic tabs that are easily snapped/cut/sawed out. Coincidentally I played The Hudson Soft Shooting collection just last night....it has the NES (I think) versions of Star Force, Star Soldier, and Starship Hector on one cart. This was cheap when I bought it, but no longer appears to be.

 

There is also a Nichibitsu Arcade classics for the Super Fami which has Moon Cresta, Crazy Climber and Frisky Tom. Not as good as the former but not bad.

 

NES, well, hmmm...I have always had a giant, stupid soft spot for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was the first NES game I ever completed. It's good simple fun, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

I did that on my original SNES, in time, and this was from lots of game use, tab removal ruined my cart reader slot as the lack of the pegs due to the space the cart door allowed caused it to spread out from wobble/gravity.  It got so bad I had to wedge something in there or it would just drop the games if it moved.  Better off seriously getting a SFC to SNES adapter or using a third party thing like a SuperNT where it's snug.  I really do miss my old SFC collection, but the prices in the last 5 years or so have been sick, CIB games that I had now, the loose ones cost as much or a bit more which SUCKS.  I loved those colorful boxes and manuals I'd slowly try and translate.  Temptation is there, has been for years, but I haven't caved...yet, though I do have around a dozen or so FC/FC pirates.

 

I got this wicked modern FC pirate/(MMC5) hack I wish I could figure out how it was done, who did it, where the parts came from as I'd commission someone to make me a FC shelled (NES ver) Sim City game to play.  This wicked cart?  Infidelity's 2017 SMB3/MMC5 hack to make Super Mario All-Stars for NES!  I'd never part with it.  Great game, SMB1, 2, 2j, 3 (and Mario Bros arcade from late PAL era which is fairly arcade accurate), and it has a better save than the SNES version as you can save by stage (not world.)