My apologies if this type of thread has been done before. I looked through the first several pages here and didn’t seem to find one.
Anyway, I was just wondering what some of the games you guys played back in the day that were great (at least to you), but don’t really seem to be remembered as often as some games are. I’ll list a few of mine to start with, although I’ll probably think of more later.
System Shock 2 - I’m going to list this one, even though it has gotten a lot more attention since Bioshock came out. Before that, it seemed to live in relative obscurity. SS2 creeped me out a lot whenever I would play it, but I couldn’t stop booting it up. The different character classes offered several different ways to play, and what game isn’t made better with zombie monkeys running around?
Thief: The Dark Project & Thief: The Metal Age - Looking Glass Studios had some serious game-making skills. Not only did they make System Shock, but they made these two gems as well. I spent many hours sneaking through mansions, zombie-infested prisons, police stations, and underground lairs thanks to these games. Many of the levels are designed so well that I still go back to tackle them every once in a while. I also think that Garrett, the main character, is a very interesting one. Sneaking around in a video game has rarely been done better.
Blade Runner - The Blade Runner point and click adventure game is often overlooked, but I really enjoyed it. It’s several endings were enough for me to play through it a few times. The main character (you don’t play as Deckard) ended up being either a human or a replicant at the end, depending on the choices you made throughout the game.
Shogo:Mobile Armor Division- fun first person shooter that has you running around in a mec as well. Fun and bloody as hell, it never received the love it should have. Speaking of which I need to find my copy.
SaGa Frontier on the PSX. It’s a JRPG but pretty unique and a throwback to older Squaresoft titles that never made it to the States until like the GBA and DS era began. It has seven characters each with their own storyline, which can overlap. It’s also really open-world and there are a fuckton of possible party members to recruit. The sequels are garbage and I’m not sure if there’s any other decent games in the SaGa series. I know that the two PS2 follow-ups, Unlimited SaGa and Romancing SaGa are garbage.
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNickView PostShogo:Mobile Armor Division- fun first person shooter that has you running around in a mec as well. Fun and bloody as hell, it never received the love it should have. Speaking of which I need to find my copy.
I fucking loved Shogo! Such a cool concept with the mixture of huge Mechs and regular FPS and it was great in multiplayer!
Originally Posted by Judas BoothView Post ‘Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen’ on the Sony PS1. This was a great strategy/tactical game that never really got its due acclaim.
Ogre Battle was pretty sweet, but best RPG for the PS1 was Suikoden…hands down.
I’ve downloaded a bunch of old NES/Super NES/Sega Genesis games from Abandonia.com.
If you like the old Koei tactical games like Nobunaga’s Ambition, Genghis Khan, etc… then check it out.
One of my favourite semi-forgotten titles is Probotector. It was a thoroughly generic side-scrolling blaster, but awesome nonetheless (giant robots were a massive bonus to my Primary School-aged self, at the time.) Its sequel has perhaps the most superfluous subtitle ever: Return of the Evil Forces.
Great thread, although I’d contest the validity of System Shock 2 and Thief as they have always had huge cult followings and even people that have never played them still are aware of what they are and how influential they were.
Shogo - AWESOME. I’m glad you listed that, that game deserves a lot of love.
I’m going to add a few myself:
Tribes - MP madness on the PC that demanded teamwork. Jetpack greatness. Well designed maps that always seemed to be the perfect size. A wide assortment of different classes that actually mattered on a tactical level. Tribes II was fun but it broke just as many things as it enhanced. I believe Tribes is freeware now, at least it used to be. Can’t speak if there is a community there anymore but it is worth a shot.
Einhander - PS1 2D/3D “shmup” goodness. Reminds me of a blending of Lifeforce (Gradius) and R-Type with some really spiffy graphics for the time. Highly sought after title by Square that became somewhat scarce not to long after its initial release.
Originally Posted by Justin ClarkView Post Jumping Flash. Still one of my favorite platformers ever made, and probably the only game that launched with the PS1 that hasn’t aged like a fine turd.
I understand the love and critical praise but for whatever reason, it never did much for me.
One Must Fall 2097 - This is a fun little fighting game from Epic’s past. Who doesn’t want a game with giant robots battling it out? Anyway, the tournament mode was pretty well done, letting you upgrade your bot as you went. You got more cash to spend based on how well you fought in the ring. I also remember the game having some fun “fatality” moves and the main theme still pops into my head from time to time.
ZZT - Created by Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic, ZZT is a DOS-based scrolling adventure game where the graphics are made entirely out of ANSI characters. You play as a little smiley face symbol running around. The game had some pretty fiendish puzzles, and some fun enemy tyes. However, the real appeal of ZZT is its robust level-editor (complete withits own programming language, ZZT-OOP). I’ll have to see if I still have my ZZT floppy disc lying around somewhere.
Originally Posted by Dr. StrangeView Post Great thread, although I’d contest the validity of System Shock 2 and Thief as they have always had huge cult followings and even people that have never played them still are aware of what they are and how influential they were.
Hence the phrase “semi-forgotten”. They certainly have a cult following, but System Shock and Thief have never really hooked into the mainstream as much as something like Half-Life, Doom, Quake, etc.
Also, I was trying to think of a good name for this thread, and this is the best I could come up with this morning.
Oh shit, how could I forget Mutant League Football on the Sega Genesis?? This is THE game I have been wanting remade forever. Of course knowing EA, they would suck everything that made it fun and would turn it into a giant commercial but a cracker can wish can’t he?
Bribing refs, slaughtering hordes of players (and of course, the ref) AWESOME audibles (rocket packs on your RB, reversing your opponents controls(!) etc…), varied fields littered with landmines and crater/holes, low gravity atmosphere options, highly entertaining stupid player names like Bones Jackson all wrapped up with the exact control scheme of Madden in its glory games.
There was a follow-up game, Mutant League Hockey that was fun but the AI was shit and the the frame-rate was a shit sandwich.
Originally Posted by Polygon_WizardView Post Also, I was trying to think of a good name for this thread, and this is the best I could come up with this morning.
No big deal, it’s all good, I think it is a fun thread anyway.
‘Ikari Warriors’ from my old arcade days is semi-forgotten. ‘Contra’ and ‘Super Contra’, both side-scrollers, kinda stole its thunder. I plugged alot more quarters into IW, though.
It was a great top-view combat game. Two player action on it was great, as you could really concentrate your fire on certain enemies in order to take them out quickly. You could hop in and out of tanks, lob grenades, fire bazookas, everything. Great fun.
Originally Posted by Dr. StrangeView Post Oh shit, how could I forget Mutant League Football on the Sega Genesis?? This is THE game I have been wanting remade forever. Of course knowing EA, they would suck everything that made it fun and would turn it into a giant commercial but a cracker can wish can’t he? Bribing refs, slaughtering hordes of players (and of course, the ref) AWESOME audibles (rocket packs on your RB, reversing your opponents controls(!) etc…), varied fields littered with landmines and crater/holes, low gravity atmosphere options, highly entertaining stupid player names like Bones Jackson all wrapped up with the exact control scheme of Madden in its glory games. There was a follow-up game, Mutant League Hockey that was fun but the AI was shit and the the frame-rate was a shit sandwich.
And I forgot about throwing dynamite at the half time “marching band”.
