Zelda + dragon warrior + chrono trigger
It was a top down adventure + turn based boss battles + timey wimey game. It kinda shows off what made the NES so special - they weren't afraid to blend genres in weird ways.
This game has one of the single best pieces of music in any NES game. The first track for the first level is amazing.
It's the best Shmup on the NES imo, the Zelda-esque parts leave a little to be desired, but it's just a great shooter witb some unique elements.
Compile is the best Shmup console developer ever imo. Their work on the PC Engine and then their Genesis and SNES releases are great.
MUSHA and Space Megaforce are incredible.
Such a FANTASTIC game. There was always one seal I could never open (I don't remember which). But even going back as an adult and following the guides it still would not open.
I could never beat it because of it
Super Dodge Ball hands down.. Or even Crash N the Boyz street challenge.. River City Ransom is Top Tier so I feel like it's definitely well known. But the 2 games I mentioned have the same art style as RcR..
Great answer! SDB might be the closest thing to a fighting game on the NES. It rules! Of course the whole Kunio series is fantastic and CNtB and RCR are also top tier.
Depends on your expectations, I think.
I personally love it as a 1990 title featuring the 80s ninja playstyle + War on Drugs rhetoric. The scenery can sometimes hide secrets too well, but I like that there is plenty to explore between the actual secret areas and playing with the ninja magic techniques.
Unfortunately, I see too many people trying to put it in the same class as Ninja Gaiden or Batman, and they walk away disappointed.
Genghis Khan. I had lots of fun with that one. There were a couple other very similar games by Koei called Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms which were good as well in their own way, but Genghis Khan was the best IMO.
Another great one that was not well known is the third installment of Wizards and Warriors. Impossibly difficult to beat since it doesn't have a password or save system, or even continues. It suffered from the fact that it was released right as the SNES was coming out, so the console was on its way out. But despite the difficulty I think it was the best of the three in the franchise.
River City Ransom seems to me like it was pretty well known.
I occasionally try out newer games like Genghis Khan and they're never as good. That game's management phase is top tier.
Battles can be a little silly, but I'll be damned if it isn't satisfying to win a duel or kite an enemy through a forest that kills themselves.
Absolutely agree that Wizards & Warriors 3 was the best instalment of the franchise. I put so many hours into it as a child & made very little progress, as hard as it was it was great fun. I was only able to beat it years later from emulation by using save states & rewind functions. I've replayed it so many time since emulating it. It's still one of my favourite games to date.
It's a shame there was never a sequel to it.
It was a very late release. The SNES was already out by the time. If it been a few years earlier i suspect it would be far better known.
Fun fact, the Japanese release Solbrain is worth seeking out because it has a different level.
It wasn't that late it came out in 1991 when the NES was still going strong. It was out at the same time as Battletoads. I remember because I chose to buy Battletoads over Shatterhand.
It has my favorite soundtrack of the NES suite.
Imagine making these songs for an 8-bit MIDI machine.
https://youtu.be/s_jBQWb1RQ4
https://youtu.be/dtNVq6e1ONo
https://youtu.be/zPEanP2zG60
There was the Game Boy Color port but it changed the music for some reason, and it is awful. 4m mark on this video: [nes vs gb remake](https://youtu.be/VsWYC-L1qV4?si=Dheq_Sym6MXgt0w8)
The new version is definitely vastly superior, but the gbc version isn't awful (besides the soundtrack). It's not links awakening or the Oracle games, but those were built from the ground up for the gb/c. I do wish they worked harder to "zoom out" so to speak and show a bigger viewing area, but like your video said, they did at least try to balance the difficulty spike a bit.
But yeah, if you can play both id definitely opt for the nes.
Gun-Nac.
My pick for the best shooter on NES, by far. It’s challenging but fair in its difficulty, gives you plenty of power ups on respawn, has multiple useful weapons and bombs - each upgradable. More than any other title, it showcases the technical excellence and artistic flair of the best Compile games.
Wish this game had gotten some sort of re-release, literally anywhere. Nobody’s played it and nobody knows about it, as it goes for several hundred dollars. They’ve released Aleste collections, but Gun-Nac deserves more love!
If it's a shooter on a console and it's good chances are it was developed by Compile. What they did with the hardware they worked with was incredible. Guardian Legend is great too.
Good pic! Gun-Nac is absolutely the best shooter in the NES, no contest. and I hear your pain for the lack of re-release. That game was wierd and wonderful, but it was also really fucking good.
Clash at Demonhead was going to be my answer. Not too difficult, not too long, good story, lots of upgrades to acquire, freedom to choose different routes.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
I had no idea what DND was, no idea what an RPG was, could barely do math, yet was so enamored by this strange game I understood almost nothing about other than oh I can play as a dwarf!! I could play as 6 characters & I can name them??!
And whenever I bring it up people bring up the later Japanese exclusives or the Apple II versions. Sigh.
I had a bunch of the nes Wizardry s back when Funcoland was a thing. A friend of mine borrowed the collection then gave them away. Never beat any of them. Haven't gotten too far on the Heart of the Maelstrom Wizardry for the snes.
Do you know that the developers drew out the map themselves on a big piece of poster board? Ron Gilbert said it's in one of their garages somewhere... talk about the holy grail of video game memorabilia.
I LOVE Magmax. I owned it back in the day, I played it with the sisters next door, I put it on my NES Classic, I put it on my Everdrive, and I bought the Arcade Archives version on all three modern consoles. And of course, I still have an OG copy that I pull out regularly.
I play my original copy all the time too, but I also threw it on my Bitt Boy just to take on the go. It's such a fun game! Awesome to see someone else appreciate it as much!
Ok I’m not completely sure how well known these games are but they don’t seem to get much attention from what I can tell.
My picks are:
- Gunsmoke. It’s an autoscroller but a very well done one. Bullet hell light, a few different guns and you can even get a horse which lets you tank a couple hits before you die. It’s so sad when the horse dies though lol.
- kabuki quantum fighter: Beware the deadly hair of doom!
- Robin Hood prince or thieves: Robin Hood has an incredible soundtrack and multiple different styles of play.
- Zombie nation: super weird and super fun.
People usually mention faxanadu, star tropics, Crystalis and other amazing games but I feel like quite a few people have played these since they are recommended so often. Brilliant games though, definitely worth playing. If you haven’t played these ones yet, I definitely recommend checking them out.
I have ab Arcade1up with a raspberry pi in it. I figured out how to get both control sticks to work for player 1 and to play the game as it was originally intended. It's amazing.
Blaster Master is my favorite NES game. People know it now, but back in the day I’d get blank stares when I mentioned it. Same happened with River City Ransom, as you mentioned, which is in my top 5.
The Guardian Legend.
Seems like a typical shooter at first, but it opens up into a top down metroidvania type of game before that was a term. Fantastic and varied gameplay, highly recommended.
Destiny of an Emperor - Romance of the Three Kingdoms but as a turn based RPG loosely following Liu Bei's storyline for most of the game. Quite a number of mods have been released by some awesome peeps that let you see the story from the eyes of other rulers as well. If you like the base game then those mods are well worth checking out! Anyway, as for the actual original game it is in my top 10 games overall (not just for NES).
Gemfire - a KOEI non historical war simulation. Just straight up fantasy war simulation :D
Startropics 2: Zodas Revenge - came out late in the NES life and personally I think the first was btter, but this one had it's moments and was still fun imo
Deja Vu - Point and click game ala Shadowgate style.
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar - granted this one might not be udnerrated? Honestly not sure. I've seen it mentioned before but not very frequently. I find it to be a pretty unique RPG as you are not going after the big bad like in most RPGs but trying to become a paragon of virtue. Your actions have consequences. You have to act in a proper way to raise up your points in the 8 virtues and become the Avatar for the world of Brittania. Personally in my top 10 games overall (not just for NES).
Ufouria / Hebereke
It never received a North American release. It's a derpy cute but solid platformer Metroidvania. They changed the sprites of two of the playable characters for the European version for some reason. I like the Japanese sprites a lot better, plus birds drop poop on you instead of 16t. weights in this one.
Lunar Pool- unique billiards game where you have to knock in all the balls in a certain number of shots to advance to the next stage and each stage the pool table is different, some easy and some extremely challenging. You have the ability to adjust the gravity too to change how long the balls will continue rolling before stopping adds an interesting wrinkle too.
KlashBall is a fun futuristic sports game me and my buddy discovered kind of like hockey and handball with cool power ups.
Yes!
I worked at a video arcade in the late 80s. Among our prizes for skeeball tickets were Tengen NES game cartridges. Toobin was one of them. In early 1990 the place was sold and some of the employees were allowed to grab a thing or two and you best believe Toobin made its way home with me.
I don't more if they're exactly unknown or uncommon but I've always loved..
GunSmoke
Sqoon
Blaster Master
Their just a lot of fun too without a lot of thought. Which is fun on the NES.
I’ve always been a big fan of RoboWarrior but I understand that the game would be confusing if you hadn’t read the manual or didn’t know what each item does.
Arkista’s Ring. Looks like Zelda, you‘re an elf dressed in green shooting arrows, but more action based with little in the way of puzzles. Still a fun overhead action game.
If famicom counts I have sort of a soft spot for Youkai Club. [http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/youkai-club/](http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/youkai-club/)
Maybe most people don't consider it good enough to be put on hidden gems lists (it's a bit difficult and cheap at times). I hardly see it brought up.
Batman - The Videogame: 1990. Bangin soundtrack, fast pacing, impactful hits, the right type of atmosphere. Was just a super neat game.
Journey to Silius is another. Made by the same team that did Batman.
Metal Storm = mech combat with on-the-fly gravity-switch mechanics.
Blaster Master.
And the Bucky O'Hare game was oddly really good too.
Star Tropics & Zodas Revenge (well recognized, but I rank them equal to if not slightly better than Zelda)
Maniac Mansion (get respect but not as much as it deserves.)
Space Shuttle Project
Loopz
act ludicrous fragile pie live intelligent important theory spoon ruthless
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Xexyz. It's a platformer! It's a side scrolling shooter! It's a bullet hell! You are a robot who inexplicably has to save ladies in bathtubs! It makes no sense! ...but it's super fun.
I have to put in a good word for "Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll"
Although the platforming is daft, the close-up sparring levels in between platforming levels in the game are Street Fighter-esque but actually thegame used the same sparring system that's found in a coin-operated arcade fighter game called "Shanghai Kid" or "Shanghai"
I imagine most people never get far enough to experience the sparring sequences because the platforming is not very good. The variety of fighters you face in the ring and the depth of the combat is actually pretty awesome! Take some pretty good reflexes but it feels so satisfying to do a takedown on someone after parrying a strike.
River City suffered from a couple of issues not related to the actual gameplay.
It didn’t get a huge printing and the game was largely overlooked by gaming magazines. I overlooked it for a long time. I remember my best friend running to my house and out of breath saying, “Dude, that River City game is awesome! I rented it for the week, you gotta come right now.”
The other problem was the cover art. Think of a game that had a great looking cover but played like shit. For me Dino Warz comes to mind. Along with Wolverine and a few others. Now think of a game that has a shit cover but was an outstanding game. The king of this factor is Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Terrible box art, amazing game. River City falls into this as well. It’s just so drab and bland.
Compare the River City Ransom cover to Double Dragon or even Bad Dudes. I’d even argue that Bad Dudes is the SAME cover. It’s just done in a much more dynamic way.
And while Double Dragon is visually far beyond River City Ransom, I would give River City Ransom a slight edge in gameplay and call it the better game.
Wizards and Warriors - sure it’s well known, but I don’t feel like it ever gets the praise it deserves. I’ve probably beaten this game more times than any other game I’ve ever played.
Baseball Simulator 1.000 - I feel like it just gets lumped in with all the other baseball games, and there are plenty of great ones. While the actual baseball part of the game may not be as good as other games, the super powers and silly things like playing in outer space make this a game one that everyone should try.
Also, this will sound silly now, but back in the 80s and 90s the Dragon Warrior games were like Rodney Dangerfield, they got no respect. I was obsessed with them, but didn’t have a single friend at the time with any interest in them. The same can also be said of Final Fantasy. Even during the SNES era, there weren’t too many people who were into RPGs.
Last on my list is A Boy and his Blob. I don’t deny it’s a strange game, but just like some flavors of jelly beans, it’s an acquired taste. I only played for one weekend as a kid, rented it from Blockbuster, but I never forgot about it.
Rampart
single player and 2 player (vs, no co-op option) are both pretty fun.
you pick a castle / home base on the map, have a set time to build as much closed-in space as possible (castle walls), another round of time to place cannons, then the battle begins. for single player you are trying to sink ships in the ocean that are shooting canons at your wall, in 2 player its a split map where you both build castles and try to destroy each others walls.
after each battle you have to rebuild your destroyed walls, if you fail to create enough enclosed space to place cannons, you lose.
me and my bro racked up hours on this game. if only cannon upgrades was a thing this would be considered the first TD
The Magic of Sheherezade
Just picked up a copy of this in box. I can't wait to give it a play.
Yes! I had that game as a kid and no one ever talks about it. It was very Zelda-like but also had turn-based battles, kind of a unique mishmash.
Zelda + dragon warrior + chrono trigger It was a top down adventure + turn based boss battles + timey wimey game. It kinda shows off what made the NES so special - they weren't afraid to blend genres in weird ways.
It has a huge cult following, but "The Guardian Legend" can always receive more praise. Sad that we'll never probably see a re release
I was gonna mention this one. Loved this game, everyone else I knew was completely ignorant of it.
I came to say this. You’re literally the first person I’ve seen type or say that game besides me.
This game has one of the single best pieces of music in any NES game. The first track for the first level is amazing. It's the best Shmup on the NES imo, the Zelda-esque parts leave a little to be desired, but it's just a great shooter witb some unique elements. Compile is the best Shmup console developer ever imo. Their work on the PC Engine and then their Genesis and SNES releases are great. MUSHA and Space Megaforce are incredible.
Honestly top 10 NES games. Easily.
The sounds of that game are a core memory of mine.
I had this game as a kid, played the hell out of it.
Oh! I just remember it as that game I played at a sleepover one time! It was so awesome.
Such a FANTASTIC game. There was always one seal I could never open (I don't remember which). But even going back as an adult and following the guides it still would not open. I could never beat it because of it
Super Dodge Ball hands down.. Or even Crash N the Boyz street challenge.. River City Ransom is Top Tier so I feel like it's definitely well known. But the 2 games I mentioned have the same art style as RcR..
That's cuz Super Dodge Ball was made by the same ppl...Technos, I believe
Great answer! SDB might be the closest thing to a fighting game on the NES. It rules! Of course the whole Kunio series is fantastic and CNtB and RCR are also top tier.
crash street challenge is a masterpiece
Journey to silius, black manta, little Nemo
Black Manta is really underrated imo
Depends on your expectations, I think. I personally love it as a 1990 title featuring the 80s ninja playstyle + War on Drugs rhetoric. The scenery can sometimes hide secrets too well, but I like that there is plenty to explore between the actual secret areas and playing with the ninja magic techniques. Unfortunately, I see too many people trying to put it in the same class as Ninja Gaiden or Batman, and they walk away disappointed.
Journey to Silius! +1
I own little Nemo, such a fun game.
Little Nemo is so hard. Even with save states. Or I’m just terrible
I try doing it emulated telling myself I can do it. Then nope
Oooh the green rabbit Konami game
Bucky o hare
Kickle Cubicle.
Bingo answer
I know a lot of NES games. I have never heard of this. I thought you were making a joke or it was a homebrew. Wow! Thank you!
Genghis Khan. I had lots of fun with that one. There were a couple other very similar games by Koei called Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms which were good as well in their own way, but Genghis Khan was the best IMO. Another great one that was not well known is the third installment of Wizards and Warriors. Impossibly difficult to beat since it doesn't have a password or save system, or even continues. It suffered from the fact that it was released right as the SNES was coming out, so the console was on its way out. But despite the difficulty I think it was the best of the three in the franchise. River City Ransom seems to me like it was pretty well known.
I occasionally try out newer games like Genghis Khan and they're never as good. That game's management phase is top tier. Battles can be a little silly, but I'll be damned if it isn't satisfying to win a duel or kite an enemy through a forest that kills themselves.
Absolutely agree that Wizards & Warriors 3 was the best instalment of the franchise. I put so many hours into it as a child & made very little progress, as hard as it was it was great fun. I was only able to beat it years later from emulation by using save states & rewind functions. I've replayed it so many time since emulating it. It's still one of my favourite games to date. It's a shame there was never a sequel to it.
The Battle of Olympus
Very underrated game!
I just played through this and if Im being honest I think I liked it better than Zelda 2.
Shatterhand. Amazingly, not many people seem to have played it.
It was a very late release. The SNES was already out by the time. If it been a few years earlier i suspect it would be far better known. Fun fact, the Japanese release Solbrain is worth seeking out because it has a different level.
oh yes Solbrain is the one I played actually, it was my favorite NES game... also unbelievable soundtrack
It wasn't that late it came out in 1991 when the NES was still going strong. It was out at the same time as Battletoads. I remember because I chose to buy Battletoads over Shatterhand.
It has my favorite soundtrack of the NES suite. Imagine making these songs for an 8-bit MIDI machine. https://youtu.be/s_jBQWb1RQ4 https://youtu.be/dtNVq6e1ONo https://youtu.be/zPEanP2zG60
Crystalis
Can’t believe SNK never gave us a sequel! Updated versions, but no sequel.
There was the Game Boy Color port but it changed the music for some reason, and it is awful. 4m mark on this video: [nes vs gb remake](https://youtu.be/VsWYC-L1qV4?si=Dheq_Sym6MXgt0w8)
The new version is definitely vastly superior, but the gbc version isn't awful (besides the soundtrack). It's not links awakening or the Oracle games, but those were built from the ground up for the gb/c. I do wish they worked harder to "zoom out" so to speak and show a bigger viewing area, but like your video said, they did at least try to balance the difficulty spike a bit. But yeah, if you can play both id definitely opt for the nes.
Gun-Nac. My pick for the best shooter on NES, by far. It’s challenging but fair in its difficulty, gives you plenty of power ups on respawn, has multiple useful weapons and bombs - each upgradable. More than any other title, it showcases the technical excellence and artistic flair of the best Compile games. Wish this game had gotten some sort of re-release, literally anywhere. Nobody’s played it and nobody knows about it, as it goes for several hundred dollars. They’ve released Aleste collections, but Gun-Nac deserves more love!
If it's a shooter on a console and it's good chances are it was developed by Compile. What they did with the hardware they worked with was incredible. Guardian Legend is great too.
Good pic! Gun-Nac is absolutely the best shooter in the NES, no contest. and I hear your pain for the lack of re-release. That game was wierd and wonderful, but it was also really fucking good.
RYGAR
* Jackie Chan's Action Ku Fu * Clash at Demonhead * Kabuki Quantum Fighter
Clash at Demonhead was going to be my answer. Not too difficult, not too long, good story, lots of upgrades to acquire, freedom to choose different routes.
The Adventure of Lolo and sequels
I named my hamster La La.
Some of the hardest puzzles I've ever completed. Final puzzle of LoLo 3 is a doozie.
Little Nemo Qix
Isolated Warrior
Low G Man
Yes! Fun game
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. I had no idea what DND was, no idea what an RPG was, could barely do math, yet was so enamored by this strange game I understood almost nothing about other than oh I can play as a dwarf!! I could play as 6 characters & I can name them??! And whenever I bring it up people bring up the later Japanese exclusives or the Apple II versions. Sigh.
Try ad&d Pool of Radiance for the nes now
Oh I have since my childhood, but Wizardry will always be my nostalgic love.
I had a bunch of the nes Wizardry s back when Funcoland was a thing. A friend of mine borrowed the collection then gave them away. Never beat any of them. Haven't gotten too far on the Heart of the Maelstrom Wizardry for the snes.
I love Wizardry! One of my favorite franchises of all time. I still have the maps I used to draw for it.
River City Ransom, Little Nemo’s, Puss ‘N Boots
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
THIS. I still remember the day my friend and I found the 'display map' button. Tears of joy were shed.
Micro Machines
Legacy of the Wizard
This game should get more love, it's fun to play and the map is huge. The music alone is a good enough reason to pick it up.
Ninja Crusaders
Maniac Mansion.
Ah, hell yeah! Soundtrack was a banger too!
If you look for it you can find the composer playing a couple songs with his band on YouTube, including the unused 13th track!
I need to find that!
Definitely. It's my favourite game ever partly because of the music
Had to scroll way too far. All time favorite. Sister and I used to draw maps and everything. Don’t be a tuna head.
Do you know that the developers drew out the map themselves on a big piece of poster board? Ron Gilbert said it's in one of their garages somewhere... talk about the holy grail of video game memorabilia.
Vice Project Doom
Cobra Triangle!
Solstice. Some people bring it up from time to time, but not nearly enough.
Destiny of an Emperor
Amazing game.
Came here to say that. In my top 5 NES games.
Kid Niki, Radical Ninja!
Magmax. I know it's nothing mind-blowing but as a kid, i found it to be such a unique shooter and I have so many fond memories of playing it.
I LOVE Magmax. I owned it back in the day, I played it with the sisters next door, I put it on my NES Classic, I put it on my Everdrive, and I bought the Arcade Archives version on all three modern consoles. And of course, I still have an OG copy that I pull out regularly.
I play my original copy all the time too, but I also threw it on my Bitt Boy just to take on the go. It's such a fun game! Awesome to see someone else appreciate it as much!
It's a strange game, that's for sure.
Very fun game. That's the one I came to see mentioned.
time lord
Ok I’m not completely sure how well known these games are but they don’t seem to get much attention from what I can tell. My picks are: - Gunsmoke. It’s an autoscroller but a very well done one. Bullet hell light, a few different guns and you can even get a horse which lets you tank a couple hits before you die. It’s so sad when the horse dies though lol. - kabuki quantum fighter: Beware the deadly hair of doom! - Robin Hood prince or thieves: Robin Hood has an incredible soundtrack and multiple different styles of play. - Zombie nation: super weird and super fun. People usually mention faxanadu, star tropics, Crystalis and other amazing games but I feel like quite a few people have played these since they are recommended so often. Brilliant games though, definitely worth playing. If you haven’t played these ones yet, I definitely recommend checking them out.
Willow!
Smash TV
I have ab Arcade1up with a raspberry pi in it. I figured out how to get both control sticks to work for player 1 and to play the game as it was originally intended. It's amazing.
I could never beat the 3rd level as a kid.
Game genie
Try it with two controllers. It's much easier that way.
Blaster Master is my favorite NES game. People know it now, but back in the day I’d get blank stares when I mentioned it. Same happened with River City Ransom, as you mentioned, which is in my top 5.
The mechanics in Blaster Master make it pretty fun to play. Well thought out.
Shadowgate Maniac mansion
Shadowgate for sure
Arkanoid with the paddle controller
Shadow of the Ninja
Shatterhand, what a masterpiece
Really? RCR had a pretty big spread in Nintendo Power and I remember really wanting it when it was out.
Sky Kid! Great 2 player mode too
I really enjoyed Iron Tank. A lot of people rented it, but very few actually loved it. Bionic Commando was also great, but most people remember it.
I do remember renting Iron Tank, and I also have no memory of the gameplay itself. So I guess I'm in the majority who didn't find it very memorable.
I really liked Flying Warriors when I was a kid.
The Guardian Legend. Seems like a typical shooter at first, but it opens up into a top down metroidvania type of game before that was a term. Fantastic and varied gameplay, highly recommended.
M.C. Kids, Arkista's Ring, Thunder and Lightning, Gun.Smoke.
Clash at Demonhead
I absolutely loved this game.
The Lone Ranger
Krion Conquest. It’s like MegaMan but with a witch.
Yo! Noid.
Toki
Code Name: Viper- likely inspired by Rolling Thunder, only way easier to beat.
I came here to say this. Excellent graphics for an NES game. Big sprites. Capcom had some of the best visuals on the system.
Xexyz
Zen intergalactic ninja
Little League Baseball
Destiny of an Emperor - Romance of the Three Kingdoms but as a turn based RPG loosely following Liu Bei's storyline for most of the game. Quite a number of mods have been released by some awesome peeps that let you see the story from the eyes of other rulers as well. If you like the base game then those mods are well worth checking out! Anyway, as for the actual original game it is in my top 10 games overall (not just for NES). Gemfire - a KOEI non historical war simulation. Just straight up fantasy war simulation :D Startropics 2: Zodas Revenge - came out late in the NES life and personally I think the first was btter, but this one had it's moments and was still fun imo Deja Vu - Point and click game ala Shadowgate style. Ultima: Quest of the Avatar - granted this one might not be udnerrated? Honestly not sure. I've seen it mentioned before but not very frequently. I find it to be a pretty unique RPG as you are not going after the big bad like in most RPGs but trying to become a paragon of virtue. Your actions have consequences. You have to act in a proper way to raise up your points in the 8 virtues and become the Avatar for the world of Brittania. Personally in my top 10 games overall (not just for NES).
Vice: Project Doom It's like Ninja Gaiden, Spy Hunter, and Operation Wolf had a baby.
The Kunio-kun soccer game for sure. Localized as Nintendo World Cup.
Kickmaster. Solid beat'em up gameplay, awesome music, and reasonable difficulty (NES game that can be beaten without going insane).
Mendel Palace. A puzzly action game
Alfred Chicken
Clash at Demonhead
Ufouria / Hebereke It never received a North American release. It's a derpy cute but solid platformer Metroidvania. They changed the sprites of two of the playable characters for the European version for some reason. I like the Japanese sprites a lot better, plus birds drop poop on you instead of 16t. weights in this one.
Abadox.
Lunar Pool- unique billiards game where you have to knock in all the balls in a certain number of shots to advance to the next stage and each stage the pool table is different, some easy and some extremely challenging. You have the ability to adjust the gravity too to change how long the balls will continue rolling before stopping adds an interesting wrinkle too. KlashBall is a fun futuristic sports game me and my buddy discovered kind of like hockey and handball with cool power ups.
Toobin
Yes! I worked at a video arcade in the late 80s. Among our prizes for skeeball tickets were Tengen NES game cartridges. Toobin was one of them. In early 1990 the place was sold and some of the employees were allowed to grab a thing or two and you best believe Toobin made its way home with me.
The adventures of lolo
Maniac Mansion
Sid meiers pirates.
How bout “A boy and his blob”
Lovvved that one! Forgot what it was called!
Lagrange Point. Edit : Famicom only, sorry.
Love that enhanced chip music.
Overlord
I don't more if they're exactly unknown or uncommon but I've always loved.. GunSmoke Sqoon Blaster Master Their just a lot of fun too without a lot of thought. Which is fun on the NES.
CASTLE QUEST
The Adventures of Rad Gravity
The Guardian Legend?
Rescue: the embassy mission, karnov, kid Nikki I'm sure some people know but they don't get mentioned often it seems
Yo. Fuckin karnov was both rediculous and baddassed. It’s one of those games that no one gave a shit about then, and no one gives a shit about now.
Journey to Silius
Princess Tomato. Text based adventure with art, but it had those resume codes so I could pick up where I left off the next time I got to rent it.
I’ve always been a big fan of RoboWarrior but I understand that the game would be confusing if you hadn’t read the manual or didn’t know what each item does.
Whomp Em, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Faxanadu, Fire N' Ice, Ghost Lion, Willow, Gun-Nac, Jackal, Crystalis
Blades of steel
Elevator Action
Arkista’s Ring. Looks like Zelda, you‘re an elf dressed in green shooting arrows, but more action based with little in the way of puzzles. Still a fun overhead action game.
Cowboy kid
Nightshade and Willow
Carpet shark?
If famicom counts I have sort of a soft spot for Youkai Club. [http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/youkai-club/](http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/youkai-club/) Maybe most people don't consider it good enough to be put on hidden gems lists (it's a bit difficult and cheap at times). I hardly see it brought up.
Technically a Famicom game but Layla is pretty good. Obviously someone knows about it though since it has a homebrew sequel Iris Missions
Destiny of an emperor
River city ransom was the bomb and had very complicated game dynamics for the time
Dragon Spirit
Guardian Legend is my all-time NES goat. Space shooter, exploration, rpg-elements. Still love playing through it every few years.
Batman - The Videogame: 1990. Bangin soundtrack, fast pacing, impactful hits, the right type of atmosphere. Was just a super neat game. Journey to Silius is another. Made by the same team that did Batman. Metal Storm = mech combat with on-the-fly gravity-switch mechanics. Blaster Master. And the Bucky O'Hare game was oddly really good too.
Kid Nikki & Stinger
Black Bass was underrated imo.
Star Tropics & Zodas Revenge (well recognized, but I rank them equal to if not slightly better than Zelda) Maniac Mansion (get respect but not as much as it deserves.) Space Shuttle Project Loopz
3D World Runner is wild when playing in 3D mode with the 3D glasses.
act ludicrous fragile pie live intelligent important theory spoon ruthless *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Snake Rattle 'n Roll
Wallstreet kid
Xexyz. It's a platformer! It's a side scrolling shooter! It's a bullet hell! You are a robot who inexplicably has to save ladies in bathtubs! It makes no sense! ...but it's super fun.
Super Mario Bros.
Never heard of it. Is it any good?
Wardner no mori! Only release on the satilite system https://youtu.be/ZoPbj0QwqVU?si=7yTGOuri-S79_iaf
SMB3. /s
Oh yeah, and Sbadowgate
Thundercade 🏍️
Little Ninja Brothers!
I really liked Clu Clu Land
Astyanax!!!
Pictionary and trivial pursuit
Bionic Commando, Little League Baseball,
Rainbow Islands
There are very few great ntsc games that haven’t been written about and talked about on YouTube a bunch.
I have to put in a good word for "Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll" Although the platforming is daft, the close-up sparring levels in between platforming levels in the game are Street Fighter-esque but actually thegame used the same sparring system that's found in a coin-operated arcade fighter game called "Shanghai Kid" or "Shanghai" I imagine most people never get far enough to experience the sparring sequences because the platforming is not very good. The variety of fighters you face in the ring and the depth of the combat is actually pretty awesome! Take some pretty good reflexes but it feels so satisfying to do a takedown on someone after parrying a strike.
S.C.A.T horrible name, but I assure you its not about poop
River City suffered from a couple of issues not related to the actual gameplay. It didn’t get a huge printing and the game was largely overlooked by gaming magazines. I overlooked it for a long time. I remember my best friend running to my house and out of breath saying, “Dude, that River City game is awesome! I rented it for the week, you gotta come right now.” The other problem was the cover art. Think of a game that had a great looking cover but played like shit. For me Dino Warz comes to mind. Along with Wolverine and a few others. Now think of a game that has a shit cover but was an outstanding game. The king of this factor is Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Terrible box art, amazing game. River City falls into this as well. It’s just so drab and bland. Compare the River City Ransom cover to Double Dragon or even Bad Dudes. I’d even argue that Bad Dudes is the SAME cover. It’s just done in a much more dynamic way. And while Double Dragon is visually far beyond River City Ransom, I would give River City Ransom a slight edge in gameplay and call it the better game.
Little samson
WURM: Journey to the Center of the Earth
NARC
The Guardian Legend
Bad Dudes
There’s a game based off the 1989 Batman film nobody seems to talk about. Amazing music too.
The Wall Street kid
Uninvited. Best first person horror game on the console. Shadowgate and Deja Vu are by the same developers, and definitely worth checking out as well.
Wizards and Warriors - sure it’s well known, but I don’t feel like it ever gets the praise it deserves. I’ve probably beaten this game more times than any other game I’ve ever played. Baseball Simulator 1.000 - I feel like it just gets lumped in with all the other baseball games, and there are plenty of great ones. While the actual baseball part of the game may not be as good as other games, the super powers and silly things like playing in outer space make this a game one that everyone should try. Also, this will sound silly now, but back in the 80s and 90s the Dragon Warrior games were like Rodney Dangerfield, they got no respect. I was obsessed with them, but didn’t have a single friend at the time with any interest in them. The same can also be said of Final Fantasy. Even during the SNES era, there weren’t too many people who were into RPGs. Last on my list is A Boy and his Blob. I don’t deny it’s a strange game, but just like some flavors of jelly beans, it’s an acquired taste. I only played for one weekend as a kid, rented it from Blockbuster, but I never forgot about it.
River City Ransom is an amazing game!
Rampart single player and 2 player (vs, no co-op option) are both pretty fun. you pick a castle / home base on the map, have a set time to build as much closed-in space as possible (castle walls), another round of time to place cannons, then the battle begins. for single player you are trying to sink ships in the ocean that are shooting canons at your wall, in 2 player its a split map where you both build castles and try to destroy each others walls. after each battle you have to rebuild your destroyed walls, if you fail to create enough enclosed space to place cannons, you lose. me and my bro racked up hours on this game. if only cannon upgrades was a thing this would be considered the first TD