RetroGaming

3D MonsterMaze

I personally loved ice climbers on the nes

I don’t know if this is obscure anymore, but “Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!” was always one of my favorite GBC games. The artwork was adorable, the way they communicate with each other is adorable, it’s just great.

Treasure are such a famous developer within the retro subculture that it's hard to call any of their stuff "obscure" at this point, but I want to give my nod to Light Crusader for the Mega Drive (Genesis).

Light Crusader Full Soundtrack on Youtube.

It's got a bit of that isometric controls jank, but it's just got the perfect vibes for a Genesis game. The right level of difficulty (hard but beatable), awesome art, quirky as hell, and one of my favorite soundtracks of the entire 16-bit era. Do yourself a favor and check it out--at the very least, give the soundtrack a listen, as it's some of the best that the Genesis has to offer, in my opinion.

Solomon's Key (NES)

Finally beat it last year after trying for 35 years. Such a good game. It's one of my favorite games of all time. Action platform puzzle game. It has two endings, and there is zero chance you'll get the good ending without a guide. Not to beat each puzzle room, but to find all the hidden items. You see, if you miss one, all the ones after that don't appear! So hunting for them naturally is nearly impossible. It also has a secret continue mechanic, too, without which the game is also pretty much impossible.

Blaster Master on NES. I was so addicted. And then I got the NES Advantage controller and it was just pure Blaster Master bliss.

If we're talking RPGs like a lot of people in this thread are, while the Zelda GBC/GBA games were great of course (although not so obscure), I also really enjoyed Golden Sun. I believe another game I also played when I was younger was Racing Gears Advance, I think that one was a bit more obscure.

Crush for PSP, it's a puzzle game where you switch between 2d and 3d. The style is cartoony, the music is amazing, and the puzzles are generally engaging without being too difficult. It's really a shame it only came out for PSP and a slightly different version on 3ds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_(video_game)

Maybe it's not obscure enough, but for me, Starflight on the Sega Genesis remains the greatest space exploration game ever made.

It was unforgiving the way games were back then, which added to the feeling that you're just out there in unexplored space.

More than 800 different planets, most of them empty (except for resources), but that just makes it so exciting when you find an artifact hidden in ancient ruins.

And an incredible story on top of that. A huge mystery unfolds organically as solar flares start destroying planets across the galaxy and your explorable space slowly shrinks.

The back of the manual was a journal written by another starship captain who sent it to you from the future. It serves as a guide and a warning, giving some valuable locations and clues, in case you're having trouble finding the path.

Oh, and the soundtrack! I can still bring it to mind thirty years later. Haunting.

Not sure if obscure, but I really like Buggy Run from Master System

Legend of Dragoon was so good, even if several twists were the kind you see coming. And it was insanely long!

I wish it would get remade so badly. I own it, and tried to make it work, but I don't have a CRTV, so it went very badly.

Tomba 2 baybee

M.C. Kids for the NES. It was a rock solid platformer held back by the McDonald's theming. It was a bit too hard for the target audience, but it's a fun romp otherwise.

moonstone: a hard days knight on amiga.

and of course zzt

Quest 64 / Holy Magic Century / Eltale Monsters is a bad game that nobody played, except for me, and I absolutely love it. It was my third favorite game on the N64 behind Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64. I still play this game via emulation every now and then, maybe once a year or so.

This guy also played it and wrote an LPArchive story that contains all the lore this game should have had included in it. If you already know and like the game, this is an incredible read, highly recommend. If you don't like the game this might arguably be a better way to experience it than playing it.

There are also a few YouTube videos on it for those inclined, I'll leave finding those as an exercise for the reader.

I like this really old game called Skyrim, I like to cast the spells

Legend of Legaia. It’s a JRPG from the PS1 golden era, which was completely overshadowed by larger releases like FF7 and Legend of Dragoon. And when I say “completely overshadowed” I mean that the first time I played through it, it didn’t even have a GameFAQs listing.

Nowadays it has a sort of cult classic following, because the combat system was pretty unique and the plot line is surprisingly long for only being one disc.

The American version of the game is apparently much harder than other versions for some reason; They decided to slash the exp and gold drop rates across the board, then bumped them back up for the European release. So the American version is extremely grindy in comparison.

Crysalis for Famicom/NES

Gorillas.bas

Depends on how you're defining "obscure" and "retro".

If by "retro" you mean SNES, Genesis, NES etc... the game I was super into for a time was Xevious. A pretty simple top-down space shooter/bomber that for some reason I remember getting absolutely obsessed with completing. It wasn't even a particularly good game. It was repetitive, and when you DID reach the end it just started all over again. But for some reason I played the absolute shit out of it.

If you move "retro" up to the PS1 era, my favourite seemingly forgotten games of all time are the Colony Wars series (Colony Wars, Colony Wars: Vengeance, Colony Wars: Red Sun) Great story lines and a super fun conceit where in the second game, you're playing as the now-defeated enemy of the first game, rebuilding after their loss.

It's not super obscure, but I think I'd have to go with Star Tropics. Gameplay wise it's very similar to Zelda, but the setting and story is more like EarthBound. Interestingly the game is a first-party Nintendo game that has never been released in Japan despite being developed there. Another thing is that it's been almost completely ignored by Smash Bros. I think it got a mention in Brawl's chronicle, but that's it. Even Ultimate forgot about it despite having all kinds of deep cuts among the spirits.

I loved playing a game called Zeliard when I was a kid. I never hear it talked about, but think it could be pretty fun even today for people willing to tolerate 30 year old PC platformers.

I haven’t played it in a long time, though, so maybe I’m forgetting some terrible aspect of it. Should try and dig that up...

Not sure if it is considered particularly obscure, but mine would be Rock n' Roll Racing on SNES. The game was like an improved RC Pro Am from the NES with vehicular combat and a great metal/rock soundtrack (hence the name).

For me its screamer. It's a pretty nice PC arcade racer with a great soundtrack. I still listen to it from time to time.

I really like the old PSP Patapon games. They're catchy. After playing, I find myself humming the beat. The original creators are making a spiritual successor called Ratatan. Still not out yet, but I'm looking forward to playing it.

Maybe not obscure but certainly underrated - Civilization II :Test of Time. You get regular Civ2 plus fantasy and sci fi versions. Sci fi version felt like budget Alpha Centauri

my niece thinks Morrowind is retro

Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars

I found the disk at a Dollar Tree Store when I was a teen. I spent hours in endless matches trying to build my empire. I remember the spy system in this RTS was incredibly fun and nothing I've seen in any other game. Truly a gem with so much potential to become a cult classic with its charming art style.

I don't know how obscure this is. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. illusion of gaia/illusion of time was one of my favourites growing up. It had a cool story, kind of a dystopia fantasy. I don't think I ever actually finished it. Come to think of it, that might be a good idea to put on my list for this year.

Maybe Hover!. Basically hover bumper cars in the future playing capture the flag. Was a lot of fun and never saw any rereleases or remakes or another game like it.

Some gameplay.

"Magic & Mayhem" - https://www.bestoldgames.net/de/magic-and-mayhem