Best SNES Games I've never heard of?

[GuyinGA]

Gundam Wing Endless Duel - nice fighter, even if you have no knowledge of Gundam at all, is fun to play

Michael Jordan's Chaos in the Windy City - well, this is better than Shaq Fu

[Icarus Moonsight]

The Micheal Jordan game isn't great, but for a game you would expect to completely blow it's not bad. Found out about it's odd nature of being a decent game masquerading as shit a while back and picked one up. I'd pick about 50 games to play over this, but if you absolutely have to play an action platformer starring a sports star, this is number 1! LOL

[kupomogli]

Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken
Metal Warriors
Front Mission: Gun Hazard
Wild Guns
Magical Pop'n
Aerobiz
Aerobiz Supersonic
Firestriker(amazing with multiplayer regular and vs)
Metal Marines(sortof strategy based Sim City where you try and destroy another country.)

Also probaby lots of RPGs US and JPN.

*edit*

The Great Battle series. Don't play those crappy Final Fight ones though. They suck. Other than that, this is a badass series that most people won't play because it's based off SD robot anime. They play like games based off Valkyrie Densetsu, Contra, Wild Guns, and Final Fight.

[Ruudos]

Biker Mice from Mars

Great battle racer from Konami. Rock on!

[Kiddo]

While it's doubtful you may ever obtain any "roiginal" versions of these, there's quite a bunch of Satellaview titles that I feel are unfairly neglected.

Kaizo Choujin Shubibinman Zero - a platformer/beat-em-up, a bit on the easy side, but very fun to play and the music kicks butt.
Radical Dreamers - ok, you probably already know this one, but Square's other titles are more or less ignored....
Treasure Conflix - ...Like this one. A mode 7 Aerial Combat game with RPG Elements...
Koi Ha Balance - ... and this one, a party/board game with a bizarre and humorous take on scoring relationships with women.
Konae-Chan no DokiDoki Pengin Kazoku - you're probably not gonna find this one going around, as it was a game with a highly-limited amount of "plays" before it would disable itself. A short arcade-style romp that blends a bit of Frogger and Lemmings for an interesting score-run.

The Satellaview also had some unique variants on many games that were previously released.
There's also quite a few titles I'm still trying to look up info on - they seem at times to be quite quirky. For example, I'm trying to find some material on "Piko Piko Pairetsu".

[cheesystick]

Okay, to add to some others and prmote my favorite game of all time:

Metal Warriors: This game offers some of the funnest multiplayer action on the system. I enjoy the first player campaign for what it is, but the multiplayer takes the cake.

You operate one of six robots in an exclosed area. Each has wildley different abilities. One is a spider that can trap people in webs and walk on the ceilings and walls. Another is a rolling ball that has a trmemendous arm cannon. One is well-rounded, having a powerful light saber and small shields he can leave behind him. Every character is surprisingly well-rounded, each having thier weaknesses and strong suits. One character, Promtethius, cannot jump, but he is easily the strongest, and any upfront confrontation with him will lead to your demise. Parallel this with drache, a highly versatile robot that can fly easily in all directions, but is rather weak. Who will win between them is always a toss up.

To spice things up even further, there are special weapons to pick up along the way and environemental hazards. But here is the best part:

If you are getting schooled, by pressing select, your piolet can jumo out of the mech, and try to jump into a band new, different one, that may be strewen across the strage! Thus turning the tide of battle completely! I can't tell you how many times I though I was doomed, only to jump out of my mech just in time, find a new one, and have the upper hand.

With so many different mechs, special weapons, different stages, and changing conditions, I just can't recomend this game enough. The multiplayer never gets old, and I don't see why this game goes so unnoticed. I can't recommend it enough!

Mr. Do! - This is a port of an old arcade game from 1981. You can't talk about this game without comparing it to dig dug. You are a clown who digs tunnels, trying to gather cherries. Small dinosaurs chase you as you dig, but you can outwit them. To beat the stage, you must either collect all the cherries or kill all the dinosaurs. You have a ball to throw at them, but it takes a while to regenerate, so you can't just run around and kill them all that you. You can smash them with apples, lock them in tunnels, or run. It gets more complex than that, but this is a highly addictive, well-translated arcade title. I love it.

Wild Guns - Enough has been said about this game, but think of the film Wild Wild West, except good. It is a bunch of robots attacking you in the set of the old west. The controls seem weird at first, (trying to move your crosshairs and your person at the same time), but you get used to them fast. This game offers co-op, but with only two lives, most newcomers will fauler quick. However, you get good fast, and I always thought that this game was a little too easy, (although fun), even on hard mode.

Battle Cars - This one has yet to be mentioned. It has its share of faults, but it also is quite inventive. Think of F-Zero mixed with MarioKart. You have a bevy of weapons to choose from, and the tracks are high speed. One manuever even allows you to turn your car around mid-race and fire at people behind you. Racing with friends is a great time as well. What really detracted from this game is that if you don't win the early races (and don't get the early prize money to boost up your car), there is just no coming back from it. But grant it that you get past this, you are in for a good time.

Biker Mice from Mars - This game plays a lot like rock and roll racing with a few extra twists. There is not much more to be said, other than it is an overhead battle racer that plays very similarly to rock and roll racing.

King of the Monsters 2 - A lot of people will pan this game really fast, but if you are looking for a good, quick, pick-up-and-play co-op game, than this is it. It is a mix between a beat-em-up and and a wrestling game. There are a few walking areas that are short and a little pointless (aside from getting powerups), but then you just head straight for the boss. Each character has 3 different super moves, along with throws, punchs, kicks, and what have you. It is fun, easy, and entertaining with a friend. Considering that you can get this for next to nothing, I would recomend it.

X-men: Mutant Apocolypse - Why have I read so many negative things about this game? I always enjoyed it as a kid. You pick between cyclops, psylock, beast, wolverine, and gambit, each having their own initial stage. After this, you can pick whichever you want to beat the remaining levels. You get to battle against people like Omega Red, Juggernaut, The Brood, Apocolupse, and Magneto. If you like x-men and beat-em-up style action games, I support this one. I am a little miffed on why people don't like it. At least it gives gambit some good love....

Shien's Revenge - This game plays a little like Wild Guns. You see a pair of hands infront of the screen that are able to throw shatter stars and various weapons forward, almost like a NES lightgun game, with no gun. Controls take awhile to get used to, but overall, this game is quite inventive. Check out some screenshots before you buy and you'll know whether or not it is for you.

Oh, I could go on and on. I love the SNES. It seems in terms of pound-for-pound, there are a lot more "unheard of" games for SNES than NES that are worth half a shit, at least in my opinion. I love the NES to death, don't get me wrong, but if you were to pick up a random game, one that you had never heard of, there is a slightly better chance that it will be good. Best of luck to you.

[kupomogli]

Everyone lists Metal Warriors, so did I, but why hasn't anyone else listed Cybernator, the game Metal Warriors plays exactly alike and is better(in my opinion.) Also Front Mission Gun Hazard which I also listed is Squaresoft's take on the exact same style, and that one is the best of the three.

[arakias]

I remember Axelay being a game I wanted to play as I heard it was good, or Skuljagger, but for being the best? I cant say

[awesometwo]

Does earthbound count as nonmainstream?

[Polygon]

There have been a lot of great suggestions. Some I didn't know about and added to my wishlist. However, I'd like to second a suggestion I saw someone post.

Ninja Warriors

I thought this was a great fighting game. I wasn't very well known. I wouldn't call it extremely rare but it's isn't common. The nice thing though is that it's isn't expensive either. If you like fighters I'd pick this one up, no question.

[Holdmylife]

There are a load of good platformers that don't get the recognition that they deserve. Most people have heard of Sparkster, but Plok is another good one. Also Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse- just played it the other day.

It's not for everyone, but I enjoy King Arthur's World, too.

[ubersaurus]

Kendo Rage. I discovered the game last year, and it's quite fun. Really silly, quite solid, and doesn't take itself very seriously.

I will second Mr. Do.