Weird/strange/offbeat games that are actually good
I recently played Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban and was wondering what are some weird, strange and offbeat games that are actually GOOD? Tonosama is one weird little cookie, but it plays quite well and I recommend it -- that is, if you can find it for a decent price.
What are some of your "strange-but-good" favorites? I tried Pu-Li-Ru-La for Saturn but just couldn't get into that one.
Twinkle Star Sprites? It's a weird concept anyway.
I always liked Ninja Baseball Batman. It's about as weird as Pu-Li-Ru-La, but it plays a lot better. Unfortunately, it never had a home release, so you'll need to take the MAME route.
There are a couple of freeware games that you might want to try as well. The first is Gravity Bone, which is a fun little surreal spy adventure. It's a shame that it's so short, but what's there is fantastic. The other is Yume Nikki, which is a very weird game in which you go through the dreams of this depressed girl. This one has some odd gameplay and is really more about the experience than attaining goal, so it's definitely not for everyone, but the game is an interesting accomplishment and it's worth checking out.
Kind of obvious, but I think the original wario ware game would fit
Most people would probably find the Cho Aniki games to be pretty weird. For me they're just totally awesome.
AH! I'm such a big fan of weird games! Let me share with you a few of my favorites:
Just last weekend I finished Illbleed (Dreamcast)
At first it's only a little bit odd, but the later levels are really strange! A mediocre survival-horror, but also hilarious, campy, and self-referencing.
Bad Mojo (PC) involves crawling around a filthy squalid apartment as a cockroach. Excellent adventure game.
The Residents Bad Day on the Midway (PC) Think 'Psychic Detective' set in a demented carnival. You will have a hard time finding something weirder than this.
Killer 7 (GC/PS2) pretty surreal, but good action game
I'm sure I'll remember more, but I hope some of you check out those games!
Every Parodius game I've played had me laughing out loud at some point. For those who don't know, Parodius is a Japan-only (except for the Famicom version) series that parodies Gradius, Twinbee and many other Konami classics. The gameplay itself is as solid as any Gradius or Salamander game. My favorite is Sexy Parodius for the Saturn. The second boss is a penguin wearing a toilet as a hat. He flushes to power up. Need I explain more?
Gekisha Boy (AKA Photo Boy) by Irem for the PC Engine is pretty odd and downright offensive at times, but is a really unique and fun shooter/platformer that plays really well. There's not much else out there to compare it to.
Wonder Momo is a Japan-only arcade game from Namco that was ported to the PC-Engine. It's Kung-Fu Master-style beat-em-up with a wacko concept. You play a superhero girl named Momo who fights crime on a stage in a theater (?). There's a certain jump animation that reveals Momo's panties. In the background a photographer is running around, and if he snaps a picture at the moment Momo is displaying he goodies to the world in a high kick, she is stunned and can't move for a few seconds. Friggin' bizarre, but a pretty good game. The cut scenes look gorgeous on the PC-Engine, and are pretty racy.
I live for gonzo games like this. If I can think of any more I'll post them.
Yume Penguin Monogartai. A game where you control a penguin named Pentaro trying to lose weight to please a female penguin. He starts out fat with a belly bounce attack and powers up by drinking health drinks. The game lacks lives. Instead, it has a meter that you lower by losing weight with said health drinks (enemies try to make Pentaro gain weight by throwing food at him) and a timer. The goal is to beat the level with the meter lowered past the heart. Running out of time or failing to lose enough weight results in the female penguin choosing the evil penguin with the hat over Pentaro. It's also possible to get a bad ending on the final boss with some hilarious results, even if you "beat" him.
Last edited by Brianvgplayer; 01-20-2011 at 11:08 PM.
Mischief Makers for the Nintendo 64 is something strange & off beat, but is a pretty good platformer, it's one of my favorite games on the N64.
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awesome suggestions so far! Ill add McDonalds Treasure land Adventure for Genesis/Megadrive, its like eating psychadelic mushrooms in a fast food restaurant. The First boss is a giant tomato that pukes tomato juice on you. Its also made by Treasure (Alien Soldier, Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, etc.) and is one of their few classics never ported to a next gen system.
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Jimmu Denshou is like Space Harrier but with a samurai.
Bazaaru de Gozaaru is a very rare but very enjoyable trial-and-error puzzle game starring a monkey who's trying to get some cash to furnish his home.
Somer Assault is a maze action game where you play as a slinky and fight bosses who take the forms of zodiac signs.
Hany on the Road is a sidescrolling platformer with four-plane action and a cucumber-like hero.
www.thebrothersduomazov.com - Reviews of over 400 TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine games
Incredible Crisis(Tondemo Crisis in Japan) for the PS1. It's a bunch of wacky mini games strung together by the story of a family trying to make it home for the grandmothers birthday. While all the mini games are silly, the one where you give a massage until the off screen female voice reaches her climax was amusing enough for me to get both the US and Japanese versions of this game. It's definitely weird but also lots of fun.
ALL HAIL THE 1 2 P
Originally Posted by THE 1 2 P
Pistol Daimyo no Bouken is a pretty freaky little Japanese arcade shooter in the vein of cloud master. It's got a little Feudal era Japanese nobleman who flies with fans strapped to his feet, and has a pistol atop of his head.
I'm Sorry is about as bizarre as is it gets. It's another Japanese arcade game where a Japanese salary man makes his way around an enclosed treasure laden play field that resembles a city block, and is chased by men in black, body builders and Micheal Jackson impersonators. When the player is touched by an enemy, the (male) enemies dons a dominatrix outfit and sexually humiliate you with a whip.
Momoko120% is a Japanese arcade shooter/platformer where you play as a Japanese kindergarten student/serial arsonist who sets fire to each school she attends over the years, and has to fight her way through hordes of monsters to get to the roof, where she has a getaway blimp which she has to catch to escape to the next stage (which she grews a little older in each time). My wife suggested that Momoko herself is the one setting the fires. I originally said that was silly, but then she made the points that she always starts off near the basement/boiler room where the fire starts, she carries a gun (why would a school girl have a gun?), and has a blimp conveniently waiting for her on the roof.
Mikie is one of the weirdest damn arcade games from the 80's. As best as I can tell, the point of the game is to be a disruptive, delinquent asshole. You play as a socially maladjusted school boy, presumably "Mikie", who disrupts class by bumping the other students out of their desks with his ass, then taking their seat, which puts the teacher that's constantly chasing you at bay. You can also headbutt the shit out of the teacher and drop him to the ground, temporarily, as well as smash open lockers and such with your face, like a maniac, to procure bonus items.
Snap Jack is classic arcade game from the early 80's that's a lot weirder than people seem to notice. It's a horizontal scrolling game where you command a submarinal telescoping car that eats dots, which has to avoid a swarm of squid like enemies that hound you constantly. You also have to avoid a number of 'out of place' enemies, like teakettles and boots, that occasional scroll across the top of the screen, while you bounce on bongo drums being played by dinosaurs. There's also a Pac-Man element to the game where you can eat a Power Pill'esque power ups that transform you into a Pac-Man like state, which allows you to consume enemies and capture letter icons which spell out the word "EXTRA", which, if completed, nets you an extra life. Someone was high when they programmed this game.
TeddyBoy Blues is Japanese arcade shooter/platformer where you play as a little boy with an Uzi, wearing a beret, who navigates maze like stages, eliminating creatures like grasshoppers, sea horses and the 'red hopper' enemies from Alex Kidd in Miracle World. There's a number of bonus stage attempts between stages, the stranger being a seek and find game where a little girl has 30 seconds to explore a room and uncovers hidden treasures. It's not really all that strange compared to some of the other games mentioned, but it's still pretty Goddamn weird.
All of these games are playable on MAME.
Last edited by Emperor Megas; 01-21-2011 at 07:07 PM.
It's kinda tough to ascribe the word "good" to games because everyone's tastes are different. Unless the gameplay is horribly broken, just being offbeat/bizarre is enough for me to consider a game at least worth a look. Plus I'll admit to a sense of pride or at least satisfaction in having unusual games in my collection.
I'm glad to hear you've had a chance to play Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban. I was kind of curious as to what your thoughts would be about it and as always, very nice write-up! I'm not much into beat'em ups, but I do like to shoot and I picked up the game as soon as I noticed 'Prince Stupid' could shoot, ahmm err roses. Plus it had that muscle-man Cho Anki thing going on that always seems to make me chuckle even though I really have no clue what it means to the Japanese.
Another strange game I'd hoped to hear your thoughts on is Gourmet Sentai Bara Yarou. It too has a bit of the muscle-man thing going on and I found it quite unusual as well. In fact, there's a small blurb about it on i-mockery here...
http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/sexual-games/28.php
Some screen shots of games characters here...
http://www.bogleech.com/snes-gourmet.html
And wikipedia has a pretty decent entry about it too...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurume_..._Barayar%C5%8D
The way you dig into games, I'm sure you'll find something interesting to write about it and I would enjoy reading that.
By the way, I picked up Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban complete on Yahoo Japan for $70 and that was after all my fees. It wasn't listed often, but it didn't seem too terribly expensive there. I'm chagrined to say I paid twice that for Gourmet Sentai Bara Yarou. And this was back when the US dollar was still strong. The dollar is so weak now, I don't even bother with Yahoo Japan anymore. Plus, sometimes you actually find better prices on Ebay. But I think it's always wise to search Yahoo Japan first before plunking down serious cash on Ebay, just to keep things honest.
I recommended Gourmet Sentai Bara Yarou because I know your into SNES/SFC games. For those who play different systems and are looking for something unusual, I would suggest L.O.L Lack of Love for the Dreamcast and Screaming Mad George's Paranoiascape for the PlayStation.
Chi-Bi Robo for the Gamecube isn't bad. I also second Incredible Crisis, what a good game. I haven't actually played it myself, but Capatain Tomaday for the Neo Geo MVS looks pretty fun and pretty strange for a shmup. You play as a tomato that just punches everything out of the air.
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Spartacus, thanks for the kind words. Funny you mention the Gourmet game, I was kind of eyeing it myself. Pretty solid deal on Tonosama there! $70 CIB is pretty good. What did you think of the game yourself?
Oh that... I should try the arcade one. Its Famicom relative as a Urusei Yatsura game was pretty bad.
Yeah I intend to keep my eye out for a PC Engine Duo RX at Yahoo Japan sometime. Way expensive on Ebay. The TG16 library is so slim compared to Japan's that I'm selling my US Duo, sure it'll play imports but that's just not the same IMO.
Lum fan.
Bishi Bashi Champ is a goofy little party game from Konami that has 3 games on PSX and 2 in arcades, sure the concept of a party game isn't that weird, but the minigames more than make up for it.
Butasan is a simple Japanese arcade game where a group of multicolored pigs, some wearing glasses, Ultraman masks and capes, and polka dot underwear, throw bombs at each other in a 'last man standing' style free for all.
Mister Mosquito was an early PlayStation2 title where you take command of a anthropomorphic mosquito in the home of an obsessive compulsive Japanese family of three. You have to suck and store blood from the family, and their guests, with out getting swatted, and occasionally confront them head on in a death match of sorts, where the goal is to put them in a state of bliss by attacking key acupuncture points on their body.
Chulip is another strange PlayStation2 game where you have to kiss people (guys and girls alike) in an effort to increase your reputation, and ultimately win the heart of your love.
Nanaka Crash!! is an online flash game featuring characters from CROSS†CHANNEL, a Japanese visual novel for PS2, PSP and Windows. The objective of the game is to click, hold and release the mouse button to determine the angle and velocity of the character, Nanaka, crashing her bicycle towards Taichi, a hapless bystander, sending him flying across the screen. Your score is determined by the distance of his flight. Certain characters which appear on the ground (repeatedly) every few meters will greatly affect his velocity if he lands on them, as they attack him and make and render him airborne once more. There are also "special" attack attempts that occur if you manage to press the mouse button at the right time when the characters on the ground appear in a certain order.
Robot Unicorn Attack is a popular, addictive flash game from Adult Swim Games were you command a robot unicorn with a long flowing rainbow coloured mane, and navigate treacherous platforms in the sky while smashing through giant glass stars and capturing fairies across a right-scrolling play field that moves faster and faster as you advance. The game is set in a utopia of airborne purple fields, and the emo ballad 'Always' by the 80's band Erasure loops in the background the whole time. Lives are granted in the form of wishes, of which you get three. "You will fail".
Last edited by Emperor Megas; 01-21-2011 at 11:55 AM.
Snacks 'n Jackson hands down. WTF were they thinking?
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/snaxson/snaxson.htm
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