Just because a game was well-known back then doesn't mean it is today. Hidden gem is a good search term for finding better games that go under the radar. Of course, most of those hidden gem lists include certain games such as Crystalis for the NES, but there is only so many great games.Originally Posted by sfchakan
I get it, but not surprised
You probably have more classic gaming knowledge than the guys writing these gaming articles.
I'm not following how classic games are different than any other art form. The games that sold the best or were the best known tend to be more relevant and present in people's memories long after the fact when compared to games that didn't. People don't tend to talk about obscure movies or television shows that nobody else has seen because it would be a totally one sided conversation.
I have seen plenty of "sleeper" threads pop up and while it's always neat to learn about something you missed at the time, it's hard to be nostalgic and contribute much to the discussion when you never had or played something. I think we are also ignoring the fact that there were plenty of terrible classic games as well and many of those are probably best forgotten.
Actually no. Sometimes I think the "trash" is kinda interesting. Yeah, Action 52 was an abject failure, but I still can't help wondering what the hell the deal is with the game where you play as a pair of hands and killing things makes them say "Time?" Likewise the Jekyll and Hyde NES game actually sounds like it was interesting in theory, just not executed very well. Someone actually started a project to remake Action 52.
Then there's games like Nightshade which, well, pretty much show a side of a classic console most people would never be aware of, and I'm sure its an extremely love-it-or-hate-it game just because the genre its in is extremely divisive. Still worthy of getting noticed or discussed.
(In fact I've noticed that people tend to be attracted to talking about "bad" games. I remember a Hydlide topic awhile ago where tons of people turned out and half of them mentioned that it had a superior sequel on the Sega Genesis... which it totally does by the way)
. How about sleeper, underrated, overlooked, obscure? Actually, I find in recent years people are creating more and more topics or making more YT videos on lesser known titles. It seems to be the "thing to do" -- taking a system and highlighting its sleeper hits.
I've always enjoyed the lesser praised/played/known/talked about games... stemming as far back as 1991 with King of the Monsters. So to OP, I see your point, but I actually feel it's the opposite. I see more obscure stuff threads nowadays than people circle jerking over Mario. I feel that stuff was so 5-8 years ago, and now people are exploring deeper into a system's catalog, and realizing that it's fun to share about games that haven't been discussed already to death.
And for those who do post about the big titles, no, it doesn't annoy me. If I don't care to read it, then I don't click on it, or I simply hit back on my browser. No big deal either way.
I'm with you. I do enjoy reminiscing about classics, but it's a lot of fun to dig into the deep end of the pool and try to pull out some new games to play. I buy more games these days for classic systems just to try to find something unique or different than to pick up the same top 10 lists out there. Limiting the discussion to the well-known games really restricts the experience of playing classic games and subtly discourages spending money on the chance that that odd-looking game on the rack you've never heard of instead of what everyone thinks you should be playing. The best Genesis games I've played came from random chances instead of just buying Sonic and Shinobi, like CrackDown or Gain Ground or Trouble Shooter, which I only bought because the 70's style cover art with girls that looked like something out of Charlie's Angels made my buddy laugh when we were shopping.
The classics are classics because they're great, but playing retro games can be a much more fulfilling experience, and talking about the fringes to each other helps it become all the more rich so we can all try something new. That's the whole reason I started coming to sites like this. Dropping in on conversations with other people just might lead to not only meeting people with common interests, but also new games to try, and reading about other people's memories attached to those games only makes it all the more special. Saying Super Metroid is awesome is true, but it doesn't really enrich the lives or hobbies of the people I'm talking to unless they're very, very new to games.
I don't know, Retrogamer does a lot of company and programmer retrospectives and they talk about the "bad" games. While you might be interested in the back story, much of the time it's just a matter of a company in trouble trying to rush something to market or a programmer who was just over their head or who ran out of time or money. I just think there are too many great and good games out there to waste too much time talking about or playing the bad ones.
Kind of this. Every decent game for older systems have pretty much been discussed by now, there's nothing really hidden left. Actually the games being overlooked now are the commons that nobody bothers with anymore because they're so common. How many people would gush over an obscure game like Alien Soldier over something common like Kid Chameleon? Kid Chameleon was everywhere, it's common to find original copies and it was included in plenty of compilations. Now just wait to see it mentioned anywhere in discussion.
I think it's better to have genuine enthusiasm for something you loved, personally. Who cares if it happens to be Super Mario World?
I'm thinking this one boils down to franchising. The "gems" are overlooked because they weren't as heavily advertised, or didn't have a predecessor on a previously successful console, or successors on modern consoles to this day.
Still, it doesn't hurt to learn more about what a console has for games, that one might be interested in.
(The worst part is this whole post would have relevance in a console wars topic)
That's it from now on I'm going to refer to "hidden gems" as "cult classics" like they're obscure films.
The Twisted Tales of Spike Mcfang, yo.
Who would've thought?!
Really its not about wanting hidden gems or whatever, it's about how this almost exclusive focus on the hits seems to diminish and make a mockery of the classic consoles its supposed to revere.
"What good games did the NES have?"
"Umm... Mario... and Mario 2... and Mario 3..."
"I already have those. What else?"
"Umm... Zelda..."
"Already have that too. What else?"
"Ummm.... did I already say Mario?"
"... Dude, I just sat here listening to you and that doberman over there tell me that the NES was the best thing ever, and now you're telling me that in its library of over 700 games you can only think of four that were good?"
"... Oh, there was also Zelda 2!"
"Okay so if the only thing good on it is Mario and Zelda then what makes it better than the Gamecube or the Wii?"
"Uhhh.... it has... ummm.... Zelda!"
"Never mind, I'm gonna go back to my Wii U."
Well when you put it that way, yes it's lame if someone calls a system great and all they can name is one whored out franchise or two overlooking what many could call equals if not superior titles. A lot of these dumb videos wasting internet space do in fact do that, but there are some that do dig up the lesser known, yet annoyingly they also depending on how they're approached or pitched can cause a rare game not only to be known but also get the rare pricing which is awful. That's another good way to turn people off, have them see the 'good' stuff cost like $50-500+ and the usual suspects being the cheap stuff around a mix of mostly bonafide turds and some good ones that got overlooked by the video people. Cinemassacre Mike did a good bit of damage to the NES and SNES prices when he threw out some 'rares' and the prices just got shitty, a few recovered, but stuff like Hagane for instance never returned to sanity, neither have the Natsume titles, even formerly cheap pocky and rocky is an $80 game now when it was trouble moving it for $15 a couple years ago.
It's very true that popular videos or features on sites like HG101 can really boost demand and inflate prices. However, hoping to find out about something new to try and find is 90% of the reason I look at sites like these. After buying hundreds, even thousands of games, it's easy to feel like you've seen it all and feel like you have no reason to go to game stores anymore. When some import enthusiast or classic game player who was into a console in a different way from me puts something I'm not familiar with out there, it reminds me to keep looking, and that there is still new fun to be had on my systems. Heck, that's why I've been writing posts on oddball imports in that forum. Not to flex some kind of game muscle, but to tell anyone else who feels like I do about something different, and I hope to hear some new ones to me as well.
The above post got it in a nutshell.
If you'd like to see reviews about hidden gems and such, try looking up Classic Game Room on youtube. That guys comes up with all kinds of neat stuff to review.
Pocky and Rocky was the second game I downloaded when I first figured out how to use an emulator year and years ago. Didn't know what it was and the title screen made it look dumb, I thought.
One of my favorite SNES games now.
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