Old Games you played that nobody else did

DAISHI · July 2011

What games did you enjoy as a kid... or played and didn't enjoy... that it seems nobody else has? We all remember Super Mario Bros. 3, but for people like me there were also games like...

I knew nobody else who talked about this game. In it, you played ZED, a robotic warrior sent to the planet Altile to destroy the Xantho Empire and its alien emperor, Xur.

Gameplay was topdown. You wandered through fields, blowing up areas (sort of like Bomberman except bombs cleared obstructions without huge, towering infernos and you got actual other weapons) and marching against a timer to get a key to escape the field.

Things got really crazy when you had to go underground. Fields were in total black, making it impossible to tell where you were talking. Obstructions went unseen and enemies wandered headlong at you without you having an ability to gauge their approach.

With epic 8 bit music and and NES era difficulty, it was enough to keep my 6 year old hands busy for hours.

Oh, the underground levels had DISTURBING music loops for a child.

Here's a playthrough of the first level...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUJWTxywjKQ

GuruGuru214 · July 2011

You really like these "things you liked that nobody else did" threads (which inevitably turn into "things you thought nobody else liked but actually a bunch of people did" threads), don't you? But sure, I'll play. I'm going to interpret your loosely defined use of the term "old games" to mean "anything before the current console generation".

NES

Guerrilla War: My sister and I used to play this all the time when we were little. All references to Cuba were removed from the US version, so I didn't learn until very recently that Player 1 is supposed to be Che Guevara and Player 2 is Fidel Castro.

Genesis

Quackshot Starring Donald Duck: It's not so much that I don't think anybody else liked this game so much as I've never heard anybody else speak of it. It was pretty difficult, but I thought it was fun.

Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron: Again, I've never heard anybody else speak of this game, but I loved it. This is as close as I'll ever come to appreciating "90's culture".

Zombies Ate My Neighbors: An awesome parody of horror movies with an awesomely ridiculous arsenal.

N64

My N64 library isn't big enough to accommodate anything that isn't "mainstream".

GameCube

Star Fox Adventures: The only reason I can't say that nobody else liked this game is because it's one of the few things Fawful and I agree on. I've heard almost nothing but universal disdain for this title, and I absolutely loved it.

Super Mario Sunshine: For some reason I'll never understand, Super Mario Sunshine is the black sheep of the core Mario platformer series. I loved it. I thought that the platforming was great on its own, and I really enjoyed the use of the FLUDD machine. I certainly liked Sunshine a hell of a lot more than Super Mario 64.

coolsome · July 2011

Loads of ppl I know never played Monkey Island or Sam and Max or any adventure game.

DAISHI · July 2011

GuruGuru214 wrote: »

You really like these "things you liked that nobody else did" threads (which inevitably turn into "things you thought nobody else liked but actually a bunch of people did" threads), don't you? But sure, I'll play. I'm going to interpret your loosely defined use of the term "old games" to mean "anything before the current console generation".

NES

Guerrilla War: My sister and I used to play this all the time when we were little. All references to Cuba were removed from the US version, so I didn't learn until very recently that Player 1 is supposed to be Che Guevara and Player 2 is Fidel Castro.

Genesis

Quackshot Starring Donald Duck: It's not so much that I don't think anybody else liked this game so much as I've never heard anybody else speak of it. It was pretty difficult, but I thought it was fun.

Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron: Again, I've never heard anybody else speak of this game, but I loved it. This is as close as I'll ever come to appreciating "90's culture".

Zombies Ate My Neighbors: An awesome parody of horror movies with an awesomely ridiculous arsenal.

N64

My N64 library isn't big enough to accommodate anything that isn't "mainstream".

GameCube

Star Fox Adventures: The only reason I can't say that nobody else liked this game is because it's one of the few things Fawful and I agree on. I've heard almost nothing but universal disdain for this title, and I absolutely loved it.

Super Mario Sunshine: For some reason I'll never understand, Super Mario Sunshine is the black sheep of the core Mario platformer series. I loved it. I thought that the platforming was great on its own, and I really enjoyed the use of the FLUDD machine. I certainly liked Sunshine a hell of a lot more than Super Mario 64.

In my defense, the two shows I mentioned got supported by like... one other person on the board

Oh and Star Fox Adventures was one of the best examples of the platform genre I ever played. I think the only reason most hated it was that it wasn't a real "Star Fox" game.

Johro · July 2011

Bucky O'Hare and Loopz for the NES. No one I knew even heard of them.

DAISHI · July 2011

You're the only other person I know of to mention Bucky O'Hare. Had a cartoon too.

Darth Marsden · July 2011

Bucky also had a kick-ass arcade game. Just throwing that out there.

I also enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine, though I can understand why others don't. Removing the focus from pure platforming and adding that water cannon does change the feel of the game a great deal. It's still a good game though, you just have to learn to deal with it. The levels where you have to clean up crap can still sod off though.

Anyway. I'd like to introduce you all to Albion. An odd mix between a Zelda-style top-down adventure game, an early First-Person exploration game and a turn-based RPG. I don't know why but I really adore this game, and it's not even all that great. I just love the imagination behind it, the options you have, and the fact that, if you can be sneaky enough, you can find a gun early on and promptly pwn your enemies. Awesome.
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTa98QRfueBsmYbxil17CGhArlj85amSSRwtqVB2kOCcD_DWi_q

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTa98QRfueBsmYbxil17CGhArlj85amSSRwtqVB2kOCcD_DWi_q

Comrade Pants · July 2011

Is this an old game yet? I like this game.

Darth Marsden · July 2011

Everybody likes that game. Disqualified!

Rather Dashing · July 2011

I don't.

Comrade Pants · July 2011

Darth Marsden wrote: »

Everybody likes that game. Disqualified!

Everybody likes golf? I was not aware.

GuruGuru214 · July 2011

Rather Dashing wrote: »

I don't.

Everybody knows you don't count, though.

Comrade Pants wrote: »

Everybody likes golf? I was not aware.

(Insert obligatory joke about wheelchairs and golf stances)

Alcoremortis · July 2011

Comrade Pants wrote: »

Everybody likes golf? I was not aware.

I now have this image of a PGA Tour style game where Andrew Ryan is a playable character.

THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW!

Comrade Pants · July 2011

Alcoremortis wrote: »

I now have this image of a PGA Tour style game where Andrew Ryan is a playable character.

THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW!

Fawful, you have your new game idea.

DAISHI · July 2011

Darth Marsden wrote: »

Bucky also had a kick-ass arcade game. Just throwing that out there.

I also enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine, though I can understand why others don't. Removing the focus from pure platforming and adding that water cannon does change the feel of the game a great deal. It's still a good game though, you just have to learn to deal with it. The levels where you have to clean up crap can still sod off though.

Anyway. I'd like to introduce you all to Albion. An odd mix between a Zelda-style top-down adventure game, an early First-Person exploration game and a turn-based RPG. I don't know why but I really adore this game, and it's not even all that great. I just love the imagination behind it, the options you have, and the fact that, if you can be sneaky enough, you can find a gun early on and promptly pwn your enemies. Awesome.

I remember hearing about this game but never getting a chance to play it.

purple_monkfish · July 2011

We had so many games on my pc back in the day... oh so much shareware hahah.
Secret Agent and Crystal Caves were awesome little platformers with some fun little levels, but pretty obscure. Jill of the Jungle was the first game I ever finished all on my own! It's not a particularly difficult platformer and the "puzzle" levels were always my faves. It was the only Epic game we had for many years, most of the stuff we had was Apogee and I still get all nostalgic when I see that logo hahah.
My sister was great at platformers but I really wasn't. I'm still not. She sailed through things like Commander Keen and Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (I always felt sorry for that alien kid, he just wanted to go to Disneyworld!) but it's Monster Bash that I still to this day go back and play every so often. The random gore, the monsters, the completely loony plot! I mean, you're running around in footy pjs with a slingshot saving cats and dogs from Zombies!?? Wth? Best part is how the monsters explode in a shower of gore when you shoot them hahaha. You know, for kids! Only problem is, the version I have on my pc atm is glitched and I can't sneak past the stupid dragon. But the level after that I do recall has one pet in such an impossible to access spot that you need a major trick shot to get it, if you fall in the hole where it is, you can't get out again either and have to restart. Bah, poor design there but what do you expect? These games were made on next to no budget and super fast. Still, they're great fun.

Honestly, I don't think many people have every played my two all time fave games either:
Loom and Planescape: Torment. Heard of perhaps, but i've yet to meet someone who's played them, let alone loved them as I do.

Or how about Amber: Journeys Beyond, which I haven't been able to finish because the game doesn't like to run on NT. I can get right to the endgame but then a keyboard interface messes everything up. Most annoying. That game is STRANGE, seriously odd.

Recently i've been playing Jet Set Willy again. Oh JSW... that game raises so many questions. Why is his housemaid such a hard arse? Why is his house infested with monsters? Why does he have a nightmare room? My current theory is that he's still tripping from that bad acid he took at the party, because it's the only explanation I have for ballerina bunnies, penguins infesting the freezer and giant scary heads in the chapel. It also cracks me up that you have to go visit the off licence at the end of his drive. NO Willy! You've had enough to drink! More won't make the monsters go away!

I still remember going downstairs one morning to find my sister sitting in the middle of the rumpus room with her brand new Amstrad playing JSW. Of course, I wasn't allowed anywhere near the Amstrad but I would sit and watch her play and annoy the hell out of her asking for a turn heh. Isn't that what small kids are supposed to do?
Anyway, from what I understand of it, you can't actually finish that bloody game without cheats anyway. It's really difficult AND glitched to hell. Ooops.
Still a classic though.

Jon NA · July 2011

The Sting! (Der Clou 2)

and

Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf (AKA. Sheep Raider)

Have anyone else here played them?

Darth Marsden · July 2011

Thought of another one. Chewy: Esc from F5. Don't bother tracking it down, it's not that great.

RetroVortex · July 2011

DAISHI wrote: »

You're the only other person I know of to mention Bucky O'Hare. Had a cartoon too.

Never had the game, (since I never had a Nes), but that TV show was pretty good. Shame it never got anywhere.

Also have the toys up in my loft.

Skogur · July 2011

When it comes to the NES I'm pretty sure no one heard of Super Mario Brothe... oh well, maybe this game fits the topic better.
(it's an awesome game for the N64)

supmandude85 · July 2011

Mr Nutt · July 2011

Alex Kidd! Although to be fair I have yet to meet someone who has even heard of a Sega Master System.

ShaggE · July 2011

Mr Nutt wrote: »

I have yet to meet someone who has even heard of a Sega Master System.

This saddens me greatly.

Alcoremortis · July 2011

I finally remembered this one game I used to play. For years, all that I could remember was that it was very purple, but recently I suddenly recalled it's name: Next Stop Mars!

I still can't really remember what it was about at all (except, presumably, Mars), but I haven't run into anyone else who has played this game, and I can't even find my own copy of it anymore.

ShaggE · July 2011

^ Are you 100% sure on that name? My Google Fu is pretty strong (if I do say so myself *cracks knuckles*) when it comes to hunting obscure games, and all I'm finding is a massively shitty emo electronic band with some of the worst vocals I've ever heard.

... Oh god, I can't unhear them now. Look at what you did.

Iryon · July 2011

Darth Marsden wrote: »

I just love the imagination behind it, the options you have, and the fact that, if you can be sneaky enough, you can find a gun early on and promptly pwn your enemies. Awesome.

I instantly found that darn gun but for some reason always ended up taking it to the door where the guard took it away! I know how I should have done it, pretty obvious, storing it in that hatch ... but never managed to do so ... frustrating.

Darth Marsden · July 2011

Mr Nutt wrote: »

Alex Kidd! Although to be fair I have yet to meet someone who has even heard of a Sega Master System.

I never got past the Rock-Paper-Scissors bit. NEVER.

doodo! · July 2011

DAISHI · July 2011

Skogur wrote: »

When it comes to the NES I'm pretty sure no one heard of Super Mario Brothe... oh well, maybe this game fits the topic better.
(it's an awesome game for the N64)

THIS WAS AN AWESOME GAME. So ridiculous!

Mr Nutt wrote: »

Alex Kidd! Although to be fair I have yet to meet someone who has even heard of a Sega Master System.

Game was a classic!

DAISHI · July 2011

This seemed like a classic RPG to me when I first played it but I soon found out it took place in an apocalyptic future. The player awoke with no memory into a medieval world, only to find out you're in a future in which the world was devastated by thermonuclear world. Science is taboo and magic thrives, and a tower keeps watch over the world. The Emperor Draygon has revived science and combined it with magic though, leading an invasion of the tower to dominate the world. Your memories come back and you realize you were a scientist who helped develop the tower and was only to awaken when the tower was activated.

The world was top down like most RPGs of the era.

Only by forging the sword Crystalis could you overcome the tower and save the world from a second apocalypse.

doodo! · July 2011

Ecco the dolphin

Quackshot

The Exterminator, maybe, something about killing bugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJzEq4wTgeU&feature=related

shadow warrior
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwOYJ2ctPsQ

DAISHI · July 2011

Damn. Final Unity drove me crazy as a kid.

Star Trek put out some AWESOME adventure games.

Icedhope · July 2011

I personally liked Chameleon Twist.

filthynerd · July 2011

wacky wheels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vVIiKp6xMs

rise of the triad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqAQLHkRs18

That's probably it...never was hardcore like that.
Sports was a bigger priority during that time.

Scnew · July 2011

I loved Crystalis, Bucky O'Hare, One Must Fall 2097, and The Phantom Menace game. Although I loathed the gungan city level in Phantom Menace. I remember there was this one platforming section where Obi-wan had to jump over these platforms that moved up and down for some reason and for some reason I just couldn't get it for ages. I have fond memories of the rest of the game though. My friend and I to this day joke about thinking that Barbo, a random alien from the Mos Espa level, is the most compelling character in the Star Wars canon. Barbo is going as fast as he can!

Some games for me are...

Dragon Force for Sega Saturn. Strategy RPG that no one I knew played... very possibly because nobody I knew had a Sega Saturn. One of the few games that I replayed over and over. I beat it at least once with every character and then some. My favorite was the samurai guy because his troops effed up dragon troops.

Vanguard Bandits for PS1. Another strategy RPG... I really like strategy RPGs. This one was more in the Shining Force/Final Fantasy Tactics vein, except you were fighting in mechs. It had multiple paths and endings and was awesome.

corruptbiggins · July 2011

It annoys me that I've not been able to get Final Unity running on a modern PC.

Anyway, old games I played that nobody else did? Depends on how old you mean. Take something like Crime Cities, came out in 2000 I think and the only reason I played it was because I got it free with some hair gel or something when I was on holiday in Cyprus. It's not a good game.

I did however enjoy Spycraft: The Great Game from Activision in 1996. Still got it too, along with SPQR: The Empire's Darkest Hour (also from '96) which I only played a little bit then could never get it working again.

The problem with this is that I can't just go through my old games, I also have to guess which ones other people didn't play. So I could guess with something like Screamer, a racing game from 1995, Schizm(2001) and The Ward (which I really liked when I played it, back in 2000).

I struggle to remember what I played in the '80s, apart from some of the obvious titles so I'm relying on my '90s games. I seem to recall playing a lot of Psygnosis titles (other than the obvious) such as Ecstatica II (can't remember if I played the first one, I just know that it was creepy and I never finished it) and Pyrotechnica (kinda like Descent but not as good though it's music was awesome).

There is one more game I can think of and I wasn't going to mention it because I'm sure other people on here have played it but stuff it I will anyway. It was The Feeble Files and I played it for two reasons. One, it was made by Adventure Soft and the main character was voiced by Robert Llewellyn.

That'll do for now, as I'm sure other people will be along to disqualify these games by having played them themselves and so depriving me of what I thought were unique experiences. I'm going to spend some time looking to see if there are any gameplay videos of Pyrotechnica on YouTube just cause I'm feeling nostalgic.

Additional:

These are all DOS/Windows (ok, mostly DOS) games, as I still have most of them so it has been just a matter of looking at my game shelves. I'll actually have to think about console games, but I doubt I'll remember any obscure ones as I tended to gravitate towards the popular titles back in my PS1 and earlier days.

(Also people referring to the Sega Genesis always confuses me being British and all, and when I remember what they are talking about it just makes me want to shout "it's the bloody Mega Drive". It doesn't really matter though as I've never owned one, only played on a friend's. Same with the Master System. I'm a child of Nintendo, through & through.)

redm · July 2011

Comrade Pants · July 2011

Johro · July 2011

haha. I played Billy The Kid and Mickey's 123 too.

Alcoremortis · July 2011

ShaggE wrote: »

^ Are you 100% sure on that name? My Google Fu is pretty strong (if I do say so myself *cracks knuckles*) when it comes to hunting obscure games, and all I'm finding is a massively shitty emo electronic band with some of the worst vocals I've ever heard.

... Oh god, I can't unhear them now. Look at what you did.

Sorry, I slipped when I was typing. I meant Next Step Mars.

Terpor · July 2011

Old Games you played that nobody else did

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