Obscure games that you loved

Escape Velocity series....bought a used Mac just to play them until the Windows version was eventually released

The Civil War....early/mid 90s DOS game....played the hell out of it as a tween.
 
silentsod said:
I have boxed copies of Myth: TFL and Soulblighter. Been a while since I fired them up, wonder if they'll still run in Win10.

Those, FreeSpace 2, the Marathon series, Escape Velocity are all games I'm pretty sure weren't overly popular.
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I had them for Mac OS back in the day when that's what my parents had. Marathon too.. oof, the feels.
 
The only game I can think of that's kind of obscure that I liked was One Must Fall. I don't think it was very popular. Most people haven't really heard of it.

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Cranky1970 said:
GORE The ultimate soldier. Very fond memories !
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I agree, multiplayer was a blast!
Delta Force 2 was another good one, especially at LAN parties.
Non PC would be Rock n Roll racing on the Genesis and Baseball Simulator 1.000 on the NES.
 
Deadly Premonition-Original US release was only on 360 with later ports to PC, PS3, and the country of Australia. The game is basically Twin Peaks, with passable RE4 style gameplay but a fantastic cast of characters.
Deadly_Premonition_cover_art.jpg

(wiki link in image)
 
Tongue of the Fatman
One Must Fall: 2097
Command & Conquer: Renegade
Metaltech: Earthsiege
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
 
Truthbringer said:
Tongue of the Fatman
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
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Please tell me you did the follow up buck rogers matrix cubed ?

one thing i loved about the old SSI games was that you transferd you character from one game to the next one. would loeif newer games supportet that
 
Does Tenchu: Stealth Assassins count?

If so, I could talk about the first 2 games for hours.... (my first two years of high school, this game was THE gem)

"Lord Gorda expects much of you. The enemy will be skillful and ruthless. You must be prepared, both physically and spiritually." - from my memory JUST NOW


Best believe, I can still fly through all these levels like a true ninja.
 
Found one of the first games I played once PC's got more mainstream:

The Horde..... May see if it still plays.
 
SvenBent said:
Please tell me you did the follow up buck rogers matrix cubed ?

one thing i loved about the old SSI games was that you transferd you character from one game to the next one. would loeif newer games supportet that
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Unfortunately the only other SSI games I played were some of the D&D titles.
 
There was one game I want to try and get again, never could remember the damn name however :(

IT started with you or a second player (side scroller) you used a sword and smashed blocks/enemies etc, every once in awhile a power up would drop and this would increase the size of your sword/give you a different sword.

As far as I recall you had armor but it was only good for one or 2 hits then you died.

It was not ghouls and ghosts or any Castlevania was kind of like Altered Beast as far as the "size" of your character on the screen.

Death track was another one (original)
Metal Marines (something they should have made a part 2 for but did not)

Played/rented so many games as a kid from Rainbow Video while they were open a town away from where I grew up, I wish I could remember many of them (NES/SNES/SEGA era) Have played/emulated countless of them trying to "find" those obscure ones myself ^.^
 
Holy crap..someone else here played the Deception series for PS1? Someone linked "Kagero: Deception 2" which is the sequel and quite a wild ride, but for quite some time I literally thought I dreamed up the original entry to the series - "Tecmo's Deception" or - in Japanese as I originally played it "Kokumeikan" . It was an early, 3D Playstation 1 title with an amazing premise especially for the time - you were a prince who was being burned at the stake and basically made a deal with the devil to survive. You were placed as the guardian of a vast mansion and, in first person - had to protect it against interlopers. You didn't have any direct combat abilities that I can remember, but you could summon minons, build traps, and ultimately lead the intruders to a gruesome end! Each intruder had their own story and reason for being there, some of which being somewhat stereotypical good guys and others having underhanded motives or coveting power. There were RPG features in that you needed to kill some people in order to "level up/gain magic points" by draining their souls and upgrading your abilities, lest you would not be able to survive the harder invaders. Corpses were a resource to raise demonic familiars too! There were multiple endings and story beats depending on how you handled various situations, both in combat and at decision points etc... it was really a novel title especially for the time and to date I haven't seen much quite like it! This is actually the kind of thing I'd love to see crowdfunded for a modern, massively updated and expanded title with similar inspiration.




Another title I recall from that era was "Space Griffon VF-9" . On the PS1, it was an anime-inspired survival horror title...with giant mechs! The player was a rookie mech pilot being sent to an offworld colony to investigate strange goings on. There were voiceovers and anime-style cutscenes, with much of the game played in claustrophobic first person - set up like old school dungeon crawlers with tons of status windows, portraits/comms around a small actual central viewport, which was good for immersion - as you ventured deeper and deeper into the compound. As expected, things have gone seriously wrong, and combat took place both in the seat of your mech against other mechs and horrors like, but there were times when you had to explore on foot making you incredibly small and powerless. The story would be unveiled over time and I can recall the sound design being particularly spooky with the shrieks of the "things" juxtaposed against the clank-clank-stomping of your giant robot. Combat was real time yet tactical and you really felt the survival element as you could barely make it through a fight and hope to hell you wouldn't run into anything else before you could save/repair . I doubt it would hold up as well today, but it was an inventive title that did something different with genres that usually don't mesh well.

Note: there was an enhanced remake of the game with better fidelity everything and more content released for Dreamcast under the name "Blue steel variable formula Space Griffon" or - "Aoi Hagane no Kihei: Space Griffon" more accurately; alas, it was only released in Japan. Anyone interested, I HIGHLY suggest this version but you'll need some Japanese comprehension or translation patch if you want full comprehension, though a script will be sufficient if you don't mind as the in-game UI is mostly English - an unusual facet of games of the time. The video I link below is from the Dreamcast version..




--

I've got a ton of other obscure or out of region titles that I enjoyed over the years... Anyone remember Vandal Hearts?
 
Post on /r/tipofmyjoystick on Reddit. Those guys always get it.

dragonstongue said:
There was one game I want to try and get again, never could remember the damn name however :(

IT started with you or a second player (side scroller) you used a sword and smashed blocks/enemies etc, every once in awhile a power up would drop and this would increase the size of your sword/give you a different sword.

As far as I recall you had armor but it was only good for one or 2 hits then you died.

It was not ghouls and ghosts or any Castlevania was kind of like Altered Beast as far as the "size" of your character on the screen.

Death track was another one (original)
Metal Marines (something they should have made a part 2 for but did not)

Played/rented so many games as a kid from Rainbow Video while they were open a town away from where I grew up, I wish I could remember many of them (NES/SNES/SEGA era) Have played/emulated countless of them trying to "find" those obscure ones myself ^.^
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not as obscure game itsellf but pretty osbcure im plainyg it in 2018

Master of Orion for DOS

It has great replay ability due to its random tech tree.
its laso pretty simple but you beenfits greatly form undertanding every mechannic and min maxing them
 
dragonstongue said:
There was one game I want to try and get again, never could remember the damn name however :(

IT started with you or a second player (side scroller) you used a sword and smashed blocks/enemies etc, every once in awhile a power up would drop and this would increase the size of your sword/give you a different sword.

As far as I recall you had armor but it was only good for one or 2 hits then you died.

It was not ghouls and ghosts or any Castlevania was kind of like Altered Beast as far as the "size" of your character on the screen.

Death track was another one (original)
Metal Marines (something they should have made a part 2 for but did not)

Played/rented so many games as a kid from Rainbow Video while they were open a town away from where I grew up, I wish I could remember many of them (NES/SNES/SEGA era) Have played/emulated countless of them trying to "find" those obscure ones myself ^.^
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Magic Sword?
 
The Guardian Legend for NES. It was a combination Zelda and top-down shooter, and pushed the console to the very limits (but still they minimized flicker in those fast-paced shooter levels).

It was a very painful game to complete, but once you've done it once, it becomes easy.



An excellent Japanese port with zero advertising campaign, because Brøderbund was the US distributor.
 
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Cryostasis, I've written about it on here. It's this weird combination FPS adventure game. It was one the first games..first? to use Physx. Unfortunately it was unplayable on launch due to the high GPU demand. Even the Trailer looks like shit. Anywhere it was a very pretty atmospheric game that I really enjoyed all the way through. insert random gameplay vid



Dragon Force for Sega Saturn - RPG strategy game, but once you enter a battle its real time and you somewhat control a army like an american football match



GemFire for SNES like Romance of the Three Kingdoms but with Dragons and shit.



extra Inning for snes - japanese baseball game I don;t have any excuse for liking but ken griff jr would just sit in the box and as a kid Id play this all day.
 
JOTR aka Joint Operations, Typhoon Rising. Was a way better version of what battlefield could have become and with massive, open maps that you could skirt the entire conflict and come and flank an entire map... It was a bit like BFBC2, plus many modern BF features but years and years before it (during dialup era). Also played really, really well on dialup even with heaps of players, was excellent fun and probably one of the best multiplayer open area shooter games up there with a good TFC clan match or Quake/UT etc.

Another weird one I didn't like so much as a title but still enjoyed playing was 'A Bugs Life'. The perspective of that game made it unique, very few titles made in tiny perspective and I find it gives its own immersion factor to a game.

Dune, Syndicate Wars, Worms Liero are some others to boot.
Someone mentioned Dark Reign too, awesome RTS with an epic story and some beautifully crafted and designed art. I used to mod it with much longer ranges for most weapons, especially artillery, it was a bit weird in balance with building strength being so high when playing skirmish.
 
jrobdog said:
Aerobiz Supersonic for the SNES.
Asherons Call 2
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I played AC2 so much I was the 2nd highest level in the world at one point. But probably had like 5000 hours invested. Didn't end up playing when they relaunched it though.
 
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Lmah2x said:
I played AC2 so much I was the 2nd highest level in the world at one point. But probably had like 5000 hours invested. Didn't end up playing when they relaunched it though.
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Awesome! I played when it had a level cap at level 60, I think it was. Just such a fun game with forced PvP zones like Palisades and big Dragons only overpowered classes like Ferals or those... Turret builders could kill.

Also actually having dodgeable projectiles was cool.
 
jrobdog said:
Awesome! I played when it had a level cap at level 60, I think it was. Just such a fun game with forced PvP zones like Palisades and big Dragons only overpowered classes like Ferals or those... Turret builders could kill.

Also actually having dodgeable projectiles was cool.
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AC2 was the only MMO besides WoW that my whole crew "threw it's weight behind" on launch day.

Christmas 2002 right?
 
DrLobotomy said:
Here is another EA title I had long ago....

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I nominate DrLobotomy for "Understatement of the Thread" Award lol
That's a year after I was born! The entire computer gaming culture was obscure back then! lmao

silentsod said:
the Marathon series, Escape Velocity
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Yea, any Mac-only game could basically qualify there. I loved Maelstrom! EV/EV:O were also fun, but didn't get as much play time by me since I didn't have a Mac. I actually used Mac Emus to play Maelstrom and Arkanoid lol
I have Marathon 2 for PC.Or, well had. Friend was a machead and had shown me Marathon, but 2 was the only one they origially released for PC. You can get them all for free now.
Little known fact: The opening of Halo, when they show the ship (I think it was crashed?), it shows a side window... It's the Marathon logo :) Marathon was a bit ahead of its time IMO and still holds up well I find, even though gamer friends never take my suggestion to try it :(


Kwaz said:
Two Eels One Cave was pretty good.
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I actually was going to joke how that sounds like a porno, but... sounds like I I would've been pretty damn close to being right! lmao

===================

My entries:
AstroRock - As I mentioned, I loved Maelstrom, which was itself a modern take on Asteroids. So what happens if you take Maelstrom, make it "bitchen" and give it a Heavy Metal theme? You get AstroRock! The linked review doesn't really shine it in the best light, but it's a low budget game for PC/MAC (disc had the content on it for both systems!), so you have to take it in that light. Like Maelstrom, Escape Velocity, and Marathon, it can be found online to play, and I'm pretty sure it's legal to download. (The first two are available from the original creators, and Marathon was given an open-source engine upgrade and Bungie gave their blessing the package the entire games with it, but since I'm not certain on AstroRock, I won't link that one.)

Rebel Galaxy - I think this safely qualifies as obscure, though more are thankfully becoming aware of it. The music is awesome in it. The graphics are really good, and quite fun to play, though the animation of characters/cutscenes are quite bad haha Was made by 2 guys on an equally-obscure game engine (OGRE, though I wish more folk used that, instead of Unity...) It's been equated to, and I agree, if there were to be a Firefly game, then Rebel Galaxy would be goram close to it! As mentioned on the frontpage, it has a sequel, "Rebel Galaxy - Outlaw". If it's not out yet, it's due out damn soon. The original is $20, and while I say it's worth every penny, it frequently goes on sale for as little as $5.

Starsiege: TRIBES - This is partially "obscure", only in that no one really today has heard of it, and yet modern day, huge-map combat multiplayer games arguably have TRIBES to thank for many gameplay elements (seriously). Yet, again, no one has really heard of it, which is a shame. Tribes 2 sucked, comparatively, though graphically it was really nice. Untold hours (across years) were poured into this game, mainly on modded servers (server-side mods, ala Minecraft running on Bukkit/Spigot, so didn't need client mods) with the original intended style of gameplay... though much later I stumbled across a server running a Football mod, and I played that for even longer! With the "5150 Voice Packs" (5150 was a clan), god it was a riot, stringing together the pop-culture sound bites from various movies... honestly some of my fondest memories in life. [*tear* What a good damn thread!]

Lastly,
Motor City Online - Made by EA and was technically a Need for Speed MMO long before the NFS - World MMO came to be... was not modern at all, it was retro... it was muscle cars and street rods!! It wasn't a traditional MMO though, where you run around. It was more of a big chatroom game hub, themed around a Car Hop drive in restaurant, where you'd find people to race on a certain track. Thing is, this wasn't just racing... It was like an RPG of sorts where you BUILT your car up similar to Gran Turismo. You'd start with like $3000, then have to buy a junker starter car. Really wouldn't have enough money to upgrade so, you'd hit the drag strip and cut your teeth. Win some races, earn some money, now you could hit up the parts store. However, there was also an "eBay" in the game (like WoW's auction house) to buy and sell higher end parts. You could customize your car with whatever engine you wanted, too, didn't matter. Wanted a Ford Y-Block in a damn AMC AMX? Do it! Put a MoPAR 440 in an old 32 Ford Coupe. And it used real brand names, with real parts, and real vehicles from the 70s and earlier. Weiand Superchargers, Holley carburetors, Hooker Headers, Offenhauser Intakes, AMC Javelin, Dodge Charger, Chevy Impala! It was a simple game... but for people who loved vintage automotives, racing, and turning wrenches... It was epic! It died long ago, but thanks to that recent law to let people revive old abandoned games that required servers, I heard fans were trying to revive it with a community server.


Thanks for this thread. It was a good trip down memory lane for me. :)
 
Someone say Tribes??!!

starsiege_tribes_banner.jpg



Software rendering anyone? Come on now, I know we didn't all have 3D accelerators.

How long before a Threadripper can do a software render where we wont need a 3D accelerator?
 
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