Obscure Retro games

[Murray]

Armed and Dangeous

This game is from 2003. It's a mediocre third person action platformer, however, the big sell is the crude sense of humour.
It has a silly variation of weapons and came out during a time when games liked to toy around with Havoc physics a lot.

I recommend it primarily because of its humour and if you just like to shoot and blow things up a lot.

I also noticed it's available on GOG:
https://www.gog.com/game/armed_and_dangerous

[Alienx999]

I Am a really Obscurist Afficianado, and you want something that will be a bang for your gaming buck, you Should try out these games:
-Powerslave (Exhumed)
-R/C Stunt Copter (Beware! this game is SUPER realistic and hard but very enjoying)
-Almost every PS2 FPS Port
-Codename Tenka and almost every PS1 FPS Port
-Apocalypse starring Bruce Willis
-Pitfall 3D - Beyond the Jungle
-Tempest X3 (Despite its flaws I think its still a enjoying experience on it's own, just don't think of it as a Tempest 2K port though)
-Tetris Worlds (PS2 version may be a bit flawed but looks Much better)
-the first 2 Medal of Honor Games and maybe all the PS2 games as well
-Sanitarium
-Painkiller Hell Wars
-Serious Sam (XBox)
-Quake 3 Revolution (If you can handle Early MOH controls or if you have Played alot of PS1 FPS games without analog, it isn't too difficult on the controls, It's worth playing as it has So much Content for a Early PS2 title, making it almost up there with the PS2 port of Half-Life)

There are so so many Obscure games, Most of them are from my Experiences with Consoles, I could name TONS of them from my collection but Im gonna stop here and you can look them up for yourself if you want.

[aileron]

How much older are we talking? Anyone else play Paradroid?

[「Cat's Meow」]

illbleed and bluestinger are really nice obscure horror games with unique albeit gimmicky features.

[StanTheStrongArm]

Here's a few for the PS1...

1. Alien Trilogy: I'm not sure if this game's obscure, but not many people seem to talk about it. It's an FPS in the style of Doom, but with the Alien license. Pretty good action and atmosphere if you're up for an old-school FPS that isn't Doom.
2. Tomba: This is fascinating side-scroller with action/adventure elements. This one's a bit more expensive if you're looking to get a physical disk. But if you're okay with digital, then you can get it on PS3 cheaply.
3. R-Type Delta: Another pricey game, and I don't think it's on PS3 digitally. It's a horizontal shoot 'em up with polygon graphics, and of course, a part of the R-Type series.

[Chris_Ceee]

I am not sure if the games I am going to list, count as obscure... I think of them more as hidden gems.

First is "Crying: Aseimei Sensou" for the Mega Drive from 1992 ("Bio-Hazard Battle" for the US Genesis version). This game has an awesome soundtrack and sound effects. Enemies are squid, insects, sperm (!), etc. Cool and unique!

Second one is "Undead Line" for the Mega Drive from 1991. This games was never released in the West, it is similar -- yet better and more difficult -- than the better known "Elemental Master". Talk about difficult...

Third, and finally, is "War of the Dead" -- a proto-survival horror game for the PC Engine.

[jtrev492]

Nice i need to check out Obscure, something about that ps2 horror game feel always draws me in. Also rival schools looks pretty interesting as well. Sucks that these types of games get really expensive over time

[RoyZa]

Does PC games count?

If yes, then King Of Dragon Pass. I've came across it on GOG, when it was on sale. Didn't expect much, but ended up loving it.

It's a fantasy RPG strategy game, where you rule over your clan, which decided to settle in harsh lands of Dragon Pass.

The entire game is about making decisions. The year has 5 (techincally 6) seasons, and during each one you get to make 2 choices. What you think is best, is up to you. You can raid another clan, try to establish a trade route, explore, build a new shrine, sacrifice cows to please the gods and many other things.

Inbetween the seasons you can get one of many different events, where you get to choose how you're gonna handle this particular situation. If you have doubts on what's the best course of action during those, you can always ask your clan ring for advice. It's good to have advisors who worship a variety of different gods, so you can see things from many different perspectives.

The best thing about the game imo, is how incredibly immersive it is. It has an awesome and expansive mythology with it's own set of rules. For example, adultery is one of the top sins and you can get exiled for it. Or stealing cows from anybody, even your closest allies is OK, cause if you can't protect your herd, then you don't deserve to have it. Cows are money btw.

The other thing that adds to immersion is, how vague everything is. When the battle occurs, you get to choose how many weaponthanes and soldiers you're sending and what tactics you're gonna be using. Then you immediately get the result and you get to read what happened during the fight. It may sound anticlimactic but it really works. All the stats and modifiers are hidden, so you don't have to think about every single thing that can give you 0.3% bonus to flank to powergame through every encounter. There might be a situation where just one warrior will stop an entire army, Now why is that? Was he incredibly skilled? Gods favored him or maybe really hated the invaders? Is he an avatar of Humakt, the god of war and death? Or maybe he was just incredibly lucky. There's no clear answer, which makes you second guess everything you do and learn more about the lore to understand the rules of this land. To win the game, you really need to get into spirit of being the clan leader. Even the game manual tells you that.

Don't think about numbers, just do what your ancestors would've done.

On top of that you get great artwork and an amazing soundtrack. I'm glad I've discovered this one. A truly unique experience.

[Tech_0ne]

Funnily enough (goes with the title of the thread) Obscure and Obscure 2 are fun survival horror games from the PS2 era that are somewhat hidden gems. Not really scary games but pretty good, sort of in the style of the 90's teen horror flicks like The Faculty. I think the second one is on PSP as well.

They are 2 player Co op as well (or can be) so good to play with a friend.

From a quick ebay search they are getting quite expensive now though

Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match is a fun little 2.5d fighting game that I like, I found this hidden gem in a arcade in Akihabara when I was there and played it a bunch. I looked it up when I got home, its released on PS3 though so not quite as retro as you are looking for. Only released in Japan ans the US though, no Pal vervion as far as I know.

Rival Schools is another Japanese fighting game I used to enjoy, PS1 title, another that's getting pretty expensive now though.

Dragons Breath on the Atari St is another not so well known game I really enjoy, you play one of three wizards/witches that are searching for a sacred amulet. You grow and use Dragons to aid your search by taking over villages and searching the wilderness for pieces of said amulet.