Most under-rated games ever?

[Sonic R]

Hey, I disagree. Master System was awesome for it's time
And honestly, I dislike pre-Universe Phantasy Stars

So hard to find folk who appreciate the Sega Master System. I love my NES, but I am drawn to the SMS far more frequent… and I play it everyday and far more than my NES these days and times. It just seem many people turn they nose up on the SMS and just laugh at it… *shrug*

[doctorx0079]

Thank God for the Virtual Boy and the 32X to be the butt of all jokes as the SMS seems to be nothing but joke to anyone…

and PHILIPS CDI

mah boy, mah boy, mah boy, mah boy, etc.

[Mortificator]

Thank God for the Virtual Boy and the 32X to be the butt of all jokes as the SMS seems to be nothing but joke to anyone…

and PHILIPS CDI

mah boy, mah boy, mah boy, mah boy, etc.

At least their developers were able to stay out of prison.

Speaking of the Virtual Boy, Vertical Force was better than any of Hudson's PCE Star Soldiers.

I don't play Master System games very often, but it got the port ever of Ultima IV. I only have three floors to go in the final dungeon, but it looks like I'll have to Xit and try again... I underestimated the amount of supplies I'd need.

[GaijinPunch]

Final Fight
- The moves are limited due to it being the first Capcom beat-em-up, but it's still one of the best. Why even think about Crime Fighters or Double Dragon 3 when you have this?

Hmmm... hardly underrated. At least here. Schwag from the game can reach retarded prices, and it ranked extremely high in The Best Game (or was it Vol. 2?)

[Ed Oscuro]

Digital Press has had an epic thread about NES vs. SMS going on for some time. I try to like the system...but christ, everybody's top games list (even the Top 20 list) is half ports and non-exclusives. Taking those out shows how thin the selection for each genre is on that system (imo).

Speaking of the Virtual Boy, Vertical Force was better than any of Hudson's PCE Star Soldiers.

wat

Also, I rather like the CD-i's lineup. Unfortunately The 7th Guest is broke on my system (it crashes at a certain point)

People can say what they like, but the backdrops for the two sidescrolling Zeldas are breathtaking...and I don't even really like Russian animation (from that era).

[lgb]

Custom Robo, the ones we got (the GC and the DS games). I'm pretty sure they can be considered under-rated, at least the GC entry.

edit: DonPachi

[Zweihander]

Are we talking "underrated" as in games which were critically acclaimed but went way under the consumer radar, or "underrated" as in "thrashed by reviewers and gamers but in actuality a good game"?

I'm going to go with the latter, since if I go with the former, I'll be up all night typing up things like Phantom Dust, Otogi, Elemental Gearbolt, The Red Star, Retro Game Challenge, and... going to stop myself right there. On to the games which were actually good (or at least decent) yet critically thrashed...

PS2--
Bujingai: The Forsaken City
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Chaos Legion
Galerians: Ash
God Hand

DS--
Izuna
Izuna 2

PSP--
Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N.

...those are just a few that come to mind.

[AAA]

to chuck a few more into the mix


Galleon

Art of Fighting 2

killer7

Dragon Quest V

[EinhanderZwei]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

C'mon, it's a prequel to the whole timeline

[Sonic R]

Digital Press has had an epic thread about NES vs. SMS going on for some time. I try to like the system...but christ, everybody's top games list (even the Top 20 list) is half ports and non-exclusives. Taking those out shows how thin the selection for each genre is on that system (imo).

I love the NES, I make my bones on the NES, and NES may be my all time favorite console… but I do not slam and degrade the SMS. I love my SMS just the same and I am able to have them co-exists and enjoy them without bias.

is half ports

This is my problem with all the snobs. Instead of trying to measure the games to a high bar, appreciation and enjoyment of the games as they are make them just fine for me. I tire of people who continue to cry and whine when a console game is not like an arcade game. I have developed angst to arcade games and the snobs who are high up on them because of they attitude…
SMS games for me are very fun and enjoyable and I don't bother to measure them with upgraded versions (Genesis) or as arcade "ports"

[Mortificator]

Speaking of the Virtual Boy, Vertical Force was better than any of Hudson's PCE Star Soldiers.

wat

The lack of color and depth gimmick suck, but I think Hudson refined things overall from Soldier Blade. Keep in mind that the PCE games are mediocre in my opinion, though.

Too bad this was a VB exclusive. It'd be cool if Vertical Force and Wario Land (and maybe Mario Clash) were remade for non-VR displays.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

There're a lot of good things about the game, the whole thing is just brought down by shitty stage design. Almost every room in the castle was a nondescript flat square.

[Zweihander]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

There're a lot of good things about the game, the whole thing is just brought down by shitty stage design. Almost every room in the castle was a nondescript flat square.

Agreed, though I loved the art direction, the in-game art (when you walked into one of those rooms where it really stood out), the combo system, boss battles, great transition for classic CV enemies from 2D to 3D, and the fuckwin soundtrack which piracy-tastic me actually bought. I prefer the game over Curse of Darkness, because that game had too wide-open areas, Hector ran too slowly, the Innocent Devils' AI was retarded, the later bosses crossed the line from legitimately challenging to downright cheap, and some areas didn't even have music. (seriously, if I wanted a silent Castlevania, I'd play CV 64)

Also, am I the only person on this forum that enjoyed Baroque on PS2?

I guess I'll take this opportunity to list off some games from the other kind of underrated, i.e. great reviews but nobody outside of the niche shut-in gamer community really mentions them, ever.

PS1--
Elemental Gearbolt
Incredible Crisis
Silent Bomber
Silhouette Mirage

PS2--
Blood Will Tell
The Motherfucking Red Star
Shadow Hearts 1 & 2
Viewtiful Joe
Yakuza 2
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Gitaroo Man

Gamecube--
Killer7
Ikaruga (hahah, j/k, overrated as balls)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

GBA--
Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Saturn--
Panzer Dragoon Saga (seriously overshadowed by all this "Final Fantasy" rubbish)

DS--
Retro Game Challenge
Hotel Dusk

360--
Earth Defense Force 2017 (best couch co-op game of this gen, I'd say)

Wii--
MadWorld
Blast Works

[Ed Oscuro]

Speaking of the Virtual Boy, Vertical Force was better than any of Hudson's PCE Star Soldiers.

wat

The lack of color and depth gimmick suck, but I think Hudson refined things overall from Soldier Blade. Keep in mind that the PCE games are mediocre in my opinion, though.

The eye-burning sucks, you mean.

My real problem (aside from the aforementioned problem) is that the game doesn't (as I remember) have a caravan mode. You think anybody plays Hudson's Soldier series for the story mode game? Hah...

Smack-down with Sonic R continuing below...

Instead of trying to measure the games to a high bar

I congratulate you on being able to enjoy the SMS - I do too. Not as much as some people, but I like it. Beyond that, you seem to be thoroughly confused. Where in my post did I make a final judgement about the SMS? They may not be flattering for SMS zealots, but I've just laid out some facts. SMS has a smaller library than the NES, but further I think (this is an opinion, but few people can honestly disagree) that if you were to rank SMS and NES games in any given genre the NES is likely to take most of the top ten. Platformers are an easy example: When the big discussion is Kenseiden vs. Ninja Gaiden SMS or Power Strike for inclusion in a top 20 list, it's obvious that system's library isn't as good. Mainly it's not as deep. I like all those games (and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, which I thought was one of the best platformers on the system), but they aren't near my top five for platformers. This doesn't mean that the SMS is crappy hardware or even that Sega was a lousy company - but we have to play the games that actually came out, and for my money that means NES gets some priority.

If you don't want to be bothered about thinking how its library is thin compared to the NES (or the 16-bit era systems), simply don't. Do whatever you like but don't bother me about it. You know - consoles don't have feelings, they won't get mad if I point out what's wrong with them.

Considering how much I've had to spend on SMS hardware and accessories so far (thankfully just the JPN SMS + the SMS Power adapter) it's not been a horrible investment, but it hasn't paid off much either - so I think I'm justified in saying so (even though you shouldn't be trying to judge that). Sure, I've got something like five different NES / Famicom units, but I got those because I wanted to. With the SMS I had no choice but to lay down cash for a JPN SMS and the SMS Power adapter (both well made of course) just so I could get to the small handful of games on the SMS I care about. Even then I had waited until I had some games on the SMS I thought I'd like before I made those purchases. I actually have a lot more games for the SMS than I actually like, and a number of others have left my hands.

I tire of people who continue to cry and whine when a console game is not like an arcade game.

So says the guy who shows up on a quarterly basis just to bitch about what other people are are doing.

I tire of assholes who think they have a right to denounce other people for their opinions (or, in my case, for just presenting some facts which aren't meant to hurt anybody).

I think it's more important to be honest about how much enjoyment a system will give for the money. Since I got my SMS it has mainly collected dust. Somebody who doesn't have the benefit of nostalgia (like myself, coming onto the SMS only years later) doesn't need me to lie about what I think about the SMS. Other people who enjoy the system will balance that opinion out, honestly I hope.

I have developed angst to arcade games and the snobs who are high up on them because of they attitude…

That's pretty pathetic. I don't like or dislike playing games because it's popular / unpopular. The games didn't do anything to me!

SMS games for me are very fun and enjoyable and I don't bother to measure them with upgraded versions (Genesis) or as arcade "ports"

That's your choice (a stupid one, in my opinion). Everybody's money is limited, and when I can get a Shinobi arcade PCB (hopefully working lol) for roughly $20.50 that is where I am going to put my money and time. Now, if this was back in the day or if I were playing with quarters, I'd feel differently. I think that somebody coming onto the scene years later (like myself) ought to know what they're getting into before buying lots of worthless ports: After I get my arcade board, I will have three different versions of Shinobi now (arcade, PC-Engine, and SMS, which I'm not about to get rid of). Shinobi is a good game on all these systems, too - something that I'm not really ready to claim for Strider or Golden Axe or whatever other SMS ports I own and have forgotten.

[ColonelFatso]

Battlezone 2. Tons of people hated it, and I don't like it much either, but some of the changes it made were for the better - things like unit groups, enhanced satellite controls, etc. I really can't call it a bad game, even as broken as the netplay is.

[Imhotep]

The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis)

The game is great all around, still the soundtrack sticks out A LOT.
http://www.sigmaecho.com/batman/batman.html

[Zweihander]

The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis)

The game is great all around, still the soundtrack sticks out A LOT.
http://www.sigmaecho.com/batman/batman.html

OH GOD FUCKING FUCK YES, that game is incredible. Nobody believes me when I tell them that it was awesome, since everyone seems to think Arkham Asylum is the first good Batman game. Which is false. It's the 2nd.

[Rupert H]

It's the 2nd.

If you include the Sunsoft GB game (despite the fact the main sprite is about nine pixels high) and Batman Returns on the SNES, that makes Arham Asylum the fourth good Batman game.

[Zweihander]

It's the 2nd.

If you include the Sunsoft GB game (despite the fact the main sprite is about nine pixels high) and Batman Returns on the SNES, that makes Arham Asylum the fourth good Batman game.

Those were good?

[Battletoad]

Batman Returns (SNES) is great. Has cool moves and is simply a fun Beat ´em Up.

[Ghegs]

If you include the Sunsoft GB game (despite the fact the main sprite is about nine pixels high) and Batman Returns on the SNES, that makes Arham Asylum the fourth good Batman game.

Fifth. The Batman for NES/Famicom is pretty damn good. Action-platformer awesomeness.

[Zweihander]

If you include the Sunsoft GB game (despite the fact the main sprite is about nine pixels high) and Batman Returns on the SNES, that makes Arham Asylum the fourth good Batman game.

Fifth. The Batman for NES/Famicom is pretty damn good. Action-platformer awesomeness.

But were any of them quite as fucking excellent as The Adventures of Batman & Robin?

[Imhotep]

But were any of them quite as fucking excellent as The Adventures of Batman & Robin?

Most probably not.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin SNES is also a good one.

[Krondelo]

But were any of them quite as fucking excellent as The Adventures of Batman & Robin?

Most probably not.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin SNES is also a good one.

I second this.

Castlevania:Lament of Innocence.

SUPER MAGNETIC NEO!!! Probably one of the most underrated, BEST DC games there is.

[Zweihander]

Castlevania:Lament of Innocence.

BAWWWWWWWW, IT'S NOT IN 2D

[Krondelo]

Castlevania:Lament of Innocence.

BAWWWWWWWW, IT'S NOT IN 2D

Well, I agree that 2D is definitely the soul of Castlevania. But its still an awesome game.

I put 50 hours into SoTN

[Mortificator]

Batman Forever was fun with two players. The Mortal Kombat clone, not the arcade game.

That reminds me of something I should add to the bad games thread.

[Zweihander]

Castlevania:Lament of Innocence.

BAWWWWWWWW, IT'S NOT IN 2D

Well, I agree that 2D is definitely the soul of Castlevania. But its still an awesome game.

I put 50 hours into SoTN

No, I love Lament of Innocence. Just saying, the BAWWWWing about 3D Castlevania is usually peoples' only complaint, instead of the more well-founded complaint of every hallway and room looking the same. (That didn't stop me from enjoying the shit out of Rengoku 2, for the record)

[Ed Oscuro]

There were two Batman games by Sunsoft on the NES / FC. Both seem pretty decent to me. The second one is somewhat reminiscent of Contra, but with bigger sprites. It also has a zeppelin, which Castlevania Bloodlines failed at.

[Specineff]

Hey, Ed. Are you referring to Return/Revenge of The Joker?

That game made use of a special memory mapper on the NES version, IIRC. That made the NES paint some really mindblowing graphics by that time. I recall the ads even calling the graphics 16-bit quality. It may not have the same gameplay as the previous NES or of the kickass Genny cart, but it was a very worthy game on its own.

Cheers,

The Mega Drive Fan S! =^_^=

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey, Ed. Are you referring to Return/Revenge of The Joker?

Yes. I really ought to get copies of all the various Batman games from that era.