Some of the best games have been forgotten over the years while others, like Super Mario Bros, pacman 30th anniversary . and Call of Duty, have become cultural touchstones. With so many games available, even the best ones might get lost in the shuffle but find a devoted fanbase among those who appreciate them for what they are.
The history of video games is rife with great games that are underappreciated, including many legendary platformers like Adventure Island and underrated first-person shooters like Perfect Dark. Users on Reddit discussed their favorite cult vintage video games, of which there are many.
River City Ransom (1989)
Certain beat ’em ups from the NES era, like Double Dragon, are remembered fondly, although the genre as a whole was not well received. One such game was noted by user saruin in a post they “Before anyone else, I’ll bring up River City Ransom. In a decade where beat-em-ups ruled the arcades, along came this true masterpiece “.
River City Ransom stood out from the crowd because it had role-playing game mechanics that let the player improve their character’s stats as the game progressed. While this added depth, it also made the game more complex and less accessible to new players, which was the main draw of most button mashers at the time.
Gun (2005)
In the cutthroat video game industry, one game can easily be overshadowed by a more successful sequel or spinoff. Mr Kerchu expressed disappointment about the omission of a game by saying “The game Gun for the PlayStation 2 doesn’t count, does it? It’s a Western game similar to Red Dead Redemption from before that game even existed. The general public seems to enjoy it, but few people are discussing it openly “.
It was possible to level up and advance through Gun’s game world by completing numerous objectives and side quests spread out across an Old West setting. Sadly for Gun, a sequel, Red Dead Redemption, came out and improved upon many of the features introduced in the first. However, a lot of old-school gamers still give Gun another shot and are pleasantly surprised by how well it holds up.
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)
Although the history of console gaming is littered with legendary masterpieces, PC gaming is generally seen as a lesser medium. User falcazoid commented about a game based on their own experience with it “DOS video game commemorating 25 years of Star Trek. An enjoyable point-and-click adventure from my youth that still, I suspect, entertains “.
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, released a quarter of a century after the franchise’s debut, is widely regarded as one of the series’ finest video games. The game is structured like a season of The Original Series, and players take command of their favorite characters as they progress through a variety of missions. Although though the game was largely converted to the NES, many players who were interested in the genre lost out because computer gaming was still in its infancy in the early 1990s.
Night Trap (1992)
Although while the Sega CD is more commonly regarded as a terrible failure for the video game developer, it was not without its share of unforgettable titles. Night Trap is an interactive movie video game…for the Sega CD…The game is primarily presented through the use of full motion video,” described the game in detail by user linuxllc.
Night Trap was an original video game in which players were tasked with keeping an eye on a girl’s sleepover at a vampire-infested mansion. Despite being largely known for its cheesiness and gimmicky gameplay, the game has a sizable cult following. Because it was released for a console that very few people had, the game was virtually forgotten at the time.
Gargoyle’s Quest (1990)
The Nintendo Game Boy was a game-changer, and it paved the way for other handheld video game consoles. Before authoring this, user huxley00 dug deep into the Game Boy database “The game Gargoyle’s Quest stood out to me as a rare treasure in a sea of shallow and simplistic video games when I was a kid. With all this chaos, Gargoyle’s Quest shone like a unique gem “.
Gargoyle’s Quest was a Ghosts ‘n Goblins spinoff in which the player assumed the role of a prior game’s antagonist. The game was different from the norm for the Game Boy in that it had both platforming and an above view of the city. The game didn’t sell well when it came out, but many people would buy it again if it were available for the Nintendo Switch.
The Neverhood (1996)
Point-and-click games had faded from popularity by the late ’90s, but a hidden gem employed innovation to bring them back. User kabukistar talked about an unappreciated PC when they said “The Neverhood…the whole thing is claymation, and the tale is more like a creation myth”.
The Neverhood stood out among a decade’s worth of oddball video games. The game’s claymation visuals and entertaining soundtrack kept players invested. Even though it produced a number of sequels, the franchise never became as popular as some of the other blockbuster series from the start of the millennium.
Pharaoh (1999)
Many of the original city-building games plodded along so that the modern games could operate. When asked to name a genre, user yellowpotatobus replied “I forgot about this forgotten genre.” “”Pharaoh, PC 1999” The best city-building game ever made… The Sims series usually gets more attention, but SimCity always seems to steal the spotlight “.
Even while most fans of city builders will recognize the basic mechanics, the game’s Ancient Egyptian setting will provide a fresh take on the genre. Compared to its contemporaries, Pharaoh was light years ahead of the curve thanks to its abundance of extra challenges. Its unique idea made it too niche for most gamers at the time, despite the fact that it is now widely considered one of the best city building games ever.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)
While H.P. Lovecraft’s novels have served as inspiration for a number of films, this is much less common in the video game industry. When commenting, user UragGroShub took a somewhat scary turn “Forever Nightmare: The Funeral Mass for Sanity… Insanity aside, this was a fantastic supernatural horror story for me “.
Although Eternal Darkness contained features typical of survival horror, it also featured a mechanic that altered the protagonist’s state of mind as they experienced the story’s horrors. A novel mechanism made it truly original, but the game’s focus on adult themes made it a tough sell on Nintendo’s family-friendly GameCube.
Adventure Island (1986)
Because there were so many excellent games available on the Nintendo Entertainment System, some of them were overlooked. One such game was highlighted by TLDR2D2, who said “We had a blast playing this platformer on the NES. Strange caveman who rides a skateboard and wears a baseball cap… I have listened to this repeatedly “.
Despite the fact that platformers were nothing new for the 8-bit era, Adventure Island managed to keep things fresh by incorporating a number of distinct game elements. All all, it was a difficult game, and its expansiveness was what kept people going back for more. The fact that there were so many other fantastic NES games at the time meant that Adventure Island got lost in the shuffle.
Perfect Dark (2000)
Every new release around the turn of the millennium appeared to push the envelope a little further. When writing this, user onex7805 was thinking about a first-person shooter “Absolutely Black. By the record, this is hands-down my favorite FPS ever made. It’s like GoldenEye ’64, but far superior “.
Although while it was often compared to the aforementioned Goldeneye, Perfect Dark managed to not only dominate the first-person shooter (FPS) market on its own, but also improve upon the gameplay of its forerunner. Even though Rare had two hits on their hands, Perfect Dark was largely disregarded in favor of Goldeneye.
