Randomly recommend an unknown or underrated game.

[laurenhiya21]

Geez, there seems to be no end to these good looking PS1 games that I've never heard of before It's a shame I don't really find a lot of them out in the wild.

At least PS2 games are much easier to find (which also seems to have no end of good games).

[Exhuminator]

Geez, there seems to be no end to these good looking PS1 games that I've never heard of before

If I can maintain steam I'll post some more Japanese and PAL PS1 games that are worth tracking down. As far as actually buying them... yeah online importing is the only way I know of. Being unknown and underrated means they're fairly cheap all things considered.

[Markies]

Glad to see people enjoy OutRun 2019! A secret game I have loved since I was a child. Let's try this again...



The Little Mermaid is another fantastic Capcom Disney game. It doesn't rival the greatness that is DuckTales or Chip N Dale, but it is better than something like Talespin. You float around as Ariel using your tail to shoot bubbles and trap enemies in a Bubble Bobble style fashion. Since it is Capcom, the sprites are huge and beautiful. The music is fantastic with a great rendition of 'Under The Sea'. It really is a surprisingly good game that most people pass over. If your Disney fan, it's perfect. If you don't like Disney or The Little Mermaid, you could still enjoy it because the game is just that good. A great little game.

[Gunstar Green]

Speaking of PS1 games:

Wolf Fang


An interesting hybrid of shmup and run 'n gun from Data East with mech that you can customize. Also available on Saturn.

It came out in the arcades here as Rohga Armor Force with the story sequences stripped out and is the spiritual successor to Vapor Trail.

[Ghegs]

These two belong to the same series, so I'll just mention both. This series of arcade racing games started with the title Side By Side, until Taito changed it to Battle Gear for later installments. Sadly the last entry in the series, Battle Gear 4 Tuned, was released almost ten years ago and never got a home port. At their time the games competed with the likes of Initial D and Wangan Midnight in the arcades.

The PS1 got a JP-only port in '97 that combines the first two games, and then two years later a re-released version (Special 2000) that adds analog controls via the neGcon (but not via the Dual Shock, which is what something some sites erroneous claim) so that's the preferred version.

The first Battle Gear never got a home port, but Battle Gear 2 did and it even includes all the tracks from the first game an unlockables. The game was even released in the PAL regions as Tokyo Road Race and it includes a 60hz option, so it's a good choice. Battle Gear 3 also received a JP-only PS2 port, but I very slightly prefer the second game.

The games themselves are, as said, arcade racing games and quite excellent ones at that. They're easy to learn, but difficult to master. As they are originally arcade games there aren't any story or campaign modes, but there are cars and tracks to unlock. I see this as a good thing, it cuts out the fluff and focuses on the main event - the driving.

For examples of that, I've recorded some of my runs on Mt. Akina which should be familiar to anyone who's watched Initial D:

Side By Side Special 2000
Battle Gear 2

[Erik_Twice]

Battle Gear 4 is now working through emulation, right? I have to say, the game looks amazing, the constant change of gears to get around corners seems incredibly fun.

Wait, Tokyo Road Race is a Battle Gear game? Damn, I see that game all the time in shops and always ignored it

[Ghegs]

Wait, Tokyo Road Race is a Battle Gear game? Damn, I see that game all the time in shops and always ignored it

The name is horribly misleading, yes. But it's a great port and the PAL version is solid, so I'd definitely recommend picking it up. I play the PAL version myself, it's the one my video was recorded from as well.

[fastbilly1]

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves - Apple ][ and Atari 8bit
1981 dungeon crawler where you play Ali Baba and fight through randomly generated maps full of mythological and zodiac based enemies.


It is a neat game but super difficult.

[noiseredux]

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

and now I have the Beastie Boys' "Rhymin And Stealin" in my head. Thanks.

[Exhuminator]

I'm loving the recommendations so far. I hope this thread can have legs.

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So I've decided to stick with recommending unknown/underrated PS1 Japanese imports for my next couple posts. I think I'll do them in batches based on genre. I'll try to stick to games which are enjoyable even if you can't read Japanese. So for this post, I'm going with platformers:


Korokoro Postnin | 2002

It's a high speed platforming puzzle game where you play as Akane who must deliver the paper to each mailbox in the neighborhood.

Screenshots:

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Segare Ijiri | 1999

Run around as a dude with an arrow for a head and try to make sense of an ever changing environment. Really crazy sense of humor and wacky polygon environments.

Screenshots:

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Kitchen Panic | 1998

You are a golden egg trying to make your way through a kitchen full of kitchen-themed jerks who want to stop you. I mean, what else do you need to know?

Screenshots:

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Tenma de Jack: Odoroki Manenoki Daitoubou | 2000

It's bean stalks and they're growing, you're Jack and you've got climb 'em. There's probably a giant up there but also UFOs. Who cares it's fun and the graphics are colorful.

Screenshots:

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Gegege no Kitarou: Gyakushuu! Youma Daichisen | 2003

Really late-gen release for the PS1, cool horror theme and excellent graphics. Fun bosses too.

Screenshots:

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Hermie Hopperhead: Scrap Panic | 1995

A boy falls through a trash can into a world where rubbish items are his enemies, and he can raise up eggs he finds along the way. May or may not have influenced Billy Hatcher... who's to say?

Screenshots:

=========

I am trying to avoid mentioning PS1 games already mentioned here:

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/best-und ... on-ps1-psx

But that's a great resource for those who haven't read it yet.