Recommendations for strange/unusual games?

[Original_Name]

Seaman utilizes video games' unique inherent abilities to create an artistic expression perhaps more directly than any other video game. Video games are a medium which by definition break the fourth wall, but Seaman absolutely obliterates the fourth wall and pounds the rubble into a sub-atomic state. Seaman does not just make broad, sweeping generalizations and assumptions about its audience; it takes what YOU say directly and makes judgments about you. They're smart, quirky, funny, and most importantly, they'll really make you think about yourself. The moral of Seaman? As weird as you think a "person" from a different "culture" is, they think you're just as strange. Important stuff.

Oh, and try telling him that he doesn't exist. I did that at the age of 10, and it remains, to this day, the most important thing that a video game has ever done to me.

[alienjesus]

Oh, and try telling him that he doesn't exist. I did that at the age of 10, and it remains, to this day, the most important thing that a video game has ever done to me.

I really want to know what happens now.

Anyhow, I don't know what consoles you have, but I'll throw out my suggestions:

Wii:
De Blob - Quirky platformer where you have to paint a black and white city bright colours using a giant blob of paint.
Zack and Wiki - Brilliant Capcom point 'n' click with a fun sense of humour.
Kororinpa - odd marble balance game where you roll penguins and other assorted oddities around a track using the wiimotes tilt function.
Tomena Sanner - Crazy wiiware game where you make a smart suited business man avoid dinosaurs, schoolgirls and frankensteins monster as he runs along the street, using only the A button.

DS
Little Red Riding Hoods Zombie BBQ - The name should be enough. Twisted fairy tale themed blaster, pretty good one at that.
Rhythm Heaven/Paradise and Elite Beat Agents - both have already been mentioned
Project Rub/Feel the magic XX/XY and The Rub Rabbits - crazy mini game collections from Sega that I really enjoyed. Help a man throw up goldfish! roll into a ball and bowl through a bus stop queue! Swim through a snakes intestines!

Gamecube:
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg - Decent Sonic Team Platformer about a boy with the power to hatch eggs after rolling them over fruit using his magic chicken suit.

N64
Mischief makers - Crazy 2D platformer by treasure with a mildly incomprehensible strangeness about it.

I left out a few more obvious ones like Pikmin, Chibi Robo, Wario ware etc, and only recommended titles i've actually played before.

[masteroftheclaw]

Oh man, so many responses! Instead of replying specifically to people I'm just gonna address the games that were brought up.

For Pyschonuats, I'm glad to see that the game picks up. Seems weird that it's got to start out less interesting, but now that I know that the game definitely deserves a new look over.

Tokyo Bus Guide I've heard to be fun... I'm excited how that'll work out when I barely know any Japanese myself! It'll probably be worth messing around with, though, and I'm sure it's years better than City Bus Simulator 2010. That game was AWFUL, although it had insanely deep controls.

Kururin Squash I've only heard of in passing but the name certainly seems interesting. What kind of puzzle game is it? I'm going to need to google it and see what's going on exactly.

Retro Game Challenge is totally fun! I was looking forward to its release and it didn't let me down. It's so fun to play games that are similar but yet not what we all were playing in our childhood. Suuuuch fun.

No More Heroes is an awesome game but I haven't beat the second yet. I got angry with the Shinobu platforming bits and stopped playing. Is there any hint as to getting past those parts without much frustration?

MadWorld is a game I've been meaning to play since it came out. Same goes for The House of the Dead: Overkill. Which of these two should I buy first? Speaking of MadWorld, I am reminded of the game Vigil: Blood Bitterness which was also in a black and white style, but wholly different.

Seaman is a game which has stuck in the back of my mind since I was younger. I finally grabbed a copy of it some years ago when stores were ridding themselves of DC/PS1/N664 games but have yet to buy a microphone for it! Seeing the "fun" I had with Hey You Pikachu! I don't see why I haven't completed my copy of Seaman yet. Definitely want to try it someday soon. By the way, does anyone remember the US magazine ads for this game? There was one which showed a bed with a man's feet sticking out the end of the bed along with a fish tail. At my young age, this image terrified me lol.

Space Channel 5 is great! Along with survival horror and weird games I also love rhythm/music titles. The quirkier the better and SC5 is a great one. Besides, Part 2 has Space Michael so how can you beat that.

I have P.N.03 but have ignored it almost completely since picking it up. I'm really curious now though... Anyone else have experience with the game that they can share?

God Hand is so good but so brutally difficult! I've never been especially "good" at video games despite playing them so damn much so God Hand is one hell of a test for me. I played that initial level for a few weeks before I could actually get anywhere without leveling down left and right.

Ouendan! Oh shit! I was madly looking forward to this game but when it showed up in my local import shop I suddenly decided I didn't need it. I picked up Elite Beat Agents which I recognize is basically a whole new game, and had fun with it, but then totally forgot about the Japanese game and its sequel. Thanks for bringing it back to the front of my mind! The gameplay mechanics are solid and I assume the same as EBA so I'm more than ready to pick those up and play.

Knights in the Nightmare, hmm? I think I borrowed it from a friend once and just barely picked away at it before getting distracted by something else. Granted, that had nothing to do with the game itself as I had the same reaction to SMT: Strange Journey, which I'm sure is a fabulous game as well... But back to Knights in the Nightmare, that is a JRPG right? I've never been great with those types of games but it's worth looking into. Anyone else have experience with this game?

Pikmin, quite simply put, rules. I don't own either of the games but to this day I remember how much fun I had with the rental. I know there's the port for Wii so if that's cheap enough that'll be a must-purchase. For those of you who have played Pikmin 1 and 2, is 2 as good as the original? Better?

The more I found out about Toy Commander the more I need to play it. Now to find a copy! Since I typically rely wholly on bargain bins, thrift stores, and yard sales finding games I want is easier said than done.

As a horror gamer I've heard of Pathologic. However, because it takes me so long to get through horror games because quite frankly I'm a scaredy cat I've yet to even touch Pathologic. It's a strange game? I'm intrigued by the name drop of it here so I'll check it out. Speaking of strange horror kinda games Missing: Since January and Evidence: The Last Ritual are pretty unusual horror/mystery/puzzle games. It's mostly weird if you've never played ARGs (alternate reality game) before since you'll get emails from the characters and search around on the internet (the real internet!) to solve puzzles.

De Blob does look fun and I bet it's pretty cheap now. Does it have multiplayer? Either way, I'm sure a game like that would entertain the youngsters that come by sometimes.

Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is a point and click title? HOLD UP, seriously? Why didn't I ever know this? It was just on sale for some mega GameStop sale too, damn!

Kororinpa sounds supremely cute so I'll say that's worth it. The name is a little strange though, so would this be an import title? It doesn't really matter as I can play imports anyhow, but just curious because I've not heard of this game (I was wondering when that would finally happen ).

As for Tomena Sanner I'm for some reason really opposed to buying WiiWare titles. I don't know why, as I buy things on Steam left and right when they're cheap. That reminds me of Muscle March though which I MUST pick up.... which in turn reminds me of the new Cho Aniki game that came out for PSN and PSP. Both of these are digital downloads though and I really wish they could have come in pretty boxes for me to stick on my shelf. But I guess it's thanks to the ease of digital distribution that people outside of Japan are able to experience these unusual games.

Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is a game I totally checked out because of the name. I love zombies. I love little red riding hood (and The Path!) but this game really didn't do it for me. I think it was because it was so damn hard, at least to me. I could barely beat the damn grandma in the bed at the end of the first level!

Feel the Magic XX/XY was definitely one strange game with a strange style. I liked it a lot though, because mini game games generally are fine by me. The weirder the better! Nothing tops the WarioWare series for me, but other games are still totally worth it. The Rub Rabbits! compelled me much less but it was still an interesting little game.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is another one of those games that my sister fell in love with but I mostly ignored. However, I don't even remember actually playing it myself and it's usually in the tiny GC section at GameStop so I'll probably be picking it and playing it soon.

Mischief Makers... When I was younger I basically rented every game from Blockbuster in the N64 department. Everything except this (and South Park Chef's Luv Shack/Conker's Bad Fur Day)... Because the N64 is near and dear to my heart this game has shot up in priority to play. Speaking of Treasure, one weird game is Stretch Panic. I can't ever find it in stores but damn if that doesn't look weird as hell. Somehow that reminded me of Gregory Horror Show, which is technically a horror game but done with cutesy, blocky characters. Don't know why it came into my head just now, but for you in PAL regions or who have modded PS2s I really suggest you check it out.

Woo! Thanks for all the responses! The list of games I need to pick up are growing but they all seem like great titles. Also, for reference I own all modern consoles (disregarding iPhones or Android devices... which have more games than I'd like to admit) and then most other "popular" consoles before that. Regardless, if there's games mentioned for consoles I don't have the chance is I'll have it soon so don't worry about platforms for the game recommendations!

[alienjesus]

In response to Kororinpa, I only remembered after your confusion with the name that it has a different name over there in the US to here in Europe. EDIT: After looking it up, its not that different, it's known as Kororinpa: Marble Mania over there.

And Zack and Wiki is a point and click, but divided into different puzzle levels rather than being one big sprawling adventure. Its certainly not story driven, but the puzzles are creative, fun and sometimes hilarious.

[GSZX1337]

For House of the Dead: Overkill vs. Mad World, it really comes down to this: Have you played any of the House of the Dead games in the Arcade, on the Dreamcast, or Saturn? Did you like it? If yes, then get HOTD:Overkill first. I'm not saying you're going to enjoy it more than MadWorld, but you'll know what you're getting.

[masteroftheclaw]

In response to Kororinpa, I only remembered after your confusion with the name that it has a different name over there in the US to here in Europe. EDIT: After looking it up, its not that different, it's known as Kororinpa: Marble Mania over there.

Ah, okay! I ignore so many games that come out on Wii so thanks for bringing this one up. Presumably it seems a lot like Marble Madness except with Wii remote in place of a track ball. And cuteness. I quite enjoy Marble Madness so I bet this'll be good fun.

For House of the Dead: Overkill vs. Mad World, it really comes down to this: Have you played any of the House of the Dead games in the Arcade, on the Dreamcast, or Saturn? Did you like it? If yes, then get HOTD:Overkill first. I'm not saying you're going to enjoy it more than MadWorld, but you'll know what you're getting.

That's a good point. I do love The House of the Dead games and would be just fine with more. But I suppose I'm also in the mood for something new so maybe I'll just get MadWorld first.

[J T]

De Blob does look fun and I bet it's pretty cheap now. Does it have multiplayer? Either way, I'm sure a game like that would entertain the youngsters that come by sometimes.

Before you go spending money on that for Wii, it's free on PC.

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums ... _id=401276


Also, I will add one more to the mix: Zeno Clash

It's in first person, but it plays more like a beat em up than a shooter (though there is also some shooting involved). It also takes place in a completely surreal universe. I was in awe at the graphic style throughout the entire game.

[slowslow325]

Odama for GameCube. It's not as much weird in the graphics/story department (well, it is a little) but the gameplay is pretty weird. Pinball + Real Time Strategy = Odama

Custer's Revenge for Atari 2600. It gets a lot of complaints, but it's not such a bad game. I've found myself enjoying it. Even if you don't like the gameplay, you'll still get a cheap, immature laugh. I suggest emulation, it gets kinda expensive.

Super Mario Bros. for NES. This one is pretty weird. You are a plumber, you go around slamming your head on blocks to find mushrooms. You then eat the 'shrooms to get bigger. Throughout this journey you will be jumping on turtles and mushroom shaped creatures to defeat the biggest turtle of them all. After you do this, you meat up with "Toad" who is a mushroom. He tells you the princess you're trying to find isn't in this castle. So you move on to the next world.

[Para]

Typing of the Dead is one of the weirdest game concepts ever but its fairly well known.

Earthworm Jim same thing. Very well known but also very wacky and awesome.

Base Wars Baseball isn't that unsual, except when its robots playing baseball! Plays a lot like most of the baseball games on the NES except it stars robots instead of human players. Also you get to kill each other if you get tagged on a base. It's pretty fun.

I can't think of anything else right now because I am not at home to check my collection.

[dsheinem]

MadWorld is a horrible horrible game that you should not buy. Not even for $5. It has one redeeming feature - a cool style - but even that isn't executed as well as it looks like it is in screenshots. Avoid at all costs.

HOTD Overkill is one of the best Wii games, period.