The first Shining Force was awesome, also Ecco the Dolphin: Tides of Time for the Sega Genesis was fucking epic for it's time. It's graphics/ ambience/FLYING ANCIENT DOLPHINS make it one of my all time old school favorites.

Shining Force II, man I wish SEGA would do a proper Shining Force sequel.

That was definitely my favourite game on the Genesis. I wish we'd see more Shining Force games like that, because it was just.. Perfect.

You are fucking kidding right?
Rule of Rose was absolutely Shit,
Terrible Dialogue,
Shitty controls.
Loading screens every 5 seconds.
It was like they pounded it out and hoped the controversy would sell the game on its own.

I never actually played it (I did find a copy of it recently but it was $50 and I don't have a working PS2 so fuck it) but I did watch a playthrough on youtube out of curiosity and it felt like it had the potential to be a really good game but just came out really really bad.

There are a lot of 3DO games that are pretty unknown but really good.  Guardian War and Kingdom: The Far Reaches (which was recently rereleased as a DVD game called Thayer's Quest, which confused me because it seems like the 3DO version is the only one where the main character's name is Lathan and not Thayer) come to mind. 

Guardian War was a tactical RPG that wasn't too fancy but for some reason was really fun despite being map after map of ridiculous dungeons.  The reason they were ridiculous was because the scenery was like...really blurry PHOTOGRAPHS with low-res 3D models for the monsters and characters.  This screenshot explains it best:

Still, I found it to be very fun and addictive once you got past (or embraced) the silly graphics and the way the Goddess would say "Danger....DANGER" when you got into battle.

Kingdom: The Far Reaches was basically an interactive fantasy cartoon.  Except it was like a point and click adventure game instead of a "hit the buttons at the exact right moment" game like Dragon's Lair or other animated games from the time.  Basically there was a wizard who would make scrolls for you, and he had three or so different types.  You'd tell him what kind to work on, and I think you only got the next one after you used the one you had.  Then it was a matter of using the scrolls and other items you had at the right time and right place.  You basically chose different locations on a map, but you had to be careful because if you went to an area before you had the right item you'd get killed.  It's not overly complicated though, and it's pretty charming.  One really weird memory I have of this game is going into a place that sold various car audio equipment and they had a death scene from this game as the demo for a car DVD player they were selling.  I don't know if some company had this footage laying around or some nerd used it as a joke, but it took me a long time to figure out where I had seen that video before until I realized that it was from this game.  It was basically the main character being surrounded by skeletons in or near a bog, or something like that.  I don't really remember it very well anymore!

I really enjoy Spaceward Ho!, for those of you who haven't played it. It was a network strategy game developed by Delta Tao Software a long time ago. The game is simple enough to dive right into it, but complex enough to hold your attention for more than a few hours. You basically are some kind of plaetary leader and you go around colonizing planets, building ships, and terraforming and getting gold and metal, which you use to do all that stuff I just mentioned. There is a limited amount of metal in the game though, so the game will only last so long, and you have to monitor your development if you want to do well against a smart AI.



This game taught me a whole lot about striking gameplay balance. The cowboyish theme is neat too, as are the graphics for the ships (and the ability to build a biological space monster is cool too). I still play it sometimes if I'm bored and want a quick strategy game fix without having to dig out my Warcraft 2 disc or spending 8 hours on a game of Civ3.

Loved this game to bits when I was 12: Just so addictive and innovative and really atmospheric but in a dreamy way.

That reminded me of two other little known games that I especially liked.

Ascendancy and Tone Rebellion.

Threads of Fate was a game released pretty late in the Playstations life, but that doesn't make it a bad game. It's one of the best action rpgs I've ever played, with 2 different ways to fight. Or rather, characters. Before you start a new game, you can pick between Rue, some dude who transforms into almost any monster he kills, or Mint, a magical magic using girl. Rue has more powerful physical attacks, but weaker special attacks when he's a monster. Mint has weaker physical attacks, but stronger magic, some which are really strong near the end of the game.

There was only 1 problem; The game was pretty damn short. Even with 2 playable characters, it wasn't very long.

The story was awesome. Theres this thing called the Dewprism, the most powerful relic created by Aeons long ago, which everyone wants to use. It could basically grants any wish. Rue wants to bring a person back to life, Mint wants world domination. Rue's story is pretty serious and sad, but Mint's story is very upbeat and comical. Personally I enjoyed Mint's story a bit more, but thats just me.

Everything was great in this game, especially the music. This is one of the best soundtracks in any rpg ever! Every theme was amazingly catchy and the sound quality was great in game. The graphics were completely 3d, and on top of that, they looked especially good for a Ps1 game. I'd totally give this game a 10/10, despite it's length.

gotta love a Square RPG for PS1 that isn't all BACKDROPS (prerendered is just so soulless imo)

HYBRID HEAVEN

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmbdxY-UQQk

I remember that before this came out, they tried pumping everybody up for it so hard (nintendo power printed a blurb to the effect of "SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS IT PUTS THE X-FILES TO SHAME"), but the final product turned out to be this goofy little sci-fi game about punching aliens and it was pretty underwhelming.

Except for the battle system, which fucking ruled and I still maintain is the best in any RPG ever. i mean i guess hybrid heaven is an rpg, there are hit points??

Based on the cover art, I thought this game was a Wild Arms spinoff.

Based on the cover art, I thought this game was a Wild Arms spinoff.

What game is that? That screenshot is pretty neat looking.

TWO WORDS AND ONE NUMERAL:

Shadow Hearts 2.

If you ignore the second disk, that is! Well, Yuri's cousin is cute but otherwise....

Also: I kind of want to say JILL SAVES THE PRINCE but I want to say that the game/series is fairly well-known.

I enjoyed SIM Life and SIM Tower. Probably known around these parts, but those youngin's nowadays have no clue what they're missing out on when they could be building ZEBRA/FISH/ALLIGATOR hybrids and thwarting terrorists! Oh and SIM Copter was so difficult for me but so great.

Raptor: Call of the Shadows. I almost registered that one, spent a long time playing the shareware version.

Fuck, this game was awesome.

Destrega looks pretty awesome for multiplayer, not sure about single player.

I really enjoy Spaceward Ho!, for those of you who haven't played it. It was a network strategy game developed by Delta Tao Software a long time ago.

Man, I thought I was the only one who played this.  I used to play it when I was like 8 on my parents first computer, and while I didn't understand it half the time I had a lot of fun with it.

Operation: Winback I loved this game, it was on the PS2, mainly I loved it cause I thought it was cool that you could use boxes and your surroundings as cover and you could also see the ammo on the left and you had to count the bullets to know how many you had left in the magazine.

I'll admit I don't know why the hell I liked this game when I was a little boy but damn I must of been easily amused, I find it repetitive and boring now though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8OyFMmpW5w