Summary
No matter how popular a video game developer can be, some of their games are bound to slip through the cracks. Whether these games were released before the studio became well known or the game simply didn’t gain as much traction as the developer’s other titles, a lack of popularity does not necessarily mean a lack of quality.
These hidden gems from famous developers deserve a second chance to be discovered and appreciated for the genuinely good games they are. After spending years in the shadow of more-famous games, these underrated titles have earned their time in the spotlight.
10Sylvan Tale – Sega
A Little-Known Zelda Clone For The Game Gear
Sylvan Tale is a late-release title for the little-adopted Sega Game Gear… that also was never released outside of Japan. All of these factors contribute to Sylvan Tale’s near-invisible mark on Sega’s storied history, which is a crying shame, as the game is simply one of thebest titles for its systemand one of the most underrated Zelda clones out there.
With visuals and audio that pushed the Game Gear to its technical limits and a neat shape-shifting mechanic adopted five years before Majora’s Mask did something similar, Sylvan Tale is a highly worthwhile title for any fans of the Zelda series or Sega’s deep history. Sadly, playing the game outside of Japan essentially requires you to play an emulated version or import the blue Game Gear Micro.
9Disruptor - Insomniac Games
A Humble Beginning For A Major Studio
While Insomniac Games would eventually establish themselves as a powerhouse developer on the original PlayStation with the Spyro Trilogy, their first game for the system was actually a little-known first-person shooter called Disruptor. What set the game apart from other FPS games of its era were the neat Psionic powers, which essentially acted as magic abilities to provide the gameplay with some extra flavor.
Sadly, despite its slick combat and surprisingly deep narrative elements, Disruptor sold far below what Insomniac games were expecting - and hoping - it would. Somewhat miraculously, the studio forged ahead with their next game, Spyro the Dragon, and the rest, they say, is history.
8Rocket: Robot On Wheels – Sucker Punch Productions
A Wheely Good Time
Before Sucker Punch Productions was known for their works depicting feudal Japan, conflicted superheroes, or thieving raccoons, they made a little-known 3D platformer for the Nintendo 64. Rocket: Robot on Wheels was always going to struggle to cut it with system-heavy hitters like Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario 64, but its relative lack of commercial success doesn’t in any way reflect the game’s many qualities.
The game sets itself apart from other 3D platformers of its era by focusing more on physics-based puzzles – a rather novel concept in 1999. The result is a game that shows all the charm and polish that Sucker Punch Productions would become known for, but which unfortunately gets lost behind all the generation-defining classics that the studio would develop in the succeeding years.
7Indigo Prophecy – Quantic Dream
Paranormal Activity
While Quantic Dream and David Cage are best known today for games like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, their style of narrative-heavy action-adventure games arguably started with Indigo Prophecy on the PS2 and original Xbox. While this game doesn’t get nearly the same level of recognition as those later titles, it nonetheless possesses one of the most gripping video game stories of its generation.
In Indigo Prophecy, you play as Lucas Kane, a man who is possessed by a spirit to commit murder, and the two NYPD detectives who are chasing him down. The plot is filled with the terrific writing and voice performances that you’d expect from a Quantic Dream game, leaving you with plenty of choices about where to take certain elements of the narrative.
6Brave Fencer Musashi – Square Enix
An Underrated Classic From The Golden Age Of Square
Brave Fencer Musashi is a role-playing game developed by Square for the PlayStation 1. It is a statement that usually accompanies some of the era’s most beloved and remembered games. However, this particular game saw Square step out of its comfort zone by adopting real-time combat, putting its gameplay more in line with The Legend of Zelda than Final Fantasy.
Whether this departure from Square’s norms of the time is the reason behind the game’s relative lack of cultural visibility is anybody’s guess, but it’s a shame that Brave Fencer Musashi still doesn’t enjoy the same acclaim as many of its contemporaries. The game certainly has built up a strong cult following over the decades owing to its sharp art style, excellent soundtrack, and enjoyable gameplay.
5Little Town Hero – Game Freak
A Quaint RPG From The Makers Of Pokémon
The developers behind the Pokémon games are no strangers to branching out with aside project every now and then. Little Town Hero is an RPG that scales back the epic scope that is usually associated with the genre in favor of a charming town setting filled with likable characters and the occasional evil sheep.
The battle system may not have been to everyone’s liking, but the game’s short run time and endearing aesthetics make it a pleasant oddity in Game Freak’s library. Also, the soundtrack was composed by Toby Fox of Undertale fame, and that’s worth playing Little Town Hero for alone.
4Kinetica – Santa Monica Studios
God Of Wheels
There is only one game developed by Santa Monica Studios that does not feature the name “God of War” anywhere in it, and it was the studio’s very first game. Kinetica is an early PS2 that featured a lot of the same creative team that would go on to create the first God of War some years later, but the two games could not be more different.
Kinetica is a futuristic racing game where the racers are people wearing Kinetic Suits that allow them to speed along the tracks thanks to the wheels on their hands. It’s a rather creative concept that makes for some genuinely thrilling gameplay and one that would be interesting for the studio to revisit if they wanted to take some time away from the story of Kratos.
3Dream Zone - Naughty Dog
A JAM Of A Game
There are some true hidden gems in the deep history of Naughty Dog, but one of their most interesting early games was released even before the studio adopted its now iconic name. Before they were Naughty Dog, JAM Software developed Dream Zone for the Apple II.
As its name suggests, Dream Zone sucks you into a world of magic, mystery, and plenty of psychedelic imagery. It’s a wonderfully bizarre adventure game that is very much of its era but, nonetheless, is still an important part of the studio’s legacy.
2Blast Corps – Rare
64 Bit Destruction
The Nintendo 64 and Rare were like donuts and jam – a match made in heaven. But before the studio launched beloved classics like GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie, and Perfect Dark, they released Blast Corps, an action game that’s about causing as much destruction as you can.
You are tasked with clearing the path in front of a nuclear missile carrier by demolishing buildings and other structures. It’s a beautifully chaotic concept that leads to appropriately explosive moments of gameplay. Simply put, Blast Corps is a blast and deserves to be recognized as one ofRare’s very best games.
1Princess Crown – Atlus
A Sign Of Things To Come
Not many people outside of Japan have even heard of Princess Crown – a Sega Saturn RPG from Atlus with beat ‘em up style combat and luscious pixel art visuals. The game didn’t sell well in Japan and was never released anywhere else, resulting in the original game becoming quite the collectible item in the years since.
The commercial failure of Princess Crown prompted director George Kamitani to found his own development studio, Vanillaware. They have since published several of their games through Atlus, including Princess Crown’s spiritual successor, Odin Sphere. For such an oft-forgotten Sega Saturn deep cut, it’s amazing how much of an influence Princess Crown continues to have in the industry to this day.
