History NeedsMoreLove / VideoGames

* ''''VideoGame/MightAndMagic:''''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'' is a very immersive action-RPG that eventually gained itself a bit of a cult following. It has some cool spells and environmental kills, and the few cutscenes that there are very interesting. Despite numerous glitches and some dodgy level design it's really a great experience overall.

* ''''VideoGame/MightAndMagic:''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'' is a very immersive action-RPG that eventually gained itself a bit of a cult following. It has some cool spells and environmental kills, and the few cutscenes that there are very interesting. Despite numerous glitches and some dodgy level design it's really a great experience overall.

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic:''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'' is a very immersive action-RPG that eventually gained itself a bit of a cult following. It has some cool spells and environmental kills, and the few cutscenes that there are very interesting. Despite numerous glitches and some dodgy level design it's really a great experience overall.

* ''VideoGame/StarFox2'', [[{{Vaporware}} never released]] and only available as [[GameMod patch]] for VideoGame/StarFox1, features 3D high-speed dogfighting...in 16-bit. And it is glorious.

* The ''TimeSplitters'' games are [[RuleofFunny funny]], fast paced [[FirstPersonShooter first-shooters]] with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters tons of characters]] that range from [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys monkeys]], robots, zombies,[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot robot monkeys, and zombie monkeys]], [[GunPorn tons of guns]], [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome awesome music]], and [[LevelEditor level editors]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Battlezone|1998}}'', a RTS-FPS mix featuring a compelling storyline, great graphics and overall high production values was largely overlooked by consumers when it game out in the late 90's even though it was awarded high scores by critics.

* Metro2033 is a Ukrainian SurvivalHorror FirstPersonShooter set in Moscow AfterTheEnd. It's bleak, fun, frighteneing, intense, challenging, and always goes at a good pace. Unfortunately, it was doomed by a double case of FanDumb and being OvershadowedByAwesome, being released in March 2010, while VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} and VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas were still on everyone's minds. And its own fandom didn't help either; they were expecting a open-world roaming type game more in like with the {{STALKER}} series. The result was that it got mixed critical reception, with big-name reviewers such as IGN giving it a thorough bashing and calling it a VideoGame/{{Fallout}} wannabe, while {{Gameinformer}} loved it. Unfortunately, most pro critics leaned more to IGN's side.

* {{Singularity}} is an oft-forgotten FPS dealign with time travel and alternative histories. Vastly underrated and never promoted much. A really fun way to blow at least 6 hours.

* Universe At War: Earth Assault was a (unusually enough) good RTS for the Xbox 360 with a good story, decent gameplay, a soundtrack by Frank Klepacki (the guy who composed for Command And Conquer and Modern Warfare 2) and proof that just because a trope is old does not mean it is bad. However, it just never caught on and the planned sequel was canceled. Darn shame, if you ask me.

* The fact that ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' (and, by extension, its Japanese counterpart ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan'') isn't on this list is a crime. It's easily one of the most challenging and addictive rhythm games on pretty much any handheld system ever, with zany, over-the-top humor in spades (obligatory TearJerker level notwithstanding). It also sold about as well as turd-shaped fudge, which is why we'll never see a sequel. AndThatsTerrible.

* Universe At War: Earth Assault was a (unusually enough) good RTS for the Xbox 360 with a good story, decent gameplay and proof that just because a trope is old does not mean it is bad. However, it just never caught on and the planned sequel was canceled. Darn shame, if you ask me.

* DrillDozer takes a single gameplay mechanic, drilling, and manages to make a great game out of it. Made by Game Freak, known for Pokémon, Drill Dozer has beautiful graphics, awesome music, some really epic boss fights and just a flat-out cool design for the dozer and main character.

* [[DrillDozer]]

** Surprisingly, its prequel, ''IMissTheSunrise'', is actually getting significantly more publicity, though it's still pretty obscure. With any luck, by the time it's finished, it will have at least risen to CultClassic levels.

* Super MondayNightCombat. It's a niche game from a niche sub-genre of what is already a [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena niche genre]], but it does so much so well. The world it takes place in is colorful, full of interesting characters and actually justifies all the silly hats FreeToPlay games end up having. It takes the mold of Dota (Creeps, towers, skills, etc) and meshes it near perfectly with the much faster paced action of a competitive Third-Person Shooter without truly sacrificing the strategy of Dota. The announcers are both enthusiastic, products of the odd world they live in and are a joy to listen to. But most people get scared away because they're Shooter fans expecting something shooty-focused or Dota fans who are put off by the significantly faster pace of matches and gameplay in general being more active than normal MOBAs. The game is free, genuinely well made, and does its best to be fair to you. You are never forced to buy anything, are constantly given Endorsements, Products and Cosmetics as End-Game prizes and can realistically play as every Pro (Hero) in the game without paying a cent. A gem of a Free to Play game, both in terms of its quality and fairness, and it would be a damn shame to let it die like it's on the brink of doing.

* ''HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure'', one of EA's unappreciated masterpieces. A critical darling but commercial flop, it combines hack and slash combat, TetrisAttack and the closest a professionally-made game will ever come to PlatformHell. It's got a charming, original presentation, memorable characters, incredibly smooth gameplay, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome you transform into a Steampunk Mecha by DRINKING TEA]], and it's one of the hardest games for the DS not made by Atlus. Oh, and it was developed ''by the same guys who make [[VideoGame/MaddenNFL Madden]]''.

* ''WildARMS'' already gets some love, but these games are dripping with too much awesome to not be at the same level as Final Fantasy. Chocobos? We don't need no stinkin' Chocobos! Park yourself on the shoulder of a [[RuleOfCool giant robot and go slogging around the world and through the oceans!]] Airship? More like ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome TRANSFORMING DRAGON-PLANE!!]]'' Seriously, the game combines many of the best elements of ''FinalFantasy'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' with a dash of ''TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' for good measure. [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome And the scores of Michiko Naruke in the older games and the music in the newer ones are to die for!]] It's still being imported, but it could be doing so much more, especially in America.

* The ''{{Kirby}}'' series is well known and already popular, but one game in the series that was vastly ignored (mostly due to ''F-Zero'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKart: Double Dash'') was ''Kirby Air Ride''. With unique controls, interesting gameplay, and the adventurous City Trial mode, this game could have been more innovative had people not been so harsh on it.

* Metro2033 is a Ukrainian SurvivalHorror FirstPersonShooter set in Moscow AfterTheEnd. It's bleak, fun, frighteneing, intense, challenging, and always goes at a good pace. Unfortunately, it was doomed by a double case of FanDumb and being OvershadowedByAwesome, being released in March 2010, while VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} and VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas were still on everyone's minds. And its own fandom didn't help either; they were expecting a open-world roaming type game more in like with the {{STALKER}} series. The result was that it got mixed critical reception, with big-name reviewers such as IGN giving it a thorough bashing and calling it a VideoGame/{{Fallout}} wannabe, while {{Gameinformer}} loved it. Unfortunately, most pro critics leaned more to IGN's side.

* I personally just [[SarcasmMode love]] the Russian gaming press's statement that "no, Russians can't make good first-person shooters" ([[{{STALKER}} Ukrainians]] [[VideoGame/BoilingPointRoadToHell don't]] [[{{Metro 2033}} count]]). But they never '''ever''' say they actually were doing good [=FPSses=] that time. Take [[{{Il-2Sturmovik}} Maddox Games]]'s early 90s shooters, and you'll get the catch. Specifically ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQP9cm5Us8k Z.A.R.]]'', made in 1997. In a nutshell, it's an open-air mission-based first-person shooter, with, however, pretty wild dynamics. Wilder than it's supposed to be for a [[ScienceFiction Nostalgic Science Fiction]] OneManArmy [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Other Planet]] [[FirstPersonShooter FPS]]. Two more features I haven't spotted in any other game of this genre so far: no-border levels, in fashion of WraparoundBackground and even ColorCodedForYourConvenience weapons, depending on the location you're currently in!

* ''{{Baten Kaitos}} Origins''. Pretty much the epitome of DoingItForTheArt, with an utterly insane amount of attention paid to detail. To give an example, every one of the cards used in-game has a description about 4-5 full lines long -- all '''655''' of them. It certainly helps add to the SceneryPorn and SugarWiki/CrowningMusicOfAwesome too. Just about the only thing this game didn't have was good marketing.

* ''{{F-Zero}}''. One of the best racing series ever, and yet there has been no game since 2004, and even then that game was only released in Japan. Captain Falcon is not happy.

* ''{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}''. It's a {{doujin game}} inspired by several classic games (most notably ''VideoGame/MegaMan''), where you play as a church maiden who has to stop a misguided rebellion led by her own friends and their supervisor. It's got [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome excellent music]] provided by several Japanese bands, and the visuals simply look ''[[SceneryPorn stunning]]''. Sadly, it never gets the attention it deserves, and for a couple reasons. Its [[TheWikiRule wiki]] seems to be in a state of turmoil, the fanbase is {{broken| base}} since the Eastern fans think there are no true Western fans, and that those who are are merely "pretending" (case in point, one of the [[BigNameFan most prominent fans]] in the Western base is accused even by the developers themselves as being a complete asshole to the game, even despite his reform), and even worse, its TVTropes page rarely updates anymore, especially with the [[DevelopmentHell delays]] that the sequel is getting. If there's any series that {{needs more love}}, it's this one.

** Actually that's only ''part'' of the HateDumb. A lot of the HateDumb comes from professional reviewers who mistook it for an attempt at being scary when it was actually a ''parody''.

* ''ZanZarah'' is an old (2002) PC fantasy adventure game of German origin that plays like it's {{Pokemon}} if it were a first-person shooter -- which isn't a bad thing. While not much can be said for the plot, the gameplay is a different twist on a [[GottaCatchEmAll familiar model]], the music is [[{{SugarWiki/CrowningMusicOfAwesome}} beyond beautiful]], and the (numerous) non-human character designs are all interesting and original. And did I mention that ''ZanZarah'''s {{mons}} are laser-shooting fairies?

* The entire ''{{MOTHER}}'' series. If it weren't for the Super Smash series, very, very few people outside Japan would know who the hell is Ness, let alone Lucas on Brawl (of course, those who loved the SNES would remember Ness, but for Lucas... well, sadly, NoExportForYou). The entire series (of, sadly, just three games) have tender moments, and it could funny and serious, and excellent stories, coupled with really good RPG elementes, beautiful music (Pollyanna, anyone?) and just overall superb games. Its hilarious, its heartbreaking, its amazing. Slowly, its gaining a fandom, in part for the Super Smash series, in part for the fan translation of MOTHER 3.

* ''{{Gex}}''. The first game is often cited to be one of the best games on the 3DO, enough to warrant a Playstation port and two sequels. The first game, a side-scrolling 2D platformer with pre-rendered sprites, was about a gecko named Gex who was TrappedInTvLand by an evil (alien?) overlord named Rez who wanted to make Gex the new mascot. It was an excellent, addictive game that was NintendoHard but not unfair, with hilarious one-liners from Gex, voiced by Dana Gould. The sequel, ''Gex: Enter The Gecko'' for the Playstation and Nintendo64, featured Gex being bribed by a GovernmentAgencyOfFiction to go back into the Media Dimension to make Rez 'dissappear'. The game had a VideoGame/SuperMario64 style 'pointless item collecting' vibe. While it wasn't exactly as good as it's predecessor, it was still an enjoyable experience (despite occasional bouts of CameraScrew). ''Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko'' featured Agent Xtra, a fellow secret agent, being kidnapped by Rez to get to Gex. Gex rescues Xtra with the help of his butler, Alfred the [[{{TurtlePower}} Turtle]], his cousin, [[{{MeaningfulName}}Cuz]] the [[{{EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi}} Platipus]], and Rex the [[{{EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs}} Dinosaur]]. The gameplay is simalar to the last game, except with the other characters, bonus stages, and a DebugRoom. Unfortunately, Eidos apparently was too busy milking [[{{TombRaider}} Lara Croft]] to continue with the series, despite many believing that it would make the leap to the Sixth Generation of Consoles.
* HumongousEntertainment is now an obscure company that made many charming games for children back in TheNineties. They had point-and-click {{Adventure Game}}s like ''FreddiFish'', ''PuttPutt'', ''PajamaSam'', and ''SPYFox''. They also had the CashCowFranchise which has sadly overshadowed the aforementioned games, ''BackyardSports''. Even so, all of them have faded into obscurity, but they seem to be slowly gaining popularity back.

* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape 2'' assesses many flaws of the first game; and places you in nonlinear levels similar to the first game.

* ''{{Legend of Dragoon}}'' is a ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''-esque game that came out two years after the aforementioned game and was published by Sony itself. The game featured the usual JRPG turn based combat, but occasionally you could turn into a Dragoon, a Dragon Knight, for a few turns and unlease your true power. Possibly the reason it's been underrated and somewhat unknown is because of its similarities to ''FFVII'' and the subsequent sequels.

* ''[[{{VideoGame/Bug}} BUG!]]''. A fun and comical platformer featuring a bug who has to travel six different worlds to save his family from an evil spider, it was also one of the first 3D platformers. Gameplay was fun- your character had a regular GoombaStomp, but gained powerups too, while each set of levels had unique and different types of insectoid enemies. The bosses were quite entertaining- whether it be fending off a swamp worm, defeating a yeti, or [[PlayingTennisWithTheBoss playing fish tennis with an octopus]]. Level designs were great- there were many paths for the player to take in each level, including multiple secret paths. Despite all these lovely aspects, it's unfortunately become more of a LoveItOrHateIt these days.

* ''NoituLove'', especially the sequel. It is a brilliantly fun game, a 2d side-scrolling beat-'em-up with great boss battles, a sense of humour, and a whole pile of fun. The definitely [[NeedsMoreLove needs as much love as it can get]], as the creator, Joakim 'Konjak' Sandberg is in dire monetary straits, and had a kind of crisis of confidence. Check out his website: he's also released a game called ''Chalk'' which is fun on a bun, and there's a whole bunch of unfinished and/or abandoned projects that show he has real game-making chops.
* The ''EscapeVelocity'' series by Mac-based shareware developers Ambrosia are great. They're basically Elite from a 2D, top-down perspective. Become a trader, a pirate, hero of United Earth, fly off into the unknown to meet new alien races, whatever. The first two, ''Escape Velocity'' and ''Override'' were originally only released on pre-X version of MacOS, but the newest, ''Escape Velocity Nova'', was released for MacOS X and Windows, and total conversions of Nova to the previous two are available.

* VideoGame/{{Monkey Hero}} AND HOW! It was an action RPG released in 1999 for the playastation.Although the game was pretty much a Zelda clone it was actually pretty good. It had a strong sense of atmosphere , good graphics and a kick ass soundtrack to boot! In the game you play as a monkey named monkey and travel a wide spacious world exploring dungeons and defeating bosses to collect all of the magic storybook pages to defeat the nightmare king. You even get to use a wide inventory of unique items and weaponry. The game is sadly virtually unknown .

* ''VideoGame/{{Star Fox 2}}'', [[{{Vaporware}} never released]] and only available as [[GameMod patch]] for VideoGame/StarFox1, features 3D high-speed dogfighting...in 16-bit. And it is glorious.

* Sam & Max Season 1 and 2 is a fantastic entry into the adventure genre. The puzzles generally tend to work on absurd logic, but the hints in the dialogue and small level sizes never makes them frustrating. The writing is incredible witty and has all sorts of pop culture references and dark humor.
* ''Alpha Protocol'' doesn't have quite as polished gameplay as one might hope, but it's still a great sucessor to Deus Ex and Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. There's an unbelievable level of freedom when it comes to making choices that effect the character and plot development, and the writing is top notch also.

* The ''Franchise/ChaosRings'' series, especially ''VideoGame/ChaosRingsII''. A gem of an {{Eastern RPG}} with great characters, fun gameplay, and an engrossing plot by the same studio that made the cult classic ''Franchise/{{Wild ARMs}}'' series. Sadly, they are for {{iOS}} devices, which has not yet gotten a reputation as a "serious" gaming platform. As a result, hardly anyone has played them.
* [[NeoTokyo Neotokyo]]. You'll be surprised in how detailed this ''Half-Life 2'' mod is. It is based on multiplayer with focus on teamwork as there is no damage direction indicator. Every engagement is always fast and fatal. Couple this with commercial-quality maps and in-game models and you get one of the most hailed upcoming mod in it's time. Too bad to developers seems to abandon it and not much of it's player base are left.

* ''CryoStasis''. Seriously, it's one of the few pieces of fiction that made a huge philosophical impact on me, and I hardly ever meet anyone who knows about it. The gameplay and storytelling are slow, the game runs slowly even on high-end computers, the voiceacting is everything from horrible to amazing. And the story is, well, [[MindScrew confusing]] to say at least. But the game is layered with symbolism, the plot is deep, thoughtful, and heavily ambigious, the athmosphere heavy and the gameplay innovative. And if you wait out the ending credits, you get one of the best quotations ever seen in a video game.

* ''{{Nier}}'' is a flawed game that seemed to created a strong divide between critics, and at first glance could be mistaken as just a Zelda clone. But it has an interesting mix of varied gameplay mechanics and an equally beautiful and heartbreaking story. And it has one of the most memorable New Game plus modes due to the different perspective it provides on some of the events in the game.

* ''ActOfWar : Direct Action'' and its expansion pack ''High Treason'' were particularly great RTS games, not just in an extensive campaign, faction diversity, audio and visuals (they still look and sound good by today's standards, and well scaled), but in the fact it was very realistic in terms of gameplay, with units being incapacitated and requiring of repairs or healing before coming back into the fight, also aircraft units come from off the map, terrain and vegetation affects units sight and urban combat interaction feels like you are looking a real S.W.A.T. operation. Unfortunately AoW was released by the same time as ''CommandAndConquer Generals'' and didn't have too much appretiation from reviews, which said there was no particular innovation for the genre (a rather dull argument considering RTS gamers usually don't appretiate changes to classic gameplay) or simply diminished it, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBity08oJes these videos]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCN67EVKFQU show a bit]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7z6Qm2uk_I of the game.]]

* ''GodHand''. Silly, NintendoHard, and full of fourth wall breaking fun and shout outs to other games. Also insanely awesome with a very well thought out combo system that allows for fluid movement, allowing Gene to essentially be the
''FistOfTheNorthStar''. The music is beyond awesome, aswell, even the fight with the Mad Midget Five has incredible music.

* I personally just [[SarcasmMode love]] the Russian gaming press's statement that "no, Russians can't make good first-person shooters" ([[{{STALKER}} Ukrainians]] [[{{Xenus}} don't]] [[{{Metro 2033}} count]]). But they never '''ever''' say they actually were doing good [=FPSses=] that time. Take [[{{Il-2Sturmovik}} Maddox Games]]'s early 90s shooters, and you'll get the catch. Specifically ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQP9cm5Us8k Z.A.R.]]'', made in 1997. In a nutshell, it's an open-air mission-based first-person shooter, with, however, pretty wild dynamics. Wilder than it's supposed to be for a [[ScienceFiction Nostalgic Science Fiction]] OneManArmy [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Other Planet]] [[FirstPersonShooter FPS]]. Two more features I haven't spotted in any other game of this genre so far: no-border levels, in fashion of WraparoundBackground and even ColorCodedForYourConvenience weapons, depending on the location you're currently in!

* ''AsurasWrath''' definitely needs more Love then it gets. Only selling barely over 200,000 copies, and getting mixed, yet mostly positive reviews from critics, it might be short, and the DLC ending fiasco surrounding it, plus having [[{{Capcom}} Cap]][[HateDumb com]]'s name on it. It is, in spite of this, probably one of the most Original and unique games of [[XBoxThreeSixty this]] [[PlaystationThree current]] [[NintendoWii console]] gen, and is a testament that japanese developers really can still be creative and think outside the box. Developed by CyberConnect2 (DotHack, {{Solatorobo}}, and the {{Naruto}} [[NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2 Ultimate]] [[NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStormGenerations Storm]] games, amongst others), it probably is the Crown jewel of the Company, with one of the best story lines ever seen, has rather basic, if well done gameplay, and is basically the closest thing to an Interactive Anime. Any fans of really japanese games and Anime[=/=]Manga in general should get this game if they can, and despite being DLC, Part IV Nirvana is probably one of the best endings to a game ever. It's really worth getting the game if you like the above.

* Metro2033 is a Ukrainian SurvivalHorror FirstPersonShooter set in Moscow AfterTheEnd. It's bleak, fun, frighteneing, intense, challenging, and always goes at a good pace. Unfortunately, it was doomed by a double case of FanDumb and being OvershadowedByAwesome, being released in March 2010, while {{Fallout3}} and FalloutNewVegas were still on everyone's minds. And its own fandom didn't help either; they were expecting a open-world roaming type game more in like with the {{STALKER}} series. The result was that it got mixed critical reception, with big-name reviewers such as IGN giving it a thorough bashing and calling it a {{Fallout}} wannabe, while {{Gameinformer}} loved it. Unfortunately, most pro critics leaned more to IGN's side.

* [[NeoTokyo Neotokyo]]. You'll be surprised in how detailed this ''Half-Life 2'' mod is. It is based on multiplayer with focus on teamwork as there is no damage direction indicator. Every engagement is always fast and fatal. Couple this with commercial-quality maps and in-game models and you get one of the most hailed upcoming mod in it's time. Too bad to developers seems to abandon it and not much of it's player base are left.