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View Full Version : Hidden Gems - what's your favorite?



The Loafer
08-27-2008, 10:25 AM
Hey guys/gals,

There have been so many themes released in the past 7 days, I’m often wondering: which one is next? Obviously, those mame classics need no introduction, I’m sure everyone is aware of Pacman, Defender, Street Fighter II, Metal Slug, Tempest, Robotron, etc.; but what about those games that weird mediocre hits of completely fell under the radar, video games that maybe with the right PR should have been better received? Maybe released at an alternate time when Arcades were flourishing? Or maybe the game was released on a home system where it never got the exposure it deserved? Also, although everyone’s heard of Super Mario Bros, many hit titles on older consoles are obscure nowadays, so it’s ok to mention those.

The only caveat IMHO would be to stay within the confines of an “arcade game”, meaning you shouldn’t need a manual or a full keyboard to play the sucker. It might be your life’s dream to play Elite through HyperSpin and an arcade cab, but I don’t know if most would feel the same.  I would also suggest the game must be playable in an emulator, which nowadays is pretty rare one isn’t, but on that, mention which emulator you use and if it’s 100% playable, so people can try them out for themselves.

Shuuz: I recently mentioned “Shuuz” in another thread, it’s a great game that just oozes fun, a good party game too. A different take on the Mame bowling games that are already out. Playable via Mame.

Astrosmash: yeah, a big hit on the Intellivision, but everyone I speak to of it, they have this “deer in the headlights” look to them. Astrosmash plays like a true early 80’s type shooter. You move left to right and stuff (meteors/ships) falls towards you and you shoot it. Simple, effective and addictive. I believe the emulator Bliss plays this, though it has been a while…

Battlesquadron: A classic Amiga shooter in the late 80’s style, Battlesquadron had everything that’s needed from a shoot-em up: great graphics, good design, fun. WinUAE plays this perfectly.

Next?

billpa
08-27-2008, 10:39 AM
Here is a small list of some games that i consider hidden gems...some of these might not be to other people though.

All the kooky Bally Sente games ie. Chicken Shift, Snax and Jackson, Stompin.

If anybody likes Metal Slug (i love the series) you should check out Biomechanical Toy. Its a great game with some trippy colorful graphics/sprites.

I just recently started playing a game called Stone Ball. Its basically a cave man sports game where you whack a stone around with a club and beat the crap out of your opponent. The graphics are really unique. A company called Art and Magic developed it. Was just checking out Klov and saw that they make another game with a similar feel (art wise) called Cheese Chase that I will check out.

Last week I played a game called Slap Shot. Very simple, very fun. Its basically 1 on 1 hockey but on roids and the gameplay is similar to air hockey with the puck bouncing around all crazy.

There is this one game...I have to take a look at my paper (where i write down games I have played an liked). Its a trackball game. And what you do is direct all of these little people to the next stage. Every stage as several different commands like dig, climb, etc. etc. Its really really fun. Anybody know what this game is called off hand?

Dazz
08-27-2008, 10:51 AM
There is this one game...I have to take a look at my paper (where i write down games I have played an liked). Its a trackball game. And what you do is direct all of these little people to the next stage. Every stage as several different commands like dig, climb, etc. etc. Its really really fun. Anybody know what this game is called off hand?Sounds sortta like Lemmings, but I don't know what the arcade version of it was.

The Loafer
08-27-2008, 11:03 AM
Lemmings was never released in the arcades but a prototype unreleased version is supported in Mame (I think!). The best version imho is the Amiga version, a classic for sure.

billpa
08-27-2008, 11:22 AM
That is it! I will have to check out the amiga version. Thanks!

Captain Flint
08-28-2008, 08:10 AM
One of my wifes faves is Dr. Toppel's Adventure

A couple of Gems I have discovered and never heard of were Ninja Baseball Batman, and powerballs...

And a real deep hidden soft side for a small game called tattoo Assassins... it's just too funny.

But all in all those are just games we play everyonce in a while. The classics and the party games like golden tee and shuffle shot are golden.