MAGNUS-8M wrote:For me, probably M.C. Kids, the McDonald's game on the NES that AVGN taught everyone to hate. It's a GOOD SMB3-clone that has no powerups, just the ability to grab blocks/snow/ash and throw it at enemies. Levels can be easily beaten, but it takes some time and searching to find the 'puzzle blocks' in each stage. On top of that, the game only requires you to find just a few of each World's puzzle cards before allowing you to move on, meaning that you can either blow through the game in an hour, or(as there is no save feature) spend the day finding all the puzzle cards, unlock the hidden world, and do some tougher platforming stages after that. It really has a lot going for it despite being so trodden down.
The joke in there, is that AVGN and his friend/collaborator Mike have admitted at a convention, that that episode was hard to come up with shovel for, and that it was one of his least favorite, simply because it IS actually a pretty decent game. They said that basically, the only reason they did it was because it would be funny to make fun how ridiculous it is for a game to be based off of something like McDonald's. But AVGN doesn't actually hate all the games he bitches about...that's why it's a character he's portraying. Another good example is Castlevania 2, which he says he actually really likes, but there is indeed so much legit shovel you can bitch about that game for.
But yes, I guess maybe there are different kinds of "underrated". I'd say, taking inspiration from you, that two distinct categories could be:
1. Games that general gamer consensus seem to think sucks, when in reality they're pretty good.
Games that could easily fit this category, to me, would include:
Castlevania 2, Zelda 2, M.C. Kids, Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, Yo Noid!, FFCC: The Crystal Bearers as just a few key examples.
2. Games that are severely underrated simply because few people have actually bothered playing them.
Games that could easily fit this category, to me, would include:
Mushroom Men, The Munchables, The Kore Gang, Little King's Story, etc. as just Wii examples of such games. There are too many to really count.
As for me, personally? My MOST underrated game I've ever played? That's a damn tough question. I guess I'd go with the second category for that, perhaps. And even then...I dunno. Mushroom Men is a good candidate, because I don't think many people even gave it a chance, as if they had, they would have seen that it is a fun and unique little action game. Two games that I really enjoyed as a kid on the NES, that many people probably haven't played, are Monster Party and Totally Rad. Both are really "out there", oddball games, but both are also very high quality and fun. Another that is actually available on VC, is a game by Natsume called "Shadow of the Ninja". It's a really good game, obviously inspired by Ninja Gaiden, but as good as those games are, I actually feel SotN is a slightly better game, due to tighter controls, and not SO unforgivable a difficulty. It's an excellent game, and I think more people should try it.
Another stand out would be Tetrisphere on N64. A really great take on the Tetris concept, but with a 3D sphere, it had a really good soundtrack, and was a puzzle game that actually made you think. Good stuff.
But honestly, there's probably dozens of games I've played and liked that most people haven't, so the list could get quite long....
