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Retro Lesser Known but Incredible SNES Games?

Bladelaw

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So I recently got a Super NT and after replaying Super Mario World and Super Metroid for the billionth time I looked through my library and nothing really screamed to be replayed. I'm looking for some new experiences. Ideally NA region. I have a couple old game shops around but I'm not going to dig into a history of each game in their library to find the hidden gems.

I have everything you can think of on most people's top 20 SNES games so I'm looking for some more obscure good games that didn't get the love for whatever reason.

Do you have a favorite obscure title from the SNES that you wish more folks would have played? Shout it out!

For me it's Cybernator (apparently released as Assault Suits Valken in Japan?)
 
i think its lesser known but maybe still popular but uniracers is my jam and not many i knew, knew of it when i was a kid.

another dope as heck game was megaman soccer.
 
Shadowrun is a pretty cool isometric rpg with point and click cursor combat. It'sbased on the ttrpg of the same name. It's a game that doesn't really make sense on the console but is super fun and challenging to figure out all the puzzles. I haven't had the chance to put more time into the Returns trilogy but theres a few Easter eggs from the original SNES entry in it.
 
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Is this considered as "lesser known"? If it is, this game absolutely ruled. One of the best 2D platformers I've played in my entire life.
 
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spankys quest is pretty fun and has a groovy soundtrack

its also on nso so none of you have any real excuse
 
spankys quest is pretty fun and has a groovy soundtrack

its also on nso so none of you have any real excuse
Ok this is the first game here I've never heard of. Just watched a quick gameplay video and you weren't kidding about the soundtrack. I'll give it a go on NSO.
 
lol I came to recommend Cybernator

Marvelous: Another Treasure Island is a fairly chill game that doesn't get enough love IMO. It was one of Aonuma's first games as director. It was only released in Japan, but there's at least 1 English patch floating around (that's how I played it).
 
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Battle Cars was an awesome game. Think F-Zero but actually being encouraged to make contact with other cars!
 
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Not necessarily 'lesser known' or even 'incredible,' but Inspector Gadget on SNES is pretty pleasant and has a banger of a soundtrack despite not even including the show's theme song. A fun romp!
 
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Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima, or Marvelous: Another Treasure Island.
A great top-down adventure/puzzle game developed by Nintendo, directed by Eiji Aonuma. For fans of Link to the Past, Goof Troop, the Goonies (plot) point-and-click puzzles of yore. Got a great fan-translation recently which I'm currently playing. Very well done, and a great game overall. I think I may have to throw in the towel at the final dungeon though, sadly.

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For me it's this one:

Gunple: Gunman's Proof

220px-Gunple_Gunman%E2%80%99s_Proof_cover.jpg


Basically very Zelda ALTTP like, but more wackier. Sadly never came out in the west, but there are translated roms out there.

gunple-gunmans-proof-snes-208.png
 
Sutte Hakkun is a Japan-only puzzle game; the first game developed by Indieszero, who have continued to work with Nintendo ever since on titles such as Electroplankton, NES Remix and Sushi Striker.

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You play as Hakkun, a glass-looking bird creature that can run, jump, and absorb blocks and colors into itself. That's the main gist of the game; moving around blocks and combining them with different colors to give them different properties in order to reach the goal. It's a simple to understand game, yet it keeps you engaged because of how creative the solutions for each stage can get.




Sutte Hakkun has a surprisingly complicated history behind it too. It was initially developed for the Famicom, very late into the system's lifespan; actually being completed in 1994 months after first-party party support for the system had officially ended. This version of the game was never released and has unfortunately yet to leak online. Years later it was remade for the Super Famicom and released in 1997 on the Satellaview service, where it ended up being one of the more popular broadcast games; so popular that it was rebroadcast multiple times, recieved updated versions that added new puzzles, was made available on the Nintendo Power cartridge service and eventually recieved a full cartridge release in 1999.

The story doesn't end there either! As the Gigaleaks revealed, a Game Boy Color version was developed in 1998 for a 1999 release (likely around the same time as the SFC cartridge release), yet never saw the light of day. Thankfully unlike the FC version, this one is in fact available online to play yourself. Very nice pixel art here.




I reccomend giving the game a try through whatever means you can; text is minimal and most of it is actually in English anyway, so no fan translation patch is necessary. The game hasn't been rereleased on NSO yet, but as it was on Virtual Console in the past I assume it's only a matter of time; I can only hope that like with Panel de Pon, Nintendo decide to release this one to an international audience for the first time. The game is great and deserves more attention!
 
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Just came back from the local old game shops. Found a copy of Battle Cars. The F-Zero comparison is spot on. A couple others popped up, I didn't realize Hagane was so stupidly expensive. The game is good but not 100's of dollars good lol
 
illusion of gaia/time introduced me into RPGs, not that popular like Square soft games.
My grandma got me this game as a kid because it was cheaper than most other SNES games and it looked cool to me. I fell absolutely in love with it and it's still one of my favorite SNES games.
 
Sutte Hakkun is a Japan-only puzzle game; the first game developed by Indieszero, who have continued to work with Nintendo ever since on titles such as Electroplankton, NES Remix and Sushi Striker.

321d98c4-5c13-4fe8-8942-6cf1af69dbf0.jpg


You play as Hakkun, a glass-looking bird creature that can run, jump, and absorb blocks and colors into itself. That's the main gist of the game; moving around blocks and combining them with different colors to give them different properties in order to reach the goal. It's a simple to understand game, yet it keeps you engaged because of how creative the solutions for each stage can get.




Sutte Hakkun has a surprisingly complicated history behind it too. It was initially developed for the Famicom, very late into the system's lifespan; actually being completed in 1994 months after first-party party support for the system had officially ended. This version of the game was never released and has unfortunately yet to leak online. Years later it was remade for the Super Famicom and released in 1997 on the Satellaview service, where it ended up being one of the more popular broadcast games; so popular that it was rebroadcast multiple times, recieved updated versions that added new puzzles, was made available on the Nintendo Power cartridge service and eventually recieved a full cartridge release in 1999.

The story doesn't end there either! As the Gigaleaks revealed, a Game Boy Color version was developed in 1998 for a 1999 release (likely around the same time as the SFC cartridge release), yet never saw the light of day. Thankfully unlike the FC version, this one is in fact available online to play yourself. Very nice pixel art here.




I reccomend giving the game a try through whatever means you can; text is minimal and most of it is actually in English anyway, so no fan translation patch is necessary. The game hasn't been rereleased on NSO yet, but as it was on Virtual Console in the past I assume it's only a matter of time; I can only hope that like with Panel de Pon, Nintendo decide to release this one to an international audience for the first time. The game is great and deserves more attention!

This is one that I bothered to mod into my SNES Mini. Very addicting.

For me it's this one:

Gunple: Gunman's Proof

220px-Gunple_Gunman%E2%80%99s_Proof_cover.jpg


Basically very Zelda ALTTP like, but more wackier. Sadly never came out in the west, but there are translated roms out there.

gunple-gunmans-proof-snes-208.png
Along with this! There is a fan translation. Maybe it's that I'm so used to LttP, but this game is hard. Who'd have thought, adding a gun to LttP would raise the difficulty so much. It mostly comes down to accuracy/controls.
 
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There's that weird fan-made remake of Super Mario Land someone made.


Not quite "incredible", but definitely worth checking out if you ever mod the Super NT to run ROMs.



You can also run a few NES games through actual emulation. In the form of "Project Nested". It supports a few basic titles, and even the Original Legend of Zelda!
 
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These aren't incredible games but Drakkhen is worth playing, flaws and all. Ambitious 1991 RPG that has good music. Would love to see Piko put it on NSO.

Claymates is a good platformer that people are sleeping on and it's on NSO.
 
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Super Adventure Island, soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

Based on word of mouth, Terranigma. I own it, but have yet to play it. Last SNES game I bought.
 
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For me it's Cybernator (apparently released as Assault Suits Valken in Japan?)
That's right, and Masaya made a series of those games with the others being on Mega Drive, PS1 and Sega Saturn. If you want something else on SNES/Super Famicom to scratch the Cybernator itch though I'd recommend Front Mission: Gun Hazard - published by Squaresoft but shares many of the same developers as Cybernator. It's a spin off of the Front Mission strategy series of course. Not NA I'm afraid but there is a fan translation available.

 
That's right, and Masaya made a series of those games with the others being on Mega Drive, PS1 and Sega Saturn. If you want something else on SNES/Super Famicom to scratch the Cybernator itch though I'd recommend Front Mission: Gun Hazard - published by Squaresoft but shares many of the same developers as Cybernator. It's a spin off of the Front Mission strategy series of course. Not NA I'm afraid but there is a fan translation available.


I've never heard of this one. I've only played "proper" Front Mission games. It looks awesome.
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Saturday Night Slam Masters on the SNES! Basically a pro wrestling fighting game!

Oh wow I forgot about this one, PERFECT!
 
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Super Pang
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Pipe Dream
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Firemen
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Also Capcom/Konami licensed stuff like the Disney Magical Quest Trilogy, Animaniacs, Bonkers, Goof Troop all were really good but not widely known.
 


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