But of a desperate cry for help, but there was a 2D game on the NDS, in which you controlled a mech to fly through side-view levels and shoot enemies and turrets. It also had a story mode with an anime girl in orange and anime boy in blue as mech pilots. There was also a level editor, and you could transfer the levels to other DS’s with the same game using sound, which sounded a lot like internet over a phone line.

I played this so much back in the day but I can’t find the game (my mother discarded all my games from the attic some time after moving out, inc. fully functional SNES. Unrelated, I just needed to reshare the trauma) not the name of it.

Does anyone have any idea which game this could be?

Quest 64 / Holy Magic Century / Eltale Monsters is a bad game that nobody played, except for me, and I absolutely love it. It was my third favorite game on the N64 behind Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64. I still play this game via emulation every now and then, maybe once a year or so.

This guy also played it and wrote an LPArchive story that contains all the lore this game should have had included in it. If you already know and like the game, this is an incredible read, highly recommend. If you don’t like the game this might arguably be a better way to experience it than playing it.

There are also a few YouTube videos on it for those inclined, I’ll leave finding those as an exercise for the reader.

Treasure are such a famous developer within the retro subculture that it’s hard to call any of their stuff “obscure” at this point, but I want to give my nod to Light Crusader for the Mega Drive (Genesis).

Light Crusader Full Soundtrack on Youtube.

It’s got a bit of that isometric controls jank, but it’s just got the perfect vibes for a Genesis game. The right level of difficulty (hard but beatable), awesome art, quirky as hell, and one of my favorite soundtracks of the entire 16-bit era. Do yourself a favor and check it out–at the very least, give the soundtrack a listen, as it’s some of the best that the Genesis has to offer, in my opinion.

Solomon’s Key (NES)

Finally beat it last year after trying for 35 years. Such a good game. It’s one of my favorite games of all time. Action platform puzzle game. It has two endings, and there is zero chance you’ll get the good ending without a guide. Not to beat each puzzle room, but to find all the hidden items. You see, if you miss one, all the ones after that don’t appear! So hunting for them naturally is nearly impossible. It also has a secret continue mechanic, too, without which the game is also pretty much impossible.

I don’t know how obscure this is. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong. illusion of gaia/illusion of time was one of my favourites growing up. It had a cool story, kind of a dystopia fantasy. I don’t think I ever actually finished it. Come to think of it, that might be a good idea to put on my list for this year.

I really like the old PSP Patapon games. They’re catchy. After playing, I find myself humming the beat. The original creators are making a spiritual successor called Ratatan. Still not out yet, but I’m looking forward to playing it.

Disney Princess is a very underrated gba game and that’s the hill I will die on.

Is The Last Blade obscure or just old?

One of my favorites was definitely Kororinpa (Wii) Yes, the Wii is now considered retro. It is now older than the NES was when the Wii first was released.

Blaster Master on NES. I was so addicted. And then I got the NES Advantage controller and it was just pure Blaster Master bliss.

Depends on how you’re defining “obscure” and “retro”.

If by “retro” you mean SNES, Genesis, NES etc… the game I was super into for a time was Xevious. A pretty simple top-down space shooter/bomber that for some reason I remember getting absolutely obsessed with completing. It wasn’t even a particularly good game. It was repetitive, and when you DID reach the end it just started all over again. But for some reason I played the absolute shit out of it.

If you move “retro” up to the PS1 era, my favourite seemingly forgotten games of all time are the Colony Wars series (Colony Wars, Colony Wars: Vengeance, Colony Wars: Red Sun) Great story lines and a super fun conceit where in the second game, you’re playing as the now-defeated enemy of the first game, rebuilding after their loss.

my niece thinks Morrowind is retro

I like this really old game called Skyrim, I like to cast the spells