Indie cool freeware games you've happened upon

[DunkeyKong]

Nitronic Rush (the spiritual predecessor to Distance)

Sonic Robo Blast 2, a great Sonic fangame

Super Smash Land

That Super Smash game was so memorable, I love those demake kind of games

 

[starseeker300]

AM2R is one of the best metroidvania's Ive played overall, i know its a little outside the prompt being a fangame, but its still free to download. Seriously try it if you like the genre.

 

[DunkeyKong]

View attachment 17574

AM2R is one of the best metroidvania's Ive played overall, i know its a little outside the prompt being a fangame, but its still free to download. Seriously try it if you like the genre.

I remember this one, Nintendo are fast with them DMCA

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

That Super Smash game was so memorable, I love those demake kind of games

I wish they made a GBC pseudo-sequel with more characters and a better pad management but I liked it.

Anyway, Rival of Aether is here as the actual spiritual successor (it even had that Tower of Heaven level, another great freeware).

View attachment 17574
AM2R is one of the best Metroidvania's I've played overall, i know its a little outside the prompt being a fangame, but its still free to download. Seriously try it if you like the genre.

I was a great fanmade remake (I do like Samus Returns on the 3DS for a different reason). I do wish someone made a mod that replicated Super Metroid since it's considered to be the best of the franchise by most.

I remember this one, Nintendo are fast with them DMCA.

I think they were a bit slow on that one, it was up for downloading for quite a while before it got delisted. It was way enough for people to download and host it for good.

I think that it was because Samus Returns was in dev but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway I bought Metroid II on the 3DS virtual console after finishing this fangame as the author encouraged to get the actual game to tell Nintendo we were interested in a remake.

PS: Sometimes I feel that too many indie Metroidvania miss the point of Metroid because some are potentially great but kinda didn't have the same feel but it's another debate and that's just me.

 

[cjl8336]

it scratches that Castlevania itch just right, but it'll steamroll you if you don't find all the good items and equipment

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Cave Story definitely, it appears on almost every console (especially with homebrew)View attachment 16891

CSE2 is a nice "fan remaster" even if it's not CS+

 

[DunkeyKong]

I wish they made a GBC pseudo-sequel with more characters and a better pad management but I liked it.

I was a great fanmade remake (I do like Samus Returns on the 3DS for a different reason). I do wish someone made a mod that replicated Super Metroid since it's considered to be the best of the franchise by most.


I think they were a bit slow on that one, it was up for downloading for quite a while before it got delisted. It was way enough for people to download and host it for good.

I think that it was because Samus Returns was in dev but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway I bought Metroid II on the 3DS virtual console after finishing this fangame as the author encouraged to get the actual game to tell Nintendo we were interested in a remake.

PS: Sometimes I feel that too many indie Metroidvania miss the point of Metroid because some are potentially great but kinda didn't have the same feel but it's another debate and that's just me.

Imagine if it was on the GBA, that would be even crazier

For Metroid though, I think they are just two steps ahead anyway, delisted or not. For Metroidvania, I think it's because of the atmosphere that Metroid games brings. It was just much different than most of the games nowadays, the sci-fi stuff definitely helps bringing the uncanny feeling

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Imagine if it was on the GBA, that would be even crazier.

I firmly believe that the DS could've had a decent Smash Bros game on the level of 64 but I guess Sakurai wasn't sure until the 3DS and even then it's because of that version that some stuff such as a big adventure mode like the SSE from Brawl or twin characters like Ice Climbers couldn't get included (despite Rosalina and Luma being a similar one).

For Metroid though, I think they are just two steps ahead anyway, delisted or not. For Metroidvania, I think it's because of the atmosphere that Metroid games brings. It was just much different than most of the games nowadays, the sci-fi stuff definitely helps bringing the uncanny feeling.

And even Metroidvanias that are more sci-fi than fantasy (like many of them since there's Vania in the name) does not fully have the same feel. I'd still love to try Axiom Verge.

PS: Why we cannot have some that are neither sci-fi nor fantasy? I can barely recall any modern era ones.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I firmly believe that the DS could've had a decent Smash Bros game on the level of 64 but I guess Sakurai wasn't sure until the 3DS and even then it's because of that version that some stuff such as a big adventure mode like the SSE from Brawl or twin characters like Ice Climbers couldn't get included (despite Rosalina and Luma being a similar one).


And even Metroidvanias that are more sci-fi than fantasy (like many of them since there's Vania in the name) does not fully have the same feel. I'd still love to try Axiom Verge.

PS: Why we cannot have some that are neither sci-fi nor fantasy? I can barely recall any modern era ones.

Yeah, but I think Sakurai made the right call since the 3DS is much more powerful to handle more characters in-game, the roster alone is insane

Also, I don't know man. Maybe it's what they are familiar with since many Metroidvania are either those two or something else. Also, why not? I think those things are what made it interesting in the first place, or I guess it's what made Metroidvania

 

[ShibbyDealer]

The computer lab in a private school I went to had a bunch of random games built into all of them, and the one I played the most was Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid, this humorous little side-scrolling shooter with lots of particle effects and pixelated gore. It was pretty cool, but it was definitely not meant to be there, as it was a Catholic school.

They had a bunch of other stuff like a Tron game that we'd play together on, and some weird map-based runner called firerunner or mazerunner or some shit.

 

[BlissfulBandit]

Iji, a fantastic game that never quite hit it big like the others.
Notable for its insane amount of secrets, gameplay choices and replayability.

 

[Moreno909]

This game right there, GunRoad

Gunroad (ガンロード) : HamCorossam : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

unroad is a gallery shooter with plenty of gore and anime girls.It includes 2 versions, a windowed one and a fullscreen one. I personally can run the windowed...

archive.org

 

[Doomstruck]

here's three I've been really into lately, all by the same dev named Regnslöja, all 3 free on itch.io. The first one here, Xess is basically chess but with a fighting game styled roster of characters with t heir own pieces, rules, and abilities, with at least one even having a unique win condition. It also features online play with support for play by mail so you can just message each other your moves if you don't wanna play in a single sitting. Psycard is like a little minesweeper VS game against AI with a story mode where you read through visual novel segments about getting into psycard so you have an excuse to leave the house in a cyberpunk dystopian world, and it even includes a first person dungeon crawler side mode. Meanwhile Psyzard is psycard's mechanics put into the context of a top-down roguelike game with character classes, crafting, pet raising, just so much to consider. I love these games so much

 

[homesforgnomes]

The Desolate Hope still holds up. Amazing atmosphere.

 

[RetroLaw]

I haven't played it but a friend of mine wouldn't shut up about Distorted Travesty.

Do Openbor games count ? If so SoR Remake and Final Fight LNF, and a couple ones I don't remember the names.

Also Cave Story, Maldita Castilla, and a TMNT game which had a black and white game boy aesthetic which name I forgot, but if anyone is interested I could go check it.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

One of my favorite games has always been Xixit... though it's shareware and the company went under decades ago...

 

[DunkeyKong]

This game right there, GunRoad

Gunroad (ガンロード) : HamCorossam : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

unroad is a gallery shooter with plenty of gore and anime girls.It includes 2 versions, a windowed one and a fullscreen one. I personally can run the windowed...

archive.org

"Anime girls" that alone already made me interested

 

[Moreno909]

"Anime girls" that alone already made me interested

Plenty of it

 

[DunkeyKong]

Plenty of it

 

[Don Patch]

Cave Story definitely, it appears on almost every console (especially with homebrew)View attachment 16891

Came here to rave about Cave Story too!

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Came here to rave about Cave Story too!

I know it's a controversial subject but did Nicalis steal Cave Story from Pixel or is it an exaggeration?


Anyway, here's the enhanced decompilation by fans

CSE2 - The Cave Story decompilation project

Discord server: https://discord.gg/2KamtGD CSE2 is a decompilation of Cave Story started by Cucky, with an emphasis on accuracy to the original code. Through a combination of machine-conversion and by-hand translation, we've broken the original 2004 EXE back down to a recreation of its original...

forum.cavestory.org

And the source code got leaked apparently for the 20th anniversary (perhaps either from Pixel himself or a close friend).



Tower of Heaven as a game https://gamejolt.com/games/tower-of-heaven/1859

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Xonotic: a free arena FPS akin to Quake III and Unreal '99

Cube 2 Sauerbraten : Another AFPS with real time level editing

 

[oyster_engine]

The Dark Mod
It's basically Thief, but it's built using the Doom 3 engine.

 

[Doomstruck]

Xonotic: a free arena FPS akin to Quake III and Unreal '99
View attachment 29652

Cube 2 Sauerbraten : Another AFPS with real time level editing
View attachment 29653

LOVE THESE GAMES, been on xonotic a lot recently too.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

LOVE THESE GAMES, been on xonotic a lot recently too.

I've been in an Arena FPS mood lately.

I even noticed that there was an update so I installed it.

You got other in mind? Apparently Rexuiz is dead...