Extremely Weird And Obscure Games

[Mr. Rokobot]

Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life
Bishi Bashi Special 3: Step Champ
Kamen Raider Kuuga
Terracon
Radikal Bikers

 

[NotReallyHere]

Came here to say Rising Zan! Glad someone beat me to it

As for one that hasn't been mentioned:

Treasures of the Deep - a surprisingly well-done submarine / diving sim, especially given the hardware limitations. Just hope you aren't hydrophobic...

 

[RetroGameUser25]

Was gonna mention Treasures of the Deep but beaten to it. Overboard!/Shipwreckers! is another one.

 

[Clippy]

OverBlood and its even more obscure sequel.
Juggernaut
Hellnight
ParanoiaScape
Mad Panic Coaster

As a side note, maybe sort the list in alphabetical order.

 

[BlindDragoon]

In the shuffle of all of PS1's amazing RPGs, I feel like "Beyond the Beyond" has gotten fairly obscure.

 

[Blamhammer]

Just when I thought I was done with the PS1, a forum thread like this one pulls me back in.

I played Future Cop LAPD and Vib-Ribbon. Future Cop gets mentioned quite a bit with the Brigador fanbase, rightfully too since it's a brilliant game.

 

[DjQuick2008]

Some lesser known games I've played recently (not necessarily an endorsement of all of them haha):
Addie no Okurimono - To Moze from Addie (JP only, English translated)
Gungage (JP and EU only)
Aquanaut's Holiday
The Book of Watermarks (JP only)
Ninku (JP only)
Crisis Beat (JP and EU only)
Evil Zone
Go-Jin Senki (JP only, English translated)
Hakai Ou: King of Crusher (JP only, English translated)
Kirikou (EU only)
Manic Game Girl (KR only, Spanish translated) I'm working on an English patch ;)
META-PH-LIST µ.X.2297 (JP only)
Starfighter Sanvein
Twin Goddesses (JP only)
Wander Trek (JP only, English translated)
Zeiramzone (JP only)

I discovered gungage this week not bad

 

[Turbo Kid]

Pepsiman, Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time and Hercules they are not obscure games; on the contrary, they are very well known.

Really? Because I never see them mentioned alongside games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy 7 when I see videos or articles on the best PS1 games.

 

[snoonch]

Just gonna toss a handful out here:

-Nessa no Hoshi
-Tokyo Dungeon
-Sentient
-Yuuyami Doori Tankentai
-Simple 1500 Series Vol. 57: The Meiro

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Why would you mention Japanese-only games? Of course they're obscure, most people wouldn't even be able to understand enough to play them.


Honestly I'll just categorize obscure as things that received less or even next to no popularity because the genre they're in have popular/mainstream games that got discussed more instead.
Street Sk8er 1+2 is a good choice, although it's a great skate game by itself more people prefer Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 more because of the brand name of Tony and his X Games friends and the gameplay is much simpler, only completing objectives within required time. Vigilante 8 duology is also that as people know the Twisted Metal tetralogy much more in this demolition derby genre.
I wouldn't really call the Deception/Trap Games obscure, it had its loyal fans and got discussed quite often as people loved its gameplay concept at the time and it's pretty much one-of-a-kind. Same with Toshinden series and Psychic Force duology, while they're not that well known as a proper fighting games people still play and discuss them for other things than the gameplay.

So in further ado, my own list:
In the Hunt
Treasures of the Deep
Nightmare Creatures
Monkey Magic
Pandemonium!
Master of Monsters
MDK
Urban Chaos
Crisis Beat
Street Sk8er 1+2
Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX
Dragon Seeds
Saiyuki: Journey West
Kartia: The World of Fate
PaRappa the Rapper & UmJammer Lammy
Bust a Groove
Incredible Crisis
Rescue Shot
Elemental Gearbolt
Hellnight/Dark Messiah
Chaos Break
Team Buddies
Mr. Driller
Puzzle Bobble
Panzer Front
Hydro Thunder
Destrega
Silent Bomber
Bomberman Fantasy Race

No doubt while people probably recognize a few games on my list, they wouldn't even know the rest of them.

 

[nobitakun]

I can recognize most of those games because when PS1 was current gen I used to get japanese games more than any other region. I didn't understand anything on screen but I just felt they were appealing to me, so I was used to play games without understanding a thing. Same applies with english, but at least I could get very simple sentences, ahtough in the end it was the same, not understanding the general picture of what was going on.

So defining obscure for me is a hit and miss. I find more obscure a game like Lemmings than a Kagero Deception.

I can put a few examples of games that are wonderful and I consider very few people know about them:

• Guardian Recall
• Growlanser
• Card Captor Sakura Animetic Story
• Twilight Syndrome / Moonlight Syndrome
• Gunnm Martian Memory

If we add being released in US / EU then the list shrinks substantially, because there are too many people from there in here, and one or another will tell that game was rented / bought it when it was available, so it seems it was widely known.

But I could put a list of really weird games that were released in western markets (doesn't mean they are bad):

• Azure Dreams
• Hard Edge
• Countdown Vampires
• Granstream Saga
• Guardian's Crusade

 

[Otosou]

Yuukyuu no Eden (Eternal Eden) - freakishly obscure game, I remember playing this on my modded PSX. PlayStation 1 has maybe the biggest library of obscurities of all consoles. It's actually pretty awesome how weird games used to be on PSX.

 

[Mr. Rokobot]

Yuukyuu no Eden (Eternal Eden) - freakishly obscure game, I remember playing this on my modded PSX. PlayStation 1 has maybe the biggest library of obscurities of all consoles. It's actually pretty awesome how weird games used to be on PSX.

Thank you very much and congratulations on the avatar!
I love Sound Novel Evolution 1 - Otogirisou - Sosei Hen for PS1. And few people know that it's a remake.

 

[irkella irkella]

Really? Because I never see them mentioned alongside games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy 7 when I see videos or articles on the best PS1 games.

I do have to point out that "best" doesn't necessarily mean "most well-known", and vice versa...

Post automatically merged: Sep 17, 2025

No doubt while people probably recognize a few games on my list, they wouldn't even know the rest of them.

I guess everything's relative here, but I'm familiar with pretty much all of these games (Team Buddies I hadn't heard of).

Mr. Driller was one of the 20 games Sony themselves included on the PS Classic!

 

[Mr. Rokobot]

Incredible Crisis
Evil Zone
Grind Session
Invasion From Beyond (B-Movie)
Blast Master: Blasting Again
Project Overkill
Blasto
Shingata Kururin Pa

 

[Cody34]

This is easy...

Post automatically merged: Sep 18, 2025

My fav: RAKUGAKI SHOWTIME

 

[irkella irkella]

This is easy...

Cool games, but I think I have to ask at this point what "obscure" means to OP? A lot of these are pretty well known within the community,

 

[Cody34]

Cool games, but I think I have to ask at this point what "obscure" means to OP? A lot of these are pretty well known within the community,

True as most of theses lists have been done before on reddit and Racketboy. But what does "obscure" mean?,do you go by sales figures? or game developers that only released one or two games?
So this game is obscure:

Pachi-Slot Aruze Kingdom​

 

[irkella irkella]

True as most of theses lists have been done before on reddit and Racketboy. But what does "obscure" mean?,do you go by sales figures? or game developers that only released one or two games?
So this game is obscure:

Pachi-Slot Aruze Kingdom​

View attachment 111781

I guess know the audience? Definitely a good point that these lists have been done before a million times, I suppose the question is what OP actually wants to make of this thread?

So far, it's been a fun romp through some random games, but mostly a lot of "obscure but good" games listed have just been ones that honestly fell by the wayside for better games during the heyday.

Not a dig on any of them, but outside of a couple listed here (I've played 'em!) it mostly makes sense why they weren't top titles. AKA: check them out once you've played the better ones!

 

[Spectro. Spectro.]

Sometimes, I stumble upon an obscure game that leaves a lasting impression, feeling like a rare find. Many fan-translated games have this unique charm. Which game stands out like this for you?

 

[Turbo Kid]

It's a bit less obscure these days with all of the "Hidden Gem" type videos on youtube, but the Red Star for the PS2 is still relatively unknown. I don't even remember what compelled me to play it, but I loved it. I don't play many bullet hell shooters, yet found myself weaving through bullets in this game with relative ease with a bit of practice and the beat 'em up elements were right up my alley.

The Ninja Warriors on the SNES used to be obscure, until the remake happened and now it's like every beat 'em up fan worth their salt knows about it. I'm glad to see it get the recognition now that it didn't have for many years as one of the best in the genre.

Three Dirty Dwarves on the Saturn. For years people talked about Guardian Heroes and this little masterpiece got ignored.

 

[Usselman]

I've recently been playing the cosmic fantasy collection on switch. Those pc engine rpgs are really cute, and were only translated to english for the first time with that collection.

Also I don't think most sega rally fans know there was a japanese ps2 exclusive entry to the franchise in sega rally 2006. Fun game. Better than sega rally 2.

also PEEP my profile pic. that game is a shinji mikami classic.

 

[Poppet]

Do 3ds and PsVIta count as retro now? Both came out more than a decade ago...

I'm always up for bringing Crimson Shroud propaganda to the masses. Short TTRPG inspired game by Yasumi Matsuno (Final Fantasy Tactics). It doesn't have anything deep going on, but is a fun game exclusive to the console.

And then on PsVita (also available on 3ds and Switch now) I played this little thing called Severed. I never find conversation around this game and, seriously, is really good. Fun gameplay even if touch control based and a solid soundtrack. Go play it.

Oh, WayForward made a Hotel Transylvania game for both the DS and 3ds that, without being amazing or mindblowing, is a little, short and fun metroidvania inspired game. Definitely a little hidden gem for the boring days where you just want something mindless to play.

Edit: Some corrections.

 

[Spectro. Spectro.]

It's a bit less obscure these days with all of the "Hidden Gem" type videos on youtube, but the Red Star for the PS2 is still relatively unknown. I don't even remember what compelled me to play it, but I loved it. I don't play many bullet hell shooters, yet found myself weaving through bullets in this game with relative ease with a bit of practice and the beat 'em up elements were right up my alley.

The Ninja Warriors on the SNES used to be obscure, until the remake happened and now it's like every beat 'em up fan worth their salt knows about it. I'm glad to see it get the recognition now that it didn't have for many years as one of the best in the genre.

Three Dirty Dwarves on the Saturn. For years people talked about Guardian Heroes and this little masterpiece got ignored.

I'll have to check out these YouTube videos. Red Star looks like fun.

I've recently been playing the cosmic fantasy collection on switch. Those pc engine rpgs are really cute, and were only translated to english for the first time with that collection.

Also I don't think most sega rally fans know there was a japanese ps2 exclusive entry to the franchise in sega rally 2006. Fun game. Better than sega rally 2.

also PEEP my profile pic. that game is a shinji mikami classic.

Yeah, I've always wanted to try P.N.03. I didn't know Cosmic Fantasy Collection was a thing. That pixel art is really charming.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Drinkbox Studios always makes good games, and Severed is a great example.