Obscure Nintendo games

[Aisf]

A generally obscure pet sim

 

[Graw]

I would say Startropics was well-known to real NES-era kids but it's at least semi-obscure now.

Not particularly. Unless you regularly bought Nintendo power or gaming magazines, the only games that were well known to you were the ones you owned or what was available to rent at your local video store. I'd never even heard of Star Tropics until the 2000's when I started getting into emulation. There was no internet back then where people could learn about these things.

 

[Doc X]

Startropics is definitely not what I'd call obscure. It's quite well known as a classic. Obscure is something like these imo
View attachment 61524

Psycho Fox doesn't really seem like an obscure game. It's one of the most well-known Master System games of all time, after all.

 

[Hourai]

You're gonna have to describe obscure. StarCraft 64 could be called obscure, as could Command and Conquer 64. Both were published by Uncle Nintendo, to boot. But StarCraft and C&C themselves are not obscure, so it's just the ports.

Also, feeling very XKCD Geologists with a lot of these replies, haha. "Doushin isn't obscure!" I think as I forget that most people into retro games wouldn't know it.

 

[bjork]

Not particularly. Unless you regularly bought Nintendo power or gaming magazines, the only games that were well known to you were the ones you owned or what was available to rent at your local video store. I'd never even heard of Star Tropics until the 2000's when I started getting into emulation. There was no internet back then where people could learn about these things.

Startropics had a modest marketing push including a TV commercial, it's fully possible that you just missed it.

Anyway, as far as the topic itself, obscure is going to be different to each person depending on what they've heard of or haven't heard of. I guess I'll pick To The Earth since I didn't see anyone mention it, but there's probably someone here who's like "my grandma had that, it isn't obscure."

 

[legsrjust4show]

Nobody cares or thinks about Nintendo's weird pinball RTS game for the GameCube that used a microphone to issue commands.

 

[Graw]

Startropics had a modest marketing push including a TV commercial, it's fully possible that you just missed it

Again that's a very modern way of looking at it. TV commercials and marketing weren't universal everywhere. TV also wasn't something people watched 24/7 back then and tv commercials didn't air as often as they do now. Advertising was a much smaller part of people's lives back then. As far as kids went, toy commercials were far more prominent than video game ads. I can still picture the ads for creepy crawlies, easy bake ovens, bop it, pogs, those devil stick toys that were popular for a while, or the yak bak. I can't really remember any video game commercials from before the n64/ps1 era. They existed, they just weren't notable enough for me to remember

 

[partymembervii]

View attachment 61593
Wish this was released in the U.S.

probably the least known monolith game

 

[UnDubious]

Again that's a very modern way of looking at it. TV commercials and marketing weren't universal everywhere. TV also wasn't something people watched 24/7 back then and tv commercials didn't air as often as they do now. Advertising was a much smaller part of people's lives back then. As far as kids went, toy commercials were far more prominent than video game ads. I can still picture the ads for creepy crawlies, easy bake ovens, bop it, pogs, those devil stick toys that were popular for a while, or the yak bak. I can't really remember any video game commercials from before the n64/ps1 era. They existed, they just weren't notable enough for me to remember

TV is half dead and tv commercials are barely relevant anymore, it's not a modern way of thinking about it at all. By the '90s people watched a lot more regular TV than now, and it was probably not so different in the '80s. All the kids I knew saw countless commercials. I hardly see them now since I use adblockers online and I don't watch TV. Though I agree I didn't use to see a ton of video game commercials per se. I read magazines though, they weren't that niche.

 

[Hourai]

Nobody cares or thinks about Nintendo's weird pinball RTS game for the GameCube that used a microphone to issue commands.

View attachment 62375

Nintendo published that? Damn, I was thinking of it when I thought of games, but I was 100% certain atlus published it.

Also, given that it's the go-to game to talk about, I think it's starting to leave the realm of obscure. It's certainly not mainstream, but it's somewhere along the road.

 

[Graw]

TV is half dead and tv commercials are barely relevant anymore, it's not a modern way of thinking about it at all. By the '90s people watched a lot more regular TV than now, and it was probably not so different in the '80s. All the kids I knew saw countless commercials. I hardly see them now since I use adblockers online and I don't watch TV. Though I agree I didn't use to see a ton of video game commercials per se. I read magazines though, they weren't that niche.

The things is, those ads weren't universal. We didn't get a lot of the ads that America got where I'm from. There are lots of ads that are fondly remembered from that time that I've never seen before because I'm not American. What I mean by a modern way of thinking is the assumption that everyone, everywhere would have seen the same ads. This is more common now even with adblockers because advertising has become a lot more universal.

 

[bjork]

Again that's a very modern way of looking at it. TV commercials and marketing weren't universal everywhere. TV also wasn't something people watched 24/7 back then and tv commercials didn't air as often as they do now. Advertising was a much smaller part of people's lives back then. As far as kids went, toy commercials were far more prominent than video game ads. I can still picture the ads for creepy crawlies, easy bake ovens, bop it, pogs, those devil stick toys that were popular for a while, or the yak bak. I can't really remember any video game commercials from before the n64/ps1 era. They existed, they just weren't notable enough for me to remember

First bold is absolutely false, second is more likely.

 

[Graw]

First bold is absolutely false, second is more likely.

No. It's definitely true. How often do people just have a tv or screen on in the background playing something these days even when they're doing other things? That was not a thing back then. You couldn't watch tv 24/7 because you didn't necessarily want to watch the shows that were on at a particular time. Binge watching shows also wasn't a thing because you got one episode per week. Movies were a thing you'd gather the family for and pop in a tape. The amount of screen watching has increased exponentially over the last 30 years.

 

[Hourai]

You're talking about advertisements as if what was in Nintendo Power and on the TV nearly 40 years ago means anything in present day, present time. Obscurity is how much they're talked about now, not how much they used to matter. LSD Dream emulator and Earthbound were unknown back when they came out, but I doubt many people into gaming would be unaware of both nowadays. The former in passing, if nothing else. P.N.03 would've been forgotten a few years ago, but no longer is.

 

[UnDubious]

You're talking about advertisements as if what was in Nintendo Power and on the TV nearly 40 years ago means anything in present day, present time. Obscurity is how much they're talked about now, not how much they used to matter. LSD Dream emulator and Earthbound were unknown back when they came out, but I doubt many people into gaming would be unaware of both nowadays. The former in passing, if nothing else. P.N.03 would've been forgotten a few years ago, but no longer is.

Earthbound was not unknown, if you liked RPGs you knew about it. Sure it was a relatively niche genre for a couple more years, but kids were starting to talk about games like FF6 and Chrono Trigger. LSD was legitimately unknown because it was a Japan-only release.

 

[bjork]

No. It's definitely true. How often do people just have a tv or screen on in the background playing something these days even when they're doing other things? That was not a thing back then. You couldn't watch tv 24/7 because you didn't necessarily want to watch the shows that were on at a particular time. Binge watching shows also wasn't a thing because you got one episode per week. Movies were a thing you'd gather the family for and pop in a tape. The amount of screen watching has increased exponentially over the last 30 years.

This is the only correct thing you've said here. So I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the rest, because you absolutely could watch TV 24/7 and people 100% left TV on as background noise, and that's going back to at least the 1980s with the rise of cable and the end of stations signing off in the middle of the night, replacing dead air with infomercials and reruns. Rewrite the history of television viewing habits to fit your argument if you want, but you're simply not telling the truth here.

Post automatically merged: Apr 26, 2025

You're talking about advertisements as if what was in Nintendo Power and on the TV nearly 40 years ago means anything in present day, present time. Obscurity is how much they're talked about now, not how much they used to matter. LSD Dream emulator and Earthbound were unknown back when they came out, but I doubt many people into gaming would be unaware of both nowadays. The former in passing, if nothing else. P.N.03 would've been forgotten a few years ago, but no longer is.

This boils down to what a person was exposed to, which is why I said obscure will be different to each person. Even in the case of LSD, I doubt many people into gaming are aware of it because the majority of people who play games aren't checking in on enthusiast forums like this. It's a moving target, and that's fine.

 

[Graw]

This is the only correct thing you've said here. So I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the rest, because you absolutely could watch TV 24/7

Yes you could and i'm sure there was people that did. It wasn't the common thing to do though.

and people 100% left TV on as background noise, and that's going back to at least the 1980s with the rise of cable and the end of stations signing off in the middle of the night, replacing dead air with infomercials and reruns.

CRT TVs were noisy. Any time they were on there was an unpleasant background hum even when there was no sound coming out of the tv. You could tell when a tv was on just by walking into a room. Turn the tv off when you're done watching it was a frequent thing parents would tell children in those days.

You're confusing things a small minority of people did. Sure there were people who stayed up late to watch tv station sign offs, but most people did not. Likewise, i'm sure some people left their TVs on all day long but this was definitely not common with anyone I knew during that time. It was uncommon enough that tv shows like the Simpsons made fun of people who watched too much tv.

 

[Antilocal123]

Super Mario Bros!

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Psycho Fox doesn't really seem like an obscure game. It's one of the most well-known Master System games of all time, after all.

It is? Never knew it existed until I learned of DeCap, which led to me learning about Magical Hat and going down the grapevine to Psycho Fox. Maybe SMS games in general are uncharted territory for me.

 

[bjork]

Yes you could and i'm sure there was people that did. It wasn't the common thing to do though.

CRT TVs were noisy. Any time they were on there was an unpleasant background hum even when there was no sound coming out of the tv. You could tell when a tv was on just by walking into a room. Turn the tv off when you're done watching it was a frequent thing parents would tell children in those days.

You're confusing things a small minority of people did. Sure there were people who stayed up late to watch tv station sign offs, but most people did not. Likewise, i'm sure some people left their TVs on all day long but this was definitely not common with anyone I knew during that time. It was uncommon enough that tv shows like the Simpsons made fun of people who watched too much tv.

Again, agree to disagree. Believe what you like.

 

[Graw]

Again, agree to disagree. Believe what you like.

Sure. I'll just continue believing my experiences living through the time period as I've always done.

 

[bjork]

Sure. I'll just continue believing my experiences living through the time period as I've always done.

Same, though we apparently had vastly different experiences.

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Mischief Makers?

 

[Viviana Santos]

Mischief Makers?

Technically it's not a Nintendo game, as it was published by Enix.