I use the term "classics" loosely, since everyone's perception and preferences are different. I've found that sometimes the best games are the ones that slip under the radar.

What are some games that you consider "classics", even though they may not be very well known?

Here are a few games that can be purchased for relatively cheap that are solid additions to my gaming library, and come highly recommended:

killer7 - GameCube

I really can't say enough about this game. The story is a beautiful train wreck with a ton of surreal and political undertones, the graphics are stylish and extremely effective, the music is great, and the gameplay is a real treat. If you hate on-rails games you might dislike this, since there's no open 3D movement (just back and forth), but that would be a real disservice to you as a gamer. For me, this game had at least a few "holy shit" moments every hour; from a cool puzzle, a crazy plot twist or a new, awesome enemy. It's not for everyone, and the story makes hardly any sense even after playing it through twice, but I'll be damned if you don't just feel cool when playing killer7. It's one of my favorite games on the GCN, and is high-up on my all-time list as well. I recommend the GCN version because of its slightly sharper visuals and shorter load times than the PS2 version.

Alien Hominid - Playstation 2, GameCube

This is pretty much Contra in reverse. The main character is a cute alien that has had its ship stolen by the FBI, and you have to go through about twenty levels of run'n'gun action to get your ship back and go home. The graphics and music are very cool, and the gameplay is just shoot, shoot, shoot. There are some clever puzzles and some AWESOME boss battles along the way. Personally, I prefer this game to the Contra series because it's just more fun. It's also pretty difficult with some cheap deaths here and there (yay, arcade style!). If you don't crack a smile when the credits roll you have no heart.

Viewtiful Joe - GameCube

Old school brawler meets current-gen cell shading with a quirky cast and crazy superhero powerups? Count me in. This game gets very difficult at times (Episode 6 has made boys of men), but it's so worth it. It took me almost an hour and a half to beat the last boss because I kept dying, but learning the patterns of the enemies and bosses was never frustrating, and wasn't unfair. There was a steep learning curve for me at first (it took me a couple of hours to beat Episode 2), but once I made it through it was all gravy. Viewtiful Joe was released to some great praise, but a lot of people never really caught on. You can find the GCN version for cheap now (I got my copy off eBay for .99 cents), and I'd recommend that over the PS2 version for similar reasons as killer7.

So those are three games that I've beaten in the past couple of weeks that really made me appreciate gaming again. And also, ironically, they're all either cartoon-y or cell shaded. Weird? Maybe. I'd love to hear more about everyone else's list of personal "classics".

The problem doesn't just lie with the term "classics", it lies with "lesser known" as well.
I personally would not rank Viewtiful Joe in a list of "lesser known" games, since it's pretty famous in Video Game circles.

I share your praise for Killer 7, but am also not completely sure if I would rank it as "lesser known". We ARE talking about Capcom here.

What about Plok?
I loved Plok on the ole SNES, and definitely consider it a classic, but I don't know how many people share this opinion.

Maybe I should have said "less played" or something. So people know about killer7 or Viewtiful Joe, but how many people have actually played those games? Everyone has tried a Street Fighter game or a GTA game or a Final Fantasty game, but I doubt that a good number of them have played Plok.

I played Plok when I had an SNES. It was definitely a surreal platformer. I used to throw all his limbs so that he'd just be a stump. Good times.

I, too, knew that when I played through the game I knew it was destined to become a classic. However, I'd agree with Zane about Killer7 being lesser known. The game isn't mainstream and was largely shrugged off because of its experimental design and off-kilter gameplay. Even if it was marketed as a big hit and published by one of the kingpin third parties, it didn't sell very well and is, to my knowledge, widely unknown and unplayed by wide audiences. Could be wrong, but sales speak volumes.

As far as a personal classic goes with me I'd probably have to go with Squaresoft's SaGa Frontier.

Yeah, it was produced by the kingpin of RPGs in the PS1 era but it only managed to gather a small, yet close nit group of fans while being labeled junk by the vast majoity of the gaming community. It may be well known for being "Square's worst" but you don't come across those who will defend and love it nearly as often as those who bash it (less you go on a SaGa message board). I think I've racked up more hours on this game than any other *console* RPG as well (Diablo II being my all-time time waster). There is just something that feels so *right* when I play the game... I can't really explain it. Kenji Ito's score for it isn't half bad either... he has commited worse musical sins in his career.

As for more mainstream games I feel didn't get their fair share of spotlight but are classics to me I'd have to go with:

Mega Man Legends (series): everyone's probaby sick of me talking about MML on the boards, but it could have been much more than it ended up being...
Brave Fencer Musashi: it seems more people bought BFM for the FF8 demo disc than anything else, thus ignoring the solid game that came with it. Personally I didn't like FF8
Wild Arms 2: Wild Arms 2 didn't have the luxury of being released during a Square-free era like the original, thus it pretty much got buried from the get-go

Edit

I agree with Zane on Alien Hominid, I've seen it in action and I though it was a pretty clever take on the Contra formula. I the like animation when when your character bites the big one and falls down or is sliced in two, lol.

I'd take BFM over FFVIII myself.  I mean, it has giant ants. ^_^

I guess overlooked or underrated is the thing.  Legend of Mana is a good pick.  I love that game and yet it got crucified by every publication.

Anything Ogre Battle friggin rules.  Pound for pound it's my favorite RPG/game series.  All three main installments are worthy of being placed alongside the best of the best and I'd still like to try the GBA game at some point. (I'll probably never get to try the NGP game)  I've no doubt that Square could give a damn about this series, and with Matsuno having left, I don't know what'll happen.

Kartia also deserved more attention and anything Vandal Hearts is classic stuff lost under the greater popularity of Suikoden.

Dragonview was one I never would've discovered if it wasn't for a guy who insisted that Chrono Trigger was the second worst RPG ever made.  I still think he's crazy on that one but he also mentioned that Dragonview was a darn good sequel to the notoriously bad Drakkhen.  Oddly enough, he was right.

Plok was one I had hoped to pick up on Ebay for the longest time.  I still should since I take great pride in my SNES collection.  I vaguely remember renting Plok long ago and enjoying it.

Yes! Giant Ants rule!

Anyway, I hunted down a copy of Legend of Mana back in Janurary. While I think the story is a little too loose to play it for that alone, the fun yet simple combat is enough to keep me engaged for the duration. It's a simple pick up and play title... sometimes I don't want to think too hard about what to do in every single combat situation and I just want to beat the hell out of something. Legend of Mana is very fulfilling in such a sense...

I might be in the minority, but I hate Viewtiful Joe, once you get over "this is cool" period, you're left with a pretty mediocre, redundant, and often tedious game.  It's basically the fate of every Shinji Mikami game ever made, the first time you play through it, you think it's amazing, then when you come back to play it later, you're like, "there's no way in heck I'm wasting my time playing through that again."

I always liked SkyBlazer, it reminds me a little of Ninja Gaiden and it has amazing music.  I also agree about Dragon View, one of the most overlooked gems ever, and despite it being bashed, I also dig the Ys III Remake for PS2.

I've always felt that numerous portable games have been overlooked in the past simply because most portable titles (pre-GBA) were less than stellar. However, there are a lot of great gems out there. Samurai Kid for the GBC was one of the best platformer/puzzle hybrids (think Wario Land 2 or 3) out there, but it never saw release outside of Japan. Similarly, Picross 2 for GB was, IMO, the best in the series before Picross DS came out, but was also unreleased outside of Japan.

And, although it's not a portable game, Jaleco's Peacekeepers for the SNES was tops but still woefully overlooked.

Oh, I wouldn't say it's "Square's worst" at all. That title is reserved for SaGa Frontier 2 ^_~

That's what really funny about SaGa Frontier and SaGa Frontier 2, any given person that has played both usually likes one but will dislike the other... I thought the only redeeming feature of SF2 was the soundtrack

i liked GREAT GREED for gameboy. it would probably be best described as an environmentally friendly rpg. it has a battle interface similar to lufia where the directional controller was represented onscreen to choose your action.

Hooray, another Great Greed fan! My brother bought it when it came out, never expecting that it would be one of the rarest GB games ever. The game itself as quite fun, with an intuitive battle system and a surprisingly competent story. Although, the story was so bizarre that I have doubts that it was properly translated.

Out of This World
Flashback

Those are not very easy to finish and it was the damned oddness that kept me going. Flashback was far easier and I beat that within a week, but Out of This World took the better part of 2 years. You can't sit down and play it like Final Fantasy; either you get past this part right here or you don't. There is nothing else to do but deal with the precise part you are stuck. It's not like Castlevania, either, where you can happily start from scratch every time. In Out of This World, getting past a part is like passing a Final Exam. You don't want to go there again. But you have to, endlessly, until you get past. And the ending was insulting. After having labored for hours and hours, you just fly away on some damned bat creature. Wow. Thanks.

The Magic of Scheherazade is a game in dire need of its due. Zelda meets Dragon Warrior III meets Chrono Trigger with an Arabian flair...and nobody seems to care?

Rocket Knight Adventures is probably my favorite Genesis action game, but constantly gets overshadowed by Sonic and Gunstar Heroes. Ristar's a close second, and often seems equally snubbed.

The Ape Escape series, particularly the PS2 entries, are completely divine. I'm amazed that Mario Sunshine botched gadget-centric platforming as badly as it did when it had this for an example to follow.

And MM Legends and its sequel are indeed awesome, but Misadventures of Tron Bonne is my favorite in the series. It answers a simple question: what if GTA were G-rated and actually fun?

Starship Titanic. Douglas Adams' swansong game, and just what you'd expect from the man. Lots of fun, and this from a guy who falls asleep at Myst.

Good topic.  It's almost dawn, so I'm going to try to keep this quick:

-The whole freaking Gargoyle's Quest series, but especially the original GB one.

-Uniracers (SNES): such massive fun it's hard to believe that these are the guys who went on to make GTA

-Silent Bomber (PSX): freaking zen, track it down and buy it now

-Rez (PS2): Shooter perfection, if you ask me

-MSR (DC): The most brilliantly hardcore racing game you'll ever play -- the PGR series, which follows directly from this, pales in comparison

-Jet Set Radio Series (DC/XB): incredible music, insane art, super fun (especially the second one where Sega tightened up the loose controls from the original)

-Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (NGC): Forget about the connectivity (cough Goldfish cough cough)... the single-player mode is great fun on its own

-Chibi Robo (NGC): Massively good adventure game.  Anyone who like the exploration elements of Zelda will love this

First, a resounding "I concur!" to Brave Fencer Musashi and the PS2 Ape Escape titles.  They rank among the best in their respective genres, easily beating out the higher-profile named competition.  And though I too wouldn't exactly consider Viewtiful Joe to be an unknown, I will say that it's still one of the most dope series of games I've played this past generation.    The original GC version is still the best, but I do need to knock a few points off of VJ2 for its many moments of in-game slowdown and excessive use of puzzles.

Both Out of This World and Flashback seemed like evolutionary stepping stones to the awesome Blackthorne.  The emphasis on action made Blackthorne a far more enjoyable experience, yet it still kept a healthy dose of puzzles and PoP-esque character-precision movement that made the genre work in the first place.

That said, my "personal classic" has to go to Ninja Five-O.  This game went so under the radar that it pains me.  I'm just gonna cull this from the best of VGM thread: "I considered myself lucky for being able to snag this hard-to-find Konami gem from 2003 -- brand new, and at such a great price.  The game is so deliciously old school, that I couldn't help myself grinning from ear to ear as I blew through mission after mission.  Superb challenge, tight controls, and a nifty time trial mode offers great replayability.  This one instantly flew up the ranks as one of my most favorite GBA games ever."

Suikoden V - One of the greatest RPG stories no one cares about. Beautiful settings, tremendous character development development, great subsystems...You can't ask for much more from an RPG (aside from more places to use your over-powered party of six once you get it together).

Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap/Dragon's Curse - A 2D action-RPG with a lengthy quest and different character forms that was way ahead of its' time.

Super Buster Bros. (SNES Edition) - The World Tour mode is nice and all, but Maniac Mode is downright therapeutic. In the midst of exams or writing a paper, taking 20 minutes or so to bust a shitload of balloons is amazingly relaxing.

Ys: Ark of Napishtim - Solid, old-school action-RPG gameplay and just enough storyline to back it up.

Magic Knight Rayearth - See above. The last US Saturn game was a fine one.

Klonoa 1/2 - I know both of these get their due from a good portion of the gaming community, but considering they're basically 2D platformer perfection, I really think both should be recognized to a much larger degree. A Greatest Hits releases at LEAST...

Dynasty Warriors - I rarely hear anything good about this series nowadays, but I've wasted many an hour scampering through the massive environments, racking up 1000+ kills and exploring the game's combo/juggle mechanics, whilst giving a periodic headbang to the rockin scores. Yeah, it's being drivin into the ground, but the foundation is rock solid.

Kendo Rage - I know I'm probably the only one who cares about this one, but it really was a solid platformer that managed to stand out in the midst of the SNES' heyday. The designs were awesome before I even knew what 'anime' was. Shame they made the sequel a lackluster 2D fighter.

And last and definitely least:

E.T. The Extra Terrastrial - Okay, it's not the greatest game ever made, but I was positively shocked to see how many people mindlessly deride this game for "causing the great videogame crash of the mid-80's". I played it when the Atari 2600 was commonplace and I've played it recently and sorry: There's no way it's that bad, especially compared to the majority of legitimately unplayable Atari 2600 games. It's like a really primitive Legend of Zelda: you have an overworld, you have "dungeons" (the infamous pits from this game...which are NOT difficult to escape from, despite what you may read) and you have to collect three pieces of your phone to go home. I enjoyed it for what it was worth back in the day.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r-pzdPLfy9Y

Come on, man. Zelda? "Dungeons"?

Well, I did say "primitive" version of Zelda. It's not like 98% of Atari 2600 games where you just mindlessly collect and/or blast shit.

I'm just a little saddened to see this one game mindlessly singled out for nearly wiping out console gaming in US, when I found it rather enjoyable.

Guys, guys.  Are we forgetting Unlimited SaGa?  Makes both SaGa Frontier games look like masterpieces.

I'm sure they're even fewer Unlimited SaGa Fans than there are for SF1&2, but I think 99.95% of the people who bought Unlimited SaGa were like "what the hell kind of game is this" and traded it back in without batting an eyelash. Unlimited SaGa is well known but for all the wrong reasons, a blueprint of how NOT to do a game...

Edit:

Anyway, Unlimited Saga is an easy target to make cracks about, it's almost too easy...

True dat. I was exposed to this game via a demo many years ago. Of course, I tracked it down (which wasn't easy) and purchased it. Surprised they never made some kind of sequel to this gem which slipped under the ol' radar.

I've wanted to try Blackthorne for a long time.  I think what held me back when I nearly picked up the SNES game on Ebay was reading somewhere that the 32x version was superior.  Naturally, the 32x version is a bit harder to find and I'm missing the necessary connection to see 32x games on my TV screen.

I wouldn't say that no one cares about it.  It has simply suffered the same fate as the other Suikoden games.  It gets compared to Suikoden II and the final assessment tends to be, "close, but no cigar".  And so it's known as the game that's almost as good as Suikoden II.  Or the game that revived the series after Suikoden IV, which may actually hurt it in the long run, as people might be more focused on how much better it is than that one rather than on how it stands alone against other RPGs.  But at least it gets more respect than original.  That one is definitely a bit underrated as the originator of everything Suikoden.

I think I like the music from Suikoden V more than the music from Suikoden II. [face_shock]

I put a little time into this one and it seems alright but maybe I'm expecting too much.  A Sega fanboy I know claims that it's the best 8-bit game of all time, which means that I'm comparing it to SMB3 every step of the way, and so far it doesn't measure up.  The level designs need to go beyond long treks involving relatively empty terrains and palette swapped enemies before I'll be convinced that it's in SMB3's league.

Master System fans like to claim that gamers who experienced both the NES and SMS in their time always prefer the Master System.  They sure can be irritating.  I do of course try to avoid letting that affect my opinion of the games.  Miracle World is pretty cool, if a bit unforgiving.

Mario 3 is probably a bad comparison...Think Zelda II more so (a game it heavily resembles) or a Metrovania with multiple environments. It's entirely a different style of game than SMB3. I also agree that Mario 3 is the better game, but that's probably because there isn't ANYTHING else that tops it.

I will say though: If not for this game (and it's prequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land), I would look back on the Master System as a wasted Christmas present in my youth. I remember liking a lot of games (Transbot, Rocky and Alf come to mind), but I shudder to think of any of them going for $50 nowadays.

And no...Suikoden V was pretty heavily ignored. Not that I blame RPG players in a year where both Kingdom Hearts 2 and Final Fantasy XII came out, but it deserved some more coverage than it got. Besides, no shame in not being as good as Suikoden 2...I don't find S5 to be anywhere near as raw as some S2 moments (the "true" ending and events leading up to it shouldn't surprise any S1 or S2 veterans).

This is simple.

Phantasy Star II, III, and IV.
Killer 7
Hitman II, III, and IV.
Shining Force 1 and 2.
Light Crusader
Landstalker
Kagero Deception
Deception Dark Delusion
Defenders of Oasis
Exile (XZR) (I prefer the Sega Version over the Turbo Duo; but own both)
Shadowrun (Sega)

I suppose classic is relative, but, these are some of mine.

So True.

Hitman IV would be... Blood Money, right?  That was the first Hitman game I ever played, but it has been one of the best games I've played this generation.

I notice that regular Xboxes are no where on store shelves and I'm beginning to fear that MS will not update the backwards compatibility list again; I own JSRF but may never get to play it again.  I'm hoping that Sega doesn't let that series die, or at the least re-release them on another system.

I don't recall anyone saying ICO.  I would think most people here would be familiar with it, but it wasn't a big hit back in the day.  I notice that Shadow of the Colossus has made it to Greatest Hits oddly enough.

Yes.  And if you enjoyed Hitman: Blood Money, you should definately give Hitman: Contracts a shot.

It's good to know it is on the 360 backwards compat list.  I'll give it a rent.

I totally disagree on the ending. I thought it was mysterious and beautiful. It was short, and definitely left you wanting more, but I think that's a good thing. By the way, you can download it for $9 (Windows XP version

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=D000043

I downloaded and beat it, and yeah it's just as hard as ever, but also just as addictive! Still a beautiful, beautiful game...

cheers,

-avatar!

edit: Notice they call it "Another World", but we all know it's Out of This World (perhaps AW is the European title?)

Hehe...
some guy on youtube commented on how they buried the games in NM because they couldn't give them away. This is what he said, which sums up the situation nicely:

"I think they were doing the public a favor.
Giving one of these carts to a child could probably be construed as child abuse."

cheers,

-avatar!

I'd like to mention some XBox-exclusive titles. They may not be perfect but they have qualities that make me happy to have them in my gaming library.

GunValkyrie - one of the best looking XBox games ever. I loved its pseudo-steampunk theme and breakbeat/ rock soundtrack. The whacked-out control scheme often drove me mad.

Phantom Crash - ultra-stylish mech combat with tons of parts to choose from and a huge soundtrack featuring dozens of licensed Japanese indie pop songs. The gameplay could get extremely repetitive, though.

Panzer Dragoon Orta - gorgeous game. I wish I could've invested more time into it, especially after finding out how much there is to unlock!

Steel Battalion - the most intimidating game I've ever played, thanks to the behemoth controller required to play it.

Otogi (1&2) - excellent 3-D action platformer based on Japanese mythology. Lush visuals and an eerie soundtrack that really should've been published.

The Chronicles of Riddick - it may have gotten the credit it deserved, I don't remember hearing what sort of sales figures it achieved. It really is a great game!

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf - insanely satisfying gameplay with tons of mechs, tanks, and jets to blow stuff up with! Lost Planet stole many of its ideas from this game but failed to copy one of the coolest features, hacking into a mech to hijack it from an enemy pilot!

Breakdown - an obscure Namco first-person action title that had some ambitious gameplay design. It attempted to incorporate hand-to-hand combat and a more realistic camera. All other first-person games I've played have a camera that makes it seem like your character has a gyroscope mounted in their skull. Breakdown's camera actually shakes when you run and when you get hit in a fistfight, it will blink and reveal that you're face down on the pavement! It's such a shame that more natural and emersive techniques such as these aren't applied in the majority of FPS titles.

I thought both games were pretty wretched.

Well, everything I experienced as far as gaming tells me the game is a piece of crap, and I know this, but I like it deep down for some reason... I think everyone has run into these kinds of games, and SaGa Frontier sure as hell isn't a classic in the eyes of most which is why I felt it was approrate to list it as a "Personal Classic" here.

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter is one game I though was amazing that doesn't seem to get mentioned too often. It has an amazing battle system that really requires you to think rather than just push X a bunch of times. The time limit that's introduced later on in the game also forces you to play strategically rather than just level up your characters and breeze through the game. Another nice change of pace was the simple, straightforward and small scale nature of the story. You can criticize the game for being pretty much one giant dungeon crawl, which is fair enough I guess, I just loved the minimalist nature of it. I'm almost inclined to think of it as ICO in RPG form. Your goal is to get to the surface as fast as possible and that's about it. It is without a doubt one of the best RPGs I've played, and I think it'd be a shame if Capcom would return to a more traditional take on the series should they make another Breath of Fire game.

I guess I should mention Rule of Rose here too. I'm really torn on this one: it's either consistent in it's design philosophy to the point of overkill or just broken in places. Its major fault is that it fails to anticipate that player frustration if evoked tends to negate all other emotional effects a game may strive to create, and there are few games I've played that have a more frustrating battle system than this one. From a conceptual standpoint I still love it though, and for all it's faults I still think it more than deserves to be mentioned along with Silent Hill 1 and 2 as far as quality psychological horror games go.

Seconded.  Dragon Quarter is my favorite PS2 RPG, actually.  I almost forgot that it gets overlooked and underrated by the mainstream crowd.  It's one of the most atmospheric RPGs ever.  A 3D RPG that actually makes its sense of space an integral part of the story.

I do miss the old Breath of Fire theme from the first two games though.  It would've been cool if Sakimoto could've arranged it for the game like he did with various Final Fantasy themes in FFXII.  It's one of my favorite overworld themes for sure, even if its adventurous nature would be hard to fit into the context of BoFV.