VGChartz's Evan Norris: "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is not a bad game. Looking backward, it's an unusual, atypical entry in the series, sure, but I'd argue that its side-scrolling action, tactical combat, and role-playing mechanics—all things that make it aberrant compared to the greats of the franchise—make it worth playing. There are inventive, gratifying encounters and events in Zelda II that simply cannot be found elsewhere in the Zelda canon. It's not an issue, then, that Shigeru Miyamoto and company embraced new perspectives and systems for this sequel. It's an issue, however, that Miyamoto-san and the team he assembled for this game—a development crew different from the one that turned out its brilliant precursor—committed a few too many unforced errors in its design phase. Zelda II might not a bad game, but it is a flawed one."
There are tons of great games that have been overlooked in the mass of more popular titles. And I don’t just mean underrated games, either. We’re talking about grossly underrated and underappreciated titles in otherwise well-regarded franchises.
FINALLY someone who acknowledges the greatness of Gremlins 2 NES!! One of my favorite movie tie-in games of all times. I have fond memories of both the game and the movie from when I was a kid. I was playing it again just a couple of months ago, and it still holds up very, very well!
I rarely see people mention Gremlins 2 when discussing great NES games and I love you for that!
*edit - Sunsoft really was a fantastic studio. Another favorite, underrated late NES game from them was Batman Return of the Joker. It was so much better than the SNES version too. Something about it died in the effort towards upgrading the graphics and music. The NES version felt darker, moodier.
Np, great read! I also owned and enjoyed the heck out of Super C back in the day.
I'd also add Metalstorm to my list of underappreciated titles. :)
Nice job. After reading about Xexyx (or however it is spelled) I was reminded of Astyanax and Faxanadu. The names were just otherworldly. But they were tragically underrated as well.
Maybe you should consider a Part 2?
@thorstein Faxanadu is one of my favorite games of all time . I played it so much as a kid I still play from time to time
Kabuki Quantum Fighters was a Nick Arcade classic. Never played it but the name has stuck with me to this day because of that show.
Not surprised. They usually kept playing the same popular games of the day in different rotations. Every now and then you got a random title like that one. I found the name so odd that it just stuck with me.
With Sunsoft you knew you were getting good graphics and music,
Personal honorable mentions to Faxanadu and Crystalis.
I dont know if its been underrated, but kung fu master was such a awesome game on the nes. Even if it couldnt compare with the arcade version in graphics, the gameplay was so amasing. Awesome sound effects too. Played it for countless hours....
Nearly 40 years after its release, the NES is still one of the most popular gaming consoles in the world! Here are our top NES games that have stood the test of time.
GameCrate: "Our first look at Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl reminded a lot of folks of another game: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on Switch from 2019. What other titles should Nintendo revive with this specific graphical update?"
Zelda Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages not being on that list is criminal. If they remade Link Awakening, they should definitely remake those, since they were using the same visuals on GBC (but with the later two being a little prettier). Plus imo, those 2 games are better than Link Awakening (and they take longer to beat).
all 3 should definitely get the treatment. Those style of games would fit perfectly with these aesthetics.
This was my first video game my parents ever bought me. I was only about 7 or 8 and beating the various difficult areas was near impossible for me. I would ask some of the older kids around the neighborhood if they could get me past death mountain, or ask my much older cousin when he came to visit my older brother, if he could get past Thunderbird for me. I somehow ended doing all of those things on my own and I’ll never forget the thrill of beating that game. To this day is still one of all-time favorites to replay. I’d wish that Nintendo would license out a remake for it to the likes of FromSoftware. Given its difficultly yet rewarding gameplay, I’d think they’d be a perfect developer to remake it.