Released in Japan only, by Sega, in 1992, Tōgi Ō: King Colossus is an obscure JRPG with real-time combat that has been fan-translated into English (and Spanish) and is therefore playable to gamers outside of Japan.
Tag Archives: Obscure
Hagane: The Final Conflict, Super Nintendo
Developed by CAProduction and published by Hudson Soft in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, Hagane: The Final Conflict is a side-scrolling action/platform game in which you control a cyborg ninja – called Hagane – who is on a revenge mission against a rival clan.
Sorcerer’s Kingdom, Megadrive/Genesis
Developed by NCS Corporation and published exclusively for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis in 1992, Sorcerer’s Kingdom is a relatively obscure JRPG with tactical, turn-based combat.
Dead Eye, Arcade
Dead Eye is an early arcade game that was first released in 1978 by Meadows Games. The aim of the game is to flip a coin, and then shoot it to keep it in the air, scoring points as you do so.
Cosmo Police Galivan II: Arrow of Justice, Super Nintendo
Developed by Cream (aka “Creative Amusement“) and published exclusively for the Super Nintendo by Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd. (aka “Nichibutsu“) in 1993, Cosmo Police Galivan II: Arrow of Justice is the sequel to the arcade game Cosmo Police Galivan, and it is definitely one of the worst SNES games I’ve ever set my eyes upon.
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Cosmo Police Galivan, Arcade
Often shortened to just “Galivan“, this arcade platform game from Nichibutsu first came out in arcades in 1985. Outside of Japan, the game was little-known, but it did get ported to the C64, Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC in the West, and to the Famicom in Japan, to little or no success.
Moon Crystal, NES/Famicom
Released in Japan only for the Nintendo Famicom in 1992, Moon Crystal is a scrolling platform game in the style of Zelda II. The game was developed by Hector (aka “Hect“), and fan translations into English, Spanish, Polish and Indonesian exist, making the game understandable to players who don’t speak or read Japanese.
3D Bomberman, MSX
3D Bomberman (aka 3-D Bomber Man aka Sanjigen Bomberman) is an early, first-person interpretation of the Hudson Soft Bomberman concept. It was released in – Japan only – for MSX, Sharp X1, FM-7, PC-6001 and PC-8000 home computers in 1984.
In spite of the game’s title, this is not a true 3D game as it doesn’t contain any polygonal graphics, it’s just an old school way of describing a game that takes place along the ‘Z’ axis of an X,Y,Z three-dimensional grid.
Poogaboo: La Pulga 2, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Poogaboo: La Pulga 2 – the sequel to the classic Bugaboo (The Flea) – was coded by the same guy who created the original (Paco Suárez), so plays similarly, and is also what I’d call an authentic sequel.
Poogaboo was only ever released in Spain – by Opera Soft, in 1991 – so is relatively obscure as Spectrum games go. I’m a big fan of the original Bugaboo, but hadn’t heard of this sequel until recently, so was pleasantly surprised by its existence.
Captain Tomaday, Neo Geo
Released by Visco Corporation as a Neo Geo-based arcade game in 1999, Captain Tomaday is a one or simultaneous two-player shoot ’em up, featuring a cartoon tomato with bionic fists.