Overrated and Underrated NES Games -

[@SLIPWOLF]

Faxanadu = under rated.

[@Wargoat6]

agreed

[@johnvenus9907]

My absolute favorite nes game

[@FretzlemaniaPod]

Clash at Demon head is one of the most underrated games on nes too

[@gyorg3407]

Nobody even knows that game exists :P

[@leadbones]

For sure it is.

[@PatTheNESpunk]

The book is available at ultimateNES.com! What are some of your overrated and underrated NES games? ►Listen to full audio podcasts: bit.ly/1ONIjuQ ►Want to watch the entire video podcast and support us? patreon.com/pxlsicle ►More #CUPodcast vids: bit.ly/1pOBDVH ►Follow on twitter! twitter.com/patthenespunk & twitter.com/pxlsicle

[@heroicdefeat5335]

Underrated? Bucky O'Hare! Has some similarities to Mega Man and Little Samson. Whomp em. The Last Guardian. Felix the Cat. Overrated? My answers would piss off everyone. Some things you gotta keep bottled up lol.

[@heroicdefeat5335]

Sorry I meant Guardian Legend... Smh.

[@ricmamaddafakka7248]

whompem , ofcourse

[@Pericoflexible2]

I think Flying Warriors NES game it´s an excellent game, but, many people don´t talk about that. It have a good history and also the PVP tournament it´s very good mod. Regards!

[@heroicdefeat5335]

He gave Bucky O'hare 4 and a half stars! I have yet to get my copy. But saw it on his gofundme page as an example. It deserves what he gave it! Emulate it, buy it, play it. I'm not kidding I like it more than mega man. more than anything.

[@llamasarus1]

Battletoads really stuck out as an extraordinary game for me. I played it constantly for like 6 months and it was very habit forming and rewarding to overcome its difficulty as far as I got. I don't see what's so bad about it's collision detection, it's satisfactory. Flying off the screen with the big boot and punches is easily avoidable. I don't see the rapid change of gameplay as a downside as plenty of its levels are average or above average. People dismiss Battletoads for needing "memorization' to get through but that's to imply that there isn't a skill to memory which there is. Besides you don't literally 'memorize' anything in the game, you just acquire more in-the-ballpark foresight of the level's layout the more you play it and that's how games should be. Awesome brand, awesome game. Rated exactly as it should be.

[@PeteSkerritt]

Gyruss for NES is underrated. Like Ms. Pac-Man, it also adds things to the original coin-op to make it better (notably, boss battles).

[@Webhedgaming]

Ah yes, Gyruss! Such a great game. I have many memories of playing that one with my dad as a kid on our NES.

[@SeekerLancer]

Gyruss is a good one. It's my favorite version of the game by far.

[@retrofan4963]

What about Mappy, Mappy-Land and Mappy Kids?

[@N64Archive]

Ghost n Goblins I find to be overrated. I like my share of difficult games, but that one seems to be so unfair.

[@WillStrop2008]

It makes you play through the entire game twice to get the real ending. That is a cheap move, even in a game that is otherwise good!

[@Sh0tgunJust1ce]

Couldn't agree more about Battletoads. It's a game on the same tier as Silver Surfer, not bad, but completely ruined by the insane difficulty.

[@Sh0tgunJust1ce]

There's a difference between Surfer and Toads though. Surfer relies on extremely quick reactions. Toads relies on trial and error. I have much more fun with Surfer than I do Toads.

[@Svankmajer]

No, Battletoads definitely relies on both. Many of the speed levels obviously needs quick reactions. Silver Surfer also relies a lot on trial and error.. Nobody beats that easily because they're skilled, there's a lot of places you have to know where to stand.

[@BuckDat]

I thought Battletoads was pretty fair with the checkpoint and stuff though. And giving you that warp zone to the Turbo Tunnel.

[@moriellymoproblems7842]

The moment you compared it to Silver Surfer your argument had zero credibility.

[@Svankmajer]

Tripcore What you consider NES hard? Are you talking about Silver Surfer or Battletods?

[@ItsThatRetro]

Bucky O'Hare is very underrated

[@XRG81]

If Battletoads had a more forgiving difficulty I think it would be one of the best games on the system. The innovative levels make it unique, but they're all tweaked to be frustrating rather than fun. If it were just a pure beat-em-up it would be as forgettable as every other NES beat-em-up.

[@Lentastic]

Look like Ian is having a tug under the desk

[@NISSANZ33]

Lol

[@TheVarietyVendor]

LMAO. When i read that. I scrolled up. And he was doing it!

[@melvinpunymeyer8104]

Do people not shake their leg nowadays? I see this comment in nearly every video.

[@BuckDat]

I do the same sometimes when sitting in a chair. I used to especially do it a lot as a kid while eating in the cafeteria. You can basically get your leg to bounce automatically if positioned a certain way like on the ball of your foot. Sort of like your knee reflex.

[@TheVarietyVendor]

auxilliarydrain I do too. Especially, when i'm watching a fun movie.

[@shibbyguy101]

Underrated: StarTropics Guerrilla War Crystalis Vice: Project Doom Felix the Cat Kickle Cubicle Qix Heavy Barrel Snake Rattle & Roll

[@shibbyguy101]

How could I forget Monster Party and KIWI KRAZE. Love those as well.

[@thelivingfreakshow5892]

I got a soft spot for Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom, Kiwi Kraze and Star Tropics.

[@dustbucket7949]

You know it's gonna be a great podcast when Ian starts off in T-Rex mode!!!

[@morphdjm2124]

Wished they made 2d beat 'em ups again. To many fps.

[@RileySkye100]

Shatterhand will always be my favorite NES game no matter how underrated it is.

[@leadbones]

That game is fucking great.

[@ztoxtube]

It's way too easy but it makes up for it with phenomenal music and gameplay.

[@TIDbitRETRO]

The first G.I. Joe game is badass and criminally underrated.

[@judsonanderson9007]

I've never been so happy to hear someone mention the Tengen Ms. Pac Man. It's a fantastic game and I can't believe how much was crammed into it. I was lucky enough to have it growing up and my Mom and I would play that game way too much.

[@RA2Channel]

Solar Jetman is highly underrated game. It's one of my favorite NES games. Legendary Wings is also underrated.

[@Nikos8BitStereo]

Battletoads probably has the biggest split of people liking or not liking it, and for me, I took the time to learn the levels and how to play the game from beginning to end, so I think it's a pretty good game. But there are far plenty of underrated titles for the NES, like Isolated Warrior, Super Spy Hunter, KickMaster, Mendel Palace, G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor, James Bond Jr, The Ultimate Stuntman, Vice: Project Doom, Freedom Force, Eliminator Boat Duel, and the PAL exclusives Asterix and The Smurfs.

[@ThatWeirdGuyYouKnow]

Glad to see you here. Love your work man!

[@pikkon899]

I've always loved Battletoads. I never finished it and I still can't to this day but I always loved it. I never liked the Legend of Zelda, Castlevania or Final Fantasy. I did love Super Castlevania on SNES but I could never get into any of the Zelda or Final Fantasy games .

[@NatiPerPerdereNPP]

Zelda II is my favorite classic Zelda

[@alexiswritingvideos]

One of my top favorite games, no doubt. It really delivers this feeling of mythological mystery music of the spheres type stuff.

[@Tall_Order]

My favorite underrated game is The Guardian Legend. Seriously everyone needs to play it. Get past the first stage and suddenly a whole world opens up full of secrets powerups and some of the best NES music I've ever heard, other than Megaman and Castlevania.

[@Tall_Order]

I also like Metalstorm, which is another underrated game.

[@patrikwennersten7568]

Just scrolled through the comments to make sure someone mentioned it. Seriously, everybody needs to play this game. It's the only NES game I make sure to play every year.

[@Tall_Order]

Patrik Wennersten I noticed a few other mentions in the comments. When I was a kid my mother brought this game home and I must have played it for several months before beating it. It was rare for me to see a game that mixed 2 styles of gameplay like this.

[@AdamCHowell]

Yes, metalstorms great.

[@picsl8ed867]

Couldn't disagree more about Battletoads. Yeah, the difficulty was ramped up a bit too high for everyone to be able to play, but how diverse the game is was its strongest merit. It's what kept a lot of kids, like me, playing the game even though it felt nearly impossible. Now as an adult I enjoy it even more: the difficulty and the fact that there is somthing new around almost every corner. I also never hear anyone (besides me) praise it very much, so I also don't think it is overrated. When people reference it, it is usually due to memes or as a measure of skill, since it is a notoriously hard game. Never heard anyone say "OMG it is the BEST game ever!!" Not even I say that even though I enjoy it a lot. I also thought Battletoads & Double Dragon, while neat to see the crossover, was an incredibly boring and monotonous game; the dullest thing both IPs have ever offered.

[@josephjones7828]

I can't believe Ian said Battle of Olympus. My jaw kind of dropped. While watching the video I literally said Battle of Olympus no more than 10 seconds before he did.

[@willmistretta]

Just gave Battletoads a try for the first time last month and then beat it (warpless) after a couple weeks of dedicated, perhaps obsessive, practice. It quickly became one of my favorites for its unrivaled variety and crazy 90s style and I really regret avoiding it for so long due to how hokey Internet randos love to scare people away from it with their HARDEST GAME EVERRRR blather. No doubt Rare didn't work on the co-op play all that much, but I've still never heard a harsh criticism of the game as a whole that wasn't based in simply not being willing to put the time and focus needed into learning it properly. Sour grapes, in other words. The only thing overrated about Battletoads is the challenge. It is challenging, certainly, but it's also very much beatable with dedicated practice, just like most other games. It's just easier to be a whiner than a winner.

[@afficial83]

100% disagree about battletoads. Still love to do run throughs of that game. It's super challenging and tests all skills. If it was just a straight beat em up it wouldn't be nearly as fun. Sad to see a game so ahead of its time under appriciated by these 2 guys

[@dancairns318]

I agree. I think they were trying to make the point that Battletoads had elements it shouldn't have had. If they wanted to talk about a game that was a beat em up but had bad levels, look at Double Dragon 2. That one "platform" level (which had no enemies, if I recall correctly) is a prime example of what they were talking about. I love both Battletoads and Double Dragon 2 in general, though.

[@bc5327]

Very epic game indeed.

[@heroicdefeat5335]

If you like it play it. Who cares what 2 guys on the internet think if you like a game?

[@heroicdefeat5335]

They shouldn't. They are two random guys on the web. Just cuz they talk in front of a camera does not make their opinions any more valid than yours. Don't be sheep.

[@heroicdefeat5335]

...Guess I have no power over what sheep do. My opinion when you like a game a lot and someone tells you it sucks. It does not detract from how much fun I have playing it. Thought that was fucking common sense. I guess just keep bitching internet. I'll have to start watching this on my xbox to avoid comments sections. The serious lack of thinking for yourselves is truly astonishing. We are barely one step out the cave.

[@squarepainter]

Vice Project Doom is the most underrated multi-genre game

[@samverick]

I blame the Nintendo Power hype machine for people thinking Battletoads is a good game.

[@iam16bits]

Kick Master is pretty underrated.

[@Dongled]

Guardian Legend, Low G Man, Vice Project Doom, Rocketeer and Kabuki Quantum Fighter are all massively underrated.

[@Your_Degenerate]

I disagree, if BattleToads was just a beat'em up it would of fallen into obscurity. The first bike section's difficulty is what brings a lot of people together over this game.

[@Massacretalitor]

I believe I have made it up to stage 8 or 9 (can't remember which), but the game is awful at it's design. It's throwing too much at you, there's zero focus but the fighting parts are actually fun. I wouldn't mind if it was like 70% fighting, 30% of all that other shit but it's actually the other way around. For a game called "Battletoads" there really isn't that much fighting in it.

[@emperorspock3506]

Four words: Battletoads and Double Dragon. It's Battletoads without all the bullshit (i.e. non-beat'em up elements). I was lucky it was the only Battletoads game I knew back when these games were coming out.

[@focusflute]

Battletoads on the Genesis is better as they adjusted the difficulty a bit

[@Luminousplayer]

actually i think battletoads "works" given its mechanics, as in you dont feel "handicaped" during any of the levels, HOWEVER if you look at other cases like the ACTUAL PLATFORMING levels made in double dragon 1 and 2, now thats bullshit they didnt even program a normal jump and had you jump-kicking your way around platforming levels for no reason, now THATS adding unnecesary elements.

[@osurpless]

+Talitor I think that's the marketing shining through. While there are perhaps better examples, the modus behind Battletoads was to ape off TMNT. Gamers should be glad that passionate programmers with a work ethic were able to not only make something functional out of such a dubious motivation for creation, but a melange of different styles and make it largely playable as well. A small miracle, it can said. Not easy, especially in the morass that is NES games and all involved in their production.

[@TheZeroSbr]

Zelda 2 and CV2 are just rated. Most people dislike them because they're legitimately not enjoyable.

[@overtrainphysiquesfitness6707]

Maniac Mansion is very underrated

[@ky_lab]

Little Nemo dreammaster is underrated

[@johnnybensonitis7853]

My Dad bought me Battletoads back when I was about 8 years old, and I always loved it despite the crushing difficulty. I felt they did a great job with the variety in levels and I would keep trying to pass a hard level knowing the next one would be something completely new. But I respect your opinions and I am biased with nostalgia toward the game for sure!

[@cratedivizion]

GI Joe A Real American Hero is definitely an underated game for nes

[@steampunker7]

Personally I always felt River City Ransom was a criminally underrated game. Story is stock but solid, play control is tight and I like how it's basically an open world you can tackle at your pace. The best part for me though is the RPG elements where you can use money you get from fights to buy food and items to increase stats and learn different fighting techniques, thus giving you the ability to customize your character as you chose. About the only real strike it had against it was its absolutely horrendous password system. Wasn't perfect to be sure but to this day probably my hands down favorite NES game and one that really deserved more recognition than it gets today.

[@Leonx3]

Underrated Nes game? Try incredible crash dummies and guerrilla war. Both really good games that no one talks about.

[@MrErick82]

Kickmaster is so criminally underated.

[@Skywalker-zu7od]

7:15-- There's the 8:45 to Seattle, it was slightly delayed today due to weather conditions

[@ORDER4STU]

Wrath of the Black Manta is a criminally underrated game

[@zolwikwkurwik]

Pat should make a series where he reads every review from his book per short episode

[@RegretfulDeadMan]

Nobody ever talks about Kirby's Adventure when talking about the nes game library, I consider it the most underrated

[@DeriumsCCGs]

Destiny of an Emperor is majorly underrated.

[@Rando1975]

Hell Yes!

[@hambukmil]

That damn chi tu ma's horse!!!

[@lispmachine9687]

I got so screwed when I was a kid with: Bartman meets Radioactive man. Lots of pain.

[@rpgjerry4411]

NES World Cup Soccer/Super Spike V Ball. I put so many hours on that cartridge when I was a kid. Definitely under-rated.

[@littleterr0r]

I just watched the Did You Know Gaming on Super Mario World and it quoted Miyamoto as saying that basically he didn't want to include anything that was cool to look at but interfered with the game play and I think a perfect example of this is the boot thing you were talking about in Battletoads.

[@onldhes]

You forgot Super Dodge Ball for an over rated game. And Battletoads kicks ass. Pat and Ian just aren't good enough to make it to the latr levels.

[@PrinceAppalling]

Back to the Future is nowhere near as bad as people say it is. *runs*

[@Moviefan2k4]

Thank you for acknowledging "Zelda II" as underrated; I keep running into people who still hate it. As for overrated, "Metroid" gets a huge vote. The limitations on sprites and memory space meant that a lot of rooms looked alike, and you couldn't save progress or bring up a map. I still don't think I've beaten it without cheating.

[@meowskull]

Mc Kids is underrated.

[@hero227]

Battletoads is one of the best looking games on the system, to be fair. It's not a personal favorite of mine, mostly because of it's insane difficulty after the first few levels. But the first boss fight (throwing rocks at the screen) was very unique and pretty jaw-dropping the first time you see it. I don't think you'd find many people who would list Battletoads as one of their favorite NES games, but it's infamous for it's difficulty, especially in 2-player mode. I'd probably say TMNT on NES is overrated, just because it features the Ninja Turtles. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the cartoon series, TMNT movie, etc.. hell, I had about 100 TMNT toys as a kid. But the gameplay is not good, the levels are not well-designed, graphics are glitchy, etc.. Plus the game is quite difficult, but Shredder is easy as shit. Makes no sense. One thing I do love about that game is the music.

[@Apotheosis_44]

The Little Mermaid is underrated.

[@jackandrechristopherkactat8828]

over rated: excite bike under rated: battle of Olimpus

[@metalmat3651]

Ice Climber is overrated, the controls are terrible.

[@tripdefect87]

I think that Crash N The Boyz: Street Challenge is one that definately deserves more attention. Really an interesting take on track and field/sports games

[@itschad493]

Battletoads is not overrated. It is timeless, and no amount of media pundits saying that it is overrated will ever change that. I'm not going to change my view on the game just because a group of people out of nowhere decided one day that the game is overrated.

[@BobSentell]

Underrated: Fester's Quest. I loved that game. Overrated: Techmo Bowl. I like football games but this one isn't all that great.

[@GigTube]

Dudes With Attitude/Trolls from Treasure Island is underrated and overlooked because it's an unlicensed game. Fun, challenging, clever puzzle game.

[@Webhedgaming]

Mario 2 is definitely underrated and happens to be my favorite Mario game!!!

[@xninja83x67]

I love that one too, since I first played it new.

[@tripdefect87]

Mario 2 is an "okay" game and would probably have been far better if didn't use the Mario characters. That isn't to say that I didn't appreciate what it tried to do, but it just doesn't feel much like a Mario game in the traditional sense

[@BuckDat]

It didn't seem to be underrated at the time. Everybody was excited to play it and seemed to really love it. Same with Zelda 2 and Simon's Quest.

[@AdamCHowell]

I loved mario 2 more than mario 3.

[@jabbadac]

Battletoads is awesome. It definitely deserves all the recognition it gets. Overrated games: Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles Metal Gear Goonies 2 Underrated Games: Legacy of the Wizard StarTropics M.C. Kids Paperboy

[@retrofan4963]

Mappy, Mappy-Land and Mappy Kids are criminally underrated NES games. Namco did an amazing job doing a really great NES port of Mappy, and Mappy-Land and Mappy Kids are really great and underappreciated Mappy sequels that people barely talk about.

[@HowDoUPlayGames]

Super Spike V-Ball is an awesome game, which reminds me of another underrated sports game: Top Players Tennis with Chris Evert and Ivan Lendl. Also Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge '92 was the best Olympics game, probably underrated. But I think all Technos games deserve more credit. River City Ransom and Super Dodgeball are some of the best NES games period, but also Crash N The Boyz Street Challenge, and Nintendo World Cup is fun too. Last but not least Tecmo Cup the soccer game was underrated. A soccer RPG hybrid is an odd combination, but it somehow works pretty well.

[@guarapo66]

Baseball, is underrated, it's simple, and tons of fun, thats how games should be .

[@johnnyjechura417]

ROLLERGAMES is probably my favorite game from my childhood that I never hear anyone talk about.

[@moriellymoproblems7842]

Pat, your reasons for thinking Silver Surfer isn't bad can easily apply to Battletoads.

[@wildsmiley]

Guerilla War, Vice: Project Doom, Shatterhand, Shadow of the Ninja and GunNac. Really great games all.

[@FinalBaton]

Shatterhand is actually what I was thinking as soon as I saw the title. Good pick. Another good pick for "underrated" would be Astyanax. I love it, it's a fun pickup-and-play game from the makers of Legendary Axe. The controls are great and it looks beautiful. Not a perfect game but it's definitely worth a look. Battle of Olympus has me curious since I saw screen shots of it, will give it a shotsoon. Same for "something something Shareazade"(forgot the exact title). Seems like it has potential. And same for Athena. I'm almost tempted to bring up Crystalis and Shadow of the Ninja, since the casual fan doesn't know about them, but the hardcore fans know them very well and love them, so they're more like lesser-known gems than underrated I guess...

[@Luminousplayer]

Battletoads literally punched its way into my heart with all its defects, altough its severely flawed, its a game i hold dear

[@erickutepow]

NES Golf is the most underrated game by far. Once you learn how to play it it never gets old.

[@karras6239]

i think what silver surfer did is now called bullet hell games. Some stuff actually evolved, but its origins is what make them underrated.

[@jacussakus4177]

Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is criminally underrated.

[@WillStrop2008]

To everyone saying The Legend of Zelda is overrated, you do realize that Top 10 lists are traditionally written starting at Number 10, right? Whenever I look up a Top 10 list of the Legend of Zelda series, the Original Game is usually about 7 or 8, which is exactly where it belongs. Yes, I know that it's graphically simple even for the NES. It still has a pleasant art style for its simple graphics, and its simple style has a certain charm. Yes, I know that it's incredibly hard. That's why it's only ever recommended to people who have already played some other games in the series. Actually, one of the major positive things about the Original Game is its assumption that the player has either played similar games before or looked things up in advance. It doesn't hold your hand. That lack of handholding makes it feel more rewarding when you figure out a secret location or the weakness of a boss, or other such things. Is it as timeless as A Link to the Past? No. Does it deserve the Number 1 listing? No. Does it deserve to be *on the list*, preferably in the bottom half where it usually is? Yes. It isn't A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time by any means, but it's still a good game. It's still fun.

[@ryanspengler4877]

Michael Andretti's World GP is an underrated racer, in my opinion. I may have nostalgia glasses on, but I always loved that one. I'd like to see it take some of Danny Sullivan's thunder!

[@PsychoIncarnate666]

I really enjoyed the Simpson's game "Barman meets Radioactive Man" but the only Simpson's games people mention are "Bart vs the Space Mutants and Bart's Nightmare" I think it's underrated, especially of the Simpsons NES games.

[@MrNorbert1994]

3 words: Metal Slader Glory. Arguably one of the most unknown game in the NES library.

[@Knouffy]

Kickle Cubicle is fantastic. It's block puzzles, but also has plenty more to distract you from the fact that it's block puzzles.

[@90sSportsNostalgia]

I love Powerblade and furthermore, I agree that Silver Surfer is a great game once you get used to it and the soundtrack is amazing.

[@mcinmosh]

Ian read my mind. Battle of Olympus is easily one of the most overlooked games on the NES. Great graphics, music, and an improvement on the Zelda II engine. A wonderful game.

[@matthewvanlenten6017]

I think Kabuki Quantum Fighter is extremely underrated and overlooked for the NES. I definitely feel that it should be up there as one of the best action platformers.

[@Mitjitsu]

No one would be talking about Battletoads if it was just a beat em up. The only thing they needed to do was to tone down the difficulty.

[@unbeweavable9296]

i totally got the battletoads pilot episode vhs tape, complete with the paper sleeve "case", at a yard sale for a quarter.

[@antoniusbritannia8217]

I always thought pro wrestling (black box) was underrated. In my mind it is the best wrestling game for the NES, but as an earlier game it held up well. I would have loved for those developers to have made a sequel.

[@soundgrips]

Super Spike VBall was a game I got in the SNES era and it's easily one of my most memorable NES games. I love that game and was lucky to get a copy again recently for a few bucks.

[@BenSauerwine]

Guardian Legend - most underrated game.

[@gamesthatiplay9083]

Overrated? River City Ransom. Its quite the dull, needless grind.

[@NoeLPZC]

As for underrated games, I agree Zelda 2 is among the top of the list. I think Air Fortress is a fantastic game that deserves more recognition, and for a more obscure than underrated title I can't sing the praises of Over Horizon enough. Released very late in the system's lifespan and only in Europe so barely anyone knows about it, but it's a phenomenally solid horizontal shmup. Difficulty is right in the sweet spot, looks and sounds gorgeous, and while not super ambitious it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's my favourite shmup on the NES (Lifeforce and Recca are too punishing for me), but hardcore shooter fans might find it a bit easy/generic.

[@georgenelson9211]

Zelda 2 is HUGELY Underrated! Its one of the greatest game EVER!!

[@Bobb11881]

I think you miss the point of Battletoads. The sole purpose of that game's existence is to provide a series of incredibly hard challenges. Nothing else.

[@GREVIEWS02]

I just bought the Bart vs the space mutants

[@The_Laser_Channel]

F1: Built to Win I think is under-rated....sure, its a racing game...but its probably the best racing game on the system...upgrading different aspects of your car, buying new cars (even if it is a small amount), going to Vegas to gamble....if you suck at the game, you'll find yourself doing easier races over and over again to grind money to upgrade cars or to pay the entry fee of the harder races

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

Solstice is under rated. It's not perfect, but it's really good. Well-designed puzzles, interesting castle layout, and I like the story, though I have yet to see a single review or let's play where the manual was consulted, so none of them get the story right. (All you get in game is the appearance of a simple "rescue the princess" plot, but the manual makes it clear that it's just adding on to the protagonist's motivation, and isn't even the main goal.)

[@The--Dude]

Solstice is definitely underrated! Great game!

[@gzsfrk]

Rockin Kats is a criminally underrated NES game.

[@Crit-Chance]

I don't know about ratings, but Star Tropics, Shatterhand, Golgo 13, Bucky O' Hare, and Bomberman 2 are all underappreciated on my book.

[@RagingDrew]

Often times it feels like I was the only one who grew up on/played at one point Battle of Olympus. That game needs way more love.Even if you don't like it, the soundtrack blows the house down.

[@JonathanMartin884]

I think both Simon's Quest and Link's Adventures are fantastic games and are greatly underrated and underappreciated. The thing that most people don't understand is that these were the second games in both of the series and it hadn't been established what these series would become. I think Link suffers because it gets too hard too quick and then after Death Mountain gets fairly easy again until the final level, whereas SQ is generally too easy throughout, but these games were more about where to go and what to do than they were about killing enemies. I think both have their flaws, but really there aren't many games that have zero flaws. I think both games just get trashed all the time because 1) it is cool to hate these games and 2) they are different than the rest of their respective franchises, which I see as a boon not a bane. Most people have no idea that staples of these two franchises would see proto versions in these original sequels. Almost all Zelda games after Ocarina have a lot of sword fighting in them and Link 2 has a very early version of this idea that was not present in any other NES, SNES, or GB edition of the series, but is now immensely important to the series as a whole; and Simon's Quest has the player explore every nook and cranny of the world, something no where to be seen in Castlevania 1, 3, and 4, but is now a staple of all post-SOTN Castlevanias. Yes, these games are cryptic, but I beat both of them with simple word of mouth help before I was ten years old (before the internet mind you), I think that most people who don't like these games have never really given them a chance.

[@strangevision99]

I think its almost all about what people think they should expect from a game. Mario 2 and Final Fantasy 2 are another two examples of second entries to series at that time which became looked on as "black sheep" and largely because they were trying new ideas. I appreciate that all these games do have their problems but so did the originals and even the sequels that were more in line with them. They were all trying new ideas and some of them did become popular in later entries and even in other series. Its because of this reoccurring overreaction when I see a game being dragged through the dirt largely because its not perceived as fitting with previous games, I try to look at the game on its own merits and flaws, in many instances I come to the conclusion that if it were released by a different developer, under a different name, it wouldn't be treated so harshly and perhaps even praised for its innovation and fresh approach to a genre. I rather suspect that a game so lauded as Earthbound, Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger would be considered far less favorably if it had called itself Final Fantasy.

[@Silvergun_Raven]

One of the most underrated NES titles, in my opinion, is Gargoyle's Quest II. Another, would be Sweet Home and Wizards & Warriors.

[@PrinzessinRamode]

I think Battletoads is a great game because it was ambitious to be everything back then. I think when someone beats the game, their perception changes. Battletoads was supposed to be extremely difficult, that is why people complain about it. Beating it with a 2nd player is a real accomplishment.

[@keithwoodson8344]

Clash at Demonhead is criminally underrated

[@ilikethecupholder]

Battle Toads is more infamous than good. There was always that one kid who could rock that game and blow everyone's else's minds, though. That almost made it worth it.

[@lllexoduslll]

Underrated: The Guardian Legend, Felix the Cat, Dragon Spirit