You might not have played Grandia (PSX)

This JRPG-gem is a classic for most people who know it.

Gameplay: JRPG, Singleplayer

The protagonist of this game is Justin, a boy who longs to become an adventurer like his father. The game manages easily to get you interested in him as a character with his feats and flaws and soon you will want to go on an adventure just as much as the main character. 

Storywise the game definately delivers. The combatsystem is exceptionaly unique and interesting. It is turn based but allows you to interupt foes and prepare for heavy attacks because every action needs some time to be performed and some interupting or saving actions take less time to be performed than the stuff you usually want to prepare for.

If you are looking for a JRPG to play. Play this one! 

The game is available on the Playstation Network for PS3, PSP and PSVita for around 6$.

You might not have played The Bard's Tale (PC)

The Bard's Tale (2005) is the newest and last installment of the Bard's Tale series.

Gameplay: Hack n' Slay, Humor, Story
The game plays like your standard hack n slay game with the exception that you can summon allies using bard magic to assist you. The good part about this game is that it features an engaging story about a good for nothing bard that just wants to live his life to the fullest.
The combat mechanics are interesting and allow for an active feel instead of just spamming an attack key. You will have to dodge projectiles and block attacks to survive.
The humor of the game is probably its strongest point. On several occasions the game will allow you to decide between a good/bad/neutral path and each decision makes sense and has hilarious outcomes.
If you are looking for a good hack n slay that will entertain you for hours, look no further than Bard's Tale.


Buy the game on gog. There is also an IOS version available.

You might not have played Monster Max (GB)

Monster Max is puzzle game for the Gameboy classic. It was developed by Titus Interactive the developers who brought us 'Superman 64' but dont despair, this game is actualy good.

Gameplay: Puzzle, Singleplayer
In this game your goal is to help Monster Max find his way to the exit of each level. To get to the exit Monster Max has to utilize different abilities he finds in the game that enable mostly basic movement options. The catch is: You can only have two abilities at once. Because of that you find yourself moving back and forth in the level to find the one path through different rooms that allows you to take a certain ability with you to a room where you need it.
You will always be able to move, but you have to have a certain ability item with you to: duck, jump or carry blocks. The visuals of the game are pretty good and allow you to easily understand the game. Spikes - better jump over them. Floor is starting to blink every so often - better jump on a box when that happens.
The puzzles are quite easy at the beginning and have more then one solution, but later in the game you will have to find the one perfect path. I started to draw maps on paper that show me the connection between the rooms to plan out my strategy and still havent beaten the game fully.
The Soundtrack is also pretty smooth.


Play this game on an online emulator.

You might not have played Warsow (PC)

Warsow is an futuristic first person shooter. It is free to play and has an open source engine, which enables easy modding.

Gameplay: First Person Shooter, Arena, Fast Paced
Imagine UT with the spot on controls of Quake. Put a cell shading graphics onto it and you have yourself Warsow. It is an incredibly good free to play shooter, that works well in duels, team matches or in free for all. Everyones favourite manouvers like rocketjumps and walljumps are possible and controling the Weapon/Armor drops on the map is key to victory.

Get the game for free on the official website.

You might not have played Hero Fighter (PC)

Hero Fighter is a game by the developer of Little Fighter 2, which is an awesome game as well, Marti Wong.

Gameplay: 2.5D, Fighter, Multiplayer, Singleplayer, Coop
Hero Fighter plays similar to 'Little Fighter 2', but has an added story to the single player experience. Additionaly Hero Fighter features updated graphics and new characters.
It is a 2.5D Fighter like Battletoads that throws hoards of enemies against the heros. You can utilize weapons and abilities to make it through alive.
In Multiplayer you can either play the singleplayer mode in Coop or face your friends in a deathmatch that allows you to take hoards of npc allies with you onto the battlefield.


The game finances through little adds in the menue screen. If you dont like those you can upgrade to a premium account for around 10$ to get rid of the adds and unlock a few special characters, which arent necessary to have fun with the game.
You can test the game in your browser here or download it on its official website.

You might not have played Teeworlds (PC)

Teeworlds is a free multiplayer online game.

Gameplay: Multiplayer, Platformer, Shooter
Imagine Worms(tm). Now make it Real-Time instead of Turn-Based and add in 16 player multiplayer and you got yourself teeworlds. It is an awesome fast paced game to play online with your friends or strangers. There is not much else to say about this game except its super fun to play.

Download the game for free on their website.

You might not have played Vib Ribbon (PSX)

Vib Ribbon is a very unique rhythm game for the PSX released in the year 2000.

Gameplay: Rhythm-Game, Singleplayer
The games charm comes from its simple graphics and cute character/music. On first glance you might expect the gameplay to be quite simple as well and to some extend this is true. You only use 4 different buttons in this game, which is not much compared to other rhythm games.
While your character walks down a one dimensional pathway you encounter different obstacles and you have to press the correct buttons to make it through. One button lets you step over holes in the floor, one button makes the character roll over spikes, another button lets you jump over Boxes and the last button lets you slide through a looping. Thats not all though. When the difficulty increases you will encounter obstacles that are combinations of the 4 shapes. If you have to get past a Looping that is covered in spikes, you have to press the button for rolling over spikes and sliding through a looping at the same time. The game will also try to screw you over by sending non static obstacles towards you on the pathway (e.g. a box that will move past other boxes to get to you faster) or suddenly change the speed of the music to throw you off guard.
One mayor feature of this game is that you can play automaticaly generated courses of your favourite tracks by inserting a music CD into the PSX drive. But the original soundtrack of this game is so charming that you wont necessarily have to do it to have fun.
 

 You can still get this game at a moderate price on ebay.

You might not have played Ninja Five-O (GBA)

Ninja Five-O is a little known GBA-gem that is quite rare and costly to obtain.

Gameplay: Platformer, Singleplayer
The goal of this game is to rescue hostages scattered throughout the levels and find the keys to get to the exit. A Bossfight will await you at the end of each chapter. The controls and the movement in this game are very good. The leveldesign is nonlinear and gives you freedom to explore. The amount of Powerups in this game might be a little low compared to other games of this genre but the standard mechanics make up for this.
You can Slide, activate an invulnerability, use a grappling hook, use your katana or a subweapon in order to get through the levels.


Play this game online or grab a rom and fire up your emulator.

You might not have played Evolva (PC)

Evolva is a game by the developer Computer Artworks that was released in the year 2000.

Gameplay: Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Third Person, Shooter
What makes Evolva unique is its characterprogression system that allows you to mutate your creatures to fit into the environment the hazards you are facing currently are from.
In Singleplayer you will explore the planet and fight enemies you encounter on your way in classic shoot em up style. Frequently you will get to a point where your current team of creatures cant progress unless you evolve them in a way that helps you with your current problem. There is a huge gap you have to cross, better mutate some gliding ability. Lots of enemies on the way, make your guys more beefy.
The DNA to mutate has to be obtained from creatures you encounter. Thats why the player characters are called Geno-Hunters. They hunt for genomes.
You will be able to have 4 creatures in your team, that you can specialize to do certain jobs and take over the control of one of them at a time to make sure they get it done. The other creatures will be AI controlled and obey certain orders.
The Multiplayer of this game basicaly features a death match between groups of creatures that players nurtured.


Evolva can be purchased on gog.

You might not have played GIANTS: CITIZEN KABUTO (PC)

Giants is a third person shooter game by Planet Moon Studios released in 2000.

Gameplay: Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Third Person, Shooter, Humor
In Giants the gameplay is heavily affected by the Species you are playing as. There are 3 Species in total.
 Meccaryns - also called Meccs are the technological advanced species. They use heavy weaponry, vehicles and Structures build with the help of Smarties (little inhabitants of the planet). As a Mecc the game feels like a third person shooter.
 Sea Reaper - Using Magic and some structures (again, build with the help of smarties) Sea Reapers can teleport and leap over the battlefield and rush through the water, in which deadly fish wait for the other two species. One Sea Reaper is capable of taking on several Meccs, if he splits them up.
 Kabuto - Think of a mix between Godzilla and King Kong. Now give him sharp teeth and the ability to raise an army of  baby-dinosaurs and you got yourself a Kabuto. A Kabuto is an army of itself and there usualy is only one of them on the planet. But beware - you have a very vulnerable spot on your body that can be exploited by the other species.
The Multiplayer gamemode features an asymetric Team vs Team vs Team environment. The ratio between the species is usualy 3 Meccaryns vs 2 Sea Reapers vs 1 Kabuto or any scaled variant of that. Each species is so well implemented that you will be happy to take any side and people wont fight over playing the Kabuto everytime.
The Singleplayer gamemode features a linear storyline, lots of humors and interesting missions that don't get repetitive.


You can buy the game DRM free on gog.
There is a graphics enhancement mod you can get here.

You might not have played Necromania - Trap of Darkness (PC)

Necromania is a game from Slovakian developer Darksoft Game Development Studio and a Czech company Cinemax released in 2002. It received bad reviews from press and players, but is actualy an interesting game.

Gameplay: Singleplayer, Multiplayer, MOBA
The term 'MOBA' stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena and recently got more popularity with the success of 'League of Legends', 'Dota 2' and upcoming titles such as 'Heros of the Storm'. Necromania is not an 'Aeon of Strife' Cardboard cutout like those games though and deserves the tag 'MOBA' with its unique gameplay that shines in a multiplayer environment exspecialy when playing against friends.
The objective of the game is to find parts of a key inside a dungeon and use those to open a door to escape. There is only enough keyparts for one key though, so you have to get the parts your enemies are holding onto by luring them into traps.
There are different characters that have mostly the same ablities to lay traps into chests or on the ground. Those traps can keep enemies trapped in environmental hazards or deal direct damage. Every character has a certain speciality only he can do though. The Mage for example can turn invisible.
All of those special abilities use up Mana, which also serves as your Healthpoints. So if you spam too many traps without replenishing your mana or stealing mana from enemies by them activating your traps, you will be at low hp and easy to take on in a direct battle with your opponent.
The ingame taunt system is very elaborate which adds alot to the multiplayer experience with friends. I would not recommend the Singleplayer though, since it can get boring easily to fight against CPU-opponents which cant feel the pain of losing all key parts right before they could open the door.


The game can be found for a few dollars on many online platforms such as ebay and Amazon. If you still look for a fun game for a lan party you should pick this up.

You might not have played Shantae (GBC)

Although the Shantae franchise is getting more well known with the release of the third game for the Nintendo 3DS and the successful Kickstarter for an HD Shantae Game, most people might not have played Shantae for the Gameboy Color. 

Gameplay: Adventure, Platformer, Singleplayer 
Shantae is a game that is incredibly charming due to its rich variety in graphics and detail. If you play it you notice right from the beginning that this game does not play around. It is well directed and still has an open side scrolling world for you to explore. The Exceiting part about this game is that it uses some metroidvania aspects in its gameplay. Obtain an ability or key item and more pathways open up for you to explore. Additionaly it does a great job telling a cute story of a Half-Genie who wants to fulfill her job in protecting a city, which is normaly a job for full fledged genies. The abilities you get over the course of the game are exciting to use and definately a strong point of the game.

Play this on an online-emulator, because the game costs no less than 200$ this day and age.

You might not have played SOULFU - Secret Of Ultimate Legendary Fantasy Unleashed (PC)

SOULFU is a game developed by Aaron Bishop who is currently working on the Sandbox Game Lords of Uberdark, which might also be worth looking at.

Gameplay: Dungeon Crawler, Coop, Third Person
The objective of the game is to explore a dungeon and get as far down as possible before you die. Along your way you have to defeat several monsters, bosses and avoid traps. To survive this endavour you can play together with 3 of your friends in a hot seat coop mode using keyboard and joypads. There is a good variety of classes to choose from that all have interesting unique features. The dwarven character for example, is able to resist poison, while the hobbit character is able to see traps.
Since the game is very punishing on character deaths (experience loss) and quite challenging in the lower levels, you will start the game over to perform better on the earlier levels and conserve more ressources. The game manages to stay interesting though since you can mix up your class composition and you can hope for more nice loot in the next run.

Download: Windows/Linux/Mac - Windows version with the option to save the game.