c/forgotten-video-games

Swapped to an NES Zapper for Duck Hunt after using a knockoff light gun for years

Found my old NES at my uncle's place in Detroit and tried the official Zapper versus the off-brand one I grew up with. The knockoff missed ducks CONSTANTLY while the real one hit 90% of the time. Anyone else try a cheap accessory and think it was fine until you tried the real thing?

Pro tip: don't take speedrunning advice from a guy named 'Sweaty' on a forum from 2005

Overheard a kid at the retro game store say PS1 graphics are 'unplayable'

Found out the 1999 game 'Vigilante 8' sold way more than I thought

I read an old interview where a dev said it moved over a million copies, which is crazy for a car combat game. Did it actually have that big a fanbase or were the numbers inflated?

My nephew called 'Vexx' a bad game and it really got to me

Honestly, I was showing him some old PS2 games and he tried Vexx for like ten minutes. He said it felt clunky and the camera was broken. Tbh, that game was my whole summer in 2003. I must have spent 60 hours collecting those shadow wraith hearts. It made me realize how much we just accepted jank back then because the ideas were so cool. Does anyone else have a game like that, where you know it's flawed but you still love it?

My friend called my favorite old game 'a weird, janky mess' and it made me look at it differently

He said 'the controls feel like you're fighting the game itself' about 'Voodoo Vince' on the original Xbox, and now I can't unsee it. Anyone else have a game they loved that a single piece of criticism totally reframed for them?

My cousin found my old copy of 'Vexx' for the GameCube and said 'this game feels like a weird dream I had once' and honestly... yeah

Found a weird way to beat the final boss in 'Vexx' on the original Xbox

I got stuck on that giant rock monster for a week, trying to hit its weak spot from the front. Then I tried jumping on its back and hitting the glowing part there instead, and it went down in maybe 30 seconds. It was a total game changer for a fight I thought was broken. Did anyone else find a different trick for that boss?

My uncle's attic held a copy of 'Mister Mosquito' for the PS2 and I still can't believe it's real

I was helping him clean out his place in Akron last month and found this weird game from 2001. You play as a mosquito trying to suck blood from a Japanese family without getting swatted. The whole thing is just... bizarre. I popped it into my old PS2 and spent an hour trying to land on a dad's bald head while he watched TV. The controller rumbles when you suck, and if you take too much the family freaks out. It's so specific and strange that I had to look it up online to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Who greenlit this? Has anyone else ever actually played this thing, or did I find the only copy in Ohio?

I was wrong about 'Glover' on the N64. A busted controller made me see it differently.

Just found out the 1998 game 'Gex: Enter the Gecko' had a whole level based on a 'Baywatch' parody

I was watching a random YouTube video about old PS1 games and they showed a clip of it, complete with slow motion running. Did any other games from that era do stuff like that with TV shows?

That weird choice in 'Galleon' on the original Xbox

I was playing 'Galleon' back in 2004, and there was this part where you had to choose to either save your first mate or chase after the main villain's ship immediately. I picked the ship, thinking it was the 'right' story move, but the game just got way harder without my crewmate's help in later fights. Anyone else remember a choice in an old game that totally backfired on you?

I spent $80 on a sealed copy of 'Vexx' for the GameCube and I don't regret it at all

Everyone says it's just a bad 'Super Mario Sunshine' clone, but I think it's got way more soul... the art is weird and dark in a cool way. I found it at a flea market last year, the seller said it was junk. I played it for like 15 hours and the platforming is actually pretty tight once you get used to it. Yeah, the camera is a pain, but so many games from that time were like that. For a forgotten 2003 game, it holds up better than people give it credit for. Has anyone else actually given this one a real shot?

Found my old PS1 memory card and it corrupted my entire save for 'Gex: Enter the Gecko'

This happened just last night when I dug out my old console from the basement. I was so excited to finally beat that weird hotel level I got stuck on as a kid. Plugged in the memory card, loaded up the game, and my 98% complete file was just gone, replaced with garbled text. All those hours spent collecting those remote control TVs, poof. Has anyone else had a memory card totally fail on them after like 20 years in a box?

That one puzzle in 'Vexx' on the original Xbox that made me quit for a month

I was trying to get a heart piece in the Shadowglen level, which needed you to light three torches in a certain order while a moving shadow blocked your view. The game gave you zero hints. I spent maybe four hours over two days just running around that stupid dark room. The fix? You had to stand on a specific cracked tile to see the shadow pattern on the wall. It took me a full month before I looked it up online and felt like a total fool. Anyone else get completely stonewalled by an old game's bad design?

Just hit 100 hours in a weird PS2 game nobody remembers

I was digging through old boxes and found my copy of 'Blinx: The Time Sweeper'. I booted it up for a laugh and got hooked all over again. The time control mechanics are janky but weirdly fun, and I just saw my save file hit 100 hours total. Anyone else ever get way too into a forgotten mascot platformer?

I just wasted $80 on a sealed copy of 'Blinx: The Time Sweeper'

Found it at a retro shop in Cleveland, thought it would be a cool hidden gem. The game is just a clunky, frustrating mess with awful controls. I played for maybe two hours before giving up completely. Anyone else get burned by a 'forgotten' game that was forgotten for a good reason?

Found a weird PS2 game at a yard sale that felt like a dream

Last Saturday I grabbed a box of old games for five bucks at a sale in Akron. In it was a PS2 game called 'Gadget Racers' I'd never heard of. I popped it in and it was this strange mix of racing with toy cars and a weird story mode. The handling felt really floaty, and the graphics were kind of muddy even for 2003. It's one of those games that just vanished without a trace. Has anyone else run into this one or know why it's so forgotten?

A friend told me my old game picks were too safe and I should dig deeper

About two years back, I was showing a buddy my shelf of PS2 games, mostly big hits like God of War. He said, 'You're only playing the stuff everyone remembers. The real weird stuff is in the bargain bins.' So I took his advice and started looking. I found a game called 'Mister Mosquito' from 2001, where you play as a bug trying to suck blood from a family. It was so strange and totally changed how I look for games now. I spend more time in thrift stores looking for odd titles than I do replaying classics. Has anyone else had a game like that, something totally off the wall that you'd never find on a 'best of' list?

Unpopular opinion: Choosing the 'evil' path in 'Gladius' for the GameCube was way more fun than the good one.

I picked the rival school, Valens, over the heroes, and their gladiator fights had way better arena hazards, like the giant scorpion in the desert pit.

Warning: I paid $40 for a sealed copy of 'Blinx: The Time Sweeper' and the disc was rotted

I found it at a flea market about six months ago, still in the plastic wrap. The case looked perfect, so I thought it was a safe buy for my original Xbox collection. When I opened it, the disc had that weird bronze color and wouldn't read at all. The seller was long gone, so I was just out the cash. It's a known issue with some Xbox games from that era, but you never think it'll happen to you. Has anyone else gotten burned by disc rot on a game they were really excited to play?

Unpopular opinion: The 2003 game 'Whacked!' for the original Xbox had a better party mode than most people remember.

After playing it again last weekend, I realized its fast-paced, chaotic mini-games still hold up better than a lot of modern stuff, has anyone else tried going back to it?

Found my old PS2 memory card and it was full of a game I haven't thought about in 15 years

I was cleaning out a box from my parents' attic in Toledo and found a memory card with a save file for 'Whiplash', that weird game where you play as a weasel strapped to a rabbit. I used to rent it from Blockbuster every other weekend back in 2004. What other weird PS2 era games did you guys rent constantly but never buy?

Serious question, who else remembers 'Scaler' for PS2? My little cousin called it a 'weird lizard game' and now I'm trying to find other games like it.

Unpopular opinion: I used to think 'Gunvalkyrie' on the original Xbox was just a janky mess, but getting the twin-stick controls down after like 3 hours of failing in the first jungle level completely flipped my view.

I was stuck on my couch in 2002, my thumbs were cramping from trying to use the face buttons to aim, and I almost gave up until I actually read the manual and realized you're supposed to use both analog sticks independently, which let me finally beat that first giant bug boss and see how deep the combat gets.