Every console generation brings with it a few standout titles that dominate the conversation. These are the games that sell millions of copies, spark chatter and get remembered in every gaming retrospective. But for every huge release, there are dozens of games that quietly land on store shelves and then vanish. Some were victims ofbad marketing. Others launched during crowded release windows. A few were just too strange or experimental to attract the kind of audience they needed to become huge. Whatever the reason, they generally got passed over, even though they had something truly worthwhile to offer.
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These games weren’t necessarily perfect, but they were creative, memorable or just plain fun in ways that stuck with the players who played them. Maybe they pushed the limits of their hardware, told a story no one else was telling, or combined gameplay that felt ahead of their time. This list is a chance to highlight the ones that may have slipped through the cracks. They aren’t famous and didn’t top the charts, but they’re still worth playing today. If you’re tired of revisiting the same big-name franchises and want to find something different, this collection of overlooked games is the perfect place to start digging.
9Claymates
Remember Clayfighters? No? This Game Is a Spinoff
Claymates is one of the strangest platformerson the SNES and that’s saying something. It feels like a Saturday morning cartoon fused with a craft table, but the gameplay is actually solid. You control a child who turns into various animals made of clay, each with their own skills. One second, you’re a clay cat sprinting through trees, the next you’re a gopher that can shoot acorns from his mouth for some reason.
What really makes Claymates stick out is how creative it feels from moment to moment. It’s fast, colorful and just bizarre enough to stick in our memories. The claymation aesthetic hasn’t aged flawlessly, but there’s still charm in its handmade look. It never got the attention that other platformers on the SNES did, but it had more personality than half the mascots that did. It’s weird, colorful and it deserves more love.
8Radiata Stories
The Game That Lets You Casually Kick Folk and Recruit Almost Everyone
Radiata Stories
Radiata Stories is one of those quietly brilliant PS2 RPGs that never quite found its audience (on a system with aton of great RPGs). The battle system was simple but satisfying, the writing was funny and the real catch was its massive roster of recruitable characters. You could add over 170 NPCs to your party, some through story progression and others by discovering strange side quests or showing up at just the right moment…and some you just kick.
It wasn’t just about collecting characters. Radiata Stories also let you make some story-altering decisions that lock you out of entire factions depending on your choices. NPCs had daily routines and the game rewarded players who paid attention to small details. It felt like a world that actually existed. It’s quirky, full of charm and quietly ambitious in a way that deserves far more recognition than it gets.
7Magical Starsign
A Charming RPG That Got Lost in the Stars
Magical Starsign
Magical Starsign was a colorful, turn-based RPG for the Nintendo DS that slipped under the radar for most players. Known as Magical Vacation in Japan, it had a bright art style, a quirky cast of characters and a surprisingly deep elemental combat system tied to planetary alignments. Timing your attacks with the movement of the planets added an extra layer of strategy, even if it looked weird in motion.
The game leaned hard into its whimsical tone which worked in its favor. It didn’t take itself too seriously but still managed to deliver a solid adventure with some clever world-building and a good soundtrack. It may not have broken the RPG wheel, but it had heart. Magical Starsign came and went without much fanfare, but it remains one of the DS’s more unique and endearing RPGs.
6Custom Robo
Build a Toy Robot, Break a Toy Robot
Custom Robo
Custom Robo lets players build tiny customizable robots and throw them into fast-paced, Smash Bros-style arena battles. On the surface, it looked like a simple action game with a toy aesthetic, but there was surprising depth behind the anime visuals. You could swap out each part of your robo, including the body, guns, legs and pods to create a setup that matched your playstyle or countered the opposite robot.
It wasn’t the deepest fighter, but it was wildly addictive once the mechanics clicked and featured some of the best multiplayer matches. The campaign leaned into its Saturday morning cartoon energy, with goofy dialogue and over-the-top battles that made it hard to put down. Despite all that charm, it never really found a wide audience outside of Japan. That’s a shame because Custom Robo had everything it needed to become a cult classic.
5Threads of Fate
Two Playthroughs, One Underrated Gem
Threads of Fate
Threads of Fate is an action RPG from Squaresoft that lets you choose between two main characters with completely different stories (Square games areknown for great stories) and unique playstyles. Rue was the quiet, tragic one with shape-shifting powers, while Mint was loud, greedy and magical. The best part is that both paths offer unique levels, bosses and dialogue, making it worth playing twice to see everything.
The game has a whimsical tone, colorful visuals and emotional moments buried in the humor. It wasn’t a technical powerhouse by any means, but it has a lot of charm and creativity packed into a short runtime. Most people skipped over it because it launched quietly during a packed release year. Those who gave it a shot still think of it fondly as one of the most heartfelt RPGs on the PlayStation.
4Star Wars: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter
Finally, a Star Wars Game That Gave You Control
Star Wars: X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter
X-Wing vs TIE Fighter took the flight sim approach to Star Wars and ran with it. Instead of arcade-style dogfights, you get full control over your ship’s power systems, shields and weaponry. It was technical, punishing and rewarding if you had the patience to learn how your spaceship worked. The game didn’t care how many times you crashed; it expected you to figure it out and improve.
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There’s lot of freedom in the game, allowing you to go almost anywhere or even blow-up Star Destroyers. It isn’t flashy by modern standards, but it captures the tension and speed of space combat better than most games of its era. Whileother Star Wars titles get remakes, this game allows you to experience what it was like to fly a TIE Fighter with no safety net. This is the game that delivered that feeling.
3The Messenger
Ninja Gaiden to Super Metroid in One Game
The Messenger
The Messenger looks like a love letter to classic 8-bit action games, and for the first few hours, it is. NES-era platforming, quick attacks and constant waves of demons make it feel like a spiritual successor to Ninja Gaiden. Then, just when you think you’ve beat the game, the structure shifts and the game opens up into a full Metroidvania with time travel, hidden paths and more freedom to explore.
Member The Messenger?
This month we remember The Messenger.
What makes The Messenger stand out is how confident it is in its own weirdness. The writing breaks the fourth wall with the awesome shop owner, the music is top tier and the gameplay keeps evolving in unexpected ways. It doesn’t coast on nostalgia, but builds something new from familiar bits. What starts as a straightforward throwback ends up being one of the cleverest indie action games of its era. Did you knowSea of Starsis technically a prequel to The Messenger?
Possess a Dog, a Soldier and Maybe a Mouse
Geist is one of the strangesthorror games to come out of the GameCubeera. Instead of shooting through rooms like a traditional shooter, you play as a ghost who could possess people, animals and objects to solve puzzles or navigate restricted areas. It was part horror, part action and entirely different from anything else Nintendo had touched at the time.
While the controls are clunky, the concept is unforgettable. You could spook a guard by possessing a locker or take control of a dog to slip past security. The game threw ideas at you constantly, and even when it didn’t always land, it stayed interesting. Geist didn’t find much of a following, but it stands as a great example of what happens when a studio takes a big creative swing.
1Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
You’ll Know Everything There is to Know About Rice Farming
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin looked like a niche indie experiment when it launched, but it turned out to be one of the most satisfying genre blends in years. It mixes side-scrolling combat with articulate rice farming, and somehow makes both parts feel equally important. One moment you were fighting giant demons with over-the-top combos and the next you were measuring water depth to get the perfect harvest.
Your progress in combat was directly tied to how well you managed your rice farms and relationships. Better rice meant stronger stats and growing it required real attention to detail and failed harvests. It could’ve easily been a mess, but the loop worked. Sakuna might not have made a huge splash in the industry, but the people who played it found something special. It was either relaxing or intense. If anime is your thing, you could always watchthe anime sequel that is coming.
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