ITT we recommend games that we love and provide descriptions

[Anonymous No.1392868]

...but we ALSO provide the means of playing them immediately. Give a download for the rom/torrent and emulator if it's more obscure than the standard SNES/Genesis/N64 deals.

My recommendation: River Raid for Atari 2600

I really can't recommend this game enough. It's gameplay is timeless as fuck and the controls are tight. Atari games were notorious for bad controls but this game is pretty much perfect. It's a flying shooter where you fly across a linear map (though there are often branching pathways) avoiding obstacles and taking out enemies along the way that come in the form of ships, planes, jets and helicopters among others. Your fuel keeps running out and in order to refuel you must fly over refueling bases. If you run out you die and it really adds to the tension and sense of urgency. You can slow down, speed up and move from side to side but you can never completely stop moving. As you progress the levels get more challenging in that the pathways get narrower and more enemies are thrown at you. Each level is marked by a checkpoint system when you blow up the bridge at the start. You have a limited number of lives which I think may be increased after you hit certain score targets.

It holds up pretty damn well. It's easily one of the best shooters I've ever played and I think it's somewhat of a forgotten classic.

>Classic Game Room Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfWeKTlUw9I
>Pure gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmPjsBDN9Xw

Downloads:
>Atari emulator
http://stella.sourceforge.net/downloads.php
>River Raid rom
http://coolrom.com/roms/atari2600/15882/River_Raid.php

Do yourself a favour and play this game right now.

[Anonymous No.1393325]

bump

come oooonnnnnnnnn

[Anonymous No.1394047]

Bump. Please respond. This could be a great thread.

You can recommend ANYTHING you want across all genres and platforms... doesn't have to be obscure or anything.

[Anonymous No.1394067]

>>1394047
I'll post something in a bit

[Anonymous No.1394118]

I'm not much good at explaining, but i'll take a stab at it.
>Lords of Magic

A turn based strategy game with combat in pausable realtime, and a good amount of RPG elements to boot. Somewhat similar to Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

There's 8 different factions as well as 3 different heroes (warrior/mage/thief types) as well as a fair amount of different troops.

The combat itself is a bit of a hit and miss at times, but the spell system is pretty awesome with everything from run-of-the-mill spellcasting to battlefield wrecking area spells to terraforming. Then there's a rudimentary inventory system that allows for potions, scrolls and artifacts for your heroes.

The game also features a fair bit of diplomacy, with each faction having an opinion of the others (depending on how similar/opposed they are to start with).

The game revolves around defeating the lord of death who you'll inevitably have to fight, but there's still a good deal of freedom in what you do, so while there's an overarching plot you're by no means forced to follow in any rails except that as an ultimate goal.

The graphics are alright, and personally i love the atmosphere. The music deserves a note, as it is absolutely godtier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sseb0Z59zt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySy6QIa1KBM


For buyfags there's GOG, and for piratefags there's the piratebay, and probably other places.

Just be sure to get the special edition, as it solves a lot of bugs and polishes the gameplay.

[Anonymous No.1394125]

I'm not much good at explaining, but i'll take a stab at it.
>Lords of Magic

A turn based strategy game with combat in pausable realtime, and a good amount of RPG elements to boot. Somewhat similar to Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

There's 8 different factions as well as 3 different heroes (warrior/mage/thief types) as well as a fair amount of different troops.
The combat itself is a bit of a hit and miss at times, but the spell system is pretty awesome with everything from run-of-the-mill spellcasting to battlefield wrecking area spells to terraforming. Then there's a rudimentary inventory system that allows for potions, scrolls and artifacts for your heroes.
The game also features a fair bit of diplomacy, with each faction having an opinion of the others (depending on how similar/opposed they are to start with).
The game revolves around defeating the lord of death who you'll inevitably have to fight, but there's still a good deal of freedom in what you do, so while there's an overarching plot you're by no means forced to follow in any rails except that as an ultimate goal.

The graphics are alright, and personally i love the atmosphere. The music deserves a note, as it is absolutely godtier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sseb0Z59zt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySy6QIa1KBM


For buyfags there's GOG, and for piratefags there's the piratebay, and probably other places.
Just be sure to get the special edition, as it solves a lot of bugs and polishes the gameplay.

[Anonymous No.1394429]

Ultima Online

Charming two dimensional online MMORPG with unrestricted PVP unless in guarded areas, but committing crimes comes at a price. Your name turns to gray, which indicates you have committed a crime (thieving, murdering, et cetera), and can now be killed with absolutely no repercussions. If you kill five players, your name turns red, and bounty hunters will often track you down to of course murder you, keep the loot, and receive payout for killing the murderer. This game will leave you riddled in fear every time you decide to leave town walls. You can party up with other players to increase your chances of survival in the wilderness and in deadly caves filled to the brim in dangerous monsters and players (red fuckers dwell in deeper parts of caves often so they can kill you after you receive decent loot and basically disable you from being able to go back down to that area to even fight for the items back (as items do not carry over from death, unless it is blessed, so no weapons or magic)). It is not necessary to grind, as there is no significant benefit to having higher skills than another player, although you may find yourself doing so anyways, as the benefits to leveling up can still be the difference of life and death.

Ultima Online Forever is an updated private shard, free of charge and pretty popular. When you first start out, you are "Youth", meaning that unless you renounce your youth, enemies will not attack until you attack them, and other players cannot attack you unless you do so to them. Use this time wisely to get a feel for the game, make friends with other players, get a feel for the environment, and explore. Be sure to follow the tour guide when you first start the game, as he is extremely helpful.

http://www.uoforever.com/
(the original servers cost money, and have been altered heavily for users that dislike PVP)
(yes there are other servers)

[Anonymous No.1394445]

>I think it's somewhat of a forgotten classic.
>River Raid
>forgotten

Yeah, along with Pacman, Zork and Asteroids. Games that time forgot.

Anyway, I don't want to post sarcasm without contributing, so here's a link to an interview with Carol Shaw - sole developer of River Raid (as was the norm for the 2600).

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800/vcg-interview-carol-shaw-female-video-game-pioneer-2

[Anonymous No.1394457]

>>1394445
I've never seen anybody else on /vr/ mention River Raid apart from me, m8.

Pacman and Asteroids are both far more well known and iconic than River Raid, come on.

[Anonymous No.1394460]

>>1394457

River Raid was groundbreaking, sold a trillion copies and was ported to at least 9 different systems I can think of and spawned countless remakes and knock-offs. I'm not saying you're lying when you claim you haven't seen it discussed on /vr/ but it's not even close to a forgotten game. It's always been extremely popular.

[Anonymous No.1394463]

Somebody needs to revive River Raid. Make that shit 3D and let it play like Star Fox 64.

Why are Star Fox 64 type games dead? Hell, why is Star Fox dead? Fuck everything.

[Anonymous No.1394470]

>>1394445
omg it's a grill

[Anonymous No.1394475]

>8th best selling game on the console
>More than a million copies sold on the 2600 alone
>Put Activision on the map
>Invented the vertical scrolling shooter
>Universally revered by critics
>Ported to every system ever invented

Hey, have you guys heard of River Raid? It's a pretty underground indie game at the moment but I think people will really start to appreciate it in a few years.

[Anonymous No.1394481]

Please tell me more about River Raid, OP. For you see, I have been on Mars for the last three decades, in a cave, with my eyes shut and my fingers in my ears.

[Anonymous No.1394530]

>>1392868
Is there a point to any of this? I know River Raid's a good game, I don't need some attention whore telling me to find that out.

[Anonymous No.1394753]

>>1394530
Suck my black dick.

[Anonymous No.1394759]

>>1394753
nom nom nom nom

[Anonymous No.1394926]

>>1392868
>http://coolrom.com/roms/atari2600/15882/River_Raid.php
Fuck yeah, River Raid! Probably my favourite from Atari.

[Anonymous No.1396459]

Okay, so River Raid is apparently well known even though I've never seen a mention of it on this board! Awesome! Let's move on now and get back to the topic, thanks.

[Anonymous No.1396531]

Shatterhand for NES.

Rather than attempt to write my own review, I'm just going to copypaste a review that describes it far better than I ever could:

>The attacking from Street Fighter 2000, mixed with the more fluent control of Power Blade. Shatterhand is an excellent beat'm up for the NES.
>Just the act of punching an opponent feels satisfying. The graphical flair and the sound effect really give you the sensation that you are punching your way through this enemy or obstacle. Movement and jumping are almost spot on perfect, with jumping proving to be a little more slippery than Megaman or Mario. Keeping your footing on certain platforms requires some experience with the mechanics.
>The level design is akin to NES Batman, without the wall jumping. The graphics are pure NES gold, almost always dark and gritty, with plenty of attention to detail.
>Shatterhand is an excellent unknown title. Give it a try and spread the word so that other's may enjoy it as well.

Also, you can punch fucking bullets out of the air.

http://www.emuparadise.me/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_ROMs/Shatterhand_%28USA%29/56863

[Anonymous No.1397650]

>>1396459
Atari doesn't get much mention OK?
There are threads now and then but usually get buried beneath the usual threads of babbies arguing over what is the best Megaman/FinalFantasy/Zelda/Sonic etcetera...

Contributing to your thread now.
One of the lesser know Activision games for the humble 2600, years before Ecco, was Dolphin. A fast paced flee and chase game where sound plays an important role. You listen to your sonar to help navigate through the reefs to flee the killer octopus, grab the magic seagull and the tables are turned and you can give it to the slimy bastard. One of my fave Atari titles, one I can always revisit and enjoy.

>Rom
http://www.coolrom.com/roms/atari2600/16136/Dolphin.php

>Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byP17uCAr9Y

[Anonymous No.1397673]

>Bucky O' Hare for NES

This is a top tier side scrolling shooter/platformer for NES which is undoubtedly criminally underrated. The shooting and controls are extremely tight and responsive, the level design is incredibly varied, innovative and imaginative (like, fucking seriously) and as you save your compadres you unlock their different abilities which add to the gameplay.

I'll let the game speak for itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJYcXN_SgIw

>Download
http://coolrom.com/roms/nes/786/Bucky_O%27Hare.php

[Anonymous No.1397678]

>>1397673
>>1397673
Everyone knows fucking bucky o'hare

these threads are always shit because it's full of people like this

[Anonymous No.1397712]

>>1397678
The thread is about "games that we love", not "obscure games that we love".

Fuck off.

[Anonymous No.1397725]

>>1397712
Yeah but it's been made abundantly clear no one is interested in the same old NES shit

[Anonymous No.1397989]

>>1397712
Just ignore him man. Bitches gonna bitch.

[Anonymous No.1397995]

>>1397678
I didnt know bucky o hare.

[Anonymous No.1398004]

Twin Cobra for NES.

My dad got it for me because it had cool helicopters on the box, but man we played that shit for years. Its way better than 1943, which was what i sorta compared it to at the time. Controls are fast and it gets bretty hard.

[Anonymous No.1398193]

>>1397712
Not to mention, most people on this board (myself included) probably haven't played more than one or two Atari games. But hey, I guess we could talk about Zelda 2 some more.