Fun games to try (those considered hidden gems)

[SamVision]

Rogue Trooper

[SuperSomariDX]

I highly reccommend Recca

[xenixsystemv]

Nuclear Throne.

You'll probably wind up screaming a bit but it's good fun. Just make sure to install the Nuclear Throne Together mod if you want to play any mods on the newer versions.

[Reactor]

Nightmare on Elm Street for the PC

Everyone knows the NES version, thanks to the Nerd, but very few people knows that there exists a Freddy Krueger game which is actually good. It is based on the third installment of the series - the Dream Warriors - and as such, you're allowed to choose from 5 different characters, each has an unique dream power, and different amount of power and soul (these can be extended later on). The goal is of course, to defeat Freddy, and the game takes place inside his house,within a nightmare.
The game itself is a top-down adventure game. You need to collect items, kill evil monsters, open locked doors, solve various fiendish puzzles, and if you can, rescue your friends. Later on, enemies can shoot, but you can also collect firearms, such as pistol, shotgun, ice blaster and a taser gun, which shoots LAZORZ. Pew pew pew! There are also a huge number of hazards, such as spikes, burning fire, electric jolts and water gushes. The layout of the levels change in every third level: there is the Freddy house layout, a slimy green world, a housing estate rooftop scenario, a winter wonderland and finally, the boiler room.
The game is not hard, but later on, many of the puzzles are near impossible to figure out, as they have no logic. Heh, even the back cover of the game warned the players that "Freddy cheats". After level 3, it will be mandatory to locate and find hidden teleports, and later, there'll be switches and buttons that control these teleports, so it'll be tough to navigate the levels later on, especially back then when there was no written walkthrough on "da Intarnetz", and you had to figure out the solution all by yourself.

The game has lots of nice features, such as tunneling, vending machines, ice blaster can extinguish fire, and crates that can hold many kinds of useful items (or traps for that matter). Interestingly, the game has little to no glitches at all, which is quite surprising, as here, bugs could be easily handwaved by saying that "anything is possible in a dream". There's an useful glitch which can give you unlimited gold coins. The biggest problem is that many of the riddles are completely illogical, and you'll spend years to figure them out. The final level actually took me 12 years to finish, because the damn game simply didn't give me enough instructions how to complite the crucifix puzzle. Also, there are 2 exits on level 7 (secret levels???) which cannot be accessed by no means. I guess this'd require reverse engineering, and some day when I'll be filthy rich, I'll pay large sums to a programmer to take the game apart.
All in all, a pretty enjoyable, yummy little game, but it's very easy to get stuck. Don't be ashamed if you need to look up a solution online, and you'll be fine.

[Clownman]

Play Klonoa 1 & 2 and the Pac-Man World trilogy, right nao~.

[Oberron]

Navy Seals on the Gameboy. Short, but it's some good 2D side-scroll action on the go.

[JudgeGroovy]

That Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death shooter is a lot of fun, and it's often really cheap on steam. I'm a fan of the comic as you may gather from my username.

Double Dragon Neon was pretty rad.

[Reactor]

Balloon Challenge

This is for the lovers of puzzle games. A quite decent one, I might add. The shareware version is a one player vs. the AI only, the registered version has a two-player option.
You control the red balloons. The goal is to launch your balloons sky-high on a route which leads to the very top. This is how you score in this game (you can also grab the 10-point bonuses en route, if you can). After that, the second player launches a balloon, trying to get it as high as it can. Then you again, then the AI until all balloons are gone. The player with most points win.
Each course is generated randomly, and there are a number of obstacles and specials on every level. Directional clouds will push the balloon aside, then the arrow changes to the polar opposite. These are very useful, as they can move balloons sideways. Tornados will teleport the balloon some place else, and aeroplanes will destroy a balloon if collides with. Gray clouds are just walls.
Not an easy game. The AI is pretty good, and can easily calculate the most profitable route. One must take each possible route into account, watch the position of the planes and whirlwinds as they can move, and try to grab more points than the opponent. It has no music and the sound effects are also pretty basic, but otherwise, it's one of the better thinking games.

[Viscra Maelstrom]

it was also released on Android devices, for a much easier and accessible experience for those who have one.

[wildweasel]

it was also released on Android devices, for a much easier and accessible experience for those who have one.

It's still bizarre to me that William Soleau is still around, and is still selling the same games he did in 1993.

[scalliano]

Ballistic NG. It's basically PS1 WipEout 4.

It's free too, so there's no excuse.

[Reactor]

it was also released on Android devices, for a much easier and accessible experience for those who have one.

Yes, I noticed that. I guess Balloon Challenge was somewhat successful, and porting it didn't cause any major headache to the programmers, so why not. It's a bit disappointing that no further thinking games were released by Soleau Software (at least none I know about), and Balloon Challenge wasn't remade either. It was a promising start, even if by 1993, such games were considered outdated.

[Viscra Maelstrom]

oh, that reminds me, i know of a game most people probably don't know. Mini Car Racing.



it's kind of a blend of Micro Machines (the racing perspective) and kart racers (shooting other racers) and probably a few others. your goal is to win all the leagues by coming first as many times as you can (you don't have to do so for every race, but i believe you need an average winning-streak to progress), and you do this by driving and shooting down everyone else on the track. you get a set amount of money to start with to spend on a car, and upgrading its attributes and weapons, so it goes faster, steers better, and is able to shoot everyone else down until they explode for bonus credits. there's also bonus cash scattered around on the track, so some car dexterity skills is required. it also looks really damn good for its time; seriously, the game is from 2001 or something like that! i also enjoyed some of the glitches, like how cars gets destroyed when they cross the finish line before the green light goes on. that makes sense, but if you're behind a car, you can push them forward to destroy them!

unfortunately, this game has never been re-released on any platform, as AEON Design seems to have withered away into non-existence, and eGames got bought up and doesn't exist anymore. on top of that, i'm not sure if you can install this game on a modern 64 bit system either. still though, it's an enjoyable racing game that looks well, plays well, and seems relatively unknown nowadays. the only thing that's missing is a soundtrack (this game has no music at all, maybe you were supposed to play your own CDs with it?)

[DoomRater]

That minicar racing game looks a lot like RC Pro AM on the NES. Even kinda sounds like it!

[Viscra Maelstrom]

wow, the similarity is certainly striking. possibly another source of inspiration, then. also, Dave Wise music is a plus, even though it's barely present in the actual game.