1995 was filled with some banger video games. Players were treated to everything from Chrono Trigger to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest to Twisted Metal and everything in between. However, there are a few more under-the-radar games that didn’t enjoy that incredible level of success. Still, those cult classics are well worth checking out if you missed them in the ’90s. Here are five mostly forgotten gems from the 1990s that are absolutely worth your time. Of course, they aren’t the only ones, but this list should give you a good idea of what’s available across the various genres.
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5) The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
The first Gabriel Knight point-and-click adventure game launched in 1993. It featured Tim Curry in the lead role, but didn’t hit its sales targets despite great reviews. The developers at Sierra On-Line decided to switch things for the sequel. They couldn’t get Curry back into the booth, but it wasn’t a money issue. Instead, the developers wanted to produce the sequel entirely in full-motion video.
No offense to the incomparable Tim Curry, but he doesn’t look anything like Gabriel Knight. Plus, the increased production cycle would’ve made it difficult to secure his talents for an extended session. Regardless, The Beast Within pushed the genre forward, garnering great review scores and solid sales. Sure, it wasn’t the breakout hit the developers were hoping for, but it did well enough to get a third game, which brought back Curry and moved to the third dimension. It’s not as good as the first two games, but it was a neat experiment for Sierra.
4) Comix Zone
Let’s get this out of the way: Comix Zone is a devilishly difficult game. If you’re looking for a casual laugh of a beat ’em up, this one isn’t for you. That said, if you want something that will push you to your limits while also giving you an innovative look and feel, Comix Zone is a game worth checking out.
See, you play as comic artist Sketch Turner. He’s been trapped inside of his own creation, which gives Comix Zone a unique look. It really is like you’re fighting inside of a comic book. However, Sketch, as an artist, doesn’t have a ton of actual fighting skills. In fact, when you attack, Sketch actually takes damage. That means you need to consider every action because you can very easily find yourself dead after a few bad choices. Still, it’s a great-looking beat ’em up with some brain-teasing puzzles. And if you fall in love, Sega is supposedly working on a film adaptation as of 2022.
3) Secret of Evermore
Secret of Evermore is a bit of a historical artifact, as the only game developed by Square Enix’s North American design team, Square USA. It also never got a Japanese release, which is the exact opposite of many JRPGs of the era. Usually, things were the other way around, with players in the West waiting years, if not decades, before finally getting some of the best RPGs of the era.
That aside, Secret of Evermore is a nifty RPG featuring a boy and his shapeshifting dog. You’re dropped into the fantasy world of Evermore and must battle your way through the various realms. As you’d expect, given the title, Evermore has a lot in common with Secret of Mana, one of the SNES’s best RPGs. However, Square added a new magic system that heavily features alchemy to keep the combat fresh. Some players were befuddled by the alchemy system, but once you get a handle on it, you’ll master it quickly. And even if you don’t vibe with the combat, Evermore is a gorgeous game that really demonstrated the power of the SNES.
2) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
This 1995 point-and-click adventure horror game is based on Harlan Ellison’s classic short story from the ’60s. Importantly, the developers at Cyberdreams brought Ellison in to help design this game, so you can rest assured that it handles the source material well. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream does tackle some adult topics, which might be part of the reason it was a commercial failure at launch.
It’s not that players in the ’90s weren’t looking for something that would challenge their way of thinking, but it was definitely a rarity in the video game space. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream was so drastically different from most other games at the time that you can understand why it took time before it attained cult status. Still, this is an exceptional take on the classic story, and a must-play for any fan of Ellison. Thankfully, Nightdive Studios has helped keep it around, making Ellison’s classic easily available on platforms like Steam.
1) Terranigma
Quintet isn’t a studio fans talk about much these days, but the team behind games like ActRaiser and Illusion of Gaia had a great run during the early ’90s. Terranigma might be its best game, finishing off the unofficial trilogy of action RPGs the studio created for the SNES (Soul Blazer and Gaia being the other two). However, players in North America never got to have an official release. Enix, which published Terranigma in Japan, had closed its office in the US by the time localization for Australia and Europe had finished, so it wasn’t released in the region.
Making matters worse, Terranigma had complicated rights issues, which meant it never got a re-release, despite fans begging for it over the years. That looks like it might finally be changing soon. A few teasers for Gamescom 2026 seem to be hinting at a Terranigma re-release very soon. Hopefully, we learn more during Gamescom, but either way, Terranigma is a must-try for RPG fans. It is, quite comfortably, one of the best action RPGs on the SNES, featuring fast-paced combat and a phenomenal story.
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Image Courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment
