Throughout its time, the Nintendo Entertainment System saw over 1,300 licensed games, with around 700 showing up in the U.S. While everyone knows of Mario, Zelda, and other popular titles, some are incredibly obscure, thanks to low production numbers, poor marketing, and releases late in the console’s life. For a game to be obscure, it has to be unknown to the broader NES gamer population during its production run, so it helps if few were made or sold upon release. Obscure doesn’t necessarily mean rare, but the two often go hand in hand when talking about some of the more obscure NES titles, which are difficult to find. Each of these five NES games was obscure back in the day, and they’re arranged in no particular order.
Videos by ComicBook.com
1) Panic Restaurant
Panic Restaurant was released in late 1992 with little fanfare, ensuring it would remain obscure as Nintendo placed most of its publishing efforts on the Super Nintendo. The game is quirky, centering around a chef named Cookie who’s been cursed by his rival, Ohdove. He must fight through hordes of food-related enemies with nothing but his kitchen utensils across six levels before facing off against his foe in a final boss battle. Despite the game’s obscurity, Panic Restaurant received high praise upon release. It’s not the hardest game to play, but it offers a fun, interesting story with excellent level design and interesting sprites. Because of its low production and sales numbers, Panic Restaurant is an often sought-after item among Nintendo collectors.
2) Little Samson
Like Panic Restaurant, Little Samson came along at the end of the NES’ lifespan, selling only small amounts with a limited marketing strategy. While this ensured its obscurity at the time, the game has since become one of the most sought-after for various reasons. Most notably, Little Samson is a great NES title that features an engaging story, well-crafted mechanics, and detailed graphics. It focuses on four heroes who must fight a demon king to save the kingdom. Each of the heroes has unique abilities, and the player can select a different one at any time. This wasn’t common in NES titles, making Little Samson relatively unique.
3) Clash at Demonhead
These days, a lot of folks know about Clash at Demonhead because of its use in the Scott Pilgrim comics, game, cartoon, and movie, but when it was released, it was fairly obscure. Regardless, the game was innovative in several ways, functioning as an open-ended platformer that allowed players to revisit areas once they acquired new abilities. It includes more than 40 routes a player can take across its non-linear structure, and some have dubbed it the first “open-world” game. It’s an interesting title, though not the NES’ best. Few today would know of it were it not for Brie Larson fronting the rival band in Scott Pilgrim, as it’s not particularly valuable or of interest to collectors.
4) Kid Klown in Night Mayor World
There’s no denying that some NES games have interesting titles, as Kid Klown in Night Mayor World certainly demonstrates. The game was published long after the NES was at its end, arriving in mid-1993 (the SNES arrived two years earlier). It’s a complete reskin of Mickey Mouse III: Balloon Dreams, which was exclusive to Japan. The gameplay and story are entertaining, and involve Night Mayor attempting to use Kid Klown to open a treasure vault. When he refuses, the evil magician kidnaps his family. Kid Klown must venture into his evil world to rescue them. The game’s low production numbers and minimal marketing resulted in its obscurity, though it did spawn a small franchise.
5) Zombie Nation
Zombie Nation is an odd shoot-’em-up, where the player controls a giant, floating samurai head, which shoots from its eyeballs or vomits upon enemies. There are four levels, and like in Mega Man, the player can choose the order in which they proceed. The goal is to beat the four levels and then face off against the final boss, Darc Seed. The game is weird but well-programmed and not extremely difficult, making it fun for multiple playthroughs. That said, it’s not easy either, so expect to die a lot while playing Zombie Nation. It’s a bizarre game, to be sure, and it had low sales and limited marketing, ensuring its obscurity towards the end of the NES’ lifecycle.
What’s your favorite obscure title from the NES era? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Valve -
Courtesy of Shueisha
