There are tons of great games that have been overlooked in the mass of more popular titles. And I don’t just mean underrated games, either. We’re talking about grossly underrated and underappreciated titles in otherwise well-regarded franchises.
A long-lost NES prototype from the 90s is now seeing full release more than 30 years later thanks to the Video Game History Foundation.
iam8bit has partnered with the Video Game History Foundation, Mega Cat Studios, and Retrotainment Games to bring programmer Chris Oberth’s long-long Nintendo Entertainment System game Xcavator back from the dead as Xcavatar 2025, also for Nintendo Entertainment System. It will launch as a premium physical release with a cartridge of the game and new manual. Pre-order are available now for $100 via iam8bit, with shipping to begin in Q2 2026.
One of the classic video game experiences that started it all, the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) kicked off some iconic games.
For me: Simon's Quest, Golgo 13, Mega Man 2, Final Fantasy, Nobunaga's Ambition, Zelda, Super Mario, and Metroid.
Zelda, Faxanadu, Castlevania 1, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Gradius, Blaster Master, Commando(I was so mad when I finally made it past level 99 and it reset to level 1 instead of having an ending wtf!) Contra,Metroid, Pro Wrestling and Tag Team Wrestling tied for me both were lots of fun. Those are just some of my favorite games off the top of my head.
NES games were all I got for birthdays Christmas etc once I got the NES for early Christmas/Birthday present 1986 or was it 85 man I’m getting old . Me and my brother begged our dad for months when we heard it was coming out to get it for us and to give it to us early. 199$ was a lot back then. I didn’t know it then but we got one of the very first consoles in the entire country because we lived in Los Angeles and we got it at release. This was before they locked up games but after the NES came out they started locking them up a few months later.
FINALLY someone who acknowledges the greatness of Gremlins 2 NES!! One of my favorite movie tie-in games of all times. I have fond memories of both the game and the movie from when I was a kid. I was playing it again just a couple of months ago, and it still holds up very, very well!
I rarely see people mention Gremlins 2 when discussing great NES games and I love you for that!
*edit - Sunsoft really was a fantastic studio. Another favorite, underrated late NES game from them was Batman Return of the Joker. It was so much better than the SNES version too. Something about it died in the effort towards upgrading the graphics and music. The NES version felt darker, moodier.
Yes! Zelda II is definitely underrated
Kabuki Quantum Fighters was a Nick Arcade classic. Never played it but the name has stuck with me to this day because of that show.
With Sunsoft you knew you were getting good graphics and music,
Personal honorable mentions to Faxanadu and Crystalis.
I dont know if its been underrated, but kung fu master was such a awesome game on the nes. Even if it couldnt compare with the arcade version in graphics, the gameplay was so amasing. Awesome sound effects too. Played it for countless hours....