INCREDIBLE 8-BIT Hidden Gems You Never Played!

foreign [Music] will always hold a special place in my heart there's really something to be said about how developers would try to ring out as much content gameplay and visual style out of consoles and computers that today would barely pass as calculators so today I thought it would be fun to take a look at several incredible 8-bit games that usually do not get talked about oh and also for this video I'll be considering the PC engine a 16-bit system because I mean look at it and I'll also be considering the new geopocket color and 8-bit system so let's get started stop is an action platformer RPG hybrid created by Konami for the Nintendo famicom that was only ever released in Japan the game has a strong Japanese medieval horror theme and is stylistically very similar to namco's genpe Thomas series though as far as I know that you are completely unrelated you begin in this Overworld where you can choose your next level go to shrines to receive helpful hints or visit shops to buy items once you reach a level the game then becomes a side scroller and you have to reach the end of the stage while dispatching enemies as well as collect money it should be noted that the Overworld is pretty massive and it's very easy to get lost in not only that but the game also requires you to travel back and forth between levels as sometimes you'll find your path blocked because you do not have the right item to progress which usually means that you either have to buy the correct item at the correct vendors or requires something by defeating bosses not only that but the game will often require you to travel back and forth between levels it's also pretty interesting to see how some levels can be more difficult or easier depending on whether you're traveling back or forth after buying an item you can pause the gang during a stage to select which item you want to equip or have on hand though be careful as many of these are single use only and the game doesn't actually tell you what they do so having a manual or guide on hand will come in handy the good news is that farming for a lot of these items is fairly easy as I found the spot pretty early on where each enemy would give me 20 gold overall though this is a pretty great game and one I recommend checking out just remember to install a translation patch foreign [Music] Rod land uh phrasing is a single screen archive platformer that was originally launched in arcades before being brought over to the NES though this version only ever came out in Japan and Europe playing this gives me some serious bubble bubble flashbacks and I mean that in a very good way you play as do anime fairies trying to rescue their mom who was kidnapped by a monster and your goal is to dispatch every enemy in each level you do this by tying EP enemies with your magic and then beat them into submission using your big fat Rod um phrasing and you have to do this for every enemy on screen but Sam will also drop weapons which will activate Once you walk over them making your job much easier and faster additionally if you collect every flower for dispatching your enemies you play the extra game in which enemies become more aggressive but will also drop letters upon the feet which can grant you a natural life and you can also create letters above or below you to reach other platforms one thing I really like about the NES version is how it gives you all these extra options like changing the color of your Sprite or you can also rename your character and if you choose a naughty word your character will even turn red from embarrassment oh that is adorable this is a pretty great game especially if you're into titles like bubble bubble [Music] oh [Music] now Rodland was also brought over to a slew of 8-bit computers and honestly these versions aren't very good so we'll just take a quick look at each one starting with the ZX Spectrum the game playing this one is fast and fluid but the lack of music and color really holds it back this is just not the kind of game that benefits from having a dark color palette or lack of tree music Rodland was also brought over to the amstrad CPC this version retains the colorful aesthetic but is now held back by the amstrad's trademark low resolution and low speed it feels like the game is Just dragging along with every action I take additionally because the system's resolution is so low the levels were all crunched to fit a single screen which makes the game feel pretty claustrophobic and it has no music either so as a whole I can't really recommend this version either Rodland was also brought to the Commodore 64 and I feel that this is the best of the 8-Bit home computer versions as it runs fast and it has some color though not as much as the NES or amstrad CPC versions once again though this version has the music which is surprising because if there's one thing where the Commodore 64 XL that was its sound chip [Music] Rodland would also Camp to the Nintendo Game Boy and this is a vast improvement over the 8-Bit home computers the gameplay is fast and smooth and I feel that Sprite work is actually better than the NES version and I also think that I like the music here a little better as well unfortunately in order to avoid crunching the levels like they did for the amstrad this version has to scroll through them the issue is that this makes it more difficult to plan ahead or you might spend some time looking for that one enemy that you missed and you just cannot find I feel the NES version is the way to go here but the Game Boy Port is a close second of course you could also play the arcade original and if you're feeling really frisky the Amiga Port but if you're looking for a single screen arcade platformer free NES or Game Boy Rodland is definitely a good one thank you [Applause] kick Master is an action platformer for the NES created by title the first thing that immediately jumps out to me are the visuals which look pretty incredible for the system it's on I especially like the colorful backgrounds but what really sets kick Master apart is how deep its mechanics go you see your main character has a wide variety of moves how why do you ask why then after the game has a tutorial in the options menu for each and every move when was the last time you saw an NES game that did that not only that but this game has a few RPG elements in it as you dispatch enemies they'll drop three items and you have to be quick to even get a single win this can be health or Mana recovery items experience points or even items that chip away at your health as you collect experience points you'll level up which increases your maximum HP and you also gain new kick Maneuvers for your character not only that but each level has two spells that will get added to your inventory the first spell is optional and will usually require you to actually find it while the second one you get it by then filling the stages boss it's kind of incredible how many mechanics you have to juggle in this game add to that some nice cutscenes high production values and a pretty brilliant art style and you have an incredible game that is not mentioned enough foreign [Music] [Applause] walking school is a jrpg released exclusively in Japan for the Sega Game Gear this is a spin-off of the Lunar Series though there's really no connection between them so you don't have to know anything about the previous games to play this you play as two girls Ellie and Lena who are recruited to a magic school and uh that's it that's the plot honestly this kind of plays more like a light-hearted slice of Life anime than it does a regular jrpg with the game being divided into self-contained chapters that basically work as individual episodes in an anime series with very little continuity tying them together and you know what I like that it's a nice change of pace and I like this almost TV series space into the game combat Eastern based though because you're in a magic school every character is a magic user meaning your physical attacks are mostly useless and should only be employed in pure desperation so the strategy mostly comes from having to manage your Mana between your party members which is easier said than when the encounter rate is as high as it is here which is also the biggest issue I have with this game now this game would also be remade for the Sega Saturn which I've sadly never played I'm not even sure if it's even been translated yet but if you're in the mood for a light-hearted slice of Life anime jrpg check this one out [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] psychic world is an action platformer for the Sega Master System you play as an anime girl doing scientific research when your sister was kidnapped and viewed on a special ESP equipment to save her this is a pretty unique game in that it starts out pretty simple but as you progress you'll gain Powers which you can access through this menu some of these are different types of shots like fire or ice which can be used to melt barriers or create ice platforms to jump on others can be abilities like floating or a shield that blocks any and all damage using the different shots is free but the floating or Shield abilities will consume ESP which can be recharged by picking up items that enemies will occasionally drop though honestly this Shield pretty much breaks this game as it makes impervious to everything and it consumes very little ESP thankfully the game is still super fun despite this no joke this is one of my favorite Master System games it's incredibly fun building your own platforms to reach Secrets higher places or to defeat bosses and Your Arsenal becomes immensely more interesting before you get into the game not only that but your various shots can receive permanent upgrades and different types of enemies are invulnerable to different types of shots my one big gripe with this game are the graphics the Sprite work backgrounds and colors are so simple that it honestly looks more like an NES game than it does a Master System One this is not a dig at the NES but come on the Master System can do better than this this is an incredible game with some inventive platforming and ideas and I highly recommend you check it out [Music] psychic world would also come to the Sega Game Gear and believe it or not this is not a straightforward from the Master System for starters many of the cutscenes were remade and the graphics are now much closer to what I actually expected the Master System version to look like with more detailed Sprites and better use of color with that said though there are some weird things with this sport for starters level 1 and 2 workout app and fuse into a single stage not only that but the remaining levels also feel a little shorter and mind you the Master System game was already a relatively short game to begin with so this does not help things but on the other hand I feel the levels here are actually more interesting you get the power up sooner and in ways that you would not expect which in turn makes the level design more interesting the game's difficulty was also rebalanced so that enemies don't drop as many ESP recovery so you can't just abuse The Shield as much as you did on the Master System another weird thing is that as you approach your final stages the backgrounds take a major nose dive and the game becomes graphically much closer to its Master System counterpart if I had to guess I would say this version was rushed and the devs could not finish it properly but still this is a really interesting version all my life I've heard the Master System version was the way to go but after playing psychic World on The Game Gear I don't know I kind of feel like they both have their strengths and weaknesses foreign [Music] [Applause] but if you really want to get out there why not check out the MSX original this game was only ever launched in Japan and it's the version where the Master System and Game Gear ports originally came from once again the panels are different from the two Sega counterparts but I gotta say their start style is way better man we were robbed in the west not only that but the music Hills also really good making very good use of FM audio sadly though the graphics are where this version falters it's by far the worst looking game of the group and it's also probably why the Master System version looks so basic but on the other hand it has a nice attention to detail that the other versions do not like when I climb this ladder and the clouds dissipate the higher I go it's also the long longest game with bigger and more stages and the hardest with some generally difficult platforming this Shield is still just as op as before but just like the Game Gear version you have to conserve your ESP meter oh and also during the final battle the MS extra visual pretty much turns into Dragon Ball something which was highly nerfed in the Sega versions turning them into little more than a playable cutscene I think that this is the best version of the game but at the same time there is no one definitive way to play this really every version has its own strengths and weaknesses so if you get the chance just play all three of them thank you powerblade is an action platformer created by natsume for the NES you play as this Arnold Schwarzenegger cyberpunk looking dude and you have to infiltrate a major facility whose main computer has gone Rogue you're armed with a boomerang which at first has a pretty low range but you'll soon find upgrades that increase its speed and power you can select the all of the stages you want to tackle and once inside you have to explore the levels and look for your contact who will then give you a key to go and fight that stage's boss now the cool thing here is that you can pick up grenades and health items which get added to your inventory and they can be used whenever you feel like it additionally you'll also find this mech suit parrot which gives you more health and makes your attacks way more powerful and let me tell you once you're powered up these bosses become complete pushovers the graphics are pretty great for this system 2 giving me some neat Mega Man Vibes and man you Wildlife the music especially that level 1 theme this is such a good game and it's such a shame that it's never been made available in a compilation this foreign [Music] now believe it or not in Japan power blade or power Blazers it's known over there was a very different game for starters your Arnold Schwarzenegger look alike is now replaced with this anime dude and boy if the US version already reminded me of Mega Man before now it's impossible not to think of capcom's blue bomber while playing this and fortunately though this version is far worse than powerblade for starters the levels are completely different this is not just a matter of Chase you're in there no they have practically nothing in common other than the enemies which are carried over between both versions you have the same power-up system which includes your inventory but man I don't know what it is with this game but you'll be hard-pressed to find any of them I finished the first level without running into a single power up and on my second level I found exactly one power up these fangs are work they are waiting gold in this version and this just feels like such a weird design Choice the soundtrack is almost the same for both games overall this game's fine but stick with powerblade instead [Music] powerblade will be followed up by powerblade 2 in 1992 this game takes everything that was good from powerblade 1 and cranks it up to 11. though the graphics Now remind me a lot more of sensors Batman than they do Mega Man once again you have your Boomerang which can be upgraded in range Power and speed but you now also have this neat little sled maneuver which oh okay so I guess there are still some Mega Man here your inventory items also make a return but the real star of the show here are the power armors the first game had one power armor as the linear upgrade but here as you play to the game you'll often find rooms with an optional boss defeated and you get a new armor these will significantly boost your attack power but now also have their own abilities like hanging onto ceilings and platforms and even fly man this is so cool the issue is that the armors consume energy so you gotta watch out for that and it's a good idea to keep some batteries on hand in your inventory and let me tell you with all of these powers in gear some of these bosses are just complete pushovers with that said though I think the developers realize that they perhaps made you a little too powerful because the stages are filled with instant death hazards whether it's falling saws constantly climbing elevators swinging fans or bottomless bits if there's a way to kill you instantly you can bet your ass the designers found a way to work it in but honestly that does not stop this game from being awesome and I highly recommend you check it out thank you [Music] cave Noir is a roguelike RPG for the Nintendo Game Boy created by Konami and released exclusively in Japan this is definitely an interesting one basically you have four Quest types you can take each with its own dedicated dungeon and multiple levels per Quest they can range from killing a certain amount of enemies find enough gold orbs or free cached fairies the interesting thing here is that there are no experience points or leveling system your stats are entirely based on the gear you'll find throughout your adventures but your inventory is also limited especially for doing the your quest which also takes up valuable space add to that yet you need room for your weapon Shield recovery items antidotes or other helpful items like invisibility or lighting up dark rooms and that you only have 8 inventory slots and the game is constantly requiring you to make some pretty difficult decisions now regardless of where you die or complete a quest you will always lose all of your inventory and your reward for success is unlocking the next level of that particular dungeon and while the dungeons enemies and chests are randomly generated the game isn't so much dependent on lack or RNG as it is on your choices do you feel this dungeon floor is too difficult drop down a hole and Skip print thoroughly and hope the next floor has a neither RNG enemy is too difficult avoid them entirely it's all up to you and at times cave Noir feels more like a puzzle game than it does in RPG there really is nothing quite like this on the Game Boy and I urge you to try it out [Music] thank you [Music] vacatana is an 8-bit d-make for the game by color of the infamous John Romero first person shooter this game was only ever launched in Japan and Europe not sure why they skipped over the US which is where I assume the PC version probably sold better anyway I didn't like the PC game this is a Zelda clone except it's much more linear and there are no towns or cities to visit the game follows the same plot as the PC version meaning that you are Hiro Miyamoto and you need to steal the daikatana a magical sword with 10 traveling abilities from the Mishima Clan along the way you'll meet the same Statics you do in the PC version and even play as them but near as I can tell there's very little difference between them and the main character other than them being locked out of some weapons in your inventory you travel from screen to screen solve puzzles acquire new weapons and demo for said weapons and occasionally you'll have an see who gives you hands on what you have to do the areas you explore are relatively small and as you progress to the game you become locked out to the previous zones you've been to which also have the side effect of making the puzzles relatively simple so you could say that the entire game is structured like one big Zelda dungeon albeit quite a bit easier than Zelda overall I quite like this game though the translation is a bit iffy in places and the music isn't the best but still check it out it's a good game [Music] thank you [Music] power strike 2 is a schmap for the second master system and is part of the elastic series which you might know better under the name Musha it's the 1930s and you're out to hunt Italian Sky pirates with your futuristic anime ship the first thing that stands out to me with this game are the amazing colorful graphics with detailed backgrounds but what's really impressive here is the amount of Sprites you see on screen and how many the game can handle without slowing down this isn't to say that there is no slow down yes it exists but between its speed graphics and number of objects on screen you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a 16-bit game after that some pretty incredible music and the incredibly fun power-up system from the elaste and Musha series and you have yourself an incredible game thank you [Music] this is honestly the batch map on the Master System and in my opinion one of the two best 8-bit schmaps ever made as I believe there's only one other 8-bitch map that can rival power strike 2 and that other 8-bitch might be is power strike two yes power strike Q for the Sega Game Gear same name same genre same series same developer but a totally different game unlike the Master System version this one is set in space and the levels enemies and bosses are completely different though the power-up system remains mostly the same although now between levels you have this after burner-like stage in which you need to lock onto enemies before firing which is a nice change of pace personally I think the graphics on this version are even more impressive than the Master System One with various of color and more imaginative bosses and I also think the music is even better in this one as this might just be my favorite Gengar soundtrack with that said though this game isn't pushing as many Sprites as the Master System game and it's a bit more prone to slow down as well now the bad news is that both the Master System and Game Gear games are incredibly expensive to come by the good news though is that there's a PS4 compilation this released only in Japan which has the entire Sega 8-bit LSD liner my advice buy it now before it gets equally expensive foreign [Music] Fighters 2000 is a bootleg fighting game for the Game Boy Color if this game is looking remarkably similar to snk's golf Fighters for the new geopocket color for you and that's because that was the intent of this game the difference is that with this being an unofficial title the developers could do whatever they want and boy did they ever took advantage of that for starters you have characters that are clearly inspired by whatever was popular in Asia during this period with snk's Athena and King being replaced with guard captor Sakura and renoa from Final Fantasy 8 respectively they also went ahead and included Capcom characters into this game including a sexy nurse who plays like Morrigan a doctor who plays like Chen Lee and even a female reel oh but we're not done yet because this game also has a tag team feature something that is not even included in the official SNK gel's Fighters game add to that that the graphics are pretty impressive for the Game Boy Color and that you have combos super moves and counters and you honestly have one of the best fighting games for the game by color of course tracking this game down is nearly impossible so my recommendation is play it any way you can wink wink nudge nudge [Music] foreign [Music] 's neoplasma is a modern game for the ZX Spectrum released in 2019. the game takes place within the aliens franchise though you play as an original character named Lieutenant Ashley you wake up aboard your cargo ship only to realize that everyone is gone and the ship has now been overrun with Xenomorphs though you have no idea what they are the ship's AI seems to be either corrupted or lying to you painting that this may have all been orchestrated by the will and yutanic Corporation at first you have no means of self-defense and must progress through the game while avoiding enemies but eventually you pick up a pulse rifle and grenades the game controls very similarly to Alien 3 for the Sega Mega drive with the Sprites being clearly inspired by that version the difference is that while the Sega version of Alien 3 was a fast-paced arcade game this is actually closer to a metroidvania I mean I'm not gonna say that this is a full-on metroidvania because you do not get any new abilities instead that you have to progress through the maze-like ship and find computers which will open previously locked doors and prompt more dialogue scenes with the AI the game is very strange with ammo and health as you often have to backtrack to or look for new healing and ammo stations because of this it's usually best to wait until a face header or xenomorph goes away or think of the most cost effective way of dispatching them these include leading them to Vans or crushing them with the automated doors this game is a really interesting mix of survival horror and quasi-metradvania that is very much worth your time oh and the music is awesome too thank you foreign is an action RPG for the Neo Geo Pocket color you play as this SNK looking dude and you created a contract with this dude to hand down demons so now you go around the various areas in the game and far at zombies skeletons ghosts and other creatures of the night to capture their souls once you complete an area you can go back to your base and use the capture solves to create new weapons or level up and improve existing ones so for example you can apply souls to increase the experience points of a weapon but certain Souls also add attributes like fire the thing is if you use these weapons you'll be causing more damage but you will not be able to capture their souls so ideally you have to weaken your foes using your new weapons and then send the finishing shot with your starting weapon to capture them along the way you'll also have puzzles to solve and NPCs to help who give you information or items that you need to progress when people think of the new your pocket color they only ever really talk about Metal Slug and the various fighting games but this is a pretty interesting and unique RPG that is definitely worth your time [Music] thank you [Music] speaking of weird and unique RPGs how about survival kids by Konami for the Gameboy Color this is an RPG in which you play as a kid stranded on an island and your objective as the name implies is to survive so you go around the island collecting stuff like clams grass fruit sticks and whatever else you need to survive and you do all of this while taking into account various stats like hunger thirst and how tired you are so for example you go to a river to collect water you use a knife to bring down snakes and cook their meat but if you keep that meal around for too long it'll spoil man if I had a nickel for every time Konami made a game where during the jungle taking out snakes and eating their meat before it gets spoiled I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice right but yeah this is a pretty unique game and I like how you have to be careful of studying settlements like getting paralyzed or need to collect random things that you can combine to create useful items like for example you can combine sticks and tree bar to form kindling but you cannot use that to make a fire while it's raining outside why yes this is an 8-bit game by color game with a weather system and even a daily night cycle man this game is just so ambitious that I can't help but you absolutely adore it check it out if you can foreign fantas is a super unique game for the ZX Spectrum this game is an interesting mix of different genres with the first three levels being a Schmidt where you fire at incoming ships before plunging into the depths of the planet to a level that reminds me of Life Force after that we get to write a Tonton where you launch this sparkly ball at Forge of foes as you make your way to the next stage where then it sadly becomes a platformer here you control your space Amazon and you have this giant ball thing that follows you and takes out enemies it can be a little difficult to control both you and the ball at first but it soon becomes second nature and after that you find the weapon and it now becomes an action platformer where you also have to find items and add rates to progress man this is such an ambitious mix of genres and I like how even with these crude Graphics the developers still found a way to make every level feel visually different and unique also there's an energy official remake of this game being sold on Steam called ultionus A Tale of petty Revenge the game claims to be a love letter to fantas but honestly it's just a straight up remake not that I have anything against it as the game is pretty darn cool with great pixel art and a stellar soundtrack by the same composer behind games like Shantae and the Shovel Knight and it has an incredible ending theme I usually feel that a lot of 8-bit computer games have waged poorly and whoa yeah fantas definitely shows its age it's such a strange and unique game that I cannot help but love it check it out if you can [Music] shatter hand is an action platformer release the 1991 for the NES you play as this red looking dude who can destroy walls with his bare fists your punching range is extremely limited and between that the visuals and the awesome music it kind of reminds me of Batman for the NES now the cool thing here is that throughout the various levels you'll find these symbols and creating different combinations will net you different power-ups in the form of Robo bodies these can be robots that use giant swords fire shots at an angle or even bouncing shots and the awesome thing is that there are 8 different trouble buddies that you can get the issue is memorizing which symbol combination gives you what yeah it might be a good idea to have a guide on hand with this one just for that and in maze will also drop coins upon defeat which you can spin at these stations to heal or power up and you also got this cool grappling mechanic this game can also go from easy to extremely difficult in an instant mostly because it sort of relies on you having the right robot body with you at the right time like no joke if you have the right power up many bosses turn into complete pushovers but lose that power up and sadly you're down to your short range fists but yeah this game is honestly incredible and I love its sense of style definitely check this one out [Music] thank you [Music] Kabuki Quantum fighter is the nether action platformer for the NES that also reminds me of sensors Batman man there's a lot of these the game begins with a lengthy intro cutscene about how you're a very young Neil Patrick Harris and you're being sent into cyberspace to stop some Rogue programs except once there you realize you've not been turned into a kabuki actor and if you think that's weird the reason is that this game was actually supposed to be Italian to a movie called zipang which I've never seen or heard of until making this video anyway like Batman your revenge of attack is extremely limited and you'll often have to rely on your sub weapons at first you only have a basic shot but you gain new sub weapons as you defeat bosses but these will also consume ammo of which there's not a lot of it so I honestly avoid fighting whenever I can in fact this game strengths are in its visuals music and the play platforming the backgrounds are a mix of computers and cyberpunk with 8-bit body horror like giant bidding Hearts which is pretty cool and the platforming is honestly really fun and I also really like these smooth frames of Animation in these platforms that was not very common for 8-bit games and the music kinda feels like it was composed by an 8-bit Euro developer I can't be the only one who notices this right it sounds so much like 8-bit Euro chip Tunes this game is super tough but very much worth to play through please give it a shot if you ever get the chance foreign [Music] and there you have it a random selection of 25 8-bit games that in my opinion are absolute hidden gems are there any games I missed let me know in the comments in the meantime I like to thank all my patreon supporters including Anthony Ryan Bennett Apple Ben Harris liquid farts and tomenza thank you for helping make the channel better anyway I hope you have a great day bye

Channel: St1ka

Views: 116,251

Keywords: retro gaming, nes, nintendo entertainment system, retro gaming 2023, master system, game boy, nintendo game boy, sega master system, game gear, sega game gear, msx, zx spectrum, hidden gems, nes hidden gems, hidden gems nes, hidden gems master system, master system hidden gems, 8 bit hidden gems, st1ka, stika, steeka

Id: 91bn7cDYJ7I

Length: 41min 19sec (2479 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 21 2023