Topic: The Cult Classic Thread

Not every game gets the love it deserves.

A cult classic is generally what happens when something that wasn't popular or successful at the time of it's release suddenly gains a devoted following after the fact. It's something only hardcore followers of whatever medium have heard of, likely because it didn't have any real publicity in it's day. This happens to video games too, and sometimes it means a gem or at least something enjoyable is lost in the rough.

So let's share any cult classic or obscure games we've played. We might find something to like that we've never found otherwise.

I've got three picks-

-Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast): A perennial pick for this kind of list, Jet Set Radio came out in 2000 and didn't do well on shelves. I've always had a thing for this game thanks to it's art style and colorful world. I played it when I was heavily into extreme sports like skating, and I still think it's a breeze to skate around Tokyo-To today, despite the control aging poorly by today's standards. You'll often see me beg for a new entry for this series (or at least a rerelease of Future which tanked on Xbox) in any Sega article.

-The World Ends With You (Nintendo DS): I've rarely ever seen this game get any sort of discussion outside of "underrated games" lists, so I'm putting it here. I borrowed it from a friend when it came out in 2008, and only recently I managed to get my own copy. It has something in common with JSR in that it has a stylish depiction of urban Japan (this time by Gen Kobayashi and Tetsuya Nomura) and the art and THAT SOUNDTRACK (seriously one of my favorite OST's ever) really bring it to life. The game itself is also really good. It's combat uses both screens on the DS, and while it takes getting used to, it's a blast once you get the hang. It's story is something worth seeing too, even if it's something that's kinda been done before, but it gets my feelings good. It's like Square's attempt at a Persona game. There's a port for the Switch coming out soon, so I don't think it's a bad time to experience it.

-Sleeping Dogs (PS3/360): I'm sure you regulars have seen me gush about this too. Ever wanted a Jet Li game without buying a Jet Li game? Then get this. It got stuck in the GTA clone hell and unfortunately never seemed to escape it, but that label does a disservice to it in my opinion. The game takes plenty of cues from Hong Kong action movies and police dramas, and it feels like a great blend as a result. The martial arts combat is fun and brutal, the story is cliche but I don't think that's bad in this case, Hong Kong is great to see and explore, and I found the side activities, while not as plentiful as a GTA or Yakuza are still fun I think: Street racing, cock fighting, pork buns, it's fun.

There's mine. Now I wanna see yours.

Good topic mate.

PS1: Fear Effect 1 and 2 (so glad that franchise has come back despite middling reviews)
PS2: Freedom Fighters
PS3: Enslaved Odyssey to the West
PS4: Deus Ex Mankind Divided (So many have slept on that)

Also fellow Sleeping Dogs fan.

@DerMeister

Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast) - Yes mate, top game. I have a soft spot for the xbox version. The title screen when it screams concept of love. I dont think there has ever been a better intro to a game ever.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=gRLxG3nKm34

Check it out. Starts at about 50 seconds.

My cult classics

Videoball - PS4
Amazingly simple game, a bit like football or basketball with shapes. It also has the best trailer for a game ever.

The Bunker - PS4
The best FMV game and a pleasure to play through. At only 2 hours its like watching a film with decent acting to match.

Rogue Legacy - PS4
Platform RPG roguelike with a ton of replayability.

Those 3 games will set you back about £20 altogether. Underrated and everyone is worth playing.

Wing Commander Prophecy on PC. I loved that game as a young teen.

Danganronpa series (PSP/Vita) - This definitely qualifies. It's not quite mainstream, but the popularity of this has exploded since the original Japanese PSP versions of the first two games.

Zero Escape trilogy (DS/3DS) - This series gained a pretty big following over time when people realized how good 999 and VLR were. That obsessed fandom making a lot of noise is arguably one of the bigger reasons that ZTD was greenlit in the first place.

Corpse Party series (PSP) - Fantastic indie horror game that makes extremely effective use of its binaural audio. The series has had its ups and downs, but I'm really happy how much this franchise has grown over time. Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient, a soft reboot of the series by the original creator is releasing in the West this year on PC. Get hype!

Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) - This game has made quite a name for itself among JRPG lovers over the years.

Eternal darkness (Gamecube)
1080° Avalanche (Gamecube)
Endless Ocean 2 (Wii)
Trauma center second opinion (the episode I like the most in the series) (Wii)
Sonic Unleashed (Wii version is the one I prefer, I don't know if anybody else ever appreciated it but I really like it a lot and in my opinion is a lot better than Generations and Colors that were more succesful)
Ristar (Sega Genesis)
Warioware DIY (NDS)

@LuckyLand Trauma Center games are fun on the DS, but they're an absolute nightmare on the Wii. I swear to god, I DETEST pointer controls for anything that's not Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime.

@DerMeister i LOVE The Worlds Ends With You, kind of wish we got a sequel

but Skies of Arcadia Legends (GameCube) would be mine, i love that game and still play it regularly, it's a fun RPG with a great cast of characters and a pretty good battle system too

Would Ōkami count? Although it did review very well on the PS2, the sales were crap. Shame as it's one of the very best games ever made!

Nintendo consoles always seem to have a lot of these cult classics. On the N64, three of my favourites that I always list are Space Station Silicon Valley, Mystical Ninja Starring Goeman and Mischief Makers. Absolute gems and utterly bonkers! If there ever is an N64 mini I hope that these are on there.

On the GameCube, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is a Sonic Team curio. It has some gameplay issues, mostly camera and controls, but there's a good game in there with some interesting ideas that makes it stand out from other platformers.

Super Monkey Ball must have sold well enough as they continued to make games in the series, but it seems to often be overlooked in the GameCube library these days. It was one of my first games for it and me and my friend were addicted to it.

@mookysam The original Super Monkey Ball is amazing. I think the latter games have tarnished its reputation adding unnecessary elements. I find it is like the Trials set of games, the first one is the best and the latter ones just add wacky stuff which lessens the experience.

@DerMeister I'll join in with the praise for Sleeping Dogs. I recently replayed the Definitive Edition and reinforced my opinion that it's far, far above and beyond being a simple GTA clone.

@LuckyLand Sonic Unleashed was, and is, excellent. I played the PS2 version first (it's a port of the Wii game) but both it and the PS3 copy I picked up later place high in my personal Sonic rankings. I don't know why the Werehog levels get so blasted; I think they're lovely, and often the perfect way to chill out between the breakneck daytime stages. Chip was a decent sidekick, too.

@RogerRoger Yes it is very good, it is amongst my favourite too (my favourite is Sonic 1, then I can't decide if the 2nd place belongs to Sonic Mania or Sonic Unleashed, then Sonic 3&K and Sonic CD in last place. I don't like the other games)
I prefer the Wii version because I felt that the analog stick of the Gamecube controller (the one I used) made the game much easier to control, it felt less playable with other controllers to me.

System Shock always seemed like a cult game to me. Never played it.

Basically any game on the ZX spectrum. One that I always remember is Head Over Heels. Loved that game.

I don't think it is exactly a very good game, but in my opinion Nights into dreams is so unique and different than anything else that it deserves to be considered a cult classic anyway.

I don't think it is exactly a very good game, but in my opinion Nights into dreams is so unique and different than anything else that it deserves to be considered a cult classic anyway.

Yeah, that game always has a place in my heart.

Rick Dangerous.

Good idea for a topic I agree with a fair few mentioned above, so I will probably end up listing some PC stuff since I don't want to repeat anyone...

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC)
Buggy as h3ll at release (this was still a time when that was the exception, not the norm), rushed to release and generally had a turbulent development with the dev team disbanded on release. The game was literally unfinishable without a patch or using a cheat console command to skip a bit of the game. Despite all that it was an amazing experience and only got better as the community finished off parts of the game that were in the code, but never saw the light of day due to aforementioned time constraints.

Planescape: Torment (PC)
Probably my favourite RPG of all time, it focuses heavily on the story and rewards the roleplaying aspect of its genre as much, if not more, than the combat part. I know it holds up to time as well because I finished it again a few days ago. The heavy emphasis on reading, as well as the D&D license made it a bit of a niche title at release, but it seems to have gained cult status now.

Legend of Grimrock 2 (PC)
The definitive dungeon crawler that took the Dungeon Master/Eye of the Beholder formula and brought it to the modern day. Given its inspiration, it was never going to be mainstream, but it is a great game nonetheless.

@themcnoisy I spent ages on Rogue Legacy (never managed to beat it though, the last boss was as far as I got iir, but I just couldn't beat him). Have you tried a game called Dead Cells? It's about to come out of early access on PC (with a subsequent price increase because of that) and is probably the most fun I've had with a rogue-like platformer since Rogue Legacy. It's going to be released on PS4 afaik, so hopefully it'll get some more exposure.

@Dichotomy I think I played dead cells at Egx. I could be wrong though. Otherwise Ive never heard much of it.

Your shout to legend of grimrock is awesome! Thats a proper cult classic, niche and quality which my casual friends hate!