Weird and/or unique games

[NeoZeedeater]

I thought it might be fun to take a look at the weird and/or unique games of the past decade. I chose 50 that came to mind although there are many more, especially since I left out adult games, freeware games, the rhythm genre among other things. Some of these I haven't played yet so I'm very interested in more opinions.

So yeah, discuss and add more you feel should be mentioned.


Game: Odama
Developer/Publisher: Vivarium/Nintendo
Format: Gamecube
Year: 2005 JP/2006 NA

I'm still waiting for the price to drop further so I haven't played it but a pinball/RTS hybrid that uses a microphone(or drums in Japan) seems weird enough.


Game: The Dark Eye
Developer/Publisher: inSCAPE/Time Warner Interactive
Format: PC
Year: 1995 or 1996(I'm not sure but I'll include it anyway)

This adventure game based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe is so uniquely disturbing in style. I lost interest in it after a while but I wouldn't mind giving it another try some time.


Game: Pepsiman
Developer/Publisher: KID
Format: Playstation
Year: 1999

Product tie-ins in general are pretty lame but this is the exception. It's a simple and very enjoyable game of running and dodging. The live action cinemas are good for a laugh too. It's an import but there's no language barrier to worry about.


Game: Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Developer/Publisher: Atlus
Format: DS
Year: 2005

Touchscreen surgery.


Game: Roommania #203
Developer/Publisher: Wave Master/Sega
Format: Dreamcast, Playstation 2
Year: 2000

This probably isn't worth checking out if you don't know Japanese but it sounds different enough. It's sort of a god game where you affect some dude's actions. This review describes it in more detail - http://www.gamespot.com/dreamcast/st...03/review.html


Game: Killer 7
Developer/Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture/Capcom
Formats: Gamecube, Playstation 2
Year: 2005

I played all the way through this but it still seems like some illogical twisted dream or something. I loved it though.


Game: No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
Developer/Publisher: Artdink/Acclaim
Format: Playstation
Year: 1998

That's right. No. One.


Game: Pac-Pix
Developer/Publisher: Namco
Format: DS
Year: 2005

Draw pacmen, bombs, arrows, etc. and have them come to life. This is one of best and most original uses of the DS's touchscreen.


Game: Gender Wars
Developer/Publisher: The 8th Day/SCi
Format: PC
Year: 1996

It's males vs. females in a fight for supremacy.


Game: Shadow of the Colossus
Developer/Publisher: Sony
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2005

Ico was a unique game in style but the gameplay wasn't drastically new(Fumito Ueda did learn some skills on an Amiga and I think he was probably exposed to games like Out of this World). SotC, on the other hand, does head into uncharted territory for game design. Battling giant living puzzle beasts has not been done before like this as far as I can tell, at least not having a whole game designed around the concept.


Game: Walk the Dog
Developer/Publisher: Sega
Format: Arcade
Year: 2000

I can't think of any other video games using a leash and treadmill as a controller.


Game: Chulip
Developer/Publisher: Punchline Studios/Natsume
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2002 JP/2006 NA?

This still isn't out in the West although it's supposedly still coming. The object of the game is to going around town kissing everyone to lift their spirits.


Game: The Neverhood
Developer/Publisher: The Neverhood/Dreamworks
Format: PC
Year: 1996

I still haven't played this but a claymation adventure game seems pretty cool to me.


Game: Incredible Crisis
Developer/Publisher: Polygon Magic/Titus
Format: Playstation
Year: 2000

It's a pretty simple mix of button tapping minigames but it's full of Japanese quirkiness.


Game: Jet Grind Radio
Developer/Publisher: Smilebit/Sega
Format: Dreamcast
Year: 2000



Game: Normality
Developer/Publisher: Gremlin/Interplay
Format: PC
Year: 1996

I haven't played this adventure game and I don't think it came out in North America. I'm interested in more impressions as it seems pretty unique.


Game: Mister Mosquito
Developer/Publisher: Zoom/Fresh Games(Eidos)
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2001 JP/2002 NA

You're a mosquito on a mission to suck blood from various people in their home. This has a sequel although it was left in Japan.


Game: Teenage Lawnmower
Developer/Publisher: Robinson Technologies
Format: PC
Year: 2003



Game: Katamari Damacy
Developer/Publisher: Namco
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2004



Game: Stretch Panic
Developer/Publisher: Treasure/Conspiracy
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2001

The game itself feels unfinished but the concept and art are neat. Grab them boobies!


Game: LifeLine
Developer/Publisher: Sony/Konami
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2004

I'm tempted to buy this although I hear it's not that good. It's an adventure game controlled entirely by microphone.


Game: Majestic
Developer/Publisher: Anim-X/Electronic Arts
Format: PC
Year: 2001

The servers are long taken down for this monthly fee episodic game and it was never successful but it definitely tried new things. It was an adventure game that tried to incorporate "real life" elements by emailing, faxing and phoning you what to do next.


Game: Missing: Since January
Developer/Publisher: Lexis Numerique/The Adventure Company
Format: PC
Year: 2003 EU/2004 NA

I never did play Majestic because of the fee and the fact that it sounded kind of intrusive with the phoning aspect. Missing took some concepts from it and pulled off a great game. There are no monthly fees here, just a cool puzzle/mystery game in which you use the internet to solve puzzles(they set up various fake sites) and "people" communicating with you via email.


Game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Developer/Publisher: Capcom Production Studio 4/Capcom
Formats: GBA, DS, mobile
Year: 2001(2005 for DS)



Game: Panzer Dragoon Saga
Developer/Publisher: Team Andromeda/Sega
Format: Saturn
Year: 1998

The Panzer Dragoon universe already stands out for its art style but Saga stands out further because of its design, especially its semi real time flying battle system. In many ways PDS is the opposite of all the popular JRPG/Final Fantasy/whiny metrosexual character type games which could explain why it never sold well in Japan.


Game: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Developer/Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants/EA Games
Format: Xbox
Year: 2005

Besides being able to switch on the fly between FPS and platform/beat 'em up modes the whole theme is different. It's a weird fantasy version of the Wild West and you can use all kinds of odd creatures as weapons.


Game: Tail of the Sun
Developer/Publisher: Artdink/Sony
Format: Playstation
Year: 1997

I hated Artdink's Aquanaut's Holiday so I never risked buying this caveman sim but it seems to have some fans.


Game: The Last Express
Developer/Publisher: Smoking Car Productions/Interplay
Formats: PC, Mac
Year: 1997

Especially when seen in motion there really isn't another game that looks like it. Design-wise it's different as well although certain aspects like time sensitivity and quicktime-ish action parts have been revisisted by more recent adventure games like Shenmue and Indigo Prophecy.


Game: Gekisha Boy 2
Developer/Publisher: Irem
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2001

You take pictures of all kinds of wacky shit in the background. It's the sequel to the PC Engine game.


Game: Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
Developer/Publisher: EAD Tokyo/Nintendo
Format: Gamecube
Year: 2005

It's a platformer controlled with bongo drums. It's also the best console platformer in years, IMO.


Game: Typing of the Dead
Developer/Publisher: Smilebit/Sega
Format: Arcade, Dreamcast, PC
Year:



Game: Demolition Girl
Developer/Publisher: Tamsoft/505 Game Street
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2004 JP/2005 EU

Take down the giant bikini clad chick.


Game: Xenogears
Developer/Publisher: Square
Format: Playstation
Year: 1998

My brain is still damaged from the story although I have forgotten most of it now. It's nearing time for me to play it again I think.


Game: Darwinia
Developer/Publisher: Introversion Software/Valve
Formats: PC, Mac
Year: 2005

A mismash of styles and genres with influences from RTS games, TRON, '80s arcade shooters, Lemmings, etc..


Game: Rez
Developer/Publisher: UGA/Sega
Formats: Dreamcast, Playstation 2
Year: 2001

Trippy game although I haven't tried the optional Trance Vibrator peripheral. That sounds like one of the oddest peripherals since Synapse's 1984 computer game Relax and its headband thingie.


Game: Elemental Gearbolt
Developer/Publisher: Alfa System/Working Designs
Format: Playstation
Year: 1997 JP/1998 NA

In a genre filled with Virtua Cop wannabees it's nice to see something fresh. Gearbolt's fantasy theme, RPG style upgrading, and soothing music make it something special and unique for gun games.


Game: Cubivore
Developer/Publisher: Saru Brunei/Atlus
Format: Gamecube
Year: 2002

This is another one I'm waiting to find really cheap and I'm interested in more impressions.


Game: NiGHTS into Dreams
Developer/Publisher: Sonic Team/Sega
Format: Saturn
Year: 1996



Game: Wario Ware inc. Mega Microgame$
Developer/Publisher: R&D1/Nintendo
Format: Game Boy Advance, Gamecube
Year: 2003

While certainly not the first or only "minigames game" it does it will an odd style all its own. Sequels like Twisted and Touched added new elements.


Game: Ribbit King
Developer/Publisher: Jamsworks/Bandai
Format: Playstation 2, Gamecube
Year: 2004

Frog golf = frolf. It's not as cool as Ninja Golf but what is?


Game: Seaman
Developer/Publisher: Vivarium/Sega
Format: Dreamcast
Year: 2000



Game: N.U.D.E.(Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment)
Developer/Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios/Red/Microsoft
Format: Xbox
Year: 2003

I haven't played this import but it seems similar to Seaman in that it's a life simulation in which you interact via microphone.


Game: Space Station Silicon Valley
Developer/Publisher: DMA Design/Take 2 Interactive
Format: Nintendo 64
Year: 1998


Game: Ore no Ryouri
Developer/Publisher: Sony
Format: Playstation
Year: 1999



Game: Uplink
Developer/Publisher: Introversion Software/Strategy First
Format: PC
Year: 2001

The fact that a mostly text based game was sold in the 21st century is odd enough. There have been other hacker sims in the past but they haven't been made quite the same way. I love the game but it's brutal in that your actions are being traced behind the scenes; hours of playtime can suddenly end if you get caught hacking.


Game: SGGG(Segagaga)
Developer/Publisher: Hitmaker/Sega
Format: Dreamcast
Year: 2001

Man, I hope this game gets a translation some day as it mixes in so many Sega characters and history. It's a simulation/RPG where you're a kid in charge of running Sega and bringing it back to profitability. If you're interested in seeing the ending, someone at the insertcredit forums put this up recently. Last boss battles do not get cooler than this.

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhhs5UpGrRE
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yz_Oi_6w0Q


Game: Real Sound: Kaze no Regret
Developer/Publisher: Warp
Formats: Saturn, Dreamcast
Year: 1997

I'm not sure this even counts as a video game but it's too weird not to mention. It's essentially an "audio game" where you listen to a story and choose branching paths in the story from sound clues. It's all in Japanese though.


Game: Samorost2
Developer/Publisher: Amanita Design
Format: PC
Year: 2005

I think the first game might have always been freeware so I listed the sequel. I love the artwork in this Czech indie adventure game. It reminds me of certain cartoons and paintings but not of anything else in video gaming.


Game: Okami
Developer/Publisher: Clover Studios/Capcom
Format: Playstation 2
Year: 2005 JP/2006 NA?

This has been way high on my wanted list for a while. Judging from the demo it's one of the most artistically impressive games ever with its watercolour look.


Game: Boong-Ga Boong-Ga
Developer/Publisher: NTS Soft.
Format: Arcade
Year: 2000

I don't think anything is going to top an ass poking simulation for this topic.

[Nash]

I'd like to throw Viewtiful Joe onto that list. It put a fresh spin on action games with its time manipulation gameplay. The presentation was also pretty unique and cool in its own right.

[Yoshi]

Thanks for another great thread. I've never heard of The Dark Eye, but I am going to find a copy now. I hope I can get it to run on XP.

[Melf]

This pic alone makes me want to play Segagaga!

Holy shit I just saw the second part.

Best.Boss Battle. Ever. No contest.

[Diff-chan]

I owned Segagaga at one point. The game was unplayable without thorough knowledge of the language. I really wish they translated it because it looked neat.

[kingoffighters]

Hehe, the first thing I thought of is Odama, and it tops the list. I definitely enjoy this game but most others do not.

I would put Brain Age, Brain Academy there. And Loco Roco.... Parappa would be too, but the music genre is no longer weird, but it was something fresh back in 97 or whenever it came out.

And how about Boktai (for the use of Solar power) and Metal Gear Ac!d 1&2?

[Glass Joe]

I just scored Killer 7 for 10 bucks at Toys R us. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[Joust Williams]

Segagaga was so hard Sega themselves didn't even beat it.

Uplink is pretty sweet. So is Mr. Domino ;p

[Diff-chan]

Segagaga was so hard Sega themselves didn't even beat it.

Are you kidding, thats how they chose their last 3 CEOs.

So is Mr. Domino ;p

Unstoppable IMO.

[animegirl]

I just scored Killer 7 for 10 bucks at Toys R us. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

I thought Killer7 was pretty kick ass. Just don't try to understand the story though. I read the entire 90 page plot analysis on Gamefaqs and I still don't completely understand what the flying fuck went on in that game. Just stay for the ride.