Post 16-bit hidden gems

[Control_Denied]

Weird, I thought Terranigma was turn-based JRPG style and never really looked into it. I think I was confusing it with Bahamut Lagoon and I have no idea why. I am going to put this onto my wii since I have it hooked up with a CRT and SNES controller... looks awesome.

Also, OST in Terranigma is god-tier. Let me know if you like the game \../

[CnEY]

Agreed on Terranigma being amazing, and I only finally got to playing it this decade; I had snoozed on all of those Quintet ARPGs in the 90s (other than Actraiser), but moreover, Terranigma was never released in the US, which is utterly baffling to me as it's by far the strongest of those games IMO.

Zero Tolerance looks really interesting; makes me think of stuff like Blake Stone and Corridor 7. I have lots of nostalgia for Blake Stone; I wouldn't recommend Corridor 7 necessarily, but it...has interesting ideas. (And some terrible ideas, such as the random jump-scare in the center of the screen that Capstone seemed to love so much.)

I don't know how "hidden" these are, but Operation Logic Bomb (SNES, Jaleco) always stood out to me. It's a criminally short game that could have done so much more than it did, given that the equipment that the player finds incrementally pretty much makes the game function conceptually as a metroidvania, but is ultimately very linear.

The more interesting part that I did not discover until later is that Operation Logic Bomb is part of the same series as Fortified Zone for Game Boy. I learned this from a Macaw45 stream a few years back which immediately unlocked a memory of having seen Fortified Zone in Nintendo Power (Vol. 25 IIRC), and always thinking it looked cool, but never having played it. Fortified Zone was Ikari no Yousai in Japan; Operation Logic Bomb was Ikari no Yousai 3. The second game in the series was also for Game Boy, and was never released outside of Japan; I'd argue this was for good reason, as the final level is painfully long, and your first attempt at the final boss will most likely result in a game over, forcing you to play that entire stage again.

I did my own first-playthroughs of Ikari no Yousai 1 and 2 in 2020:

And here's a 1CC / all-items playthrough of Operation Logic Bomb (there's one item you might not have found...)

After Operation Logic Bomb, Jaleco went on to make The Ignition Factor, which I haven't played, but based on bits I've seen, it seems like it might have been built on the same base as Operation Logic Bomb, so I really should get to that one at some point...

[TunaCasserole]

A game for me that fits into the hidden gems is Zero Tolerance, a FPS for the sega genesis:

Haha hell yea I see you. I thought I was like the only person ever that played that game. It's a rough intro, but once you get the controls down...badass. I also had no idea you could network the Genesis like that though. I'm very jealous.

[Virtua Wug]

@CnEY

Cool games, and cool videos! I like your presentation in them, you're good at commentating. I'd never heard of these games before but they're going on my backlog.

[TunaCasserole]

My hidden gem which may be debatable on the hidden thing I think would be Blackthorne. Old Blizzard. Methodical platform shooter with some puzzle elements. Marching through hallways putting down orcs and demons with a shotgun. Mmmf

[ward]

My hidden gem which may be debatable on the hidden thing I think would be Blackthorne. Old Blizzard. Methodical platform shooter with some puzzle elements. Marching through hallways putting down orcs and demons with a shotgun. Mmmf

I obsess over Blackthorne. I used to prefer the SNES, but in the last few years I've actually started preferring the DOS music better. I think hearing it with a real soundblaster rather than emulation helped... the bass buzz just sounds a lot better.

Anyway, I realized there weren't any games like Blackthorne so I made ... 600+ frames of animation on this character then decided that it was too basic and amateurish, so I canned it... still, I'm proud of this homage animation:

waya2 back shot.gif (28.58 KiB) Viewed 52418 times

Anybody else into Blackthorne? I ask because I want permission to go on and on about it, lol.

After Operation Logic Bomb, Jaleco went on to make The Ignition Factor, which I haven't played, but based on bits I've seen, it seems like it might have been built on the same base as Operation Logic Bomb, so I really should get to that one at some point...

Hey CnEY. So, I finally watched the video on Operation Logic Bomb... I really like the pace of that game. I sometimes really get into the slower, more deliberate games like this. It's on my list. Eventually we should pick a game of the month from one of the games we all keep talking about on the forum.

[CnEY]

Anybody else into Blackthorne? I ask because I want permission to go on and on about it, lol.

I remember trying Blackthorne back on DOS, but I didn't get very far. (Ditto The Lost Vikings.) Blackthorne struck me as "what if Prince of Persia with guns", and that style of platformer with very calculated movement doesn't tend to grab me.

However, if you do like that sort of game, you might want to check out Idosra: The Electric Renaissance; its platforming tends to be a little more fluid on average, but it certainly still has e.g. the ledge-grabbing element. It was in the previous Next Fest (Oct 2025), and it looks like its demo is still up. It's really cool but I felt the difficulty got pretty brutal toward the end of the demo.

[TunaCasserole]

I obsess over Blackthorne. I used to prefer the SNES, but in the last few years I've actually started preferring the DOS music better. I think hearing it with a real soundblaster rather than emulation helped... the bass buzz just sounds a lot better.

YES! While at the time, the controls with the SNES gamepad were awesome. The sound is a real treat on DOS though. Also, it may be a bit immature, but I kinda liked the pixelated blood effects on the DOS version as well :oops:

Anyway, I realized there weren't any games like Blackthorne so I made ... 600+ frames of animation on this character then decided that it was too basic and amateurish, so I canned it... still, I'm proud of this homage animation:

That's awesome! The reference is very clear too. I wonder...what was the project you had in mind? I really like the setting suggested of the style.

Anybody else into Blackthorne? I ask because I want permission to go on and on about it, lol.

vinny_judge.png (268.67 KiB) Viewed 52352 times

By all means!

[ward]

That's awesome! The reference is very clear too. I wonder...what was the project you had in mind? I really like the setting suggested of the style.

I was doing the click adventure then realized I needed to learn how to animate and side-scrolling was easier... So I made some characters... the idea was that you can play through a small number of levels... and the first half you are one character, then the second half you play the same thing, but as the first character and it's a totally different journey.

Main character idea:

waya headshot good.png (3.06 KiB) Viewed 52040 times

Tilemap test I made:

640x360 test.png (27.51 KiB) Viewed 52040 times

I was working with a dev, but we decided to stop working together so I just shelved it. If I find a dev into sidescrollers, I might finish it.

Anyway, I'll edit this tomorrow and talk about Blackthorne a bit... I better sleep.

[TunaCasserole]

I was doing the click adventure then realized I needed to learn how to animate and side-scrolling was easier... So I made some characters... the idea was that you can play through a small number of levels... and the first half you are one character, then the second half you play the same thing, but as the first character and it's a totally different journey.

I hadn't thought about the difference of complexity with point-and-click and sidecroller. Now that you mention it. I guess every scene _would_ be an ordeal when animating.

So it was like two runs but through different context/eyes? It's neat that we can see echoes of the cover art of albums in the style...which is obvious I guess now that I say it...