-10. Zelda II (NES)
Yeah, you know someone was going to have to say it. Zelda 2 was a great game. It was a huge change from the first game that people came to know and love, which caused a stir with a lot of Zelda fans. I wouldn't even say it split the fans, it was just generally viewed as bad, which if you were a huge fan of the top down and RPG angle of the original it's possible to see why gamers thought it was 'bad'. However, going back to this game today, it's really not a bad game at all and arguably one of the best. The action is on point, the difficult is (at times) insanely hard, and the magic abilities are really fun and change the gameplay up enough.
-9. The Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
This one is arguably Retro, but I believe it fits into the category of 'Retro' as I would consider anything on or before 2000 to be. Criminally underrated and underplayed, The Legend of Dragoon has to easily be one of my favourite JRPGs of all time. I found it more interesting, intriguing and simply more fun to play than the Final Fantasy series at the time. Now, that's not to say I don't love Final Fantasy, but The Legend of Dragoon was just something else.
-8. The Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES version)
This one kind of blew me out of the water, whaaat a legit good Batman game? It was practically unheard of at the time, but man, it's actually a crazy good game. Animation is top notch, looks close enough to the cartoon, gameplay is awesome, and at times even feels like Contra had a child with Double Dragon. Yeah, it's pretty fuckin' sweet.
-7. Wild Guns (SNES)
It's a shoot'em'up with cowboys and BIG FUCKING ROBOTS. It is an amazing SHMUP game that's very simplistic, but oh my christ is it ever fun.
-6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES version)
One of the most obscure games on this list, many people didn't know there was a fighting game based on TMNT. But it existed, and it kicked shell. Or in layman's terms, IT KICKED ASS.
-5. Shadowrun (SNES)
Probably the best tactical-action-shooter-rpg of all time. Also it's futuristic cyberpunk at times, and takes from a whole bunch of old fantasy books. It also had a sweet FPS reboot for the 360 that didn't go over well, however the Tactical series has continued thanks to Kickstarter! Check the games out on steam!!
-4. Tiny Toon Adventures (NES)
Honestly this is probably the most fun I had on the NES. Yes the Mario platformers were fuckin' tight, but something about this game just felt so right. The difficulty was fairly high, the levels were memorable, the pixel art was great, it was overall one of my favourite experiences as a kid.
-3. Secret Of Evermore (SNES)
It's a Square Enix game, akin to Secret Of Mana but was almost completely ignored. HOW WAS A SQUARE ENIX JRPG GAME IGNORED? Try it out, especially if you like ANY of the Square Enix games on the SNES. It's truly a hidden gem. I'd rather not say anything more to spoil it.
-2. Vib-Ribbon (PS1)
Vib-Ribbon didn't release in North America until 2014, so if you grew up there you almost certainly didn't get to play this game, hell, even in Europe where they DID sell this game hardly anyone played it. Probably one of, if not the first game ever made based around the music burned onto your console, it was a Rhythm game where you were a drawn 2D Bunny walking along a line to the rhythm, beat, and melody of your song. It's super hard to explain further than that, I would suggest picking this up and trying it just to show you friends "LOOK AT WHATEVER THE HELL I FOUND." :)
-1. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (SNES)
Do you like the adventurous style of Legend of Zelda? Do you like Final Fantasy's stylish battle mechanics and awesome stories? How about a little sprinkle of Earthbound/Mother in there? Well, we just mashed those three together and made a great game!....And then no one played it. Yep, that's exactly what happened with Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, it was a great GREAT game that practically no one ever played. I'm not saying it's the best game ever, but it's definitely the best Underrated Retro Video Game, in my opinion.
That's it for today, is there anything I missed? If you think so, leave a comment below. Never know when I'll do a follow up ;)