What's your 'hidden gems' console?

[Nintegageo | 583]

By that I mean, is there a console that you play/collect in which you are actively seeking and discovering 'new' good games on?

Atm mine is probably the Sega Gemesis (not a dad, I swear!). This thing competed with the SNES based on its games, and you can tell by diving into its library.

[asmikace | 69]

Mine was the Genesis as well along with the addons and the Sega Master System. I grew up on Nintendo so playing Sega especially the non mainstream titles were an experience.

[RH | 5,344]

Boo on me for picking a modern console, but the early Nintendo titles for the switch always seemed attractive to me and when news broke on Octopath Traveler, I decided to get a Switch.

I know that some are annoyed that a bunch of stuff is getting ported to the Switch but what I have now come to love about it is that many of those titles I either missed or would have liked to have played, but didn’t get to due to the hardware it was on, is now coming out on the Switxh. I really like that there’s a lot of old stuff getting HD remakes. It’s right up my alley and it provides a way for me to play titles I’ve missed in the past 10-20 years, but in a portable format.

Edited December 11, 2019 by RH

[Gloves | 12,454]

Yeah probably Genesis for me too. I didn't play it at all growing up so I'm just discovering the cool games now, it's been very enjoyable.

[Philosoraptor | 489]

The PS4. I don't buy digital games, so the influx of good-to-great indie titles getting physical versions on the PS4 has made collecting for it really fun. Most of them are limited, so I feel like it's in my best interest to keep up with them now instead of having to pay crazy prices later.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Philosoraptor
Grammar

[TylerBarnes | 184]

I never even saw a Master System in person growing up. I have one now and I am impressed with it as a whole. It alone is a hidden gem to me. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,660]

TurboGrafx-16.

I read an article growing up about how it was so much better than the NES, and then the Genesis came out and pissed all over it.

Was always curious about it, picked one up as an adult, and I quite enjoy the games I have.

[fox | 1,800]

Switch

great indie titles and under radar Stuff is the console’s forte

[Tanooki | 5,193]

I think the intent here was the past, but I have to agree with RH too on the Switch.  The portability and the missed opportunities of various games I never got a crack at (like Skyrim) made for an excellent platform.

But what first came to mind to me is the PC Engine (TG16.)  I had a Duo in the mid 90s through earlier mid 00s and I'd discover due to a local shop for many of those years to me lots of amazing US turbo chip games, but also a mix of US and JP CDs the shop had as well.  A few I'd recall from the freebie of EGM I got for some years, others were so cheap and I could pick up a few words off the case with the images so I'd just try them, and lastly a few I could find some info on the early web at that time in the 90s so I'd go for it.  That said though, I'm speaking more of the NOW as much as emulating the hucards then as i can run them now using my Core Grafx.  There was so much we got hosed out of due to local marketing incompetence that could have truly sustained that excellent hardware for years.  I find trying a few random buys, and now clicking a random name on an everdrive I can unlock a world of fun like I used to enjoy doing years ago discovering old Nintendo (etc) games at $5 a pop locally at the shop.

Another sub-set I suppose despite it's smaller total game size would be the Neo Geo MVS.  If you put all the fighting loonies to the side and start to dig into the non 1on1 fighting junk there are quite a few obscure, odd and strange gems to unlock for real sheer fun.

[Sumez | 3,205]

If you have a somewhat open mind and don't mind the jank, there's an incredible selection of this stuff on the NES(/Famicom).

With a somehow limited library of ~1400 games you'd think it should be possible for one person to have a full overview of everything available on this platform, and with the time I've spent delving into it I always assume that I know everything worth knowing. Yet even to this day I still keep discovering stuff I'd somehow missed. A lot of the games I'd consider "hidden gems" here aren't very good admittedly, but there's really a lot of interesting stuff.

Aside from that, the Nintendo DS is a veritable treasure trove. There's so much amazing stuff hidden here, occasionally in plain sight.

[acromite53 | 338]

This year, its been the OG GameBoy for me. I know everything that is out there on the NES and nothing surprises me about it anymore. But with GameBoy, it is basically another whole NES library I'm new to! They are still 8 bit like NES but unique games. I love discovering these GB gems that are new to me. The 8 bit era on Nintendo systems lasted from 1983-2002! Incredible.There is so much new material to play and learn about. It's been a blast!

[cj_robot | 559]

There are so many well-known, great games that I've still yet to play, it's tough for me to take the time to dive much deeper into any consoles library to look for those 'hidden gems'. Lately I've been trying to go through all the 16-bit classics I missed out on. This year I've played through Phantasy Star IV, Beyond Oasis, Crusader of Centy, Ristar, Shining Force CD, and Earthbound all for the first time, as well as a few early 32-bit games, like Shadow Squadron (32X) and Gex (3DO).

Next up, I really want to start diving into the Saturn library, a console I've actually owned for a long time but haven't really explored much of at all.

[nrslam | 495]

Sega Master for me.  Was barely aware of the existence of this system at the time, and now that I've started delving into the extensive non-US library it's even more impressive.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,126]

This is going to sound crazy, but the NES for me. I have discovered a lot of really good games that I never played through the weekly contests and discussions on the site.

[asmikace | 69]

I also want to add the Tg16 but more on the focus with the CD games. The tg16 cd had a better ratio quality games compared to the Sega cd with its library of FMV games and the YS games on the system are worth the system alone.

.

[mbd39 | 2,131]

4 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

This is going to sound crazy, but the NES for me. I have discovered a lot of really good games that I never played through the weekly contests and discussions on the site.

 

Agreed. It's the NES for me too.

Before I clicked on this thread I thought it was going to be about consoles that are hidden gems like FM Towns Marty or something.

[DefaultGen | 5,811]

I hear about an ungodly number of PS1 games I've never heard of. But when it comes to actually playing stuff, I'm mostly digging into the annals of the NES.

[barrels | 125]

Atari 2600 by and far. As I get older, with more familial obligations, the quick nature of early 8-bit games meshes best with what limited free time I have.

While there are a lot of stinkers on the console, the library is HUGE and there are some truly amazing titles, even outside of the obvious Activision releases. 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,126]

23 minutes ago, barrels said:

Atari 2600 by and far. As I get older, with more familial obligations, the quick nature of early 8-bit games meshes best with what limited free time I have.

While there are a lot of stinkers on the console, the library is HUGE and there are some truly amazing titles, even outside of the obvious Activision releases. 

I thought of that since I never had an Atari 2600 as a kid. When I did get one, most of the games were "hidden gems" to me because I hadn't ever played them. They probably don't qualify since they aren't totally obscure, but Frostbite, Tapper and HERO were three of my less common favorites.

[barrels | 125]

41 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I thought of that since I never had an Atari 2600 as a kid. When I did get one, most of the games were "hidden gems" to me because I hadn't ever played them. They probably don't qualify since they aren't totally obscure, but Frostbite, Tapper and HERO were three of my less common favorites.

Same here, should have added that... I didn’t have any Atari co soles growing up.

[koifish | 615]

11 hours ago, acromite53 said:

This year, its been the OG GameBoy for me. I know everything that is out there on the NES and nothing surprises me about it anymore. But with GameBoy, it is basically another whole NES library I'm new to! They are still 8 bit like NES but unique games. I love discovering these GB gems that are new to me. The 8 bit era on Nintendo systems lasted from 1983-2002! Incredible.There is so much new material to play and learn about. It's been a blast!

That's my pic as well. Before this year, I had no idea that so many rock-solid gb games existed. I just assumed with many others that there were a few good games, but that most were just inferior versions of home console games and that there was little reason to play them. I now find that there was a lot of quality to the gb, and it speaks through its library that it deserves its grand legacy.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,126]

29 minutes ago, barrels said:

Same here, should have added that... I didn’t have any Atari co soles growing up.

When I thought of hidden gems I figured they meant consoles you owned although I would still say the NES probably has the most of any console.

[Nintegageo | 583]

I actually did have a Genesis when I was a kid, but mostly had Nintendo games. I was certainly in the 'Genesis is super cool' camp, but Nintendo has always been my jam.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,126]

2 minutes ago, Nintegageo said:

I actually did have a Genesis when I was a kid, but mostly had Nintendo games. I was certainly in the 'Genesis is super cool' camp, but Nintendo has always been my jam.

When a game was released for the SNES and Genesis I usually tried the Genesis version first hoping it would be better. Even with MK1 the censored SNES version was almost arcade perfect compared to the grainy Genesis version with the scratchy sound and people seem to forget you needed a code to unlock the "uncensored mode".

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Honestly, every classic system is full of gems for me. I had an Atari (2600?), NES, and Genesis, but only a handful of games for each. My parents didn't play so they never bought any extra games. I would generally get one game per year for either my birthday or Christmas, so I still have so much to discover. Exciting and terrifying. Excitifying.

Edited December 12, 2019 by DoctorEncore