Damn right. So many hours of my childhood lost with those both games, thought many years happened before I could play them with a decent english translation...
I always liked Vice: Project Doom on NES - lots of varied gameplay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TghldwyQuVY Also as it never gets enough love R-Type on Master System very rarely gets mentioned (no doubt due to the awesome PC Engine version) but was pretty impressive fo rthe time (and had an extra stage too) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzTvNkXzS0o
Can't believe I forgot to mention it in that earlier post, but Recca is also one hell of a shmup on the Famicom. And Zanac is good too. Edit: Well, the Commodore 64 is an 8-bit machine, so: Mayhem in Monsterland. A very nice platformer released extremely late in the C64's lifespan, with graphics so good you can barely believe it's on C64. I'll probably post about more C64 games as soon as I can remember which ones were actually good...
Crisis Force was by Konami, not Capcom. I second the Sunsoft recommendations, and I'll add Hebereke/Ufouria as a well-known enough game, but nobody really talks about its great gameplay and perfect world map. Also, I wrote a page about some completely unappreciated Game Boy games: http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/gbgems.html
I very much enjoyed the GameBoy version of Prehistorik Man, by Titus. Not an easy game, but it did the whole exporation/platforming thing very interestingly, with AWESOME boss battles (HUGE bosses), and of course, it's full of anachronistic caveman cliches,dinosaurs included!!!
I love G-Loc on the GG. A 3D Afterburnerish flying game (except first person), that's really good considering the platform, and you can even buy upgrades for your plane, which makes it pretty complex for an early GG game. And Crisis Force is by Konami, I don't know where I got Capcom from.
Though it's been said, I believe Shatterhand cannot be recommended enough times. It is a forgotten gem, and the music is fucking awesome. I have many parts of the soundtrack in my MP3 player on daily rotation. That being said, Crisis Force and VICE: Project Doom were also pretty good calls here. I don't know if Crisis Force would perform correctly on an american system, with the extra FM Sound chip and all (same as Akumajou Densetsu). But it is a really cool shooter. I love the opening cinema to VICE ("A free market of Opportunity!"). Zelda II, I think, is underrated. Many people claim not to like it, but it is a really complete, really challenging game with good graphics and audio. I don't know what there's to dislike in that one. You know what game nobody ever mentions and I think is fucking awesome? Capcom's TaleSpin. I know the cartoon was kind of crap, but the game itself is a great shooter - most of the music is really cool, and it's very, very fun to play.
I LOVE TALESPIN. I cannot get past the construction level though. Zelda II is not liked just because it was too different, too soon. Just like Castlevania 2.
I loved that game, I played the PC version of that game a lot back in the 90s, that game was really hard for me at the time, I think that I should get that game again and play it again, and I'll try to beat that game.
I suggest you go for it mate. The PC/SNES version is different than the GB version, and the GB is somewhat superior in my view, gameplay-wise (might be just ownership bias, who knows). NOT to be confused with the Amiga Prehistoric games!!!
I would have to choose Baseball Stars (NES). I know it is given good reviews in the light of a NES game, but I still feel this is the funnest baseball video game ever. It was a treasure for the NES due to stats and leagues, but even still a treasure for its gameplay today.
Most of, if not all of the good NES games released after the SNES got over looked. Batman: Return of the Joker Chip'n Dales 2 Duck Tails 2 Gargoyle's Quest 2 Power Blade 2 I also always liked Battle of Olympus, Shadow of the Ninja, and S.C.A.T..
I owned many of those back in the day. Rescue Rangers 2 was really, REALLY easy, and not much of an upgrade from the original - but then again, the original was great, so yeah, it can be a bit underrated. Shadow of The Ninja; now THAT is a tremendously cool game. The music, the gameplay, and the opening cinematic are all very, very good. I used to own a pirated Famiclone version of the japanese one, called "Kage". I still play Shadow of the Ninja every now and then.
FM? Where are you getting this from? Anyway, just to clarify, Crisis Force contains no extra sound chips. Akumajou Densetsu does contain the VRC-VI, but that's not FM synthesis, just PSG (square and sawtooth waves).
For the NES, it's all about Culture Brain. I grew up loving their games. The Super Chinese and Hiryuu no Ken series are at their best on the NES/Famicom. The chronology of releases is sometimes a little confusing due to the major changes made during localisation. If you've never played a Culture Brain game, start with Little Ninja Bros (Super Chinese 2) and Flying Warriors. The whole Super Chinese series is great fun to play with a partner, and Flying Warriors is an amalgamation of the best elements of Hiryuu no Ken 2 and 3. The US/UK version of Magic of Scheherazade is also an excellent game, greatly improved in all aspects over the Japanese release.
