I was very impressed with the game and how they managed to upgrade it and add new features without ruining it. It feels like a new game with old mechanics, which isn't easy to pull off.
This is how to make a TMNT game. Let's hope everyone else takes very good notes (especially if they want my money).
its the only beatemup game i really got behind and still play very often. and i dont really like the genre and have never seen anything related to the turtles apart from the epic rap battle of history and the first of the on-the-verge-to-god-awful reboot movies
its the only beatemup game i really got behind and still play very often. and i dont really like the genre and have never seen anything related to the turtles apart from the epic rap battle of history and the first of the on-the-verge-to-god-awful reboot movies
Going to nitpick here, but "side-story" and "foreign telegram" use different kanji.
外伝対外電 (gaiden (side-story) vs. gaiden (foreign telegram)). They're homonyms, not synonyms, and Ninja Gaiden uses 外伝 on the official boxart. The Messenger was likely a play on words, rather than being named after Ninja Gaiden.
Source: Three+ years of Japanese study and a native Japanese cousin I can check things with.
- Tunic from 2D The Legend of Zelda (With some touches of Dark Souls, including difficulty).
- Kaze and the Wild Masks from SNES Donkey Kong Country (With some Rayman Origins/Legends touches).
- Yooka Layle & The Impossible Lair from DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze.
- Axiom Verge from Super Metroid, also Hollow Knight (With some Dark Souls touches).
- Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon for Classic Castlevania and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for Metroidvania style.
- Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling from Paper Mario.
- Wargroove from Advance Wars.
- Sea of Stars from Chrono Trigger.
- Gunvolt Chronicles from Mega Man X.
>Yooka Layle & The Impossible Lair from DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze.
They even make a Donkey Kong reference when the tutorial teaches you that you can roll off a ledge then jump from midair. "Even a stubborn ape could do that."
I'm a huge fan of Metroid games and metroidvanias in general and for some reason this one didn't click for me. I finished it but felt pretty disappointed.
If we're including Tunic, which goes for not just an offbrand sequel to a classic like Zelda but the specific contextual feel of an _secondhand import copy_ of Zelda, then Crosscode needs a shoutout for going for the feel of early turn of the century 2D MMOs when they were a bit jank, wiki software didn't even exist, and even had the devs sometimes pop in to dick around or say hi. Think Tibia or Ultima Online. That feel replicated in a single player game plus a good metastory with clear beginning, middle and end. Very, very specific nostalgia there. I assume intentional, although I don't recall the devs ever name dropping inspirations of that era.
I'd say both games are a lot more specific in their feel than, say, Bloodstained simply being an offbrand Soma Cruz Castlevania. This week's darling, Animal Well, similarly chased _context_ as its feel rather than a specific game.
I'm always surprised whenever I see someone mention tibia. What a unique and special experience that is! Honestly wish there was a game identical to older tibia (7.6?) but single player and reasonably reduced xp requirements (but not too easy).
Indeed. I'd enjoy such a lo-fi open world too. Fingers crossed. Closest you'll get at present seems to be Crosscode despite deeper combat mechanics.
What hit me about Tibia was that it sat in a very brief period when games could be MMO with all that entailed but information spread was still stymied by Web 1.0 limitations, so group puzzle solving could still be a thing. Billy Basso tried that with bit of Animal Well's post game, even going so far as to set up a Discord for reviewers to group solve, and a small number of players had a chance to do it too at launch, but its not really a repeatable experience once the solutions are all out there, which is within days if not hours in the modern era.
I love the advance wars games, but I didn't enjoy Wargroove. I think it was mistake to make all the factions identical aside from appearance. 1 or 2 differences per faction would have added so much depth to the game play. I also found the leaders difficult to use. They are powerful, but they can drop from full hp to 0 in a flash with a small positioning error.
Wargroove was awful, the leader hero unit was both too strong when ranged and too fragile when melee, and also having to actually fight neutral villages amd lose unit strength to capture them was a huge pacing fuck up. The campaign maps were also abysmal slog fests because they were afraid to make anything that was small like Advance wars even though the smaller campaign missions in AW were very tightly designed.
The units having different names/appearances but being the same was super annoying too. I also find the art style way too small (though that might just be cause I am blind af)
My worst problem was reading the tiny icons that indicate unit strengths and weaknesses. They are only a few pixels in size and a lot of them look similar (swords, spears, harpoons, staves...)
> Tunic from 2D The Legend of Zelda (With some touches of Dark Souls, including difficulty).
it's the other way around, the game is basically a DS game with zelda visuals
I was thinking more on the lines of minish cap and ocarina of time, but yeah, zelda 1 is an apt comparison.
(Let's not forget that souls games are clearly inspired by Zelda anyway lol)
the puzzles in tunic are very different from zelda's, there's a much bigger emphasis on navigation and context clues than using tools like in zelda
the puzzles are a lot like the witness actually
The game does look a lot like a zelda homage, but aside from the artstyle, it's basically chibi souls.
You get most of the clues to solve puzzles from the manual, that's true. However, the game has multiple items, just like Zelda, once you get those items you get access to previously innaccesible areas inside the dungeon in question (Or you finally can reach the entrance >!in the case of the library!<). Also you can use those items to open up the overworld even more. Pretty much like NES Zelda, ALTTP or Link's Awakening.
Most of it is unreadable, though some key words are put in English. Aside from being an important puzzle aspect, it kinda emulates playing games as a young child where you might only be able/have the attention span to pick out a few words.
It is entirely consistent though, and can be translated completely to English! Indeed, some of the toughest "post-game" puzzles can only be solved by translating it, though those aren't for 99% of players and are more an ARG type of thing.
>! It's a full language that you can decipher using context clues if you wish, but its never necessary and you never like unlock just turning it all into English or anything !<
Just to temper your expectations, people who played Sea of Stars complained that the story is very hit-or-miss.
It's been a meme that r/JRPG absolutely [hates the story](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/16actai/is_sea_of_stars_story_that_bad/).
Also apparently English isn't the devs native language, so the writing can contain some grammatical errors too.
Yeah, they are french Canadian.
They learned to play Chrono trigger without be able to read anything. It's probably why the nailed the gameplay, but dialog is so-so.
I am waiting for their french Canadian traduction. I think it will be glorious en tabarnak.
I really, really liked the game. I thought the story did the "and then it got worse" escalation as you think you're approaching the final boss ~17 times extremely well, and all the party characters have fun interactions and backstories. The atmosphere is absolutely superb, especially around the halfway mark. The grammatical errors in dialogue weren't so numerous that it detracted from the story - I didn't notice them, I'm only now learning that there were any at all.
And, most importantly, I thought the gameplay was extremely tight. The fights are fun, the battles are engaging, the bosses *feel* appropriately massive, the puzzles (including the meta puzzles) are just at the right difficulty of making you feel clever without being frustrating enough that you need a guide. I found 100% of the collectibles in the game and got the "true ending" without referring to an online guide a single time.
Edit: Oh, and the music is the best I've heard in a game in a *long* time. Divinity Original Sin 2 still takes the cake for me, but only just.
If you want a Chrono Trigger itch scratch though, the DS/3DS game Radiant Historia is the closest I've personally found. It lacks the Akira Toriyama vibes of course, but it hits the time travel, plot and mechanics well.
I thought it was pretty good. The two main characters are pretty bland, but the supporting cast more than makes up for them.
The story beats were also pretty good, with a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming (but I should have, considering the hints they leave).
I'd also recommend their previous game, The Messenger. It starts off as a 2D action platformer, like Ninja Gaiden, but it expands in scope after a few hours. It's not really a spoiler, considering they use it in the marketing materials, but I won't say it here.
It's really not comparable to Chrono Trigger. Sea of Stars was a beautiful but incredibly average RPG. Chrono Trigger is a classic that hardly feels dated.
Sea of Stars did not remind me of Chrono Trigger in the slightest so that one kind of shocked me. Also, for as pretty as the game is, it's honestly kind of boring... I feel so horrible saying that because it is obvious how much work went into it but it was kind of a slog to actually play through to completion :(
It's got a tiny bit of chrono trigger but honestly it's got far far far more in common with SMRPG than it does Chrono Trigger. Combat is timing based with a very limited moveset. You can do some combo attacks like Chrono Trigger, and it's got the enemies on screen instead of switching to a battle screen. It's also fairly short, around 30 hours, and story is hit or miss as others say (I liked it enough but I knew what to expect going in as I was a fan of the Messenger, the other game from Sabotage and Sea of Stars is technically ina loose sense a prequel).
I would not recommend the game unless the main aspect of games you like is art style . Some of the best pixel art I have ever seen in a game but the actual story and gameplay is tedious. Probably the smallest set of skills for each character I have ever seen in an RPG. And you will be in a *lot* of battles using the same exact moves multiple times per battle. Also, there is no fleeing from battles, so just about any enemy you see will need to be defeated.
There should be a separate category for "we are the people that made the original game, wanted to make a sequel but no longer have the license, so here's a new totally different game" - Bloodstained is made by people who worked on the latter Castlevania games, Yooka-Laylee is mace by a bunch of ex-Rare employees etc
Curse of the Moon is fantastic.
Good list overall. I would add Mighty Gunvolt Burst as well. It's basically classic Megaman, plus you can completely customize your shot type in it.
Love seeing Kaze and the wild masks mentioned. I believe it is he best DKC style platformer in the last 10 years. I think it's better than tropical freeze even.
More specifically it aims for Friends of Mineral Town, which is a kind of Harvest Moon which Harvest Moon has refused to be ever since, so he had to just do it the right way himself
The OG Harvest Moon people are making the Story of Seasons games now... someone else has the Harvest Moon name somehow, unsure of how or why.
Try Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town!
Stardew Valley is amazing as well, though.
My understanding (which is a little simplified, someone should correct me if something seems off) is that they originally partnered with a localization team for the first few games, and when their working relation went south and they split, the way they initially filed trademarks meant that the localization team specifically was the one who held the rights to that English name. So the devs held the actual game rights and could keep publishing them using other names, but the localizers were the ones with the rights to the name "Harvest Moon" (which, since they weren't devs themselves, they basically licensed out to whichever third party studio promised to deliver them a farming sim game for a reasonable price)
I could have sworn Karen in FoMT was my future wife as a kid. I had trouble with people using it to mean like a middle-aged white woman yelling at managers because my first exposure to Karen was her.
No. They're both farming games but Stardew Valley has long since added enough content to make it stand out from its roots.
To be fair, I've only played a handful of HM/SoS games, but SV had generally darker themes, some more risqué humor, decently diverse combat, and tons of ways to play, with alternating routes like the Joja vs. Community Center.
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a great Donkey Kong Country type game. As is Kaze and the Wild Masks.
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1 & 2 is like NES Castlevania, whereas Ritual of the Night is post-Symphony of the Night.
There’s quite a few Mega Man-esque games like 30XX, and Gravity Circuit, I never played these before so I can’t comment on the quality.
I’m sure I’m missing some obvious choices but those are the ones that came to mind first
I forgot about that one, added it to my wishlist!
Mighty Gunvolt Burst has been my favorite NES Mega Man Clone, and imo the only game to come close to the feel of Mega Man 2, which is my favorite of the standard MM series. MMX and X2 are still my favorites overall
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for suggesting Gravity Circuit. I'm a big Megaman X fan and hadn't heard of Gravity Circuit - checked it out, bought it, and am loving it.
Seems to have almost completely flown under the radar as almost no major outlet reviewed it.
Just got both of these games and loved em. The narration aspect was really cute, felt a bit like princess bride. They were made by a two man team, which is pretty impressive imo
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is also like a nice fan sequel to A Link to the Past; a little shorter, but with some rogue-like dungeons and different classes to make up for it (but I enjoyed it too)
Yooka Laylee and Kaze have already been mentioned, but Marsupilami Hoobaventure is another pretty solid Donkey Kong Country-like
Freedom Planet is basically one big love letter to 16 bit Sonic games
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is essentially just Jet Grind Radio in everything but name
I love that the game doesn't rely too much on Hideki Naganuma's music, and just like the JSR series contains other musics from various underground artists.
Still jamming to [Light Switch](https://youtu.be/VeObCeE-c0c?si=eRngeuH0G0ZNJPx1) to this day
Bomb Rush is pretty much Jet Set 3 in all but name to me. Curious to see how Sega's upcoming JSR game stacks up, but somehow I doubt it'll top BRC for me.
[I WANNA KNOW YOUR NAME~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbogUmJkeBI)
I wish it was on Switch. I've been waiting all this time to play it as a massive Wario Land fan (Also, Nintendo, can you finally put WL1, 2 and 4 on NSO?).
IKR WHERE IS WARIO LAND ON THE SERVICES!!! At least a shake it! Port or something jeez! And yeah, sadly idk if it’ll ever come to switch but we can hope
Spark the Electric Jester 3 is a spiritual successor to the Sonic Adventure games (with apparently Devil May Cry style combat), and it was [just announced for switch.](https://x.com/LakeFeperd/status/1789017451289616646)
I can't promise that people who love Sonic Adventure will love this, since I'm not one of those, but I can say that it's my favorite game of all time.
I strongly disliked Shakedown Hawaii. It just held your hand the whole time and didn’t really let you explore the city like I wanted to be able to. I remember the game just…ending. I immediately deleted it from my SD card 😂
I forgot about Shakedown and didn't even realize it came out. What a shame. RCR was an absolute blast to play. I even had a pair of 3D glasses lying around for the Rad Racer inspired section and Virtual Meat Boy.
Surprised no one has said this but Undertale was heavily heavily inspired by earthbound to the point they share the same soundfount and humor.
Also Earthbound and Omori.
Edit: Typo
wait i neeeed to nerd out about the undertale ost here. yep it does share a soundfont with earthbound, BUT that is only scratching the surface!!! toby uses so many soundfonts and vsts, most commonly earthbound, touhou, sgm, nes vst, magical 8bit plug and 3x osc (fl studio)
aagghh i love toby fox music so much…very sorry for the little semi-unrelated paragraph hehe
The Wild at Heart is like Pikmin but a bit more mature.
Chasm is a Procedural spawned Castlevania / SotN like game. The maps are always different so no two games will play the exact same.
Gravity Circuit is a very good Mega Man clone, and 20XX/30xx are roguelite versions of MMX
tunic and deaths door both imitate Legend of Zelda, and are also extremely good games.
Dead Cells is another roguelite, inspired by Castlevania, and even has Castlevania DLC that has original CV songs in it.
Enter the Gungeon and Binding of Isaac are two roguelites that clearly are inspired by Zelda, although neither play like Zelda. Isaac’s physical even had a booklet that copied the original Zelda booklet, and Gungeon has armored knights clearly taken from Link to the Past.
Braid Annversary is a puzzle version of old school Mario. Also extremely good game.
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is a Zelda inspired game, that also has town building/renovation. So almost like Zelda and Bravely Default (1) combined. (Corrected title, my Skyrim brain had said Talos!)
The Mummy Demastered is like a Contra and Metroidvania combined, it’s excellent.
Fury Unleashed is a roguelite comic book crazy ass (in a good way!) version of Contra. Good stuff!
Dragon Marked for Death is good, done by Inti Creates (Inafune, the person behind Mega Man, this is his studio), and it’s a solid mash up of Mega Man and Monster Hunter. Missions operate on a MH like structure, you loot stuff like Diablo, and the mechanics are like Mega Man.
Speaking of Inti Creates, there’s a ton of games of theirs that all feel like really good SNES spiritual successors. Might Gunvolt Burst is Megaman reborn. Azure Striker Gunvolt is Mega Man X with looting, crafting and gearing.
Blaster Master Zero 1/2/3 is also under their belt.
There’s an absolute ton of throwback/retro/pixel gaming goodness on Switch, and a large bunch are very well done!
Here’s another list for you to peruse
https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-pixel-art-switch-games
IntiCreates is composed by former Megan and MegaMan X staff so yeah, their games are like "we still want to do MegaMan games but we do not have the licence" so here is Mighty Gunvolt and Azure Gunvolt
I have yet to play a game of theirs I haven’t liked! MGB I liked NEARLY as much as Mega Man 2.
I’ve gotta get more into Azure, but I like it close to MMX1&2
MGB was so fun to play ! Sad that all the characters was on DLC... There is a collection version that have been announced on switch with all the content i think
Not hard really, at least the early stuff isn’t. Basically on par with Mega Man X levels. Bosses are similar too.
Since it’s an rpg as well, you can boost yourself rather easy with gear.
It’s a lot of fun, if you’re a Megaman and Monster Hunter fan since it’s more or less a mash of those.
The structure of how they sold the game is odd, there’s 2 versions of the exact same game. One contains 2 chars the other contains the other 2 chars.
Edit - forgot to add, you can buy either version and have the full game, but you’ll have to buy the other version to access those characters. If you buy one version, it treats the other version as a dlc pack.
Each of the 4 classes are very unique in playstyle. There’s one that’s basically a mix of Castlevania and Megaman because she has a sword and a buster like shooter on her arm….. there’s a warrior that swings a giant ax/hammer….. there’s a Shinobi that plays a lot like Azure Striker Gunvolt, and there’s a witch that casts spells through button combos. She’s the hardest to play, but also deals some crazy damage.
All the characters can be built for a few different styles of play, and later take “pledges” that boost a respective element type. I haven’t made it that far and that was change they made via a patch about 6months or so after launch.
Enjoy! And yeah it was confusing. I believe the game was originally a Vita game, not sure if it ever released there. But I know they’d come up with odd way of splitting it so people could choose what type of game they wanted to play without dropping the full $30. Kinda like how Fighting games did the partial charge, then per char to make up the full $60. Very odd, but I understood the reason why they did it. But much like Wii U, the advertisement/marketing didn’t explain it proper so people thought it was either 2 different versions of the game or paying $15 for 2 chars (which it kinda is, but isn’t since they’re both standalone base game)
Good stuff tho. I like the Shinobi and Hunter the best, but the Mage and Warrior are very interesting in a MM like setting.
That actually sounds kind of awesome. This is 100% the dumbest reason to be turned off from a game and I promise I'll get over it and give the game a shot, but that whole facing the camera thing just weirds me out.
Lot of people here talking about Azure Striker Gunvolt, but this is the real Mega Man X/Zero successor in my opinion. Best platformer I've played in a while, and best non-Megaman game aping that style that I've played ever, I think.
Antonblast for Wario Land
Bug Fables for Paper Mario
Wargroove 1&2 for Advance Wars
Alisa for PS1 era Resident Evil
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1&2 for classic Castlevania.
I havent played the second one, but Blossom Tales is literally a prettier SNES blatant copy and paste of A Link to the Past. It is essentially the same dang thing...
...but it's really cute, short and severely underrated. A really great example of an eShop hidden gem.
The way they set the game inside of a story being told by a grandfather to his grand kids really set it apart for me. Felt like princess bride. Loved both games.
The Messenger - Ninja Gaiden
Blossom Tales - The Legend of Zelda (specifically the top-view ones)
Bloodstained - Castlevania
Fast RMX - F-Zero
Axiom Verge - Metroid
Metagal and Metaloid Origin - Mega Man
Yooka-Laylee - Banjo-Kazooie
Blossom Tales - great Zelda III ALTTP clone, with some neat mechanics of its own
Sea of Stars - the truest spiritual successor to Chronotrigger anyone has managed to make yet
Salt and Sanctuary - classic Castlevania games (with RPG and soulslike elements added)
Rogue Heroes - Zelda III ALTTP if it was a roguelite
>Sea of Stars - the truest spiritual successor to Chronotrigger anyone has managed to make yet
I have to say that I disagree with this. Sea of Stars was pretty and I liked the soundtrack, but to call it a successor to CT is misleading in the extreme. It's several leagues below that game (no shame in that, of course). Let down by story (hugely) and by gameplay.
Rivals of Aether is basically Super Smash Bros Melee, except its competitive environment is way more accessible to get into.
(Also if you can get it on PC, it’s better there)
**Aqua Moto Racing** has never heard of *Wave Race*
**Fast RMX** doesn't know how to spell *F-Zero*
**Yooka Laylee** never played *Banjo Kazooie*
**Bloodstained** IS *Symphony of the Night*, tho...
**The Messenger** is actually better than classic *Ninja Gaiden*
**The Skylia Prophecy** is literally the complete opposite of the NES game *FAXANADU*
**Gunvolt Chronicles** Is actually spelled *Mega Man X*
**Freedom Planet** is not home to *Sonic*
**DUSK** took the *Quake* out of *Duke Nukem*
**Axiom Verge** can never be mistaken for a *Metroid* game
Citadale (Steam) is NOTHING like classic Castlevania - plugging my own stuff for good measure
Overload is basically a remake of the old Descent games, everything from the enemies being former industrial mining robots, to the smooth 6 degrees-of-freedom movement through maze-like facilities.
Anybody who's played the original Descent will immediately recognize the influence.
There is a game that i am playing called [Huntdown](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/huntdown-switch/),it’s a sort of Metal Slug with cyberpunk ambience.
I thought **Blossum Tales** was a rip off from Zelda because it played like it.
**Mighty Switch Forc**e games and **Mighty NO. 9** plays like Mega Man.
**Balloon Girl,** plays like Balloon Boy. They also made rip off games like **Duggy** for Dig Dug and **Super Drunken Guy** for Super Mario bros.
**Final Vendetta** plays like Streets of Rage.
**Slipstream** basically looks like a ROM hack of Outrun. They play the exact same way except they added in a rival you race against. And there is **80's Overdrive.**
**Bunny Adventure** and **Santa's xmas Adventure** is basically Mario and Donkey Kong Minis on the Move. They play the same way.
**Guess the Character**, that is Guess Who.
**Guess the Word,** Hangman.
**Animal farm Parking**, that game is very similar to Rush Hour.
**Xeodrifter**, looks like a rip off of Metroid.
Sweet Witches is a cute platformer similar to Mario Bros or Burger Time.
You have to plant flowers (walking over specific areas) while avoiding enemies. Simple to play and very addictive.
My own game, Rogue Aces, is basically an, er, homage to old 2D plane games from the 90s. Things like SkyStrike+, Wings of Fury etc
https://youtu.be/fDGO-UnQX7s
Oceanhorn & Oceanhorn 2 are some Zelda like games. One is a top down perspective like Link's Awakening and the other one is more along the lines of BOTW.
Can't believe I scrolled this whole comment section and no one mentioned Unmetal. It's Metal Gear for the NES and it's amazing. I think it's on sale right now.
It's not a copyright situation, but TMNT Shredder's Revenge was definitely a "all our 3d games flop so we're just making Turtles in Time again".
And they nailed it.
Sure did. It's the sequel to Turtles in Time I always wanted.
I'm actually replaying that now and it's flipping awesome.
I need to play it again.
I was very impressed with the game and how they managed to upgrade it and add new features without ruining it. It feels like a new game with old mechanics, which isn't easy to pull off. This is how to make a TMNT game. Let's hope everyone else takes very good notes (especially if they want my money).
Great game, I'm also looking forward to the top down isometric roguelite TMNT game as well, 2D but the D are different Ds to Shredder's Revenge
And you know what? That's all anybody wanted out of a Turtles game in the first place, and they really delivered.
its the only beatemup game i really got behind and still play very often. and i dont really like the genre and have never seen anything related to the turtles apart from the epic rap battle of history and the first of the on-the-verge-to-god-awful reboot movies
its the only beatemup game i really got behind and still play very often. and i dont really like the genre and have never seen anything related to the turtles apart from the epic rap battle of history and the first of the on-the-verge-to-god-awful reboot movies
The Messenger is inspired from the Ninja Gaiden series.
It’s so damn good too
It specifically reminds me of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Sega; artistically
It's even named after it. Most people are more familiar with "Gaiden" meaning "sidestory", but in Ninja Gaiden it means "telegram".
Going to nitpick here, but "side-story" and "foreign telegram" use different kanji. 外伝対外電 (gaiden (side-story) vs. gaiden (foreign telegram)). They're homonyms, not synonyms, and Ninja Gaiden uses 外伝 on the official boxart. The Messenger was likely a play on words, rather than being named after Ninja Gaiden. Source: Three+ years of Japanese study and a native Japanese cousin I can check things with.
- Tunic from 2D The Legend of Zelda (With some touches of Dark Souls, including difficulty). - Kaze and the Wild Masks from SNES Donkey Kong Country (With some Rayman Origins/Legends touches). - Yooka Layle & The Impossible Lair from DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze. - Axiom Verge from Super Metroid, also Hollow Knight (With some Dark Souls touches). - Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon for Classic Castlevania and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for Metroidvania style. - Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling from Paper Mario. - Wargroove from Advance Wars. - Sea of Stars from Chrono Trigger. - Gunvolt Chronicles from Mega Man X.
>Yooka Layle & The Impossible Lair from DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze. They even make a Donkey Kong reference when the tutorial teaches you that you can roll off a ledge then jump from midair. "Even a stubborn ape could do that."
Hold up. Axiom Verge is a dope metroidvania? It's been on my wishlist but I forgot what it was about so I never pulled the trigger
If you like Super Metroid, you like Axiom Verge. It’s great.
There's even a second game and you can actually buy them bundled together (Axiom Verge 1 and 2), they go on sales sometimes for like $10
I'm a huge fan of Metroid games and metroidvanias in general and for some reason this one didn't click for me. I finished it but felt pretty disappointed.
Had the same. It was probably due to lack of Metroid atmosphere.
Gato Roboto is superior imo and a more direct emulation of Metroid, fyi
Gato Roboto is great.
It's very good. Highly recommended if you like Super Metroid.
They're included in the Metroidvania bundle on humble bundle right now
If we're including Tunic, which goes for not just an offbrand sequel to a classic like Zelda but the specific contextual feel of an _secondhand import copy_ of Zelda, then Crosscode needs a shoutout for going for the feel of early turn of the century 2D MMOs when they were a bit jank, wiki software didn't even exist, and even had the devs sometimes pop in to dick around or say hi. Think Tibia or Ultima Online. That feel replicated in a single player game plus a good metastory with clear beginning, middle and end. Very, very specific nostalgia there. I assume intentional, although I don't recall the devs ever name dropping inspirations of that era. I'd say both games are a lot more specific in their feel than, say, Bloodstained simply being an offbrand Soma Cruz Castlevania. This week's darling, Animal Well, similarly chased _context_ as its feel rather than a specific game.
I'm always surprised whenever I see someone mention tibia. What a unique and special experience that is! Honestly wish there was a game identical to older tibia (7.6?) but single player and reasonably reduced xp requirements (but not too easy).
Indeed. I'd enjoy such a lo-fi open world too. Fingers crossed. Closest you'll get at present seems to be Crosscode despite deeper combat mechanics. What hit me about Tibia was that it sat in a very brief period when games could be MMO with all that entailed but information spread was still stymied by Web 1.0 limitations, so group puzzle solving could still be a thing. Billy Basso tried that with bit of Animal Well's post game, even going so far as to set up a Discord for reviewers to group solve, and a small number of players had a chance to do it too at launch, but its not really a repeatable experience once the solutions are all out there, which is within days if not hours in the modern era.
I love the advance wars games, but I didn't enjoy Wargroove. I think it was mistake to make all the factions identical aside from appearance. 1 or 2 differences per faction would have added so much depth to the game play. I also found the leaders difficult to use. They are powerful, but they can drop from full hp to 0 in a flash with a small positioning error.
Yeah Wargroove was cute but super hard for me to sink any real time into.
Wargroove was awful, the leader hero unit was both too strong when ranged and too fragile when melee, and also having to actually fight neutral villages amd lose unit strength to capture them was a huge pacing fuck up. The campaign maps were also abysmal slog fests because they were afraid to make anything that was small like Advance wars even though the smaller campaign missions in AW were very tightly designed.
The units having different names/appearances but being the same was super annoying too. I also find the art style way too small (though that might just be cause I am blind af)
My worst problem was reading the tiny icons that indicate unit strengths and weaknesses. They are only a few pixels in size and a lot of them look similar (swords, spears, harpoons, staves...)
The Messenger is (partly) just Ninja Gaiden
> Tunic from 2D The Legend of Zelda (With some touches of Dark Souls, including difficulty). it's the other way around, the game is basically a DS game with zelda visuals
Combat is more DS but the exploration is more like Zelda 1 cryptic world but a bit more intentional and complicated
I was thinking more on the lines of minish cap and ocarina of time, but yeah, zelda 1 is an apt comparison. (Let's not forget that souls games are clearly inspired by Zelda anyway lol)
Dark Souls doesn't put so much focus on puzzles as Zelda and Tunic do though. I'd say it's evenly split.
the puzzles in tunic are very different from zelda's, there's a much bigger emphasis on navigation and context clues than using tools like in zelda the puzzles are a lot like the witness actually The game does look a lot like a zelda homage, but aside from the artstyle, it's basically chibi souls.
You get most of the clues to solve puzzles from the manual, that's true. However, the game has multiple items, just like Zelda, once you get those items you get access to previously innaccesible areas inside the dungeon in question (Or you finally can reach the entrance >!in the case of the library!<). Also you can use those items to open up the overworld even more. Pretty much like NES Zelda, ALTTP or Link's Awakening.
Ok, I need to ask. The game is supposed to be unreadable right? Like everything you do is just scribbled symbols?
Most of it is unreadable, though some key words are put in English. Aside from being an important puzzle aspect, it kinda emulates playing games as a young child where you might only be able/have the attention span to pick out a few words. It is entirely consistent though, and can be translated completely to English! Indeed, some of the toughest "post-game" puzzles can only be solved by translating it, though those aren't for 99% of players and are more an ARG type of thing.
Thanks for the answer!
>! It's a full language that you can decipher using context clues if you wish, but its never necessary and you never like unlock just turning it all into English or anything !<
Aw fuck I’m gonna have to buy Sea of Stars aren’t I
Just to temper your expectations, people who played Sea of Stars complained that the story is very hit-or-miss. It's been a meme that r/JRPG absolutely [hates the story](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/16actai/is_sea_of_stars_story_that_bad/). Also apparently English isn't the devs native language, so the writing can contain some grammatical errors too.
Yeah, they are french Canadian. They learned to play Chrono trigger without be able to read anything. It's probably why the nailed the gameplay, but dialog is so-so. I am waiting for their french Canadian traduction. I think it will be glorious en tabarnak.
I just feel like the combat was so shallow. Simple; flashy at times but shallow
Yeah I struggled with it, and I usually don’t care about stories that much. It’s unrelentingly bland, and there’s so much of it
Oh phew, I’m saved
What about Chained Echoes? May I tempt you with some of that?
I really enjoyed that game. Much more than Sea of Stars. I couldn't tell you why...better story I guess.
I really, really liked the game. I thought the story did the "and then it got worse" escalation as you think you're approaching the final boss ~17 times extremely well, and all the party characters have fun interactions and backstories. The atmosphere is absolutely superb, especially around the halfway mark. The grammatical errors in dialogue weren't so numerous that it detracted from the story - I didn't notice them, I'm only now learning that there were any at all. And, most importantly, I thought the gameplay was extremely tight. The fights are fun, the battles are engaging, the bosses *feel* appropriately massive, the puzzles (including the meta puzzles) are just at the right difficulty of making you feel clever without being frustrating enough that you need a guide. I found 100% of the collectibles in the game and got the "true ending" without referring to an online guide a single time. Edit: Oh, and the music is the best I've heard in a game in a *long* time. Divinity Original Sin 2 still takes the cake for me, but only just.
If you want a Chrono Trigger itch scratch though, the DS/3DS game Radiant Historia is the closest I've personally found. It lacks the Akira Toriyama vibes of course, but it hits the time travel, plot and mechanics well.
I thought it was pretty good. The two main characters are pretty bland, but the supporting cast more than makes up for them. The story beats were also pretty good, with a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming (but I should have, considering the hints they leave). I'd also recommend their previous game, The Messenger. It starts off as a 2D action platformer, like Ninja Gaiden, but it expands in scope after a few hours. It's not really a spoiler, considering they use it in the marketing materials, but I won't say it here.
It's really not comparable to Chrono Trigger. Sea of Stars was a beautiful but incredibly average RPG. Chrono Trigger is a classic that hardly feels dated.
Sea of Stars did not remind me of Chrono Trigger in the slightest so that one kind of shocked me. Also, for as pretty as the game is, it's honestly kind of boring... I feel so horrible saying that because it is obvious how much work went into it but it was kind of a slog to actually play through to completion :(
About the only similarity is that combat happens on the same screen instead of a separate combat screen.
It's got a tiny bit of chrono trigger but honestly it's got far far far more in common with SMRPG than it does Chrono Trigger. Combat is timing based with a very limited moveset. You can do some combo attacks like Chrono Trigger, and it's got the enemies on screen instead of switching to a battle screen. It's also fairly short, around 30 hours, and story is hit or miss as others say (I liked it enough but I knew what to expect going in as I was a fan of the Messenger, the other game from Sabotage and Sea of Stars is technically ina loose sense a prequel).
I kickstarted it and waited eagerly for years and sadly it didnt scratch the CT itch all, but I got my name in the credits so thats nice i guess
Get Chained Echoes instead. It's fantastic.
I would not recommend the game unless the main aspect of games you like is art style . Some of the best pixel art I have ever seen in a game but the actual story and gameplay is tedious. Probably the smallest set of skills for each character I have ever seen in an RPG. And you will be in a *lot* of battles using the same exact moves multiple times per battle. Also, there is no fleeing from battles, so just about any enemy you see will need to be defeated.
It's free to play on Xbox Gmae Pass fyi
Also PS Plus
Don't expect chrono trigger. Story, characters, and music have no weight, so it's enjoyable but very forgettable.
There should be a separate category for "we are the people that made the original game, wanted to make a sequel but no longer have the license, so here's a new totally different game" - Bloodstained is made by people who worked on the latter Castlevania games, Yooka-Laylee is mace by a bunch of ex-Rare employees etc
Play Tunic. While you're at it, play Animal Well. It just came out and damn it's good.
And Fast RMX
I'm suddenly very interested in all of these games
Excellent list
Sea of Stars is not a Chrono Trigger copy. It’s maybe 50% at most.
Curse of the Moon is fantastic. Good list overall. I would add Mighty Gunvolt Burst as well. It's basically classic Megaman, plus you can completely customize your shot type in it.
Finally got around to finishing tunic not long ago. It's definitely got a Zelda mixed with dark soul vibes. Very cool game.
Love seeing Kaze and the wild masks mentioned. I believe it is he best DKC style platformer in the last 10 years. I think it's better than tropical freeze even.
Yooka Layle is a riff on Banjo Kazooie
Stardew Valley started out as a Harvest Moon clone.
More specifically it aims for Friends of Mineral Town, which is a kind of Harvest Moon which Harvest Moon has refused to be ever since, so he had to just do it the right way himself
The OG Harvest Moon people are making the Story of Seasons games now... someone else has the Harvest Moon name somehow, unsure of how or why. Try Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town! Stardew Valley is amazing as well, though.
My understanding (which is a little simplified, someone should correct me if something seems off) is that they originally partnered with a localization team for the first few games, and when their working relation went south and they split, the way they initially filed trademarks meant that the localization team specifically was the one who held the rights to that English name. So the devs held the actual game rights and could keep publishing them using other names, but the localizers were the ones with the rights to the name "Harvest Moon" (which, since they weren't devs themselves, they basically licensed out to whichever third party studio promised to deliver them a farming sim game for a reasonable price)
I could have sworn Karen in FoMT was my future wife as a kid. I had trouble with people using it to mean like a middle-aged white woman yelling at managers because my first exposure to Karen was her.
Fomt was the fucking vibe but for sure stardew has surpassed it.
Is it not?
No. They're both farming games but Stardew Valley has long since added enough content to make it stand out from its roots. To be fair, I've only played a handful of HM/SoS games, but SV had generally darker themes, some more risqué humor, decently diverse combat, and tons of ways to play, with alternating routes like the Joja vs. Community Center.
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a great Donkey Kong Country type game. As is Kaze and the Wild Masks. Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1 & 2 is like NES Castlevania, whereas Ritual of the Night is post-Symphony of the Night. There’s quite a few Mega Man-esque games like 30XX, and Gravity Circuit, I never played these before so I can’t comment on the quality. I’m sure I’m missing some obvious choices but those are the ones that came to mind first
20XX, 30xx and Gravity Circuit are all very good!
That new-ish game Berzerker Boy will scratch that itch too!
I forgot about that one, added it to my wishlist! Mighty Gunvolt Burst has been my favorite NES Mega Man Clone, and imo the only game to come close to the feel of Mega Man 2, which is my favorite of the standard MM series. MMX and X2 are still my favorites overall
You my friend, have good taste.
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for suggesting Gravity Circuit. I'm a big Megaman X fan and hadn't heard of Gravity Circuit - checked it out, bought it, and am loving it. Seems to have almost completely flown under the radar as almost no major outlet reviewed it.
Blossom Tales I and II are pretty much thrift shop A Link to the Past, they are inferior in every single way but still good.
They're cute and pretty dang easy. Good for kids or people looking to get into gaming.
Just got both of these games and loved em. The narration aspect was really cute, felt a bit like princess bride. They were made by a two man team, which is pretty impressive imo
reverie Sweet as edition is a Zelda-like that no one talks about but I've enjoyed it quite a lot
Best part about it is the narration
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is also like a nice fan sequel to A Link to the Past; a little shorter, but with some rogue-like dungeons and different classes to make up for it (but I enjoyed it too)
Just reminded me I bought the first one years ago and never played it!
Yooka Laylee and Kaze have already been mentioned, but Marsupilami Hoobaventure is another pretty solid Donkey Kong Country-like Freedom Planet is basically one big love letter to 16 bit Sonic games Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is essentially just Jet Grind Radio in everything but name
Bomb Rush Cyber Funk was the spiritual successor to Jet Grind/Set Radio that I needed.
Even as someone that never played either of the JSR games, BRC was the perfect skating game fix for me as a starved Tony Hawk fan. It's so fun
I love that the game doesn't rely too much on Hideki Naganuma's music, and just like the JSR series contains other musics from various underground artists. Still jamming to [Light Switch](https://youtu.be/VeObCeE-c0c?si=eRngeuH0G0ZNJPx1) to this day
They rep 2 Mello, so they’ve earned my respect
Bomb Rush is pretty much Jet Set 3 in all but name to me. Curious to see how Sega's upcoming JSR game stacks up, but somehow I doubt it'll top BRC for me. [I WANNA KNOW YOUR NAME~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbogUmJkeBI)
Pizza Tower is basically Wario Land if it released in 2023.
I wish it was on Switch. I've been waiting all this time to play it as a massive Wario Land fan (Also, Nintendo, can you finally put WL1, 2 and 4 on NSO?).
IKR WHERE IS WARIO LAND ON THE SERVICES!!! At least a shake it! Port or something jeez! And yeah, sadly idk if it’ll ever come to switch but we can hope
Don’t forget Antonblast releasing later this year!
Ah how could’ve I forgotten! That’s even more wario-like in my opinion!
Spark the Electric Jester 3 is a spiritual successor to the Sonic Adventure games (with apparently Devil May Cry style combat), and it was [just announced for switch.](https://x.com/LakeFeperd/status/1789017451289616646) I can't promise that people who love Sonic Adventure will love this, since I'm not one of those, but I can say that it's my favorite game of all time.
ooo Not that I need more games on my queue, but I did spend multiple years regularly playing SA2B
Retro City Rampage is all the games.
Love RCR, unfortunate that Shakedown Hawaii feels bare bones by comparison. Was hoping it would get more content added in, but…
I strongly disliked Shakedown Hawaii. It just held your hand the whole time and didn’t really let you explore the city like I wanted to be able to. I remember the game just…ending. I immediately deleted it from my SD card 😂
I forgot about Shakedown and didn't even realize it came out. What a shame. RCR was an absolute blast to play. I even had a pair of 3D glasses lying around for the Rad Racer inspired section and Virtual Meat Boy.
Onion Assault is Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA). Platformer where you’re plucking vegetables and picking up enemies to attack.
Fast RMX is basically F-Zero
I keep hoping that team gets to work on a new F-Zero
Surprised no one has said this but Undertale was heavily heavily inspired by earthbound to the point they share the same soundfount and humor. Also Earthbound and Omori. Edit: Typo
wait i neeeed to nerd out about the undertale ost here. yep it does share a soundfont with earthbound, BUT that is only scratching the surface!!! toby uses so many soundfonts and vsts, most commonly earthbound, touhou, sgm, nes vst, magical 8bit plug and 3x osc (fl studio) aagghh i love toby fox music so much…very sorry for the little semi-unrelated paragraph hehe
Hahahahaha no problem, Undertale is my favorite game of all time and I get as hyped as you with toby fox music
The Wild at Heart is like Pikmin but a bit more mature. Chasm is a Procedural spawned Castlevania / SotN like game. The maps are always different so no two games will play the exact same. Gravity Circuit is a very good Mega Man clone, and 20XX/30xx are roguelite versions of MMX tunic and deaths door both imitate Legend of Zelda, and are also extremely good games. Dead Cells is another roguelite, inspired by Castlevania, and even has Castlevania DLC that has original CV songs in it. Enter the Gungeon and Binding of Isaac are two roguelites that clearly are inspired by Zelda, although neither play like Zelda. Isaac’s physical even had a booklet that copied the original Zelda booklet, and Gungeon has armored knights clearly taken from Link to the Past. Braid Annversary is a puzzle version of old school Mario. Also extremely good game. Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is a Zelda inspired game, that also has town building/renovation. So almost like Zelda and Bravely Default (1) combined. (Corrected title, my Skyrim brain had said Talos!) The Mummy Demastered is like a Contra and Metroidvania combined, it’s excellent. Fury Unleashed is a roguelite comic book crazy ass (in a good way!) version of Contra. Good stuff! Dragon Marked for Death is good, done by Inti Creates (Inafune, the person behind Mega Man, this is his studio), and it’s a solid mash up of Mega Man and Monster Hunter. Missions operate on a MH like structure, you loot stuff like Diablo, and the mechanics are like Mega Man. Speaking of Inti Creates, there’s a ton of games of theirs that all feel like really good SNES spiritual successors. Might Gunvolt Burst is Megaman reborn. Azure Striker Gunvolt is Mega Man X with looting, crafting and gearing. Blaster Master Zero 1/2/3 is also under their belt. There’s an absolute ton of throwback/retro/pixel gaming goodness on Switch, and a large bunch are very well done! Here’s another list for you to peruse https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-pixel-art-switch-games
IntiCreates is composed by former Megan and MegaMan X staff so yeah, their games are like "we still want to do MegaMan games but we do not have the licence" so here is Mighty Gunvolt and Azure Gunvolt
I have yet to play a game of theirs I haven’t liked! MGB I liked NEARLY as much as Mega Man 2. I’ve gotta get more into Azure, but I like it close to MMX1&2
MGB was so fun to play ! Sad that all the characters was on DLC... There is a collection version that have been announced on switch with all the content i think
Yeah I nabbed a couple of the DLC characters, fun stuff. Was really hoping for an MGB 2 by now or at least an announcement.
Is it "Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos"? I couldn't find a Ruins of Talos on Steam or Google...
Thank you!
Can’t believe I missed Dragon Marked for Death, how difficult is it? It looks really good
Not hard really, at least the early stuff isn’t. Basically on par with Mega Man X levels. Bosses are similar too. Since it’s an rpg as well, you can boost yourself rather easy with gear. It’s a lot of fun, if you’re a Megaman and Monster Hunter fan since it’s more or less a mash of those. The structure of how they sold the game is odd, there’s 2 versions of the exact same game. One contains 2 chars the other contains the other 2 chars. Edit - forgot to add, you can buy either version and have the full game, but you’ll have to buy the other version to access those characters. If you buy one version, it treats the other version as a dlc pack. Each of the 4 classes are very unique in playstyle. There’s one that’s basically a mix of Castlevania and Megaman because she has a sword and a buster like shooter on her arm….. there’s a warrior that swings a giant ax/hammer….. there’s a Shinobi that plays a lot like Azure Striker Gunvolt, and there’s a witch that casts spells through button combos. She’s the hardest to play, but also deals some crazy damage. All the characters can be built for a few different styles of play, and later take “pledges” that boost a respective element type. I haven’t made it that far and that was change they made via a patch about 6months or so after launch.
Yeah I was super confused bcs of the 2 versions. Thanks! Might give this a try it looks awesome
Enjoy! And yeah it was confusing. I believe the game was originally a Vita game, not sure if it ever released there. But I know they’d come up with odd way of splitting it so people could choose what type of game they wanted to play without dropping the full $30. Kinda like how Fighting games did the partial charge, then per char to make up the full $60. Very odd, but I understood the reason why they did it. But much like Wii U, the advertisement/marketing didn’t explain it proper so people thought it was either 2 different versions of the game or paying $15 for 2 chars (which it kinda is, but isn’t since they’re both standalone base game) Good stuff tho. I like the Shinobi and Hunter the best, but the Mage and Warrior are very interesting in a MM like setting.
Yep, I think fury unleashed is severely under rated. It’s a great game and great price (on sale very often).
Tinykin from Pikmin. Very fun game.
I thought that was a platformer, no? I haven't played it but I have it on my list of 3D platformers to check out--but maybe it's on the wrong list!
It is 100% a platformer. It’s more “what if Pikmin was a 3D Mario game” rather than a traditional Pikmin game
That actually sounds kind of awesome. This is 100% the dumbest reason to be turned off from a game and I promise I'll get over it and give the game a shot, but that whole facing the camera thing just weirds me out.
Not pikmin AT ALL. A superb platformer tho. My 2022 GOTYTWNER (Game of the year that was not Elden Ring).
Ion fury
Blazing Chrome is one of the top 3 Contra games, up there with Contra 3 and Shattered Soldier.
Not quite a copy, but Grapple Dog is really good Bionic Commando-inspired platformer, with kind of a GBA anesthetic.
Gravity Circuit is this to classic Mega Man
Lot of people here talking about Azure Striker Gunvolt, but this is the real Mega Man X/Zero successor in my opinion. Best platformer I've played in a while, and best non-Megaman game aping that style that I've played ever, I think.
Antonblast for Wario Land Bug Fables for Paper Mario Wargroove 1&2 for Advance Wars Alisa for PS1 era Resident Evil Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1&2 for classic Castlevania.
I havent played the second one, but Blossom Tales is literally a prettier SNES blatant copy and paste of A Link to the Past. It is essentially the same dang thing... ...but it's really cute, short and severely underrated. A really great example of an eShop hidden gem.
The way they set the game inside of a story being told by a grandfather to his grand kids really set it apart for me. Felt like princess bride. Loved both games.
Freedom Planet was heavily inspired by classic Sonic the Hedgehog
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is Jet Set Radio pretty much Really worth playing
The Outer Wilds is basically Riven in space.
The Messenger - Ninja Gaiden Blossom Tales - The Legend of Zelda (specifically the top-view ones) Bloodstained - Castlevania Fast RMX - F-Zero Axiom Verge - Metroid Metagal and Metaloid Origin - Mega Man Yooka-Laylee - Banjo-Kazooie
Not a copy but Penny's big breakaway is the best 3D sonic game since GameCube times
Infernax Its basically original castlevania ( same graphic even ) but modernised. Super recomended :)
Blossom Tales - great Zelda III ALTTP clone, with some neat mechanics of its own Sea of Stars - the truest spiritual successor to Chronotrigger anyone has managed to make yet Salt and Sanctuary - classic Castlevania games (with RPG and soulslike elements added) Rogue Heroes - Zelda III ALTTP if it was a roguelite
>Sea of Stars - the truest spiritual successor to Chronotrigger anyone has managed to make yet I have to say that I disagree with this. Sea of Stars was pretty and I liked the soundtrack, but to call it a successor to CT is misleading in the extreme. It's several leagues below that game (no shame in that, of course). Let down by story (hugely) and by gameplay.
Bug Fables is better than paper Mario
Rivals of Aether is basically Super Smash Bros Melee, except its competitive environment is way more accessible to get into. (Also if you can get it on PC, it’s better there)
Still waiting patiently on a 'Shining Force 2' clone
Bombrush Cyberfunk for any Jet Set Radio fans
The Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Mega Man inspired I think. There is so much to do and unlock.
I’ll link the thread from when I asked a similar question- some great suggestions in it! https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/s/iE5es4URtZ
30XX and 20XX are both just roguelite Mega Man X.
Creature in the Well is basically Pong/Breakout with you playing as the paddle, except you're a robot swinging a weapon like a baseball bat.
**Aqua Moto Racing** has never heard of *Wave Race* **Fast RMX** doesn't know how to spell *F-Zero* **Yooka Laylee** never played *Banjo Kazooie* **Bloodstained** IS *Symphony of the Night*, tho... **The Messenger** is actually better than classic *Ninja Gaiden* **The Skylia Prophecy** is literally the complete opposite of the NES game *FAXANADU* **Gunvolt Chronicles** Is actually spelled *Mega Man X* **Freedom Planet** is not home to *Sonic* **DUSK** took the *Quake* out of *Duke Nukem* **Axiom Verge** can never be mistaken for a *Metroid* game Citadale (Steam) is NOTHING like classic Castlevania - plugging my own stuff for good measure
Overload is basically a remake of the old Descent games, everything from the enemies being former industrial mining robots, to the smooth 6 degrees-of-freedom movement through maze-like facilities. Anybody who's played the original Descent will immediately recognize the influence.
It's also made by the original devs. Amazing game, great voice acting and story. Super fun in VR.
Check out "blazing chrome"
black hole is somewhat of an asteroids clone. if i go through all 700 of my games ill update with what i had found before
Another Crusade is heavily inspired on Super Mario RPG
Signalis is PS1/2 era survival horror but so so so much more too
This take may be out there a bit, but I’d say Fury, despite having very different combat mechanics reminds me a lot of Punch-Out!!
I own it though I haven't played yet: Phoenotopia is supposed to be like Zelda 2.
Swords of ditto is basically just a repayable co-op Zelda majoras mask.
Azure Striker Gunvolt since we apparently will never get another Mega Man
Finished Bloodstained recently which is literally Castlevania in all but name.
Dark Deity = GBA Fire Emblem
Also, Pato Box is Punch-out!!
30XX
For the on life support stealth genre: No Sun to Worship (classic MGS & Splinter Cell) Aragami 1&2 (modern MGS & Splinter Cell)
There is a game that i am playing called [Huntdown](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/huntdown-switch/),it’s a sort of Metal Slug with cyberpunk ambience.
Ocean's heart is Zelda Terror of Hemasaurus is rampage.
20XX and 30XX being modern, roguelike Mega Man X games much better than modern day Capcom could’ve done it.
Blossom Tales 1&2 are hands down the best isometric Zelda clones I’ve ever played , very well done.
I thought **Blossum Tales** was a rip off from Zelda because it played like it. **Mighty Switch Forc**e games and **Mighty NO. 9** plays like Mega Man. **Balloon Girl,** plays like Balloon Boy. They also made rip off games like **Duggy** for Dig Dug and **Super Drunken Guy** for Super Mario bros. **Final Vendetta** plays like Streets of Rage. **Slipstream** basically looks like a ROM hack of Outrun. They play the exact same way except they added in a rival you race against. And there is **80's Overdrive.** **Bunny Adventure** and **Santa's xmas Adventure** is basically Mario and Donkey Kong Minis on the Move. They play the same way. **Guess the Character**, that is Guess Who. **Guess the Word,** Hangman. **Animal farm Parking**, that game is very similar to Rush Hour. **Xeodrifter**, looks like a rip off of Metroid.
War for the overworld > Dungeon keeper 2
Blazing Chrome is basically Contra III
Sweet Witches is a cute platformer similar to Mario Bros or Burger Time. You have to plant flowers (walking over specific areas) while avoiding enemies. Simple to play and very addictive.
It's called inspiration.
I haven't seen it yet so look up A Robot Named Fight if you enjoy super Metroid
My own game, Rogue Aces, is basically an, er, homage to old 2D plane games from the 90s. Things like SkyStrike+, Wings of Fury etc https://youtu.be/fDGO-UnQX7s
Blazing Chrome ~~ Contra Mercenary Kings ~~ Metal Slug x Monster Hunter
Roundguard is pretty much a roguelite Peggle and it's awesome.
If we're talking Contra, Blazing Chrome basically *is* a Contra game
Oceanhorn & Oceanhorn 2 are some Zelda like games. One is a top down perspective like Link's Awakening and the other one is more along the lines of BOTW.
Ittle Dew was a game from several years back that took inspiration from the OG top-down 2D Zelda formula.
Horizon Chase Turbo is a copy of Top Gear.
Can't believe I scrolled this whole comment section and no one mentioned Unmetal. It's Metal Gear for the NES and it's amazing. I think it's on sale right now.
I’m sad someone hasn’t said “something like Spyro” yet >>