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Games you remember, names you don't

The 'obscure franchises' thread reminded me of one - there was a DS game where you played as a pilot in a made up world, and you had to defend cities from pirates. You could level up your plane and buy new parts for it, you could control your speed and altitude with the touchscreen (although buttons were more comfortable to use), you had a machine gun main weapon and tracking missiles for sub weapons etc.

I can't for the life of me remember the name. Something like Pilot Wars DS maybe? When I try looking it up all I find is Pilotwings, which is clearly not the same game.
 
The 'obscure franchises' thread reminded me of one - there was a DS game where you played as a pilot in a made up world, and you had to defend cities from pirates. You could level up your plane and buy new parts for it, you could control your speed and altitude with the touchscreen (although buttons were more comfortable to use), you had a machine gun main weapon and tracking missiles for sub weapons etc.

I can't for the life of me remember the name. Something like Pilot Wars DS maybe? When I try looking it up all I find is Pilotwings, which is clearly not the same game.

Did a quick check and I'm guessing Freedom Wings. Looks to fit your description.
 
Freedom Wings is okay, but the controls for controlling battle yourself (buttons+dpad) are pretty poor, and controlling it by just clicking on the enemy you want to kill on the touchscreen is kind of boring. So yeah, battles are frustrating one way, and boring the other...

So hard to keep up with all the threads! (New to GAF haha).

That's the one, cheers!! So awesome. Shame it doesn't work on later OS versions without the need for VMware.

It's a 16-bit Win3.1 application, so of course it won't work in 64-bit Windows. It should work fine in a 32-bit OS, but yeah, in 64-bit you'd need a virtual machine.
 
When I was a kid I rented a game from Blockbuster for either the PS1 or PS2 and it was all about law enforcement and later in the game counter domestic terrorism; police chases, bomb disposal in some major city, I think there was a firefighter mission. I could have sworn it was narrated by John Walsh, but I can't remember for sure. That last part I might be totally wrong about.

Anyone know what game I might be thinking of?
 
When I was a kid I rented a game from Blockbuster for either the PS1 or PS2 and it was all about law enforcement and later in the game counter domestic terrorism; police chases, bomb disposal in some major city, I think there was a firefighter mission. I could have sworn it was narrated by John Walsh, but I can't remember for sure. That last part I might be totally wrong about.

Anyone know what game I might be thinking of?

Urban Chaos Riot Response perhaps?
 
This was an arcade cabinet.

You were a car that could fly through a city during the dark of night and helicopters would attack you. Luckily your car had guns. You had to dodge the helicopters and buildings and whenever you finished a level you could pick a direction in a tunnel to pick the next level. Depending on the level (or maybe damage) your car would transform into a boat, a motorcycle, or stuff like that.

The camera view was a behind-the-back view instead of top-down. It was like a faux-3d spy hunter.

The arcade cabinet had a large pilot joystick I believe.

I have searched a ton for this game, but not knowing the name makes it really difficult since info on arcade games isn't well organized.

EDIT:

Just found it, it was Night Striker.
 
Trying to remember the name of a game that was in one of those 100 Great Games for Windows 98 type discs. It was a top down view puzzle game where you played as a furry purrple ball with eyes and legs and the levels were grid based. Each level had different obstacles like lasers, enemies and icy floors. There were tons of levels.

I was reminded of it by a game on Steam called Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake which seems very similar.
 
I'm trying to remember a game I never played, but read about.

I *think* it was a game that started out in development on the Dreamcast and was later moved to Gamecube (and/or possible Xbox?). Anyway, what I remember is that it was 'hyped' for being in development for many many years and also for having a unique control scheme. You controlled the camera, not the character itself. I don't remember anything else, but I'm trying to think of this game. It was also a flop. I think it might've been pirate themed, I'm not sure.
 
Trying to remember the name of a game that was in one of those 100 Great Games for Windows 98 type discs. It was a top down view puzzle game where you played as a furry purrple ball with eyes and legs and the levels were grid based. Each level had different obstacles like lasers, enemies and icy floors. There were tons of levels.

I was reminded of it by a game on Steam called Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake which seems very similar.

Sounds like Dweep/Dweep Gold.
 
Okay so this is a hard one.

I remember my dad buying some games on a floppy disk. I'm talking 1998/1999 or something. It was a point and click game if I'm not mistaken. I remember a sort of haunted house and I think you played with a young boy... Sadly that's almost all I remember...
 
Okay so this is a hard one.

I remember my dad buying some games on a floppy disk. I'm talking 1998/1999 or something. It was a point and click game if I'm not mistaken. I remember a sort of haunted house and I think you played with a young boy... Sadly that's almost all I remember...

Did you see your character on screen or was it first person, like Myst? Also check out Voodoo Kid.
 
PS2 Game, action, stealth rpg adventure game. All I remember is that I could use more than one character- a ninja and a big guy come to mind. I think there was also a crow.

Graphics were cartoony/ cel-shaded and cut scenes were pretty much stills. Help, GAF! I think it's a capcom game but I can't remember, I know for a fact that if I see the title, I'll know it for sure!
 
Did you see your character on screen or was it first person, like Myst? Also check out Voodoo Kid.

You could see your character. Voodoo Kid reminds me of it but it's definitely not that.


Wow, I'm not 100% sure if it's this since I don't remember the fact that you had to input commands... But it could actually be this game. Damn. Not sure though.

Edit: it's gotta be this game, it looks way too familiar.

Thanks guys!
 
A DOS game with a cinematic introduction of a man racing towards a woman. The woman is in a palace of sorts and is killed when a bomb explodes, while the man looks on in terror. He has tears coming out of his eyes.
 
I remember playing a Dreamcast demo at Gamestop.

It has some comic book looking cutscenes and I think it started with you skydiving. After you hit the ground there were aliens and I remember one holidng a target through a hole you were supposed to shoot through.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
When I was a young kid we used to play this space ship RTS on the computer. Top down spaceship stuff. You had colonies or planets or stations or something where you'd get resources to build things.

I'm having trouble recalling specifics, the only thing I can remember is that it was very buggy, and one of the bugs we were aware of is that resources would come faster if you sat on the planet and watched them come.

Been trying to remember what this game is for quite some time, and can't.
 
PS2 Game, action, stealth rpg adventure game. All I remember is that I could use more than one character- a ninja and a big guy come to mind. I think there was also a crow.

Graphics were cartoony/ cel-shaded and cut scenes were pretty much stills. Help, GAF! I think it's a capcom game but I can't remember, I know for a fact that if I see the title, I'll know it for sure!
Rise of the Kasai likely. Could be the first game Mark of Kri but I think the ninja is from the second game (the female character?)

I remember playing a Dreamcast demo at Gamestop.

It has some comic book looking cutscenes and I think it started with you skydiving. After you hit the ground there were aliens and I remember one holidng a target through a hole you were supposed to shoot through.

Anyone have any ideas?

MDK 2 would be my guess.

Edit: And beaten on MDK 2 while I was looking up a couple of the other possible games. Drats!

Edit #2:
When I was a young kid we used to play this space ship RTS on the computer. Top down spaceship stuff. You had colonies or planets or stations or something where you'd get resources to build things.

I'm having trouble recalling specifics, the only thing I can remember is that it was very buggy, and one of the bugs we were aware of is that resources would come faster if you sat on the planet and watched them come.

Been trying to remember what this game is for quite some time, and can't.
Not sure when you were a young kid since I have no frame of reference. But check this site: http://www.rakrent.com/rtsc/html/glist-sf.htm

There's also a section on Spaceship RTS games you can check at that link but it was more limited. I'd suggest maybe Conquest: Frontier Wars?
 
Edit #2:
Not sure when you were a young kid since I have no frame of reference. But check this site: http://www.rakrent.com/rtsc/html/glist-sf.htm

There's also a section on Spaceship RTS games you can check at that link but it was more limited. I'd suggest maybe Conquest: Frontier Wars?

I don't see anything there that looks familiar. This would have been the mid 90's-ish. If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere around 1993 - 1995.
 
Ok guys, I got a tough one for you, but mainly because I played this game over 20 years ago and have a very vague memory of it.

It was a ninja game on NES (no, not ninja gaiden!). I don't really remember much about it,it was some sort of 3rd person game where you had to sneak around, except when you had a confrontation/needed to fight someone. I think when that happened, it switched to a 2D fighter.

Sorry, that's all I got. I remember loving the game, and I've spent years trying to find out what it was but to no avail.

Do your magic, Gaf.

EDIT: Wow, my memory was pretty way off, and if it wasn't for Icefire1424's incredibly timely MUCH better description of the same game, I don't think anyone would have figured it out! So props to Ice, and most of all Vlade who figured out what the game was!! (It was "The Last Ninja")

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Edit: BONUS ROUND!

This is a completely different game. I think this one was on SNES, but could have been on NES (I'm about 80% it was on SNES). It was a platformer, and you played as a knight, in full knight armor and helmet and all.
 
When I was a young kid we used to play this space ship RTS on the computer. Top down spaceship stuff. You had colonies or planets or stations or something where you'd get resources to build things.

I'm having trouble recalling specifics, the only thing I can remember is that it was very buggy, and one of the bugs we were aware of is that resources would come faster if you sat on the planet and watched them come.

Been trying to remember what this game is for quite some time, and can't.

Ascendancy? It's a sci-fi space 4X game, much like you describe, and I certainly remember it having a reputation for being very buggy...
 
I'm trying to remember a PC game. I played it around 1997.
Gameplay: It is a plane/spaceship that moves on a path (does not fly). You try to finish the level by speeding the plane up and jumping over gaps. It is in 3D. You see the back of the plan where it moves towards the screen (like Ace Combat).
 
PS1 Game
Played it on a demo disc. Tomba! May or may not have been on that demo disc as well
3rd person.
I remember there being mechs but I don't remember if you fought them, used them, or both.
Sorta futurish/plain starter area in the demo (Might have been floating in the sky?). Eventually at the end of the demo you move to a huge open field with grass everywhere.

Not much to go on, but that's all I remember.
 
There was a game with robots on the Genesis where you could rip off other robots limbs and use them as your own. I just want to know the name lol. Thanks in advance!
 
There was a game I used to play when I was a kid, this was probably late 90s.
It was sort of like google earth, you went around the world clicking on places, and you would zoom in. And, for instance, you'd be in a house and you'd click stuff and learn about things.
I'm pretty sure it was some kind of educational game anyway.
The scenes were definitely photos, not graphics.

I also remember a part where you just had a monotone screen with a border around it, and you could make a snake of different sized circles and stuff while classical music played in the background. Sort of like a pointer trail. Don't know if it was several tracks, but I distinctly remember one of them being 'In the Hall of the Mountain King', by Edvard Grieg.

It's seriously bothering me that I can't remember what the game was called.
 
Regulars in this thread: I have a backwards problem here.

Ages and ages ago, I seem to recall someone asking for help identifying a game where you control an green bug-eyed alien in a platform environment. I felt I'd recognised it at the time, but couldn't quite recall the name; I felt it was something like Galactix, but that was a VGA shmup.

I had a flash of inspiration recently, and found an old file list for the shareware CD I thought I'd got it from, and I think I may have finally found it. It *is* called Galactix, but that later (much better-known) shmup made it very hard to actually find concrete information on it, hence I thought I was remembering the name incorrectly:

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So, as I said, I have the backwards problem now: I can't for the life of me remember who wanted to know, to confirm if that *was* the game they were after. I'm talking a long time ago, here:

RoryDropkick said:
Ok! Now for a change I acutally have a game I can't remember the name of. It was a PC game, maybe mid 80s, and it had CGA graphics. You played this little ball guy that had what looked like antennae and glasses, and maybe looked sort of like Pooka from Dig Dug if he was a space alien. You could traverse different caverns on this planet and even go back to your ship.

I think this was made by Spinnaker Soft, who I believe also published games like Stargoose if I'm not mistaken.
I'm sure this has cropped up in the thread before, but I don't think it's ever been answered; I know I racked my brain over it being a distant memory, but couldn't put my finger on a name.

If it's any help to anyone else, whenever I keep thinking of it I come up with the name Galactix. I know it's not that - that's a shmup! - but it's possible the real name is something along those lines.

That was a post from 2010 which turned out to be Starquake instead but featured me *recalling* the original post.


Any old-time veterans or people who can think up an inspired search engine input come up with the original person asking about the original game so I can finally put it to rest whether it was, in fact, Galactix? I've posted in this thread a lot, so just searching for all my posts in this thread still gives a lot of info to wade through.

Or should I start a new "Posts you remember from "Games you remember, names you don't", Authors you don't" thread? :-)
 
there was a thread a few months (?) ago about an android puzzle(??)/adventure game on neogaf. the thread was hyping the game up to be like dark souls in the sense that it let you roam free and solve the puzzles at your own pace without some artificial "wall". there isn't much that i remember though. the thread was titled something like "this is the real best game of 2013/2014 (???)" as far as i remember.

not many details, i know...
 
there was a thread a few months (?) ago about an android puzzle(??)/adventure game on neogaf. the thread was hyping the game up to be like dark souls in the sense that it let you roam free and solve the puzzles at your own pace without some artificial "wall". there isn't much that i remember though. the thread was titled something like "this is the real best game of 2013/2014 (???)" as far as i remember.

not many details, i know...

Wayward Souls?
 
I'm trying to remember a PC game. I played it around 1997.
Gameplay: It is a plane/spaceship that moves on a path (does not fly). You try to finish the level by speeding the plane up and jumping over gaps. It is in 3D. You see the back of the plan where it moves towards the screen (like Ace Combat).
SkyRoads?
 
Or should I start a new "Posts you remember from "Games you remember, names you don't", Authors you don't" thread? :-)

I'd subscribe to it!

I'm not capable of anything technically clever, but that linked comment goes to page 29 in this thread, so there's only 28 pages it could be on. I for one - and perhaps others, you've helped enough of them - would cheerfully assist in brute forcing this with a page by page search. Couple of questions - do you think you responded to the original comment, or were you never sure enough to say anything? Can you remember any particular details about how the request was made?
 
A DOS game with a cinematic introduction of a man racing towards a woman. The woman is in a palace of sorts and is killed when a bomb explodes, while the man looks on in terror. He has tears coming out of his eyes.

Do you remember anything about the game itself, genre, year, color palette? It sounds like it might be a point & click adventure but I'm not sure.

Ok guys, I got a tough one for you, but mainly because I played this game over 20 years ago and have a very vague memory of it.

It was a ninja game on NES (no, not ninja gaiden!). I don't really remember much about it,it was some sort of 3rd person game where you had to sneak around, except when you had a confrontation/needed to fight someone. I think when that happened, it switched to a 2D fighter.

Sorry, that's all I got. I remember loving the game, and I've spent years trying to find out what it was but to no avail.

Do your magic, Gaf.

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Edit: BONUS ROUND!

This is a completely different game. I think this one was on SNES, but could have been on NES (I'm about 80% it was on SNES). It was a platformer, and you played as a knight, in full knight armor and helmet and all.

I'm wondering if it's Zen: Intergalactic Ninja, since it has different levels with different gameplay types. As for the SNES knight game, just clearing the obvious, is it Ghouls 'N Ghosts or Actraiser?

There was a game I used to play when I was a kid, this was probably late 90s.
It was sort of like google earth, you went around the world clicking on places, and you would zoom in. And, for instance, you'd be in a house and you'd click stuff and learn about things.
I'm pretty sure it was some kind of educational game anyway.
The scenes were definitely photos, not graphics.

I also remember a part where you just had a monotone screen with a border around it, and you could make a snake of different sized circles and stuff while classical music played in the background. Sort of like a pointer trail. Don't know if it was several tracks, but I distinctly remember one of them being 'In the Hall of the Mountain King', by Edvard Grieg.

It's seriously bothering me that I can't remember what the game was called.

Was there an astronaut frog in there somewhere? There's Microsoft Explorapedia - The World of Nature (there might be other Explorapedia titles?) which I think has a world map and points to choose from.


EDIT:
I'd subscribe to it!

I'm not capable of anything technically clever, but that linked comment goes to page 29 in this thread, so there's only 28 pages it could be on. I for one - and perhaps others, you've helped enough of them - would cheerfully assist in brute forcing this with a page by page search. Couple of questions - do you think you responded to the original comment, or were you never sure enough to say anything? Can you remember any particular details about how the request was made?

I just glanced trough all of mclem's posts from the first 28 pages but didn't really run into a request matching the game. Also searched for "alien ball" but it only found the posts already mentioned here.
 
I'd subscribe to it!

I'm not capable of anything technically clever, but that linked comment goes to page 29 in this thread, so there's only 28 pages it could be on. I for one - and perhaps others, you've helped enough of them - would cheerfully assist in brute forcing this with a page by page search. Couple of questions - do you think you responded to the original comment, or were you never sure enough to say anything? Can you remember any particular details about how the request was made?

I *thought* I at least replied expressing frustration that I couldn't recall it, but I've already done searches along those lines and haven't come up with anything. I do have a sinking feeling that the original post may not have been in this thread but one of those similar threads that crop up when a poster doesn't know about this catch-all thread, which widens the scope massively. Or even predating this thread, like this one (which was a mix of quizzing and genuine failure to remember)

I've been toying with going through this thread to find the most frequently half-remembered games (I can certainly say I'd put Skyroads and Incoming on there, maybe the Super Solvers games too!) as a helpful cheat sheet for fresh posters just in case they happen to come up with an old chestnut. Maybe when I do that I'll wade through the first pages too and see if I can pick out the original post.
 
I *thought* I at least replied expressing frustration that I couldn't recall it, but I've already done searches along those lines and haven't come up with anything. I do have a sinking feeling that the original post may not have been in this thread but one of those similar threads that crop up when a poster doesn't know about this catch-all thread, which widens the scope massively. Or even predating this thread, like this one (which was a mix of quizzing and genuine failure to remember)

I've been toying with going through this thread to find the most frequently half-remembered games (I can certainly say I'd put Skyroads and Incoming on there, maybe the Super Solvers games too!) as a helpful cheat sheet for fresh posters just in case they happen to come up with an old chestnut. Maybe when I do that I'll wade through the first pages too and see if I can pick out the original post.

Giantbomb has an archive of found games from their own topic which is pretty much what you're proposing although it's pretty messy as it is now as it uses their old formatting so it's full of excess junk code.

Is there maybe a finished website package for these kinds of threads, maybe a wiki system of sorts? It would be great if there was a website where you could issue a ticket that required you to fill out a form or something. The form would have a simple questionnaire, with required fields like year, system, point of view and all the standard stuff and a field for describing the game further. Once the ticket is submitted, it can be answered or questioned further by anyone and once the game's been found, the OP checks it as answered and the whole ticket is filed into the "resolved" pile, along with the filled form, description and correct answer and would be searchable for further use. Even better if it could be tagged with the most common terms for the said game etc. The next time someone asks for and is answered with the same game, the new question is just added to the answered ticket for that particular game, so the amount of key words and phrases grows. You could then arrange the list by the most searched for games, along with screenshot or two for every game.

I know that most of this stuff can probably be done in a forum, but I was wondering if there's a simpler and faster way of doing this.

This thread is fantastic, especially because it kind of organically keeps resurfacing when the need arises, but some questions tend to be buried between the various answers and it's difficult for someone willing to help to actually find an older, unanswered question.
 
As a child I remembered playing this one game that my babysitter would always bring. I don't remember if it was a PS1 game or a Gameboy/GBA game.

It was kind of like pokemon where you could catch demons and fight with/level them up over the course of the game and there was some sort of story going on where, I think the character had been transferred to another world/dimension and was looking for a way to escape.

...and no it wasn't Digimon or Pokemon. It completely escapes my mind, I think it started with a 'D', but that could be something my mind is tricking me on. I've been looking for this thing ever since I really got into gaming because I want to actually finish it.
 
As a child I remembered playing this one game that my babysitter would always bring. I don't remember if it was a PS1 game or a Gameboy/GBA game.

It was kind of like pokemon where you could catch demons and fight with/level them up over the course of the game and there was some sort of story going on where, I think the character had been transferred to another world/dimension and was looking for a way to escape.

...and no it wasn't Digimon or Pokemon. It completely escapes my mind, I think it started with a 'D', but that could be something my mind is tricking me on. I've been looking for this thing ever since I really got into gaming because I want to actually finish it.

Any chance it's Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart?

http://dragonquest.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Quest_Monsters:_Caravan_Heart
 
As a child I remembered playing this one game that my babysitter would always bring. I don't remember if it was a PS1 game or a Gameboy/GBA game.

It was kind of like pokemon where you could catch demons and fight with/level them up over the course of the game and there was some sort of story going on where, I think the character had been transferred to another world/dimension and was looking for a way to escape.

...and no it wasn't Digimon or Pokemon. It completely escapes my mind, I think it started with a 'D', but that could be something my mind is tricking me on. I've been looking for this thing ever since I really got into gaming because I want to actually finish it.

Maybe it's Demikids (Light or Dark version). A Megaten spinoff for kids iirc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei:_Devil_Children
 
As a child I remembered playing this one game that my babysitter would always bring. I don't remember if it was a PS1 game or a Gameboy/GBA game.

It was kind of like pokemon where you could catch demons and fight with/level them up over the course of the game and there was some sort of story going on where, I think the character had been transferred to another world/dimension and was looking for a way to escape.

...and no it wasn't Digimon or Pokemon. It completely escapes my mind, I think it started with a 'D', but that could be something my mind is tricking me on. I've been looking for this thing ever since I really got into gaming because I want to actually finish it.

DemiKids for the GBA. Unless you play Japanese imports and then it could be Devil Children which was on the GBC and PS1.

Edit: I knew I should have reloaded the page. Bah.
 
Ok guys, I got a tough one for you, but mainly because I played this game over 20 years ago and have a very vague memory of it.

It was a ninja game on NES (no, not ninja gaiden!). I don't really remember much about it,it was some sort of 3rd person game where you had to sneak around, except when you had a confrontation/needed to fight someone. I think when that happened, it switched to a 2D fighter.

Sorry, that's all I got. I remember loving the game, and I've spent years trying to find out what it was but to no avail.

Do your magic, Gaf.

Probably isn't, but: Getsu Fuuma Den?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VuU2rvPmGI
 
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