Both casual and serious gamers alike think back to their favorite games of the past, recalling their times mashing buttons to progress through games such as Super Mario. Most old games are regarded as classics simply because of their popularity and impact on those who played them. What of the games not remembered? These games may not have been as popular with the masses, but many were classics in their own right thanks to engaging gameplay and plenty of replayability.

For fans of the Pokemon games, or RPG’s in general, there are many hidden treasures in both the recent past and before. One game that stands out is Dragon Warrior Monsters^[1], for the Game Boy Color, which features a very similar style to the gameplay of the aforementioned Pokemon series. The objective of Dragon Warrior Monsters is to capture and train monsters in order to battle wild monsters or other “Monster Masters”. The feature that sets the game apart from the Pokemon games is the breeding feature, which goes much farther towards diversifying one’s gaming experience than the breeding system of the Pokemon series. Breeding in Dragon Warrior Monsters allows any combination of male/female monsters to be “Married”, after which the player loses those monsters but gains an egg. Once the egg is hatched, for a small fee, the player receives a new monster of a different species than the parents that also receives some of the more powerful traits of the parents.

Released around the same time as Dragon Warrior Monsters, the game Suikoden 2^[2] provides an well rounded experience for gamers who enjoy the Final Fantasy series. Released both on PC and the original Playstation system, it features a surprising array of gameplay features. The player gets to control a cast of diverse characters ranging from animals to a robotic ally made out of a barrel. In a “typical” battle the player commands a group of six fighters against up to six enemies in turn-based combat. Another battle feature is the “Massive Battle” feature which pits soldiers recruited by the player against the player’s rival and his army in a large, grid like fashion, similar to the Fire Emblem series.

Also for the Sony’s Playstation system, The Legend of Dragoon^[3] offers a more active, action oriented, approach to gaming. The game features a variety of characters, ranging from the Knight, Lavitz, to the Archer, Shana. Battle in The Legend of Dragoon features a hybrid of turn based and real time battling, where characters and enemies take turns performing actions such as a standard attack, item, or skill. When using skills, however, the completion and effect of the skill relies on the player completing a rapid set of commands displayed on screen. The aspect of the game that makes it so enjoyable is the “Dragoon Addition” system, where (once the player has unlocked a character’s Dragoon Spirit) the character takes on their elemental attribute and gains special abilities.

A quick search on Amazon, Google, or Youtube will show you what these games are all about so give them a look. You won’t regret a second spent on these games.