Underrated games!

Hi!

We're deep in work. We're working on Lemniscate, sometimes OLP, and lots of other paid projects. While we can't update you with anything we're working on as of yet, we've had an idea. We usually only post work-related things on our blog, so today we'll look more on the fun side of things.
Both of us got into game development because we've spent our childhood and adulthood playing video games. We'll share some of our favorite games that are not widely known, or underrated.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
 

I honestly don't understand how this game could go so far under the radar. In my opinion, this is one of the tightest and best platformers of this console generation. All the levels are varied and excellently designed, both gameplay-wise and graphically. What's more, almost all of them have their own music written by David Wise, resulting in a 4-hour OST that we listen to often while working on our games. I want to make OLP's controls feel as responsive as DKC: TF's do - when we were getting started with the controls, I would often turn on this game to get the jump height and speed right.

So if you've got a few hours to spare, DKC:TF will pull you right in with its cheerful atmosphere and catchy songs, and you'll soon be smiling smiles of pure joy.

Dust: An Elysian Tail

This game has a similar gameplay to Castlevania and Metroid. It was mostly made by one person, Dean Dodrill.
It's so underappreciated that even I had no time to finish it. It has lots of references to Korean food and culture, and funnily, the last time I've played it was when I was on a 3-hour train ride across South Korea last year. If I'll ever have more free time... I'll finish it.

Mario Kart: Double Dash

Anyone who's played a Mario Kart game knows why the series is loved by many. It's the perfect party game, ruining many friendships with some rather unfair moves.

Usually the most recent game is considered the best, and with good reason, but Double Dash was different from all the other entries in the series, and it is most often considered a misstep.

The main difference is the option to play co-op with two players sitting in one kart, one driving, the other using items. This is an aspect of the game that we'd like to implement in some of our games.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Although the gameplay itself wasn't really satisfying (jumping from hotspot to hotspot, slaughtering enemies with a simple fight system), the story, the characters and the graphics are amazing even today. We want to include similarly fleshed out and believable characters in our own games. Although we probably won't be able to hire Andy Serkis to do the mocap and voice acting for us. Sigh..

Brütal Legend

We first came to like Tim Schafer's game through Grim Fandango, but he's risen to the rank of Legend for us with Psychonauts. Brütal Legend basically looks like every heavy metal fan's wet dream. The atmosphere is great, the characters are well designed and flexible. It seems like Tim Schafer mostly begins his games with simple ideas, then develops that simple idea until it gets really complex.

And that humor.

System Shock 2

It's easiest to describe this game as the predecessor of the Bioshock games, but it had lots more possibilities. The graphics and the interface do not stand up to today's standards, and the story is also slow. We recommend playing the Steam version with someone else in co-op. It's recommended to play with someone who has at least as much patience as you do for these kind of games.

This game has inspired us while building the abandoned spaceship of Lemniscate, and helped us pass some hours with its LAN multiplayer gamemode.

Please look forward to our updates next month!