Ok, so there are some series' that steal the spotlight. Those that, if you play video games, you've heard of them. The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Mario, to name a few. And there are those that don't have as long of a history, but are dominating the market. These games have their merits and many of them deserve the hype they get, but what about those games that were/are truly epic, but went/go a little less noticed, or only had/have a smaller following and pretty much go unmentioned? What is your favorite game that you feel went/goes more or less unnoticed?
Mine for example are Toejam and Earl (I'd say it's far and away the best game Sega ever made), Harvest Moon (it enjoys a good enough fan base that they have made a large number of them, but when was the last time you saw an ad for them or heard anyone but a fan reference them?), Clock tower (FREAKY and epic), And Diddy Kong racing! DK racing was hands down the BEST racing game ever in my opinion. But it didn't get the hype Mario Kart enjoys (Mario Kart is my second favorite, no hate for it here. It's awesome as well, just not nearly as epic as DK racing was). Some of these received some attention, but not nearly the credit they deserved.

So, what about you? What games do you love that fall into this catagory? Your unsung hero of video game greatness?

My more obscure games are usually strategy games like Gemfire and Desert Command.  I also like Jackel for NES.

Baldur's gate for gamecube and Conkers bad fur day for n64

Eirinn :  I enjoy playing TimeSplitters 2 for the Ps2, Obscure: the aftermath for the Wii, and elder scrolls 3-5. That's Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim

I happen to own one of the most obscure games of all time and one of the rarest gamecube games Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
It's like Katamari mixed with a make your own creature game give it a look its around 60-100 bucks on eBay if you have the cash i recommend it. 

I like Forgotten Titles Like "Bushido Blade" one and two For the Play-station one. Those games Rocked. "Syphon Filter" one and two were also great. "Dead To Rights" stands out. Everyone forgot about "Enter the Matrix the path of Neo." "Battle Arena Toshinden" was a favourite for a few years. "Fear Effect" one and two was forgotten not long after it came out. The "Gundam" Fighting games (Like street fighter and virtua fighter) for Play-station and N.64 were lost in the mess of crappy Gundam titles. "Tenchu Stealth Assasins" really stands out. I have a few that are found here for the N.E.S. and Sega systems. Just Click on my Gamer Profile and check them out. I highly recommend "Trojan", "Nightshade", "Pirates" (for pirates use google maps. The places mentioned in the game are still here in real life. And Use a note pad to take notes.) I will bow to the dude that mentioned "Conkers bad fur day." (Its my favourite game of all time.) Thanks Bro. For the folks that want something a little more modern but hard to find I suggest checking out "Golden-eye ROGUE AGENT." Or "Brave Fencer Musashi." (Thankfuly "John Tron" did an episode on that one so others can dig it out of hiding.)Or "Ehrgeiz" for Play-station one with "Dungeon Mode."( That thing Played like a supped up version of the legend of zelda. Just add a stat building engine and a stomach gauge. Bam You're there. Simmilat to Devil May Cry in allot of ways.)
Of all these hits I miss "Bushido Blade" the most. That thing had the most time economical of inventions for fighting Games. One hit kills and Crippling wounds and an honor system.
Before Square decided to make "Final Fantasy The Spirits Within." They were on top of the world and had guts to make a ton of brilliant inventive games. "Vagrant Story.", "Parasite Eve", "Xeno-gears." They Changed the way allot of developers typically approached making games. (Capcom was doing the same with its Resident Evil and Devil and May Cry series. Though they learned after The Street Fighter Vandam Movie, not to make bad investments in places you don't own. More on that Later.) Sadly, after the Final Fantasy Movie Flopped, Square changed Dramatically. They have been playing it strangely ever since. It's been reflected in their games and other choices.
That's just me though.
Good Luck to All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

orionfoxgibson : Oh man, you just named one of my absolute all-time favorites: Bushido Blade. That game was EPIC if ever a game were. Unfortunately, I never got to play the second one. How about Fighter's Destiny 1 and 2? Those were a breath of fresh air in a world of fighter clones. Why 50 (exagerated :p) MKs and only 2 Fighter's Destiny's?

"Fighters Destiny?"
I never played them.
I checked out a clip of them on "Game Grumps" and seems to look like a game that could have gone places. Looked allot like "D.O.A." or "Tekken." A point to remember about games like those is the 3.D. world was kinda new and experimental for Console game developers at the time. Just cause one game looked like another didn't mean it handled as well. Like I mentioned about Double Dragon 3, If the controls are not fluid and make sense with its own rules a player can get lost and loose interest very quickly. In fighting games from those days the entrance fee was often 50 cents. "Mortal Kombat" was in every Arcade. "Fighters Destiny" was not in any arcade I visited period. Meaning it was a game that cost 50 to 70 bucks and no one heard about it. So, it might have ended up a Christmas gift from grandma to grandson a couple of times but I see nothing in the "Youtube" videos that persuade me to be attracted to it. Further, its developed by an odd company that's probably not around any more. I'm not saying they made a bad game. I'm just saying they didn't do anything special with the tools at their finger tips. D.O.A. stands out because of the women and the explosive results of being thrown off the matt or arena. "Tekken" was a button mashers dream and it had the odd "Yoshimitsu", Another Bruce Lee Clone (That dude was big for my generation. and he was dead long before I was even Born.), and again It had Women that stood out. The controls were inventive for both games. They stood out. In a fighting game where you have 90 seconds to win a match, Controls that are responsive and easy to pick up count for allot. This is your Quarter or Dollar. That was spent granting you access. Do you want to be entertained for 90 seconds or fifteen minutes? Same goes for the "Home Ports". Only are you sure you want to spend 50 to 70 dollars? If no one knows about it no one will play it. The fighting genre is very cool when you have many players to compete with. If its just you and the machine its not going to have much replay value.
Getting back to "Bushido Blade".. Part Two was amazing and better than the first one. The music is the best part. But they added characters to unlock and a few extra stories to unlock. extra game modes. There's a cool Black and White mode that only has blood colored that just rocks. An updated "Slash Mode" and an alternate Ending for Half the cast. It was a very ambitious game and it worked. Its popularity traveled by word of mouth. Why we didn't see a part 3?.. Who Knows? Like I said about Square making funny choices after "The Spirits Within". No one knows what happened. I think money lost from that film may have cancelled allot of games. I don't know. But thanks for the conversation "EIRINN".
Good Luck to All.
I'm Done. Stick A Fork In Me.
Peace.

Not sure just how obscure these are considered but...

Dark Cloud 2
Soul Nomad
Z.H.P
the Wild ARMs series
the Power Instinct series
Shadowrun (Genesis)
Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

that's just what comes to me off the top of my head...