With all the fuss about HALO and the realisation that GTA IV may not have been the Second Coming we were expecting, which games, of any console or generation, do you feel were criminally overlooked. And why? Was it simply a case of the Summer games drought being over and the game was ignored for a bigger title or was just so niche that it just would not appeal to a mass market regardless of advertising or drought.
My choices would have to be be Shadow of Rome, Killswitch & I Ninja.

SoR is a fantastic Gladiator Sim, (and we all know how badly they can go wrong), that pretty much steals the story from Gladiator and transposes it to the game. It can be unfaily hard, but it is a CAPCOM so no suprises there and the stealth sections, while not entirely broken are no way a match for the amazing blood drenched combat.
There were a few ads for it but not much and maybe Capcom thought it would sell on the reputation alone. It some very good reviews but for some reason people just did not go for it.

I Ninja is one of the best platformers I've played. Lot's of cool little touches in the vocals and some responsive controls make for an enjoyable stress releaver.
I don't think it did too well because the main character in the platformer was not a plumber. The gaming publics appetite for platformers is not wht it used to be.

Killswitch is a great FPS that had me on the erdge of my seat. Not the greatest grpahics but everyone I've recommended it to has enjoyed it immensely.
Didn't do to well due to an over crowded market. As such you will lose some decent titles in amongst all the gash.

Galactic Civilizations II

Okami, one of my favorite games for the PS2.

I feel that Mass effect was a generally ignored game, because there's a certain amount of people who thought it was going to be another Halo (having no prior understanding of the game) and it ended up being overlooked, having only came out 2 months after Halo 3.
The same can be applied for the Orange Box.

Goemon Legend of The mystical Ninja and Goemon's Great adventure for the n64. Thank to you guys, Konami only releases titles in Japan.

Illusion of Gaia, Super Nintendo immediately comes to mind.
NBA Jam TE- but that was simply because people got tired of playing NBA Jam

NBA Street when it first came out on Playstation

Gahars:
Okami, one of my favorite games for the PS2.

Seconded!

Metal Arms for the Ps2 was a fantastic game that was seriously under looked. Everyone I showed just said 'meh' and went off to Halo 2.

hey I've heard a great deal about Shadow of Rome and am now considering buying it
cheers :)
except its on bloody PS2
:( me sad

anyway my number 1 overlooked game is without a shadow of a doubt has to be......Sniper Elite

Team Buddies for the PS1.

Far from perfect and plenty of little problems to pick at, but all in all, it's a great game.

Always thought it was one of the most underappreciated gems in gaming.

Isn't this thread simply rephrasing previous ones about underated/underappreciated games? Some of the usual suspects (Okami) have already come up, how long till somebody mentions psychonauts?

Trace2010:
Illusion of Gaia, Super Nintendo immediately comes to mind.

You, sir, have a great taste in games.

As for me, I'd have to say Lufia 1 & 2 on the SNES was my first thought, followed by Dino Crisis on the PSX.

Psychonauts and Okami

Metal Arms:Glitch in the System.

Folklore for the PS3. Anyone? Guess I'm all alone there...

*sigh*

zombielifecoach:
Folklore for the PS3. Anyone? Guess I'm all alone there...

*sigh*

Folklore was good, but the whole "Do every level twice" schtick gets old quickly.

CrazyOrangutang:
Psychonauts and Okami

Those were hardly ignored. It didn't sell well, but online the fanfare over them (especially the latter since Yahtzee's review) borders on stupidity.

And I agree with Killswitch, I really enjoyed it.

what about Sonic The Hedgehog for the Sega? WHAT ABOUT THAT HUH????

Killer7 for the ps2 and that game for ps1 with combat pigs (maybe it's called "hogs of war" but i'm surely wrong)

The Grandia series. I have yet to meet a single person who has even heard of the game, let alone played it. I also feel that the original Sonic the Hedgehog games were rather overlooked.

I think the thief series deserves a lot more attention than it got. I wish more first person sneakers would come out. Seems like all stealth games have shifted into third person.

Okami, God Hand, I-ninja, Killer7, No more Heroes, and psychonauts.

I can't think of any more at the moment.

PREY, Threadspace: Hyperbol and Okami

the monopoly guy:
Metal Arms:Glitch in the System.

I agree, that game was kickass, and did you know that if you stood still long enough, glitch farted, and a puff of green smoke comes from where his ass would be.

And I agree with deleted, killswitch was badass. And in my opinion, a game that was also overlooked, SSX: on tour, SSX3 and the original SSX, those games were pretty good snowboarding games, in on tour you create your character and work your way up to become a pro, in SSX3, you make rivalries with other pros and race them for more spots to race, and in the original, it was a new concept and it was a launch title for the ps2, i loved the series from the beginning, i don't know about anyone else.

Also, i think i'm pretty much the only one who owns predator:concrete jungle, which was the best game for ps2 ever, besides god of war.

I would have to say 'Run like Hell' for the PS2, its story was kinda half done but the characters were likeable and gave you a good enough reason to keep going through it, that and the combat was actually functional and fun (which is unique for a horror game).

Another one would have to be Splatterhouse for the Sega Megadrive, it was hard but it was bright and colorful while still being grusome and abstract, that and I've got to add a point for having creative and origonal monsters (bloody aborted fetuses and a dude with chainsaws for hands?...woah). If anyone from Namco is reading this...make a number 4 instead of yet another Tekken.

rottenbutter:
Okami, God Hand, I-ninja, Killer7, No more Heroes, and psychonauts.

I can't think of any more at the moment.

H_Smith:
Killer7 for the ps2 and that game for ps1 with combat pigs (maybe it's called "hogs of war" but i'm surely wrong)

CrazyOrangutang:
Psychonauts and Okami

Gahars:
Okami, one of my favorite games for the PS2.

Okay, I fail to see how any of those games were "Games wrongly ignored"

You see, pretty much each and every one of those games were given high scores, and the people who bought them loved them and raved about them saying "It gives you a whole 'nother experience!" "It's such a unique game!" "I've never played anything like it before!".

With all these people going around saying the same "underappreciated gems" for games in these types of threads, how the hell are these games "underappreciated"? We all keep talking about them! They weren't ignored, they just didn't sell as amazingly as the other mainstreame games!

If you want an underappreciated gem go find a completely random game that no one has ever heard of or a game that has not aged well in time. Like Ray-man for the PSX, I loved that game even though I've never beaten it, with gorgeous visuals for an old system (I wish I had my PS1 now...).

But I guess I can't stop all of these people from listing these "underappreciated gems" that apparantly no one has ever heard of. Okay, now i'm just being bitter...

I've always thought that Heroes of Might and Magic V (and the entire series in general) are very great games that have a lot of staying power with their campaigns and unique lengthy single player maps that all have their own unique plots. It really should be well known and is a master of its genre - turn based strategy. In fact the only reason I known of it is because I'm such a strategy nut.

Psychonauts, Killer7 and Okami were hardly what you could call ignored.
The press and those of us who take are gaming seriously are more than aware of said games. However, on the other side of the argument some of the games mentioned have been given very good scores but haven't had the hype, advetising or media coverage or been able to ride on the coat tails of a Star Wars to warrant a sustained interest and build a fanbase.

Although, Strangers Wrath goes against all of that and still failed to grab the more casual / teen market. And that was one of the best games I've played.

Im going to have to say "Just Cause" its like GTA but your in south america and its worse graphics but so much better than GTA

Bahamut Lagoon, Illusion of Gaia

Tales Of Symphonia, for Gamecube. That was a remarkable JRPG with a much more admirable form of Real-Time combat as opposed to Turn-Based, and I think it should have gotten a lot more recognition. Over in Japan, the Tales series of games is as big as Final Fantasy.

Abes Oddysey and Perfect Dark Zero. The 2 best games EVER made and no game will EVER match them. Not even if Jesus made a game.

Bust a groove...

Sonic? Splatterhouse?

How do those count as being overlooked? They were the selling points of their respective systems - Genesis and TurboGrafx. And because someone will bring it up, yes, I know that Splatterhouse was also on the Genesis, but the Turbo was its main home.

As for my own picks, God Hand and Gitaroo Man on the PS2 are pretty high on the list.

Shadowrun. That game deserves better treatment. Many of the problems with it would have been fixed in a patch, but Microsoft shut them down.

And as stated about, Symphonia was very underlooked, in the same why that noone is talking about Vesperia. I am hammered on it right now. Have not even touched any other game in the last 4 days.