 Yup, that's right, I'm doubling down on the clickbait. A couple years ago I broke down and made a best SNES hidden gems video despite the fact that everybody has completely different criteria of what's considered hidden and what's considered a gem, but this is still asked about constantly at places like the Super Nintendo subreddit, so fine. Twist my arm, I'll do another video, this one being a list to amp up the subjectivity even further. And yeah, of course this video is gonna have some games from the previous video I made, so I'm forcing myself to throw in at least 6 or 7 new games just for this video alone. Also, I think it's fair to say that stuff like Lufia 2, Space Megaforce, Sky Blazer, Run Saber, and even Plock, that sort of stuff isn't all that obscure anymore. What I'd really like to do here is place an emphasis on the word hidden, as in you would have no idea these games would be any good based on their title or cover art. So let's get going. 13. Spanky's Quest Now this is a good example of what I mean, Spanky's Quest is a terrible title, but it's a pretty good platformer that reminds me of stuff like Doremi Fantasy. There's 5 distinct worlds here with 10 levels each, and each level is cleared when you find the appropriate number of keys for the exit. You attack by blowing a bubble and bouncing it on your head to increase its size, and you can pop it at will which creates a shower of basketballs? One flaw here is that this game moves pretty slowly, but other than that this is a good game with a great soundtrack, and the cartridge is only about $15. 12. Shoplifter 3 The first shoplifter goes all the way back to the Apple II days of 1982. Shoplifter 2 only came out for Game Boy, but Shoplifter 3 originated on the SNES. You play as a rescue helicopter pilot, flying into combat zones and rescuing hostages, the catch being that there's a limit on how many you can carry at once, so you have to manage your time and resources appropriately to get as many people out of there as possible. The controls are intuitive and easy to get used to, and there's not quite another game like this on the Super Nintendo. 11. Artie Lightfoot This is one of those mascot platformers, and yeah, there were dozens of these throughout the 90s, but this one is actually pretty good. The mechanic that makes this one stand out is your bird friend named Peck. He can be used as a weapon or to destroy barriers, or help you fly. If you get hit he disappears, but you can find him again in a chest, kind of like how Donkey Kong Country works. The cartridge is a bit pricey at close to $50, but this is a solid game that not many people talk about. 12. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel Yes, another mascot platformer. It's so easy to ignore these on site because there were so many of them, but this is another one that's surprisingly pretty good. This is a spin-off of the Arrow the Acrobat series, and yeah, Zero controls a bit like Arrow does, but with a lot more abilities. He can double jump, throw projectiles, he can flip, he can do a couple different dive attacks, and the huge level design gives Zero tons of room to do all this stuff. This is a quality title. Too bad the cartridge is insanely overpriced though. 9. Robotrek. I've talked about this game a lot over the years, but it remains the very definition of a game hidden in plain sight. It was released in Japan with the name Slapstick with this cover. It gets a translation and sent over to North America with the title Robotrek and this cover. That's kind of a stark difference. So yeah, this is an RPG made by Quintet and published by Enix, and yeah, it's got some translation issues, but it's still a fun lighthearted role-playing game with some unique elements that you won't find in any other SNES RPG. 8. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang. Here's one that sounds like a mascot platformer, but it's actually a top-down adventure game where you play as a vampire with a magic hat who needs tomato juice rather than blood. Okay, that sounds ridiculous, but this is a fun one featuring tons of gameplay variety and a fantastic art style. It gets pretty difficult and grind heavy toward the end, but this is a quality game. 7. Brain Lord is another top-down adventure style game, tons of weapons and upgradeable armor and all that good stuff, but a big part of this game is puzzle solving. Some puzzles are comically easy, some are pretty fun, and some are laughably impossible. And like Robotrek, this is another Enix published game where the translation leaves you scratching your head at times, but still, Brain Lord is a pretty good game that gets ignored for stuff like Zelda and Secret of Mana too often, and it's worth checking out. 6. Phantom 2040 is another good example of a game that seems simple at first glance, but once you get into it, you'll see it's not just a run to the right and shoot stuff type of game. It's heavy on exploration and story. There's lots of split paths, and you can earn up to 20 different endings. It's not always intuitive and straightforward to know where to go, and the enemy respawning can get kind of tiresome, but Phantom 2040 still features a lot of depth and a ton of replay value, which is surprising for such a cheap cartridge. Blackthorn. Yeah, this is one of those weird cinematic platformers where your character sprite is hyper detailed, but moves very slowly and deliberately. I know when you see a dude with a shotgun blast against enemies, it's easy to think you should be able to just sprint through this game, but the opposite is true here. In Blackthorn, you want to take your time, avoid enemy gunfire by ducking into the background, and carefully pick your spots when you can. This game may not be for everyone, but for what it is, it's really well done. 4. UN Squadron. Okay, this one's not that obscure, but it's definitely hidden. I mean, there is not a worst title or a worst cover you could have given this game. The UN, really? And this cover makes the game look like a boring flight sim. UN Squadron is far from boring, though, easily one of the best Super Nintendo shoot-'em-ups released in North America, featuring three different pilots to choose from, a shop system to buy and upgrade your own weapons, and an actual life bar, so you're not subjected to that one-hit-death nonsense, like so many other shoot-'em-ups do. Even if you don't like shoot-'em-ups, you can still get into UN Squadron. 3. Super Adventure Island 2. I talked about this one a bit in my video about Forgotten Sequels, but yeah, this is a case of a sequel being shoved aside, because the first game was pretty ordinary. Super Adventure Island 2, however, is far removed from its predecessor, introducing some action RPG elements like upgradeable weapons, magic, armor, and an overworld map where you can explore whatever world you want at your own pace, and even uncover some hidden areas here and there. Few games have caught me off guard like this one. Try it out for yourself. True Lies, like Robotrek, this is another game hiding in plain sight. How many times have we been burned by Schwarzenegger movie games in the past? I mean, the Terminator SNES games are some of the absolute worst on the system, so it's pretty surprising that True Lies is a really fun title, a top-down shooter where you can fire in eight directions with tons of different weapons, making tons of stuff go boom. There's Uzzies, there's shotguns, there's grenades, there's tons of explosions, and tons of carnage. True Lies is one of my favorite discoveries since I started this channel. 1. Dragon View. Hey, I just reviewed this a couple weeks ago. In fact, this is the game that kind of inspired me to do another blatant clickbait video like this, because I think it's one of, if not THE best game, that I never hear anyone talking about, whether it be on Reddit or on forums or wherever. Dragon View is a nicely polished blend of beat-em-up mechanics akin to Knights of the Round, and RPG elements from side scrollers like Ease 3 or even Zelda II. The cartridge is over $50, but if you've got a flash cart, you gotta play this one. It's really well done. Alright, that's all for now. Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.