You know what I can’t ignore? How satisfying your shirt colors in the thumbnails alternate perfectly & evenly when viewing your channel videos on my iPad: blue and yellow on the left and green and red on the right 😊

How does this channel not have 500k subscribers? Quality content, nothing but. Followed the past year.

I love this channel, you’re one of my favorite creators, and you truly capture the joy of this hobby in every video ❤

For me I think the game that definitely gets ignored a lot is Eternal Darkness on the GameCube

Shining Force II is the perfect RPG and strategy combination. It's simply amazing

Shadow Dancer is a pretty great game that often gets ignored in favor of Shinobi 3 and Revenge of Shinobi. If you want a great arcade style Shinobi game with a more reasonable difficulty, it's a great choice!

One of the things Goldeneye does that makes it so fun and better than many more contemporary 1st person shooters is how enemies react to being shot. If you shoot an enemy once in the body, he reacts by stumbling and taking a couple moments before regrouping and returning fire. Many more recent games have bullet sponge enemies that just take bullets without reacting until they are suddenly killed.

I haven't played biker mice from Mars in years! I loved how you got to upgrade your bike after each race. Sadly it's not worth the price tag nowadays.

Shining Force 2 is one of my all time favorites. My oldest brother used to read the dialogue to me when I was just a little kid, and he would voice act too. I was so mesmerized by how colorful and fun of a game it is. Sword of Hajya on the Game Gear is also an absolute gem. SF 3 improved several things but it does have some weird flaws. You kinda need a strategy guide to get through the more cryptic parts.

I'll give my nomination for Star Fox Assault. People know it exists but it always gets ignored, while Star Fox 64 gives all the love and praise.

Purchased & loved golden eye when it came out! It was top shelf. Dual sticks weren't standard yet. Honestly, it was new & fresh with "awesome" graphics (bk then.. seriously). Shoot an arm, he holds that individual arm. And your right bird, we didn't stop and aim, just slid in rambo style on sum auto aim. I hate to sound old, but actually being a kid switching from 2d into 3d creates a different kind of appreciation for games like this.

Shining force 2.... what a bloody great game. Truly an under appreciated series. RPG's are kind a like that though, especially on the genesis. The phantasy star series and brave battle saga games are also great sega role play games.

Retro Bird; you truly love what you do and it shows! You’re quirky, funny, charismatic & relatable. You deserves every bit of success on here because of your dedication & uniqueness. I appreciate your gift. May God bless you & your family richly & abundantly. Merry Christmas!

Shining Force 2 definitely needs more attention. top notch game!

Shinning Force is incredible.

Dirty dog trick: buy Japanese shining force 1 & 2 complete in box. Sf2 came in cardboard box in US and Japanese versions have cooler box art can be found for around $20

"Biker Mice" is a reminder of just how good SNES graphics can be. 👍

I immediately recognized Shining Force in the thumbnail. Final Fantasy has some phenomenal games, but Shining Force 1-3 is legendary.

I was in high school when the N64 was released and man, I STILL love those games. They have barely aged at all for me!! And everything you said about 007 resonated with me, the mission briefings, the objectives, the satisfaction, the level design, etc. And it seems like there’s always more to challenge you. I’ve beat the game on Agent, but stuck on Secret Agent in that level where you have to protect Natalya while she’s hacking the computer. I’ve come soooo close to beating it, but it keeps me coming back for more. For me personally, that game is highly addicting.😮

Christmas Nights is a gem. It also makes use of Saturn hardware, like the real-time clock, in ways other games never did. I haven’t tried it in years, but you could set your Saturn clock to different holidays, and the game had special modes. I remember Christmas Day specifically, but I’m pretty sure at least new year’s was another, and maybe there were more (just looked it up, and yes there are multiple special dates). That wasn’t a feature I saw in games on any console for at least another 10 years, and also this game was originally free..

I'm at that age where sometimes I'd rather just stare at the wall than do anything else. Old age...

Biker Mice from Mars is a great racing game. It's up there with Mario Kart IMO. Playing a FPS game with two analog sticks? Haha. Who would do that? That's never going to take off and become the standard in the future.

I'm with you, Retro Bird! Goldeneye 007 is a gem and always will be. People that say it's aged bad didn't play it enough, or they would be able to pick it back up like riding a bike. One of the best campaigns ever! Another game that gets ignored is Amped 2 Snowboarding on original XBOX. Still the best snowboarding game I've ever played!

Pro tip: Play Goldeneye like Turok. Change the controls to where the up and down c buttons make you move forward and back. It leaves the analog free to look up and down and it isn't so awkward.

So here's the thing about dual analog mode with golden eye. If you're playing on an emulator, you can set up a modern controller to have inputs from port 1 and 2 for a much more modern feeling control scheme. Dual remote might have been an odd curiosity back in the day, but if you reuse the function with a little remapping, then the game will play a lot better with modern controls.

Bushido Blade is another game that doesn't get enough love. It's a great fighting game for getting some friends together and just going at it over and over, with how quick the fights finish. And aside from most of the Saturn library being unfairly ignored, I feel like Langrisser, ChoroQ, and Shadow Hearts are three series that definitely don't get as much love as they should

Glad to see some love for GoldenEye - I say this as someone who played the game in later years around 2013 or so and had fun with it. My personal favorite that gets ignored a lot is Jet Force Gemini for the N64 - there's a lot about it I imagine people find rough to return to, but for me it was a pretty big game when it came out in terms of scale and exploration. I wasn't as into the Zelda games of that time (though they are great in their own right) but I resonated with Jet Force as sort of a sci-fi equivalent to an open-world action-adventure game, with more reliance on guns and straight action. It also has the same problem people might have with GoldenEye trying to aim awkwardly when the game has its own sort of auto-aim you can lean into, with few parts that require aiming like the bosses. Still a fantastic game in my eyes and I feel it deserves a good remake that could smooth out the rough edges for new players (though it's nice to even have it available via Rare Replay and NSO).

Shining Force II is one of the best games ever made. Single-handedly got me into RPG style games. I still replay it to completion every few years.

Fossil Fighters is one on the DS that definitely is underrated if it weren't for Jaiden and RPGMonger people wouldn't even know about it but I've played through Fossil Fighters and Fossil Fighters Champions still have the cartridges. Reccomend giving it a shot!

Two low-key games that need more love: Jurassic Park (SNES) I'll admit, I was initially just attracted to this game because of all the buzz about it being in Dolby Surround. That was incredibly cool, and still is -- particularly considering that, at the time, most people were still playing their SNES in mono, over RF. But it turns out, the game is a unique and interesting mix of overhead puzzle/combat, and a rudimentary first-person shooter. Worth checking out just to see Ocean's ambitious trail-blazing. Gremlins II (GameBoy) Yet another side-scrolling platformer, but it's a lot of fun -- and I wish you luck getting those super catchy tunes out of your head, even 30 years later. Play it in stereo.

Shatterhand is a forgotten NES action platform game. One of my favourite game ever.

You made a great point about goldeneye vs. modern shooters. The whole game is designed around the control scheme, so there's really no reason to feel like it doesn't play well. It actually plays just fine for what it is, and what it is is FUN! I absolutely adore this game. I play through it on 00 agent difficulty every couple of years. I'm really glad you made it a point to call out how amazing the music is because it can't be overstated.

This guy is so underrated.

Biker Mice was such a sick game! You’re right, no one talks about it either. I remember playing it in the 90s. Such a gem.

You're correct in that I have been ignoring Shining Force II. I haven't played much of the Shining games, save Shining In The Darkness. They just seem like more of a time sink than I want to give them. On the Genesis, I think Ranger X is ignored more than it should be. I could say the same for the good Sega CD games too: Silpheed, Robo Aseste, etc.

For the longest time for me it was the Xenoblade series. But then I finally decided to play through the games this past summer and it was one of the greatest gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

I don't know if people give Retro Bird enough credit. He kind of started a genre, here, that I haven't really seen utilized. I might be wrong.

Shining Force and Christmas NiGHTS in the same video? Awesome.

cant believe this channel hasnt blown up

How about Croc for the PS1? I never played it as a kid but I remember seeing magazine ads and thinking it looked cool. I finally picked it up a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Ya, it has tank controls but the levels are designed around it and the game has a lot of charm. I haven't played the sequel yet but definitely will at some point.

Great video, just in time for the holidays. A new Retro Bird video is somehow comforting, like visiting an old friend at Christmas. Have a good one, all the best.

Christmas Contra would be a cool game. I wonder how many Christmas themed games have been made.

I had no idea Shining Force II or Golden Eye were ignored by anyone! Both are amazing games! For Golden Eye the best control option is the one that lets you move with the C buttons and aim with the stick (in my opinion). Easily one of the best multiplayer games of all time, perhaps the best.

7:35 ah the good old days when playing an FPS you just ran around for power ups/objectives and got into a circle-strafing battles... fun times

Sonic in Christmas Knights is pretty cool. He runs around like in Sonic 3D Jam and he can jump really high, and you have to collect all of the blue orbs in the 3D mode, which was really neat. As a kid I would have lost my mind and probably put a hundred hours into it.

Id have to go with 007 nightfire being forgotten but great. Merry christmas birdman!

Shining force 2 is one of my all time favorites. I always seem to come back to it every couple of years.

It makes me feel all warm and jolly to know a copy of Christmas Nights into Dreams is safely in the hands of a good soul like yourself.

Love everything you said about GoldenEye! It's so true that folks don't know how to play it because it plays so differently than other FPS. Practice strafing and don't look up/down - then you're golden!

The very best thing about Goldeneye was the awesome 4 player mode. Just brilliant!

So, I had never heard of Rocket Knight Adventures until a few years ago. My son was playing in the woods and he brought me this Sega Genesis game that he found buried in the leaves and dirt (aparently for many years it was buried) called Rocket Knight Adventures. It was filthy and rusted up a bit, but I was able to take it apart and really clean it. Lucky, that is all it needed and it works great now. What a great game! That is the best game that someone has ever given me where they found it buried in the woods! I 100% agree, everyone should play Rocket Knight Adventures.

That Landstalker could certainly use some more love from the youth.

😢 How do you only have 46k subs? I've been coming here more often than any other retro gaming channel. I hope this holiday packs you a new year worth new subscribers 🎉 cheers, to your road to the top sir ❤

I agree on all of them... plus any reason to get someone playing NiGHTS is a good thing. Seeing Biker Mice from Mars gave me an idea.. that isometric 3/4 view was used a lot back then, but seems less common these days. Sonic 3D Blast, RC Pro AM, Mario RPG, Light Crusader...it stretches across a lot of genres. It would be cool to list the best 3/4 view games 👍

Definitely going to check out shining force but just want to say Nightfire in my option was an excellent fps bond game.

Playing shining force right now on my Panasonic Tau! Beautiful game.

Biker Mice has been one of my favorites ever since I got to try it on an emulator in the early 2000s. Amazing stuff

For me it has to be Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. Feel like tons of people state it's too easy & don't play it much. Too easy is what made Hand Helds a success as it was easier to beat as they couldn't store as much on a smaller cartridge. I feel since it had Super Mario on it they expected more from it, but I really do enjoy it & I hide it in my house because I love it so much. However, I no longer know where that top secret spot is. No X-Mas Miracles this year, going to have to face up to it & buy it again. Merry Christmas to all & to all a Very Merry Retro Game Play!

Relatively new to your channel, but I've been CRUISING through the videos not only because I love retro gaming (I'm an 80s/90s kid, born in '82), but also because you have a great delivery, cadence, voice, and personality. Sure, maybe my wife thinks you're a little dorky, but hey--dorky is MY kinda thing. Speaking of dorky, I've recently gotten my own channel off the ground where I cover movies, music, physical media, and I've been working in interviews with creative-types along the way as well. Thank you for doing what you do--I love the content! Now it's time to go have a naner snack.

i was surprised to see goldeneye on this list but i get the point. i find it quite interesting, too, because i *much* prefer the way the n64 first person shooters played ; i never could get the hang of the dual analog model, i feel much more confortable with all directions on one stick and strafing with the c-buttons. i remember a few "modern" fps allowed for a similar setting by swaping turning and strafing on the sticks, but i haven't played a fps on console since 2008...

Got so much love for Rock n' Roll Racing which was also released for the Sega Genesis as well with all the gritty sounding music! Thanks for mentioning that game!

I played through Goldeneye on Nintendo Switch Online earlier this year and had a great time - definitely holds up today for me :)

Rare Replay compilation on the X-Box One is pretty awesome!

I feel like Project X Zone and it’s sequel aren’t ever talked about enough. Very fun games.

His Banana stand up material is on point.

Metal Arms Glitch in the System is one of my favorite 6th generation games. You play as a Robot in a war among robots. No nasty humans to be found. Most of the weapons are to be expected like laser riffles, machine guns and rocket launchers but you also get some creative stuff like a sawblade gun to cut down wires. My favorite part is later in the game when you have to stay unnoticed so instead of using regular weapons you use a hacking gun that tranfers your mind into another robot body. This opens up the gameplay to a godlike funlevel I didn't know possible at the time. You can take over a Titan and gun down everything in your way with 2 miniguns or my personal favorite. Take over a bladebot. These robots don't have a strong long distance attack but they have a jetpack that allows them to fly very quickly. This way you can be in melee range in no time and slice open everything in fron of you. I played it on PS2 but there are also GC and Xbox versions.

Blast Corps on N64 by Rare is my pick! Well reviewed game but everyone looks past it at the other Rare titles that were significantly more popular at the time

Merry Christmas Big Guy. Your Channel it's great!

Shining Force is a Hidden Gem. This game needs more love from everyone.

I often boot up a game I don't think many know or probably like, Running Wild for the ps1, love it!

God your wit gets me. As far as an older game that I can just remember 100% again and again that didn’t seem to have the same “hype” as its brethren and I don’t hear much about nowadays. THPS3. Not too big of a game but enough challenge and extras to make it fun

I have to check out Nights. Good point about holiday themes in games. Hoping to play Medevil one day. Has those eerie Halloween vibes

6:39 The controls can also be remapped in the options menu so that all the lateral movements are on C, and all camera movements are on the analog stick. This is option "1.2 Solitaire". This is closest to a default modern setup, except that it's 'left-handed' with the camera on the left.

Super Burnout on the Atari Jaguar doesn’t get the amount of attention that I think it deserves. It’s an awesome super-scaler exclusive to that big ‘ol crusty cat. I love it. Still digging that outro music! Keep up the solid content.

Recently started replaying turok 2 on the n64, the controls are very tanky. But I tried strafing (like you said in the video) and it was one of the best times i have ever had playing an fps.

Good call on Shining Force II - I'll have to check it out!

I’ve been watching this channel for a couple years at least. He still manages to find new interesting stuff about retro gaming. Quality stuff. Imo the one for 64 that gets ignored a lot as opposed to 007 is perfect dark (way better game btw) haha also made by Rare who hands down made all the best non Nintendo games for 64

Ranger X for me. One of the greats in my opinion but often gets left out of conversations.

Gi Joe- NES Pirates of Dark water - SNES Gauntlet legends - N64

The Firemen for SNES. Not released in the US, both a great Christmas game and often ignored game.

A buddy of mine let me borrow his Silver Surfer for NES. It's really not a hard game when it comes to the shooting, but barely touching a wall and dying is annoying. I don't want to ignore it, but I can see why people do.

Oh man, I ignore games all the time! This video really hit close to home.

Honestly, all the games on the 3DS as one giant conglomerate, specifically Mario Kart 7. People always say "it has no personality" or that it just isn't interesting to return to, and so most people completely overlook MK7 because of this idea that it isn't as good as the other entries when in reality, it was probably the most impactful Mario Kart in the entire series. It not only introduced kart customization, but single lap races with checkpoints, a submarine mode for when your car goes underwater instead of just being reset, an air mode so you can use a glider to gain farther distance through the sky, and it's track selection is among one of the best in the series. All the previous things I mentioned went on to appear in all the subsequent Mario Kart games, even if that only refers to MK8 + MK8 Deluxe, and Tour. Music Park, neo Bowser City, DK Jungle, are all awesome tracks I can always replay, and MK7 Rainbow Road is undoubtedly the BEST Rainbow Road track in any Mario Kart, no questions asked it is out of question. It has probably the oddest roster of any mainline Mario Kart, which is part of the reason it's usually ignored but I think it makes for a more charming game, and Mario Kart physics have never felt as good as they felt there. It literally changed how we viewed Mario Kart, so the fact so many people sleep on it is ridiculous to me. I would take Mario Kart 7 in a heartbeat against Super Mario Kart, MK64, Super Circuit, and even MK Wii and DS. Still, MK8 is basically all the best parts of MK7, refined with even more features, DLC and new additions too like a third drift boost tier and the anti-gravity shmuck which is more a novelty than anything since it doesn't really change how the game feels, but whatever. I just think too many people sleep on MK7, it does not get the love it deserves for all it did for the Mario Kart franchise.

The issue with Biker Mice from Mars isn't that its being ignored, it's the price it cost to get it.

Christmas Nights I got free with the December 1997 issue of Sega Saturn magazine U.K. I still have that copy to this day. Love how it uses the internal clock.

Underrated channel. Your videos are a fun watch.

My Picks for ignored games would be - Donkey Kong 1994 for the (Super) Gameboy - Mole Mania for the (Super) Gameboy -Tombi (PS1) (really great game) - Little Nemo - The Dream Master (NES) - Zoda's Revenge - Star Tropics II (NES) - Shadow Dancer (Sega Mega Drive / Genesis)

Nice to see bikermice get some love! Definitely agree with your thoughts of goldeneye(and perfect dark) they were made to play like today's FPS games. Great video man! I'll be on the lookout for the weiner dog banana in the new year

I nominate Bucky O’Hare for NES

I just discovered Biker mice from mars on a handheld emulator I recently purchased for playing old school games. Never even heard of it before and I was just scrolling through all the SNES games playing a bunch I wasn’t familiar with looking for something new to play. After just one round playing it I instantly added it to my favorites list and now play it regularly. Great game!!! Wish I would have known about it back in the day when my friends and I still had Super Nintendo’s.

Mario Kart 64… Had a bunch of people aged 20-28 to come play some of my retro games. They played for under 10 min and hated it… once we switched to double dash, everyone was content! I still love MK64, but DD is a forever masterpiece that seems to be loved by all!

Yeah I pretty much ignored all those games you mentioned on your list now. You brought up Golden eye again for the N64. I want to comment on that actually. This is a game I loved back in the day when it 1st came out. I played multi player 4 players & I 100%ed this game. I beat this on every difficulty settings, the 2 extra levels & beat the times for all the levels to get the cheat codes. That's how dedicated I was in this game to beat everything because I loved it. Now I won't even be bothered doing that. If you do replay Golden eye, I suggest you just play this game on the easiest mode, take however long you want to beat the missions & once you beat the Cradle level on easy, that's it. congrats you beat the game. The Statue level will be a bit hard to beat so look up a youtube vid to know exactly where you are going because that level has a timer.

If you like golden eye, you should give Black a look. It plays like a modern fps, similar mision structure and quality soundtrack.

Good picks! I need to get around to Shining Force 2. My pick would be Magical Starsign. One of the best RPG experiences ive ever had. My favorite rpg on the DS but it is so underrated. The magic system and battle mechanics in that game are phenomenal. The characters, story, music are both so cozy and heartfelt. Really recommend people try it out somehow

Shining Force II is a game I never got into (just don't like SRPGs) but I watched my friend play through it start to finish in high school because we loved the pixel art. Every once in a while I try to go back to it and it's /still/ gorgeous but even in middle age I still have no head for positional strategy games.

I know I stumbled on your channel in the past. Why didn't I sub then. Your little sketch jokes are hilarious. I've been watching you for the past few days now.

I lost my nanners when i seen you posted. I love all your content thank you

Love this channel Merry Christmas buddy ⛄

Great video man, keep up the good work.

It's funny that you brought up Biker Mice, because I'm about to rewatch the show alongside its 2006 reboot. Like the Turtles, Biker Mice also came back in 2006 because the TMNT 2003 reboot was so successful. Edit: wow, great 007 advice! Maybe that explains why I was struggling with it so much on my Xbox.