Top 10 Japanese Game You Never Even Heard Of!

There aren’t many game companies that would assemble three unique games into one single package. However, that’s just what Capcom did with “Three Wonders”. “Midnight Wanderers” was a platforming run-&-gun game with challenging gameplay, a colorful world filled with bizarre creatures, and a wonderful art style. “Chariot: Adventure Through the Sky” was a shoot ‘em up featuring characters from “Midnight Warriors”. Lastly, “Don’t Pull” was a simple, but fun puzzle with adorable characters. All three were relatively short games, but their visuals and design kept us coming back for another round!

If you have an extensive knowledge of classic arcade titles, you may have heard this one. “Lucky & Wild” is an asymmetric co-op game where one player drives a car while a buddy shoots enemies on the road ahead. Later levels would introduce time bombs that would stick on your car or shooting grenades before they reached your car. This was practically you and your friend getting your own cop show. Sadly, this game was never released outside of Japan. What’s worse is that there hasn’t been a sequel, spin-off, or even a remake!

“Segagaga” is a turn-based RPG where the player is a newly-recruited developer for SEGA and must defend the company from a hostile corporate takeover by Sony—I mean, “Dogma”. To do this, the player battles different developers (via insults that lower will and self-esteem) to recruit in order to build SEGA into a worthy competitor. Oh, and you’re under a time limit to do all of this. While the gameplay is fun and the narrative is hilarious, we all know why you might play this game; its for all those references and Easter eggs, am I right?

Nintendo has created some pretty bizarre games, but they bring a certain style in their goofiness and wacky art. This obscure Wii gem tells the story of a man who can transform into the popular superhero, Captain Rainbow. When his TV show drops in ratings, he travels to a mysterious island that grants wishes. The way it teeters between intense minigames and casual activities like boxing and fishing, “Captain Rainbow” pokes a little fun at Nintendo’s own characters. For example, Birdo is shown as short-tempered and wishes to become beautiful, and Little Mac…well, he’s seen better days. If you’re looking for something to tickle your funny bones, you can’t go wrong with “Captain Rainbow”!

After a Christmas party at a chemical plant goes haywire, Pete and Daniel navigate throughout the facility to save all of the civilians. “The Firemen” manages to get really creative with the concept of being a firefighter without getting too farfetched! Between switching nozzles and spraying every flame, you have to keep an eye on your life gauge, heat resistance, and the timer. This keeps the game challenging and demands the player be sure they’ve covered all fires before leaving rooms. Then you have the boss fights that require a different method to extinguish the fires. It’s a little-known SNES gem that never saw a release outside of Japan, yet still earned a good sequel.

Remember the good ol’ days of Club Nintendo? It was truly a special experience when you finally earned enough coins to redeem that exclusive game! North America had some pretty good offers, like “Doc Louis’s Punch-Out” and a few Virtual Console titles, but Japan had their fair share of gems, as well. “Tingle’s Balloon Fight” might sound like an odd choice – it’s “Zelda’s” Tingle in a “Balloon Fight” remake—but this was a solid game. The updated visuals are charming, the sound design is excellent, and the gameplay is just as addictive as the original on the NES. They even still have that dreaded stinger play when the fish shows up! Oh, the memories!

What else are you supposed to do when you forget Grandma’s birthday? Live a normal life? Yeah, right! This PS1 title is essentially a collection of minigames with a narrative, but its wild and chaotic tone is what makes the game stand out. As you follow the family members as they find presents for grandma, you’ll be tested through a variety of games that require button mashing, avoiding oncoming traffic, answering trivia questions, and being a part of a bank heist. (Wait, what was that last one?) “Incredible Crisis” is a totally crazy ride, but it’s a totally crazy ride you wouldn’t regret playing.

What the… What are we even looking at? Well, apparently, this is a top-down “Xevious”-esque shooter about a kid who flushes himself down a toilet and enters a mysterious world made of poo. Gosh, why haven’t we heard this amazing game before??? Its easy to let its silly toilet-humor steer you away, but it’s a surprisingly good game! While its got the different ways you can screen-wipe enemies, its rare to see a game visuals and a sense of humor such as this. What other game has poo projectiles as a hazard? Okay, well, besides “Conker’s Bad Fur Day”…

When the game based on your show is being handled by Tecmo, you know good things are in store! Based on the anime series, “Samurai Pizza Cats” is a 2D platformer that grants the player the ability to play as one of the three cats, each having their own set of unique moves. On top of that, you can switch to a different cat at almost any given time. Then, you got the cutscenes that were impressive for a game of its time. Its almost like you’re watching an 8-bit version of the show. Whether you’re a fan of this old cartoon or just like cats that are pizza-delivering samurai, this game won’t let you down.

If you’re looking for a game that’s a little more patriotic, then “Metal Wolf Chaos” is right up your alley. This game is about as overly-American as “Broforce”! As the forty-seventh President of the United States, you pilot a mech suit that’s equipped with an absurd amount of weaponry. “Metal Wolf Chaos” is EXACTLY what you can expect; its got over-the-top action, it’s got cringe-inducing voice acting, and it features one hell of a soundtrack. Only thing that upsets us is that it was only released in Japan as an Xbox exclusive. Oh, and should we mention this was developed by FromSoftware? Yes, that same FromSoftware! Hey, guys? Can we get a remaster of this?