What are some unsung, weird, or bad games whose praises you can't help but sing to others? These can be good games that have slipped under the radar for whatever reason (the so called "hidden gems") or games that you admit are genuinely bad that you still love and try to share with others. The important thing is that they be games you have actively tried to promote, whether it be online or in person.
For me, I've got a couple:
Vice: Project Doom, (NES) - I think at this point, most folks involved with the retro gaming hobby admit this is a good game, as it does tend to always crop up on "Hidden Gems" lists. But I think this is actually one of the best games on the system. The platforming is excellent, the art design totally nails that late-80s/early-90s anime style, the music is solid, and everything just comes together to form a really solid package. And perhaps the highest praise is that, like a number of other NES games, it dabbles in different genres, with a few stages being shooting galleries and a few others being essentially shmups, but unlike those other games, in Vice: Project Doom it works out really well. The shooting gallery and shmup stages make sense in the plot and, more importantly, they actually play pretty well. Vice: Project Doom often gets brought up alongside the likes of Ninja Gaiden, as it's also an early example of a more cinematic platformer. But I'll be honest, I think it's actually better than any of those three games.
The Surge, (Xbox One, PS4, PC) - This is another one that seems like it's building up a reputation as something of a hidden gem, but I think it's a genuinely great game. In short, it's the closest I've seen a game get to capturing that "Dark Souls" feel without being made by From Software. But it's also definitely it's own thing. I absolutely love the setting, which is basically "Dark Souls set in Silicon Valley", and its combat is much more focused on 1-on-1 dueling, which was always my favorite part of the Souls games. The equipment upgrading system, where you're basically harvesting parts of your enemies bodies during combat, isn't quite as elegant as the leveling system in Dark Souls, but I appreciate that it does something unique that absolutely works. I haven't played the sequel yet, but I've heard that its even better than the first. If folks like the Souls series, but more specifically Bloodborne, I always tell them they should play this too.
Deadfall, (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) - This one is definitely a little rough around the edges. Some of the voice acting and the animation absolutely speak to it being a budget game, but I genuinely had more fun playing this than plenty of AAA titles. In fact, I actually think it's a better knock-off of Indiana Jones than the Uncharted games. The shooting always felt solid, the story was pleasantly schlocky, and it actually had some pretty cool boss fights, something that is absolutely a rarity with first-person shooters. This is one of those games that I expected to be total garbage, but after playing it I was genuinely confused where all the negativity was coming from. Outside of one kind of awkward (and thankfully brief) section avoiding traps, I really, really enjoyed all the time I've spent with this game. I definitely think it should rank up there with other quality B-shooters of the era.
Devil's Third, (Wii U) - Okay, yeah, I admit, this is a bad game. But it's just so delightfully weird that I can't help but love it. It feels like what you'd get if Hideo Kojima and SWERY teamed up to make a videogame out of the film XXX. The combat, especially the shooting, is definitely not up to snuff, but the plot just takes so many bizarre twists and turns, and the dialog is absolutely ridiculous. And it does have some genuinely cool set pieces. This is one where I feel like it is 100% worth slogging through the mediocre gameplay (it's really not awful, it's just not great) just to see where things are going. It's an experience