You've heard of games like Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, and Star Fox 64. But what about games like Kirby's Dream Course or Mario is Missing? When it comes to the industry itself, there are some titles that are guaranteed to leave an impression and still be referenced decades after they're created (people still speak highly of Super Mario 64). However, there are others that slowly fade out of the public's mind, making sure that only the people who actually grew up with them would ever recall them.

We've all had experiences with video games growing up, but we want to point out those who specifically grew up in the 90s. There were tons of great titles that came out in that period, but there are several that weren't remembered long after their creation. While the community has forgotten them, those who played them as children have not.

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How far does your gaming history go back? If it reaches into the 90s, then you're in the right place. Get ready for a fond trip down memory lane as we explore 20 forgotten Nintendo games only 90s kids will remember.

Updated April 25, 2021 by Russ Boswell: The 90s was flooded with games, with many of them making their way onto Nintendo's systems. The Japan-based company was hitting its stride and video games as a whole were gaining quite a foothold in the entertainment industry. Because of this, a lot of amazing titles went unnoticed, swallowed up by a sea of licensed releases and one-off adventures.

We've dug deep and found even more lesser-known games that featured on Nintendo consoles, some of which deserve way more attention than they got in the 90s.

20 StarTropics

Via: Youtube (Deiradinn Draven)

There were many Nintendo adventure games back in the glory days, like The Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus. Another first-party adventure game developed by the big N was StarTropics. This little-known game came out for the NES in 1990. Despite how the game was structured, it wasn't based on the concept of traveling across a legendary kingdom to fight a Demon Lord.

The game sees you control a character named Mike as you explore several islands across multiple chapters. On each of these islands, there is some kind of problem and it's your job to figure out what it is. You are armed with a yo-yo and must find more equipment along the way to get the job done. Not many people talk about this game anymore, and it's one of Nintendo's franchises that passed away, but some diehard fans are still hoping for another entry.

19 Widget

Via: Youtube (CtrlAltDestroy)

This is definitely a title that only 90s kids would remember, considering it's based on an obscure animated kid's show that aired for only three seasons (starting in 1990). Widget, sometimes known in its entirety as Widget the World Watcher, was a comical sci-fi romp that followed the short pink alien through a series of episodes warning children about the dangers of toxic waste and planet-harming hazards.

Atlus took the development reins in 1992 to bring Widget to the NES, creating a fairly entertaining platformer full of colorful levels and shapeshifting action. It was a mixed bag, gaining favorable reviews from some critics and scorn from others. Widget managed to see a sequel with Super Widget, which landed on the Super NES in 1993.

18 Super Mario All-Stars

The Super Mario Bros series proved to an amazing hit among the gaming community. There were several games to come out on the NES alone, and Nintendo wanted to cash in on that success with the SNES. While the result of this may be familiar to you, Super Mario All-Stars is one of the least-mentioned games of the entire franchise.

It simply takes Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and ups their graphics to be better suited for newer hardware. Overall, the environments were more colorful, the sound was more nuanced, but the gameplay remained largely the same. This entire package was later put on a disc for the Wii in honor of Mario's 25th anniversary.

17 Yoshi

Via: RetroGame Man

Before Yoshi made the jump to his own series, he had a small puzzle game on the NES and GameBoy that was created by Game Freak. The name of the game was Yoshi. The style was similar to that of Tetris, except it had characters and settings from the Mushroom Kingdom to give some added charm and familiarity.

The game sees enemies like Piranha Plants and Goombas falling from the top of the screen. Their goal is to make towers that reach the maximum height, thus causing you to lose the game. The only way to beat them is by landing one monster on top of another monster of the same kind. While the premise is a little interesting, Yoshi is little more than a puzzle game with a massive Super Mario Bros. skin over it.

16 Chrono Trigger

Via: Lutris

Square Enix was mostly known for creating Final Fantasy, but they have created many other franchises along the way. There is the Dragon Quest series and the solo title known as Chrono Trigger. This game was released for the Super Nintendo and was one of the greatest titles that the company brought to one of the Big N's consoles.

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Chrono Trigger was an RPG that involved a group of characters traveling through time to save the world, which is hanging in the balance. The game itself did many things that were considered unheard of at the time. It had numerous endings, a lot of character development, and plenty of side quests to tackle that actually benefitted the main story. For some reason, not many people talk about this game anymore.

15 Secret Of Mana

Via: Polygon

Another forgotten game from Square Enix, Secret of Mana was another one of their famed RPG games that came to the Super Nintendo. It was an adventure game more similar to Final Fantasy rather than Chrono Trigger, but held enough differences and subtleties to keep people from confusing it with other Square properties.

The biggest thing that Secret of Mana did differently was that the battles weren't turn-based. Instead, a real-time system was in place that caused players to think on their feet. This system alone (called the Ring Command System) was worth a lot of praise in and of itself, but Square took it a step further by adding co-op where other players could drop in and out wherever they please. All of these great mechanics were layered on top of a fun story and fantastic setting.

14 Fester's Quest

The Addams Family was quite popular in the 90s, seeing a lot of franchise-based success thanks to a star-studded 1991 film based on the original television show. The black comedy gained a cult following and its popularity helped inspire a handful of video games throughout the decade.

Prior to the success of the film, developer Sunsoft released a top-down adventure for the NES featuring Uncle Fester, dubbed Fester's Quest. The game didn't see many favorable reviews, mostly because it featured punishingly difficult gameplay (specifically during boss fights). It's easily one of the most frustrating releases on the NES, with many players never seeing the less-than-stellar ending for themselves.

13 Wario Land

When Nintendo continued the Super Mario Land series on the Game Boy, not many people expected the third entry to turn into this game. Wario Land is every bit as backward as it sounds, being a platformer for the handheld that features the bizarre Wario rather than Mario as the main character.

Even from a functional standpoint, Wario is vastly different from Mario. Instead of running and jumping, Wario can shoulder check his foes as well as pick them up and toss them. He can acquire various power-ups, but they are there to enhance his abilities rather than give him new ones. Instead of eating mushrooms to grow in size, Wario instead has to eat cloves of garlic. Delicious.

12 Mario Paint

Via: Routenote

Nintendo loves to experiment with different games in the 90s, and this resulted in Mario Paint for the SNES. No, it has nothing to do with Mario traveling through an art world and having a paintbrush at his disposal. Instead, it is a game where you can paint your own creations, but with a bit of Mario flair, and a special mouse that Nintendo created for the console.

Mario Paint is more of a cult classic than anything else, but the people that look on it fondly are those who remember playing it when they were kids. The game also holds a music creator on top of a painting mode, which allows people to create their own songs (which the community used more than the painting itself).

11 Illusion Of Gaia

Via: Youtube (NerdyRetroGamer)

Illusion of Gaia is yet another old RPG, but this time, it wasn't developed by Square. The game was constructed by the people at Quintet, and was a fairly praised game when it released. Illusion of Gaia sees you taking control of three people who travel the world together. Each one of them has a different set of abilities to help you explore and fight more efficiently.

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There is no item or equipment system in the game, but the combat system is quite different. As opposed to gaining experience for each battle you fight, Illusion of Gaia requires that you clear all enemies in a given room in order to gain stat bonuses. This makes the game a bit more grindy than other RPGs of the time. Perhaps that's why many people don't talk about it anymore.

10 Plok

The rise of Nintendo saw the release of many platform games over the years and the 90s were filled with a wide array of one-off adventures featuring a multitude of different characters. Plok is perhaps one of the best examples of this craze, showcasing that a platformer could be both engaging and visually exciting without the need for recognizable characters.

Players control the oddly-named protagonist as he battles back against the Flea Queen and her lackeys while searching for his beloved flag. There are a lot of interesting powerups and mechanics found throughout Plok and it's unfortunate that it flew so far under the radar throughout the 90s.

9 Spider-Man

After Spider-Man appeared as a playable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Activision decided it was time to give the wall-crawler his own time to shine. While the resulting Spider-Man game was released in the year 2000, its closeness to the 90s and involvement with the aforementioned Tony Hawk game earns it a spot here.

The game sees Spider-Man swinging through levels to take on just about every villain from his rogues' gallery. Venom, Scorpion, Doc Ock, and Rhino are all here for the party, and it gets even crazier. Spider-Man has limited web, the enemies only get stronger, and an entirely new foe is introduced for our favorite webhead to tackle. Released for the N64 (after the PlayStation), this game remains one of the best Spider-Man titles of all time.

8 Diddy Kong Racing

Where games like Mario Kart and Excitebike were dominating the N64, along came a title called Diddy Kong Racing. This game was very similar to Mario Kart, but with a twist from Rare. Instead of racing on just cars, players could choose boats and planes as well. That means in each racetrack, there'd be someone on a boat, someone on a car, and someone soaring through the air (not all of them allow this, but you get the idea).

While this was the best part of the game, the character selection took a hit. Apart from Diddy, Banjo, and Conker, everyone else wasn't very well known. They were just random animals to choose from. Still, it means nothing to have obscure characters if the game is fun, and that's something that Diddy Kong Racing accomplishes in spades.

7 Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Zombies Ate My Neighbors characters walking through a cemetery with zombies patrolling and coming out of the ground

Don't let the title confuse you. Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a game about you protecting the various citizens of your town from all sorts of horrifying monsters. Werewolves, UFOs, blobs, and worms will all try and kill your friends (along with the zombies). It's your job to traverse the area, from the suburbs to the mall, and destroying all of these monsters.

This premise alone leads to a lot of variety in the game, as you'll always be fighting something different. Furthermore, there are tons of unique citizens to save. However, you have to work quickly, because when night comes over the world, the tourists of your town will transform into bloodthirsty werewolves. It keeps you on your toes, to say the least.

6 Willow

Via: Youtube (Media Pool)

It's not hard to understand why Willow fell into a pit of obscurity when you consider the film it was based on shared the exact same fate. Anyone who hears the name "George Lucas" will immediately look to the stars and dream of Sci-Fi battles but the famed director tried his hand at Fantasy. The film was a pretty big deal when it released, thanks to Lucas' pedigree, and while it wasn't a flop in the traditional sense, it was quickly forgotten about as the years moved on.

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The game suffered from the same issues but it's definitely an underrated gem on the NES. It shares a lot of gameplay elements and styles with The Legend of Zelda, but with a much larger focus on growing stronger and grinding experience.

5 Kirby's Avalanche

Puyo Puyo was a cute little puzzle game that has been around for a long time. Seeing the popularity of the formula in Japan, other developers decided to take note and create their own spin-off titles using Puyo Puyo mechanics. The one you've probably heard of is Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. The one that most haven't heard of is Kirby's Avalanche.

This game sees Kirby taking on classic foes from the series (like Whispy Woods and Poppy Bros) by playing them at a game of Puyo Puyo. The big difference here is that Kirby actually talks, which isn't normal for him... and he's quite sassy. When compared to the Dr. Robotnik game I mentioned before, it's easy to see why that one took off and this one remained forgotten.

4 Bomberman 64

Bomberman 64 The main character confronting a boss.
Via: Heavy

Bomberman used to be one of the kings of multiplayer games, but Konami has been extremely weird about handling him. Because of this, not many people remember any game other than Super Bomberman for the SNES. That said, the character has been featured on several different consoles, including the N64.

What was different about Bomberman 64 was the fact that the game was turned into a fully 3D experience rather than keeping everything top-down on a grid. There was platforming involved and Bomberman got to keep many abilities off the bat that would normally be locked behind power-ups. While the multiplayer is generally the same, there are different bomb mechanics to deal with. They explode in normal circles rather than just in four directions. It received two sequels that were less than spectacular.

3 Wave Race 64

Wave Race: Cutting through the waves on a jet ski.

If you wanted to play F-Zero on water, then Wave Race 64 is the game for you. The game features you taking control of someone on a jet ski who has to then race others in fast-paced water tracks. However, the game is a bit more complex than that. Each level sports a different weather condition for you to overcome. There are also buoys placed in each track that you must move around.

Overall, Wave Race 64 is a powerful addition to the racing games of that console. It was created specifically by Shigeru Miyamoto (perhaps you've heard of him). Unfortunately, the concept itself wasn't interesting enough to get many consumers on board, and the franchise has since died out.

2 Little Samson

As video games evolve, so to does gaming hardware. We've jumped a handful of generations since the first NES console arrived back in the late 80s and each shift sees players eventually migrating to a new system. In 1991, North America would get their hands on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, with many players hungry for the upgraded titles that would release in the future.

That's one of the main reasons that Taito's Little Samson had such a lackluster release. It's perhaps one of the most beautiful titles available on the NES and a solid platformer to boot, with imaginative mechanics and character-swapping. Unfortunately for the developer, gamers were already moving forward with the SNES.

1 Pokemon Trading Card Game

PokemonTradingCardGame

If you grew up playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game, then perhaps you heard of the tie-in release on the Game Boy. Appropriately named Pokemon Trading Card Game, the game sees you taking the role of a young man who has just been given his first deck. While learning how to play the game yourself, you slowly accumulate more cards and skills to help you battle your way to the top.

It's a different take on the Pokemon formula, but it's one that we can all appreciate. While it doesn't supplant actually having the cards for yourself, it's one of the best virtual ways to experience that game. Whatever you do, just don't get Pokemon Play It. You'll have nightmares forever.

NEXT: Nostalgia Trip: 10 90s Nintendo Games That Need Switch Remakes