For example, Super Cyborg is basically, "This is Contra but we can't call it Contra because we'll get sued".
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/super-cyborg-switch/
What are some other fun , "This is ____ but we can't call it ____ because we'll get sued" games?
Posted by shadowrangerfs
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It’s not a copyright situation, but TMNT Shredder’s Revenge was definitely a “all our 3d games flop so we’re just making Turtles in Time again”.
I havent played the second one, but Blossom Tales is literally a prettier SNES blatant copy and paste of A Link to the Past. It is essentially the same dang thing…
…but it’s really cute, short and severely underrated. A really great example of an eShop hidden gem.
– Tunic from 2D The Legend of Zelda (With some touches of Dark Souls, including difficulty).
– Kaze and the Wild Masks from SNES Donkey Kong Country (With some Rayman Origins/Legends touches).
– Yooka Layle & The Impossible Lair from DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze.
– Axiom Verge from Super Metroid, also Hollow Knight (With some Dark Souls touches).
– Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon for Classic Castlevania and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for Metroidvania style.
– Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling from Paper Mario.
– Wargroove from Advance Wars.
– Sea of Stars from Chrono Trigger.
– Gunvolt Chronicles from Mega Man X.
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a great Donkey Kong Country type game. As is Kaze and the Wild Masks.
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1 & 2 is like NES Castlevania, whereas Ritual of the Night is post-Symphony of the Night.
There’s quite a few Mega Man-esque games like 30XX, and Gravity Circuit, I never played these before so I can’t comment on the quality.
I’m sure I’m missing some obvious choices but those are the ones that came to mind first
Tinykin from Pikmin. Very fun game.
Retro City Rampage is all the games.
Check out “blazing chrome”
Bomb Rush Cyber Funk was the spiritual successor to Jet Grind/Set Radio that I needed.
Yooka Laylee and Kaze have already been mentioned, but Marsupilami Hoobaventure is another pretty solid Donkey Kong Country-like
Freedom Planet is basically one big love letter to 16 bit Sonic games
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is essentially just Jet Grind Radio in everything but name
Pizza Tower is basically Wario Land if it released in 2023.
Blossom Tales I and II are pretty much thrift shop A Link to the Past, they are inferior in every single way but still good.
Stardew Valley started out as a Harvest Moon clone.
Rivals of Aether is basically Super Smash Bros Melee, except its competitive environment is way more accessible to get into.
(Also if you can get it on PC, it’s better there)
Overload is basically a remake of the old Descent games, everything from the enemies being former industrial mining robots, to the smooth 6 degrees-of-freedom movement through maze-like facilities.
Anybody who’s played the original Descent will immediately recognize the influence.
The Messenger is inspired from the Ninja Gaiden series.
black hole is somewhat of an asteroids clone. if i go through all 700 of my games ill update with what i had found before
Ion fury
The Wild at Heart is like Pikmin but a bit more mature.
Chasm is a Procedural spawned Castlevania / SotN like game. The maps are always different so no two games will play the exact same.
Gravity Circuit is a very good Mega Man clone, and 20XX/30xx are roguelite versions of MMX
tunic and deaths door both imitate Legend of Zelda, and are also extremely good games.
Dead Cells is another roguelite, inspired by Castlevania, and even has Castlevania DLC that has original CV songs in it.
Enter the Gungeon and Binding of Isaac are two roguelites that clearly are inspired by Zelda, although neither play like Zelda. Isaac’s physical even had a booklet that copied the original Zelda booklet, and Gungeon has armored knights clearly taken from Link to the Past.
Braid Annversary is a puzzle version of old school Mario. Also extremely good game.
Ruins of Talos is a Zelda inspired game, that also has town building/renovation. So almost like Zelda and Bravely Default (1) combined.
The Mummy Demastered is like a Contra and Metroidvania combined, it’s excellent.
Fury Unleashed is a roguelite comic book crazy ass (in a good way!) version of Contra. Good stuff!
Dragon Marked for Death is good, done by Inti Creates (Inafune, the person behind Mega Man, this is his studio), and it’s a solid mash up of Mega Man and Monster Hunter. Missions operate on a MH like structure, you loot stuff like Diablo, and the mechanics are like Mega Man.
Speaking of Inti Creates, there’s a ton of games of theirs that all feel like really good SNES spiritual successors. Might Gunvolt Burst is Megaman reborn. Azure Striker Gunvolt is Mega Man X with looting, crafting and gearing.
Blaster Master Zero 1/2/3 is also under their belt.
There’s an absolute ton of throwback/retro/pixel gaming goodness on Switch, and a large bunch are very well done!
Here’s another list for you to peruse
https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-pixel-art-switch-games
Blossom Tales – great Zelda III ALTTP clone, with some neat mechanics of its own
Sea of Stars – the truest spiritual successor to Chronotrigger anyone has managed to make yet
Salt and Sanctuary – classic Castlevania games (with RPG and soulslike elements added)
Rogue Heroes – Zelda III ALTTP if it was a roguelite
30xx
Blazing Chrome is one of the top 3 Contra games, up there with Contra 3 and Shattered Soldier.
Still waiting patiently on a ‘Shining Force 2’ clone
Bombrush Cyberfunk for any Jet Set Radio fans
Another Crusade is heavily inspired on Super Mario RPG
Signalis is PS1/2 era survival horror but so so so much more too
The Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Mega Man inspired I think. There is so much to do and unlock.
Onion Assault is Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA). Platformer where you’re plucking vegetables and picking up enemies to attack.
Fast RMX is basically F-Zero
Not quite a copy, but Grapple Dog is really good Bionic Commando-inspired platformer, with kind of a GBA anesthetic.
This take may be out there a bit, but I’d say Fury, despite having very different combat mechanics reminds me a lot of Punch-Out!!