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No video game company is as successful as Nintendo at creating memorable gaming franchises. Nintendo's cornerstone franchises are bigger than just games - even people who've never played a video game in their lives know the names Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and Wii Sports.But not every franchise that Nintendo has published has become a household name. Many were successful enough, but simply didn't have the magic to keep going. Others may have been too strange to find an audience. These ten games and franchises are some of Nintendo's lesser-know titles, all games that aren't likely to ever see another sequel. Each entry on this list was published by Nintendo in the US and appear in roughly chronological order.
To The Earth (NES)
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A Nintendo Zapper light gun game, To The Earth has you flying through space and shooting down enemy ships, asteroids and other hazards as you make your way back to Earth. Considered one of the hardest Zapper games, its difficulty may have been why it didn't take off. But just look at those graphics!
Barker Bill's Trick Shooting (NES)
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Another Zapper game, Barker Bill's Trick Shooting was a strange property for Nintendo. Based on one the first network cartoon shows ever, Barker Bill's Trick Shooting had four different game modes: Balloon Saloon, Flying Saucers, Window Panes and Fun Follies. I think I know why this one didn't take off: Released in 1990, this game is based a cartoon from 1952.
Battle Clash (SNES)
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This is the final Zapper game on the list, I promise. Battle Clash was actually for the Zapper's SNES replacement, the Super Scope 6. Battle Clash was pretty standard from a gameplay perspective - you shot giant robots, and it did well enough to get a sequel called Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge. A couple things make this a goofy game in my mind. First, the robots are battling in a competition called "Battle Game" to become the leader of the world. That's how we should choose political leaders! Second, in Japan this game was called Space Bazooka. Awesome.
Uniracers
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It's a unicycle racing game. Need I say more? How about this? The developer of this game, DMA Design, now goes by a different name: Rockstar North. Yes, this is a unicycle racing game from the team that brings you the Grand Theft Auto games.
NBA Courtside (N64/GameCube)
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There's nothing particularly strange about any of the three NBA Courtside games themselves. Featuring Kobe Bryant, these titles were completely competent 5-on-5 basketball titles. They're much more strange in retrospect. There was a time when Nintendo made straight up basketball games with licensed players, going head to head with publishers like EA and 2K Sports. I think it's a safe bet to say that we won't see any more sports games from Nintendo that don't star Mario or Miis.
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