Now in the days of the technically advanced we as gamers tend to over look some great games and franchise that suffer as a result of major releases dominating the gaming market. An example would be Okami (Technically a franchise with two games,) with it being relatively unnoticed until way after its release, this brings it to my subject here: Why do underrated games go into the dark so often?

Maybe because some of their games aren't as good or are hated by audiences. Or maybe people just barely even know about it.

A great example would be the Star Fox series. I love this series by heart, but unfortunately it hides in the dark while other games like Halo and Metroid get all the attention. Star Fox 64 is the golden game of the series, while the rest are looked down upon by audiences. (Star Fox Adventures, Star Fox Assault, Star Fox Command)

NalaTheLion :
A common problem would be that to some Nintendo consoles are "wimpy" when clearly they aren't its just what consumers think of them.

Well, unlike Apple, Nintendo doesn't really need to make any new consoles/products that are completely original; they can just continue making better versions of their consoles for now. I think it's weird that they made DS's bigger, though. It doesn't need to be larger.

And I don't really see why Nintendo consoles are "wimpy". Sure, back in its day the Genesis was pretty dumb, but nowadays the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS are cool. I mean, think about it. Accessing the Wii through an iPad-related object? And what about the 3DS? You can play a DS in eye-popping 3D!

(Yeah, my reply is pretty sappy.)

Many things come to mind on this subject.
The fist one is Location. (P.C. or Console?)
Almost no one knew about "Tomb Raider".
After it hit the Playstation? Everyone knew who "Laura Croft" was. She had 3 games on P.C. before She got to the Console.
Then got popular.

Other occasions it's timing.
No one remembers "Fear Effect".
It had to go against so many games that almost no one bought it.
1997-1999 had so many games released that no one could keep up. There were at least 30 hits per genre each year. The Price tag? $40.00 per game. Unless you hit the lottery.. there is no way you could have played them all.
The average amount of hours to complete each game? 20 hours bare minimum to 100 hours maximum.
It would take a decade to complete all of the hits that were out those years.

Other times...
Poor ideas or target audience.
"Zone of the Enders 1".
Good Game. Flying Battle Mechs in space.
How can it go wrong?
"M" Rated when the Main Character is... a 12 year old boy. ???
Bad taste.
Nothing wrong with being inspired by a great source like..."Gundam".
But when you stamp an "M" rating on it??? What adult will be compelled to relate to a child???
In an action game???
In "Zone of Enders 2"? They rectified all of the flaws in the first one and the thing Rocks.
But
Because they had a bad rep with some odd moves on the first one?
Very few got a copy of the brilliant work of art that is "Zone of Enders 2 the Second Runner."

Another Item that comes to mind is a poor review.
Ever play "Onechanbarra"???
No?
It was a good solid game.
But
It got allot of poor reviews.
I have heard it has a sequel but I may never know it due to the poor reviews the first one got. BEFORE it even reached the shores of America to be Played.

Many Games have that issue about... Monopoly.
Some Game Companies have it and pay for the good reviews it gets.
Remember when an O.K. First Person Shooter Got The title of "The best Game of the year"?
And No One Agreed?
I think it was "Black Ops" or something of that nature.
I can't remember.

Allot of Shady things were going down in the Video Game Bizz.
I am so glad I was unplugged from the Internet at the time to dig up the facts later. If I said the wrong thing about one franchise or another I would have had my P.C. Hacked and Crashed too many times for my paycheck or my stomach to bear.

Things have settled a little but the competitors of the major Companies are almost all gone.

Those are just a few ideas that come to mind.
I could be wrong.
Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

In my opinion one of the most underrated gaming  franchises is Capcom and Urbosoft , because they haven't been releasing any titles that have gotten them any recognition.