I guess I could do this by picking a bunch of sequels that didn't live up, but I think in most every franchise there are a few sequels that don't live up, so that could get boring. Instead I'm going to try to choose some original games that I was super excited about before they released, but then they released and just... weren't that great? though I'll also throw in some sequels. I admit that for most of these I'm going off of what others have said about them, so if I'm wrong maybe someone can set me straight. But I'm willing to take a chance and assume these games didn't live up.



I remember getting so psyched for this game. Who wouldn't want to play a game where you get to be Boba Fett?! Ok so it was about Jango Fett but essentially, it is the same idea. Flying around on jetpacks, busting suckers with lasers, capturing people with grapple beams, shooting a big ass rocket out of your back... it was a huge Star Wars wet dream come true. But when it released it reviewed in the mediocre to poor range, my hype disappeared, and I never bothered checking it out.



Apparently Anand thinks this is one of the worst ideas ever, but I liked the idea. A bright, colorful platformer from Team Sonic (before I finally accepted they had nothing left) that seemed to have it's own little unique niche. But I guess it wasn't really any good?



I'm a huge, huge Mega Man X fan so the idea of an RPG using those characters sounded super cool. But then, the game apparently sucks. Boo.



This game sounded so weird and cool... kind of an RPG, except the battles took place in the form of a SHMUP? I was pretty excited for it, but um... again, it came out, and apparently sucks, so I never bothered.



Another Sonic Team game. The thing that frustrates me most about Sonic Team (and Sega as a whole, to some degree) is that they're still making the type of games I really want to see in an industry where few people are. BUT... their games mostly suck. It's a huge cock tease. I picked this even though it's a sequel because I haven't played the original, so it's not like "oh a sequel that didn't live up to my expectations based on playing the previous game" it would have been totally new to me. But I heard it really sucks, so I didn't bother.



I've actually played this game, I own it. And it's not terrible, it's just not very good. But the idea sounded so cool. Combine Mario Party with an RPG and a bunch of crazy stuff like getting to screw with people when you kill them by changing their names and such? But really, it's just not that great of a game.



I really, really love this series. Like, a lot. So when the Wii debuted with an exclusive Monkey Ball game, I was sold. The hype was up there with Zelda for me. And it seemed like something that would work very well with the Wii remote. But the mini-games mostly all sucked, and the single player was ok though not up to the standards of the old games. Meh.



Super Excited for Camelot's return to consoles. And I loved the Mario Golf games so this seemed like a sure thing. But I guess it wasn't that great? Oh well, there is always Golden Sun 3, their true return.



It's hard to put a finger on what is wrong with this game. It's very playable, sometimes creative, and follows the design of the original Yoshi's Island fairly closely. But it's just plain nowhere near as good. Maybe this is the difference between having all of the elements in place, and actually designing a great game around those elements?



I was super into this game on pretty much every level, until I started playing it. And I still love the story, characters, and presentation. But the core gameplay just doesn't work for me, at all.

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@Zero
I'd rather play a bit of 20 or 30 games. That's why I love Wario Ware so much! And why I try, like, EVERY XBLI demo.

It's fun to explore tons of different worlds and try tons of different mechanics. But I mostly rent games to evaluate them for future purchase.

That said, it is kind of satisfying to complete a game. I feel like the satisfaction of completing a short game is about the same as the satisfaction for completing a long game, though. Maybe even more, since they're usually more focused and less bloated. So I mostly play shorter games these days. I guess I always did, which is why I only need the occasional 3D Metroid or 3D Zelda.

@Mr_Mustache
Oh, yeah... that game stank. I remember Ken Lobb talking about how many different gameplay styles it had, comparing it to Contra. What was he smoking? The flying levels were super-beautiful, though. The whole game, really.

@Tranquilo
Yeah, times have changed. That didn't even occur to me.

WarioWare has the whole overarching game though! In fact, the game is kind of more about the overarching game than any given micro-mini-game. It wouldn't be much fun playing one of those micro-mini-games over and over with no context.

I had this dream in the past of a game from Nintendo which is basically a bunch of new parts from current games (say, a new Galaxy stage, a new Mario Kart track, a new Prime area, a new Wii Sports frisbee golf course?, etc. throw in some handheld games too) but each area would have scoring based on time, damage taken, whatever makes sense for that game, so you could get a score for each part, and then an overall "Nintendo gamer" score. Essentially it would be a bunch of demos but with a bigger context. THAT would make me happy to play a bunch of games at once.

Anyway, there is no right or wrong way to play games (unless you play Metroid Prime without loving it, that is wrong) but I can't see myself being fulfilled as a gamer playing a ton of pieces of games and rarely getting deep into a single game. I kind of agree that you can get just as much from a lot of short games, but I still love those vast sweeping Nintendo epics more than pretty much anything else. And I'm already knowing that I'm giong to want more DKCR once I finish it.

My game-playing 'career' is the overarching meta-game (including the discussions)! I was actually going to mention that, but I forgot.

Plus, I think that was MY dream! But both of us probably ripped it off from Wario Ware/those Nintendo tournament carts.

I didn't mean that you could get just as much from 10 short games as from 1 long one. (I actually think you get way more.) I was saying that the satisfaction of completing a short game is about the same as the satisfaction of completing a long one (or greater, because they're punchier). So I like to complete the occasional game, as well, but I prioritize the shorter ones, because I don't have the patience or attention-span for 'epics'. But I'm not sure if I would group Nintendo games into that category, since they often vary the gameplay throughout the experience, sometimes drastically, as with Galaxy, whereas, say, a super-long RPG...

@anandxxx I'm a Wind Waker h8r!

@anandxxx Well, I agree that shorter games can be just as satisfying as long ones. But that's only because I think most game developers don't have enough ideas to fill a long game. Yet a single player "epic" done right is generally my favorite type of game (especially nowadays where I don't play as much multi.) And these generally come from Nintendo, who is one of the few developers who can create 30, 40, 50 hours of gameplay and keep it interesting.

Hmm, certain RPGs though still grab me.

I like games that are relatively simple and just have a good sense of fun gameplay, such as various arcade games, but I also can really enjoy "epic" games too. Games where you go on some kind of adventure (especially if it features exploration) can be so much fun. I sometimes can overlook certain issues a game has if I really enjoy the overall experience it has to offer. Mass Effect for instance has some technical issues, but I love the universe and story that the game features.

1. Ocarina of Time:
-I expected Hyrule Field to be full of secrets and the overworld to be esentially ALTTP in 3D. I didn't get that.
-Music wasn't nearly as epic as I would have liked it. That European commercial with a fully orchestrated choir mislead me.

2. Majora's Mask:
-I was waiting for adult Link to make an appearance. I was sorta dissapointed it didn't.

3. Wind Waker:
-I was dissapointed there was only one underwater location that you could visit. The Great Sea and the WW's backstory provided the best setting for a world duality in ALTTP fashion and I thought that setting was GREATLY underutilized.

4. Twilight Princess:
-You had all these cool gadgets but not a lot of places to use them. I wanted to use them a lot more than I ended up using them.
-The game was light on overworld exploration and heavy on useless rupees.
-Twilight World provided the best setting for heavy world duality exploration similar to ALTTP. Instead, that ended up being a useless setup and GREATLY underutilized.

5. Metroid: Other M:
-If the backstory was about Samus's alien nature being raised & trained by the Chozo instead of focusing on unnecessary and meaningless characters (Adam Malkovich, the FDR) my game enjoyment would be up the roof.
-Upgrade system could have been handled by downloading the data instead of following orders. Samus isn't a by-the-numbers mercenary.
-The emphasis should have been on exploration instead of linearity. I hated closed doors along your way or that the game only let you backtrack when it felt like it.

These are just off the top of my head. I have more issues with other games from non-Nintendo consoles but I am not going there. This kind of thread works best when you take one game at a time though.

Zero said:

Another Sonic Team game. The thing that frustrates me most about Sonic Team (and Sega as a whole, to some degree) is that they're still making the type of games I really want to see in an industry where few people are. BUT... their games mostly suck. It's a huge cock tease. I picked this even though it's a sequel because I haven't played the original, so it's not like "oh a sequel that didn't live up to my expectations based on playing the previous game" it would have been totally new to me. But I heard it really sucks, so I didn't bother.

The game was a let down when compared to the awesomeness of the original, but I still found a lot to love about this one. There were some bits that weren't very good, and there were some bits that were mediocre, but then there were some bits that were truly great and reminded me of why I fell in love with the original.

The game was hurt by the octagonal gate on Nintendo's first party analogue sticks, because NiGHTS was never meant to be eight-directional, but when I picked up one of Nyko's classic controller alternatives with a round gate, the flying sections became even better.

Did I mention Wario Land Shake It and Paper Mario? They're good games but not great in my opinion.

carlosrox said:

Did I mention Wario Land Shake It and Paper Mario? They're good games but not great in my opinion.

carlosrox said:

Wario Land Shake It not great

Uh oh.

Sounds like a caveman review.

Hey, that would be a cool hook.