What Games Are Overrated to You? Underrated? [Archive]

Moo Cow

04-20-2006, 01:58 AM

Fuyukaze

04-20-2006, 03:44 AM

This is a thread for discussing what games you think are overrated or underrated, and for other people to comment on them. Overrated, been done before, but I did a quick search for underrated and the last discussion was about 9 months ago (I only checked the top ten, if you'd like too, you can check through the other 863 threads).

-Asteroids (can't remember). I hate this game. I hate the control, I hate everything. Galaga is so much better.

-Grand Theft Auto 3/Vice City/San Andreas (PS2): First off, this is a fun game, and I do admit I play them every once in a while (I don't do missions, I just put in ammo and weapon cheats, go atop a building, and play God), but this game isn't the greatest game ever.

-Megaman series (NES): Don't get me wrong, these are good (not great, GOOD) video games, but they're not nearly as great as Mario or Ninja Gaiden.

Metal Gear Solid (NES) - I never liked this game, but I play it every now and then to see if I can get into it. Long story short, no I cannot. Initially, I didn't like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (the first Metal Gear Solid I played), but it grew on me. This one, however, doesn't seem to likely I'll EVER enjoy it.

-Silent Hill (PSX): I bought Silent Hill because of the hype over it. Needless to say, I was less then pleased. What was an average game was being hyped up to be some sort of godsend for fans of horror. It's an ok game, with interesting ideas, but it could never pull it all off with me.

-Tetris (NES). I can play Tetris every now and then, but it's not really all that fun. I'd probably give it a D+.

-Tomb Raider (PSX): This game is just terrible. I'm not sure what it is I don't like about it...I just hate it.

Underated games:

-King of Fighters '99 (PSX, Arcade): This was a great fighting game! Me and my dad used to play this a lot. Then again, I like pretty much all fighting games (within reason).

-Mr. Nutz (SNES): I grew up on this game, as well as others, and have to admit: this little red squirrel provided me with so much fun! I haven't played it in a few years and never got past the second boss, but it was fun trying.

Not to nitpick, but a few errors in your stuff. Metal Gear Solid was a PS1 tiitle. Metal Gear and Snakes Revenge were the NES titles. Also, King of Fighters is sorta like the Madden of Fighting games. Each year sees a new release. Atleast it gets enough improvments to almost make it worth its price. A final bit, Tetris did something few other games has ever done. It sold a system. I'd say that shows it had something when it was originaly released.

Well, as far as what I thought was overrated, Most sports titles which see a yearly release. All those nifty little improvments that just dont equal an entirely new game. Improvments like facial hair, sweat, and such. What's next? A controler that lets you smell them? How many small details warent a new 50$ game?

Also, most of the Street Racers get hyped alot.

What do I think gets underrated? Not much in today's market. It used to be that entire genres of gaming would get ignored but with gaming as popular as it is now, it's realy hard to find titles that are ignored without good cause. Look at some of the stuff that people tend to not talk about and more often then not its because the game is honest to god crap and best left forgoten.

While I respect your right to an opinion, I simply disagree with it. Some of the games you feel to be hyped I believe deserved to be. Games like Megaman feel so cliche these days because there are so many of them. Yet dispite this, it's still a good seller. Solid gameplay, solid graphics, and controls make a good game and if a good game sells, well, that's buisness.

Moo Cow

04-20-2006, 04:07 AM

Not to nitpick, but a few errors in your stuff. Metal Gear Solid was a PS1 tiitle. Metal Gear and Snakes Revenge were the NES titles. Also, King of Fighters is sorta like the Madden of Fighting games. Each year sees a new release. Atleast it gets enough improvments to almost make it worth its price. A final bit, Tetris did something few other games has ever done. It sold a system. I'd say that shows it had something when it was originaly released.
You're right, it is Metal Gear.
I bought King of Fighters 99 for ten bucks. I think it was worth the price.
I've never really liked Tetris, even though it did help sell a system. I just found it rather boring.

Well, as far as what I thought was overrated, Most sports titles which see a yearly release. All those nifty little improvments that just dont equal an entirely new game. Improvments like facial hair, sweat, and such. What's next? A controler that lets you smell them? How many small details warent a new 50$ game?

Also, most of the Street Racers get hyped alot.

I've never really liked sports or racing games, and have also wondered that about sports games: what's worth shelling out an addition 50 bucks?

While I respect your right to an opinion, I simply disagree with it. Some of the games you feel to be hyped I believe deserved to be. Games like Megaman feel so cliche these days because there are so many of them. Yet dispite this, it's still a good seller. Solid gameplay, solid graphics, and controls make a good game and if a good game sells, well, that's buisness.

I first played Megaman when I was little, and even then I felt it was an ok game. I didn't think it felt cliched, and I didn't think it was a bad game, just an average one.

Push Upstairs

04-20-2006, 01:43 PM

Well the most obvious overrated game is of course "Street Fighter 2"

It was overrated when it was just SF2 (magazines at the time went SF2 nuts!), it was overrated when it was Championship Edition, Turbo, Super, Super Turbo.....and what do they have nowadays..Hyper Street Figter 2? Yeah...

I think my underrated game choice would have to be "Rockin Kats" for the NES.

Melf

04-20-2006, 02:27 PM

Final Fantasy VII, no contest.

suppafly

04-20-2006, 02:30 PM

Overrated series: Metal gear, Final Fantasy, Resident evil, Megaman

Underrated games: River city ransom (nes), shadow of the ninja (NES), Kid Chameleon (genesis)

Nirvana

04-20-2006, 03:47 PM

Overrated:

World of Warcraft - So many people play it, and I personally don't think it's worth devoting all my time into.

Madden series - It's a shame that the football game that gets rights to the NFL license is damn horrible compared to ESPN NFL 2k5. Running the ball seems so unrealistic to me because I feel like I don't have as much control over the running back as I do in other football games *cough* 2k5 *cough*

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Grand Theft Auto 3 was so damn innovative, they'll never be able to recreate the fun I had with that game. Now all I hear is people say about San Andreas "Aww man you could ______ in this game." Fill in the blank with the ability change clothes, have gang wars, or fly helicopters, etc...It's just not as good as GTA 3 was to me.

Underrated:

2Xtreme - Haha, I love this game. I personally think it paved the way for all the Xtreme sports games you see today. God, I loved that game and everyone else seems to hate it.

ESPN NFL 2k5 - Like I said, Madden just isn't all that great. In 2k5, the players just seem so realistic. Reading coverages while passing the ball is important in this game, and you can't always throw on the run like you could in Madden. In the running game you have to find the hole and burst through it, you can't just take the fastest player, sprint to the right and run up the sideslines. God, I love this game. Best football game ever.

Xardion (SNES) - This game was so excellent. Great side-scrolling action, I loved playing this when I was little.

Zenitram

04-20-2006, 04:03 PM

I think Super Mario RPG and the Megaman series are very overrated.

Can't think of underrated ones right now.

Steven

04-20-2006, 06:54 PM

Underrated: World Heroes Perfect (NG, Arcade, Saturn)
this was and still is, IMO, a damn fine 2D fighter that was ahead of its time (1995)

Overrated: Sorry but most of the "OMG!" Saturn games (US and Import)

Note: This is among the "Saturn community."

Games like Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, and so much more, while good to even great, are not the GODLY creations that I think of them, as compared to my fellow Saturn gamers.

67dash

04-21-2006, 11:10 AM

Over: World of Warcraft. Amazing that everyone plays this game. It has no point. I bought it to see what they hype was, and I could not stand it.

Under: F-Zero. Ha sorry had to plug my favorite game.

Can't think of anymore at the moment.

c0ldb33r

04-21-2006, 11:33 AM

ShinobiMan

04-21-2006, 11:38 AM

Hammy

04-21-2006, 12:00 PM

overrated : most popular/in demand snes games

underrated : Area 51

Moo Cow

04-21-2006, 12:07 PM

-Mr. Nutz (SNES): I grew up on this game, as well as others, and have to admit: this little red squirrel provided me with so much fun! I haven't played it in a few years and never got past the second boss, but it was fun trying.

I thought I was the only one who loved this game. I always thought it was so stupid how they featured the character on the box art as some kinda crazy squirl, but when you play the game, he's more cute than crazy.

It was definitely underrated.

Wow, someone else remembers it?
It could just be the nostalgia of playing there with my grandma watching me as I always got to the second world boss but could never beat her, but I sure do love that squirrel. Apparently, it's the rarest game I have (scored a 6, which isn't terrible).
Besides that, I love the sound track.

I always felt Final Fantasy (every game) was very overrated. I've played much better RPGs. You can all kill me now. LOL

YOU DIE NOW!!!! (kidding)

c0ldb33r

04-21-2006, 01:02 PM

I thought of another one

Final Fantasy 9 was underrated. I loved that game!

Cers

04-21-2006, 01:59 PM

overrated: Halo (of course) What's so special about it ?? It's just a good 3D-shooter and nothing more....

Nintendogs, ummhh, where is the game(play) ?

The Sims (place a name here)....., come on :roll:

underrated: Super Magnetic Neo :D , I love it.

Red Dog, a strange game....but very funny.

Street Fighter EX (Plus Alpha), the first SF EX was really good, imo.........

Snapple

04-21-2006, 03:34 PM

I think Disgaea is overrated.

I think Azure Dreams (PS1) is underrated.

That's all I have off the top of my head.

jboypacman

04-21-2006, 04:02 PM

overrated: all grand theft auto games.
all metal gear soild games.
all resident evil games.
all dead or alive games.
all electronic arts sports titles.
halo and halo 2
underrated:luigi's mansion
fighter's destiny and fighter's destiny 2
rockin kats
chamelon twist and chamelon twist 2
shatterhand
decapattack

noriaki_kakyouin

04-21-2006, 05:27 PM

REZ. Without a doubt.

xolik

04-21-2006, 05:32 PM

Overrated: GTA anything.

o2william

04-21-2006, 07:15 PM

Underrated:
Jaws (NES) - Fun in an Atari 2600 kind of way

Deadly Towers (NES) - Super challenging at first, but if you play it carefully, it actually gets pretty easy (and fun) about halfway through

E.T. (2600) - OK, it has its flaws, but people treat it like it murdered their mother or something, and it just ain't that bad. It's actually decent if you have the skill to avoid falling in the pits.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!

Plus, the entire Odyssey2 library. ;)

Overrated:
Populous (PC) - Complete snoozefest for me.

I haven't played it enough to be sure, I'm kinda thinking Katamari Damacy (PS2) is overrated. Charming, but it didn't "grab" me, at least not yet. Will I be excommunicated from DP for this? LOL

I'm having a similar problem with Kingdom Hearts (PS2). Walk around, mash buttons to kill monsters, watch long cutscene, repeat. Seems kinda tedious. Cool concept though. I really want to see KH2 for the Tron segments, but if the gameplay hasn't been improved, I'll have a hard time bringing myself to spend the money.

Phosphor Dot Fossils

04-21-2006, 07:21 PM

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!
My thing is: how many people decided they didn't like it after finding out about the game's origins? It may seem like a silly question, but I've actually known people who suddenly went from "eh, I kinda liked it" to "argh, I actively hate it" when they found out it wasn't originally a Mario game.

Fighter17

04-21-2006, 07:48 PM

Overrated: Radiant Silvergun (Saturn) and GTA: Vice City and onwards.

Underrated: Ranger X (Genesis)

The Shawn

04-21-2006, 07:58 PM

Overated:Final Fantasy Series
Overated:Grand theft Auto Series
Underated Game:Oddworld Strangers Wrath

Not that they are'nt fun to play

Jumpman Jr.

04-21-2006, 08:42 PM

I'm not sure if this game could be labelled as underated per se, but not very many people have played it so it's not as popular as I think it should be.
Personally, I think that Battletoads & Double Dragon on the NES is one of the best games for the console. Definitely, a lot more people have played this game on the SNES, and I actually do not think that the SNES pushes this game very far. It's something about the NES version that I think is really good. It might have something to do with the old school feel of Battletoads and Double Dragon put into one, that the SNES would just ruin.

Lady Jaye

04-21-2006, 09:01 PM

Earthbound is overrated to me.

Push Upstairs

04-21-2006, 09:15 PM

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!

I like it.

The music is quite catchy and it will forever remind me of getting sick over x-mas break in 1991.

Moo Cow

04-21-2006, 09:30 PM

Earthbound is overrated to me.
Me too.
It's an ok game, and I'd pick it up if I saw it in a bargain bin, but it certainly didn't warrant him being in Super Smash Bros. Meelee :D

Sparkster

01-27-2008, 02:11 AM

I'm resurrecting this thread to express how much I've hated Final Fantasy (NES) and Final Fantasy 2 (SNES). I played FF1 years ago to see what the fuss was about. I'm trying FF2 because I hear FF3 is a masterpiece, and I may as well do them in order.

Well, I'm just not into it. I've gotten pretty far thanks to my boundless persistence. But this also includes trying to break my controller in half and screaming into pillows.

I thought video games were supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not so stressfully frustrating that you have a headache. I'm going to continue to try to finish FF2, but once that's done, I probably won't be playing it ever again, I hate it that much.

And to other overrated games... I hate almost all sports games. Not because almost all lot sales include a few of them which you already have, but I just don't find them that fun. Even when I'm drunk and winning, I get very little enjoyment out of sports games, especially NHL, and I'm a huge hockey fan. I suppose it's the lack of accomplishment that bothers me. You can win, but all it gives you is temporary bragging rights.

Underrated... most of my faves are rated fairly appropriately. Ones that I love that don't get the recognition: GI Joe (NES), Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (NES), Human Cannonball (2600).

j_factor

01-27-2008, 03:16 AM

Overrated:

Conker's Bad Fur Day - Sub-par platformer that only got attention for its curse words and poop jokes. Seriously, a cartoon squirrel talking about getting drunk and taking a shit really isn't that funny.

Myst - I like a lot of adventure games, but Myst just about put me to sleep. One of the most mind-numbing games I've ever played.

Super Mario 64 - I still don't get the big deal about this game. The level design is repetitive and sucky, the camera is atrocious, the boss battles suck ass, and the whole idea of collecting stars is just lame game design. I know its 3D-ness was important at the time, but seriously, even Bug! and Alpha Waves did a better job of bringing platformers to the third dimension.

Sonic Adventure - Sonic should not be in an adventure game. The adventure parts were boring, the camera was crap, the non-Sonic gameplay was decent to horrible (Big the Cat especially sucked), and I was annoyed at the framerate of 30fps. Some smart level design and an appealing plot don't save it from mediocrity.

Half-Life - Not horrible by any means, but it gets too many heaps of praise. A lot of the things it is praised for are no big deal IMO. People said it was immersive and involving, but I didn't find it to be so. The environments lacked interaction and you don't really get to make any game-affecting decisions. It also had some really lame level design, taking place in very generic locations.

Underrated:

SiN - I first played Half-Life right after playing SiN. I was not impressed with Half-Life, and I still think SiN is amazing.

Dragon's Lair 3D - Aside from some control issues, I found this game to be very engaging and extremely fun. I don't really get what everyone else's problem with this game was.

Fatal Rewind / The Killing Game Show - One of the most intense action games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

Gain Ground - It moves slow, but mentally, this game is fast-paced. Easily one of the most addictive games ever made, to me.

Liberation: Captive II - Way ahead of its time. It's hard to believe that this game came out when people thought Star Fox was impressive. The gameplay is very involving and complex. Innovative in a number of ways, and the plot is pretty interesting too.

Press_Start

01-27-2008, 06:11 PM

Overrated:
Resident Evil 4 (GC, Wii, PS2) - The game was good, but it went more action-adventure than horror since it didn't scare me as much. On top of that, ganados and zealots designs weren't nearly cool as the zombies and monsters of previous resident evil titles (with the exemption of a few).

Final Fantasy 12 (PS2) - The game was an advertisement for FF 11. The story was bland. The gameplay wasn't that much different than MMORPGs (real or pseudo). It's another sinking stone in Square's decline as try to hopelessly prove that graphics will pawn all games.

Underrated

I have so many underrated classics and modern games that I can't keep with the names in my mind. But from the top of my head...

The Guardian Legend (NES) - The biggest sleeper on the NES. A game combining Zelda's exploration, Metroid's female-like leading role, Megaman's assortment-like weapons, and the action-packed adrenline rush of shmup games. It's an experience like no other as you journey through the maze-like corridors, riddled monsters and robots, of the planet-like spaceship, Naju, for the seals of a self-destruction bomb to prevent a collision course with Earth.

Vagrant Story (PS1) - Square's sleeper hit for the Playstation. This is what FF 11 and 12 should have been modeled after. It combines RPG elements, such as, great story, interchangable weapons, and good-old monster bashing, and action-adventure elements, such as exploration, jumping, and intense fighting. As well as adding new elements with triggered and counter abilities and selecting which part of the body to strike. Coupled with graphics that rivaled even some PS2 games.

CosmicMonkey

01-27-2008, 06:42 PM

Overrated: GTA 3, and all its sequels; The Halo series and the Final Fantasy series.

carlcarlson

01-27-2008, 07:39 PM

Overrated: Sonic games on the Genesis. I have never been able to get into them. Sonic's whole thing is speed, but you can't really go fast and expect to do well. It feels very awkward to me.

Earthbound. I think it's very cool in that it takes a "normal" setting and makes it into a quirky rpg, but I found it to be very repetitive and bland after 10+ hours. I am proud to have it in my collection, and remember my first few hours in it very fondly, but ultimately I don't think it's as good as everyone says it is.

Halo series. I thought Halo was an excellent shooter, and have played through it twice. I thought the beginning of Halo 2 was great, but quickly became disappointed with the rest. I recently played the beginning of Halo 3 and felt like I was basically playing Halo 1 again. It's just not doing it for me.

Underrated.

ToeJam and Earl games for Genesis. I know these get some love in the hardcore crowd, but not nearly enough people know abou these games. I think the first one is incredibly original, and the second one is one of the best sequels I've ever played, expanding on the original in almost every way to make it better.

Little Samson for NES. Again, this gets some hardcore love, but not enough. I think this is one of the most impressive NES games there is in almost every area. The graphics are great, the music is wonderful, and the play vareity is top notch. It can be a bit easy, but I love it. It's a nice change of pace from almost every other NES game.

RASTAN

01-28-2008, 10:33 AM

overrated

Halo - its pretty fun single player and co-op, but come on... I can't believe how into this game people get

Took the words right out of my mouth.

:deadhorse:
QFT

Graham Mitchell

01-29-2008, 12:22 AM

Underrated: Somebody already said it, but I have to second Deadly Towers. That game is universally shit on. I was unaware there was a problem with it until about 2004. Now, thanks to Seanbaby, every time that game comes up people talk about how horrible it is. I'd venture that, at the time of it's release, it really was among the most immersive, lengthy, and challenging NES games around. In addition, it has some interesting visuals (I love seeing all the windows and broken staircases--I used to wonder what was behind all the windows or the prison cells) and a GREAT soundtrack.

Iron Tank for the NES is also underrated. Anything Ikari Warriors did Iron Tank does 10 times better. It's even got non-linear gameplay. Why don't people rave about this? I consider it a must-own NES title.

Overrated: In trying to come up with something non-stereotypical, the best I can come up with is Sonic the Hedgehog. It's fucking hard. Malignantly, punitively hard. I find i hard because the game's focus is all out of whack. The whole advertising blitz pushed the concept of speed, and it's easy to get going fast in any of the Sonic games. But then there's all the rewards you get from collecting rings, and collecting rings requires that you take your time and meticulously get every ring you can. And, since 1 hit will effective take away EVERY RING YOU COLLECTED, running through the levels blindly is ill advised. In fact, if you want to get the proper ending, you MUST play slowly and carefully. The whole supposed gimmick that Sonic had over Mario was the speed, yet the game punishes you over and over again for zipping through the levels. Yuji Naka, make up your friggin' mind. Are we supposed to zoom or go slow and explore? If the goal really is to go slow and explore (which I believe is the case due to the chaos emerald system), that means Sonic is incredibly difficult to control. That's flawed game design right there.

j_factor

01-29-2008, 01:07 PM

Overrated: In trying to come up with something non-stereotypical, the best I can come up with is Sonic the Hedgehog. It's fucking hard. Malignantly, punitively hard.

That's funny, I always thought Sonic was a little overrated, but for the opposite reason -- it's too easy IMO.

Slate

01-29-2008, 01:38 PM

Overrated:

Most sports games out there - I don't get it. Why play them? Maybe It's because I'm only interested in a few sports. Football isn't one of them.

Halo Trilogy - I don't see why people like these games. They're just regular (and overhyped) shooters with some nice graphics and almost no story or strategy involved. It is mostly get to point A to point B and there are a few boss battles but nothing interesting and no puzzle solving. If I want something similar to this, I'll take Doom 3.

Underrated:

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - I highly Disagree with what reviewers have said about this. Sure the characters are ugly, What do you expect? An ex mercenary and a psychopath. The game is supposed to be a bit more realistic, Unlike some games these days. And there are some insane parts in this game too, But they aren't so crazy that they can't be "real".

Vampire Rain - At first I didn't like it because I couldn't figure out how to get past the first enemy, But that was absurdly simple after I figured out what to do. After the first few levels it is a good game that takes Patience and Thinking because if you mess up you have to do it again. Not from the beginning of the level but not from 5 seconds where you last were either. I think it deserves at least a 7 out of 10.

cosmicpsycho

01-29-2008, 01:38 PM

there are way too many overrated games for me to think of right now. as far as underrated.....
lester the unlikely-snes
space ace-snes
skullmonkeys-ps1

yes i like really quirky games.

Dire 51

01-29-2008, 02:09 PM

Iron Tank for the NES is also underrated. Anything Ikari Warriors did Iron Tank does 10 times better. It's even got non-linear gameplay. Why don't people rave about this? I consider it a must-own NES title.
*applauds*

I was just playing it today... it's been a favorite of mine for years. Indeed, Iron Tank needs some more love.

on a side note: ever play the arcade game TNK III?

Frankie_Says_Relax

01-29-2008, 02:11 PM

While I have yet to play Halo 3, I've always found Halo and Halo 2 (which I did play a fairly extensive amount of on the original XBOX) to be generally over-rated.

I'm not saying the games "sucked" ... in fact, they're very compitent, and technically sound titles deserving of well above average critical scoring.

I just don't quite understand the "mass appeal" that they seem to have garnered (especially amongst non-gamers and non-FPS enthusiasts) over the years.

As far as FPS games go, they didn't to THAT much to advance the genre except bring that elusive sense of "cultural awareness" and "synonimity" (the same way people say "kleenex" instead of tissue, and "xerox" instead of photocopy) that no other FPS before it ... except DOOM maybe, has been able to.

mnbren05

01-29-2008, 02:25 PM

Over: Metal Gear series, Yoshi Story, Quake series, Shadows of Colossus, Red Steel, Max Payne, Dead to Rights

Under: Silent Hill series, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Body Harvest, Psychonauts, WCW/NWO Revenge

Graham Mitchell

01-29-2008, 09:20 PM

on a side note: ever play the arcade game TNK III?

No...what is it? This sounds like something I should check out.

ThoughtBomb

01-29-2008, 09:38 PM

I'm resurrecting this thread to express how much I've hated Final Fantasy (NES) and Final Fantasy 2 (SNES). I played FF1 years ago to see what the fuss was about. I'm trying FF2 because I hear FF3 is a masterpiece, and I may as well do them in order.

Well, I'm just not into it. I've gotten pretty far thanks to my boundless persistence. But this also includes trying to break my controller in half and screaming into pillows.

I thought video games were supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not so stressfully frustrating that you have a headache. I'm going to continue to try to finish FF2, but once that's done, I probably won't be playing it ever again, I hate it that much.

First off I'm a casual RPG fan and have to say that I was like the many that played FFVII first and thought it was very good, since then I played FFVI (originally released years ago as FFIII on SNES) which I would highly suggest to anyone who's a fan of ol-school RPG's or a fan of FF. I tried to go back and play the first and I couldn't take it. Mind you, I love old school games but it just plain stunk. My point is when it comes to the FF series, you don't need to play every single one. Not just because none of them are cohesive (with the exception of FFX-2), but because not all of them are good. Despite my growing fandom of the series, I will still agree that it doesn't deserve all the attention it gets.

Streetball 21

01-29-2008, 10:43 PM

Overrated-any EA sports game (I know they can do better) and Sonic the Hedgehog

Underrated-Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (NES), Blast Corps (N64), Shenmue I and II

Sotenga

01-30-2008, 12:27 AM

*applauds*

I was just playing it today... it's been a favorite of mine for years. Indeed, Iron Tank needs some more love.

on a side note: ever play the arcade game TNK III?

I played that game a lot in my youth, and I still find it to be one of SNK's greatest pre-Neo Geo offerings, so I'm with you fellows on this one. :)

Also for the "under" file would be Psychonauts, Castlevania: Dracula X (the SNES game, that is), El Viento, and Iridion II (aka, the greatest Game Boy Advance shmup no one has ever heard of).

"Over?" Killer Instinct. Seriously, I've tried MANY times to get into it, and nothing's clicked. I'll also say Tomb Raider and... well, although I really like Halo, it truly is victim to its own hype.

Dire 51

01-30-2008, 07:49 AM

No...what is it? This sounds like something I should check out.
I only found out about it not long ago, but it looks like Iron Tank's predecessor.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9998

I'd have played it by now, but I can't run MAME at the moment.

Graham Mitchell

01-30-2008, 08:48 AM

I only found out about it not long ago, but it looks like Iron Tank's predecessor.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9998

I'd have played it by now, but I can't run MAME at the moment.

I mamed it last night (took a long time to get running as for somereason, MacMame doesn't come with a romlist and I had to monkey around to get MacMame to recognize the name of the romset.)

Anyway, it's pretty cool. You use separate analog control to control the turret. Gameplay is very similar, though it's definitely not as deep as the NES game. By looking at the map, it appears you just progress forward. Looks like a long game, though.

Another bummer is that, after the "Ikari-esque" intro music, all music stops and all you hear is tank rumbling. I love the tunes from Iron Tank, and this omission bummed me out.

Anyway, graphically it's actually not much better than the NES version, although the little soldiers are more detailed, and they bleed all over the place when you kill them.

Biggest leg up over the NES version is control, and you should try it for that reason.

Gentlegamer

01-30-2008, 12:03 PM

Overrated:
Castlevania - Symphony of the Night, not even close to being the best Castlevania game

Dire 51

01-30-2008, 01:11 PM

I mamed it last night (took a long time to get running as for somereason, MacMame doesn't come with a romlist and I had to monkey around to get MacMame to recognize the name of the romset.)

Anyway, it's pretty cool. You use separate analog control to control the turret. Gameplay is very similar, though it's definitely not as deep as the NES game. By looking at the map, it appears you just progress forward. Looks like a long game, though.

Another bummer is that, after the "Ikari-esque" intro music, all music stops and all you hear is tank rumbling. I love the tunes from Iron Tank, and this omission bummed me out.

Anyway, graphically it's actually not much better than the NES version, although the little soldiers are more detailed, and they bleed all over the place when you kill them.

Biggest leg up over the NES version is control, and you should try it for that reason.
Cool, thanks for the info. I'll try it as soon as I can get MAME running again.

Frankie_Says_Relax

01-30-2008, 01:20 PM

Overrated:
Castlevania - Symphony of the Night, not even close to being the best Castlevania game

On that note, while I really enjoyed playing through Rondo of Blood (AKA Dracula X) on the PSP compilation (yes it was a very solid traditional Castlevania experience, but) I'm not quite sure what all the fuss was about ...

... I think that one gained it's over-rated-ness from years of being exclusive/elusive to Japanese PC Engine users.

Personally I still think Castlevania III is the pinnacle of the series (in it's traditional, non-back-tracking Metroid-y form).

jdc

01-30-2008, 02:01 PM

I don't like to use the term overrated, so I'll just say that I didn't really understand what people saw in Heavenly Sword. I became disappointed in the game once I realized that you WEREN'T mindlessly cutting bloody swathes through groups of enemies with this massive Soul Calibur of a sword....like the TV ads portrayed, but were reduced to block block block counter block block block counter. I wanted a violent hack 'n slash.

Another? Gran Turismo 4. Before you get all crazy on me, let me say that I am currently (as in on a daily basis) working on 200-pointing every race in the game. But honestly, GT4 seems like a game that was delivered in a rushed, half finished state...only after Polyphony realized that they'd spent too much time working on a futile online segment. The physics engine is overly difficult to get truly comfortable with. I fear for Turismo 5, in case consessions are made to it as well, all in the name of deadlines.

I'm NOT a Halo fanboy, no longer own a Microsoft machine, but I wouldn't say that Halo is overrated.....I'd say that in it's launch year it was darned spectacular for a console FPS. Ditto for Halo 2. It got plenty of people to take the plunge and put their consoles online....for better or worse LOL. I'd say that NOW it's getting a bit "old" (Halo 3) and the sequels are not as memorable as our initial run through the first game was.

A game that was not as well recieved as it should have been? Klonoa Lunatea's Veil (PS2) or Primal (PS2). Also, I don't think that Whoopee Camp studios is still around, but I'd LOVE to see a new next-gen Tomba game.

alexkidd2000

01-30-2008, 05:40 PM

I have to say that the Zelda series is sooooo overrated. I have tried most of them and get really bored fast.

ThoughtBomb

01-30-2008, 09:24 PM

A game that was not as well recieved as it should have been? Klonoa Lunatea's Veil (PS2) or Primal (PS2). Also, I don't think that Whoopee Camp studios is still around, but I'd LOVE to see a new next-gen Tomba game.

Dude, I JUST finished collecting every jewel for every stage for the picture book in Klonoa. I was actually thinking how PSOne had Klonoa, PS2 had Klonoa 2, so hopefully PS3 will see a 3rd installment. Klonoa did a lot of things that Sonic nor Mario ever did, plus the story, though whimsical still had more immersion than "Crazy Turtle Man wants to steal the princess from you" or "Crazy Fat Giant Moustached Man wants to capture animals for his bidding". No offense to anyone because I love those games, but once again, overrated.

James8BitStar

02-02-2008, 11:49 PM

Overrated? Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time. I thought of adding Link to the Past to that list, but after re-playing it I can see how it appeals to people (though I wouldn't call it one of the best games of all time).

Underrated is the original Bubsy.

Dreamc@sting

02-03-2008, 07:56 AM

I've always been a huge Platformer fan, they aren't to popular in todays market but some of my favorite oldies are underrated and probably always will be

Underrated

Skies of Arcadia (dreamcast)- one of the best RPG's of all time in my opinion which deserves a true sequal but we will probably never see one...

Astal (saturn) - Astal is one of my favorite 2D platformers of all time

Rayman (saturn/psx) - Another one of my favorite 2D platformers which never gets the recognition it deserves.

Three Dirty Dwarves (saturn) - The first game I ever owned on the system, and still of of my top games of all time - a game which I never hear getting any recognition
..........................

Overrated -

GTA (any) - I never enjoyed this series much - and I don't understand why people love it so much - after 15 minutes of stealing cars it gets very redundant and boring.

I'm sure there are more, just cant think of any at the moment

veronica_marsfan

02-03-2008, 12:19 PM

-Asteroids (can't remember). I hate this game. I hate the control, I hate everything. Galaga is so much better.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Galaga forces you to work in only 1-dimension (move left or right). Asteroids let's you move in any direction you please. Asteroids gives more freedom

Overated

Final Fantasy 7

Underated

Final Fantasy 6 (nee 3 on super nintendo)

Hwj_Chim

02-03-2008, 12:58 PM

I think that Halo is very overrated. It is just a first person shooter and a boring one at that. FF7 is another overrated game. It just is not the end all be all RPG that a lot of people say it is.

Underrated, Grim Grimoire a fun RTS that just did not get the love it deserved.
Wild 9 is an underrated gem that I find very fun. Few things are cooler that putting your enemy's through a grinder.

8bitgamer

02-03-2008, 10:44 PM

Underrated: Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

ShinobiMan

03-24-2008, 04:20 PM

Another very UNDERRATED game that just came to mind is Monster Party on the NES. I LOVE THIS GAME! It's so ridiculously zany that it appeals to my ridiculously zany sense of humor, and obviously, the programmers were on something when they made it.

Drifter 2000

03-24-2008, 04:49 PM

Overrated:

- Smash Brothers Franchise: I can not get into these games whatsoever. Honestly if they didn't come jam packed with Nintendo characters I doubt half the people who love it would give it a second look.

- Zelda: Orcarina of Time: For whatever reason I have never been that impressed with this game (or any 3D Zelda really). Personally I think the series peaked at A Link To The Past.

Underrated:

- Super Mario Brothers 2: 90% of the people who hate this game loved it until they found out it originally wasn't a Mario game. It's certainly not the best in the series, but I find it very enjoyable.

- Mega Turrican: With great run n' gun shooters like Contra Hard Corps and Gunstar Heroes a lot of people seem to overlook this little gem for the Genesis.

Steven

03-24-2008, 05:38 PM

Underrated is the original Bubsy.

Disagree. It came in with a lot of hype from the game makers and magazines, then most magazines gave it decent scores, which is what the game deserves IMHO.

Bubsy wasn't great, it wasn't bad... it was just OK and received way too much hype for such a non-stellar platformer. I expected the next big thing, but in the end, it was only slightly above average. The controls were suspect to say the least. Sans those who vehemently slam the game, I think it's rated about right in the gaming community. Most people see it as nothing great but nothing horrible, either. At least, that's my general perception. I think that's about right for Bubsy.

Underrated is SNES B.O.B. There goes one funky, weird and strangely fascinating action shooter. Not great, but it really got overlooked and is a fine game that might occupy you for a solid week or two

Trevelyan

03-24-2008, 06:25 PM

I love the jagged alliance series, and not many of my gaming friends have heard of it...so, i dont know if its underrated or not, but its the first game that came to mind :) Also, I think some of LucasArts games such as Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis & Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II are overlooked, but maybe its just me & the people I know.

I think they all got a pretty good critical reception amongst mags and stuff though, so maybe they are overlooked imo, im not sure. This could be a good idea for a thread if its not been done.

On the console, Rock ‘N Roll Racing was really fun, and is possibly overlooked.

Rogue

03-24-2008, 07:15 PM

Final Fantasy, any...

And mostly Squaresoft too...

Famidrive-16

03-24-2008, 07:29 PM

Overrated:

Ico - I never understood why it got so hyped for so many years. It's a good game, but nothing I'd really consider "must-play".

Gran Turismo series - There were a billion other racers at the time with realistic driving controls, what made these games special? Anyways, 3 had that Raekwon song, that was kinda cool.

Underrated:

Rocketeer (NES) - Great game that I don't think a lot of people even played.

Wario World (Gamecube) - The puzzles were stupid but the game itself got massively overlooked. Had some of the best visuals I've seen on a Gamecube title, too.

Mario Kart: Double Dash - My favorite of the MK series.

FrakAttack

03-24-2008, 08:53 PM

Overrated - Metal Gear. There are so many things wrong with the series, but the long-winded, drama queen bosses make the whole thing laughable. Am I playing a game or watching an episode of Dr. Phil?

Underrated - Metal Marines. Nice little turn based/real time strategy hybrid on the SNES. The PC desktop game expanded the theme a little further, but I would love to have seen this grow into a console franchise.

Skaarg

03-25-2008, 12:50 AM

Well might as well get my first post out of the way..

Overrated:

Final Fantasy Series - sure they're decent games, but they're not great games like people make them out to be, especially with FF7. i actually prefer FF8 and 9 to FF7.

Halo series - It's a generic FPS that didn't provide anything unique.

GTA series - It's only fun because of the tank cheat code. :P

World of Warcraft - Do I really need to say anything...

Underrated:

Megaman Series (present games) - Back in the day the blue bomber was awesome, now people who just get introduced to the series always say the games are crap and/or boring. I may hate the Battle Network series but I love the Zero and ZX series.

Rayman - I haven't played the newer ones, but Rayman 1 and 2 I felt were awesome fun games, even if not many people cared for the series.

The 1 2 P

04-10-2008, 11:46 PM

Overrated:

Metal Gear Solid series--the true explanation for how bad this series is: after every magazine/website in the world rewarded the games with high marks, they spent the entire time building up to the next game discussing all the flaws from the previous game. For instance: why wait a couple months after giving MGS2 a really good score to finally tell us that the story was confusing, the cut scenes were long and boring and you hated having to finish the game with Raiden? Shouldn't you have mentioned all of this during your review?

Final Fantasy series--it's an rpg game thats different from all other rps games because...it's called Final Fantasy and the others aren't

Super Mario 64--ok for it's time but never truely memorable and horribly outdated

Seaman--what the fuck???

Underrated

Syphon Filter series(PS1, PS2, PSP)--much better than the MGS series IMO and deserves a bigger marketing campaign

Bust A Groove series(PS1)--we got this game in the US before DDR finally arrived and these are extremly enjoyable, but you have to play them with the controller

Otogi series(Xbox)--kind of like a cross between Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry, not too many people know about this series and thats a shame because it's really good

ReaXan

04-19-2008, 09:43 PM

AllSchoolGamer

06-23-2008, 11:23 AM

overrated

Halo - its pretty fun single player and co-op, but come on... I can't believe how into this game people get

GTA games - its not even fun single player - it is a little fun just driving around punching pedestrians but sucks other than that :(

I 100% agree with you on halo...the first 1 was pretty good but i never got passed the first stage on the second before i was bored and same with part 3...way way way too much of the same form game to game.

though as more of a single player gamer i think this game isnt really for me

darkhades

08-19-2008, 08:22 PM

Underated
Grandia II- The only RPG I could actually get through and not turn off

Overated
Eternal Darkness- I love Resident Evil/Silent Hill type games, but I hated this game with a passion and everybody else loved it.

I think you goofed, so i'll fix this for you ;)

Overated
Grandia II- The first Grandia is amazing. So of course I was sooooo looking forward to the sequel. Grandia II turned out to be one of the most disappointing gaming experiences ever. Lame story and characters.

Underated
Eternal Darkness- The Resident Evil/Silent Hill type games were great games but starting to get extremely stale. Eternal Darkness was a breath of fresh air in the adventure/horror genre.

Arcade_Ness

09-08-2008, 02:04 AM

Underated: Darkstalkers Series- It introduced some new fighting mechanics, and was a 2-D fighter from Capcom that didn't have the words Street or Fighter in the title. Without it you wouldn't have games like Guilty Gear.

Journey to Silus: A fun side scroller that was once associated with the Terminator. Great run and gun gameplay and sweet soundtrack.

Overated: Silent Hill 2-It was alright but I don't see why everyone digs it so much. Maybe it's just the lame combat system.

Castlevania SOTN-I'm a big fan of the series and I had to play this since it was so praised. I just didn't see what all the fuss was about. I much prefer the DS games and Rondo of Blood to this.

Nebagram

09-08-2008, 06:47 AM

Underrated- Flipnic. Seriously now, it is the Rez of pinball games, and on a big screen I guarantee you'll have at least one hallucination the following night.

Overrated- Kingdom Hearts. I played this at the same time I was playing Wind Waker and the difference in quality was jarring to say the least.

Also Ridge Racer. Call me a racing purist but the later games were nigh-on unplayable compared to games like PGR or Gran Turismo.

Nes

11-23-2008, 11:30 PM

Underrated: Secret of Evermore - solid RPG no matter what people say

Gamebrain

12-18-2008, 11:41 PM

Overrated: the entire Halo series

Underrated: Shenmue (no surprise) and The Last Express

Shenmue really had a great story. Sure, there were some flaws in the gameplay but I had never been more engrossed in a game as much as I was with Shenmue 1 and 2. I was in awe after I finished both games.

The Last Express was so good. Such an overlooked classic that deserved a lot more attention. Great puzzles and unique gameplay. I'd love to see this be remade or into a movie.

hellfire

02-17-2009, 09:00 PM

halo 3 and fallout 3 are over rated

p_b

02-17-2009, 11:21 PM

halo 3 and fallout 3 are over rated

Care to elaborate?

Astrocade

02-18-2009, 02:09 AM

Care to elaborate?

I can.

They play like every other generic FPS on the market. Some are better than others, but basically they're all the same games with different characters. They kind of blur together to me. But then again, I'm not a huge FPS fan in the first place, so I can't understand the fascination with Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Wolfenstein, Halo, Fallout, Bioshock, etc etc. I'm not saying that they're bad games, but to the average gamer that could give two squats about FPS, they're all over hyped, overrated clones.

More overrated games:

Madden. What in the world is so fascinating about sports titles that people will kill their children in order to get a copy on opening day, then play the shit out of it for a week and then they can't even give the game away ten days after release because no one wants it. Why, compared to any other genre of gaming, are you guaranteed that the used bin is going to have a 3 to 1 ratio of Madden games compared to every other game?

I like Rpg's in general, but Earthbound, Super Mario 64, Secret of Mana, and the entire Final Fantasy catalog is vastly overrated.

Shenmue sucks donkey dick! (Someone had to say it...)

GTA series. Oooh, I get to fly a helicopter, shoot people and kill hookers. And there's swearing, too? That's never been done before! These games are the summation of a 12 year old boys wet dreams (no offense to anyone that likes them).

Manhunt series. See above.

Rock Band/Guitar Hero. I can't get into either one. I've seen grown men openly weep while they play plastic guitar solos on their PS2 set to Poison songs. If ever there was a video game hell, Guitar Hero would be the ninth circle and Rock Band would be the tenth. These don't even qualify as video games to me, nor do I treat them as such. When someone says they've been gaming all night and it turns out that they were playing one of these games, I instantly dismiss them as unworthy.

Metroid. Everything after Super Metroid blows to me.

Castlevania series (post NES era). I love the original trilogy, and everything from the 16 bit era, but from Castlevania 64 until now I've been sorely unimpressed.

Online gaming in general. Do you really like having nine year old kids call you a faggot and talk shit about your mother? Then online gaming is for you! Which brings me to...

Warcraft. If I could insert a picture of me not giving a shit about the World of Warcraft, I would. Since I can't, let me just say IT'S A FUCKING GAME. IT'S NOT THE GREATEST GAME EVER, NOR IS IT EVEN ONE OF THE BETTER ONES. IT'S A MMORPG THAT PEOPLE INVEST WAAAAAY TOO MUCH TIME, MONEY AND EFFORT INTO. If you have fun, great. But get up and take a bathroom break every couple of hours, you reek of nerd.

Metal Gear. I've never played a Metal Gear game I liked. I hear Snake Eater is pretty good, and coincidentally it's the only one I haven't played. The rest are completely overrated to me, from the original NES game to the newest.

Goldeneye. It was fun when I was fifteen. Then I turned fifteen and a half. Now I can't even play the damn thing. The graphics and game play make me simultaneously nauseous and angry.

Underrated titles:

From Russia With Love. What's not to like about this game? It's got great graphics, gameplay, and for everyone who talks about how great Goldeneye's multiplayer was, they obviously have never played FRWL. Plus, SEAN FRIGGING CONNERY as James Bond? Take that, sissy boy Brosnan.

GUN. I can't believe how much this game is not talked about. Where's a proper sequel guys?

Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick was pretty fun. To me, it's the only Evil Dead game worth playing.

Shinobi series. Not all the games were great, but as a whole the series has more ups than downs. You hear about Ninja Gaiden this or Strider that, but Shinobi was every bit as good, if not better.

Zombies ate my Neighbors. 'Nuff said.

carlcarlson

02-18-2009, 01:18 PM

big 'ol rant

Wow. Do you even like video games? And Fallout 3 is a fps? Super Mario 64 is an rpg?

Anyway, to stay on topic, I really dug Snow Bros and Guerilla War for the NES. Neither one of those seems to ever be mentioned, even though similar games like Contra and Bubble Bobble are almost always included in top XX lists.

I found Halo to be overrated at first, but my third attempt to play the original was very enjoyable. I even played through it again. The second one, however, I found to be horrible. I didn't like switching between the two characters at all, and the big tank enemies got old fast. I haven't tried the third yet, but I hope it's more like the first one.

sebastiankirchoff

02-18-2009, 05:50 PM

Overrated:

Halo Series: Enough Said

GTA Series: Enough Said

The Sims: God, I fucking hate this game. No matter how much I pamper and take care of my characters, they go off and complain and do stupid shit. Seriously, if some God pampered you and took care of your every need, would you complain to them? The game bores me to tears, even though I tried my best to like it. The only enjoyment I got from this game was killing off my characters, and even that took way longer than it needed to be. Anybody else agree with me?

I can't think of any underrated ones right now.

Astrocade

02-18-2009, 07:33 PM

Wow. Do you even like video games? And Fallout 3 is a fps? Super Mario 64 is an rpg?

I love video games. There's hundreds of thousands of games out there, not just the ones I listed. Unfortunately the ones I listed are popular, so I guess you can say I don't like most popular video games.

And yes, Fallout 3 is a FPS- at least it was the last time I played it. And I meant Super Mario RPG, but come to think of it Super Mario 64 is also overrated.

carlcarlson

02-18-2009, 09:52 PM

And yes, Fallout 3 is a FPS- at least it was the last time I played it.

Oh, my fault, I thought Fallout 3 was an rpg.

Astrocade

02-18-2009, 10:57 PM

Oh, my fault, I thought Fallout 3 was an rpg.

People have been debating this since before the game came out. You can call it an RPG all you want, but when it's in first person perspective and you run around shooting things 98% of the game, well, how is that not a FPS?

First Person + Shooter = First Person Shooter.

carlcarlson

02-19-2009, 07:44 AM

People have been debating this since before the game came out. You can call it an RPG all you want, but when it's in first person perspective and you run around shooting things 98% of the game, well, how is that not a FPS?

First Person + Shooter = First Person Shooter.

So Morrowind is also a FPS I guess, minus the guns. And so is Oblivion. Hmm, and Deus Ex, Mirror's Edge... shall I continue? I guess God of War is a platformer since you jump a lot throughout the game.

I think you just enjoy disagreeing with people because you think it makes you smarter than them.

ANYWAY, again to stay on topic, I'll throw out another underrated game: Final Fantasy XII. I know it sold very well so it's definitely not unknown, but the popular opinion seems to be that it took steps in the wrong direction. Personally it's my favorite in the series. I think they can definitely improve the Gambit system, and the leveling was also lacking, but the openness and the combat were very refreshing. The real star of the game was the hunters guild. They provided a consistent challenge throughout the game, no matter how much you tried to grind.

Astrocade

02-19-2009, 08:22 AM

I think you just enjoy disagreeing with people because you think it makes you smarter than them.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.

Look, the general consensus about Fallout 3 is that it's a FPS with RPG elements. You obviously don't feel the same way, and that's great.

And please tell me that you're not suggesting God Of War is also an RPG? :frustrated:

Game Freak

02-19-2009, 08:56 AM

Overrated : Halo series, Call of Duty series,

Underrated: Team ICO, Roll Away, Out of this World, Disney-movie-based SNES games (i.e. Lion King, Aladdin, Pinocchio, Toy Story.)
Underrated (edit) - Dungeons of Daggorath, The Haunting, Dinoland Pinball

carlcarlson

02-19-2009, 09:44 AM

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.

Look, the general consensus about Fallout 3 is that it's a FPS with RPG elements. You obviously don't feel the same way, and that's great.

And please tell me that you're not suggesting God Of War is also an RPG? :frustrated:

Suggesting God of War is anything but an action adventure game would be asinine right? But see, I used your logic to do that!

Fallout 3 is an RPG, first and foremost. It can be played from a first person perspective, and it does involve guns. That doesn't make it a fps. I'll agree that it can be played with fps tendencies, but you're pretty much missing the whole point if you do so.

Anyway, this isn't the thread to discuss this. Feel free to make one in modern gaming if you would like to continue arguing.

Astrocade

02-19-2009, 11:36 AM

Suggesting God of War is anything but an action adventure game would be asinine right? But see, I used your logic to do that!

Fallout 3 is an RPG, first and foremost. It can be played from a first person perspective, and it does involve guns. That doesn't make it a fps. I'll agree that it can be played with fps tendencies, but you're pretty much missing the whole point if you do so.

Anyway, this isn't the thread to discuss this. Feel free to make one in modern gaming if you would like to continue arguing.

I love it when people start arguments on forums and then say "this isn't the place to argue". ROFL

You can tell yourself a game is whatever you want it to be. It's not asinine to suggest that God of War is anything more than an action adventure game, just pretentious. I'm looking at the cover to God Of War right now. It describes it as an "epic adventure" and "One of the most spectacular action titles to grace the PS2." But I guess that you're more qualified to determine what the game is than the people that created it. :bullshit:

I'm playing Super Mario Brothers 3. I'm no longer going to think of it as a standard platformer. Thanks to you, I realize the folly of my thinking. Mario is a character, so you're playing the role of Mario. He levels up every time he gets a mushroom or leaf. Oh, and there's secrets and puzzles. Yep, I was stupid to never think of this game as an RPG. Hell, the "turn based" fighting of hitting Bowser with a block and then retreating as he launches a counterattack is standard RPG fare. This is closer to Final Fantasy VII than any Sonic game...

carlcarlson

02-19-2009, 12:14 PM

I love it when people start arguments on forums and then say "this isn't the place to argue". ROFL

You can tell yourself a game is whatever you want it to be. It's not asinine to suggest that God of War is anything more than an action adventure game, just pretentious. I'm looking at the cover to God Of War right now. It describes it as an "epic adventure" and "One of the most spectacular action titles to grace the PS2." But I guess that you're more qualified to determine what the game is than the people that created it. :bullshit:

I'm playing Super Mario Brothers 3. I'm no longer going to think of it as a standard platformer. Thanks to you, I realize the folly of my thinking. Mario is a character, so you're playing the role of Mario. He levels up every time he gets a mushroom or leaf. Oh, and there's secrets and puzzles. Yep, I was stupid to never think of this game as an RPG. Hell, the "turn based" fighting of hitting Bowser with a block and then retreating as he launches a counterattack is standard RPG fare. This is closer to Final Fantasy VII than any Sonic game...

You seem to have missed my point, though I'm not surprised. I know that God of War is an action adventure game, but I applied your dumbass logic and suggested that it was instead a platformer because there is jumping in it. See how that works?

Let's use your logic again shall we? Here is a quote from Pete Hines, producer on Fallout 3. You ready? "Fallout 3 is true to the Fallout series; it's an RPG." Now a quote from you, because it's fitting. "But I guess that you're more qualified to determine what the game is than the people that created it."

http://play.tm/interview/17696/peter-hines-chats-about-fallout-3/ to read the whole interview.

Astrocade

02-19-2009, 04:33 PM

You seem to have missed my point, though I'm not surprised. I know that God of War is an action adventure game, but I applied your dumbass logic and suggested that it was instead a platformer because there is jumping in it. See how that works?

Let's use your logic again shall we? Here is a quote from Pete Hines, producer on Fallout 3. You ready? "Fallout 3 is true to the Fallout series; it's an RPG." Now a quote from you, because it's fitting. "But I guess that you're more qualified to determine what the game is than the people that created it."

http://play.tm/interview/17696/peter-hines-chats-about-fallout-3/ to read the whole interview.

Using my dumbass logic, I've pulled up a few quotes by various developers and creators of Fallout 3 that seem to convey that this is indeed a FPS as much as it is an RPG.

From an interview with Executive producer Todd Howard:

Criticism: “Fallout 3″ is just mediocre when judged as a first person shooter.

Howard: Agreed.

Peter Hines interview:

The VATS method of attack is a throwback to the combat system in previous Fallout games. However, does the presentation of an FPS give a confusing message to the player expecting RPG action? Pete Hines thinks not, telling me, “We don’t believe in beating people over the head with the term ‘RPG’. It’s like you have something to prove, or you need to show your 20-sided dice to get in the door. The idea is that you pick up and play the game however you want to. And if you want to be a power gamer and a number cruncher you can, whether you play in VATS or in real-time those numbers are still meaningful.”

Interview with the Bethesda development team:

3dz: OK, let’s talk about the balance between role-playing and action elements in Fallout 3. It seems that RPG elements are a bit hardcore, while the action feels more like a FPS. Is this intended?

BT: Well, we want people to feel like they can play the game however they like. If you’d rather play it like a story-driven FPS and not get into the stats and role-playing, feel free. If you really want to power game and get into the stats and numbers and how best to buff out your character, or spend all your time in dialog, or however you want to roleplay, you can do that too. We don’t think it’s up to us to tell you how you should play the game. We want to give you that freedom and let you go, and do, whatever you want, however you want.

From Bethesda's FAQ Page:

Players can attack in either 3rd or 1st person perspective, leading some to suggest the term 'TPS' (third person shooter) would be at least as appropriate as FPS, while others consider that to be overly pedantic.

So yeah, it's a little silly to jump up and scream "It's an RPG! End of story!" Bethesda clearly went after two markets here, and to say that Fallout 3 is strictly an RPG is just a narrow view. It's almost as if you're ashamed of playing something that could be classed as a FPS. Like you feel superior in intelligence compared to the average FPS fan and so you want to believe that only by calling it an RPG can you still carry off your delusions of grandeur. I can already tell that you have an inferiority complex by the way you've childishly attacked my intelligence without provocation, so what's your beef? Me, the world, other gamers, yourself? What?

carlcarlson

02-19-2009, 05:13 PM

So yeah, it's a little silly to jump up and scream "It's an RPG! End of story!" Bethesda clearly went after two markets here, and to say that Fallout 3 is strictly an RPG is just a narrow view. It's almost as if you're ashamed of playing something that could be classed as a FPS. Like you feel superior in intelligence compared to the average FPS fan and so you want to believe that only by calling it an RPG can you still carry off your delusions of grandeur. I can already tell that you have an inferiority complex by the way you've childishly attacked my intelligence without provocation, so what's your beef? Me, the world, other gamers, yourself? What?

My beef is obviously you calling Fallout 3 an fps. And if you think those quotes point to Fallout 3 being a FPS then I think questioning your intelligence is definitely called for. It seems you have shifted your position though to admitting it is an rpg with fps elements. Look a few posts up, I already said that. We're in agreement then, we can call it a day!

And am I ashamed of being an FPS gamer? No sir, probably more than 80% of my gaming this past year has been with either Orange Box or Call of Duty 4 and "5". Rpgs are my genre of choice, but when time is tight FPSs can bring much quicker satisfaction. Having said that, my experiences online would actually point to the average fps gamer being somewhat dim, but I think you would probably agree with me on that one.

Anyway, I call a truce. I'm cranky because we're getting slammed at work, and I went overboard on a minor disagreement. I apologize. And I agree, Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a kickass game.

Astrocade

02-19-2009, 05:30 PM

My beef is obviously you calling Fallout 3 an fps. And if you think those quotes point to Fallout 3 being a FPS then I think questioning your intelligence is definitely called for. It seems you have shifted your position though to admitting it is an rpg with fps elements. Look a few posts up, I already said that. We're in agreement then, we can call it a day!

And am I ashamed of being an FPS gamer? No sir, probably more than 80% of my gaming this past year has been with either Orange Box or Call of Duty 4 and "5". Rpgs are my genre of choice, but when time is tight FPSs can bring much quicker satisfaction. Having said that, my experiences online would actually point to the average fps gamer being somewhat dim, but I think you would probably agree with me on that one.

Anyway, I call a truce. I'm cranky because we're getting slammed at work, and I went overboard on a minor disagreement. I apologize. And I agree, Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a kickass game.

I picked up and played Fallout 3 out of the box as a FPS. I realize you could play it as an RPG if you wanted to, but I think that my quotes illustrate that the designers intended it to be an RPG only if you wanted to go that route. At its core, it is still a FPS with RPG elements to me.

But I agree to a truce- I know all about shitty work environments. And I also agree with your assessment of Guerilla War and Snow Bros. Very playable and rarely mentioned.

Nebagram

02-19-2009, 06:18 PM

You can get a bow and arrow in Oblivion. You shoot these, and you can play the game from a first-person perspective. Does this make it an FPS?

Hell, Morrowind had crossbows...

(I'm in the 'Fallout 3 is first and foremost an RPG' camp if you hadn't guessed ;-)

Astrocade

02-19-2009, 06:54 PM

~日本~Densha~

03-04-2009, 04:54 AM

Overrated:

Fallout 3

I mean whats so great about it. ok at the begining I also thought "Hey great game" but after some hours of playing I realized that it is nothing special. It is the same like every other boring RPG from Europe or US. IT is allways the same.
Thats why I don't like RPG from the west. Because you just run arround in a too big world but infact nearly every corner looks similar. Then just leveling up and beating monster and collecting items..thats it. And it is allways the same.
And Story? Mostly none or just so simple that is ridiculous.

And beside that the world of Fallout 3 reminds me a lot of Hellgate London..even the monster looks sometimes quite the same. After over 15 Hours playing it I stoped because it was f...ing boring. I can't see something special in all those non japanese RPG's.

Thats why I prefer japanese Rpg with a great touching story, big emotions and real characters not just "Made them yourself no personality characters" from European or US RPG's.
Thats my opinion.

Graham Mitchell

03-04-2009, 10:37 AM

From Densha's public profile:
"Biography:
I love videogames mostly all stuff from Japan. I love Japan. I hope I can live there in the future."

Gee, he's not biased or anything.

A lot of the problems you're citing with Fallout 3 are subjective. You don't like it, that's cool. But the whole world doesn't look the same and if you invest some time, you'll find that the story is very rich and multifaceted--but it's not a detailed narrative with intense character development and heavy-handed cinematic story-telling. It's more of a detailed description of an alternate world with an alternate history. You don't care for it, and that's cool. I admit that Japanese RPG designers are chasing after a totally different idea than those in the West, but just because it's not Japanese doesn't make it "nothing special". It is special to some people.

~日本~Densha~

03-05-2009, 02:20 AM

ToddofDoom

03-05-2009, 09:07 AM

It is nothing special and thats my opinion.
If someone things that it is special then please tell me whats so GREAT about it...and whats so unique about it compare to other games. Infact there is nothing and this has nothing to do with my taste this is a fact.
I am sure many like this games because they enjoy this end time setting and the great graphics but also other games got great graphic so what ?
Please tell me whats so different to other games from the west in this genre?
If it is Two World, Hellgate London, Elders Scroll or Fallout 3 infact they are all the same. Sure different settings (not in the case of Fallout 3 because it looks quite similar to hellgate london even the enemies does) and other times in history but thats all infact. These are the only differences between all these west oriented rpg/action Rpg games.
Common don't tell me that there is a great stroy behind fallout 3. Wow..your father is gone and you search for him and later you can deside which side you choose. If you want to blew up everything or not. Wow what a great story line.

It is not that I played this game just 4 hours and then I said "It sucks".
I am played it arround 15 to 20 hours or maybe more but not less.
And there is no story. Just unimportant blabbering with some npc's about their plans and if you want to join them or to find a new place to live for them.
Common how awsome ==" this was ironic~~
All the games I wrote are the same in this was.
To big worlds..everytime just running arround until you don't even now where you are and why in hells name you do this. Doing quests then get new skills, kill enemies, level up and thats it. In all this cases.

And sure I am a big Japan fan but not only.
There are a lot great Games from the West but not RPG's or Action RPG's.
I really like Mirror's Edge,Uncharted,Gears of War or Bioshock which really was awsome and some kind of cinematic. And I really love point and click adventures because there is really story telling important and most of them are also quite funny.

But I really tried a lot of these western rpg's and everytime after spending hours over hours on playing them and was dissapointed. Because of the fact that there was nothing behind it. It is the same like online rpgs. Just walking arround, collecting Items, lv up, kill monser, skills...gain better weapons, earn money..wow how innovative.

I really played a very long time Ragnarok but then I ask my self "why do you do this?" After some time you loose the point in playing those games because it doesn't satisfy you.

Thats why I love japanese RPG's after I finish a game I really feel that I really did something. I was living a story with awsome cinematic changes and great and deep characters and this satisfy my self.

Sure I don't say that it is a bad thing if you like those games like Fallout 3.
I am just telling you my opinion and this is my own right to do this.
Because this thread is called "What Games are overrated to YOU?" or am I wrong?

So this is my opinion and I don't say that everyone should have the same thinking. It is just mine.

What is so great about Elder Scrolls games? Freedom. The freedom to play your character how you want, go where you want, and do what you want. I find details about the games interesting too. The books, for example which contain lots of stories about the game's world. I haven't played Hellgate or Fallout 3, so I can't defend those titles.

What if I told you all Japanese style RPGs were the same? Same railroad story*, same four to seven archatype characters, and the same basics of the story "You must save the world from evil/darkness/sin/clowns."

*A railroad story is a term pen and paper role-players use to describe a game where everytime they try to do something that ignores the main story something the game master does blocks them from doing so. (The game master in this case being the video game's designers)

If the formula in "Western" RPGs is "kill monsters to collect items and level up" the formula in "Japanese" RPGs is "go to temple/cave/dungeon/town and kill boss to gain access to next temple/cave/dungeon/town." If you remove the story from the Japanese RPGs they play just as similiarly as the Western RPGs.

If you took a Japanese RPG and played it on pen and paper (or with random stock graphics) and changed the details (Character names, place names and locations, and plot device names) and changed slight elements of the story my bet is you wouldn't be able to tell which one you were playing.

I enjoy good games from everywhere. I do not share your sense of accomplishment when beating a Japanese RPG. I find them more like reading a book. They take a lot of time, but anyone with a little dedication can do it.

I think the debate between a series like Elder Scrolls and more traditional RPGs is one of freedom versus story. The more freedom the player has, the less control the designer is going to have over the story (or characters or whatever). The more control the designer has over the story, the less freedom the player is going to have during gameplay.

If you like story you will like Japanese RPGs. If you like freedom and control you'll like Western RPGs. If you like freedom and story you will like them both.

I do not think that disliking a genre is the same as thinking a title is "overrated". There is nothing wrong with disliking a genre. We all probably have a genre we dislike, but labeling a game or series as "overrated" just because you don't like the genre is not fair.

I don't mean to single you out, I feel the same way about people who say things like "Madden is overrated. I don't even like sports games". If you don't like a genre how do you know which ones are overrated? If a game is the best in its genre and you still hate it...how is it overrated?

Densha, you would probably be a great candidate to tell us which Japanese RPG titles are overrated or underrated. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that.

ToddofDoom

03-05-2009, 09:59 AM

My list:

Overrated:

Final Fantasy Tactics series: To me there better tactical RPGs out there. Disgaea series stands out (I love how the Disgaea games don't take themselves too seriously). I liked Vandal Hearts II much more than I liked Final Fantasy Tactics. The Shining Force series also stands above the Final Fantasy Tactics series, which is still pretty good I admit. The story and gameplay is fun, but there are better Tactical RPGs out there. I don't understand why so many people prefer this game to other titles (I suspect because it has "Final Fantasy" in the title)

Diablo: I've always hated this series. It isn't a good third person RPG. It isn't a good dungeon crawler. It's just "click, click, click". Button mashers do not work well on a mouse. Some of the classes in the expansion of Diablo 2 made it playable, but it still wasn't very much fun. I don't understand why so many people were crazy about this series.

Guitar Hero/Rock Band: I do not get these games. The guitar controller and the music act as a novelty so you don't notice you are just pushing buttons when the game tells you to. It's like Space Channel 5 or PaRappa the Rappa without the rhythm part or like Simon (the little toy with the colors) without the memory part. I don't understand why people like the game or why it is even considered a game. You are just pushing the buttons when the machine tells you to. That isn't a game, that's working in a factory.

Underrated:

NHL '97 (Playstation): This was a great simple hockey game. Playing against a friend in two player mode required a sense of timing and finese that seem lost in modern hockey titles.

NCAA Football 98 (Playstation): This is the best football title that EA sports has ever released. It is fun and doesn't get caught up in "realism" yet still keeps from playing too arcadey. It was the first college football title with dynasty mode and it had every NCAA team (in D-I or Bowl Subdivison or whatever they called it at the time).

Guardian Heroes (Saturn): I always loved the style of Guardian Heroes and thought that it was an overlooked title. If titles like this had gotten better exposure the Saturn might have lasted longer.

Crystal Warriors (Genesis): This is a great little tactical RPG for the Genesis and is often ignored. It is dwarfed by the more popular Shining Force titles.

Capcom Disney Titles (NES): Ducktales, Chip 'n Dale, and Darkwing Duck all got great platformers for the NES. Ducktales and Chip 'n Dale even got sequels. Even that Talespin game wasn't bad. In my opinion these were some of the best titles for the NES and they have been largerly ignored by history. You always hear people talk about Contra and Blaster Master, but never about these games.

Team Buddies (Playstation): I think the fact that it is hard to find and was released late in the Playstation's life time has hurt this title. I cannot express the fun that you have when you and three of your friends are playing against each other. I just wouldn't recommend paying a ton of money for the title. The single player missions aren't that great, just the multiplayer mayhem.

Ramma 1/2: Hard Battle (SNES): I would recommend getting Ramma 1/2 Hard Battle if only for the music. One of the best video game scores ever.

hellfire

03-05-2009, 03:49 PM

pokemon is highly over rated

~日本~Densha~

03-05-2009, 04:47 PM

First of all. I just want to say that I am not against any game from the start.
Like I wrote in my text "I give every game a chance" but it is sadly a fact that I allways got dissapointed by playing all those west-Rpg's. It was not on purpose. I really wanted to play these games because I also was interested in them but I really played every of these games (Hell Gate Londen,Fall Out 3,Elder Scrolls, Fable,Two Worlds, The Witcher (by the way. The witcher was the best of all these ones)) for more then 10 hours. Most of them I spend arround 20-30 hours playing them..so really a lot of time. But they really bored me after some time. Because I missed the flow..the dynamic Story telling. Sure there are books, or papers or data files in all those games where you can find out some background infos about the world you are wandering arround but thats not story telling for me. Infact this is more like reading a book for me...but not a fantasy book more like a pen and paper book.

Sure if you cut the story parts out of the japanese games and turn arround some things then it would be the "same" like western rpg's but thats exactly the point.
Because of the story telling, because of these japanese touch in telling stories and because of the emotions and funny parts because of all that I like them so much. Sure the core is allways ..or nearly a similar one but it is important what they create with it. Some stories stay plain but others touches you and you will allways remember them forever. I am sure everyone will remember Final Fantasy VII (the ones who played it) because this game was awsome. But I am sure that in 20 years no one will talk about fall out 3 anymore but final fantasy VII I am sure will always be there.

This is exactly the point. Sure it is a matter of taste and I just say that it is not mine but everyone should play what they like and whats the most fun for them to play.

Oh and by the way here are my underrated and overrated japanese RPG Games:

Overrated:
Final Fantasy XII
I think that this part lost all his typical Final Fantasy feeling. Sure the graphic was awsome but it didn't cought my attention. I missed the deep story line. It was to political and not much feeling in it. Fighting was a little bit hard sometimes and the battle system was not my fav one.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Also overrated. Maybe it is not that bad but I really wasn't able to like it that much in the end. After some time I wasn't interested in it anymore. Maybe it was the artwork/design of the game...I am not sure. So many says its great but in my case I didn't felt this point inside myself that it is something special.
Mabye I will give it a chance in the future again.

For example the ultimative prototype of a perfect japnese RPG in my case is Tales of the Abyss. This was and is one of the best RPG's I have ever played.
Great Story, Deep characters, touching moments, Awsome music, great cinematic flow..this was really perfect for me.

And underrated:

Shining Force EXA (Sure it is not a world changing game but I really liked it)

ToddofDoom

03-05-2009, 05:48 PM

Because of the story telling, because of these japanese touch in telling stories and because of the emotions and funny parts because of all that I like them so much. Sure the core is allways ..or nearly a similar one but it is important what they create with it. Some stories stay plain but others touches you and you will allways remember them forever. I am sure everyone will remember Final Fantasy VII (the ones who played it) because this game was awsome. But I am sure that in 20 years no one will talk about fall out 3 anymore but final fantasy VII I am sure will always be there.

I understand. I've just always thought the joy in the Elder Scrolls series was ignoring the main quest and having your character stroll into town and just see where the game takes you. Kind of drifting through the game world. I don't really play the games for the main story.

I didn't mean "like reading a book" as an insult. It just feels like interaction with the story is minimal in those games. There's nothing wrong with that (after all when you play a game like Super Mario Brothers you can't really effect the plot that much). I like a lot of Japanese style RPGs too. They just remind me of books in the sense that when you are reading a book you have one of two options: "Keep reading, thus advancing the story" or "Quit reading the book, thus ending the story." That's how I feel when I play a game like Final Fantasy VII or IX. (I loved IX. IX is like the ignored step-child of that series.)

In my experience when most people talk about games from twenty years ago they generally stick to these three catagories:
1) Games they played twenty years ago. (Regardless of quality)
2) Titles that were popular twenty years ago. (Regardless of quality)
3) Games from twenty years ago that are in a series that they play now. (Regardless of quality)

Graham Mitchell

03-05-2009, 06:02 PM

Densha, I'm not trying to single you out, I just want to give you some advice.

I know you're new here, but your saying some slightly pompous things. I'd quit while you're ahead so we don't all make assumptions about you.

Much to my chagrin, people will still be talking about the Killers in 20 years, but I don't go into a room of Killers fans and say "they suck, nobody will remember them, and I can't see why anyone wouldn't agree with me."

JackElam'sEyes

03-05-2009, 11:30 PM

Overrated: Gears of War 2- I do enjoy the voice acting but the script is much too Hollywood & the game itself just feels a whole lot like the first one. Also thought the ending boss was a complete letdown.

Starcraft- I know I'll get my head bitten clean off for mentioning this title being overrated but I've always felt there were better RTS games out at the time. The single player bores me to tears but multiplayer is fun I admit.

Underrated-

Lampshade err..Nightshade- Yet another on this thread that agrees this title is criminally underrated. I wish more games could provide well crafted humor & witty dialogue.

Mega Man 6- I know the Mega Man series is far from underrated but I never hear anyone talk about this title anymore. It was always my favorite as a kid.

Ninja Gaiden III- Just like MM6 I never hear anyone talk about it...well good things anyway. Best music of the series in my opinion.

Robowarrior- This top view shooter was always a blast to play back in the day.

Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2- Played the demo when it first came out but never got around to buying it. Actually that specific demo disk was known to delete your memory card after playing the VJ demo. Unfortunately it did just that and I never received my free game from Sony that they had sent as an apology. Finally picked the two up for about 5 bucks at my local Gamestop. Loved the unique art style and controls. One of my favorite beat 'em up series ever.

Count my vote for Luigi's Mansion too. I still can't believe all the mediocre reviews it got back during launch. The game never gets old for me & the damn music is downright infectious. My rant is complete...

dwarme

03-07-2009, 08:32 PM

i think chrono trigger was extremely overrated, and it doesn't warrant such a huge following. it was freaking easy as heck, was more linear than you'd like to think, and the side quests just feel like they were thrown in there for no reason. seriously, this is a pretty mediocre game at best.
the megaman series has been mutilated since the snes versions. the stupid plot of the x series is as bad as the controls are. megaman battle networks is the final nail to the coffin. i'm not just being nostalgic for thinking the nes megaman games are better, they were.

another overrated video game series is castlevania. the first one was pretty good, it was hard, the bosses were memorable, and fighting dracula back in the day sent shivers up your spine. after, i believe, super castlevania 4, the series tried to do something "new and fresh". they failed, miserably. symphony of the night is probably the easiest game ever. you get overly leveled, even if you know where to go and just fight the enemies on the way. the weapon system was a joke, you'd never ever use most of the weapons. some of them do have special effects to make up for their weak attack power, but most of them are not useful enough and are just there to experiment with after you've beaten the game. i also didn't like how the series, from that point on, had a sad tendency to be heavily leaning towards anime looking characters that only girls will squeal to see. it's like every nerdy girl's fantasy. however, as i look at things on an intellectual level, i see this as pointless drivel. i'm sorry, but i cannot say i liked this crap heap castlevania became. oh and simon's quest is garbage too.

lemme think of an underrated game now... Kartia: The Word of Fate, was a very interesting game. it was completely linear, and you could only control the battles, but as the story unravels you don't really care that you're not controlling it. the characters are colorful, the battle system uses a sort of rock, paper, scissors for the monsters you can summon, but generally you want your main characters to be the deciders of battle. you unlock really interesting weapons, use beautifully rendered magic to turn your foes to dust, and as your story continues, you unlock really cool looking and more powerful monsters to summon. this game totally deserves more recognition.

i don't think secret of mana is very underrated, but it is my favorite game, and i'd suggest it to anyone/everyone. it has nice looking graphics, a great musical score, and had epic weapons to level up, magic that makes even the toughest boss whimper, some really cool looking enemies(you'll never forget your first rabite, sorry), and lastly, it had a very good plot. it is a little cliche, like most rpgs it revolves around eight things that have to be sealed(think crystals, orbs, ect) called mana seeds, but near the end you'll be crapping your pants as the plot twists. two and a half thumbs up

ToddofDoom

03-07-2009, 09:46 PM

lemme think of an underrated game now... Kartia: The Word of Fate, was a very interesting game. it was completely linear, and you could only control the battles, but as the story unravels you don't really care that you're not controlling it. the characters are colorful, the battle system uses a sort of rock, paper, scissors for the monsters you can summon, but generally you want your main characters to be the deciders of battle. you unlock really interesting weapons, use beautifully rendered magic to turn your foes to dust, and as your story continues, you unlock really cool looking and more powerful monsters to summon. this game totally deserves more recognition.

You could also trade special items in Kartia if you had a friend that played it. There was also a two-player mode that was fun for a couple games every now and then.

A lot of those old Atlus games were pretty good.

tubeway

07-27-2009, 12:59 AM

Most underrated game: My favorite game.
Most overrated game: Your favorite game.

sebastiankirchoff

07-27-2009, 01:53 PM

Underrated: Reservoir Dogs (PS2)- A pretty faithful video game version of the movie that I felt deserved better reviews than it got. The only problem was the driving stages, which are a bitch to beat, but the shooting stages are fun and I feel its a decent game at least.

BetaWolf47

07-27-2009, 03:25 PM

Most overrated game has to be Streets of Rage 2. Why so many people consider this "Best beatemup ever!!!" is beyond me.

garagesaleking!!

07-27-2009, 03:49 PM

I hated gears of war 2, i think its very overrated.

Not really underrated, but the ea nhl games are insanely fun and lack the following of other ea sports games, i am no die hard nhl fan and love all the ea nhl games.

Sonicwolf

07-27-2009, 03:51 PM

I found Twilight Princess to be a bit overrated. I just found that it was another Ocarina wannabe with some gimmick ala dog mode. Zelda isnt as special as it used to be.

Chainsaw_Charlie

07-27-2009, 05:08 PM

Overrated

Final Fantasy 7(ps1)

It's NOT that's a bad game but gets way too much over necessary fanboyish hype when it clearly isnt even the best FF (8 or 9) released on the PS1 much less the best Square Enix game (DW 7) for the system.

Underrated

Secret of Stars(snes)

Tecmo didnt release many rpgs and this little gem is great

Spike Mcfang(snes)
Paladins Quest(snes)
Robotrek(snes)
Ar Tonelico 1,2 (ps2)
Saiyuki Journey west(Ps1)
Hotel Dusk room 215(DS)
Wild Arms XF(psp)

youruglyclone

07-27-2009, 06:49 PM

overrated

little big planet.

Hear me out, essentially it's a toolbox or if you want to go a little further a platformer SDK. I've give it the credit it's deserves, the community did make some good stuff. but it's a platformer with crappy jump physics. I guess the only reason I feel it was overrated was the overwhelming abundance of good will (for a while I compared the coverage to my friends as "obama-ish") it got from the gaming press. If this wasn't a 60 dollar retail title, I wouldn't have been inclined to deem the game overrated.

mobiusclimber

07-27-2009, 07:05 PM

I didn't mean "like reading a book" as an insult. It just feels like interaction with the story is minimal in those games. There's nothing wrong with that (after all when you play a game like Super Mario Brothers you can't really effect the plot that much). I like a lot of Japanese style RPGs too. They just remind me of books in the sense that when you are reading a book you have one of two options: "Keep reading, thus advancing the story" or "Quit reading the book, thus ending the story." That's how I feel when I play a game like Final Fantasy VII or IX. (I loved IX. IX is like the ignored step-child of that series.)

Final Fantasy VII, as well as many of the better "Japanese style" RPGs have tons of sidequests and hidden things scattered throughout the game world. So it's not like reading a book. I've never suddenly found extra pages I had no idea were there when I read a book.

I also have to say that I never found there to BE much interaction with the story in a game like Oblivion, but maybe I just didn't play it long enough (it seriously bored me to tears). For instance, I'd spend hours farting around, then stumble across a house that, as soon as I got there, was attacked and set fire to. They waited for me to get there. Basically what I'm saying is that games now do a lot of superficial things to make you feel like you have an impact, and I gues ssome of them really do change the story, but for the most part, it's just taking away some of the structure w/o actually giving you any freedom. The only time I ever saw the world destroyed was in Breath of Fire II when I refused to fight the main boss at the end.

garagesaleking!!

07-27-2009, 08:49 PM

LittlebigPlanet seemed to hit it and quit it, I will admit it was fun, then became extremely boring, then i went back and played a few times and was mildly amused, I literally never hard another thing about it after it was released.

Chemdawg

07-29-2009, 12:24 AM

im gonna get a lot of hate for this but hell im gonna say it. I think Halo is way over rated.

Sonicwolf

07-29-2009, 12:29 AM

im gonna get a lot of hate for this but hell im gonna say it. I think Halo is way over rated.

I agree wholeheartedly. I found it just to be an average FPS. Not worth the manic and obsessive behaviour surrounding it and it's fans.

mobiusclimber

07-29-2009, 02:21 AM

I'm going to cast my vote for Chrono Trigger as being highly overrated. It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but there are long stretches of the game that are just terrible. The beginning is highly cliched, the first time period you go to is really lame, and there is some awful Working Design-ish humor sprinkled throughout. The nuns joking about how you look tasty, or whatever, really pulled me out of the game, as an example. I've also heard people talk about how great the graphics are, but I just don't see it. Breath of Fire II, Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean... these games have great graphics. CT? Not so much.

Ok now for under-rated... I'd like to bring up Breath of Fire II because every time I hear people talk about SNES RPGs, they almost never bring up this game. I'll admit there's some things wrong w/ the game: it's overly linear, they steal ideas from lots of other games, and most of the story is spent fetch-questing. But none of those things matter! The characters are all well-thought-out and larger than life. Every character has their own special attack in battles, and special ability outside of battle. The game has a million things going on at once, from hunting and fishing, to town building and mini-games. The story packs an emotional punch and your actions actually have an influence on what happens (even tho the story doesn't really change, except for a quicker ending). I could go on and on. It's a great game, and one that people seem to forget about.

But one game that almost EVERYONE forgot about, including when it came out, is The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang. Its a colorful, action-packed adventure game with large, detailed graphics and a terrific battle system. It really should have a hit.

hellfire

07-29-2009, 10:17 AM

Most overrated game has to be Streets of Rage 2. Why so many people consider this "Best beatemup ever!!!" is beyond me.

I just bought the game recently, I had fun with it for about the first hour. Then it got waaaaaaaaaaay boring

garagesaleking!!

07-29-2009, 10:59 AM

halo may be a little overhyped but i dont think there is anything else like it, and its my favorite fps.

NoobSaibot

07-29-2009, 12:14 PM

HALO...

Kill aliens. A typical shooter. Story is boring. Online play = Nothing special. win.

Oh yea and Twisted Metal 2 is underrated. And so is 3-D World Runner (NES). Actually wrote a little about it on here: http://www.dustykartridge.com/2009/07/dusting-off-3-d-world-runner-nes.html

Rob64

08-31-2009, 08:53 PM

Overrated:

(Insert title of any shoot em up here for the newer gen consoles): Don't get me wrong, games like Gears of War, Halo are pretty to look at for their art. Wolfenstein 3D and Goldeneye are classic shoot em up games that are good. But to say that shoot em up games of this generation are the best games is not something I agree with. There is hardly ever any difference between one shoot em up game from the other. I remember during Microsoft's E3 conference this year, when they were going through a lengthy list of shoot em up games, it just got boring to where we could predict what it was. Also, the only difference that seems to exist between one game from another is the perspective (1st or 3rd) and your target (humans or zombies). It just seems the same to me and is very unappealing as a gamer and consumer to see a lack in variety.

Final Fantasy: I know it's a big franchise and I do enjoy looking at the art and cutscenes from the game, but the game doesn't seem much fun to me. It's good but not as great as what some may think.

Underrated:

Glover (N64): Anyone that enjoys Super Mario 64 will enjoy this. The game has the same platform gaming type of structure around it. Not easy but not too hard either. It is quite original too with the characters and story and whatnot.

Caveman Ughlynpics (Commodore 64): Anyone that enjoys classic caveman cartoonie type of funny will like this game. My dad and uncle were exactly the people that would like it and they can't get enough of it. Find videos of it on youtube to see what I mean. It is a good game too.

sonic-boom

09-04-2009, 08:27 PM

I think Final Fantasy 7 and Halo are overrated.
Luigi's Mansion is not exactly underrated but it's close.

Gameguy

01-31-2010, 11:06 PM

Underrated: Bebe's Kids for SNES.

I'm serious about this one. I played the game the other day for the first time on my system, though it's not really a good game it's far from worst-game-ever like most people say about it. The worst parts of it are how slow you walk, and the slightly awkward controls. Once you get used to them it's not that bad, I'm guessing that most people who played this game did so on an emulator which is why it was so difficult for them.

The game is a licensed game and sticks closely to the source material, the levels I actually recognized from the movie and they had some variety to them. They weren't all the same style, most were standard beat 'em up style but some were different like the souvenir shop level where you had to break the glassware or the haunted house level which was sort of like a maze. I think I died at the souvenir shop level the first time I played it, but after I started the game again I got the hang of it and made it to the basement of the amusement park where you fight mutants and robots. It's not as hard as the reviewers on youtube make it look. I didn't beat the game, but I like it enough to play it again at some point and try to finish it. I should mention that I didn't like the movie that much, I'm not into the game because I'm a fan of the movie.

I've played much worse games than this one over the years; Dragon's Lair, Total Recall, Action 52 for the NES and Sword of Sodomy/Sword of Sodan for the Genesis come to mind. If I really thought it over I could probably list a whole bunch more. This really isn't as bad a game as most people make it out to be, it's definitely playable.

kale

02-01-2010, 12:21 AM

Overrated:

The FPS genre in general - Halo, Half-Life, Call of Duty Counter-Strike, etc. I like running around and shooting things as much as the next person, but come on. It's essentially... the same thing. Also, the fact that there's a large demographic of people for whom gaming is only FPS worries me a bit for the future.

Final Fantasy X and up - I'm actually a pretty big fan of the FF series, but after X it just got annoying. I mean, X-2?? What? They finally decide to do a true sequel and they pick X of all games?

Mortal Kombat series - I like fighters a whole lot, so much in fact that I'm currently looking to spend tons of money on a Neo Geo AES, but I feel like this series in particularly overrated. It made a name for itself on late night news during the early 90s because of its over-the-top gore factor, and it's been irrelevant ever since.

.hack series - Just no.

Black and White series - SUCH a disappointment. After hearing about the concept, I expected awesomeness.

Underrated:

Within the FF series, both Tactics and FFIX are extremely underrated in my mind. FFIX is simply one of the most delightful games I've ever played, hands down. And Tactics, while not the world's best strategy RPG, had an intriguing plot and was addictive.

Okami - this game is a work of art, but all I'm hearing about

Blast Corps (N64) - I remember reading a tiny little bit about it in a Nintendo Power preview. That was the last I ever heard of anyone discussing it.

Earthbound/Mother series - it's not so underrated any longer, but it certainly has been for most of its life. Also, there's the fact that despite a strong cult following, Nintendo still won't release any of the series outside of Japan (besides the 1995 SNES "Earthbound")

Platinum

02-10-2010, 04:45 PM

Overrated

- Any RPG ever made.

-Tetris

-GTA games

-Halo games

-God of War games

-Gears of War games

-Guitar Hero and any game similar in concept

-Sonic the Hedgehog

Underrated

-Duke Nukem

-Metal Gear and Snakes Revenge for NES

-Metroid series

Lo0kY

02-14-2010, 07:56 AM

most you will find here is RPGs. I'm a RPG whore so what wanna fight about it? :p

Over rated:

Any of the GTA games
Final Fantasy 7 (PS1)
Gears of War 1 and 2 (X360)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Gran Turismo (PS1/2/3)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Over rated:

Final Fantasy 4/5 (2 US - SNES/PSX/GBA)
Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
Lufia 1 and 2 (SNES)
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Mega Man X 1/2/3 (SNES)
Super Castlevania 4 (SNES)
Super Double Dragon (SNES)

NCN

02-14-2010, 08:35 AM

Overrated:
---------
Final Fantasy VII (SNES)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Gears of War (360)
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Yeah, I said it)
Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
God of War series
Guitar Hero series
GTA series
Pokemon series
Halo series
DDR

UNDERRATED:
------------
Condemned (360)
Breath of Fire II (SNES)
The 7th Saga (SNES)
Secret of Evermore (SNES, my all time favorite game)
ActRaiser (SNES)
The Ultima series
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (best soundtrack on the SNES, hands down)
Jumping Flash 1 & 2 (PSX)

...and I'm sure I have overlooked a ton in both categories.

ReTrO-pLaYeR

02-21-2010, 08:52 PM

For the over-rated category (and, I know I'm going to get hate mail out of this) I am going to have to say the Zelda franchise. I could never really get into any of the games no matter how hard I tried- I suppose it's just not my thing. I also believe Super Mario 64 to be over-rated as well. I do love Mario platformers to death, but most of the levels are a bit bland and at some points I feel like I'm controlled a greased plumber and not the heroic Mario.

There are at least a million games that I think are underrated to death. For starters, I am going to have to go with NEC's Bonk series. People constantly complain about the controls and criticize it for being on the easy side. I find nothing wrong with the controls, and the levels are interesting enough to forgive the light difficulty. Gex games are also heavily under-rated, especially since stupid reviewers (Gamespot, I'm looking at you) whine about a "bad" camera...but you DO get three modes of camera control in part 2. Can't really complain there, and hey- most 3D platformers of the time didn't exactly have great cameras due to technical limits.

Ackman

02-23-2010, 12:15 AM

Overrated:
---------
Okami so damn boring, annoying squeaking nosies all the time, crappy gameplay
RPG's usually 92% of RPGS but esp jprg eg FF games, I hate grinding, endless encounter battles, clunky systems, unintutive, long boring cutscenes, whinny girl man charas, timesink, too long etc etc
Silent Hill games, crappy gameplay, poor level design, very un-user friendly, repeats stages, clunky.
MGS games, esp 2, boring, crappy gameplay, poor stealth mechanics, SC CT for the win, irritating charas.
Soul Calibur 2 and 3, just boring, new charas are uninteresting, not as good or fresh as SC was meh
Shadow of Colossus, terrible controls, boring grindy levels, has aged poorly, really good story tho and I liked Ico.

Deus Ex, I think I fell of my dinosaur, it aged badly not that it was good to begin with, choices are really nice, but doesn't compare to Halflife now and at the time.
Halo, I liked 2 tho.
Super Mario Bros World, (I prefer NSMB or MB3)
The Warriors, good but overrated
GTA SA
GTA3
Ratchet and Clank PS2 series, Yes good games but not super fantastic

FF7
Wipeout Pulse
Mercenaries PS2, crap
Killer 7, interesting story but crappy gameplay, level design, how the hell do you make a game 2d in structure but 3d in looks but make it terrible to navigate around? What an achivement.
COD, esp the new ones.
God of War, yes good game but not uber fantastic, I tried to replay it and I couldn't and this was quite a while after I beat it.
Crysis, boring just not fun
Stalker, badly designed and boring
WOW
Hitman series
Bully, yeah not quite all that, quite good tho
Lego SW, IJ, BM whatever, It stinks, hey but it least it looks good and has co op? Yeah but it still stinks.
Guilty Gear series, boring and the animation flat out sucks, it doesn't look good if you only have 2 frames of animation, who cares about the rez and sparkly effects, it's decent tho, but I can't stand it when ppl talk about how good the animation is.

UNDERRATED:
------------
Shadow of Rome, Simply astounding! Bravo Capcom, bravo!
Tenchu
Urban Reign
Yakuza 2
Urban Chaos (same guys who did Batman AA, and it shows, really good game, not perfect tho but much, much better than Black.)
Bloody Roar Series
DKC 2
Nightslashers X
Star Wars Revenge Racer
Lugaru
Jak3
Ackman series
Flatout 2
Hammering Harry
Mobile Games, esp the Java platform, basically dead or busy dying now, but had some really good fine 2d action in it's day, better than a lot of DS games imho.
Soul of Darkness
Chuck Norris Taste the Pain
Rally Bike
Ninja Kid 2

Onimusha 4, superb all round.
Sonic 2, the best 2d game of all time imho
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon PS2, not perfect but interesting at least.
HL series, esp 2.
DMC 2, yes it isn't fantastic, but it is decent to good this will keep you warm on a cold night.
RE2, still beats RE4 in some areas
Conkers Bad Fur Day
Red Ninja, (yes far from perfect but what it does well it does really well, could have been something truly great if they put more time into it, still decent to good game, last stage sucks tho.)
Manhunt
BG&E
Psychonauts
Hello Kitty Roller Rescue, decent fun game.
Oni

Games I previously thought were overated but I was wrong:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RE4, This game is everybit as good as everyone says it is and then some.
Ardy Lightfoot, actually a pretty good game, once you get used to it.
Boogerman, decent fun game, with some really nice animations/touches

jms5118

03-13-2010, 05:37 AM

Halo = most overated series of all time.

megamaniaman

03-13-2010, 07:27 AM

Most overrated Donkey Kong
Most underrated Donkey Kong 3

Ackman

03-20-2010, 10:09 AM

I agree Donkey Kong was kinda meh to okay, I could never stand playing it for long, but Donkey Kong 3 held my interest for much longer and had a lot variety.

Nintega Grafx-16

03-20-2010, 03:33 PM

Overrated: Final Fantasy VII
Underrated: Final Fantasy VII

AWinterFuneral

07-28-2010, 03:22 PM

Straight up, Call Of Duty, extremely overrated. I don't know why but I have never gotten into these games and I don't think I ever could. All I hear is "CoD this" and "CoD that". I mean cmon, there isn't much to it, and to me it's boring. If a person is so obsessed with the military persona, then why not just join the military? That's just my opinion though. I'm sure i'm going to get some hatemail for this one.:2gunfire:

Sabz5150

07-28-2010, 08:19 PM

Overrated: Every single military FPS. THE ENTIRE LOT OF THEM.

Underrated: The Guardian Legend.

TheCaptainniatpac

07-29-2010, 02:10 PM

MARIO is super overrated.

tentencanidae

08-10-2010, 01:53 PM

Final Fantasy XIII is stunning in the graphics department, but otherwise, it's a linear letdown. There is pretty much zero exploration. No level pumping, no trial and error, other than during certain boss fights. It's just a good looking game, that plays out like a movie.

That said, I am a HUGE Final Fantasy fan. I wish the characters and art could be used in a more open space environment, with some more randomized foes.

Other than that, Tekken 6. Here's why.

Tekken 6 is a great fighting game. Not quite up to my Street Fighter standards, but in my opinion, it's the best non-2D fighter. My reasoning for considering it a letdown, is because I found EVERYTHING in Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection to be superior. Graphics, loading time, button response... literally everything on my $19.99 PSN download, is better than it's newer, blu-ray, $60 successor. Like I said, it's just my opinion, and I'm not one of those guys that hates change. I just like change through progress.

Koa Zo

12-08-2010, 11:46 PM

I think Shining Force III is pretty overrated. Not that it is a bad game, but it really isn't all that great either. Shining Force Resurrection on GBA or Shining Force CD on Sega CD were both just as good if not better than Shining Force III.

For underrated, more like under-appreciated, I have to point to Snoopy vs the Red Baron on PS2.
The game does the Peanuts franchise justice with true to form characters, storylines, and voice-overs. At first I felt that the flying was kinda slow and that bothered me, but I excused it since after all you are controlling a bi-plane!
Later on in the game as you upgrade your plane and get used to using the turbo jet, the flight is plenty fast enough.
I won't bother to go into it more here, as there are some spot-on favorable reviews to be found on the web if you're interested.
Anyhow, Snoopy vs the Red Baron carries on Namco's lineage of putting out really good flight games. The game bests the likes of (post N64)Starfox and Skygunner by a long shot.

Another game I feel is under-appreciated is Finny the Fish and the Seven Waters. That game has some issues, the worst of which being the obnoxious voice-acting. And my biggest complaint being that the game felt like it wrapped up suddenly and wasn't actually finished by the developers.
Finny is really challenging and has a unique and really fun battle technique. It is actually pretty difficult and not at all a kids game - same can be said for Snoopy vs Red Baron.