The unappreciated game thread

[Itisnotlogical]

I figured I'd start a trend and revitalize the Gaming section of the TrekBBS in general with something everybody can enjoy: unappreciated video games, that people enjoy because of fond memories, because it's a tie-in with their favorite movie, or because they need a reason to post on this thread and be cool like everyone else.

I'm going to start this off with Deadly Arts for the Nintendo 64. Though jumping to 3D for the first time was a rough transition for the fighting genre, I think that Deadly Arts was a pretty good entry that critics didn't seem to like. The blows felt really solid, making it a lot more believable than other fighters (I'm looking at you MK4). It, to me, is solid proof that fighting games don't need giant fireballs or excessive blood spurts or the name of an anime franchise on the cover to be done right.

 

[Guitarded]

Most of my games are appreciated, because I have a bad habit of basing my purchases off of IGN reviews.

That said, "Ghostbusters" didn't get a whole of post-release publicity. Great game.

In response to your post: MK wasn't going for believability. Its aim was, and still is, over the top, gratuitous violence. I'm glad MK9 is going back to a 2D playing field and bringing back the original fatalities.

 

[Sephiroth]

Mr Mosquito Awesome game that no one has ever heard of

 

[Alvehyanna]

Guardian Legend for the NES. Sci-fi meets zelda meets scrolling shooter. Best NES game ever.

 

[PsychoPere]

Beyond Good & Evil mostly fell by the side back in 2003. In fact, even though I purchased a copy shortly after it was released, I never got around to finishing it, despite starting from the beginning more than once. That said, I plan to purchase - and finish, damnit - the HD remake that's coming out this year.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, not so much unappreciated but more underrated, in this case. I'm choosing Anachronox, which was released by Ion Storm when they were going through tons of trouble due to Daikatana, and so when it came out, it was mostly under the radar because most of the attention was focused on the Daikatana contraversy. This one has become a cult favourite and was released before Deus Ex redeemed them. Poor Tom Hall never got the due he deserved for this game due to being overshadowed by John Romero and Daikatana. He was brilliant and this game has humour on the level of Space Quest and the like. Who wouldn't like to have a planet in their party? I'll always remember the quest to retrieve smelly socks..

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I figured I'd start a trend and revitalize the Gaming section of the TrekBBS in general with something everybody can enjoy: unappreciated video games, that people enjoy because of fond memories, because it's a tie-in with their favorite movie, or because they need a reason to post on this thread and be cool like everyone else.

Actually I'm not being cool at all: I genuinely have some underappreciated games I want to mention in this thread.

I nominate the original RPG trilogy of Exile - a party-RPG shareware game for Windows 3.1 from Spiderweb Software with very basic 2D top-down graphics, minimal sound effects and turn-based gameplay, but with great depth and a massive world of adventure. The original had three main quests, as did the sequel - which started off as being more story-driven - while the third episode expanded things further.

The whole series was later remade as Avernum in isometric 3D for Windows 95 onwards with similar gameplay (some notable differences) and a slicker presentation. In addition there were 3 more sequels made for the remake, which for the most part were standalone storylines of varying quality.


While I'm at it, the very first RPG I played was another shareware game, Castle of the Winds - a solo dungeon RPG game which had little plot, extremely basic graphics, gameplay similar to Exile, no sound at all... but which I loved anyway, if only for the spells you could collect, enchanted items you could find, and all the monsters you could fight (there was a large variety of them).


And once again, another RPG game I think needs more of a mention anywhere is Kingdom of Loathing - a browser-based spoof MMORPG with rudimentary graphics, a bizarre sense of humour, and a small (compared to, say, WoW) but nevertheless dedicated fanbase. It really has to be seen to be believed. And, the TrekBBS has its own clan of like-minded players there.

 

[Lookingglassman]

A new game just came out: Apache Air Assault and it is pretty fun. I'm surprised it hasn't garnered much attention because it is a really good game.

 

[Mr Light]

Crackdown for 360... it's a shallow game but my god it is so much fun, the joy of super human movement, of scaling buildings and leaping around like a super hero... my all time favorite pure fun game.

I also spent many many hours playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 with my GF.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I thought of another classic: Stars! from Empire Interactive - a shareware clone of Master of Orion that gave me endless hours of enjoyment. Chasing the Mystery Trader was always a fun thing to try and do.

 

[Davros]

Herzog Zwie for the Sega Genesis, can never get enough praise.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Thought of another one: Master of Magic - think Civilization with mythical beasts, sorcery and witchcraft and you're there. What I loved about it was the battles between masses of units, which, unlike Civ, was in the style of turn-based RPGs and under the player's control. If ever there was a game that was due a Civ IV Colonization-style remake, it would be this one.

 

[Jax]

Freelancer

Wonderful game that deserved more sales/Buzz and a big budget sequel. It had so much pontential for a franchise and online play

 

[Capt_Pickirk]

Guardian Legend for the NES. Sci-fi meets zelda meets scrolling shooter. Best NES game ever.

That sounds awesome!!!

Ermm.. Nah I got nothing, sorry

 

[Kelthaz]

Guardian Legend for the NES. Sci-fi meets zelda meets scrolling shooter. Best NES game ever.

I loved that game. I played it a lot on the NES, but because of the needlessly complex password system I kept messing up my saved games. Thank god for save states or I don't think I ever would have finished it.

 

[Chaos Descending]

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600

Not the best game in the world, but nowhere near as awful as people seem to think it was.

 

[Kelthaz]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Zelda: Majora's Mask. Both games get bashed by fans for deviating from the standard Zelda formula (although there was no formula when Zelda II came out), but is that such a bad thing? The only flaws these games possess is being different.

I'll also mention Jaws for the NES too. The game isn't great, and if I had paid $60 for it I would have been pissed, but it's a great little time waster if you have 20-30 minutes to kill.

 

[backstept]

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

Max Payne 2

 

[Reverend]

Beyond Good and Evil.

Not sure if that really qualifies though; while it did indeed go pretty much unnoticed back when it was initially released, it's since become very highly regarded. A bit of a sleeper hit really.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Thought of another one: Master of Magic - think Civilization with mythical beasts, sorcery and witchcraft and you're there. What I loved about it was the battles between masses of units, which, unlike Civ, was in the style of turn-based RPGs and under the player's control. If ever there was a game that was due a Civ IV Colonization-style remake, it would be this one.

It's fucking criminal that a sequel to MoM was never made. Still play that game to this day.

The Freespace games also don't get enough love.

There's also the Guild series: Europa 1400 and The Guild 2. Kind of like the Sims games but with far more of a point to everything. I loved Europa 1400 in particular because it was so much fun to be a Thief, having my own crew of pickpockets roaming the city and bringing in case, and then organizing burglaries. It was great to go from just having a tiny hovel and one or two guys to controlling all the robber bases in town and basically owning all the commerce. It was also a lot of fun to have my enemies thrashed for failing to pay up.