Games You Love that Everybody Hates
 

Just what the title says. Defend your black sheep.

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Kirby's Air Ride
So seriously, I can understand why everybody is turned off by last game at HAL before he left. It came out around the time Nintendo ruined Kirby with that god-awful anime (which Brawl seems to finally be erasing the memory of). It came out with pathetic marketing (but then again, look at any GameCube game from that era). It also had a one handed control scheme (but then again....Wii). All of that was a initial turn off, but regardless of your initial preconception, the game was amazing with friends. Forget Mario Kart Double Dash and its neutered battle mode. Kirby's Air Ride was GameCube's best multiplayer party game hands down. In single player, the game is admittedly awful, but get three people to come over and play City Trial mode.

You spend a set amount of minutes flying around a giant city where just about anything can happen. You pick up an air ride, then fly around trying to power it up while dodging opponents who are trying to jack your ride, or outright blow it up. Sometimes events happen to screw you. Dynablade will stomp you from the sky. Meteors will smash from the city, or a giant flying saucer will blow the hell out of everything Independence Day style. There are places to hide, but is it worth going down there with your rivals? When time is up, your performance is rated and you have to compete is a predetermined challenge. Maybe its a long distance flying contest. How about a melee battle or group fight to be the first to kill a boss? Maybe it will be a circuit race or a game of air ride darts where flight accuracy prevails? You don't know what the challenge is going to be while you're powering up in the city, so you don't know if you jacked up the right attributes on your ride. Maybe the most balanced player will win? Maybe the guy who took the gamble and concentrated on lightening his ride and gaining flight distance will win. You never know. That just makes it all the more fun.

The rides cruise automatically. Just because the brake and boost are on the same button doesn't mean the game lacks depth. It actually takes a certain unique amount of skill to balance boosting and braking. Anyway you look at it, Kirby's Air Ride is one hell of a multiplayer game, and nobody gave it a chance because of the era in which it was released. Drop it on the Wii and see if people don't just eat it up.

Super Mario All-Stars
Okay, so I know this one is a bit of a stretch, but I hear much complaining about it nowadays, and it makes no sense. I mean, seriously, what is there to complain about? You've got 16-bit remake/enhancements of the original Super Mario Bros. Series with improved music (arranged by Super Mario Kart's Soyo Oka), visually enhanced and stylistically gorgeous graphics, the tried, tested, and beloved gameplay engines, and the SNES adapted (and original for purists) control schemes. Its perfect, so what is there to complain about?

Some people say that the jumping physics in Super Mario Bros. are inaccurate. That's a load of crap. This game was made back during a time when Nintendo still had the original source code to the NES builds. The engines are all the same. Try the double jump glitch (hit A again just as you get a power-up) in SMB and the SMAll-Stars version and see what happens. Timers all run at the same speed. Some people complain and say the new save systems ruined the games. The Lost Levels (SMB2 Japan) needed a damned save system. It finally gives the overly-difficult game a little balance it never had. If you want to be all hardcore and play it in one setting to unlock World 9, then go right ahead. You just can't deny though that it isn't convenient to go back and play any world you want at a later date.

Honestly, I think its just people pulling the nostalgia card and complaining about their precious 8-bit childhood being tampered with. I've done the same thing before concerning other games, but this isn't like that. This compilation was made by the same team at EAD which made the originals under Miyamoto and Tezuka's direction. Its the original artists, designers, programmers, director and producer. If this isn't a remake that brings the games to life in the way that the original designer's vision of how the games were meant to be seen, then I don't know what is.

When people ask me what the greatest game ever made is, I pull out Super Mario All-Stars+Super Mario World--the 5-in-one cartridge given away as a pack-in for Toy's R Us in 1995. Its a cheap answer, but its legitimate and I always win. How can you argue about having the entire original Super Mario Brothers series, five (including World, which carries the SMB4 subtitle in Japan) of the greatest platformers ever made, all in one box polished to perfection? Who needs the 8-bit originals? I love them to death, and occasionally play them, but I'll always prefer the 16-bit upgrades. They're the same games, but with all the personality and flare that time tested 16-bit goodness could provide.

What kind of monster would hate Mario Allstars?

Most sane people love it, but my baby Wind Waker gets way more crap than it deserves.

oh man, kirby air ride is amazing with friends in city trial and free run!
A game i liked was Sonic Heroes, it had a great story line IMO and a cool new idea. It got old after a while, but always a pleasure to play again.

The only thing that I hate about SM All-Stars is the fact that it's near impossible to find for under $50.

Anyway, my list of "games I love that seem to be disliked by others" is extensive:

Gungrave and Gungrave Overdose
These games weren't that deep, but they are a lot of fun, and the storyline is incredible. Plus, there was an entire anime series that filled in the gaps the games left in the story. Likeable characters, superb voice acting, and a lot of ass kicking... what more could anyone ask for? How about the fact that it was created by the same man who created Trigun?

King of Fighters Maximum Impact/Maximum Impact 2 (King of Fighters 2006)
Billed by hardcore fans as being weak in comparison to the 2D versions, I didn't find too much of a difference gameplay-wise. In fact, my only real complaint is the confusing plot of the second game. MI2/2006 was also a virtual fanservice, by throwing in characters that one would never expect to be in a KoF game (Hattori Hanzou, Fiolina Germi, Lilly Kane, et cetera). And for some reason, SNK fans have an immense hatred for the games' producer, Falcoon.

Darkwatch
One of the better FPS games I've played on a console, it had a cool story and an awesome protagonist, vampire-cowboy Jericho Cross. There is a lot to like about the game, but most people see it as average. Bah, go back to playing your Halo crap. I'll stick with something original.

Ehrgeiz
A joint venture of Squaresoft and Namco, this fighting game had original characters facing off against guest characters from Final Fantasy VII. Gameplay wasn't very tight, but it was a fun game especially in two-player mode. Plus the console version came with a full dungeon crawler game, which, as frustrating as it was, was still kind of cool.

All TMNT games that were critically lambasted
Because they just weren't as bad as most said they were.

Um... actually, I can't think of many more. If I remember and care enough to, I'll edit this list as they come to me.

Here are a few off the top of my head:

Battle Arena Toshinden 2: It was overshadowed by other 3D fighting games of its time, but I enjoyed its unique gameplay (particularly the special moves) and great soundtrack.

Knuckles' Chaotix: Most people don't like the "rubber band" added to the gameplay, but I thought it was a fun addition. I also liked the focus on two-player cooperative gameplay and the great music.

Art of Fighting 3: People tend to dismiss the AOF series as a Street Fighter II clone, but I thought there were many original aspects that set it apart such as desperation attacks, sprite zooming, and the spirit gauge. The first two AOF games were a little slow and hard to work with, but the third one was a big improvement.

There's probably more that I'm not thinking of right now, but those are three good examples.

Wario's Woods: I'm a puzzle game lover and this tetris clone gets alot of hate. I love it though.

Zelda Wind Waker: This game's been getting crap ever since it came out and it really is an awesome game with a great animated look..one of my favorite Zeldas.

Zelda II: different format than most Zeldas, but it's the one I can play through time and time again.

Super Mario 2: Fun game, sure it's different than the other marios...but so what? The odd thing was when there was a cartoon that merged this universe with Koopa's.

That subject brought up, I LOVED the anime myself. One of the only times I liked a 4Kids dub over the original.

But I will say I love Wacky Races for NES http://terminus.romhack.net/img/thumbs/wackyRacesFr.jpg
http://emu-russia.km.ru/gdb/nes/Wacky_Races_1.png
http://www.retrogamezone.co.uk/Sprit...acessheet1.gif

It has almost nothing to do with the cartoon, and you don't do any racing, but it is a fun little game to play from time to time. There are 2 things I really love about it. it was released in the US, but it has the japanese Tiki Tiki Machine Mou race theme song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxkt0Gfo1M and it had a refference to the "Catch that Pidgeon" cartoon series.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...T/K7boxart.jpg

Man, I love this game. Sure, the control scheme is really weird, but it's just so damned fun. All of the characters are so lovingly strange and the storyline is SO convoluted it makes MGS seem like Dr. Seuss. The game is just fun all in all, and definitely not for kids.

the Street Fighter EX series was actually something I loved and everyone else hated.

I know Wind Waker gets crap, but I don't think the majority of people who played it hated it. A lot of the reviews it received gave it high ratings. I don't think the game was underrated at all, I think it was highly successful still, but the voices of the complaints were just a little louder than usual.

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_i...creenShot1.jpg http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_i...creenShot2.jpg Everyone I've talked to about this game hates it. But sincerely, I love it. It's a bit hard to get used to at first, and the game overall is a little challenging, but it's fun, the music is great, it looks really good, and it's really addictive.

Eh... I actually preferred AoF2 over 3... one reason being that the character selection was atrocious. You had Robert, Ryo, the awesome Sinclair, the okay Lenny and Kasumi... then a bunch of losers.

Wow that Wacky Racers game has Tapirs in it! I've seen it all now.

I'm sure there's more but I know most people hated Blood Omen 2 I happened to like it alot. The story was neat and Kain is a very interesting character. I'd like to see more games where he is his younger self.

Everyone used to hate on Uniracers for SNES. I thought that game was amazing.

And hell yes about Killer7. That game was really messed up, but I loved every minute of it.

I don't think anyone really hates Final Fantasy IX, but it definitely is stuck in the shadow of VII, VIII and X, mostly. I never really felt like it got the recognition it deserately deserved.

Glad to see I'm not the only one here who has played AOF. :) I agree, the cast in AOF2 was much better than in AOF3. The "big improvement" I mentioned in my last post was just in the gameplay speed and control, not in the game overall, since I like AOF2 almost as much as 3.

Thank you. Uniracers was flipping awesome back in the day. I'm still waiting for it to show up on the VC. Nintendo had to stop selling it because Pixar sued them over the unicycles looking like one of their short films. That was bullsh*t. You can't trademark a red unicycle, and apparently that suit has fallen to the ages because the ESRB rated Uniracers a while back for the VC.

I said the SAME exact thing.

Yeah, man. I had that game a while ago back when SNES was around, but lost it in the "big trade-in." A sad day for me. But then I found it on ebay for 99 cents. It costed me more to ship it than to buy it. Terrorists. The game is sweet. You do flips and corkscrews and stuff. So fast and fun.

Wolverine's Revenge. I just don't get it. It has everything you'd ask for:

-Claws
-Berzerker Rage
-Fastball Special
-Spider-Man! (Not voiced by Tobey McGuire too!)
-Somewhat cohesive story
-Neat costumes
-Mark Hammil

That was a great game. The frames of animation were drawn by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and the music was sampled from the actual film.



I also would like to cite a favorite game of mine everybody hates because it was prerendered.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ro/dkc1-72.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ro/dkc1-67.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ro/dkc1-58.png

People say it was just a brainless Mario clone. Well guess what? So was about 40% of that generation's releases. Who cares? It looked great, sounded better, and is still fun to play...much more fun than the blister educing Jungle Beat.

Oh, and Bart and the Beanstalk.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images...8711_front.jpg
No one seems to enjoy it but me...

Off the top of my head, Final Fantasy X-2 is a big one. I"ve played through it multiple times and I still love it. I think a lot of people were kind of turnd off by it simply because of th system changes, it's not a typical FF Game.

Super Valis 4 is a game even other Valis fans dislike. I own the PC Engine original and the are a world of difference. th PCE version is a lot better, but the SNES version is still pretty fun, and challenging (Untill you get the patterns of the bosses down anyway.) They removed Two playable characters, all the levels are different and the anime sequences that tell the story between levels are all removed though.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

It is my favorite of the Zelda games. Yet people seem to dislike it.

Actually, that should be on my list too. I love Zelda 2.

Zelda 2,
Castlevania 2
Adventures of Lolo/Eggerland (series)
Adventure Island (series)
Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors 2
Chrono Cross
MegaMan Network Transmission
Final Fantasy (NES version)
That's all I can think of right now.

Oh snap. Are these boards gonna turn into a DKC vs. Jungle Beat war?!

Unfortunately, I'd have to say Yoshi's Island DS. I feel like I'm the only one who felt it was worthy to be called a sequel to the original.

I love it, too. I guess most people didn't like it because of the cheese factor but it brought more closure to all the characters.

HAHAHA, YES! Bring it on!

TMB is just upset that Jungle Beat was more fun than DKC.

Power Rangers SPD.

I had no idea people didn't like DK. It is still one of my all time favortie games! I alawys figured it was well accepted. Mind blower!

Ehhh... they probably don't like it cuz you can't shoot King K.Rool to death or rape prostitutes or anything....

I got an idea.... Games you hate that everyone loves... stay tuned.

People used to like it, but now they resent it because the graphics were "faked" back in the day. Its irrelevant. It wasn't the renders that made the game. It was the art direction of those renders, and the modern/classic style of the characters combined with great platforming and killer music.

I'm sorry, but I despise Miyamoto's version of DK. The crazy "We're going to replace all the characters with generic Japanese fruity fare because Rare's DK characters don't resonate with modern Japanese youth" stuff can die. The fact is there was no single scenario in that game that offered new gameplay other than slapping your hands raw on the stupid bongos. They just wanted to "Japanize" the game, so they did. It was just Miyamoto enforcing his rule on Rare's creation now that he could since they weren't around anymore.

He could never do anything before because their games made tons of money. He was always resentful because the DKC games outsold Yoshi's Island, but the truth is Yoshi's Island wouldn't have been the game it is without DKC2. I've seen the old version of the game. It looked plastic and generic. Nintendo wanted it pre-rendered. Miyamoto got pissed, and had the game redrawn over a year in the crayon fashion we have now and added the beautiful morphmation into the mix. It was the fact that the man finally had competition that Yoshi's Island became so brilliant and perfect. He always resented though how they rethought his ancient and forgotten character (who he abandoned for a plumber) into something modernized and relevant, so he took the first chance he could get to ruin it. I don't care if Miyamoto invented the name "Donkey Kong". Its not his character anymore. He abandoned it (he didn't even make the third game Donkey Kong 3 at all) for greener pastures, so somebody else took a stab at it and improved it tenfold.

The only consolation I take is that the game bombed and Miyamoto lost. It is fun to play to a certain extent, but I can't look at the game with a straight face for more than 10 minutes. I hate it because its an intentional insult to one of my former favorite series.


Anyway, I'm glad some people get enjoyment out of it.

Well, I was kinda joking, but I can see what you're saying. I liked BOTH games so I'm OK with it all.

Because I post in this section once in three-four months, I have to post something now.

I'm with TMB. I adore DKC series, even the third part, which is apparently widely despised. And never got much into Jungle Beat.

BTW - does liking "Pilotwings" make me lame? :roll:

Crappy games that we can't get enough of.
 

You know something, just because a game sucks doesn't necessarily mean it has low replay value. What are some crappy games that you can't get enough of? Some I know off the top of my head:


Krusty's Fun House (NES)
Kids On Site (Sega CD)
Dark Castle (Genesis)
Quattro Adventure (NES)
Dragon Lance - Heroes of the Lance (NES)
Deadly Towers (NES)
Rollergames (NES)
MUSCLE (NES)
Street Fighter 2010 - The Final Fight (NES)

No it doesn't. Pilotwings is awesome. It doesn't stand up as a sim anymore, but it makes for a great flight arcade game. The fact that there is nothing to kill makes the game so much more challenge. Its a game of skill.

Dude, I couldn't care less about DK so I won't get into this discussion, but the modern tie-wearing DK is Miyamoto's version.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../f4/Dmgdqa.jpg

Goonies II (NES)
Stinger (NES)
Baseball (NES)
Tennis (NES)
Kung Fu (NES)
Pac-man
Pong
The Castlevania Adventure (Gameboy)
TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan (Gameboy)


- Many of these for nostalgic reasons. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between nostalgia and quality.

Stinger was a good game! And it was one of the only Twinbee games released in North America!