Games You Love that Everybody Hates

**ThirdMarioBro** · 07-28-2007, 04:39 PM

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.

07-28-2007, 04:39 PM	#1
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	Games You Love that Everybody Hates Just what the title says. Defend your black sheep. ------------------------------------- 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.