Topic: Games You Feel are Overrated

I honestly thought we had a thread like this in the general discussions thread. @Snaplocket

It's still better than some Telltale game or whatever. The first Uncharted plays up every Indiana Jones cliche so hard, that it really does feel like a Hollywood movie at times. Grant, not to the degree that I ever feel like I'm watching more than playing, but I just got done watching 4 great movies this month, so I was really in a cinematic mood. And that's the thing, I feel like these games really had their place in the industry, and considering when it came out, there wasn't much like it, and it was when realistic HD graphics were new, I can see why a lot of people were blown away by it. Especially now that movies has so much CG nowadays.

Just thought I'd give an alternate perspective.

@roy130390 I'm glad you understood my post, since I left two or three sentences out of it that I didn't notice until now.

@skywake That's pretty much the point I've gotten to with games. I still have some resentment for games that have little to no gameplay in them, but that's more because gaming is too expensive to warrant giving such a subjective experience the time & energy I'd need to refine my tastes there. It's like, if a game's story sucks, I might still still enjoy the gameplay, and I usually know what to look for beforehand. For TV, movies, and other purely artist experiences, I can't really trust the opinions of the masses, because the experience overall is too subjective. I'd have to actually spend time with it, and I can't really afford to buy a full season of a Telltale game, or a bunch of walking sims just to figure out which ones are worth it. Hell, I refined my tastes in video games rentals and rampant piracy, and now both options aren't nearly as convenient here...

Simply put, aside from a few genres that I'm dismissing offhand out of principle rather than merit, I do feel that I can just chill. I saw a lot of stuff at E3 that I turned my nose at, but I saw just as much, if not more that had me excited. I guess I'd rather just focus on those from now on. I mean, a lot of that angst before was born out of the desire talk about something, and everyone just seemed to be talking about games that didn't interest me. So...I guess I can't really be too mad at them, since I still got some enjoyment in the end.

I've heard quite a few people say that Tetris DS is one of the best games on the system, but I don't see the appeal at all. The new modes felt really gimmicky and had little-to-no replay value.

I enjoyed Meteos significantly more. To this day, that's probably my favorite puzzler.

I like Mario 64. It's probably the reason I'm a Nintendo fan today. But as far as level design goes, it's the worst of the 3D Marios. I don't agree when people say it hasn't been surpassed, because IMO, Galaxy surpassed it and then some.

Banjo Kazooie more-or-less surpassed it 2 years later so...yeah. I mean, I think that should be obvious. It was Nintendo's first fully 3d game, I think, ever? So the idea that they had better level design...well you'd better hope so. Nintendo should fail as a company if they can't make better levels than a 3D game in 1996.

I mean, I don't like Sunshine as much but it's not because of the level design.

@kkslider5552000

I've heard multiple people say Mario 64 has the best level design in the series.

What's that? You put a blank space there instead of a word that exists!

(also after playing Crash 1, lol no)

If we were talking about Banjo-Tooie, I'd be right there with you, actually. B-K did a good job of giving you a lot to do and explore without bogging the player down too much and killing the pacing - it was the natural evolution of Super Mario 64, at least from what I experienced. But B-T just...had way too much. Too many collectables, too many different ideas competing for attention. And just...too many potetial sollutions to puzzles that were often obscure to begin with. Basically, I only needed a guide to get the last couple Jiggies in B-K, but I don't think I could've gotten through the second world without looking stuff up, if I wasn't getting lost, I was getting stuck on stuff that I didn't have proper access to yet, but the game didn't tell me I couldn't use it (but there was plenty of other stuff where it went out of its way to tell me I didn't to come back with a certain ability...every time I interacted with said object...whether I meant to or not...). It just became exhausting - a common trend for Rare's games thereafter.

Then again, I'll admit that while I love Super Mario 64, the last set of levels (specifically Tick-Tock Clock, Tall-Tall Mountain, and Rainbow Ride) were pretty awful, IMO. I guess it was trying to be more of a platformer by adding a lot more falling death-traps and ledges, but I'm glad they were essentially optional, especially in the DS version, where the controls made them utterly insufferable.

I still would rather play Mario 64 DS's minigames than Mario 64 DS any day.

I am not kidding at all. Those minigames were secretly the reason to own that game, and you can't convince me otherwise!

Yeah, I'd definitely put SM64DS's mini games along with NSMB's multiplayer in the category of 'unexpectedly brilliant bonus content that no one talks about'. It may have just been me and my brother who thought this, but NSMB was one of my favourite multiplayer games on the DS. Up there with Mario Kart and MP:Hunters.

@Maxz I loved the first NSMB but never played multiplayer, was it like Wii?

And yeah, Super Mario 64 DS was a great port. It's actually the only way I've ever played that game. I wish mini games like that would be put into more Nintendo games, as since they've entered 'modern gaming' their games have generally felt leaner and leaner.

Same. I'll take any sandbox platformer over 3D Land/3D World. Dunno what it is about sandbox Mario being the only games allowed to display any kind of real creativity and innovation.

Xenoblade Chronicles, wanted to like it but just couldn't. I've played a lot of JRPG's so it's not that I dislike the genre but I found the writing a little weak and English voice acting really poor. Combat system wasn't great too imo, felt a little MMO-like at times.

@Maxz My flatmates, girlfriend and I managed to play through NSMB:Wii in its entirety in 4 player mode - probably one of the best multiplayer experiences of my life! It was crazy, chaotic fun from start to finish - we had an absolute blast playing it!

For someone who grew up with the fantastic original Super Mario Bros. games - where 'multiplayer' basically involved sitting around patiently waiting for your turn - to have a SMB game with everyone involved in the action at all times was an absolute dream come true...and totally delivered! ..can't fault 'em personally!

@Haru17 No, the multiplayer in NSMB was more of a 2-player brawl where you and another player had to compete to get a determined number of stars first.
And it was amazing. I spent so much time perfecting my skills in the multiplayer mode (it was called Mario vs. Luigi). I was pretty much boss at it until just recently because I'm super rusty. Only if Nintendo brought it back in more recent entries AND it had online...

Of course, NSMB also had the minigames that supported up to four players. Those were good fun, too.

And while we're at it, at this point I think I'd play Super Mario 3D World over Super Mario 64. Don't get me wrong, SM64 is a fantastic game but I've played too much of the game already. Besides, I think I prefer 3D World over SM64. 3D Land... well, 3D World squashes that one in every way possible.

Skyrim, gta.

The camera angle in 3D Land felt really restrictive. I was always falling out of frame or jumping to a ledge I couldn't see.

I loved the multiplayer aspects of New Super Mario Bros and 3D World. I only ever got to play 2 players, not 4 players, but even 2 players can get to be a lot of fun. I'm still hoping Nintendo will make a follow-up on the Switch for both games, but add online multiplayer.

Which reminds me of Four Swords on the Gamecube. Single player it's an alright Zelda game, but the real charm is in the multiplayer mode. Trying to balance keeping each other alive while at the same time trying to be greedy for rupees to come out on top is downright fun. I would love to see Nintendo revisit that game somehow on the Switch, but with online mode as well.

As for Mario 64, the one thing that I enjoyed the most is getting stars out of order. It kinda looks like Odyssey is trying to go that route again.

I played the minigames in NSMB a lot, they were a huge hit during middle/high school.

Even when we couldn't get more systems to play against each other, we competed to beat the scores. The bob omb sorting game was the overall favorite.

@Haru17

@Vee_Flames has nailed the explanation, but yeah, it's a completely different beast from the co-op of the home console versions.

I know the NSMB series gets a lot of stick for not innovating, but the first game's marriage of old-school 2D platforming with the 3D games' exuberant athleticism felt pretty awesome at the time, and nowhere was that better evidenced than the star grabbing multiplayer mode of the DS title.

You had a sort of arena where the two ends were joined up so that you'd run around in circles if you headed off in a straight line, and stars would randomly appear which you had to grab before your opponent. There were various hazards and power ups that meant you could attack your opponent and force them to lose stars, so it was kind of like an even more Mario-ey version of Smash Bros. And because the two players were basically independent, there was no weird bubble mechanic if one of you got dragged off screen; you were free to run, jump, and slide your way around the levels untethered.

If you ever find another person with a copy of the game, I'd urge you to dig out the game cart give it a look. An undiscovered multiplayer gem for sure.