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Great Games You Struggle To Enjoy?

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Well... yes. But games shouldn't put people off by their first 3 levels... I don't care if there's a good level later on if I'm not enjoying myself for the majority of the game.

 

What Cube meant was, Marble Zone (second Zone) is not about running or speed. In fact, this is a common misconception in general, the Mega Drive trilogy was good because they were well made, fluid platformers, not because they were speed-based. Speed was just a by-product that stood out. If all you're doing is moving forward and jumping once in a while... you're in the easy levels.

 

Sega's inability to comprehend those games, plus the shoddy ports that were released recently, kinda reinforce this misconception, which is a shame.

 

But still, considering the point of the thread, I shouldn't get worked up over this. Different strokes and all that.

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I'm not sure what the readers of GamesRadar have against Bioshock. Now, Bioshock 2, on the other hand...

 

My picks (discounting genres that don't appeal to me, like racing games or any shooter released this generation):

 

Okami - I enjoyed this for the first ten hours, then I beat the big bad and for some reason the game dragged on for another twenty hours after that. I'd give it another chance, but it was so long.

 

Super Mario Land - I'm chalking people's love for this game up to nostalgia. It looks awful and plays even worse. The music is kind of nice, though.

 

Donkey Kong Country - Again, the music is kind of nice, but the gameplay is dull and often unfair, and I hate the plastic-looking graphics. I just can't get into this series.

 

Super Paper Mario - This isn't an RPG, so it shouldn't even be a part of the Paper Mario series. As a platformer, it fails because it's so slow and boring. Switching between 2D and 3D becomes repetitive after the first world, and constantly having to play as Mario so that you can switch perspectives makes the inclusion of the other characters nearly completely pointless.

 

Puzzle Quest - I'm not a big fan of Bejeweled so buying this was a mistake to begin with, but I was amazed by how bad the RPG aspect was. No story, no characters, no point.

 

Also, I agree on anything Sonic or Halo (the third game was okay, though).

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Okami - I enjoyed this for the first ten hours, then I beat the big bad and for some reason the game dragged on for another twenty hours after that. I'd give it another chance, but it was so long.
Yeah I would agree that it goes on for too long. It drags a bit in the middle, but the last 'chapter' of the game is pretty amazing, as is the boss that comes directly before that.

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Mass Effect - I just couldn't get into it.

Call Of Duty 4 - Never cared greatly for it, though I can appreciate it's awesomeness.

 

That's what really stands out right now. I might think of some more later.

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I'm a bit lazy when it comes to games, sometimes it is an age-thing and other times i just don't like the game in general.

 

Age-related, well they are (to the best of my knowledge)

 

Gears of War - Played 3/4 of the first level, got bored of it and left it.

Prince of Persia:Warrior Within - Got the 2nd upgrade Sword, and hated the back-tracking. So, again i left it.

 

I have since completed both titles, and regret leaving them for so long.

 

Games i just didn't like/got bored of

 

Halo series - So linear, so bland and so boring

Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes - Got bored of it, probably because i was comparing it to the original Prime (which was a masterpiece btw)

Metal Gear Solid series - I only played Twin Snakes, and even though i liked it, i just didn't really get into it as much as i hoped

Twilight Princess - Yes, after 5 years it is still sitting in my wardrobe incomplete. I'm at the point where i am being sent between temples with no funnage between.

Sonic Adventure - Gave me a seizure-like experience, according to a doctor. Never completed it, for health reasons and because it was bland.

Sonic GG versions - Urghhh

 

Thats to name a few.

 

May re-attempt the Prime trilogy, never played the 3rd title.

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Super Mario 64 - I played Sunshine before I got around to playing this. By then, it just didn't appeal to me, it felt too dated. Some of the environments seemed incredibly bland and the graphics are just horrible. But hey, it was the first 3D Mario game.

 

Had I played this when it was released, I'd probably like it a lot more.

 

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - That key collecting shit at the end was annoying. I gave up on my first playthrough, and never got back to it until about 3 years later. Still today I don't feel like doing it without the use of a guide.

 

The tear collecting parts of Twlight Princess were also a big fat drags.

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Yeah I would agree that it goes on for too long. It drags a bit in the middle, but the last 'chapter' of the game is pretty amazing, as is the boss that comes directly before that.

The only thing I remember about the last hours of Okami is having to fight four bosses again (including the big bad for a third time) before finally being allowed to fight the last boss and beating the game.

 

It did have some great moments, though, which is why I'd considering giving it a second chance if it weren't so long.

 

 

Super Mario 64 - I played Sunshine before I got around to playing this. By then, it just didn't appeal to me, it felt too dated. Some of the environments seemed incredibly bland and the graphics are just horrible. But hey, it was the first 3D Mario game.

 

Had I played this when it was released, I'd probably like it a lot more.

I played Sunshine before 64 and wasn't too keen on it and gave up after a while. I picked it up again a couple of years later and loved it, though. It has its problems (and you just have to live with the graphics), but overall I think it has more varied and inventive levels.

 

The trick to playing older games is putting them into the context of when they were made instead of comparing them to newer games. :smile:

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I played Sunshine before 64 and wasn't too keen on it and gave up after a while. I picked it up again a couple of years later and loved it, though. It has its problems (and you just have to live with the graphics), but overall I think it has more varied and inventive levels.

 

The trick to playing older games is putting them into the context of when they were made instead of comparing them to newer games. :smile:

You could try Mario 64 DS to compensate, but it doesn't have the same charm.

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I played Sunshine before 64 and wasn't too keen on it and gave up after a while. I picked it up again a couple of years later and loved it, though. It has its problems (and you just have to live with the graphics), but overall I think it has more varied and inventive levels.

 

The trick to playing older games is putting them into the context of when they were made instead of comparing them to newer games. :smile:

 

You could try Mario 64 DS to compensate, but it doesn't have the same charm.

 

Now, i for one played 64 before Sunshine (having chosen Nintendo over Sony in 1999). After playing Sunshine, Galaxy and Galaxy II the obvious shows on 64. It has aged, the worlds do feel small in comparison (i know, it is 2 generations ago but still). But i can sit back with my experience in Mario games and be able to complete stars i never thought i could ever get.

 

64 does have quite a vaired number of levels i admit (the final level was awesome). So do all the 3D Mario games to be fair.

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I'll never understand how people can be bothered by "bad" graphics when the gameplay is good. I just replayed Banjo-Kazooie, and it was just charming to see the old, chunky graphics again. They didn't distract one single bit from the experience.

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They didn't distract one single bit from the experience.

 

If anything, they add to the experience :hehe:

 

I've recently had Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 on and, to be honest, my impressions of the N64 classic were infinitely more positive than with Sunshine..

 

At the same time, there are a lot of stages in Super Mario 64 that I no longer find particularly appealing (or perhaps never did, such as Wet, Dry World :nono:) but then similar can be said of Super Mario Sunshine, probably more so :hmm:

 

I think Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are significantly better than both..

 

As for 'great' games I struggle to enjoy, I'd have to mention Banjo-Tooie (one of my biggest ever gaming disappointments :sad:) and Advance Wars: Dual Strike..

 

The following statement may be a little too general and I maybe haven't had quite enough experience to form an in-depth opinion on the matter but basically anything I've played on the PS3 and XBOX 360 has been hollow for me and one of the reasons i own neither console.

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the XBOX 360 was pretty good but I felt exactly the same about it as I did with Reflex on the Wii, which I had already cleared. Games such as Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space, among others, failed to inspire me to keep my XBOX 360 after the year or so I had with it and I just couldn't find myself interested in what else was coming out for the console. There was just something missing..

 

A good recent example of a game that is supposed to be great is FIFA 11 but I actually find it rather poor and soulless. We're back playing Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the PS2 because it may well have been the last really good football game (other than, of course, PES on the Wii.. but it too has it's drawbacks :indeed:) FIFA 10 may have been great fun for a while, but a lot of that was due to the decline in Konami's game and having something fresh to play instead. The novelty has certainly worn off, though, and FIFA 11 is a mess..

Edited by nekunando

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Metroid Prime 2:Echoes - I did similar to Jimbob, played a bit got annoyed thought it sucked. They tried to pack it out a bit too much with dark world trekking and language translator thingies, not as fun as getting an actual new item to use it lots of places and to open doors with etc

Sonics - I had Sonic Mega Collecton on my original Xbox, just didn't get on with them like I thought I would, unfortunately.

 

As for the lack of mario love, I personally love them(SML, SMW and SM64). I think SM64 was a much better crafted environment, with a tad more freedom and exploration. SML and SMW maybe I just love due to nostalgia. The later Marios I had gripes with for their linear hand holdy nature.

 

 

I do often wonder, and maybe it's a thread worth creating at some point, if nostalgia goggles really really do exist, and tarnish our objectiveness of games? I know I certainly still love and find the games I played as a kid very enjoyable and excellent.

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Halo. I gave it a go and it didn't seem anything special at all.

 

I have NEVER seen the appeal of Halo. Never. I got an Xbox from the GAME I was working at and my colleagues were all insisting I get Halo. I turned it on, really looking forward to a mindblowing experience...and nothing. A dull, plodding shooter that moved clumsily from set-piece to set-piece was all I got.

 

 

Super Mario 64 I finished it with 70 stars, regret not getting the 120 though. I had trouble with the red coins in the wing cap switch stage

 

Mario 64 just left me cold. In fact, truth be told, I've never actually been much of a Mario platformer fan at all. The only one I really got on with was Sunshine, which everyone else disliked. Even Galazy was just so unflinchingly bland. The humour is so simplistic and the story is infinite varieties of "meh".

 

Not true of the Paper Mario games, which were comic genius.

 

KOTOR was ten different kinds of dull for me - loved Star Wars but it was incredibly fixed in the direction you could take from the beginning. Alright so you could choose to be good or bad, but if you didn't take the robot fixin' or door hackin' skills from the beginning then you were playing a game that was half-locked to you. And the endless dialogue trees hardly encouraged repeat plays.

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Another thread for me to moan about Metroid? I won't bother, but here's the summary: Fusion is my favourite and Prime 3 has good controls. The rest are utter utter tosh.

 

I'm not a fan of the Resi series either due to the controls - aside from the Wii on-rails shooters ones. Banjo-Kazooie sucks. I hate Fifa, it just doesn't feel right. Guitar Hero too, I'll just play my guitar, thanks.

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You can add me to the Halo camp. Luckily I only bought a second hand xbox, and only paid a third of that price as I split it three-ways with my brothers. I found it very soul-less.

 

On a related note, Timesplitters 2 is something that I just can't seem to enjoy. It arguably ticks all the right boxes, but I found the whole thing quite bland. There's no satisfaction I receive when I pump an enemy full of lead, which tells me that there's something wrong with the game. :heh:

 

I love Brawl, but I struggle massively with the jumping in that game. Not sure if its because I'm not used to the weight of the characters, or because its quite awkward to use the jump button. Seemed easier on the Gamecube pad.

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I bought GameCube pads for my Wii specifically to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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I've got my Wavebird, so will most probably try that out again to see if I find the game a whole lot easier to play.

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Mario Galaxy. I get why everyone loves it but it in no way holds me. I completed the final boss and never went back. I've been saving the Princess for twenty years now, she's not putting out, I'm bored.

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Gears of War & Killzone 2.

 

I've tried to like both of these, I really have. They're really well made games. But they're just so grey and brown and more grey and dull characters grrrring and gurning at each other with barely one dimension to split between them. Both are so un-ironic on their drive for some backward half-assed vision of male masculinity I want to weep. I know they're just supposed to be a piece of entertainment but there's just nothing even vaguely challenging, interesting or inspiring here. It's like they found a lowest common denominator and decided to go below that.

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Gears of War 2 made significant improvements in making much more interesting graphics/levels and attempting to add a bit of depth to the characters.

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Metroid Prime was something I looked forward to playing and when I played it I there were good thing, but something just did not click.

There was just something keeps me from continuing, I feel like I have to force myself to play them.

 

Final Fantasy X: I was just so bored when playing this, the fights were piss-easy and I found nothing remotely interesting about the story and setting.

On the other hand, I really liked the leveling system and music in it.

 

Gears of War 2 made significant improvements in making much more interesting graphics/levels and attempting to add a bit of depth to the characters.

 

Which was instantly ruined for me after watching this:

 

Not that I would take it in any seriously anyway.

Edited by Mundi

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Gears of War 2 made significant improvements in making much more interesting graphics/levels and attempting to add a bit of depth to the characters.

 

No. No it didn't. I gave it a shot because I heard it had tried to improve, but it was awful. I can't believe they actually paid someone for it.

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Actually, Wind Waker! The triforce hunt seriously killed it for me, I've never played past it, which is a real shame as it was enjoyable up to that moment!

 

THIS!

 

I have a good few.

 

PIkmin- Irritated me and felt very glitchy at times. Maybe I should go back to this one though.

Yoshi's island- Ya this one is going to get a bit of shit but I just can't understand the like for it.

Metroid prime hunters- I know everyone is probably going to say this was shit anyway but SERIOUSLY I've never seen such a shit game get such a good reviews.

The whole warioware series bar the gamecube one- I excuse the gamecube one because it had a good multiplayer mode. WHy oh why don't the rest try this. The games are fun enough but the series has SO much potential.

Mario kart wii- UGHHHHHHHHHHH

 

 

I could honestly go on.

 

Metroid Prime was something I looked forward to playing and when I played it I there were good thing, but something just did not click.

There was just something keeps me from continuing, I feel like I have to force myself to play them.

.

 

If I was reviewing metroid prime I wouldn't give it over 9.. despite it being one of my favourite games. I can overlook it's flaws but I can still see them. The game is simply too old-school for a lot of gamers.

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Yoshi's island- Ya this one is going to get a bit of shit but I just can't understand the like for it.

 

I'd actually go along with that, in some ways :eek:

 

Yoshi's Island is a really nice game to look at and it's definitely not a bad game but I just never really enjoyed it anywhere near as much as everyone else seemed to ::shrug:Super Mario World was, by some distance, the superior game..

 

As for Mario Kart Wii, I played it recently and it didn't seem as fun as it used to be :hmm: If anything, it was too random and frustrating.. and I don't like the bikes! I had been playing Mario Kart 64 before it, though, and it's my favourite one by a mile so that probably warped my view :indeed:

Edited by nekunando

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Where to begin...

 

 

Grand Theft Auto

Could never get away with the series as a 'game'. As a sandbox they are all superb in different ways but the missions are bloody awful ending with the boring (but technically superb (at the time)) GTA IV. San Andreas was the only one where I actually enjoyed playing it.

 

Advance Wars

Loved it until the special powers came in. War with super powers just ruined it for me.

 

Banjo Tooie

Too big. And just seemed to lack the charm of the original. Was it just me or was it too 'dark'?

 

Monopoly

The worlds most boring game.

 

Sands of Time

Half way in I just lost all interest. Wonderful concept and animation ruined by repetition.

 

Metroid Prime

Bought it at launch and, again, played through most of it. But the scanning and general FPS option ensured Super Metroid would never be bettered.

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