The greatest 'should've been better' game disappointments?

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:03 am

Man, I played Earnest Evans tonight on the Mega CD. I hadn't played it in about...(thinks)... probably about 12 years.

What the hell is going on here:

-We've got an Indiana Jones style premise
-Being done as a videogame
-By the Japanese
-The cutscenes are awesome
-Evans looks absolutely blinking cool in all of the art, possibly making him the coolest game Indy rip off ever
-The locations are right
-The music is good
-The box art has you raring to go.

The you play the game and it's ASS.

The Evans sprite retains zero of the coolness of the illustrations. In fact, he's in minus figures for cool.
He's some gangly spastic with constantly buckling limbs. And the controls! God, what a mess!

"I'm standing - oh no, now I'm sitting - no -shit! I'm rolling! Stop rolling! Fuck, I'm stuck in the wall, god! This...thing is killing me and I can't move. What the hell - HOW FAST DID MY LIFE JUST GO DOWN?"

The game is broken as hell. You'll land on an enemy completely by accident because you can't control the movement of the character. Some will take off a bit of life, and then two seconds later the same enemy will drain the lot cos you're in an unfortunate position.

There is some charm in Earnest Evans because it's actually become a novelty based on how bad it actually is - which makes me sad.

I WOULD LOVE:

Someone to take the code, and draw a standard animated sprite based Evans and replace the crap one that's there. Make him look like his anime iteration. Give him solid whip movement, a double tap dash, and decent collision detection and suddenly we're talking. I could even look past the appaling background graphics because I reckon the central sprite being redone would overhaul it that much. It would be a completely different, and playable game.

I'm sure there are other 'disappointments that would've been better if...' but this is the only one that came to mind tonight.

Anyone else got any they think could've been better but turned out to be awful?

HOW GOOD IS THIS? DOESN'T THIS LOOK LIKE A GAME YOU JUST HAVE TO PLAY:

THE IN-GAME CUTSCENES. GET READY FOR A TOMB RAIDING JAPANESE ROLLERCOASTER ADVENTURE...

THEN YOU START PLAYING. Oh no.

If these screens look bad, you should see it move...

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:37 am

Silhouette Mirage -- Turned to one side I have this power, turned to the other I have the other... what the fuck? Let me use any power whenever I need, damnit, give me two fire buttons.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness -- It was rushed and it shows. An extra year or so, and this could have been awesome. The way it was released, the controls are terrible and the gameplay could use a lot of fine-tuning.

Jet Set Radio -- It was kinda fun until the part where the awful camera and controls made it near impossible to win. The visuals and soundtrack are top quality, though.

Red Faction -- It's neat, but has more brown than Quake.

Doom 3 -- will somebody please turn on the fuckin' lights?!

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:43 am

Skykid wrote:you should see it move...

Yep.

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=2o9vf_xCn ... re=related

Marshall banana · Post by **Marshall banana** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:57 am

Kingdom Hearts II disappointed me a lot. It's less charming than Kingdom Hearts, because most of the Disney worlds are smaller and less impressive. The story events aren't interesting to me either.

benstylus · Post by **benstylus** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:38 am

Samurai Legend Musashi (PS2)

Brave Fencer Musashi remains my favorite PS1 game ever, and the fact that it was getting a sequel excited me to no end... then i played it and not only is it nowhere near as good as the original, it flat out sucks.

Was way too slow, camera was terrible (to the point where it was impossible to see anything during some of the boss battles), and it didn't have any of the charm or humor that made the original a classic.

In short, a game not even worth wiping with.

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:11 am

benstylus wrote:Samurai Legend Musashi (PS2)

Brave Fencer Musashi remains my favorite PS1 game ever, and the fact that it was getting a sequel excited me to no end... then i played it and not only is it nowhere near as good as the original, it flat out sucks.

Was way too slow, camera was terrible (to the point where it was impossible to see anything during some of the boss battles), and it didn't have any of the charm or humor that made the original a classic.

In short, a game not even worth wiping with.

I have to agree it felt totally boring and just felt like work.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:36 am

Lolz, the moment I saw this game I was like, "looks shit" and never got around to play it. Square used to be a lot better. I remember back in the 90's when they put out quality stuff on the PSX for almost every genre. What's the stuff they are putting out today compared to FFT, Einhander, Musashi, Parasite Eve et al. Besides DQ9 there's nothing I'm looking forward from them.

Limbrooke · Post by **Limbrooke** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:41 am

Auto Modellista (U/C). Why the hell did Capcom change the handling?!
Even if the original physics were carried over, there was certain lacking in track variety which is also a let down. I still quite enjoy the original game for what it is worth.

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:29 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:I remember back in the 90's when they put out quality stuff on the PSX for almost every genre....Einhander...

Ah yes add that one to this thread too. I expected a Japanese style shmup, not something that could have came out of Infrograms' ass.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:47 am

Brute Force.

Worst highly anticipated game ever.

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:41 am

As much as I like this game, i'm gonna have to say that Ninja Gaiden 2's camera needs SERIOUS work.

s/m

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:53 am

subcons wrote:Brute Force.

Worst highly anticipated game ever.

BRUTE FORCE

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:30 am

That's good info on the sequel to Musashi. I loved the original but I'd steer clear now.

Einhander though...It's a little unorthodox (and bloody hard) but it's pretty amazing!

Anyone out there up for coding a new sprite into EE then? I can draw the frames.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:54 am

Stormwatch wrote:Silhouette Mirage -- Turned to one side I have this power, turned to the other I have the other... what the fuck? Let me use any power whenever I need, damnit, give me two fire buttons.

Missing the boat maybe?

Jet Set Radio -- It was kinda fun until the part where the awful camera and controls made it near impossible to win. The visuals and soundtrack are top quality, though.

And which part is that? As someone that's Jet'ed the whole thing, I can only ask you to pass the bong.

Jockel · Post by **Jockel** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:24 pm

Since Jet Set Radio came up...
Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox) - made out of suck.
"Hey guys, let's make a sequel to a beloved game and leave all the challenge and personality out"

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:35 pm

Jockel wrote: "Hey guys, let's make a sequel to a beloved game and leave all the challenge and personality out"

"Hey guys, let's make a game based on the first, but plays different enough to maybe even make money this time". It didn't, but it's still a great game. One of the few series you can play both of and enjoy in different ways.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:43 pm

i have never been as dissapointed with a game as i was with the assault suits valken remake. (ps2)

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:55 pm

Stormwatch wrote:Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness -- It was rushed and it shows. An extra year or so, and this could have been awesome. The way it was released, the controls are terrible and the gameplay could use a lot of fine-tuning.

I still had some fun with it, but the biggest issue:

UPGRADES

That's right: You're already having trouble figuring out how far Lara can jump, and now you have NO WAY OF TELLING because the game constantly is adding running speed and jump length and also crate-pushing / wall-climbing strength (and possibly other things).

And I got an upgrade twice from pushing one specific box...but I'm not sure it really helped.

Still sort of an interesting game, though. Liked the idea of the poor man's GTA in the opening part of Paris.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:56 pm

GaijinPunch wrote:
Jockel wrote: "Hey guys, let's make a sequel to a beloved game and leave all the challenge and personality out"
"Hey guys, let's make a game based on the first, but plays different enough to maybe even make money this time". It didn't, but it's still a great game. One of the few series you can play both of and enjoy in different ways.

so im not the only person who loves JSRF. Please can we stop the RSRF bashing your hurting its feelings.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:53 pm

Marshall banana wrote:Kingdom Hearts II disappointed me a lot.

I've only played the first, but the incredibly stupid decision to not give you the option to use the right stick for the camera drove me nuts. Though truth be told I wasn't particularly impressed with what I saw of the rest of the game either.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:07 pm

nanostray 2

delay delays delays.....

finally comes out and it sux more than the original...

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:20 pm

Ed Oscuro wrote:
Stormwatch wrote:Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness -- It was rushed and it shows. An extra year or so, and this could have been awesome. The way it was released, the controls are terrible and the gameplay could use a lot of fine-tuning.
I still had some fun with it, but the biggest issue:

UPGRADES

That's right: You're already having trouble figuring out how far Lara can jump, and now you have NO WAY OF TELLING because the game constantly is adding running speed and jump length and also crate-pushing / wall-climbing strength (and possibly other things).

And I got an upgrade twice from pushing one specific box...but I'm not sure it really helped.

Still sort of an interesting game, though. Liked the idea of the poor man's GTA in the opening part of Paris.

All of that's totally irrelevant, because they added BOOBY JIGGLE PHYSICS!

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:21 pm

Sega GT 2002- This game was supposed to be a Gran Turismo- killer back when there was a need for such a thing. All the previews pointed to great graphics, an advanced physics model, and a very unique car lineup. What the xbox got was a spruced up budget racer with a unique car lineup. It would be a hell of a long wait for Forza...

Project Gotham 3 - It was an okay game but after PGR 2, the lack of features and polish made it look like the rushed for launch game it was always intended to be. So much for the next gen PGR 2 that it was played up to be. That was PGR 4...

Devil May Cry 2- oh the pain. How the hell did they mess this one up?

tyranid · Post by **tyranid** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:43 pm

sven666, the best thing about assault suit valken ps2 remake was they left the debug symbols in the main executable, yay Konami

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:25 pm

Number 1, in terms of the biggest let-down was DonPachi for the Saturn. Atrocious amounts of slowdown and pixelization on a system that was practically made for 2D. Let's hope Atlus never publishes another shmup.

Spy Hunter, for the PS2. There's one button that you are supposed to tap twice, quickly, to make your car turbo boost, which you have to do in order to get through certain parts of stages. The fact that it works about 10% of the time in practice ruins the game.

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:02 pm

When I was a kid, I remember how exited I was whenever I saw the back of the box to Sword Of Sodan. When I bought it, I walked right into a Walden Books, picked up an IGN, and they gave it like straight 3s, pointing out that it looked "good in stills", but terrible in motion. And man, they were right.

It sucked, and was probably the most memorable disappointment I can think of, in terms of games.

s/m

Domino · Post by **Domino** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:38 pm

Giga Wing Generations. Man the port was terrible.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:42 pm

Maybe this isn't the right genre for these boards but I was a huge fan of Morrowind. I was excited for Oblivion (even preordered it, which I never do), but it turned out to be a lump of shit.

TLDragoon · Post by **TLDragoon** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:59 pm

captpain wrote:Maybe this isn't the right genre for these boards but I was a huge fan of Morrowind. I was excited for Oblivion (even preordered it, which I never do), but it turned out to be a lump of shit.

I feel almost the same way about Oblivion. I admire that they improved the combat, but the rest of the game (sans graphics) felt like a huge step back from Morrowind. The only area I really enjoyed in Oblivion was the hugely under-developed northern border.

And to this I'll add, Deus Ex: Invisible War. They took away a lot of what made the first game good and interesting (damage modeling, manually being able to use keypads and computer terminals, actually having to remember stuff, the skill system) in part to make it more accessible to consoles and console players (that is, the masses). If they can't do any better than that, I hope DE 3 never sees the light of day.

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:26 pm

The Amiga port of Strider. I can sort of understand the SMS port looking like it does, but I don't think there's any excuse for the Amiga one to only be marginally better (and use a third of the screen for a status display, to boot). Compare/contrast with the completely badass X68000 port.

The Bouncer (PS2). It was a Square beat-em-up that was hyped to hell by the press and turned out to be rather mediocre. The tagline for the review in Next Generation was something like "Don't believe the hype - not even ours".

dave4shmups wrote:Number 1, in terms of the biggest let-down was DonPachi for the Saturn. Atrocious amounts of slowdown and pixelization on a system that was practically made for 2D.

In that vein, I'd have to say the Saturn port of Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight. Content was added compared to the PS1 original, but the engine port was obviously rushed. Considerably more slowdown, screwy transparency effects, and loading screens (in addition to the loading rooms of the PS1 version). It could have been the definitive version of the game, but it turned out to be a pretty mixed bag.