Game that looked cool but was dumb [Archive]

houstonlibrarian

08-20-2009, 03:39 PM

Pit Fighter for Super Nintendo.
Man that game was lame. I was expecting some Street Fighter type action, but oh no. This game was light years behind Street Fighter. The attack moves were lame and unrealistic looking, there was no variety, the music was montonous, you only got one life....
I could go on for days. A waste of a few bucks for me when I rented in back in 11th grade.

Cers

08-20-2009, 03:42 PM

Rise of the Robots

ryborg

08-20-2009, 04:04 PM

Kid Ice

08-20-2009, 04:44 PM

PN03 for GameCube

Baloo

08-20-2009, 04:49 PM

"was dumb?" And you call yourself a librarian?

I really wanted Ultraman for the SNES to be awesome. Graphics looked good, I was really into fighters, and I was excited.... until I bought and played it.

Yeah, I was at a flea market and when I saw Ultraman for $5 I bought it, just to come home to probably one of the WORST games I've ever played. I expected some Ultraman action and got some real crap.

Robocop2

08-20-2009, 04:51 PM

Mondu's Fight Palace or whatever name you want to call it. I remember the scans in GamePro and thinking about how awesome it looked and then....
Is it interesting to anyone else how the majority of what's listed already are fighting games?

portnoyd

08-20-2009, 04:56 PM

Weaponlord. What a honking piece of shit that was.

Ro-J

08-20-2009, 05:09 PM

Cloud121

08-20-2009, 05:23 PM

PN03 for GameCube
Only my all-time favorite game....

BeaglePuss

08-20-2009, 05:30 PM

Weaponlord. What a honking piece of shit that was.
Great choice. The artwork RULED! I remember reading an old Gamepro preview, and thinking I had to have this game.

Boy was I wrong.

mobiusclimber

08-20-2009, 05:31 PM

Fatal Labyrinth. Was the first game I actually owned. My dad bought it for me for Christmas when he bought my sister and I a Genesis (she got Ecco the Dolphin and he got Abrams Battle Tank). I pointed the game out having only seen the cover in the display case because it looked like the kind of in-depth RPG I was looking for. I'd watched a buddy play Final Fantasy, and had played Crystalis at a friend's house. Thought this game would at least have a story of some sort, but no. It turned out to be one of the most rudimentary games I've ever played (and I've played old text adventures, those games had more interaction!), and only later did I learn this was a style of game called a Roguelike. I'm not a fan.

TheDomesticInstitution

08-20-2009, 06:24 PM

Apocalypse with Bruce Willis on the Playstation.

sebastiankirchoff

08-20-2009, 06:48 PM

Resistance: Fall of Man

The cover art looked awesome, and the screen shots were awesome, but I was not impressed with the game itself. It doesn't suck or anything, but it was dissapointing compared to other first person shooters I have played.

thom_m

08-20-2009, 07:20 PM

Heavy Nova. Although I DO like the game, I'm aware that it sucks. But I find the graphics to be awesome.

houstonlibrarian

08-20-2009, 07:24 PM

kupomogli

08-20-2009, 07:39 PM

Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army

I love RPGs and SMT, so picked up Devil Summoner. I mean the game had amazing prerenders and 3d character models, great music, and it was based off SMT so how could you really go wrong? The storyline was boring as hell, gameplay was terrible, and it's got the highest enemy encounter rate in any RPG I've played. Even Beyond the Beyond has a lower encounter rate(you don't get in battles literally everywhere you go either.)

I forced myself to play through this game to give it a chance. I should have gave the money to some homeless guy on the street to buy beer or crack. Atleast someone would have got somewhat of an enjoyment of the money even if having nothing to show for it.

Back to the Future for the NES

I loved the movie Back to the Future. When I was younger I had enough money for one game at the Flea Market. There were a few games I wanted to pick up, one was Destiny of an Emperor(which is what I should have got because the only two RPG games I had at the time were Dragon Warrior and FF.)

But I was like. Nah. It's Back to the Future. It's got to be good.

I think I played it for a day before I quit playing it for good. I never got past the restuarant part yet could repeatedly get up there without dying. I hated the game though. Went back to it the first time last year, got past the restuarant and was hoping to beat the game, but got way too bored of it and quit.

Everyone knows that Back to the Future sucks, but back then I didn't.

Steve W

08-20-2009, 07:48 PM

Heavy Nova. Although I DO like the game, I'm aware that it sucks. But I find the graphics to be awesome.
I bought that one used from a game rental place because it was cheap (maybe $8 or so). Wow, did that game blow. Absolutely stunning in it's sub-par mediocrity. And I believe that the company also put out a version on the Sega CD in Japan, which was the exact same lousy game but with redbook audio. Blah.

I had high hopes for Wild Metal on the Dreamcast. I remember reading a few good things about it in the Official Dreamcast Magazine. I bought it the first week it came out. Damn, that game was lousy. It's like an old computer 'artillery' game, where you have to change your declination and fire over and over to hit your target. But, make it mobile (with enemy tanks that aren't so hindered with your aiming scheme) and give it seriously bad graphics. Total suck-bomb.

cityside75

08-20-2009, 08:30 PM

Kid Ice

08-20-2009, 08:38 PM

I'll third Weaponlord and second Wild 9. Those are both games I rushed to the video store to rent. Both came with huge hype, both disappointing.

ScourDX

08-20-2009, 11:55 PM

Shaq-Fu. I remember read EGM and they were showing their blue screen props and actor doing some frame to frame shot. I thought it would be as great or better than Mortal Kombat. Boy I was wrong.

Nirvana

08-21-2009, 02:29 AM

Most of the Simpsons games. I thought Simpsons Wrestling looked cool but then I was like "God. This is awful."

ryborg

08-21-2009, 04:02 AM

I thought Simpsons Wrestling looked cool but then I was like "God. This is awful."

Why would you think that ANY Simpsons game would be good (aside from the awesome original arcade beat-em-up)? How many times will people continue to be burned by that franchise?

dao2

08-21-2009, 04:31 AM

machines 3d

tau firewarrior

septerra core (thankfully came packaged with the amazing awesomeness of shogo to counterbalance it's terribleness)

oni looked promising but ended up disliking it :(

Sniderman

08-21-2009, 05:59 AM

Interesting that two of my all-time favorite games are mentioned above. I'll let you figure out which ones they are. LOL

Hmmm... I'll jump in the Way Back Machine and say Sorcerer for the Atari. I mean, just look at this incredible cool label art:
http://www.atariage.com/2600/carts/c_Sorcerer_front.jpg

And it was a poorly programmed buggy crapfest. Ugh.... Fortunately it was $9.99 brand new (as all the Mythicon releases were) so it was budget crapware before there was such a thing.

Icarus Moonsight

08-21-2009, 06:54 AM

PN03 & Fatal Labyrinth? Oh my. O_O Actually enjoy playing them two once in a while.

Mine is not a 'dumb' game really, it was just introduced to me in a 'dumb' situation and the resolution was even worse. The first game we got with our 2600 back in '84 was Star Wars: Jedi Arena. Little kid, '84, new video game system, Star Wars... Needless to say, I was one psyched little kid... So we bring the stuff home. Only problem was, our system had only joysticks included (game requires paddles). So we sat there for IDK how long, trying to get this thing working... Finally, Dad called older neighbor kid. Kid came over. Identified the problem immediately. Since, by this time, stores had a 'no opened game return policy' in place the kid offered a mutually benefitial solution... Trade him the game for one of his that he was done with. Dad agreed. Kid came back with a loose copy of Pac-Man. Yeah, nice guy huh? LOL Dad liked it though, so it wasn't all bad at least. He came and woke me up late one night when he flipped the score and glitched the game. That's the best thing I got out of the whole experience, an awesome memory of my dad making a bad video game his bitch. :)

Gentlegamer

08-21-2009, 08:55 AM

Sword of Sodan

portnoyd

08-21-2009, 09:22 AM

(Weaponlord) The artwork RULED! I remember reading an old Gamepro preview, and thinking I had to have this game.

I'm glad I'm not alone. Gaming rags fellated Weaponlord constantly like it would change the face of fighting games forever. It sure seemed cool, but the only combo I could ever pull off was a 50 hit combo in the corner by spamming my jab button. Definitely one of the best examples of looks great, plays dumb.

Another weird thing was every issue of Gamepro I got during that stretch stunk. Don't ask me why but the paper smelled bad.

houstonlibrarian

08-21-2009, 09:33 AM

That Sorcerer game looks like the game from Big.

Flack

08-21-2009, 09:42 AM

Star Wars: Masters of Ter�s K�si.

"What could go wrong with a Star Wars fighting game?"

(Answer: Plenty.)

Kid Ice

08-21-2009, 12:25 PM

Star Wars: Masters of Ter�s K�si.

"What could go wrong with a Star Wars fighting game?"

(Answer: Plenty.)

I thought the concept of the game was bad (like hey, I'm just gonna fight without my light saber for the hell of it), but the fighting was okay. Definitely "looked cooler" than it was.

hellfire

08-21-2009, 12:33 PM

Why would you think that ANY Simpsons game would be good (aside from the awesome original arcade beat-em-up)? How many times will people continue to be burned by that franchise?

The simpsons hit and run is a great game

Swamperon

08-21-2009, 12:41 PM

Back to the Future is such a terrible game, it doesn't make any sense and has nothing to do with the movie.

Railroad Tycoon II. This was bought for me as a present. I generally like sim games, but I failed to see any real appeal of creating and running a rail system. You couldn't even make them crash in any real sense.

These days I research any game thoroughly before I buy it so it's rare that I'm fully disappointed by one.

Famidrive-16

08-21-2009, 03:14 PM

Most of the Simpsons games. I thought Simpsons Wrestling looked cool but then I was like "God. This is awful."

Yeah, this. The whole cel-shaded look was huge at the time so I bet a lot of people got suckered into this one.

I don't even know if I played it correctly. All I remember was that Flanders was insanely broken.

garagesaleking!!

08-21-2009, 03:26 PM

rampage world tour for gameboy

tom

08-21-2009, 03:27 PM

I liked Sword of Sodan, but only on Amiga

megasdkirby

08-21-2009, 03:45 PM

For me, it was Golden Axe for SMS.

Looked great...on a screenshot. But in game it was super jerky. Caused me plenty of headaches.

Ed Oscuro

08-21-2009, 04:59 PM

Painkiller

Er, I guess that's not a classic game yet, but it's disappointing the heck outta me all the same.

PentiumMMX

08-21-2009, 09:00 PM

Glover

I remember seeing a preview of this in Nintendo Power ages ago, though it looked cool, and eagerly awaited it's release. Fast-forward 2 years, and Movie Gallery finally has a copy available for rent, so I skipped renting Zelda: Majora's Mask (Which has just came out at that time) to finally try Glover.

All the coolness of playing as a glove was long gone when I started playing it; the controls where awkward, the stages where dull, and it had an insanely high difficulty level. I expected it to be fun, not make me want to take a sledgehammer to the cartridge.

CelticJobber

08-21-2009, 09:36 PM

I'm glad I'm not alone. Gaming rags fellated Weaponlord constantly like it would change the face of fighting games forever. It sure seemed cool, but the only combo I could ever pull off was a 50 hit combo in the corner by spamming my jab button. Definitely one of the best examples of looks great, plays dumb.

Another weird thing was every issue of Gamepro I got during that stretch stunk. Don't ask me why but the paper smelled bad.

I think one of the designers of Weaponlord was a former editor at GamePro, which might be explain why they hyped it so much.

And the only explanation I can think of for the smell you mentioned is many gaming mags from around mid-late 1995 contained a scratch & sniff ad for Earthbound that had some pretty bad odors.

smork

08-21-2009, 09:45 PM

Hmmm... I'll jump in the Way Back Machine and say Sorcerer for the Atari. I mean, just look at this incredible cool label art:

I got that one for Christmas, ughhhhh. It had some horrible, horrible music too, IIRC.

placebo

08-22-2009, 07:06 AM

Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD. I was so excited to get it, but man is it terrible. And don't rag on me for anticipating an FMV game. I was young! And Tex Murphy had inspired me so much!

Oddly enough, I too picked up Back to the Future on a whim years ago. I blame R. Zemeckis for making such a great movie. Speaking of, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was also a game I looked forward to playing, but could never figure out what to do in it. Except punch Roger in the face.

ActiveForce

08-22-2009, 02:17 PM

Pit Fighter for the Arcade was a lot better, try it...

Ryaan1234

08-22-2009, 02:43 PM

Frogger for the SNES. I love Frogger and I just can't believe how poorly ported this game was, especially considering it was released in 1998. It doesn't even have any music!! Without a doubt it is one of the WORST arcade ports ever released.
I've never played the SNES version, but I think the PS1 version is just icky. I guess that when you think about it "Frogger with 3D graphics on the PS1" sounds kinda cool, but sluggish controls and blocky, blurry graphics just ruined it. Perhaps it's the Worst. Port. Ever.

I don't even know if I played it correctly. All I remember was that Flanders was insanely broken.
Stupid broken Flanders.

(On a slightly related note I thought that Simpsons Hit & Run and The Simpsons Game are pretty good. I also thought that Simpsons Skateboarding was mediocre, but not too terrible. I do agree that Simpsons Wrestling was bad.)

Tupin

08-22-2009, 03:20 PM

Oh, and about Railroad Tycoon II: The best part of the game was the story mode, and that remains one of my favorite PC games to this day.

Steve W

08-22-2009, 08:10 PM

(On a slightly related note I thought that Simpsons Hit & Run and The Simpsons Game are pretty good. I also thought that Simpsons Skateboarding was mediocre, but not too terrible. I do agree that Simpsons Wrestling was bad.)
Simpsons Road Rage is a good one, too.

heybtbm

08-22-2009, 10:39 PM

Sword of Sodan

Oh, god yes. Don't forget Last Battle. Terrible, terrible game. The early Genesis days were a dangerous time if you based your purchases on box art and magazine screen shots only.

Kaboomer

08-22-2009, 10:48 PM

Wild 9 for Playstation. I was so excited for this game, as it was Shiny's next game after MDK which is still among my all time favorites. The screenshots looked cool, and the whole "rig" idea sounded fairly interesting, but the game ended up being pretty repetitive and boring. Plus, I hated the lame voiceovers of the main character.

God, I loved Wild 9. Dangling the dudes before their deaths and hearing their screams is something I will always remember from the Playstation days.

Kaboomer

08-22-2009, 10:53 PM

Ok. I am taking this back a few years. AstroChase looked absolutely awesome on the box art. And the intro screen was truly beautiful for its time. But then the game started and I remember being quite disappointed.

http://www.atariage.com/screenshot_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=607

darkslime

08-23-2009, 02:23 AM

topic title is ironic

HurricaneAndrew

08-23-2009, 03:59 AM

I think that its a well known fact that E.T. for Atari 2600 was probably the worst game ever, seeing as Atari actually recalled the "defective" cartridges and buried them in concrete in a California landfill. I played it once, and I can vouch for the fact that it is worth burying in concrete.

WelcomeToTheNextLevel

08-22-2018, 03:19 AM

Sonic '06. It looked like it was going to be good. The opening cutscene showed promise. But the game turned out to be a piece of canine fecal matter that disgraced the Sonic name.

If Sonic 2 on Genesis is 100 and Superman 64 is 0... Sonic '06 is about a 14. It's that bad.