games that you were reluctant to pick up, but now love?

[dethink]

SSX3 - just got it for $10 last night at FYE brand new for the 'cube, and while i HATED the PS2 original, i figured $10 to give it another shot and see if i somehow missed something the first time around wasn't a bad deal.

it's the only "boarding" (snow/skate/ski) game i've been able to get into besides the original 1080 and tony hawk, and i must say, for an EA game, it's *incredibly* well polished...somehow the BIG line seems to somehow avoid EA's mediocre tendencies once things got rolling, as NBA street 2 is equally excellent.

[joshnickerson]

Thinking back, I think the biggest game was Link's Awakening. I'd never played a Zelda game before, and I had never really given the series a second look. I much prefered Mario. But one day at school some kids were talking about the new Gameboy Zelda game, and I thought maybe it was worth checking out. A gameboy kiosk at the mall actually had it on the demo, and I played with it for a little bit. I liked it somewhat, so a few weeks later I bought it.

It pretty much STAYED in my Gameboy for months and months. I could probably play through the whole thing now with my eyes closed LOL
But yeah, Link's Awakening is what brought me into the incredible Zelda universe, and I've loved it ever since.

[slip81]

Phantasy Star 4. I had never played an RPG before and I wan't sure what to expect, or if I would even like it, but it turned out to be the game that made me love the genre.

[SoulBlazer]

Kingdom Hearts. I was so SURE I'd hate that game, as I had disliked Disney's previous games and thought a alliance between Square and Disney would get nowhere. But I finally picked up a used copy of the game, gave it the few hours that all RPG's require -- and fell in love with it.

[s1lence]

Kingdom Hearts: for sure, I didnt want it because I hate Disney. But my wife wanted it so I finally bought it, great game.


Final Fantasy X-2: I was thinking it would be too girly which it is, but it turns out that its a pretty good game.


Yoshi's Island: Sorry the game looked stupid, try to save Baby mario. Finally picked it up at the advice of a friend, another excellent game.


How about one I waited on and it sucked anyway, Red Dead Revolver

[jaybird]

Gradius V.

I'd never played a Gradius game until I picked up Gradius 3 for SNES about a month ago. That inspired me to try the new PS2 game which I'd passed over several times because it didn't look interesting.

I'm hooked now.

[Jasoco]

I don't know why, but when Wind Waker came out, I waited for months before I finally picked it up. When I did, I wished I had gotten it when it came out, actually, I wished I had pre-ordered it to get the bonus disc. I loved it to death. And I got a guide with it. I got it used. But it was totally worth the full price. Despite what a lot of Cel-hating graphics whores say.

The music was one of the greatest things. Hell, just as I typed this, the Ocean music popped into my head. Beautiful!

[SegaAges]

for me it would definately have to be ff10.

i hate rpg's and suck balls at them, but ff10 was pretty easy. well it got challenging later on, but i always have trouble starting off in rpg's, and this one made it pretty easy to do that. i don't play rpg's, because i suck at starting off, die too much, and give up.

i actually enjoyed playing ff10 alot

[MegaDrive20XX]

Sonic CD (Back in 2002)...I found the PC verison bundled with Sonic 3 and Knuckles Collection...I figured for $10 I couldnt argue...Found a PC that could run it...and I played for 15 minutes...the soundtrack is what got me the most...

I finally understood what every one was trying to tell me about this classic lol

[Dahne]

Metal Gear Solid.

Back then, RPGs were pretty much the only thing I played. Everybody gushed and gushed about how great this game was, but I was skeptical. Then I finally picked it up for, oh, I think $10.

And that's how I became a hopeless Kojima fangirl.

[klausien]

Sonic CD (Back in 2002)...I found the PC verison bundled with Sonic 3 and Knuckles Collection...I figured for $10 I couldnt argue...Found a PC that could run it...and I played for 15 minutes...the soundtrack is what got me the most...

I finally understood what every one was trying to tell me about this classic lol

If you are talking about the US version, you haven't had the true experience. The Japanese version has VASTLY superior music. The best track on the US version is probably the music for the Palmtree Panic Zone, Present. Don't get me wrong, the US version is still very cool and was the only version I had ever played up until this year, but we were definitely given the shaft.

Mp3's of the Japanese soundtrack can be found easily on the web. Check them out! It is even possible to insert them into the US version of the game, but I am not going to get into that for obvious reasons.

Great game. Sonic CD is probably the ultimate 2D Sonic. They pulled a fast one on everyone when it was left out of Sonic Jam and all the recent Mega Collections.

My addition to this thread is Neo Contra. I was nervous about the game after playing the demo (which is the worst stage in the game IMHO), but the real deal is absolutely excellent. I like it better than Shattered Soldier!

[jdc]

Recently....The Bard's Tale. It doesn't seem to be selling anywhere, just sitting on the shelves. Knowing that it was a comedic RPG, and being an RPG fan I bought it anyways....even though my friend who is also an RPG fan bought it and traded it in at a loss ASAP. What a great game.

There have been many surprises that have turned into favorites. Enter The Matrix and Star Wars Battlefront are two more.

[Ernster]

I'd have to say Mario Party 1 on N64. When I fist saw the game In a catalogue, I thought to myself "Mario Party? How gay is that!" Once I played it, all "gay" thoughts disappeared LOL

umm.....yeah @_@

[Mayhem]

Super Metroid. Didn't like the first one, passed on the rest until Prime was ready to come out. Then I got this. And... well I was busy the next 2-3 nights finishing it! And set me up nicely for the 3Dness...

[Icarus Moonsight]

I wanted to buy Phantasy Star SMS. My reluctance? At the time the only place I could find it was Toys R Us for $99.99. Waited almost 2 years before I bought a copy from them. By this time they had a Master System and TG-16 clearance going on. So I bought Phantasy Star & R-Type $9.99 each :D

Money has always kept me from buying games. I just can't reconcile $50 for a game even if it's great and new. 30-40 is the most I'll pay... I'm more loose when spending store credit however.

[Nesmaster]

once i picked up crystalis, i fell in love with it instantly. makes me wish id known about it years ago :)

[8bitnes]

Phantasy Star 4. I had never played an RPG before and I wan't sure what to expect, or if I would even like it, but it turned out to be the game that made me love the genre.

Do you remember how much you had to pay for Phantasy Star IV? I remember getting mine at Best Buy in Omaha for a ridiculously high price, but it was definitely worth it.

I really haven't had any surprises with buys being really outstanding, more often it is the other way. My least favorite purchase of a brand new game was Dark Savior for Saturn.

[kaustik]

Jet Grind Radio for the Dreamcast. A bad idea for a game turned to perfection. Picked that game up at the store more times than I can count and always got something different. Finally bought and still play it to this day.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Vagrant story. I think the only reason I bought the game was because it came with a demo disk of Chrono Cross and Legend of Mana. I ended up hatting those two games, but loving Vagrant Story, go figure.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Sonic CD (Back in 2002)...I found the PC verison bundled with Sonic 3 and Knuckles Collection...I figured for $10 I couldnt argue...Found a PC that could run it...and I played for 15 minutes...the soundtrack is what got me the most...

I finally understood what every one was trying to tell me about this classic lol

If you are talking about the US version, you haven't had the true experience. The Japanese version has VASTLY superior music. The best track on the US version is probably the music for the Palmtree Panic Zone, Present. Don't get me wrong, the US version is still very cool and was the only version I had ever played up until this year, but we were definitely given the shaft.

Mp3's of the Japanese soundtrack can be found easily on the web. Check them out! It is even possible to insert them into the US version of the game, but I am not going to get into that for obvious reasons.

Great game. Sonic CD is probably the ultimate 2D Sonic. They pulled a fast one on everyone when it was left out of Sonic Jam and all the recent Mega Collections.

Yup, I've heard the Japanese/European soundtrack...really ticks me off. Yet why would they change it for the USA? I know for a fact many other Sega CD titles were screwed and altered like Final Fight CD.

[anagrama]

I put off buying Space Channel 5 for a long time, having not played any rythmn-action games before (bar Samba), and hearing mixed impressions of it.
So, naturally, once I did find a cheap copy and picked it up, I discovered one of the most entertaining and stylish games I've played in recent years and it's now arguably my favourite DC game.

[Lady Jaye]

When I got my SNES in January 1997, there were two bundles available brand-new: one with Killer Instinct and one with Yoshi's Island. I wanted to get the one with Killer Instinct, but the Zellers I went to didn't have any left in stock. However, they did have the Yoshi's Island bundle. Which I reluctantly picked up (for some reason, even though I love the Mario series, I thought that Yoshi's Island was gonna be some little kids game, like a dumbed-down Mario game for the preschool set). Anyway, I did not regret it and it seems I was among the rare people who enjoyed that game before Nintendo re-released it on the GBA.

Another game that did not appeal to me until I picked up the demo was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. I didn't think much of skateboarding games, but the Mac demo of THPS2 (which was composed of the Hangar level with Tony Hawk only and only one music track) got me hooked like crazy!!! I just couldn't stop playing it (until I got the PS1 version).

Right now, I'm not that interested by the THUG games, but maybe if I tried out the first one I'll like it as much as the THPS series (or so I hope).

[atomicthumbs]

Thousand Arms for Playstation (now one of my favorite games ever)

Yoshi Story for Nintendo 64 (so cute it's sick. I usually play this after I get scared by something, like zombie flicks and nightmares about zombies)

Grand Theft Auto III for Playstation 2 (well, I didn't like the first ones at all, then my boss gave me a copy... HOOKED)

Tony Hawk's Underground for Dreamcast (thought it didn't look like a big deal, until I got addicted to the demo from ODCM)

Raid on Bungeling Bay for NES (back in the day I tried talking my brother out of getting it, but now it's one of my favorite NES games)

[Jasoco]

Super Mario Sunshine..

I didn't get it until earlier this year. Just before it dropped from $30 to $20. (Go figure.)

Needless to say, I enjoyed it a lot. Wished I had gotten it before, but was happy to save money by waiting. But it was better than I thought it'd be. So I'm not disappointed at all. And the music is pretty good too. (Except when Yoshi's Drum kicks in. WAY TOO LOUD!) Though, about Yoshi, what's with the bullshit that they don't like water? That really bugs me.

[max 330 mega]

i guess for me it would have been snatcher, i wasn't that reluctant to buy it, because i knew it was really rare, but i really didnt think i was gonna like it because i hate long games...
it is now one of my favorite games ever.

[o2william]

Zanac. For some reason, when I first saw screenshots of this game way back in my early NES gaming days, I decided it wouldn't be very good. I don't know why... maybe because the backgrounds are so plain. Then when I found out it was developed by Compile, I changed my tune. Finally got it at CGE this year, and sure enough, it's a darn fine game.