Best Gamecube games that were not that popular?

[Captain_N77]

Since it seems some people are discounting certain games from the discussion by whether they were obscure or not, just remember that the topic is asking for games that "were not that popular". That doesn't mean a game HAS to be obscure or rare, just not that popular.

@Tron 2.0: Yeah, Capcom threw alot into making a VJ a success(think I mentioned that). Do you remember when they had a Viewtiful Joe pro wrestler wrestling at some smaller pro wrestling shows in Japan? Pretty unique way to push a game, eh? Talk about thinking outside the box haha.

@Schiggidyd: I mentioned Cubivore and I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers it. Very fun and about as unique as they come. How many other games have a dedicated "poop" button...

@RCM: Beach Spikers! That was a fun one too. I don't think I got as good a deal as you did though. I think I paid 20 clams for mine and I consider that a very fair price for it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

While the PS2's Galactic Wrestling Featuring Ultimate Muscle featured superior roster and modes, any fan of arcade style wrestling games and N64 WWE games like Wrestlemania and No Mercy (those were developed by the same company as this game) should enjoy:

Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E Legends Vs. New Generation

It's like No Mercy crossed with Dragon Ball Z fight scenes.

It's awesome fun at parties, it's pretty button mashy for a wrestling game.

[Schiggidyd]

I'm not going to read through all these posts,

METAL ARMS: GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM.

If it wasn't mentioned, it should be!

And another one..I can't remember it's name. You create a hero and design it down to it's walk, adventure and gain new possibilities.. It was awesome!

[A Black Falcon]

Since it seems some people are discounting certain games from the discussion by whether they were obscure or not, just remember that the topic is asking for games that "were not that popular". That doesn't mean a game HAS to be obscure or rare, just not that popular.

Sure, but games that are not that popular are probably going to be obscure, and games that are obscure are probably not going to be popular outside of a niche (if that). I mean, stuff like Zelda WW, Timesplitters, Baten Kaitos (the first one), Eternal Darkness, etc, etc, those games were both popular and successful. Sure, WW and ED both were somewhat controversial (some people dislike them for sure), but they sold well and were popular, successful games.

And yeah, Godzilla: DAMM did do quite well. I remember it being popular as well. As for Ikaruga, that is one which did well for its niche, but I could see maybe mentioning it here because that niche was pretty small. So while it did fine for what it is, what it is is quite niche. FF:CC... it did okay, but yeah, Square and Nintendo were probably hoping for more. I think that the GBA-link-only multiplayer held it back, among other things; as I said earlier, the other major GBA-link game, Zelda FSA, also didn't do great. I think that Zelda FSA is a better game than FFCC, but FFCC is good as well. Finally though, Bloody Roar... hmm. On the one hand, sure, it's not a big hit or anything. However, it WAS notable as one of the only 3d fighting games on the Gamecube; basically, there was Bloody Roar, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance and Deception, and Soul Calibur II, and that was about it for major, traditional-style GC 3d fighters... of course of those Bloody Roar: Primal Fury was the least successful and least well known of them, but anyone following GC fighting games surely cared. As for Viewtiful Joe, I don't know exactly how well it did, but it has to have done okay, at least, given that it got a sequel and a PS2 port. P.N.03 didn't get either of those things, which says something about how much worse it obviously sold.

As for other games that have been mentioned here, I agree that Metal Arms is fantastic. Play that game for sure. A lot of the other ones though... yeah, I'm not a fan of, for instance, Mega Man Network Transmission. It's just not that fun... I've heard that it supposedly gets better (and easier) later on, but there's a huge difficulty curve right at the beginning, and it's absolutely no fun with how absurdly many shots it takes to kill anything. And special weapons are very limited.

Oh, yeah, Cubivore's got to be a perfect title for a list like this.

I might be alone on this one, but I really liked Space Raiders. It is a simple space invaders type game, but it has an added feature that improved the power of your gun the more times you make successive hits without missing. This adds a new gameplay element the improves what would have otherwise been a pretty bland game. The game also offers a good challenge for us old school gamers. It is the kind of game that you play for 20 mins., put down, and then try to improve at later. The game isn't made of gold by any means, but definitely worth $5 or so.

Space Raiders? I'll agree with the prevailing opinion on this one, I played through it but didn't enjoy it much. It's so tediously repetitive, there are a whole lot of much better static screen shooters out there. So much button mashing too...

Although not too "obscure," I really recommend Alien Hominid. It is a balls hard run-n-gun like Metal Slug. Some of the enemy designs and bosses are really creative, like a literal Russian Hammer and Sickle robot.

I got this game when it came out and had somewhat high hopes for it, but it disappointed me. I mean, it is a good game, and if you like Contra or Metal Slug and find it cheap, absolutely get it. But is it as good as any of the actual Metal Slug games? No, it really isn't. And it's got limited continues, too, which makes finishing it quite difficult... sure you can save, but once you're far into the game with like two lives left... yeah, good luck. And I don't think the game's balanced quite as well as the Metal Slug games are, either, which doesn't help there either. So yeah, it's okay to good, but it's no equal to Metal Slug.

Bomberman Jetters was pretty decent and doesn't get talked about much.

Bomberman Generation and Bomberman Jetters -- the two are nearly identical, so I think they should be listed together -- are very average Bomberman games. I think that they're a far cry from the greatness of Bomberman 64 on the N64, or even Bomberman Hero in their single player modes. The single player's just nothing special. The level designs are bland, the gameplay is bland, and the cutseyness is a bit overdone, and I like Kirby games. They are solid multiplayer games, though; the multiplayer is classic Bomberman stuff, so there are no true 3d arenas like you'll find in Bomberman 64, but at least it is a solid version of classic Bomberman. But the single player... yeah, I'd rather play the N64 games for sure.

Pac-man Vs. is also a great party game if you have 4 controllers, a GBA and a link cable. Miyamoto supposedly helped with its development. Players holding the GBA can see the whole screen as Pac-man, while the other players play as ghosts and can only see a small portion of the screen. Hopefully upcoming Wii-U games will employ similar features. Don't get this one if you don't have friends though.

Literally don't, because Pac-Man Vs. has no single player mode. But yeah, it is a fun little multiplayer game.

Of course, one of the most common ways to get it is the Pac-Man World 2/Pac-Man Vs. combo pack, so it's not too hard to find along with a single player game too. My copy though actually came in a copy of R Racing Evolution... yes, it was included in some copies of that as well.

[Captain_N77]

@A Black Falcon: Agreed, obscure games are by their definition not very popular. However, a game does not need to be obsucre to not be a very popular game.

Baten Kaitos and ED were not popular games. Almost any time ED is mention, you're bound to hear someone mourn the fact that it did not sell well. It was expected to be a hit and just did not have legs. As has already been mentioned here, not too long after it's release it was heavily discounted and copies were laying around on shelves for a long time.

As for Baten Kaitos, like any JRPG that is not Final Fantasy, and to a lesser extent, Tales or DQ, it's bound to not sell too well in the West. It was not a popular game by any means. If you participate in gaming enthusiasts circles like you and I, it's easy to think that a quality game like BK or ED did well because of all of the praise they receive; looking at their sales performance often tells a different story.

Concerning VJ, and I know some will question this about BK as well, and the fact that it received a sequel, that does not equate to being very popular. Often times, especially in the past, devs will stick with a franchise they believe has potential even if the original didn't meet their expectations. The big plus about making a sequel(on the same platform/console gen) is they can re-use many of those assets from the original game, thereby cutting the dev cost of the sequel.

Very true that VJ was ported to the PS2, but that is not an indication that it was a hit(in this case). Remember that VJ was one of the big "Capcom Five" exclusives for the GameCube. The fact that it was ported so quickly to the PS2 points to it not meeting expectations. Furthermore, the PS2 ports were also heavily discounted as well. VJ did OK at best, and was not up to expectaions.

You couldn't be more right about PN03, that was a huge bomb. It was not a critical success either, as VJ was.

I'm certainly not hating on these games, as VJ and ED are two of my favorite games of that gen. It's just that one thing that I have done for a long time is follow the actual sales of video games, and neither VJ or ED did very well. I think the whole point of the thread(unless I am wayyyy off), is wanting to know some good games that weren't big hits, like the Mario and Zelda games, or even non-Nintendo hits like Rogue Squadron, Sonic, or Soul Calibur.

[A Black Falcon]

@A Black Falcon: Agreed, obscure games are by their definition not very popular. However, a game does not need to be obsucre to not be a very popular game.

Baten Kaitos and ED were not popular games. Almost any time ED is mention, you're bound to hear someone mourn the fact that it did not sell well.

It didn't really sell poorly, though. It sold okay.

It was expected to be a hit and just did not have legs. As has already been mentioned here, not too long after it's release it was heavily discounted and copies were laying around on shelves for a long time.

As for Baten Kaitos, like any JRPG that is not Final Fantasy, and to a lesser extent, Tales or DQ, it's bound to not sell too well in the West. It was not a popular game by any means. If you participate in gaming enthusiasts circles like you and I, it's easy to think that a quality game like BK or ED did well because of all of the praise they receive; looking at their sales performance often tells a different story.

I really disagree about directly comparing these two, no. Baten Kaitos did okay for a JRPG in the US, and scored okay scores, but ED sold much better, and scored much higher as well. ED is often mentioned as a very good game. You quite underrate how successful and popular the game was. Are you listening too much to Silicon Knights' critics, or something? Most of them hate SK more for Too Human and some of the things Dyack has said than for ED...

Concerning VJ, and I know some will question this about BK as well, and the fact that it received a sequel, that does not equate to being very popular. Often times, especially in the past, devs will stick with a franchise they believe has potential even if the original didn't meet their expectations. The big plus about making a sequel(on the same platform/console gen) is they can re-use many of those assets from the original game, thereby cutting the dev cost of the sequel.

Very true that VJ was ported to the PS2, but that is not an indication that it was a hit(in this case). Remember that VJ was one of the big "Capcom Five" exclusives for the GameCube. The fact that it was ported so quickly to the PS2 points to it not meeting expectations. Furthermore, the PS2 ports were also heavily discounted as well. VJ did OK at best, and was not up to expectaions.

If VJ had not sold decently well, that sequel and port probably would not have happened. That's how the industry works. And then obviously the second one did alright too, because they then made two more, the DS game and the fighting game. That they then abandoned the franchise says that sales must have been declining at that point.

You couldn't be more right about PN03, that was a huge bomb. It was not a critical success either, as VJ was.

Really too bad. I think it's a much better game, myself. I mean, VJ is okay, but I don't love it. I did love PN03.

I'm certainly not hating on these games, as VJ and ED are two of my favorite games of that gen. It's just that one thing that I have done for a long time is follow the actual sales of video games, and neither VJ or ED did very well. I think the whole point of the thread(unless I am wayyyy off), is wanting to know some good games that weren't big hits, like the Mario and Zelda games, or even non-Nintendo hits like Rogue Squadron, Sonic, or Soul Calibur.

I'd put ED on the list with those titles, though... not VJ however. ED is widely considered to be one of the Gamecube's best games, after all. VJ isn't. VJ is generally considered to be good, but not quite on that level.

[retro junkie]

I'll second Wario World, and also add Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Chibi Robo, Custom Robo and P.N.03 (Although I may be the only person on the planet who liked it. ). If you're counting multi-platform stuff, I'd also include Killer 7, the TimeSplitters games, and Beyond Good and Evil, among others.

I love P.N.03. I really never understood why all the bad press that it got. This is the game that I thought of when I started reading this thread.

[Captain_N77]

@Black Falcon: ED did okay? So it would obviously qualify for this thread. This thread is not confined to obscure games, just not very popular games. How can a game that sold (at best)okay be considered too successful for a "not so popular" thread?

About comparing ED and BK, I'm not comparing them directly. I'm only stating that neither game was very popular, and can easily qualify as being "not so popular" for this thread.

ED was NOT a big seller by any stretch of the imagination. You're looking at a N American total of 400k-ish. That is not a good total for a game with a substantial budget and push. That would be a good total for a smaller project or a budget game.

BK might have sold a few hundred thousand in N America. That's not bad, but it's certainly not popular. I agree when you said it "did ok for a JRPG in the US".

What I disagree with is when you said BK and ED were "both popular and successful". ED is widely known for not selling well. BK may have done well enough for a (1)JRPG (2) in the west (3) that's not a Final Fantasy game (4) on the third place console that gen. But that is like making a general statement about Ikaruga being popular just because it performed well for it's tiny niche market in that region.

Am I listening to SK's critics too much? I'm not listening to SK's critics at all, as they have nothing to do with whether this game sold well or not. ED did NOT sell well. Any criticism or praise for SK has nothing to do with whether the game did well or not.

VJ received sequels for a few probable reasons. Firstly, as I said before, Capcom really believed in the product and it's obvious they wanted to build a franchise with it. Secondly, if you look at the release schedule of the first and second games, it seems highly likely that Capcom immediately began work on the sequel after the original game was finished, They did not take a wait and see approach with it(this harkens back to what I said about them believing in the product and wanting it to be a new franchise). Thirdly, the first game probably turned a profit for them. That does not mean the game was very popular, it just means it turned a profit. Lastly, as I said before, they could re-use many of the assets from the first game for the sequel, thus cutting dev costs.

The VJ DS game and the VJ fighting game were obviously not big projects. Like the two main VJ games, they quickly found their way to the bargain bins. Unfortunate, but true.

If you want, you can look up Capcom's 2004 Annual Report; many times it mentions VJ as "struggling" or performing below expectations and that the sequel is already under way during that time.

Again, I follow the sales of video games and have done so for years. I was actively checking the sales data for games when these games hit the market. I was active in forums when these games (ED and VJ) were under-performing and seeing all of the chiding and excuses made for their lack of success.

[Edmond Dantes]

... I'm surprised that this topic is still in Classic gaming. Can a mod move it, please?

[A Black Falcon]

@Black Falcon: ED did okay? So it would obviously qualify for this thread. This thread is not confined to obscure games, just not very popular games. How can a game that sold (at best)okay be considered too successful for a "not so popular" thread?

About comparing ED and BK, I'm not comparing them directly. I'm only stating that neither game was very popular, and can easily qualify as being "not so popular" for this thread.

ED was NOT a big seller by any stretch of the imagination. You're looking at a N American total of 400k-ish. That is not a good total for a game with a substantial budget and push. That would be a good total for a smaller project or a budget game.

Quite reasonable sales, considering that it's a game very different from the usual, stereotyped Nintendo title... that obviously held it back. People expect Nintendo's games do be a certain thing, and games like ED, or Conker on the N64, aren't that... and they don't sell as well as a result. Another casualty of that was Geist, but that was nowhere near the game ED is, and didn't sell anywhere near as much I'm sure, so it obviously isn't remembered nearly as well.

BK might have sold a few hundred thousand in N America. That's not bad, but it's certainly not popular. I agree when you said it "did ok for a JRPG in the US".

This I agree with. I do know that BK sold less than Tales of Symphonia did in the US, but it's BK that got the sequel on the GC, while that Tales team's next game, Abyss, ended up PS2 only, unfortunately. I was annoyed about that at the time, because I liked Symphonia but not BK... but because ToS had sold better on PS2 in Japan than on GC, they didn't release another GC Tales. Disappointing.

Oh, Baten Kaitos Origins was a legitimate bomb. That game sold quite badly. Of course, other 2006 GC games like Chibi-Robo and Odama also didn't sell great. (Chibi-Robo is alright, but not my favorite game. Odama... I love the concept and gameplay, but it's just too hard!)

What I disagree with is when you said BK and ED were "both popular and successful". ED is widely known for not selling well. BK may have done well enough for a (1)JRPG (2) in the west (3) that's not a Final Fantasy game (4) on the third place console that gen. But that is like making a general statement about Ikaruga being popular just because it performed well for it's tiny niche market in that region.

Am I listening to SK's critics too much? I'm not listening to SK's critics at all, as they have nothing to do with whether this game sold well or not. ED did NOT sell well. Any criticism or praise for SK has nothing to do with whether the game did well or not.

ED sold okay. Its sales were not bad and were nowhere near as big of an issue as you suggest, and no, I don't think that its supposedly poor sales are one of the top things people remember about the game. The game itself, the things it does right (most of the game, in my opinion), and the things some people dislike about it (such as the "run around to refill mana" system), are. The game finishes very high on most "best games of the Gamecube" lists. You're trying to tell me that a game that you'll often find in Gamecube top ten lists -- heck, often top fives -- is a failure that most people remember for selling poorly? That's just absurd! Under no circumstances could a game remembered that well be considered "not that popular".

So sure, I'm not arguing much about what you say about BK -- I think it was a moderate success for its genre, but not a big success like Tales of Symphonia was (note that ToS on GC is by far the best selling Tales game in the US, I'm pretty sure.) -- but you're wrong about ED. I mean, seriously. Sure, ED didn't quite sell to expectations. But nor did it sell disastrously, either. It sold well enough to do, and a lot of the people who played it (of which there were a good number) liked it a lot.

VJ received sequels for a few probable reasons. Firstly, as I said before, Capcom really believed in the product and it's obvious they wanted to build a franchise with it. Secondly, if you look at the release schedule of the first and second games, it seems highly likely that Capcom immediately began work on the sequel after the original game was finished, They did not take a wait and see approach with it(this harkens back to what I said about them believing in the product and wanting it to be a new franchise). Thirdly, the first game probably turned a profit for them. That does not mean the game was very popular, it just means it turned a profit. Lastly, as I said before, they could re-use many of the assets from the first game for the sequel, thus cutting dev costs.

The VJ DS game and the VJ fighting game were obviously not big projects. Like the two main VJ games, they quickly found their way to the bargain bins. Unfortunate, but true.

If you want, you can look up Capcom's 2004 Annual Report; many times it mentions VJ as "struggling" or performing below expectations and that the sequel is already under way during that time.

Again, I follow the sales of video games and have done so for years. I was actively checking the sales data for games when these games hit the market. I was active in forums when these games (ED and VJ) were under-performing and seeing all of the chiding and excuses made for their lack of success.

The point is, the game obviously did well enough to reach a level of popularity. VJ was not an unpopular game. Could it have sold better? Sure. But it wasn't a failure, or they wouldn't have continued the series.

[PapaStu]

Classic Gaming? NOSE.

Modern Gaming? YESH.

**Shimmy**

[duffmanth]

I don't think it was an overly popular game, but Wrestlemania X8 was pretty much the sole reason I bought a GameCube.

[susonjoy]

Baten Katos is the game which is very interesting but not that much popular. It is the game of role playing video game with the puzzle elements. They were moments where I enjoyed the game play. Its really quite interesting game, I like this game a lot.

[duffmanth]

I enjoyed Beachspikers Volleyball, it was actually a really fun game...