What Games Are Overrated to You? Underrated?

[o2william]

Underrated:
Jaws (NES) - Fun in an Atari 2600 kind of way

Deadly Towers (NES) - Super challenging at first, but if you play it carefully, it actually gets pretty easy (and fun) about halfway through

E.T. (2600) - OK, it has its flaws, but people treat it like it murdered their mother or something, and it just ain't that bad. It's actually decent if you have the skill to avoid falling in the pits.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!

Plus, the entire Odyssey2 library.

Overrated:
Populous (PC) - Complete snoozefest for me.

I haven't played it enough to be sure, I'm kinda thinking Katamari Damacy (PS2) is overrated. Charming, but it didn't "grab" me, at least not yet. Will I be excommunicated from DP for this?

I'm having a similar problem with Kingdom Hearts (PS2). Walk around, mash buttons to kill monsters, watch long cutscene, repeat. Seems kinda tedious. Cool concept though. I really want to see KH2 for the Tron segments, but if the gameplay hasn't been improved, I'll have a hard time bringing myself to spend the money.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!

My thing is: how many people decided they didn't like it after finding out about the game's origins? It may seem like a silly question, but I've actually known people who suddenly went from "eh, I kinda liked it" to "argh, I actively hate it" when they found out it wasn't originally a Mario game.

[Fighter17]

Overrated: Radiant Silvergun (Saturn) and GTA: Vice City and onwards.

Underrated: Ranger X (Genesis)

[The Shawn]

Overated:Final Fantasy Series
Overated:Grand theft Auto Series
Underated Game:Oddworld Strangers Wrath

Not that they are'nt fun to play

[Jumpman Jr.]

I'm not sure if this game could be labelled as underated per se, but not very many people have played it so it's not as popular as I think it should be.
Personally, I think that Battletoads & Double Dragon on the NES is one of the best games for the console. Definitely, a lot more people have played this game on the SNES, and I actually do not think that the SNES pushes this game very far. It's something about the NES version that I think is really good. It might have something to do with the old school feel of Battletoads and Double Dragon put into one, that the SNES would just ruin.

[Lady Jaye]

Earthbound is overrated to me.

[Push Upstairs]

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - Many people like it, but many don't because it didn't start out as a true Mario game and the gameplay reflects that. But I love it!

I like it.

The music is quite catchy and it will forever remind me of getting sick over x-mas break in 1991.

[Moo Cow]

Earthbound is overrated to me.

Me too.
It's an ok game, and I'd pick it up if I saw it in a bargain bin, but it certainly didn't warrant him being in Super Smash Bros. Meelee

[Sparkster]

I'm resurrecting this thread to express how much I've hated Final Fantasy (NES) and Final Fantasy 2 (SNES). I played FF1 years ago to see what the fuss was about. I'm trying FF2 because I hear FF3 is a masterpiece, and I may as well do them in order.

Well, I'm just not into it. I've gotten pretty far thanks to my boundless persistence. But this also includes trying to break my controller in half and screaming into pillows.

I thought video games were supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not so stressfully frustrating that you have a headache. I'm going to continue to try to finish FF2, but once that's done, I probably won't be playing it ever again, I hate it that much.

And to other overrated games... I hate almost all sports games. Not because almost all lot sales include a few of them which you already have, but I just don't find them that fun. Even when I'm drunk and winning, I get very little enjoyment out of sports games, especially NHL, and I'm a huge hockey fan. I suppose it's the lack of accomplishment that bothers me. You can win, but all it gives you is temporary bragging rights.

Underrated... most of my faves are rated fairly appropriately. Ones that I love that don't get the recognition: GI Joe (NES), Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (NES), Human Cannonball (2600).

[j_factor]

Overrated:

Conker's Bad Fur Day - Sub-par platformer that only got attention for its curse words and poop jokes. Seriously, a cartoon squirrel talking about getting drunk and taking a shit really isn't that funny.

Myst - I like a lot of adventure games, but Myst just about put me to sleep. One of the most mind-numbing games I've ever played.

Super Mario 64 - I still don't get the big deal about this game. The level design is repetitive and sucky, the camera is atrocious, the boss battles suck ass, and the whole idea of collecting stars is just lame game design. I know its 3D-ness was important at the time, but seriously, even Bug! and Alpha Waves did a better job of bringing platformers to the third dimension.

Sonic Adventure - Sonic should not be in an adventure game. The adventure parts were boring, the camera was crap, the non-Sonic gameplay was decent to horrible (Big the Cat especially sucked), and I was annoyed at the framerate of 30fps. Some smart level design and an appealing plot don't save it from mediocrity.

Half-Life - Not horrible by any means, but it gets too many heaps of praise. A lot of the things it is praised for are no big deal IMO. People said it was immersive and involving, but I didn't find it to be so. The environments lacked interaction and you don't really get to make any game-affecting decisions. It also had some really lame level design, taking place in very generic locations.

Underrated:

SiN - I first played Half-Life right after playing SiN. I was not impressed with Half-Life, and I still think SiN is amazing.

Dragon's Lair 3D - Aside from some control issues, I found this game to be very engaging and extremely fun. I don't really get what everyone else's problem with this game was.

Fatal Rewind / The Killing Game Show - One of the most intense action games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

Gain Ground - It moves slow, but mentally, this game is fast-paced. Easily one of the most addictive games ever made, to me.

Liberation: Captive II - Way ahead of its time. It's hard to believe that this game came out when people thought Star Fox was impressive. The gameplay is very involving and complex. Innovative in a number of ways, and the plot is pretty interesting too.

[Press_Start]

Overrated:
Resident Evil 4 (GC, Wii, PS2) - The game was good, but it went more action-adventure than horror since it didn't scare me as much. On top of that, ganados and zealots designs weren't nearly cool as the zombies and monsters of previous resident evil titles (with the exemption of a few).

Final Fantasy 12 (PS2) - The game was an advertisement for FF 11. The story was bland. The gameplay wasn't that much different than MMORPGs (real or pseudo). It's another sinking stone in Square's decline as try to hopelessly prove that graphics will pawn all games.

Underrated

I have so many underrated classics and modern games that I can't keep with the names in my mind. But from the top of my head...

The Guardian Legend (NES) - The biggest sleeper on the NES. A game combining Zelda's exploration, Metroid's female-like leading role, Megaman's assortment-like weapons, and the action-packed adrenline rush of shmup games. It's an experience like no other as you journey through the maze-like corridors, riddled monsters and robots, of the planet-like spaceship, Naju, for the seals of a self-destruction bomb to prevent a collision course with Earth.

Vagrant Story (PS1) - Square's sleeper hit for the Playstation. This is what FF 11 and 12 should have been modeled after. It combines RPG elements, such as, great story, interchangable weapons, and good-old monster bashing, and action-adventure elements, such as exploration, jumping, and intense fighting. As well as adding new elements with triggered and counter abilities and selecting which part of the body to strike. Coupled with graphics that rivaled even some PS2 games.

[CosmicMonkey]

Overrated: GTA 3, and all its sequels; The Halo series and the Final Fantasy series.

[carlcarlson]

Overrated: Sonic games on the Genesis. I have never been able to get into them. Sonic's whole thing is speed, but you can't really go fast and expect to do well. It feels very awkward to me.

Earthbound. I think it's very cool in that it takes a "normal" setting and makes it into a quirky rpg, but I found it to be very repetitive and bland after 10+ hours. I am proud to have it in my collection, and remember my first few hours in it very fondly, but ultimately I don't think it's as good as everyone says it is.

Halo series. I thought Halo was an excellent shooter, and have played through it twice. I thought the beginning of Halo 2 was great, but quickly became disappointed with the rest. I recently played the beginning of Halo 3 and felt like I was basically playing Halo 1 again. It's just not doing it for me.

Underrated.

ToeJam and Earl games for Genesis. I know these get some love in the hardcore crowd, but not nearly enough people know abou these games. I think the first one is incredibly original, and the second one is one of the best sequels I've ever played, expanding on the original in almost every way to make it better.

Little Samson for NES. Again, this gets some hardcore love, but not enough. I think this is one of the most impressive NES games there is in almost every area. The graphics are great, the music is wonderful, and the play vareity is top notch. It can be a bit easy, but I love it. It's a nice change of pace from almost every other NES game.

[RASTAN]

overrated

Halo - its pretty fun single player and co-op, but come on... I can't believe how into this game people get

Took the words right out of my mouth.


QFT

[Graham Mitchell]

Underrated: Somebody already said it, but I have to second Deadly Towers. That game is universally shit on. I was unaware there was a problem with it until about 2004. Now, thanks to Seanbaby, every time that game comes up people talk about how horrible it is. I'd venture that, at the time of it's release, it really was among the most immersive, lengthy, and challenging NES games around. In addition, it has some interesting visuals (I love seeing all the windows and broken staircases--I used to wonder what was behind all the windows or the prison cells) and a GREAT soundtrack.

Iron Tank for the NES is also underrated. Anything Ikari Warriors did Iron Tank does 10 times better. It's even got non-linear gameplay. Why don't people rave about this? I consider it a must-own NES title.

Overrated: In trying to come up with something non-stereotypical, the best I can come up with is Sonic the Hedgehog. It's fucking hard. Malignantly, punitively hard. I find i hard because the game's focus is all out of whack. The whole advertising blitz pushed the concept of speed, and it's easy to get going fast in any of the Sonic games. But then there's all the rewards you get from collecting rings, and collecting rings requires that you take your time and meticulously get every ring you can. And, since 1 hit will effective take away EVERY RING YOU COLLECTED, running through the levels blindly is ill advised. In fact, if you want to get the proper ending, you MUST play slowly and carefully. The whole supposed gimmick that Sonic had over Mario was the speed, yet the game punishes you over and over again for zipping through the levels. Yuji Naka, make up your friggin' mind. Are we supposed to zoom or go slow and explore? If the goal really is to go slow and explore (which I believe is the case due to the chaos emerald system), that means Sonic is incredibly difficult to control. That's flawed game design right there.

[j_factor]

Overrated: In trying to come up with something non-stereotypical, the best I can come up with is Sonic the Hedgehog. It's fucking hard. Malignantly, punitively hard.

That's funny, I always thought Sonic was a little overrated, but for the opposite reason -- it's too easy IMO.

[Slate]

Overrated:

Most sports games out there - I don't get it. Why play them? Maybe It's because I'm only interested in a few sports. Football isn't one of them.

Halo Trilogy - I don't see why people like these games. They're just regular (and overhyped) shooters with some nice graphics and almost no story or strategy involved. It is mostly get to point A to point B and there are a few boss battles but nothing interesting and no puzzle solving. If I want something similar to this, I'll take Doom 3.

Underrated:

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - I highly Disagree with what reviewers have said about this. Sure the characters are ugly, What do you expect? An ex mercenary and a psychopath. The game is supposed to be a bit more realistic, Unlike some games these days. And there are some insane parts in this game too, But they aren't so crazy that they can't be "real".

Vampire Rain - At first I didn't like it because I couldn't figure out how to get past the first enemy, But that was absurdly simple after I figured out what to do. After the first few levels it is a good game that takes Patience and Thinking because if you mess up you have to do it again. Not from the beginning of the level but not from 5 seconds where you last were either. I think it deserves at least a 7 out of 10.

[cosmicpsycho]

there are way too many overrated games for me to think of right now. as far as underrated.....
lester the unlikely-snes
space ace-snes
skullmonkeys-ps1

yes i like really quirky games.

[Dire 51]

Iron Tank for the NES is also underrated. Anything Ikari Warriors did Iron Tank does 10 times better. It's even got non-linear gameplay. Why don't people rave about this? I consider it a must-own NES title.

*applauds*

I was just playing it today... it's been a favorite of mine for years. Indeed, Iron Tank needs some more love.

on a side note: ever play the arcade game TNK III?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

While I have yet to play Halo 3, I've always found Halo and Halo 2 (which I did play a fairly extensive amount of on the original XBOX) to be generally over-rated.

I'm not saying the games "sucked" ... in fact, they're very compitent, and technically sound titles deserving of well above average critical scoring.

I just don't quite understand the "mass appeal" that they seem to have garnered (especially amongst non-gamers and non-FPS enthusiasts) over the years.

As far as FPS games go, they didn't to THAT much to advance the genre except bring that elusive sense of "cultural awareness" and "synonimity" (the same way people say "kleenex" instead of tissue, and "xerox" instead of photocopy) that no other FPS before it ... except DOOM maybe, has been able to.