Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Games that should have been great, but weren't

Holy crap, I think this is the longest it's ever taken me to think up a subject! Two hours of pondering end with me simply glancing at a poster on the wall and having an idea appear! My mind is certainly a weird piece of work...



Ever look at a preview for a game, thinking it sounds like the greatest thing ever, only to play it later on and find out it just isn't that good? Sadly, this seems to happen all too often. Here are a few recent games that failed to live up to their potential.

Red Steel


Take one part gunpowder, add one part katana sword fights and stir in two parts of Japanese culture, and the result should be great. Sadly, this isn't the case with Red Steel. Running and gunning your way through swarms of Japanese bodyguards should be a thrill, but it gets stale very quickly. And the katana fights are way too slow paced. Swing, block, wait, swing, block, wait... It just feels nothing like one would expect from a skirmish between two men wielding ancient Japanese blades. It should be SLASH, CLANG, SLASH SLASH CLANG! Real fast paced and hectic, with sparks flying everywhere. Instead, it feels more like a messed up game of rock-paper-scissors than any swordfight I've ever seen.

It's really sad how this game turned out, and I can only hope that Ubisoft takes all the time they need with Red Steel 2.

Odama
(PS, that's "Odama", not "Obama", as is parodied in this mock-up box art by Go Nintendo reader musicguy)


Some of you may think "Pinball? Feudal Japan? Giant head on a spider's body? What the heck?", but when I first saw this previewed in an old Nintendo Power, I actually thought "Wow, this could be really awesome!". Seriously, doesn't shouting commands at a group of soldiers while beating away enemies with a giant pinball sound just so crazy that it's good? In theory, yes. In practice... Not so much. The voice recognition was terrible at best, and it was all too easy to accidentally wipe out your own troops with one false move. Seriously, pinballs are way too inaccurate and erratic to be used strategically. Winning a round in this game felt more like luck than skill.

Maybe someday somebody will answer the screams of the masses with a decent feudal Japan/pinball/anthropomorphic piece of software. Someday...

Spectrobes


Leading up to it's release, I was incredibly hyped for Spectrobes. A little bit of Pokemon, a touch of Digimon, and a sprinkle of card collecting... It all sounded like a great combination. And, in truth, these parts all did come together fairly well. The problem is, very little else did. It was too easy, even for it's intended audience, the Wi-Fi and card collecting aspects seemed half-baked, and it was all short enough to be beaten in a couple of days by most gamers.

Spectrobes was a really, REALLY great idea, but sadly, things didn't turn out quite as well as many would have wished. Despite it's relatively low sales compared to expectations (Best Buy actually gave away the game free with the purchase of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl for a while), Disney seems determined to turn this into a franchise to be taken seriously. With all the basics already established in Spectrobes, the sequel should be even more polished. My expectations for the sequel are high, Disney! Don't let me down!

So those are three games I really felt didn't quite live up to their full potential. What games do you feel didn't quite fill your expectations?

The Duck Has Spoken.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

nobody fucking cares

Anonymous said...

"Spectrobes was a really, REALLY great idea"

No it bloody well wasn't. Unless you like that Pokemon bullshit, I guess. Great list, oh wait no. Seriously, play something other than a Nintendo console for once.

Anonymous said...

for me elebits i was just happy when it was over

PsychoDuck said...

Apparently, people do "Fucking care", anonymous #1/GameGulch, as so far this month I've gotten 2,432 hits. Yeah, I'm pretty sure some people give a shit.

"No it bloody well wasn't. Unless you like that Pokemon bullshit,"

I do like Pokemon, and it's certainly not "bullshit". IGN gave Diamond/Pearl a 8.5/10, as did Gamespot. Even the typically Nintendo-hating EGM gave it 8.5, 9.0, 8.5.

"Seriously, play something other than a Nintendo console for once."

I've played XBox for hours on end. I've been playing PS2 for years. I've even toyed around with a PSP a few times. I may prefer Nintendo, but I'm sure as hell not a blind fanboy, which I'm certain is what your alluding to. I play more than just Nintendo consoles, I just prefer that this blog be centered on Nintendo products. Hell, I could review We Love Katamari or Final Fantasy X tonight if I wanted to, but I won't. I know very much about Sony and Microsoft's consoles, pal. I'm insulted that you'd think any different just because I write a Nintendo blog. Hell, RawMeatCowboy has been writing for Go Nintendo for years, yet he owns all of the currently-supported platforms on the market, regardless of who made them. Just because one writes for a Nintendo blog, doesn't make them a blind and ignorant fanboy.

And GameGulch, next time you come here to insult me, at least have the balls to use your Go Nintendo name. You're not fooling anybody with your shoddy "Anonymous" moniker.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Unknown said...

for me, metroid prime hunters. Game just made me dizzy and gave me hand cramps. Still havent finished it.

mario kart double dash, too. i dont know why exactly, but i could never get into the game as i could with all the other mario karts. here's to hoping mario kart wii rocks my face.

alexanderpas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
alexanderpas said...

Go psychoduck ;)

@Anonymous#1/GameGulch
nobody fucking cares ABOUT YOUR OPINION.

Anonymous said...

Nicely handled, Psychoduck, by the way, I was a bit dissapointed with Pokemon Battle Revolution, THe online was alright, but the single player was not as good.

Anonymous said...

u told him i wonder what that comment that was deleted said

Anonymous said...

Trace Memory... great geme, but is the shortest game i've ever played...I started playing it by 7pm and finished at 3am with a "wtf, its just that?" look on my face :/

Anonymous said...

Actually a game I really didn't find fascinating was Twilight Princess. It was a great game but I was expecting more... well I guess when you have to fill OoT shoes is kinda hard :P
Also, ALL starfox games after 64... they where horrible (well command wasn't that bad.. but strategy and no on-rails killed it)
And duck.. VERY nicely handled canadians rules ;) anonymous people are quite agresive for their shit :)

PsychoDuck said...

"i wonder what that comment that was deleted said"

That was a double post, actually. I know, because all comments are submitted to me directly via e-mail.

That comment was removed by Alexanderpas (The comment author) on his own free will.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Anonymous said...

who the fuck is GameGulch, i don't follow the faggots on gonintendo, i did get your retarded blog link from there though. i like how you got your white knights in here to give you an e-blowjob.

PsychoDuck said...

Regardless of who you actually are, Anonymous, all of my points stand. Your comments are extremely offensive and universally unwanted here at One Duck's Opinion. Kindly leave my blog and never comment here again. Thank you.

The Duck Has Spoken.

SteveDaWonder said...

Go Ducky, Go Ducky! It's your birthday!

Seriously...that dude is foolish.