The Most Underrated Game [Archive]

Quintopotere

16-11-2005, 11:14 AM

I have a simple question for you: in your opinion, what is the most underrated game?

I think that everyone know at least a game which he liked so much, but for some reasons that game was underestimated by the press and the gamer community, so it simply vanished in few days.

For example i like so much Startopia or Prince of Persia 3D, but there are just few ones who remember them!
And what about Psychonauts whit all its distribution problems? (at least in Europe, if i'm right...)

Finally, here you have the opportunity to shout: "That game is a great/funny/incredible/fantastic game! It doesn't matter what those stupid reviews said!"

Nikson

16-11-2005, 11:46 AM

Since you mentined Prince of Persia 3D... the game is underrated because of its low replay value compared to the oldschol prince of persia (1 and 2), and even more so compared to PoP: Sands of Time (which came out soon after Pop3D) and the new Warrior Within (theres a #3 coming out soon too! *drools*)

My underrated game would have to be Stratosphere. It was this weird game where you had a flying island and had to build batteries and propellers and spikes and stuff on it (it was a flying fortress supposedly), and to get better stuff you had to mine resources from mountains... and the reason you built up your flying island was to duke it out with the other flying islands in the level.

It ran absolutely terrible on my old Pentium I, 133MHz... and I never heard from that game again. In the first place I found it on a mate's CD with a lot of random games on it.

Kearnsy

16-11-2005, 11:47 AM

Super Smash Bros Melee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 reviews I read gave it 70%!!!!!!
What is that!!!!!! :ranting: :ranting:
It is the single most played game and my favourate game by far on the GCN and in my top 3 of all time games on any platform ever.
Its quite incredible what you get out of that game if you improve your skills to a high level.
So very many hours of enjoyment
...
...
...
...
...70%!!!!!!!!!!!
Bhah!! :not_ok: :angry:

The Fifth Horseman

16-11-2005, 12:13 PM

Crescent Hawks Revenge, the true precursor of all RTS games ever made. It was kind of big bang when it can out first, but got quickly forgotten, especially after Dune 2 and then Warcraft and C&C.

MdaG

16-11-2005, 12:57 PM

Hard to say, but I think Torment got a lot less attention than it deserved.

BeefontheBone

16-11-2005, 01:05 PM

Battlezone (the 1997? version) was amazing - gorgeous, fun, genre-straddling and with a neat plot involving a secret continuation of the space race going on after the cold war and some weird alien technology. Excellent - the sequel was pretty good too.

There's the old chestnuts like Darwinia, Sacrifice (best RTS ever? It's a contender), Giants: Citizen Kabuko (possibly suffering from the same "weirdness" putting people off as Psychonauts, which I keep meaning to get round to playing), and I reckon NetStorm: Islands at War didn't get quite the attention it deserved due to being too far ahead of its time in that it focused on online play before enough people had discovered the joys of internet gaming.

Blood-Pigggy

16-11-2005, 01:37 PM

All of the System Shock, and Thief games were given rave reviews, and no one bought them.

DeathDude

16-11-2005, 01:49 PM

For sure the system shock series, got good reviews but yet didn't seem to click with buyers for them to pick it up.

Fruit Pie Jones

16-11-2005, 03:03 PM

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Nov 16 2005, 08:05 AM
Battlezone (the 1997? version) was amazing - gorgeous, fun, genre-straddling and with a neat plot involving a secret continuation of the space race going on after the cold war and some weird alien technology.
I agree completely; Battlezone was excellent. The plot was engaging, and the individual missions had really great atmosphere to them. Plus, it looked good. Overall, a great combination of FPS and RTS. Never played the sequel, though. In fact, I only had the original because my wife's dad got it free with some piece of hardware that he bought. He didn't want the game, so he gave it to me. I've still got it somewhere...

Tulac

16-11-2005, 03:48 PM

America's Army

PrejudiceSucks

16-11-2005, 04:02 PM

I never liked Battlezone to be honest. I have Battlezone 2, but I found that trying to manage everything going on, as well as fighting myself, got a bit taxing.

I liked Urban Assault, but that suffered from most of the same problems.

Trackmania Sunrise is excellent, but that was inexplicably ignored (a fiver at GAME!) by the general public. I'm also quite a big fan of Total Annihation : Kingdoms. Fine, it's no Total Annihilation, but it wasn't really meant to be.

I agree with Beef's suggestions but would also like to add Uplink to that selection. It's pure brilliance, but most people discarded it due to its poor graphics (I thought they were OK) and sound (I could understand that), ignoring its fantastic replay value and concept.

Freelancer sold OK, but that too was eclipsed by X2 (which I found to be quite boring to be honest) and that's a fair bit underrated. People tried to compare the two, but then that's like comparing lager and custard, really. X2 was more a financial simulator (but in space) whereas Freelancer actually captured the essence of being a freelancer. The plot got in the way a bit though....

But then you can always play LAN games with yourself, or get one of the excellent mods.

Orichifunk

16-11-2005, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by Kearnsy@Nov 16 2005, 12:47 PM
Super Smash Bros Melee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 reviews I read gave it 70%!!!!!!
What is that!!!!!! :ranting: :ranting:
It is the single most played game and my favourate game by far on the GCN and in my top 3 of all time games on any platform ever.
Its quite incredible what you get out of that game if you improve your skills to a high level.
So very many hours of enjoyment
...
...
...
...
...70%!!!!!!!!!!!
Bhah!! :not_ok: :angry:
That's just one review, though, or two rather. I don't think SSBM is an underrated game in any aspect; it gets all the credit it deserves and more from everyone that has played it, the major gaming sites on the net, etc.

I definatily think the Little Big Adventure series are underrated. Man, what absolutely fantastic games! What a setting! I played it when I was younger, and man, it was the best game ever. Still got it around on my computer, though, so I just have to get around playing it. LOL

MdaG

16-11-2005, 04:22 PM

Orichifunk

16-11-2005, 05:10 PM

SNES? I believe there is no SNES version. The game has been made for N64 and NGC, as far as I know ..

Galadrin

16-11-2005, 05:32 PM

Infogrammes Outcast, American Mcgees Scrapland and Shinys Messiah top my list. (I would include Looking Glass's games, but everyone and thier dog knows that those were awesome games, but no one bought them).

SupSuper

16-11-2005, 05:44 PM

Trackmania and Mobile Forces. IMHO both great games and I had never ever heard of them when I found them in a store. And there's hardly any Mobile Forces players online :(

Fruit Pie Jones

16-11-2005, 06:37 PM

I never liked Battlezone to be honest. I have Battlezone 2, but I found that trying to manage everything going on, as well as fighting myself, got a bit taxing.
Well, there's your problem - you're supposed to be fighting the enemy!

Freelancer sold OK, but that too was eclipsed by X2 (which I found to be quite boring to be honest) and that's a fair bit underrated.
I played the demo of Freelancer and thought it looked pretty good...but what crackhead decided that a spaceflight game doesn't need joystick support?! I just couldn't get used to controlling my ship with the mouse. (Was joystick support ever added in a patch, BTW? If so, I may try to find that game in a discount bin somewhere.)

Sebatianos

16-11-2005, 06:44 PM

I'd have to say The Great Escape (the new 3D one - not the one we have on the site :D ).

Tito

16-11-2005, 07:19 PM

I should say Outcast. When it came out it was too demanding for computers of those days. Also, Blade: Edge of Darkness. That game is great, it uses the same engine as Gothic, but it is far more playable. In fact, it is an arcade game, not an RPG.

Blood-Pigggy

16-11-2005, 07:20 PM

Originally posted by Galadrin@Nov 16 2005, 01:32 PM
Infogrammes Outcast, American Mcgees Scrapland and Shinys Messiah top my list.* (I would include Looking Glass's games, but everyone and thier dog knows that those were awesome games, but no one bought them).
Although it is your opinion, I just want to throw in mine.
I thought Messiah was crappy actually, I bought it for 10 dollars, and it didn't turn out that great.
Certain aspects were great, but many of the bugs and technical problems ruined the game.

Most Underrated Game Ever : LPF

troop18546

16-11-2005, 07:36 PM

Maybe "Gorky Zero"? Cause, the only thing what was wrong, was the bugs. After that had been fixed, it just sparkled with excellence. It could compete with "Splinter Cell" for best stealth game.

Especially "Aurora Watching'' - awesome...

Toxik

16-11-2005, 08:55 PM

What about tone rebellion? it just passed by AFAIK but it was great and unusual game

TheGiantMidgit

16-11-2005, 08:57 PM

The Neverhood, by far. Greatest PC adventure ever made.

Blood-Pigggy

16-11-2005, 09:06 PM

The Neverhood was interesting, but it's gameplay was flawed.
How many puzzles actually made sense?

bruno

16-11-2005, 11:04 PM

for me the most underated game that i know was The Manager. i think it was one of the best sports\manager game made but it was very underated. :sniper:

Eagle of Fire

17-11-2005, 12:22 AM

I just can't read this and not react... This is just plain wrong to think Super Smash Brothers Melee is not a good game.

When we talk about Super Smash Brothers Melee, we talk about the GameCube version. The 64 version was good also but nothing fancy and was named Super Smash Brothers.

I personally think that Super Smash Brothers Melee is the overall best multiplayer game I ever played on any console. Coma. Those who say otherwise are either completely biased in their decision or simply never bothered to actually try to up their skill level to the point they can beat Area 51 and/or the Cruel Melee.

I can tell, I did them all myself. My step brother said for years that he hated this game, but recently he began playing it and he said himself that this game is one of the best multiplayer game he ever played.

Go figure! LOL

To return to the thread subject, saying that Super Smash Brothers Melee is underrated is plain wrong. It was part of the batch of the first few titles when the console got out and it was an immediate hit. It's impossible that it could be forgotten in a review. 2 70% reviews is bad, I admit... But it's bound to happen. It's not like all the reviwers know about what they are talking about. :bleh:

TheGiantMidgit

17-11-2005, 12:49 AM

Originally posted by Blood-Pigggy@Nov 16 2005, 10:06 PM
The Neverhood was interesting, but it's gameplay was flawed.
How many puzzles actually made sense?
Logic wasn't it's forte, to be sure, but the designs and concept were incredible. Nevermind the work that went into it.

moogle

17-11-2005, 02:24 AM

Super Smash Bors is ok, but its not underated, its actually sort of overated, have you ever seen a GC without SSBM?

Lets see, my underated.....uhhh....I honestly don't know, normally I only buy big titles that get Editor's Choice + reviews....

Most overated is definitely Halo.

JimmyJ

17-11-2005, 02:27 AM

^
^
^
^
^X

I have Messiah, and i have a Voodoo 3 in a box somewhere, so it runs perfect.

STFM

17-11-2005, 04:27 AM

Killer Instinct
Lasersquad
D-Generation
X-Men Mutant Academy on PS1

JimmyJ

17-11-2005, 04:39 AM

Lasersquad and Killer Instinct arent underrated, all my friends have BOTH!

Borodin

19-11-2005, 01:45 AM

King of Dragon Pass. Very original and challenging RPG/Strategy hybrid. The creators, A-Sharp, tried to market it online without any real publicity, and it bombed.

STFM

25-11-2005, 04:17 AM

Originally posted by JimmyJ@Nov 17 2005, 03:39 PM
Lasersquad and Killer Instinct arent underrated, all my friends have BOTH!
I meant by the media. Lasersquad hardly cracked a mention in game magazines of the time, KI never achieved the success of MK and the SF series' (KI2 didnt do well at all) but I believe it had the one of the best combo systems ever and still one of the only games to let you think your part of the deadite army! Groovy.
My 2c

duckpatch

25-11-2005, 10:42 AM

I reckon Albion ! That game was classic, a perfect RPG/Adventure in my eyes.

HamburgerBoyt

26-11-2005, 07:59 AM

Marathon. It slaughtered Doom II in every single way and was released just months after, yet even most Halo fanboys have no clue on what the game is about.

IdaGno

01-12-2005, 01:21 AM

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor - I'm on my second time thru just now. A very well balanced & well crafted game. The art work is lovingly crafted, the music's just right. The care of the creators is reflected in the 140+ game manual that shipped w/the original box set. Plus, it's as long as Baldur's Gate. Yes, it is repetitive & slow but to some of us that is a virtue. If you like hack & slash dungeon crawls, you'll like this.

Calabite

03-12-2005, 01:37 AM

The original Bard's Tale. I know it was huge at the time but I can't remember the last time I heard it mentioned. That was the game that introduced me to computer rpg's.

Interplay need nobel prizes.

Mike

Calabite

03-12-2005, 01:40 AM

I almost forgot to mention another rpg style dungeon crawl. Dungeon hack, I think by SSI was fab. You could finish a game in one sitting and the random dungeon generator was almost roguelike with, what was at the time, a fantastic interface.

SSI should be knighted.

Mike

Thornwood

05-12-2005, 07:39 PM

I'm pretty sure I'll be hearing laughter all around, but I really enjoyed Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure as a kid. In fact, I loved it so much that my parents actually bought be all three parts of the game for Christmas one year. Oh, how I remember how they said it was coming in the mail, and I got so excited. Sadly, my Mom gave them to someone else after I had played it at least 20 times. I think she somehow convinced me to do it, with her strange parental mind tricks. o.o

Oh, and another addictive game I never hear people talk about: Moraff's Superblast. Just a little game with the most basic of graphics, but it provided hours of endless entertainment. Wish I'd bought the full version.

Tron

08-12-2005, 08:36 AM

I remember loving Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure as a kid, too! And the 5.4 floppy's still sitting in our garage, dusting in it's glorified paper case.

Jordan

08-12-2005, 07:00 PM

Super Smash Bros Melee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 reviews I read gave it 70%!!!!!!
What is that!!!!!!*
It is the single most played game and my favourate game by far on the GCN and in my top 3 of all time games on any platform ever.
Its quite incredible what you get out of that game if you improve your skills to a high level.
So very many hours of enjoyment
Yeah

Thornwood

12-12-2005, 06:25 PM

I've played Super Smash Bros. Melee before. I must say I'm a bit of a button basher when it comes to those types of games, though I was starting to get used to Marth after awhile.

omg

13-12-2005, 03:48 AM

jedi power battles on the ps1. loads of reviewers dissed it saying the platformy bits were to tougth.... clearly they put reviewers on it who had never played a platform game before. my little brother smashed that game in a day. its not a game that will be rembered as a classic becuase of the sheer wealth of starwars games. but for being able to play in co op with my little bro rocked.