Most under rated game ever?

iregk

So gamers, what do you think is the most underrated game ever? I'm not talking about metroi, halo, halflife etc... we all know they are great and they sold in the millions. What we are looking for is those games that rocked but never got the sales or exposure they deserved.

My first choice: Megalomania on the Mega Drive, that was a hell of a game.

tman

Beyond Good and Evil - superb game... it deserved so much more success than it got:(

Dont be at yourself

Shadow of Rome. Great action, great stealth, great story.

columok

System Shock 2.

Playing that first time through on my own in the dark. That's one atmospheric game.

Vokes

Vagrant Story (@Squenix: me want sequel and/or re-release )

C_Breeze

Sky Oddysey on PS2.

one of those cheapo 20 quid games , but seriously , i would have given it 9/10.

excellent game - andyone who ever played it would have thought the same

tetsujin1979

Castlevania: Symphony of Darkness on PS1. Quality 2d platformer lost in the mire following Tomb Raider / Mario 64 3Dness

hamster

The Great Escape on the C64. I'd wish a remake would appear for this one.

OMcGovern

MDK 2 ( for PC ) was, in still is, great.

A shoot-em-up, where during the game you play 3 different characters.
Kurt - the serious shoot-em-up guy
The dog - comical shooter
The professor - putting scrap items together to make weapons

If you ever see it on the bargain shelf of a gamestore, grab it.

KdjaCL

Body Harvest N64


kdjac

madrab

beyond good and evil, great game pity my copy of it broke
twisted metal 2 soo many hours put into that game
legacy of kain, top down action rpg with great story & fmv + loads of blood

saado

I'd have to say Shadow Hearts for the ps2, such a great rpg that nobody played cos of (the infinitely worse) FFX. That or Wild ARMS 3, got no attention in the media, and not enough people have played it at all, unfortunate considering it's one of the best RPGs on the ps2 aswell

humanji

hamster wrote:

The Great Escape on the C64. I'd wish a remake would appear for this one.

They did remake this, but it was rubbish compared to the original.
Some of my nominees would be:

Bushido Blade on the the PS1
Bubble Bobble on various platforms
Mission Elevator on the Atari ST
and the best for last
Alien on the Spectrum ZX

They're all great, but alien was one of the first games to actually get me sh*tting my pants!

iregk

I would love to say Soul Calibur on the dc but technically that doesn't really qualify due to the fact that it was the daddy of games on the dc!

Another one id go for, Mercenaries on the Atari ST

super_furry

Terranigma on the SNES. To my mind, it's not only the best RPG but best game of the 16bit era hands down. It never got the recognition it deserved though because it was came out at the end of the SNES' life and was only released in Europe in limited numbers and not at all in the US.

Sky Oddysey is a great game too - everything that an update to Pilot Wings should have been. If Nintendo have released it, everyone would be doing backflips over it.

thelordofcheese

NiGHTS into dreams on the sega saturn, i loved this game beyond reason, but no-one else i have ever talked to has even played it.

though thats probably down to the fact that there were all of 5 saturn owners in the entire western hemisphere.

bennyc

Bubble Bobble on Arcade / MAME Got the arcade stick for the xbox and have the mame version you need the power up and origional game

R-Type (on all platforms)

Kinetic^

Flimbo's Quest for the C64.

projectmayhem

mace griffin: bounty hunter

or

freedom fighters

hairball

have to agree with kdjac on body harvest ,was a cracking game, very addictive, loads to do
also system shock 2...very very atmospheric, far more so than a lot of todays puportedly scary games

Lemlin

OMcGovern wrote:

MDK 2 ( for PC ) was, in still is, great.

A shoot-em-up, where during the game you play 3 different characters.
Kurt - the serious shoot-em-up guy
The dog - comical shooter
The professor - putting scrap items together to make weapons

If you ever see it on the bargain shelf of a gamestore, grab it.

I had that on the Dreamcast, wonderful game.

I'd have to say Operation Winback for the N64. I had alot of fun playing through it but it was very panned by critics.

In recent times, I picked up XIII for a fiver and thought it was very good.

irlrobins

Hidden and Dangerous (1 & 2)

Did well enough, but should have been so much bigger imho.

jaggeh

I cant remember the name of this game(havent played it in over 13 years) but it was a world war 1 air-sim game with several game modes like 3d flight sim, 2d isometric strafing, 2d top down bombing. played it on the amiga..

ARGH wish i could remember the name but it was a bloody brilliant game.

irlrobins

Wings?

Edit: http://www.lemonamiga.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemonamiga.com/reviews/view.php%3Fgame_id%3D1133

Retr0gamer

R-type isn't exactly underrated unless you think it deserves more praise then being worshipped by ever shmup player as one of the best games ever.

Suikoden 2: Got ignored because it was released at the same time as FFVIII. Even I did and only got a copy when my mate in Konami sent me a copy because he thought I'd like it. FFVIII turned out to be one of the worst FF games and more a commercial excercise by Square. Suikoden 2 turned out to be one of the best games ever made with one of the best and most emotionally involving stories ever. Some magazines even had the stupidity to mark it quite low.

Panzer Dragoon Saga (sorry madrab): Not really anyones fault that nobody bought this. It came out right at the end of the saturns life and only a couple of thousand english language copies were released. A beautiful, original and engrossing universe to explore. The atmosphere was complemented by one of the best and probably hardest to compose soundtracks for a videogame. The plot was also amazing but it wasn't until the extremely clever ending that you found out how intelligent it was. Whats most distressing is how far ahead of it's time the game was and how it hasn't left an impact on other RPG game makers. Battle system is like nothing else and is really cinematic and it also included full speech for every character even NPCs despite the fact that all npc talk changes with the events that unfold.

Panzer Dragoon Orta (sorry again madrab): There aren't many great games on the xbox but most of you xbox owners decided to miss out on the best game on the xbox. Beautiful to look at, great to play and Saori Kobayashi returns from composing on Saga to deliver some of the best tracks she will ever write. The story will have Saga fans choking back tears.

Gunstar Heroes: Forget the decent GBA game and get an emulator and play by far one of the most intense action games ever created.

Rocket Knight Adventures: Another great megadrive action game.

Contra Shattered Soldier: I don't see how this game can receive bad reviews and yet Gunstar Super Heroes, which in my mind is no where near as good as it's forebearers, can get such gushing ones. In my opinion it's as good as the older Contra games and as close to them as any modern reinterpretation will get (except the fantastic metal slug games).

Gradius V: For some reason this game got worse reviews than Ikaruga. I think it's a far better game. Okay so it doesn't have the great design of ikaruga. However its better fun and far more accessible which counts for more.

Devil May Cry 3: Don't mark it down because it's too hard. It's not too hard. You're not too crap. You just don't have any patience.

Dancing_Priest

IMO Hardwar which came out in 1998 was a legendry game, the first fun and playable space trader since the days of yore. the end was set for a sequal, but I think I may be the only person ever to have played it!.
Twisted metal 2, also a good call, could never find it to buy so spent a fortune in extravision on the thing...

JC 2K3

I agree with System Shock 2, one of the scariest games I've ever played. I never hear about it though...

AnCapaillMor

irlrobins wrote:

Hidden and Dangerous (1 & 2)

Did well enough, but should have been so much bigger imho.

Definately, then again the original was so bugged it might have turned alot of people off and gave it really bad press.

falipo

projectmayhem wrote:

mace griffin: bounty hunter

or

freedom fighters

mace griffen was s****:D
but id have to say most of the harvest moon games they are so under rated i love them............and ff 9 no one appreciated tat

i_am_dogboy

Giants: Citizen Kabuto, commercially a failure but critically very popular action strategy game with a great sense of humour and sheep football.

Ico, yeah everyone loves it but only about 10 of those people bought it, hopefully it'll sell well when sotc comes out.

Body harvest.

Hybrid Heaven.

Parappa the rapper.

pwd

adom - roguelike free game at adom.de. complex absorbing and highly imaginative.
space rogue - on the mac anyways. roleplaying game in the style of elite.
starflight 2 - again for the mac (pc graphics probably a little too rough). just the way you uncover the story by diplomacy and interaction is very well done.

sprinkles

Body Harvest (N64)

i_am_dogboy wrote:

...body Harvest..

Snap...damn it loadsa people beat me to it :mad:

mukki

serious sam the secound encounter

hamster

Dancing_Priest wrote:

IMO Hardwar which came out in 1998 was a legendry game, the first fun and playable space trader since the days of yore. the end was set for a sequal, but I think I may be the only person ever to have played it!.
Twisted metal 2, also a good call, could never find it to buy so spent a fortune in extravision on the thing...

Yea... Hardwar. I remember getting a cutdown copy of this in 1998 and never got around to it. I overwhelmed by Half Life and Grim Fandango that Xmas '98 (oh happy times) with my free time.
... so then last xmas (2004) I tried Hardwar from the CD back I made and I'm glad I did. It looks great... plays fine. You get to do missions, upgrade and the map feels like a community. I just didn't stick at it but yeah if there wasn't so much out there... I would play this more. Actually there is a remake of sorts going on the moment and looks good. I'll try to dig up the details. Google on Hardwar.

Actually these days I'm heavy into emulation and Vmscumm since it's quick to get in and out. ADOM is great too! Currrently have a Barbarian Dwarf at the moment and trying to keep her alive.

Steven

columok wrote:

System Shock 2.

Playing that first time through on my own in the dark. That's one atmospheric game.

Retr0gamer wrote:

System Shock 2 isn't exactly underrated unless you think it deserves more praise then being worshipped by every fps/rpg player as one of the best games ever.

Copied and adapted quotes: For all your gaming-critique needs

I normally have a list of about 20 games to trot out when someone plays the "If it's so great, how come it didn't sell as much as the sims! Man, that game was great!" card (A very unpopular gathering card ), but most of them have had quite a bit of critical acclaim.

I never hear people (except a handful of PCGamer-UK fanatics) talking about an RTS called Ground Control, which had terrible* enemy AI but was well balanced, fantastic multi-player tactical fun. Nothing worse than losing your anti-air to a bunch of sneaky infantry with a special-weapons charge, walking into a trap with explosive charges lining your route or artillery over a hill with spotters plotting your every move. The cries of "Stop screen watching you tramp!" could be heard echoing the streets of Cork.

*Quite literally non-existant

steviec

Suikoden 2 definitely, I finally only played it about a year ago and it instantly became one of my all time favourites, I played Suikoden 3 on PS2 right after which is solid but nowhere near on the same level.

Little Big Adventure was a game I loved on PS1, not many people seem to have heard of it, I thoroughly enjoyed both it and its sequel, it had interesting gameplay and a funny story that never took itself too seriously.

Planescape: Torment was a ground breaking RPG which I loved, it was worth 100 of Baldurs Gate but it never came close to competing with it sadly.

strangepaddy

Tenchu 1 on ps1......that or the broken sword 2

Cake Fiend

Uplink

columok

Steven wrote:

Copied and adapted quotes: For all your gaming-critique needs

Well I'd consider it underrated as it had little or no coverage outside of the games press and a core group of gamers. Considering people remember halflife, Deus ex, quake and many other FPS games but rarely mention SS2 strengthens my point. I don't think that I've ever met more than one or two people who've played it.

rainbow kirby

Timesplitters series. I seem to be the only person who actually owns both TS2 and Future Perfect on the GC. Great games. Also agreeing with tman and saying Beyond Good and Evil. And an oldie... Super Aleste. Psychedelic space shooter from the SNES... great stuff.

heggie

Gabriel Knight (the original) absolute involving game

and more recently, Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit

Retr0gamer

rainbow kirby wrote:

And an oldie... Super Aleste. Psychedelic space shooter from the SNES... great stuff.

Nobody cared, Axelay was the shmup daddy of the SNES and 16-bit era. Shame because it was rather good. Level 2 was the most impressive thing I'd ever seen when it was released.

Castlevania: Next Generation/bloodlines for the mega drive. Never saw it get any reviews above 80%. It was one of the best traditional Vania games before it went all Metroid. Really deserved more success critically and commercially. It did a lot of graphical effects unheard of at the time on the MD.

TheDoc

Neverwinter nights : It was possibly the best rpg ever created, becaue it was totally customizable by the people. It had a very strong single player game, a brillaint general rpg style. It rocked though online, being the first mmorpg, and it was free, it was an amazing gripping rpg experience.

Max Payne: Yes a stunning game and nuder rated you say? I think its udner rated because in every top 10 games of all time i see its not in it. Finally used bullet time properly, great story, great acting, great gameplay, nothing wrong with it, the perfect game, you could let a chess player play it and hed love it.

Most over rated game : Metal Gear solid 2. Story was rubbish, gameplays way to easy. On normal mode, in one sitting after i bought it, finished in 5 hours, in hard mode finished in 6, waste of 70 euro when it came out, brutal imo didnt do anything except have pretty graphics and cut scenes were too often and too long.

Dont be at yourself

Regarding Metal Gear Solid 2: Over-rated, yet you play through it at least twice?

I wish more games were like Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid 2. Short, by most standards, but every moment superbly crafted, polished, memorable and enjoyable. No tedius combat, no dodgy platforming, no overly obtuse puzzles, just simple, doable, enjoyable gameplay. The merits of a game should be judged on that, not how often it has you reloading your save because it's too difficult.

Jimi-Spandex

SofaKing wrote:

Vagrant Story (@Squenix: me want sequel and/or re-release )

Hmmm, I tried to like it, I really did. I wanted to like it so bad I bought it even though I don't have a ps. Was playing through it using epsxe and put through my tv. But I can't forgive a game where I spend 90% OF MY TIME IN BLOODY MENU'S RECONFIGURING EVERYTHING!!!.

Anyway, I'll go for Power Stone. One of the best ways to have fun with three other people not involving nudity. Or liquor.

i_am_dogboy

steviec wrote:

Planescape: Torment was a ground breaking RPG which I loved, it was worth 100 of Baldurs Gate but it never came close to competing with it sadly.

That wasn't the commercial flop you might ecpect, I remember an interview with one of the head developers who was talking about how disappointed they were initially with the poor sales but how over a few years the game sold pretty consistently and a fair few copies made it out into peoples chomputers.

Saying that it is a fantastic game, and deserves a hell of a lot more credit than most rpg's get for their stories. Plus nordom is probably the funniest cube in existence.

humanji

Gabriel Knight (the original) absolute involving game

and more recently, Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit

I loved the first GK game. It rocked, and with Tim Curry doing the Gabriels voice, how could it go wrong? Fahrenheit for some reason seems to be a bit of an oddity. No one seems to feel that it's ok, or average. People either love it of hate it, and nothing inbetween! I think it's one of the greatest adventure games ever made, and it plays like your watching a film.

Another I thought was pretty under-rated was Ultima 7. I had never heard of Ultima before I saw this, but I instantly loved it. The graphics were fantastic, the story was amazing and with all the sub-plots and the huge world to explore, it kept me busy for months (bearing in mind I was never any good at computer games, so everything took me months to get through ).

ambro25

Live for Speed (S1 or S2), also known as 'LFS' - see here

Racing sim - Developed by three (yes, 3!) guys on the cheap and quiet over the last 3 years or so, fantastic modelling, physics, graphics, begs to be played with wheel/pedals (which I religiously do), £12 or £24 to register and obtain full functionality, all cars/tracks, online racing (although the demo is already online-enabled).

Aside from the 'LFS scene' (burgeoning on and on over the years), no one's ever heard of it, it's never been featured by the likes of EDGE, etc.

It's light-years ahead of anything put out so far by Codemasters (TOCA series) and easily on a par with SimBin (GTR/GTL - which I have and play also), the others are just not worth mentioning.

The best value for money racing sim (dare I even push so far as to say 'PC game') for the last 2/3 years.

Retr0gamer

I think the max payne games are overrated. It's just the same thing over and over for 8 hours with a silly uninteresting story.

I do think Vagrant Story is underrated. I do think the battle and menu mechanics are broken but once you realise that only 1 handed weapons are useful since without a shield you will be mangled in 1 hit there is a lot less messing in the menu. After that you can enjoy the atmosphere, great soundtrack and brilliant story.

Thought Blood and Outlaws deserve a lot more attention. Both used out dated technology at the time but both were much better than all the other graphic card powered FPS games. Outlaws also had one of the first sniper rifles in a game, which goldeneye usually gets mistakenly credited with. Blood was much funnier than Duke 3D and a better game especially for Evil Dead fans. Also loved Shadow Warrior. 'Lo Wang soap you good!'

Tank Top Fever!

Pilotwings - SNES - a classic

Blast Corps - N64, one of Rare's lesser known games, short but a whole lot of fun

madrab

yeah loved blood
second one was good but shogo was a far better use of that engine