We've gone on and on about our favorite games, but what about the games we don't like? Specifically, the games we hate but that everyone else loves. Yep, now's the time to finally let out your true feelings for all those overrated AAA titles you simply can't stand.
--- Saul says ---
For the most part, I've enjoyed all the high profile Nintendo releases that have gotten critical acclaim. I even enjoyed some of the ones that got sort of mixed reviews, like Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker.
I'll freely admit, however, to disliking some of the more revered titles. Let's start with the original Legend of Zelda for NES. I remember playing it back when I was younger and quickly growing bored and disoriented. I never bothered with it again until it resurfaced on the Legend of Zelda collector's disc.
I gave it another shot because I figured that my young age had led to my difficulty in enjoying the game. Well, it didn't take very long for me to get bored and disoriented again. The game offered no real guidance, and I found myself wandering through block after block until I finally gave up and played Ocarina of Time again. Yeah, I know I didn't give it much of a chance, but games usually have to grab my attention quickly or I'll pass. Add to that the fact that the controls felt too loose on Link, and I don't think I'll ever give this game a chance again.
On the non-Nintendo side, it's easy. The most hyped new series of the last half decade, Halo, just doesn't resonate with me. Now, I know this opinion isn't exactly rare, but most of the folks who hate the game do so because they prefer PC shooters. I dislike the game because the story and general art direction felt too bland, and the multiplayer never quite "clicked" for me. I just lacked the motivation to play through the campaign blasting through unimaginative enemies with a scenario I never cared about.
On the multiplayer side, my biggest complaint was the community itself, which I found leaning towards the "juvenile." Besides that, the playing field was largely uneven with some dominant players cheap-shooting their way to victory while I sat there wondering what the hell just happened to my character. That said, I have much more friends on Xbox Live now and I look forward to giving Halo another shot.
Is it any surprise that we mention Halo?
--- James says ---
You're absolutely right about Halo, the most criminally overrated game ever.
As for games I hate, Pokemon Snap never sat well with me. I completed it (i.e. opened all the tracks) within four hours and the game was so repetitive I couldn't bear to go back and snap all of the 'mon, even though not all 150 were there.
--- Clark says ---
I'm going to lose all credibility as a Nintendo fanboy for saying this, but I seriously dislike Animal Crossing. Whereas The Sims and Harvest Moon have consumed weeks of my life at a time, I got tired of playing Animal Crossing in just two days. I like the principal behind the game, and if Nintendo would turn it into more of an MMO or even just allow you to be a little mischievous, I'd be a fan. As is, the worst thing you are allowed to do in this game is chop down a tree. The best thing that happens to you? Being sent on a guilt trip by all the townsfolk when you haven't dedicated enough of your life to their pointless drivel.
And if that wasn't enough to get me lynched, another fan-favorite I don't like is Super Smash Bros. Melee. As a huge fan of the original Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, Melee should have been a dream come true. Better graphics. More content. Deeper move sets. But it lacked the same level of satisfaction of connecting a back kick to a mid-air foe. Melee was too fast for its own good, particularly in all those ridiculous moving levels. It got to the point where skill was more about just being able to wrap your head around what was happening as opposed to really getting into the combat. Trust me, I still played this one a lot, but now, when I have to choose between playing Mario Party 7 and Smash Bros. Melee, I opt for Mario Party. Isn't that sad?
While I don't do much on "the other consoles," I absolutely love Halo 2 (sorry, guys, but it's true). It is my favorite FPS and favorite multiplayer game. The first Halo, however, I cannot stand. This may come as a surprise to many of you, since if you like Halo at all, you typically consider the first as a far superior product. Those are the kind of people who don't make any sense. Most of the multiplayer maps in Halo 1 were boring. The campaign mode was repetitive and boring. You couldn't dual-wield weapons... which was boring. I didn't like Halo before playing Halo 2, and I especially don't like it afterwards.
This next one may not be fair for me to include since it is a distaste for an entire genre, but I refuse to play football video games. I will fall to the ground, cradle myself, and cry if somebody asks me to. That means no Madden. No Blitz. I don't even think a Mario Football could get me to enjoy these. And video games have typically been the avenue where I actually enjoy sports I otherwise fail at in real life. The problem is that it's too restrictive-- too many rules. As a huge fan of free-roaming adventure and platform games, football's "you have to stay in this spot and can't move or else we'll get a five-yard penalty" mindset drives me crazy.
The number one GameCube game just doesn't sit well with us.
--- James says ---
Football games are bad enough. Football management games are even worse. Any sort of management sim is nothing but numbers, stats and all the other stuff that we can have computers do for us behind the scenes, but football management sims put the matches, the actual point of football, behind the scenes, only yielding the results after each match. Where is the football in football management sims?
--- Saul says ---
Hating on Animal Crossing?! *lynches Clark*
On the other hand, I completely agree on Smash Brothers. I thought I was the only GameCube owner that didn't own Melee, because it was so popular. I never, ever enjoyed this game on the countless occasions where my friends wanted to play this on their consoles. Maybe I didn't "get" the combo system, or maybe I missed the point when I felt it was just a button masher, but this game just isn't any fun for me to play.
--- Marc says ---
I owned over 30 games on GameCube, and never did I buy Smash Bros Melee. My friends would bring it over every time there was a party at my place, and after half an hour I had to stop playing as I would get bored. They could stay up all night playing it, I never understood how they did it!
As for other games, there are all of the EA sports games that I have never been able to get into even though they get good scores and sell a ton every year! Maybe it's because I just don't like sports games at all, although I remember beating the crap out of Stanley Cup on the SNES
But besides that, I can't really think of any other types of games I hate that everyone likes. Seriously, the sports games are probably the only ones I can't stand.
Wait, are people even allowed to not like this game?
--- Clark says ---
Wow, I wasn't expecting this kind of response to Smash Bros.
I'm glad Saul brought up the Legend of Zelda, though. I was never too fond of that one, either. The first Zelda is my least favorite of the Zelda games. Consequently, Super Mario Bros. 1 is my least favorite in the Mario series. It may have saved the game industry back in the day, but I just don't find it any fun 20 years later. Every other Mario game is so much better. After Super Mario Bros. 3 and World, I don't even know how people can go back and play something so clunky, narrow, and repetitive. The fact that Nintendo keeps milking it raw makes me dislike it even more.
--- James says ---
See Super Mario Bros. 1 is a game I'm enjoying on Virtual Console, though this is purely for the nostalgia, as it was the first video game i ever played. Super Mario Bros. 2 I couldn't stand, because it felt too different to normal Mario games-- probably because it wasn't one. I generally don't like games that are remade with a different franchise slapped on to it, hence my dislike for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
--- Saul says ---
For the most part, I've enjoyed all the high profile Nintendo releases that have gotten critical acclaim. I even enjoyed some of the ones that got sort of mixed reviews, like Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker.
I'll freely admit, however, to disliking some of the more revered titles. Let's start with the original Legend of Zelda for NES. I remember playing it back when I was younger and quickly growing bored and disoriented. I never bothered with it again until it resurfaced on the Legend of Zelda collector's disc.
I gave it another shot because I figured that my young age had led to my difficulty in enjoying the game. Well, it didn't take very long for me to get bored and disoriented again. The game offered no real guidance, and I found myself wandering through block after block until I finally gave up and played Ocarina of Time again. Yeah, I know I didn't give it much of a chance, but games usually have to grab my attention quickly or I'll pass. Add to that the fact that the controls felt too loose on Link, and I don't think I'll ever give this game a chance again.
On the non-Nintendo side, it's easy. The most hyped new series of the last half decade, Halo, just doesn't resonate with me. Now, I know this opinion isn't exactly rare, but most of the folks who hate the game do so because they prefer PC shooters. I dislike the game because the story and general art direction felt too bland, and the multiplayer never quite "clicked" for me. I just lacked the motivation to play through the campaign blasting through unimaginative enemies with a scenario I never cared about.
On the multiplayer side, my biggest complaint was the community itself, which I found leaning towards the "juvenile." Besides that, the playing field was largely uneven with some dominant players cheap-shooting their way to victory while I sat there wondering what the hell just happened to my character. That said, I have much more friends on Xbox Live now and I look forward to giving Halo another shot.
Is it any surprise that we mention Halo?
--- James says ---
You're absolutely right about Halo, the most criminally overrated game ever.
As for games I hate, Pokemon Snap never sat well with me. I completed it (i.e. opened all the tracks) within four hours and the game was so repetitive I couldn't bear to go back and snap all of the 'mon, even though not all 150 were there.
--- Clark says ---
I'm going to lose all credibility as a Nintendo fanboy for saying this, but I seriously dislike Animal Crossing. Whereas The Sims and Harvest Moon have consumed weeks of my life at a time, I got tired of playing Animal Crossing in just two days. I like the principal behind the game, and if Nintendo would turn it into more of an MMO or even just allow you to be a little mischievous, I'd be a fan. As is, the worst thing you are allowed to do in this game is chop down a tree. The best thing that happens to you? Being sent on a guilt trip by all the townsfolk when you haven't dedicated enough of your life to their pointless drivel.
And if that wasn't enough to get me lynched, another fan-favorite I don't like is Super Smash Bros. Melee. As a huge fan of the original Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, Melee should have been a dream come true. Better graphics. More content. Deeper move sets. But it lacked the same level of satisfaction of connecting a back kick to a mid-air foe. Melee was too fast for its own good, particularly in all those ridiculous moving levels. It got to the point where skill was more about just being able to wrap your head around what was happening as opposed to really getting into the combat. Trust me, I still played this one a lot, but now, when I have to choose between playing Mario Party 7 and Smash Bros. Melee, I opt for Mario Party. Isn't that sad?
While I don't do much on "the other consoles," I absolutely love Halo 2 (sorry, guys, but it's true). It is my favorite FPS and favorite multiplayer game. The first Halo, however, I cannot stand. This may come as a surprise to many of you, since if you like Halo at all, you typically consider the first as a far superior product. Those are the kind of people who don't make any sense. Most of the multiplayer maps in Halo 1 were boring. The campaign mode was repetitive and boring. You couldn't dual-wield weapons... which was boring. I didn't like Halo before playing Halo 2, and I especially don't like it afterwards.
This next one may not be fair for me to include since it is a distaste for an entire genre, but I refuse to play football video games. I will fall to the ground, cradle myself, and cry if somebody asks me to. That means no Madden. No Blitz. I don't even think a Mario Football could get me to enjoy these. And video games have typically been the avenue where I actually enjoy sports I otherwise fail at in real life. The problem is that it's too restrictive-- too many rules. As a huge fan of free-roaming adventure and platform games, football's "you have to stay in this spot and can't move or else we'll get a five-yard penalty" mindset drives me crazy.
The number one GameCube game just doesn't sit well with us.
--- James says ---
Football games are bad enough. Football management games are even worse. Any sort of management sim is nothing but numbers, stats and all the other stuff that we can have computers do for us behind the scenes, but football management sims put the matches, the actual point of football, behind the scenes, only yielding the results after each match. Where is the football in football management sims?
--- Saul says ---
Hating on Animal Crossing?! *lynches Clark*
On the other hand, I completely agree on Smash Brothers. I thought I was the only GameCube owner that didn't own Melee, because it was so popular. I never, ever enjoyed this game on the countless occasions where my friends wanted to play this on their consoles. Maybe I didn't "get" the combo system, or maybe I missed the point when I felt it was just a button masher, but this game just isn't any fun for me to play.
--- Marc says ---
I owned over 30 games on GameCube, and never did I buy Smash Bros Melee. My friends would bring it over every time there was a party at my place, and after half an hour I had to stop playing as I would get bored. They could stay up all night playing it, I never understood how they did it!
As for other games, there are all of the EA sports games that I have never been able to get into even though they get good scores and sell a ton every year! Maybe it's because I just don't like sports games at all, although I remember beating the crap out of Stanley Cup on the SNES
But besides that, I can't really think of any other types of games I hate that everyone likes. Seriously, the sports games are probably the only ones I can't stand.
Wait, are people even allowed to not like this game?
--- Clark says ---
Wow, I wasn't expecting this kind of response to Smash Bros.
I'm glad Saul brought up the Legend of Zelda, though. I was never too fond of that one, either. The first Zelda is my least favorite of the Zelda games. Consequently, Super Mario Bros. 1 is my least favorite in the Mario series. It may have saved the game industry back in the day, but I just don't find it any fun 20 years later. Every other Mario game is so much better. After Super Mario Bros. 3 and World, I don't even know how people can go back and play something so clunky, narrow, and repetitive. The fact that Nintendo keeps milking it raw makes me dislike it even more.
--- James says ---
See Super Mario Bros. 1 is a game I'm enjoying on Virtual Console, though this is purely for the nostalgia, as it was the first video game i ever played. Super Mario Bros. 2 I couldn't stand, because it felt too different to normal Mario games-- probably because it wasn't one. I generally don't like games that are remade with a different franchise slapped on to it, hence my dislike for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
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