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GameSpy's 25 Most Underrated Games
Decaffeinated Jedi writes "GameSpy.com just posted the final installment of its 25 Most Underrated Games of All Time feature. What under-appreciated classics made the list? Well, titles like Zork Zero, Ico, and Sly Cooper all make the cut. This most recent countdown is a follow-up to GameSpy's 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time piece from a couple of weeks ago." Although the 'X Most X' series sometimes draws howls of derision, it does still pinpoint some interesting choices.
Jumping Flash I & II...nothing else on my TV screen has ever induced vertigo quite like those games. I'd kill for an even-more-spiffy-lookin' version...
Ceci n'est pas un post.
Funny, the 2 games on the list I played where Grim Fandango and Blood. Both dark humor about death. Grim Fandango had some nice artwork and south american theme going with it. Very entertaining game, didnt realize it was underrated. The jokes and puns alone made it worth the money. Some parts in it where long, (The ghost car in the garage) but overall was a couple good weekends laughing my ass off.
On the other hand, Blood was released late, and only supported IPX, and Duke Nukem/Quake took the large multiplaying games. Fun game, also dark humor, but everyone moved to Quake lan parties, and duke nukem was on the way out. I think Rise of the Triad should of been on the list, underrated, but also out late.
Thou, my favorite, lan party game, that was the most under-rated was SkyNet. The terminator game, with some good weapons. Nice soundtrack, and sound of terminators chasing you, and some nice weapons made it a very fun game. Too bad an updated version on a newer engine never came out. The closet thing today, would be BF1942, as you can go into buildings, lots of weapons, and vehicals.
Might as throw an RPG game in, Wasteland. The C64 version had to be, one of the most solid GURPS style playing games.
I guess i've always liked Mecha vs Magica type games. RPG/FPS. Thou, mecha vs GOD/Satan has always been a good combo. Man vs Myth, Battle Royal. Something about pulling a trigger and taking out a demon, makes you feel so good.
At the rate they've been cranking out these Top 25 lists, we're gonna need a 25 games which have most often appeared on Top 25 lists.
Top 25 games featuring Rod Stewart and stomach pumps or insert your favorite urban myth here.
I haven't heard of or played most of those games, but the ones I did play were really good. Unfortunately in today's game market, there is too much competition for some games to get popular. When so many FPS and RTS games come out each month, often times a good one is overshadowed by a better known game solely due to that games hype. Some of these games do eventually rise from near ashes by word of mouth, but that is rare. There are also a few other reasons that some good games never make it big. One major reason is the lack of quality graphics or multiplayer support. While multiplayer is not required to make a game popular(Ex:Max Payne), it is a big turnoff to buying a game. Also, much of the focus for newer games go into graphics and textures, rather than the actual gameplay itself. Back before graphics mattered, games just had to be fun to become popular. Now without professional artists and designers, it is almost impossible for a game to even make it to the shelf. I remember back when games were made by one or two guys in their basement and were just made to maximize fun. Back then the only concern for graphics was that the player could see and understand what was going on. Even now with all our hot new games, many of those old classics are still fun to go back and play.
UmJammerLammy, which is everything the Gamespy reviewers say it is and more. (It's also mega hard, but you can handle that, right?)
Wizardry 8, which should be near the top of the list.
Herzog Zwei, one of the best games for the Genesis, and more playable, I'd say, that Warcraft, though harder to learn.
Rocket: Robot on Wheels, simply amazing.
Ico, cool, though I'm not sure deserving of #1. There are dozens of games that should be on the list but aren't. Gaming is filled of games that could have changed the direction of the world, except.
Thumbs down concerning:
Super Mario Sunshine, not on the list, derided by almost everyone for being too similar to Mario 64. That's still better than 95% of the rest.
Few or no old-school games. M.U.L.E. is one of the best designed games of all time according to me, Chris Crawford and a lot of other people. These GameSpy guys are clued-in enough to know about Zork, but ignore almost all of computer gaming's too-brief past.
Extra-lame superimposed-directly-over-article-text ads once ina while. Seeing even one of those on a site makes it worthy of hatred in my book. For that, Gamespy can go directly to hell, do not pass 'Go.'
Now can we PLEASE stop with all the XX Blankest lists?! Or at least have more that aren't GameSpy?
I couldn't disagree more. The gameplay in Ico was sublime. It was easy to pick up and understand the controls, yet the game had surprising depth. The graphics were awesome, but the sound and score were incredible.
I am not surprised that it faired so poorly, for the same reason that art films do so poorly relative to summer blockbuster. I know this will end up sounding elitist... but the game was probably over most people's heads. Things like artistry, powerful narrative, and emotion are lost on your average Madden 200x fan.
Still, with the market penetration of the PS2 I suspect that we will see more experimental, nich market titles. I'll use the art film example again: they don't have record-breaking sales, but they probably generate enough sales to make to make up costs.
That said, I think experimental and niche market titles are great. If they push the boundaries of some aspect of gaming, that's even better. But they still need to be fun to play, otherwise they fail to qualify as good games.
Learn to Play Go
I can't believe they didn't mention any of the Thief.. series of games. It's one of the few FP games that makes you think, teaches you patience, and proves that you don't need lasers, billion-combo-moves, ninja-kungfu-fighting, mass destruction, aliens or that cartooney anime junk to make an excellent game.
I rather liked Eternal Darkness for the GCN, which unfortunately got pushed aside because there simply aren't enough people in the installed userbase interested in such a game. It was quite innovative (the Magyk system - composing spells out of runes - worked very well) and had an extremely interesting story based around the stories of those such as Lovecraft and Poe (indeed, the game *begins* with a quote from Poe). It's also very interesting from an artistic perspective - the walls are covered in highly detailed murals, stained glass windows, etc. that you might almost expect to find in an art museum. Still, it's been demoted to the bargin-bin games... perhaps Silicon Knight's next game will be a bigger success, as it has an already established franchise (Metal Gear) behind it.
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If they ever compile a list of the best computer and video game names of all time, "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord" is right up there.
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