What to Do about Those Easy Games

[SplashChick]

This is such a tired topic to me. It's like when people still say that there are no good licensed games. Really? Have you people been in a cave? There's TONS of challenging games out there(and great licensed games too)

It's because of complaints about difficulty that we get cheap games like Ninja Gaiden 2, contrived games like Valkyria Chronicles(a.k.a. save/reload hell) and absolutely ridiculous achievements/trophies like 7 day survivor in Dead Rising.

There's like 3 good licensed games. Don't give them too much credit.

[fastbilly1]

There's like 3 good licensed games. Don't give them too much credit.

I can name more than three off the top of my head:
Goldeneye - N64
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers - NES
Ducktales 1&2 - NES
Alice in Wonderland - GBC - one of the best platformers on the system
Asterix the Gaul - Arcade and Genesis
And of course Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows of Mystara - Arcade and Saturn

I could go into alot of solid licensed beatemups and arcade games with alittle research. Even if the vast majority are crap, there many quality licensed games (both for the time they were released and present day).

[SplashChick]

There's like 3 good licensed games. Don't give them too much credit.

I can name more than three off the top of my head:
Goldeneye - N64
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers - NES
Ducktales 1&2 - NES
Alice in Wonderland - GBC - one of the best platformers on the system
Asterix the Gaul - Arcade and Genesis
And of course Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows of Mystara - Arcade and Saturn

I could go into alot of solid licensed beatemups and arcade games with alittle research. Even if the vast majority are crap, there many quality licensed games (both for the time they were released and present day).

Not that many. It's a very vast majority.

[alienjesus]

Asterix the Gaul - Arcade and Genesis

I really hope that you don;t mean Asterix and the Secret Mission, because that game was god-awful.

On the other hand, The Master System games for asterix are pretty good.


Also, thought i'd add Castle/Land of Illusion, Quackshot, deep duck trouble, lucky dime caper, darkwing duck, The Lion King and Animaniacs to that list.

[Ack]

Just to add to Fastbilly's list of licensed games that were awesome:

The Simpsons, arcade
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, arcade
X-Men, arcade
Captain American and the Avengers, arcade
Aliens Vs. Predator, arcade
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, arcade
Record of Lodoss War, DC
Just about every wrestling game on the N64 in the US.
Star Wars...Hell, I've enjoyed almost every Star Wars game I've played.
LEGO...Hell, same here.

Also, weren't most of the Disney platformers from the 16-bit era quite good? Heck, I even enjoyed such games as Adventures in the Magic Kingdom back in the 8-bit days.

Now granted, there are a lot of bad licensed games. For every Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems, there's a Revolution X, or White Men Can't Jump, or Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City, but the old claim that there aren't any good ones just isn't true.

[SplashChick]

IMO you guys are listing lots of games that are mediocre rather than good, but even so the list of bad games is much more daunting.

[Ack]

IMO you guys are listing lots of games that are mediocre rather than good, but even so the list of bad games is much more daunting.

Seriously, you thought those beat em ups were mediocre? I'm kinda shocked, as they're all games I've really enjoyed, and most of the folks I know agree with me. TMNT arcade back in the day was awesome, and AVP 3-player ranks as my favorite arcade cabinet.

[masteroftheclaw]

IMO you guys are listing lots of games that are mediocre rather than good, but even so the list of bad games is much more daunting.

Everybody is entitled to their opinions. In mine, many of the titles these other people have listed ARE quite fun. The 4 player Simpsons machines are some of the most fun I've ever had in an arcade.

In my opinion I think it would be a valid point to mention that a lot of (not licensed) titles are awful as well. It's unavoidable either way.

[Ack]

IMO you guys are listing lots of games that are mediocre rather than good, but even so the list of bad games is much more daunting.

Everybody is entitled to their opinions. In mine, many of the titles these other people have listed ARE quite fun.

In my opinion I think it would be a valid point to mention that a lot of (not licensed) titles are awful as well. It's unavoidable either way.

That's a good point. No matter what genre, console, production company, etc., there are some bad games out there, and we're all entitled to our opinions about what games are quality or not. Personally, I feel there are quite a few licensed games that were good, or at least that I enjoyed. SplashChick may not agree, but that's their opinion on those titles. And it's likely that SplashChick enjoys some titles I don't care for, potentially other licensed games. To each their own I suppose.

By the way, what was the original subject of this thread?

[Beak]

The gaming market is about calculated risks now; difficult games are not as immediately rewarding for most people, so they are more of a risk. Unless you have the resources and audience/consumer base to rely on, it is too much of a risk to make a game that may require a level of skill that is beyond the average John Noob. They simply are tougher sales because your average, fair-weather gamer doesn't want to spend 2 hours getting pwned; it's understandable and you can't blame them. That's why most intelligent movies aren't the popular ones. People tend to watch movies for mindless fun as an escape. Who wants to come home from a rough day and get absolutely pwned in all of their games for the small amount of free time they have?

That's why, when it comes to modern games, I like competitive games; the difficulty of the game relies on the skill of your opponent. You can usually count on the other player to have desire to win, so you will find competition and difficulty.

But that's why I have a special place in my heart for retro games. The good ones are the difficult ones. As long as it's not impossibly difficult and frustrating, I welcome any game that would pwn me.