Ivo wrote:Usually I inform myself before playing, so I don't have that many surprises.
In any case, I can think of a relatively recent one - Advance Wars is great fun, and although I had played a little bit of this sort of game before (amazing Blue Byte games like the Battle Isle series) my brother usually played them and I just watched.
I'd have to agree with this. I dont have many suprises either.
I heard about Advance Wars getting rave reviews and didnt think it was my cup of tea. Of course I ended up being hooked on it! Same goes for Shining Force 1 too.
That Indiana Jones game on the Xbox was a pleasant suprise for me. Turned out to be a decent Tomb Raiderish game that I enjoyed.
Oh, Zelda 3 on the Snes is also another. It was my first RPG and I didnt think I would like something like that. That is until I switched it on...
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Overdosed on Gaming
Another one. Front Mission 3 for PS1. I first gave it a try 3 years ago and was astonished at the graphics (for the system, anyway), the unique concepts brought to the tactics genre, overall production value, and just how much fun it was. Also it has a very unique virtual internet mode. The fans of the series always agree this is easily the peak in the series, so if you want some mecha thrown in your Final Fantasy Tactics, see here.
I just started a new save file in it yesterday, and I am having a blast.
Since this is such a late release on the GBA and everyone assumes it's just a kiddie title, no major outlets have reviewed it.
I saw a video clip a while back that caught my interest. This thing is literally one of the best action GBA games there is.
I didn't much about Psychonauts, but I messed with the demo for PC some, and had to get it for PS2. That was a fun week. Another PC title that has me hooked is Trackmania, it reminds me how I used to play Sega rally on Saturn, endless hours arround and arround the corse to shave hundreths off my time.
Hexic on the 360. Did not even know it was on the 360 hard drive. Was not expecting much from it but it ended up being the most played game on the 360 for me for the first few months.
Also Scortched Earth on the PC. Looked so crude when I first saw it but man, that game was so addictive!
360 Gamer Tag = Kinn, PS3 Tag = xKINNx, Wii = 3036 8283 1247 3110
Overdosed on Gaming
Mozgus wrote:Another one. Front Mission 3 for PS1. I first gave it a try 3 years ago and was astonished at the graphics (for the system, anyway), the unique concepts brought to the tactics genre, overall production value, and just how much fun it was. Also it has a very unique virtual internet mode. The fans of the series always agree this is easily the peak in the series, so if you want some mecha thrown in your Final Fantasy Tactics, see here.
I just started a new save file in it yesterday, and I am having a blast.
In all seriousness, you should try it on the Amiga. And you probably would like the superior sequel, Pinball Fantasies, even more (Pinball Illusions is also good, but I like Fantasies more).
Dynamite Cop: Picked this up for a couple quid, didn't expect much as it had a lot of poor reviews..turned out some of the most fun I've had in 2 player for a long, long time. It may of looked dated even when it came out, but god darn is this game a riot.
Sega Marine Fishing: I was pretty indifferent towards Sega Bass Fishing, but Marine Fishing got me addaited for months thanks to the much faster, smoother game play, and the hundreds of things to unlock.
Burnout 2: Came with an X-Box I bought. Didn't expect much and to be honest still haven't played the main racing much, but the crash mode is amazingly additive. I've tried out a couple other Burnouts since and for some reason they just didn't do it for me the same way Burnout 2 did. Might be all the annoying EA crap slapped onto the later ones that did it..lost some of the arcade style magic along the way..
Also Psyconauts for me. I didn't really know much about it except that it was a cult hit so I rented it and to be honest I didn't want to send it back. Still need to grab me this.
Most recent one for me was Portal. I heard people talking about it, and I knew it would be more than just a tacked-on extra in the Orange Box, but I can't believe how cool it was. It wasn't just the portal mechanic itself -- though that is really cool and fun to play with. It's the whole feel of the game, the writing, and little memorable moments it creates, even the Jonathan Coulton song during the final credits. It's one of deals where, like a great movie, you walk away from it just wanting to tell people about it. That doesn't happen very often for me with games.
An older game that recently surprised me was Wonder Boy in Monster World. Picked it up for a couple of bucks and played all the way through. It's simple, but there's a charm to it.
