I like Metroid: Zero Mission, but it was too easy and had too much hand-holding. I think I would have preferred of they'd left it a little more open like the original Metroid. It lost a lot of that foreboding feeling of blind exploration and, while still fun, ended up being not nearly as gestalt as the original. Meaning that Metroid: Zero Mission is mostly a sum of its parts, unlike the original Metroid which was much more than simply the sum of its parts.
As for Megaman and Bass, I will have to respectfully disagree. I found it to be very lackluster. As the Megaman series has trod on it's lost much of its originality and become something of a lame duck series. In M&Bass the music was mostly crappy tunes with little suspense or action and the gameplay was uninspiring. That and the smaller GBA screen made many jumps unnecessarily difficult VS the SNES release. Truth told, while Megaman Zero is a decent series, the classic Megaman titles really went south after #4, and M & Bass is the worst of them.
GBA unexpected gems
You make solid points, I concede that Zero Mission lost some of the mystery of the original Metroid. I do prefer the original myself, but Zero Mission was fun for an update nonetheless. I remember playing Metroid as a kid and always fearing what lurked around the next turn. Bombing every wall and floor to find new routes was especially rewarding and fun in the original as well, something that they make almost too obvious in Zero Mission.
I've always been a fan of the original MegaMan series, and the X series up through the 6th one. While you have a valid point on the gameplay and tedious jumps not being as great as the earlier titles, I still disagree on the music standpoint. After playing it a few times, its tunes were just as catchy as any other in the original series. I've played every game in the original MegaMan series so many times that it may skew my opinion as opposed to that of a casual fan, so I do allow for that in consideration of your stance.
For the GBA though, while perhaps not as good as earlier games in either series, I still hold to my view that they are some of the better titles released for the system.
What about the other two I suggested? Have you played either of them? If so, I'd like to know what you thought of them as well.
I've always been a fan of the original MegaMan series, and the X series up through the 6th one. While you have a valid point on the gameplay and tedious jumps not being as great as the earlier titles, I still disagree on the music standpoint. After playing it a few times, its tunes were just as catchy as any other in the original series. I've played every game in the original MegaMan series so many times that it may skew my opinion as opposed to that of a casual fan, so I do allow for that in consideration of your stance.
For the GBA though, while perhaps not as good as earlier games in either series, I still hold to my view that they are some of the better titles released for the system.
What about the other two I suggested? Have you played either of them? If so, I'd like to know what you thought of them as well.
Ninja Five O - It is pretty expensive now, but a very fun game.
Owner of JJGames.com and Publisher of VGPC.com
Regarding some suggestions so far...jjgames wrote:Ninja Five O - It is pretty expensive now, but a very fun game.
I'm playing this one (Ninja Cop / Five O) right now and it is amazingly old school, in an excellent way.
Zelda: Minnish Cap and Megaman Zero games are indeed good, but not necessarily unexpected gems.
People often put down Advance Guardian Heroes because it is too different from Guardian Heroes, but it is a rather good game.
Another good brawler which may come as unexpected is Jackie Chan's Adventures - which is rather good despite being a licensed game!
Muppet Pinball is surprisingly good, with quite nice Physics.
And probably not totally unexpected. but I found the Boktai games to be great (this may be a bit subjective if your personal slant regarding the solar sensor is negative).
Ivo.