With each generation comes new hit titles, cultural phenomenons, cult classics, and games fanboys desperately cling to. From past generations, specifically the Sega Dreamcast and prior, there are several games that fall into those categories that are simply overrated. Which of those overrated classic games fall into the top five?
5. Shenmue
Overview: Shenmue was developed by SEGA to be part of their Dreamcast killer app series. Pushing the hardware further than no other developer on the Dreamcast had, Shenmue sported some of the best visuals on the console. The captivating story of this action JRPG engrossed players in the world, and eventually fans received a sequel before the Dreamcast’s popularity died off.
Why it’s overrated: With Shenmue, SEGA promised players an immersive sandbox-based world that players can explore as they carry out the game’s story. While Shenmue is a great game in its own right, it was restrictive and suffered from clunky controls. The world wasn’t as “sandboxy” as SEGA promised, with the adventure being basically a linear affair – new sections and cities would only be unlocked once the player completed a certain task. This made the game repetitive: complete task, find sailors, move to the next area, rinse and repeat. On top of that, Ryo, the protagonist of Shenmue, moves around like a tank. There’s hardly any combat in this JRPG; most of the action takes place in the form of quick-time events. Voice acting in Shenmue is also atrocious.
4. Final Fantasy VII
Overview: Final Fantasy VII was the first Final Fantasy title to release for Sony’s Playstation, and it was met with much critical acclaim. The game features the same ATB combat style presented in Final Fantasy IV, except instead of four or five characters available to battle with there are only three. The story in Final Fantasy VII is one of the most mature in the series, and takes players away from the medieval times to a more modern day steam-punk timeframe.
Why it’s overrated: When looking back, Final Fantasy VII probably could have been done on any 16-bit console or the N64. Square Enix envisioned a cinematic type experience through the use of CGI cut-scenes, but has that really revolutionized the RPG genre? Only recently, in Final Fantasy XIII, have we seen a JRPG that blends the lines between CGI and actual gameplay. Final Fantasy VII has so little innovation in terms of actual gameplay mechanics – Chinese pirates have actually re-created the game in an NES version (although it’s pretty low quality, due to the NES console’s restrictions).
3. Perfect Dark
Overview: Perfect Dark is considered by many to be a spiritual successor to Rare’s N64 FPS hit, GoldenEye 007. Published by Nintendo and developed by Rare during the end days of the N64, Perfect Dark aimed to set the bar even higher on what makes an FPS great. Perfect Dark featured a great deal of corridor shooting gameplay when compared to GoldenEye, and the graphics were greatly improved as well.
Why it’s overrated: Many gamers speak of Perfect Dark as the greatest FPS on the N64, and the greatest FPS of all time. However, what’s so great about Perfect Dark, anyway? The game is filled with dreadful corridor gameplay – not that that particular type of shooting is all bad, mind you – but Perfect Dark has players searching everywhere through doorways upon doorways in search of a hidden elevator or a lady with a key card. To make it worse, Perfect Dark suffers from terrible framerate problems even with the N64 expansion pack inserted. One level for instance, where players have to snipe guards by a beach house, the framerate drops down to about five to ten frames per second.
2. Sonic the Hedgehog (1 – 3)
Overview: Developed and published by SEGA for their 16-bit era console, the SEGA Genesis, the first few Sonic the Hedgehog games are considered classics. Sonic did what no other game really did; it had players speed through levels at a fast pace collecting coins and defeating enemies. Essentially, Sonic the Hedgehog can be called a racing-platforming game, except players aren’t actually racing anything – that’s just how fast Sonic could speed through the game’s varied courses.
Why it’s overrated: Looking back at Sonic the Hedgehog 1 – 3, can players really speed through levels? More often than not, when players start to get really fast with Sonic, an enemy will pop up or players will fall into a pit of deadly spikes. These common occurrences effectively hinder the pacing of the games. Some fans may say that Sonic isn’t just about “going fast”. What were the main complaints with Sonic Unleashed, though? The werehog levels were too slow, and the fast daytime levels were almost perfect. Sonic is definitely all about going fast — something the classic games never actually perfected. These days, what is Sonic about? Why do people get so hyped up for a new Sonic game? Nostalgia.
1. Earthbound
Overview: This wacky first party RPG was released in North America during the ending days of the SNES, thus many gamers never had the chance to experience Earthbound. The game follows the tale of four ordinary kids in a zany world, as they attempt to prevent an extraterrestrial super power from taking over the world.
Why it’s overrated: As said earlier, Earthbound didn’t release in North America until the dying days of the SNES. Not only that, but Nintendo of America seems to hate the franchise. These factors have turned into Earthbound into a cult classic — a game that everybody loves but hardly any of them have actually played. What makes these fans love Earthbound so much? The characters, the story, the combat, and the world. The characters are absolutely awful, though. Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo are some of the dullest characters in any RPG. There isn’t even any character development in the game, save for discovering Pokey’s cowardly ways. The story is also very generic, although wacky. A super power named Giygas is trying to destroy the world — haven’t heard that one before. The combat is a watered down copy of Dragon Quest, too. None of the characters are shown on screen, which is okay. Only the enemies are shown, but the backgrounds for battles are generally just funky colors waving back and forth. There isn’t anything special about Earthbound’s world, either. It’s just a modern day parallel of the United States.
What are your thoughts, faithful readers? What classic games do you feel are overrated?
