What are some of your UNpopular video game opinions? (real ones, not just ones for the sake of trolling or something)

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,076]

The best part about this thread isn't necessarily the unpopular opinions themselves, but the reactions to them and people here having mental meltdowns. Keep 'em coming! As for my own (hopefully) unpopular opinions, here's a few of them.

1. People already talked about E.T. on the Atari 2600 and I personally like this game as well. as someone who didn't grow up with this system, E.T. has been the only Atari game so far that kept me glued to the console for more than 15 or 30 minutes. I spent about 2 hours trying to clear one loop on regular difficulty. I eventually practiced on the lower difficulties to get a feeling for the game and then went for the real deal. It's a surprisingly tense and fun game once you udnerstand what you have to do. I guess it was too ambitious and complex for its time and maybe for the limited time frame that Howard Scott Warshaw had to work with. But it's an impressive feat and the gaming world lost a great game designer and programmer with him. It would have been interesting to see what he could have come up with in the future and on more advanced hardware. I think it's also sad that his game is the target of cheap ridicule and that people parrot that online, probably without even giving the game a real chance.

2. I prefer Super Mario Allstars over the original NES games. There, I said it! One reason being the added save feature, that was brought up earlier here in regards to SMB3 on the NES. Also, I like the improved graphics and music. Also, I think you got more or unlimited continues in the SNES versions, so it made the games easier to complete. Which brings me to point number 3.

3. I don't like it when a game is overly difficult AND has limited lives and continues. One thing I like about the Mega Man or (most) Castlevania games is that you can try them for as long as you want without having to constantly redo the whole game over and over again. It just gets boring and wastes my time. Usually people tend to say that you have to "git gud" or maybe make fun of gamers that don't like these tough challenges or that they're just "casual" gamers and not "hardcore" like all those Dark Souls fanatics. But I don't like having to constantly repeat the easy levels so that I can have another shot at the really difficult levels or bosses. I'm wasting up to an hour on those old games just for another try. I prefer it when developers allow a wider range of gamers to finish their game, but maybe add something like a point feature for the real pros, so that they can have their desired challenge, too. And this difficulty debate neatly segways into point number 4.

4. I don't like arcade games. They're usually just short and shallow experiences that hide these facts by their insane difficulty. Of course this is due to the inherent business model and the desire to munch your quarters. But even today when I play on collections or other digital versions where I theoretically have unlimited quarters/continues I still can't get into them, or at least get bored really quickly. I also can't quite comprehend the appeal of "bringing the arcade home" which Sega seemingly tried to do a lot. Back in the day I only got one video game per year, maybe two if I was very lucky. When I was in my teens or shortly before that I eventually managed to maybe save up enough money for a loose cartridge once every blue moon (like Terranigma which I got from a rundown thrift store). Because I only received so few games I would have been absolutely furious if I had gotten something like Altered Beast, which is basically a 10 or 15 minute playthrough or so, that is only padded out by its difficulty. While there are obviously much better and more substantial arcade games out there, the tendency is still that they are short, simple and extremely difficult. I prefer more substantial and exploratory games like Super Mario World, A Link to the past or the many (Action) RPGs.

5. Kirby games are boring and put me to sleep. And I say this even though I like Kirby as a character, the overall design of the enemies, the background graphics and the music. But playing these games is somehow so boring. I can't even explain why. It's not even that they're too easy, because they sometimes can get relatively tough when you have to search for all the bonus stuff to 100% the game etc. If it wasn't for the challenges here I would have never beaten a single Kirby game.

[Estil | 1,265]

19 minutes ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

2. I prefer Super Mario Allstars over the original NES games. There, I said it! One reason being the added save feature, that was brought up earlier here in regards to SMB3 on the NES. Also, I like the improved graphics and music. Also, I think you got more or unlimited continues in the SNES versions, so it made the games easier to complete. 

Since when has that been an unpopular viewpoint?    I may have had to wait three long years to finally get a SNES for Christmas (1994) but at least I got the really loaded one with both Mario All Stars and Mario World as well as two controllers (I don't think any console since has ever come that fully loaded!!) and I adored All-Stars, even more so than World (I especially love the colorful twinkling stars in SMB1(LL)).  Honestly a good case could be made for preferring either the NES or SNES versions.  From the very start I thought it would've been nice if All-Stars included the option to play the original NES versions but I guess Nintendo figured most of those gamers already had the 8-bit cartridges anyway.

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,076]

5 minutes ago, Estil said:

Since when has that been an unpopular viewpoint?  

Considering the heritage of this message board and the occasional remarks I thought that the NES originals were still more popular than the remakes.

[Estil | 1,265]

41 minutes ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

4. I don't like arcade games. They're usually just short and shallow experiences that hide these facts by their insane difficulty. Of course this is due to the inherent business model and the desire to munch your quarters. But even today when I play on collections or other digital versions where I theoretically have unlimited quarters/continues I still can't get into them, or at least get bored really quickly. I also can't quite comprehend the appeal of "bringing the arcade home" which Sega seemingly tried to do a lot. Back in the day I only got one video game per year, maybe two if I was very lucky. When I was in my teens or shortly before that I eventually managed to maybe save up enough money for a loose cartridge once every blue moon (like Terranigma which I got from a rundown thrift store). Because I only received so few games I would have been absolutely furious if I had gotten something like Altered Beast, which is basically a 10 or 15 minute playthrough or so, that is only padded out by its difficulty. While there are obviously much better and more substantial arcade games out there, the tendency is still that they are short, simple and extremely difficult. I prefer more substantial and exploratory games like Super Mario World, A Link to the past or the many (Action) RPGs.

I have gone on record here as saying that one of the main things I like about blue chip/quest RPGs is that even the old NES/SNES ones can easily take 40-50 hours to complete and do you remember how long it took me in DQ11 just to get to the end of Act 1 (of 3)?  There's just something nice about paying only $25 (DQ11, new), or even <$20 (FF12, both PS2 and later PS4 versions, both new) and easily getting at least 80-100 hours out of it.  Makes me feel like I'm really getting my money's worth ya know?

The appeal of "bringing the arcades home" was precisely the point of the release of the Genesis and their iconic "Genesis does what Nintendon't" campaign.  Oh boy did Sega aggressively market both the Genesis and Game Gear and mercilessly attacked and ridiculed Nintendo in their ads.  You know the 16-bit console wars was not only like the 1992 Presidential campaign/rivalry.  Nintendo was all about tradition and being (mostly) family friendly (Bush) while the Genesis was positioned as the hip/cool console to appeal more to teens/young adults (Clinton).  That Congressional testimony that Howard Phillips of Nintendo did during the whole video game violence controversy?  He might as well had been echoing Bush's "more like Waltons, less like Simpsons" line.  And of course the Turbo-Grafix 16 would the Ross Perot of the 4th gen  

But yeah back to the whole bring the arcades home thing, the Genesis was indeed the first console that reasonably and realistically could pass for the arcade versions.  On the VCDECIDE YouTube channel you can easily see/hear the side-by-side comparisons of arcade vs Genesis, NES and/or SNES vs Genesis, and many others.  If only we could do that back in the day!  

https://www.youtube.com/user/ComparandoGames/videos

So yes, who wouldn't find the idea of not having to pump quarters over and over for one more of your favorite Sega arcade games appealing?  Only trouble was (as I think you may have mentioned/hinted) it meant that you could get through the game much quicker (especially if there were unlimited continues) than the original arcade version would've anticipated/expected.  Which meant that yes, in a way it was the double edged sword of the idea.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Estil

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

9 hours ago, OptOut said:

Well I prefer the 3D Zelda's to the 2D ones, I would probably say that OoT is my favourite when push comes to shove. But I also love MM and BOTW is neat.

My favourite 2D Zelda is A Link Between Worlds on 3DS... This is probably the weirdest part of the whole thing, I love THAT game... It's just way better in every way than the original, dungeons are better, combat is better, Link is faster, the graphics look great, I love the whole wall walking thing...

Anyway, for my NEXT trick:

I love Zelda: Spirit Tracks, possibly in my top 3 Zelda games! Chew on THAT one you guys! 

Oh hey, I love Spirit Tracks too! I'm not sure I'd place it in my top 3, but that's honestly one of my favorites as well. Glad to see someone else enjoys that game as much as I do I also really enjoy Phantom Hourglass, although yeah, Spirit Tracks took everything Phantom Hourglass did and did it 10x better. I will also agree with you in that I do actually prefer ALBW over ALTTP.

[spacepup | 2,405]

I'm pretty sure I've shared this somewhere else at some point, but I always preferred Zelda 2 over the original Legend of Zelda.  I always loved the platforming elements, and thought it was/is a lot more challenging and interesting than the original.

Having said that, and somewhat ironically given the game style, I absolutely loved Link to the Past (not unpopular of course).

I guess the other preference I have that is unpopular (around here anyway), is that while I always have a special place in my heart for NES, and have enjoyed hundreds if not thousands of hours of entertainment with the system, it's not something I really play much any more, and generally speaking, I'd rather play something new and different as opposed to rehashing the same games over and over.

Also, I'd say I typically prefer PlayStation over Nintendo in terms of my main collecting and gameplay interests.  I still love Nintendo, and love the Switch right now.

[JamesRobot | 5,808]

23 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I'm pretty sure I've shared this somewhere else at some point, but I always preferred Zelda 2 over the original Legend of Zelda.  I always loved the platforming elements, and thought it was/is a lot more challenging and interesting than the original.

I'm in the same camp.  Zelda 2 was my favorite for a long time.  

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

I find Super Castlevania 4 really boring. 

I like the first TMNT game on NES a lot more than the arcade ones.

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

18 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

I'm in the same camp.  Zelda 2 was my favorite for a long time.  

I'm convinced that most people who say they hate zelda 2 either haven't played it or don't like the first one. I feel like most of the "hate" towards zelda 2 comes from people that all they know about it is that it's very different from the other ones. If there's anyone here that's played and disliked 2 but liked 1, I'd like to hear why. 

[Tulpa | 3,518]

I like Zelda 1 and 2, but for different reasons. I like Zelda 1 somewhat more, but that might be from liking overhead adventure games a little more than side-scrolling ones (I prefer action games as side-scrollers.)

I'm not opposed to either one, though.

[fcgamer | 4,731]

Sachen games are fun.

Their platformers are mediocre at best, totally agree with that, but their puzzle / card / tile / gambling games are boss. And that's what the majority of their games are.

I remember my brother and I playing Chinese Checkers on Famicom, the only electronic version of the game is by Sachen. We had a lot of fun, yeah iirc there were some issues, but it was the same type of stuff you'd see while playing an electronic version of chess, for example.

Then I remember playing some tile - matching / memory games that used mahjong tiles instead of cards. I remember wasting a whole night away playing some of these games, when I intended just to see what the gameplay was like.

I can't comment on the proper mahjong games as I don't know the rules, but I'd reckon they'd be spot-on as well.

So yeah, I think most Sachen games are fun, it's just that they're the types of games that westerners can't appreciate. And the games they could appreciate bare mediocre offerings.

[BriGuy82 | 775]

37 minutes ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

I'm convinced that most people who say they hate zelda 2 either haven't played it or don't like the first one. I feel like most of the "hate" towards zelda 2 comes from people that all they know about it is that it's very different from the other ones. If there's anyone here that's played and disliked 2 but liked 1, I'd like to hear why. 

That game was unplayable for me when I was a kid. I hated nes Rambo, and that game was like Zelda Rambo to me. I really hated the exploration parts of the game too. I couldn't stand moving mini link around a map and then getting sucked into the side scrolling battles. It killed the whole adventuring aspect of the open world IMO. Seemed very monotonous... 30 years later and I haven't given it another try. But if you think I'm missing out maybe I'll give it another shot. I hated the music too btw.

[BriGuy82 | 775]

1 hour ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

I'm convinced that most people who say they hate zelda 2 either haven't played it or don't like the first one. I feel like most of the "hate" towards zelda 2 comes from people that all they know about it is that it's very different from the other ones. If there's anyone here that's played and disliked 2 but liked 1, I'd like to hear why. 

Lol, I just watched a 2 minute clip of it on YouTube. I'm never playing that game again. The sound the sword makes, and watching link walk around villages....tapped me out on that one. 

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

15 minutes ago, BriGuy82 said:

That game was unplayable for me when I was a kid. I hated nes Rambo, and that game was like Zelda Rambo to me. I really hated the exploration parts of the game too. I couldn't stand moving mini link around a map and then getting sucked into the side scrolling battles. It killed the whole adventuring aspect of the open world IMO. Seemed very monotonous... 30 years later and I haven't given it another try. But if you think I'm missing out maybe I'll give it another shot. I hated the music too btw.

Did you like Zelda 1? I can totally understand not likely Zelda 2, but I think a lot of things people are critical of apply to Zelda 1 too. For example, Zelda 1 also leans heavily on exploration. Both either take hours of searching for the next thing to do or just looking it up (which I definitely did a couple times for both games because I don't have that much patience). You do have a good point with the side scrolling battles though as I didn't care much for them either, but I still prefer them over random encounters from RPGs since you have a chance of avoiding them. I'll have to disagree on you with the music though. I quite liked it and the final palace theme is one of the best Zelda songs. 

[BriGuy82 | 775]

9 minutes ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

Did you like Zelda 1? I can totally understand not likely Zelda 2, but I think a lot of things people are critical of apply to Zelda 1 too. For example, Zelda 1 also leans heavily on exploration. Both either take hours of searching for the next thing to do or just looking it up (which I definitely did a couple times for both games because I don't have that much patience). You do have a good point with the side scrolling battles though as I didn't care much for them either, but I still prefer them over random encounters from RPGs since you have a chance of avoiding them. I'll have to disagree on you with the music though. I quite liked it and the final palace theme is one of the best Zelda songs. 

Zelda1 is one of my all time favs. Especially because of the exploration. I still remember finding that power bracelet behind the statue, it was like a thrill...Zelda is by far my favorite franchise. I've bought systems only to play a new zelda game. I like when they try new things too. Man, that game was so off putting to me, in every single aspect. I don't think I can play it again. But maybe I'll crack open an nes mini and give it a shot. 

[guitarzombie | 924]

While we're on the subject, I think Zelda 1 is a bit overrated.  Its a great game but its incredibly cryptic and doesn't really get as much flak as it should. I mean, does it give you any hints where to bomb to get the blue ring?  I do respect it influenced tons of games I love, including Doom. 

[BriGuy82 | 775]

2 minutes ago, guitarzombie said:

While we're on the subject, I think Zelda 1 is a bit overrated.  Its a great game but its incredibly cryptic and doesn't really get as much flak as it should. I mean, does it give you any hints where to bomb to get the blue ring?  I do respect it influenced tons of games I love, including Doom. 

Yeah I remember being stuck alot. But you know what made it alot better? Nintendo power. I had the fun club news with zelda2 on the cover and inside it had a map of zelda1 and showed you where all the spots where. It was like Nintendo porn.

[BriGuy82 | 775]

19 minutes ago, guitarzombie said:

While we're on the subject, I think Zelda 1 is a bit overrated.  Its a great game but its incredibly cryptic and doesn't really get as much flak as it should. I mean, does it give you any hints where to bomb to get the blue ring?  I do respect it influenced tons of games I love, including Doom. 

 

[guitarzombie | 924]

12 minutes ago, BriGuy82 said:

Yeah I remember being stuck alot. But you know what made it alot better? Nintendo power. I had the fun club news with zelda2 on the cover and inside it had a map of zelda1 and showed you where all the spots where. It was like Nintendo porn.

Of course.  The games were cryptic so you HAD to get their magazine haha.  Just like my theory about games like Festers Quest were designed with Nintendo in mind so you had to buy their turbo controllers.  I understand people really enjoying it when it first came out cuz there was nothing like it.  But I think over time, it doesn't hold up as well.  TBH I have not played other Zelda games (was never a big fan) but I could understand how something like Link to the Past being much better as it fixed the flaws/limitations the original would have.

BTW to show how little of a fan I am, I had to google the SNES game name just to make sure I got it right haha.

[dvertov | 208]

18 minutes ago, guitarzombie said:

While we're on the subject, I think Zelda 1 is a bit overrated.  Its a great game but its incredibly cryptic and doesn't really get as much flak as it should. I mean, does it give you any hints where to bomb to get the blue ring?  I do respect it influenced tons of games I love, including Doom. 

 

Zelda 1 is a great example of a game that is actually much harder than we all remember it being because we've internalized so many aspects of the gameplay through history and video game pop culture.

[guitarzombie | 924]

When I meant did they tell you, I meant in the game.  As you bought it, can you finish it with just the manual and game.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

I'm convinced that most people who say they hate zelda 2 either haven't played it or don't like the first one. I feel like most of the "hate" towards zelda 2 comes from people that all they know about it is that it's very different from the other ones. If there's anyone here that's played and disliked 2 but liked 1, I'd like to hear why. 

I wouldn't say I dislike it, but I prefer the original Legend of Zelda. I've beaten both games so I liked them both enough to play all the way through. I guess it comes down to liking the style of the first game more than the side scrolling in the second.

[guitarzombie | 924]

Just now, dvertov said:

 

Zelda 1 is a great example of a game that is actually much harder than we all remember it being because we've internalized so many aspects of the gameplay through history and video game pop culture.

BTW My perspective is from an outsider.  I only beat that game for the first time like 5 years ago.  I had Maniac Mansion as a kid and figured out EVERYTHING in  that game as a kid, including the 0000 trick.  I had friends of mine play it a few years ago and what seemed like second nature to me, they were struggling with.  Which I understood because I spent so much time with it, it seems so easy and logical.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Aa far as cryptic games go, I beat Shadowgate and Deja Vu as a kid without any hints or guides, but I couldn't figure Uninvited out at all. I didn't finish that one until a few years ago with a walkthrough.

[dvertov | 208]

Just now, Bearcat-Doug said:

Aa far as cryptic games go, I beat Shadowgate and Deja Vu as a kid without any hints or guides, but I couldn't figure Uninvited out at all. I didn't finish that one until a few years ago with a walkthrough.

As a kid, I think the most difficult puzzle I ran into in Shadowgate was the first screen. Once I figured out how to get damn front door open it was mostly smooth sailing.