411 Games Top 5 3.18.10: Week 55 - Our Biggest Letdowns

Posted by Todd Vote on 03.18.2010

From Halo 3, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Sonic 3D to Devil May Cry 2, Mortal Kombat 4 and Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, the 411 Games staff says that these are some of the biggest letdowns in gaming! Check out the full article to see which games made the list and why!

Last week was the Final Fantasy edition. Let's jump right into your thoughts.


Comment Time with Toddo!

Come on seriously? No Opera Scene from FFVI? I know these lists arent going to please everyone but I'll post my #1 FF moment:

Taking FFVIII out of my playstation, taking a good long look at it- shaking my head and putting it on the fucking shelf FOREVER.
Posted By: Ultra Gepetto (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 10:04 AM

Taking FFVIII out of my playstation, taking a good long look at it- shaking my head and putting it on the fucking shelf FOREVER.

Posted By: Ultra Gepetto (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 10:04 AM

/Agreed
Posted By: Guest#3185 (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 05:58 PM

Was VIII that bad? Or just that mind boggling? I'm afraid your statements are lost on me...

I didn't play FFVII for a week after Aeris died. I swore up and down I did something wrong and tried to go back and replay it and alas, Aeris still bought it. I have never had such an emotional attachment to a game as I did then.
Posted By: Cory (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 10:11 PM

Boy you Final Fantasy fans sure take your gaming seriously... In all seriousness, I WISH I could get this emotionally involved in a video game. You guys seem to get so much more out of your gaming dollars than I do. I mean that seriously, I wish I could have had that kind of emotion when Kratos killed Athena at the end of God of War II.

LISTS

Honorable mentions:

You spoony bard! (IV)

Liberi Fatali (VIII): My favorite opening in the series.

5. Rydia returns (IV): Though she was a little girl when lost at sea, an older Rydia the summoner returns just in time to save Cecil from being devoured by Golbez's creature of shadow.

4. Sephiroth discovers himself (VII): Upon finding out the details of his parentage and birth, the ultimate soldier turns against humanity, starting with a razing of a village, which leads to that awesome shot of him standing in the flames.

3. Maria and Draco (VI): Celes is a general, not some opera floozy! That didn't stop her from taking the place of Maria, a woman targeted by Setzer to be his bride, in an attempt to trap the gambler. Great music, but I wonder what the opera goes thought seeing the show interrupted by a falling octopus, a non-scripted fight, and the kidnapping of the female lead.

2. Bid farewell to your bloodstained past (IV): Cecil starts out as a dark knight who follows his king's orders despite any concerns that what he's doing is wrong. In a memorable scene atop Mt. Ordeals, Cecil is bathed in hollowed light, becoming a paladin and banishing his darker half. This is the true start of Cecil's quest to save the world.

1. Mad Dance of Victory (VI): Kefka does what so many villains are prevented from doing; he destroys the world! I was shocked the first time I saw Kefka take in the magical power of the Warring Triad, granting him the power to dispose of anyone he wants at any time!

Actually, I need to make a change. I don't know how, but I forgot this scene when making my list. So, this should be number 5 while Rydia's return is dropped to honorable mention.

5. Now is the time to choose! (X): Yuna and her guardians have been on a quest to stop Sin, but upon realizing one of her guardians will just replace Sin, the party decides to fight this fate instead! The powerful Yunalesca isn't pleased with the decision and a huge fight ensues. Auron's quick speech here is especially memorable!
Posted By: Jay (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 03:33 PM

Honorable Mentions: 1.Rydia comes back and saves you from getting destroyed by Golbeze- After what you had done to her mom early in the game this was a pleasant surprise.

2. Palom and Porom stone themselves in order to save your lives. It's common for adults to do something but kids turning into stone to save you just unheard of.

Final fantasy IV remains my favorite because of Cecil's development and the fact that each character was good at one thing. Unlike most other Final fantasy's where everyone can cast magic only a select few could.

My list
5. Tellah kills himself by casting meteo- Every time i play this game I am so happy when Tellah kills himself. He is one the most annoying useless characters ever.

4. Blitzball- I spent hours playing blitzball on X and was excited they were bringing it into X-2 thought they were going to make it more challenging boy was I wrong.

3. Cecil becomes paladin- A lot of people hate on the paladin but it was a necessary step for his character to purge the evil in his soul.

2. Aeris dies- This scene right here lets you know Sephiroth takes no prisoners and makes you want to kicks his ass in the end.

1. Kefka destroys the world- Just an interesting twist in a great FF. Blowing up the world and destroying innocent lives and wondering if all your friends made it. It just shows you how overcome with power Kefka had become
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 01:41 AM


What, no FFVI Opera Scene?

Top 5:
5. You spoony bard!
4. Rescuing Celes
3. Escaping the Dreadnought Leviathan on XII
4. Rydia returns
5. FFVI Opera scene

Bet you can't tell which two entries I'm a huge fan of.
Posted By: Jake (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 03:19 AM

I agree with pretty much everything, except I would add a few:

Zack's Last stand (Crisis Core) - I loved Crisis Core, and I wish it got a lil more love and this moment was one of my faves in the whole game..He was so close to seeing aeris again, but didn't make it. I felt like that was one of the saddest moments I've had in gaming.

Opening from ffx2 - I don't really care about the hate on x2, i enjoyed it and I thought there was something about the opening that was epic.

Tidus and Yuna kiss (while creeper Kimiari peeps?) FFX - I thought it really gratifying to see the two of them finally get together.
Posted By: Guest#0436 (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 06:31 AM

Honorable: Final Fantasy 3 (not VI, 3, like...3), getting the airship 15 mins in - this was insane...no one should have that kind of power that early on...however, it did create some hilarious dialogue as you try to go around and "translate" everyone who's languages you haven't learned yet.

5. Aeris bites it - Great music, great FMV, still one of the saddest character deaths in all of gaming...but kinda of annoying if you leveled the piss out of Aeris (AND got her Ultimate Weapon...which is not actually hard to get). Still, it has lasting effects, even to this day.

4. Cecil goes Light - FFIV had probably one of the most solid out of the whole series, plus the depth of several vehicles/levels of Earth/Moon and all the characters coming and going as they please...but the main characters struggle with himself and the darkness is made all the more compelling when you have to defeat yourself to save yourself. How zen of you Cecil.

3. Growing Up - This is from the very first FF, which I played to death on the NES. The days of swinging at imaginary enemies and buying your spells seems like yesterday...but an awesome moment happens once you bring the Dragon King a rat tail...you grew up and become powerful as fuck! Black Belt's transformation into a Karate Master make him a small, quick tank (I one-shot crit the final boss with him, doing something like 20 hits and 3500 damage) and Warrior turning into Knight is just badass (he's more a Paladin since he can learn magic, but I digress). A seriously major moment, and one I don't believe has been duplicated in any FF game.

2. Kefka, like, blows up the world...and junk - How often does the villain get to carry out their evil plan? Well, in FF games, it happens more often than you think, but the big one (take over the world) is always just out of reach...until Kefka snatched that bitch out of thin air. The badassery of Kefka's ripping apart of the world is so awesome, he actually clones himself in another dimension and shows up as a villain in Mario RPG...for real, go check it out...hardest fight in the damn game. Anyway, the quest to bring everyone together again makes this an easy consideration for #2...which leaves...

1. Crossing the Bridge - This is a "cutscene" for the original game, where after finishing the prologue to the story (and encountering Garland for the first time), you cross the bridge onto the next continent and the screen flashes, taking you to a picture and scrolling text telling you of your journey as a Warrior Of Light. First time I ever saw this, I got REALLY excited...cause little did I know what kind of world was ahead of me. Simple? Yes, but in 1988...this was the greatest thing of all time...and you know what? It still kinda is.
Posted By: Ramsey (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 11:33 AM

Not a bad list at all. Here would be mine:

Honorable mention- Squall and Seifer Opening sequence (FF VIII), Bahamut vs Alexander (FF IX), Gold Saucer ride (FF VII), Locke uses Phoenix to say Goodbye (FF VI)

5. Triple Triad Card game- This game was so addicting it was unreal. Collecting all the cards took day in itself.

4. The Opera Scene (FFVI)- This scene just has a place in my heart. At the time it was so different and cool from anything else that ever happened in a RPG.

3. Endings done right (FFVI, FFVIII and FF IX)- Nothing bothered me more after finishing FF VII than the crappy ending. Aeriths was still dead after teasing she wouldnt be. The Love tease between Cloud and Tifa is left wide open and after a game deserved a major finale all we got was "Lifestream". The FFs I listed got it right for your 30-70 hours of play. Friends reunited, the bad guy destroyed, Love blossoms. Everything an ending should be in a game like this.

2. Sephiroth's Fire Walk (FF VII)- Still one of the coolest visuals in any FF. The man loses his mind and then proceeds to destroy everything in his way, Including the families of Cloud and Tifa.

1. Kefka Destroys the World (FF VI)- Just when u think everything was under control, FF VI throws the unexpected at you. The Bad guy succeeds in destroying the earth. The entire world...changed. Your entire party that you gathered...gone. You basically start all over 20 hours into a RPG.
Posted By: Guest#0709 (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 01:25 PM

honorable mention 1 - final fantasy 8 - opening movie, even tho the game sucks balls this opening movie completely blew my mind back in the day

honorable mention 2 - final fantasy 13, the gang returns to eden with their eidolons, just an epic beautiful moment that gets your blood rushing.

5 - Final Fantasy X - opening, when otherworld starts playing and tidus plays blitzball while sin destroys zanarkand, epic all around.

4 - Final Fantasy IX - Bahamut vs Alexander - this "cutesy, disney" ff, beats 7 and 8 in terms of badassery on this fmv alone, if you havent seen it then go on youtube and find it.

3 - final fantasy 7 - sepiroth burns nibelheim, just chilling stuff.

2 - Final fantasy 6 - opera scene, it's famous and world reknowned for a reason, it's one of the most romantic and charming scenes in any games ever, not nearly as forced as most of the love stories in games nowadays, really showed how emotional and dramatic you could get with 16 bit graphics.

1 - final fantasy 7 - aeris' death, the moment that made millions of geeks cry in despair, that alone is worth the top spot.
Posted By: gooched (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 02:01 PM

I think FF7 and FF10's cut scenes should get a mention just because of how "iconic" they were. They broke in new eras of video cut scenes. I dunno if they were the first for each system, but they are the most memorable.

My list prolly isn't too long:

FF9 - Vivi wards off the Black Waltz in the Airship chase scene. I think it is because it was really well done and added some depth and clarity to one of my favorite characters in the series, Vivi.

FFX - Blitzball. Talk about the ultimate mini-game! But those damn Al Bhed Psyches were on steroids and stuff..

FFXII - The license system was a great moment because it really allowed for the first time total control of your character's development. If you wanted someone to have an axe while still being great at magick, you could.
Posted By: Eboney (Guest) on March 11, 2010 at 03:26 PM

Great lists guys, now lets get to the real reason you clicked the link:





That video sums up this weeks topic better than I could do. Remember that game that you waited all year for? The one that you just had to have. The one that released and it was so fuckin horrible that you had to smash it with a hammer? That's what we look to cover this week. The highly anticipated letdowns. The games that should have been awesome but left us wondering "WTF"? This week the games staff brings you our biggest letdowns in gaming. I hope you enjoy it, and then remember to share your letdowns with us.

Jordan WilliamsHONORABLE MENTIONS

Army of Two: The 40th Day - This game wasn't completely bad, but the more I played it the more I was starting to get bummed that the Epic Bromance seemed to be lacking a certain flare this time around. In the first game you went all over the world to all of these giant set pieces and in this one you just seemed to do the same thing over and over

Touch The Dead - When I heard a House of the Dead clone was coming to the DS, I was all fucking over it. I even pre-ordered it and got it on launch. I went home and played it for exactly 4 hours, then took it back. The controls were horrible, the bosses were horrible and the ultimate slap in the face was that you were expected to beat the games 45 minute levels in one sitting and on a finite amount of lives. Fuck that.

5.Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - When I saw this game for the first time I was pretty jazzed that there was a Final Fantasy game coming back to the Nintendo consoles. It looked great, it sounded great and it even had in co-op! Then I played it and realized that the game was thinner than anorexic paper. The dungeon crawling as horrible, the idea of having to stay in a small bubble lest you take damage was worse and then if you were playing solo there was literally a point in which you could NOT progress in the game because it simply just got too hard to do by yourself. Sadness.

4.Def Jam: Icon - I still regard Def Jam: Fight of New York was one of the best fighting/wrestling games of the previous generation. So the thought of a third one coming out on next-gen consoles was awesome as hell for me. Of course this was under a new development house and they changed up the control style, but there could still be some redeeming factors. In the end what you got was a boring game with boring controls. They sucked out pretty much all of the personality the game had in favor of a 'realistic' approach that the game didn't need. While the 'rewind' feature was sort of cool, in the end it was just a bad attempt at a 3D fighter using Fight Night controls instead of the over the top brawling we had been used to.



3.Red Steel - I don't own a Wii anymore, but for the brief time I did THIS was the reason I got it. A new Zelda game didn't really interest me and at this time we hadn't seen any sight of a New Mario...but Red Steel had me hooked. Sword fights AND (what looked like) competent FPS control for the Wii? Sign me the fuck up. In the end what I got was a mess of a game that felt more like I was fighting the controls rather than using them and this (along with the slew of garbage games during that period on the Wii) was what led to me eventually just selling the damn thing. Hopefully they fix that mistake with Red Steel 2.

2.SSX on Tour - I love SSX. To me it is the best snowboarding game in HISTORY and I think SSX3 was the PEAK of that. When I heard SSX 4 (later called On Tour) was on its way I was happy as hell. A new SSX game with NEW characters and create a character mode? Fuck yes. And then for some reason EA decided to pretty much take everything that was great about SSX in the first place and dull it down to the point where the game just seemed like Tony Hawk Pro Skater on Ice. The memorable characters were subdued to 10 second intro videos', skiing was added in to horrible results, the tracks were uninspired and the over the top Uber Tricks were replaced with painfully tame Monster Tricks. They tried to fix it with SSX Blur but that didn't fare too much better.

1.Phantasy Star Online: Episode 3 - This might seem like a weird choice, but it's here for a reason. PSO (Eps 1 and 2) literally ate YEARS of my life. Back on the Dreamcast and eventually the Gamecube I would pour HOURS upon HOURS of time into this game. I had beaten it over 8 times on ULTIMATE with every character class and STILL loved playing it with friends and looting. I even had the goddamn Gamecube modem so I could play it online! I STILL have PSO Blue Burst and play it on PC. This game WAS my life and it was just pure MAGIC in my eyes.

And then episode 3 happened.

...and it was a fucking CARD BATTLE GAME!? REALLY SEGA!? A lot of people always want to say Sonic was the downfall of Sega. But I think it was when they decided that the PSO method that had been working for five years suddenly needed to shift into...CARD BATTLES is what damned them. Because of this ONE game I lost pretty much all faith in PSO. When Phantasy Star Universe came out later down the road I didn't even bother with it. The magic was dead. Probably better off, too. Seeing as everyone I know says PSU was shit as well. I might try that Phantasy Star Zero game though...but it just won't be the same.

Trace AberHONORABLE MENTIONS

Mario and Sonic at the Olympics - I remember being so disappointed when I found out Mario and Sonic were finally going to be in a game together...and it was going to take place at the Olympics. Come on...they had a license to print money and they went with this?

Too Human - For all the hype this game got, it was sure forgotten quickly. I played the demo of this with anticipation, and by the end of the demo I was glad it was over.

Deus Ex: Invisible War - The original Deus Ex was awesome. I don't care what anyone else has to say about it. The sequel, however, really missed the mark and I quit playing after a couple of hours in.

5.Prototype - The premise of Prototype is badass, to be blunt. The chance to use awesome looking powers, destroy and morph into people, fight zombie-like things, and generally be an all-around world destroyer was too good to pass up. And for the first couple of hours, Prototype lived up to every expectation I had. But after those hours, well...the game got boring. Sure, you can come up with new ways to torture the civilians and throw cars, but in the end the game just got repetitive.

4.Super Mario Brothers 2 - This was probably my first video game disappointment. Super Mario Brothers was the first video game I ever played, so being a little kid, the idea of another Mario game seemed not only absolutely awesome, but something I HAD to have. But instead of the Mario I knew and love, some weird shit was going on. After the first couple of levels I gave up on it and ignored it. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I actually played the game and I enjoy it quite a bit now, but back then it was pretty much a stab to the heart.



3.Halo 3 - I should preface this by saying I never played, nor cared about a Halo game until Halo 3. And, to this day, I still don't care about Halo. I was making a late-night shopping trip at my local Wal-Mart and I noticed a large line forming, and in that line were a few of my friends. I ended up talking to them for an hour or so and before I knew it I was in line to buy Halo 3. I honestly didn't even know that the line was for it, but on a whim I bought it to see what all the fuss was about. I still don't know what the fuss was about. The campaign was boring and the multiplayer is awful. I sold the game pretty quickly and vowed never to touch another Halo game again. Just not my style.

2.Grand Theft Auto IV - Despite GTA4 being a great game, for some reason it doesn't have the same allure to me. I think I may have over-hyped the game for myself, seeing as how I watched every video, read every article, and eagerly waited for the trailers to get released, because even though I enjoyed playing it - I never felt the excitement that I expected. There was just something about the game that didn't absorb me in as much as the other titles in the series.

1.The Shenmue Series - The original Shenmue still stands to this day as one of my favorite games of all time. It was the first game I ever preordered and I beat it after a few days of nonstop playing. At the time, the game felt so real and life-like. I needed to get revenge on Lan-Di. I was bummed out when I heard they weren't going to release Shenmue 2 on an American Dreamcast, but was happy to hear it was getting released on the Xbox a couple years later. I remember every second of that game building to the next, just wanting to know how the story was going to conclude. The second game leaves you off wondering what happens...and to this day we're still wondering. And, damnit, that just pisses me off to no it. It is easily the biggest let down in my video game life.

Adam LarckHONORABLE MENTIONS

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Changing from the classic style of the first game in the series to just respriting a Japanese game to get the game out was a bad call. Thankfully, the Lost Levels were eventually released to play as well.

Modern Warfare 2 - The original game I had a lot of fun with online, yet the sequel has been a huge disappointment with multiple bugs and glitches that have still not been fixed.

5.Two Worlds - I was excited to think I had found a game similar to Oblivion, which I had put 100+ hours into. Instead, I found a travesty of a game with freezing issues, terrible gameplay and just bad to play. Thankfully, the demo came out and stopped me from buying this game. Friends of mine, however, did buy it, and ended up getting full refunds the same day just because of how bad it was.



4.Sonic in 3D - I'm taking liberties by grouping this all into one selection. While the Adventure series wasn't that bad, current gen. games of it have been terrible. I've came into these games holding hope and being optimistic, but nothing can help these games be anything but bad. Hopefully, my optimism for Sonic 4 won't be crushed either.

3.Halo 3 - It wasn't that the game was bad, but, after the fun I had in Halo 2, I expected the same multiplayer fun in this one. Instead, the multiplayer just seemed average to me and my friends, and never really took off for us like the second one had. Instead, Modern Warfare let this one get shelved fairly quickly. Here's hoping that the upcoming game can bring back the fun the second game brought for me.

2.Devil May Cry 2 - Devil May Cry 1 was a pleasant surprise with fun gun/sword play and a lot of enemies to destroy. DMC 2, however, was a bland game, void of many colors, a storyline I couldn't force myself to get into and a game that just drug on. I bought it when it first came out, hated it, and sold it to my friend. I then tried the game years later, to see if I had changed my opinion on it. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

1.Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Kingdom Hearts was a series I loved on the PlayStation 2. Final Fantasy and Disney really combined well. With that mindset, I was really looking forward to the Game Boy Advance version. Instead, we got a card-based battle system that just killed the momentum in battle that the PS2 games had gotten us used to. Even the port over to the PS2 was disappointing. Definitely the lowest point in the series thus far.

Lee PriceHONORABLE MENTIONS

MadWorld - While I don't hate the game by any means, I just don't love it as much as I wanted to.

5.Devil May Cry 2 - While not an awful game by any means, DMC2 commits the biggest crime of any sequel. It loses the sparkle. Whatever it was that made the original Devil May Cry such a joy is just missing from this. It's hard to explain because the mechanics are there and it plays similarly. Its just... bland.

4.Wipeout - Quite often regarded as a classic in the futuristic racing genre, I could just never get into the game at all. I was massively hyped for getting this after hearing so many people rave about it, but when I finally did I just deflated. Perhaps I didn't dedicate the time I needed to dedicate to get the most out of the game, but I just never enjoyed playing it.



3.Final Fantasy XII - I'm a massive fan of the Final Fantasy series, but this one just left me feeling a bit flat. The fact that it is based in the same world as Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics should guarantee a strong story, but it just never clicked with me. I wasn't a huge fan of the art style of the battle system either. I finished the game, but I haven't touched it since, something that I can't say for a single other Final Fantasy game in my collection.

2.Counter-Strike - Now this may be a strange choice to have in the list but let me provide a little back story. I had this game hyped and hyped by a certain university friend who shall remain nameless, until she actually got me to buy the damned thing. I logged on to Steam and got ready to enjoy some FPS action... and proceeded to spend an eternity roaming servers looking for players who weren't complete assholes while pretending I gave enough of a shit about tactics or the pinpoint accuracy required to get good at the game. What a let down.

1.Sonic 3D Blast - Ah the glory days of Sonic. Back in the early to mid 1990's Sonic could really do no wrong. Pretty much every Sonic title was top quality and worth owning a console for, if we just ignore the slip up that is Sonic Spinball. That all changed with Sonic 3D Blast. The game was slow, criminally so for a Sonic game. The isometric view point just didn't work and collecting flickies was boring as all hell when compared to the high octane gameplay of the 2D titles. A massive letdown and a prelude of what Sonic would become.


READER VOICE Dominic HolleyHONORABLE MENTIONS

Devil May Cry 2 - After the first one I expected one good improvement could make DMC2 the game of the year after its inaugural greatness... I've been more wrong before, but when I think about it, the Dr. Cox "You're Wrong" doorbell jingle comes to mind, actually, so that's...pretty wrong.

5. Turtles In Time: Reshelled- Man, If I was to estimate all the time I spent back in the day playing the original TiT then the number would come out to a double, maybe even triple digit figure. If I was to estimate all the time I spent playing TiT: Reshelled, it probably would even add up to three hours.

4.Mortal Kombat 4 - (This may be due to me enjoying the prior 3 MKs so much that my expectations were too high) Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad game at all, but I love fighting games and MK is...somewhere in my top 1000 list, maybe (hahaha Toddo)? Seriously, MK3/UMK3/MKT were all awesome so I just knew the next installment was just gonna pile on some more of that greatness, but it ended up being just an ok game, though I will admit I LOVED Quan Chi. I could never get enough of ripping Liu Kang's Bruce-like legs off and beating him mercilessly with them.
I'm Todd Vote and I agree with this 100%



3.Tekken 4 - I haven't been here long, but people can probably already notice that I love fighting games (ABOVE-"I love fighting games"). That being said, I was foaming-at-the-mouth rabid over Tekken coming to the PS2 (I know we got Tag Tournament right away, but this was when they KNEW what to do with the power of the PS2). After waiting to get this game since the PS2 launch, I was finally able to get my hands on this bad boy and...I can think of many words than can describe the way I feel, but I'll just leave it at under whelmed just for the sake of the KISS method.

2.Smackdown! vs. RAW 2010 - Storyline editor this, storyline editor that. The entire hype for SvR 2010 was centered on the all new storyline editor mode. Admittedly, I am basically a mindless sheep of WWE. Sure, I keep up with TNA (and that's about all I do for that matter) and I keep up with the indies so I can be aware of whose tearing up the unseen scene. After the blunder that was 2009, SvR 2010 made me feel that they would learn from their 2009 mistakes and maybe get back to SvR 2006-style goodness. Needless to say, it's number 2 on my list of biggest letdowns. I think the storyline editor was a step in the right direction, but fuck Road to Wrestlemania mode and whoever the hell thought it was a good idea to just drop GM mode altogether for the past two installments. For real, fuck them dudes.

1.Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Letdown is the understatement of the year when it comes to MUA2. In my eyes, the only thing the first MUA lacked was the powerful graphics that would best showcase the diverse powers of the Marvel U. I have no problems with fusions, but if I knew it meant they were going to sacrifice extra boosts, costumes, separate equipment AND moves they could have just left well enough alone and just made a prettier new version of MUA with a new storyline. Hell, they could have brought back the system from XML2 and prettied that up and I would've been pretty happy with it. But lo and behold, Vicarious Visions got to take over and they did nothing but made people even more upset about the lack of Raven Software than they were before they even played the damn thing. I mean seriously, you hype up the Civil War, only for it to be a reader's digest version, make most of the characters repeats, which I'm fine with, but subtracting their moves making them become stale really fast, THEN you release DLC that is rumored to have been created BEFORE the release of the game and you can't even integrate them into the story one bit? Did these fucking idiots even realize that anyone waiting on the DLC had probably run through that game a million times over before the DLC was even announced, let alone released, meaning that the new characters would only hold our attention as much as the new sim missions, roughly. Fucking idiots. To all the commentors, can you all please give me an estimate of how long it took you to get tired of MUA2 after the DLC was released? Better yet, let me know if you even made it that long before you got bored and traded it in.

Armando Rodriguez

5.Deadly Arts (Nintendo 64) - As you know I am a sucker for fighting games, especially those that allow you to customize your character. That's one of the reasons I love Flying Dragon and I expected a similar experience from Deadly Arts after the box proudly displayed that it allowed you to create your own character. Man, was this game crap! The whole customization deal was extremely limited and the gameplay sucked. I think I played this game a total of 3 hours before I dropped it back at Gamestop for trade in.

4.Sonic 3D Blast (Sega Genesis) - Like many, I was eagerly awaiting Sonic's first foray into 3D. Like many, I was very disappointed. Sure, it was in 3D, you controlled Sonic, picked up rings, save furry little friends and even had some of the trademark moves and pickups. But nothing about the gameplay felt like Sonic. The perspective was awkward, the gameplay was too slow when compared to the blazing speed of previous titles, the story was off and well, and it just didn't feel like Sonic at all.



3.Mortal Kombat 4 (Nintendo 64) - Now, don't get me wrong. MK 4 is a good game and I enjoyed it. But it just pales in comparison to Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The jump to 3D was ok, but the lack of characters, the weak and uninteresting bosses and the poor implementation of the weapon system left a lot to be desired. Also I found myself missing the multiple options to finish your opponent. Only fatalities made it to this game and although many felt it was a great throwback to the first MK, I just felt like they took a whole lot of content away in exchange for 3D graphics and weapons. It is not a bad game, just disappointing when you compare it to MK Trilogy.

2.Shining Force CD (Sega CD) - This is a recent one since I purchased a Sega CD a few months ago from a friend so that I could track down a copy of this game and play it. Once again, it is not a bad game and has more in common with Shining Force 1 than it does with the sequel. It also packs in two games in one. But they took away the entire exploration element! Now you just go from battle to battle with practically nothing else in between, just a few lines of text and the opportunity to switch party members. There are no hidden characters, no treasure chests, no side stories....nothing at all. Plus, the graphics, sounds and everything is exactly like they were on the Genesis, so there is nothing here that takes advantage of the CD format.

1.Lair (PS3) - This is probably the biggest disappointment in my gaming life. I mean, this is supposed to be a game that allows you to fly on dragons and kick ass. The graphics are spectacular and the sound is not half-bad. For being one of the first PS3 games, this game still has some of the best graphics in the system. If only the controls and the overall gameplay didn't suck! Seriously, these Dragons are harder to control than two 18-wheelers stuck together. I never understand why I want to move someplace and they take forever to get there, if they respond at all. The gameplay is also quite boring after a while, which is made even worse by the damned controls!

Todd Vote

5.Super Mario Brothers 2 - While the game itself was not terrible, if you were going in expecting the same addictive gameplay offered in Super Mario Brothers, you much like myself, were sorely disappointed. The fact that the whole game is considered one of Mario's dreams of O remember right, is rather ironic. Especially when you consider the nightmare this game was for some of us.

4.Modern Warfare 2 - This is a case of me over hyping myself for this game. Well that and a combination of burnout from the CoD franchise in general. I played the CoD 4 multiplayer for the better part of two years… Finally when MW2 was released, while I enjoyed it, I haven't gotten near the value out of it that I got from it's predecessor. The saddest part is I still play it.


LAG!!

3.Two Worlds - One of my Xbox friends talked a group of us into buying this game, citing that it was to be like Oblivion with multiplayer. So even myself, who hates RPG's thought that this could be really fun playing with some friends. The fun I speak of lasted all of one weekend, before we realized that this game was in fact nothing more than a buggy, laggy, piece of shit. Even updates couldn't fix the problems on hand in this game. Needless to say, I haven't purchased a game based on his recommendation since.

2.Mortal Kombat 4 - WRONG!! Oh my god I hated the first 3D Mortal Kombat. I hated it in the arcade. I hated it on the home systems… If you ask me, the only redeeming factor about this particular MK game was the tease of a returning Shao Kahn from Reiko's ending. In my opinion, it was a clunky, poorly animated mess, and I just couldn't wait to get away from it.

1.WWE Legends of Wrestlemania - There are not to many writers, hell or readers for that matter, that are not fans of sports entertainment. So the announcement of a Legends of Wrestlemania game was met with hoots and hollers from me. Soon after, it was announced that the game would break away from the traditional SvR gameplay. More hoots, more hollers… Then the game released, and I wanted to smash it. What the hell was this clunky rushed out piece of garbage? I finished the game, got my easy thousand gamerscore, and haven't touched it since.


Bonus Video:
I couldn't find part 3 of the Hitler Banned series, so here is part 4:



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Well that brings another edition to a close. What are your big gaming disappointments? Let us know down in the comments section. Surely we haven't even scraped the barrel with our lists. Take care of yourselves; we'll see you back here in seven.

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