"...If there is any game that'll put you in a bad mood, it's Castlevania 3."
James Rolfe aka The Angry video game nerd
We've all had games that are endless frustrating and that kick our collective asses there and eventually end us swearing or "rage quitting" and walking away.
In the last few years I've had quite a few games put me off in frustration and I'm sure you have to and thats why we're gonna take a look a few games across a few consoles and why they piss us off and put us in a bad mood.
NES
"Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason."
Pamela Voorhes
This was one of the first games for the NES based on an R rated horror movie and boy was it a piece of garbage. LJN, the publisher for this game was beginning it's history of taking an established franchise like X men or Nightmare on Elm Street and turning into a cash grab game that was almost unplayable and endless frustrating. Awkward weapon use and some of the most annoying sounds ever put into a video game (Jason alarm) is what puts this game near the cream of the crap for the NES. The idea was sound, save the kids from Jason and free Camp Crystal Lake but as most things go awry when put into practice.
WHY this game will put you in a bad mood.
Hope you like this music because this track will loop constantly and only be interrupted by the jason alarm and then, it loops again. The difficult navigation of this game will also drive you crazy because it's hard to tell where you are going half the time via the map screen and then by the time you figure it out, the kids you are trying to save are dead. This was a terrible NES game based on an awesome franchise and seriously needs to wiped from the existence of mankind.
SNES
Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
Ian Malcom
Jurassic Park, the marketing juggernaut and had all sorts of crazy stuff from lunch boxes to action figures and of course, a crappy video game for the Super Nintendo. The game put you into the role of Dr Grant and his mission was to collect Dinosaur eggs and destroy the rampaging dinosaurs..sounds simple enough until you press start..
The game itself was a mess and it was frustrating because of the layout of the game itself which would switch from overhead-ish view to lame 3D when entering a building and it was very easy to get lost. The SNES version was not without some merits, I think it did have a cool soundtrack and have some funny voices in it too such as whenever you heard someone say
"GRANT!"
WHY this game will put you in a bad mood.
This game is BORING as hell! I mean like watching paint dry boring. The entire game is spent hunting eggs and unlocking things and it's just repetition and no imagination at all and I don't even remember any boss fights at all...
The game will put you in a bad mood because you realize you could have been doing other things like
1) Making new friends
2) Kissing a girl
3) Helping the homeless
4) Watching cheese age
5) Learning how to knit
N64
My team. My team is DEAD. They knew we were coming, man. They knew we were coming and the disk is gone.
Ethan Hunt
We all know the theme song and what can I say, Tom Cruise made a kick ass movie franchise before he decided to lose his mind and jump on Oprah's couch. The game took the movie idea and made it's own and padded it out but did include some of the big movie set pieces like the bungie computer hack on a wire thing but nothing uber special. The game came out near the same time (within a year)as RARE"s Goldeneye and that is where the game drew alot of comparisons and where things fell apart in alot of departments. There were elements that had the gadgets like the mask maker and some other stuff but didnt feel as cool as the film. The game play was very hit and miss with some levels being a blast to play and some being frustrating due to random AI or just plain bad programming.
WHY THIS GAME PUT YOU IN A BAD MOOD
So let me introduce you to the most talkative N64 game I have ever had the displeasure listening to. The voice acting is so horrible and odds are you'll hear it often as you have to redo mission objectives over and over again...it's like audio rape on your poor ears and there should be a help line for people who are exposed to this horror.
There are alot of games that simply cash in's on movie titles and popularity and 9 times out of 10 they suck and suck really bad. Alot of these games will put you in a bad mood because they take your favorite movies and characters and give you a sub par experience meant to cash in on your fandom. Bad game play, repetitious enemies and horrendous graphics are the hallmarks of alot of movies games but occasionally there are some good ones that slip through such as the Genesis version of Jurassic Park and SNES version of the Lion King. Games that make us mad and throw down our controllers will always be around and sadly alot of them will be based on movies and that sucks.
Posts
Oh yeah, I used to love the Lion King game. Still, as much fun as it was, it did have moments that made me want to take a bat to the cartridge, like trying to jump up the tower of animals during the "Can't Wait to be King" stage, but I think that was due mostly to my own lack of dexterity rather than a problem in the game itself.
ReplyDeleteI always owned the Genesis version of Jurassic Park and remember renting the SNES version and had the same feelings. i was overwhelmed with the lack of direction you were given especially within the buildings, but do remember the soundtrack being something of interest as well. I dont remember the Genesis and SNES lion king games being any different from each other unless your directing that towards the sound track. As for mission impossible, talk about frustrating. as a kid i did not even have the patients to figure out the first level, especially with my 9 yr old mind at the time. not to mention the obsession everyone had with Goldeneye was no exception to me. I think Mission impossible was trying to be way to different in that regard, not that being different is a bad thing, but when a next gen FPS comes out like Wolfenstein, Goldeneye, Halo, etc... its probably not the best idea to go and create something opposite of what everyone has just become accustomed to.not to mention the AI was incredible poor. Anyway im done rambling good blog Mr. Dodd.
ReplyDeleteHere's my short story. I actually played through the entire Jurassic Park game on the SNES. I got stuck on the ending. You had to release nerve gas on all of the eggs collected in one of the crappy first person sections. I had no clue what to do. I actually called the Nintendo hotline in Redmond, WA for the answer. I remember exactly what he said.
ReplyDelete'Just walk in the center of the room. Wait 5 seconds. Then leave.'
That was it. And after all the hand wringing and trepidation I experienced playing this game, I was treated to an ending that can be best described as starting up the cartridge and playing it in reverse (get it, the helicopter is leaving the island now ha ha!) Needless to say, I was pissed off, 12 years old, and did I mention I was pissed. Luckily I played some FFVI and calmed down.
Great blog as always Mike.