Overrated games. EXPOSED!

[LightestEnd]

It pains me to say this, but recently I bought a game I was so excited to play and enjoy but could not get into it. That game, was Outlaw. I'm dissapointed with it to be honest, I expcted a shooting gallery type of game. Should've looked it up and watched gameplay. Anyways. I want to dedicate this thread to listing every OVERRATED Atari 2600 in existence Please post what you consider to be an overrated game and why based on your personal experience. This is not a happy thread, friends.

[+CyranoJ]

Freeway. I mean yeah, lots of sprites, technically great, but the game sucks! It ain't no Frogger! [And I'm sure this will come back to haunt me in the future.... ]

[bennybingo]

It pains me to say this, but recently I bought a game I was so excited to play and enjoy but could not get into it. That game, was Outlaw. I'm dissapointed with it to be honest, I expcted a shooting gallery type of game.

You should check out Carnival or Gangster Alley.

[+Random Terrain]

Pitfall II: Lost Caverns

[Algus]

To an extent Pitfall, though I think I'm showing my age here. It was probably amazing back in the day but for all I'd heard about it being a top 2600 game, I really wasn't impressed. I'd rather play a game like Mountain King.

[karokoenig]

I think I would go for ADVENTURE. It's rated superclassic everywhere I look, but I sincerely can't find it appealing, no matter how hard I try. But that's just my personal feeling about the gameplay. I am very much aware about its importance in the history of video games.

[Schizophretard]

All two player only games like Combat for an example. They seem like the 80s version of always online games. Back in the day they were a blast to play but now "the servers went offline" when the players moved on to different games. I want to play single player games when the "servers go offline".

[chas10e]

while I'm not a big fan of Outlaw ... how did you come across it ? what made you excited to play?

 

you mentioned a review, was it the rarity guide here @ aa ?

 

did you try & play alone ?... it being really a two player game might affect your game rating ...

 

perhaps you'll beable to revisit the game with another or different player & have a better time with them

 

 

Freeway: another two player competing game ... if played single player I agree it's quite "meh" compared to Frogger ... but side by side competition play is quite fun (even though I lose )

 

Adventure games I'm not a fan of either like the Pitfalls , but wildly popular amongst others

 

whatever you do don't run out & get gunslinger !

[high voltage]

Star Fox, really really overrated

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Atlantis. Nice graphics, but very minimal game play.

[+Gemintronic]

I share R.T.s non-love of original Pitfall games. it feels like not enough reward and constant punishment for failure to execute twitch moves.

[Cobra Commander]

Pac-Man. Never liked it, any version. Never caught the fever. I did like the song and cartoon though.

[enthusi]

I have to agree with Atlantis. When I first played it, I was certain I overlooked some deeper plot / mission there.

[jaybird3rd]

I posted the following in an earlier thread:

 

Pitfall!: It looks great, and we all know it was a groundbreaker, but there just isn't enough "game" there for it to hold my attention. Pitfall! II was a significant improvement, but even that didn't offer as much replay value as I would have liked. Both titles could have used some more random elements to make the gameplay more varied.

 

Megamania: For some reason, this is a major fan favorite, but I found it to be superficial and boring. A spaceship shooting wave after monotonous wave of (mostly unrecognizable) household items? I couldn't stay interested for more than the first few levels. I think "rose-colored glasses nostalgia" is driving a lot of the affection for this one.

 

In addition to these, I would also mention 2600 Atlantis: compared to the Intellivision version, which came later, the 2600 original feels like a promising but strangely unfinished game. The Intellivision version added crosshairs, a "night mode", and other features which polished the gameplay considerably and gave it a lot more variety.

[Master Phruby]

Star Fox, really really overrated

 

Star Fox for the 2600? I didn't know it was rated at all.

 

[+save2600]

In order to appreciate Outlaw for what it is, guess you'd have to be old enough to have played Gun Fight BITD at the arcade when it was new. The 2600 version always did kind of suck, thanks to the oversized graphics, but the 2600 homebrew of Gunfight fixes that and adds a ton more features, making it closer (and superior in some cases) to the arcade. BTW: the arcade game featured molded pistol grips instead of the traditional firing button.

 

[Algus]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels about Pitfall the way I do.

[NE146]

Pitfall, Atlantis, & Freeway. Let me put it this way, if I felt they were kind of "meh" in 1981/1982 when I was friggin TWELVE years old and enamoured with everything video games and my Atari, they were in fact: MEH.

 

Pitfall looked exciting with it's amazing graphics and running a guy around and making him jump etc.. then I played it and it just seemed like a hamster in a wheel, with zero reward in the game. You just pick up treasure and keep on running.

 

Freeway... I thought it was amazing then I brought it home and after the glitz (had real nice car sounds) I realized it was nothing like Frogger.. you couldn't move left & right and it was a one trick pony. Very dissapointing.

 

Atlantis.. the difference between this game and the previous 2 was I actually played it at the store and realized it was very boring. So I saved my money and didn't buy it! Can't say the same about the other 2 games.. hard money down the drain

[onthinice]

Are we allowed to complain about Atari games on this site????

[+Psionic]

I posted the following in an earlier thread:

 

...

 

In addition to these, I would also mention 2600 Atlantis: compared to the Intellivision version, which came later, the 2600 original feels like a promising but strangely unfinished game. The Intellivision version added crosshairs, a "night mode", and other features which polished the gameplay considerably and gave it a lot more variety.

 

I would agree with this. I think a lot of the games by Activision (and to a lesser degree, Imagic) are overrated just because they look nice. A lot of them are good but not great, and some of them are outright turkeys (Oink!).

 

That said, I never actually owned the original 2600 version of River Raid back in the day and I've always found it a bit bland in comparison to the superior Atari 8-bit version.

[DesertJets]

I agree with Pitfall, but I did love it as a kid who didn't know any better. I am not sure I'd lump Pitfall II in with the original. It has a lot more going on with a clear objective, though it frustrates me to no end to play it sometime. If you are off just slightly you fall to your doom or get sent waaay back to your last save point.

 

 

I am going to go out on a limb here but I think Yars' Revenge is overrated. I despite having read the manual, watched videos, still don't get what I am supposed to do.

[VectorGamer]

Grand Prix

[karokoenig]

I am going to go out on a limb here but I think Yars' Revenge is overrated. I despite having read the manual, watched videos, still don't get what I am supposed to do.

 

I actually agree, though I do know what to do when it comes to gameplay. That doesn't mean the story makes any more sense, if that's what you mean :-). I don't find the gameplay all that exciting either, after a few minutes I'm bored with it. I can understand that the game gets a lot of love because of the beautiful manual, 'cause that's what it is.

[karokoenig]

Grand Prix

 

Was that ever regarded as a good game in the first place...? I always thought it sucks, and I believe I'm not alone...

 

But while we're at it, since Activision was mentioned in another post earlier. If I had the choice between the library of Parker Bros or Activision to go with me to a deserted island - I'd say "Been nice knowing you, Activision".

[NE146]

I disagree on Pitfall 2.. while I did not have this game as a kid (I wasn't interested since I didnt like Pitfall) I think I made a big mistake. Pitfall 2 would have blown me away back then.