Games you didn't expect to be so awesome!

[Black Lushus]

For me, the first thing that comes to mind is Condemned: Criminal Origins. I picked this game up used for 15 and was totally blown away with how great it was. Granted it had its bugs, but I still maintain it's the scariest game I've played. If the Department Store and Apple Farm House levels didn't unnerve you then you truely do have nerves of steel!

 

[bps21]

I agree on Condemned. I loved the first one and wasn't expecting much. Another game that I expected 0 from but actually enjoyed the whole play through of was the Bourne Identity. I was sure it would suck...but the achievements were easy so I gamefly'd it. It's not a classic or anything...but it was a pretty enjoyable play.

 

[Baby Shoes]

A game I played a little bit back that surprised me was the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs game. I found it on sale for $12 when it still traded for $20 and heard it was easy achievements so I picked it up, basically getting paid to play it. Not only did I get the easy achievements, but it was actually a solid little platformer that gave little references here and there to old school video games. It was short and easy (I beat it in one sitting) but a lot better than I anticipated.

I agree with bps21 on the Bourne game. I wanted it when it came out but heard people complaining about it and waited a couple months for a price drop, when I ended up picking it up, I really enjoyed it.

 

[Kageho]

Suikoden - I heard a lot of people liking this game back in the day, and a good friend of mine suggested to me to try it. It really didn't seem like my Cup-O-RPG, but I gave it a whirl anyway. Turned out I loved the game, loved how it wasn't "save the world" at all, and presented me with something more unique and rich. It is also how I ended up with my nickname of Lightning Flik, which is based on the character of same series. I'm kinda miffed that II was the last time I got to see my favorite character, but I still put the original up there on my favorite RPGs list.

 

[NoCalMike]

The first Uncharted. Uncharted 2 is pure gold, but I still think the first one is a little underrated since it seems so few people took a chance with it because it was released to such little fanfare.

Ratchet & Clank was way better than I expected, and it has hooked me in to the entire series.

When PS2 came out, whatever the first FIFA soccer game that came out. I am not even into Soccer, but it looked fun and it was.

Orphan for PS2. It was part-RPG part action. It was reviewed pretty poorly, but I bought it because it was cheap, and I actually really enjoyed it.

 

[AndrewTS]

I can't help but think of several licensed games.

Muppet Monster Adventure: By far the most shameless Spyro the Dragon clone I'd ever seen. However, it was also the most AWESOME Spyro the Dragon clone I'd ever seen. I actually completely abandoned the series' crappy PS2 games (which weren't developed by Insomniac anymore), but found this PS1 game, janky PS1-ness and all, to be a total blast. Well done.

Monster House (GBA): This video does a good job of covering it.

 

[Baby Shoes]

When PS2 came out, whatever the first FIFA soccer game that came out. I am not even into Soccer, but it looked fun and it was.

I remember my buddy had gotten the Rugby game on PS2 and we had a lot of fun with it. I never ended up picking it up, so I don't know if it was just that time playing but I really enjoyed my afternoon of PS2 Rugby more than I thought.

Like AndrewTS mentioned with licensed games this shows up a lot and earlier I mentioned the CWaCoM but another one from last gen that I did not put in this but usually mention in discussions like this was the Haunted Mansion game that came out for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. It came out around the time of the movie with Eddie Murphy but was a completely separate story. IIRC, it was like an origin story to the Haunted Mansion, so it had elements of the lore used in the theme parks and the movie. It was just a pretty fun puzzle game/platformer. It came out in a time where I didn't finish many games but I made sure to play that entire game.

 

[luke-o]

Disaster: Day of Crisis is a game I enjoyed a hell of a lot more than I thought I would.

Bit obscure, but Crash Test Dummies on the MegaDrive is a great little game.

 

[FLAM]

A really young cousin of mine was visiting my grandmother, and he brought over a PS2 and The Incredibles. I had a lot of fun playing that. Way unexpected for a licensed title.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Earthbound. The marketing of it basically begged me not to play it, yet it was one of my favourite games of its generation.

 

[oldskool]

NCAA Football 2002.
I only picked it up because it was cheaper than used Madden & I heard Madden 2002 was shitty; it turned me onto the NCAA Football franchise as a whole.

One Must Fall: 2097
The only fighting game I ever really gave a shit about, picked up on a whim from a bargain bin at a hardware store or something...it makes no sense that they'd sell computer games at a hardware store in the early 90s but I know my dad bought it for me & I can't think of where else we would go together at that point.

Final Fantasy III
Enlightened me onto an entire genre of games, all from a spur-of-the-moment rental at Wegmans. It was years later until I actually owned the game & got to finish it.

 

[vivisectvi]

Valkyria Chronicles on PS3. I really had no idea what I was getting into and loved every moment of it!

 

[Jingus]

There's a billion, but one that comes to mind for me was the second X-Men game on the Genesis. There had been several X-men games on various platforms; none were great, and some were atrocious. So I wasn't expecting jack shit from this one, especially when the game randomly throws you into the first level without any menu screen or anything. But if you stay with it, holy shit it becomes a lot of fun. The characters' different powers actually worked correctly for once, and getting to play as Magneto was especially boss.

Earthbound. The marketing of it basically begged me not to play it

I still remember that bullshit. "This game STINKS!" So naturally it didn't sell worth a damn, and years later we still can't get official ports of any other entries from the series. Thanks, assholes. Advertising your game with ugly, reeking scratch-n-sniff cards that are designed to be repellant, fucking brilliant.

 

[oldskool]

Making it $200 in a console-box-sized box didn't help either.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Earthbound came out at $69.99

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

I forgot about the garlic scented scratch-and-sniff cards advertising Earthbound.

I'm not a fan of racing games in the slightest, but I really enjoyed Burnout 3 and the Full Auto series. Also, put me down for the Vitual Tennis series from Sega. The tennis games for people that don't like tennis games.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

There's a billion, but one that comes to mind for me was the second X-Men game on the Genesis. There had been several X-men games on various platforms; none were great, and some were atrocious. So I wasn't expecting jack shit from this one, especially when the game randomly throws you into the first level without any menu screen or anything. But if you stay with it, holy shit it becomes a lot of fun. The characters' different powers actually worked correctly for once, and getting to play as Magneto was especially boss.

Earthbound. The marketing of it basically begged me not to play it

I still remember that bullshit. "This game STINKS!" So naturally it didn't sell worth a damn, and years later we still can't get official ports of any other entries from the series. Thanks, assholes. Advertising your game with ugly, reeking scratch-n-sniff cards that are designed to be repellant, fucking brilliant.

I only played it because I picked it up in a used games bin for $10 (w/ Player's Guide) about a year after it came out. I ended up loving it, but I have never seen a worse marketing campaign for a relatively high profile game.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

I always enjoyed the Punisher game that came out around the same time as the movie that featured the voice of Tomas Jane as the Punisher. It was a fun little combo based shooter. It was also more comic book based then the movie, but it did have a few scenes from the movie sliced in to link it up to a degree.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I always enjoyed the Punisher game that came out around the same time as the movie that featured the voice of Tomas Jane as the Punisher. It was a fun little combo based shooter. It was also more comic book based then the movie, but it did have a few scenes from the movie sliced in to link it up to a degree.

I was looking at that game on my shelf recently thinking about how I never finished it.

 

[AndrewTS]

While going through my backlog, axing titles that I'm not going to bother with playing/finishing, I ran across Evil Dead Regeneration, which I hadn't even started. Probably because I was pretty lukewarm on Hail to the King and A Fistful of Boomstick.

Damn, I'm having fun with it, now, though. Hearing Bruce back in this role and the watching the awesome cutscenes kind of gives me a Ghostbusters: TVG vibe. Plus, for a good portion of the game you're listening to Bruce joke around with Ted Raimi, which sounds like two lifelong buddies dicking with one another (which it is).

It's pretty easy so far and apparently the game is short, but I'm really enjoying it. Harpooning baddies and then blasting/juggling them with repeated shotgun blasts is great fun.

 

[NoCalMike]

Commander Keen!

 

[Mattdotcom]

I sure didn't know Chex Quest was gonna be Doom when I opened that cereal box.

 

[AndrewTS]

Did you like the Jumping Flash! games? Are you sad that the 3rd game either a) didn't come out here or b) was boring and apparently not worth playing?

Well, maybe you should look into Ghost in the Shell for Playstation. It was developed by the same folks, and apparently runs on a modified version of the engine. You operate a fuchikoma, which feels, surprise surprise, a lot like Rabbot.

That's not to say it's the long-lost Jumping Flash! 3 we never really got--it's far more action-based (you will need to shoot, and you will do that a lot), and the jumping mechanics that JF was built around aren't really here (you only have a single, low jump). Instead, you can walk on the walls and ceiling and it has strafing mechanics added.

Still, the game structure will feel familiar. There's "open world" levels where you run around and shoot/collect and corridor levels that you shift between--only so far it seems like you face a boss at the end of each level.

I just started on it (I'm on level 3), but really enjoying it. It does seem harder than JF! for obvious reasons, though.

 

[The Dames]

I always enjoyed the Punisher game that came out around the same time as the movie that featured the voice of Tomas Jane as the Punisher. It was a fun little combo based shooter. It was also more comic book based then the movie, but it did have a few scenes from the movie sliced in to link it up to a degree.

Fuck yes. This was awesome and one of the most fun games I had played in a while when I borrowed it from a friend. I ended up buying it off of him for a few bucks.

 

[Sabre]

I always thought portal would suck due to it being a A-B without dieing type of game. But it was easily the best FPS ever.

 

[fazzle]

Culdcept on the PS2. I had never even heard if it, and only picked it up because Gamestop was BARREN during one of their buy 2 get 1 free sales.

I ended up putting more time into that than any other game on the PS2. Probably around 300 hours.

 

[HSJ]

Freedom Fighters for the PS2. I got hooked on it at a friends house and went out and bought a copy. Great game.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

The first Killzone. I remember nobody really talking about it much, and I got it uber-cheap (less than $20, IIRC), but that game quickly became one of my favorite games ever. I'd still rather play that than a lot of other games in my library that I love, and find myself going back to it the most of any other game I've ever owned besides No Mercy.

 

[Black Lushus]

I don't know if I can call it AWESOME, but Crackdown was a lot of fun, most notably jumping like Spider-Man all over the city for orbs.

Mercenaries was another one that I didn't expect to blow me away and ended up being one of my most favorite games ever.

 

[Master Thrasher]

I got Fallout 3 with the Toys R Us buy 2 games get another one free deal. I didn't know anything about and I got really addicted to it.