Bad First Impressions... But

[stevetheman90]

All rite I was extremely satisfied with all the feedback from my first post so now it is time for me to make another post/question, just because I like to hear other Sega fans opinions =)

Ok so the topic of this post is going to be about Sega(published or in house IPs) games that didn’t leave a good first impression on you the first time you played them/it, but in due time it/them grew on you.   For most people there usually is those/that game you where to dumb to understand or appreciate when you where young, or cases such as a game that was way to over hyped and ended up not being good as expected etc.. But, for whatever reason you didn’t like the game at first it somehow managed to grow on you. As blasphemous as this sounds when I was younger I hated two Sega classic, they where Columns and Space Harrier but as I became older I grew to love.

Columns: When I was younger five or six years old I hated Columns, I remember being so frustrated that it was on the Genesis 6-Pack along the likes of Sonic, Shinobi and Streets of Rage. It was just too difficult and slow for my six year old game skills and mind to handle. But, in time my opinion of it changed. I happen to play it often on my Iphone now and enjoy the crap out of it. So, I pulled out the Six-Pack to see how wrong I was, and was I wrong. It’s a great puzzle game and provides the perfect amount of challenge and if you lose a match there a chances it was from your own human error. I don’t care what anyone says, but the songs in the game are awesome and fit the environment perfectly.

Space Harrier: I remember my dad buying this for the Saturn and claiming that it was an amazing arcade game. I put it in to play and remember being mad as hell because it was not 3-D, just for that reason I hated it and did not want to play it; damn I was so ignorant when I was young;-(. But just like Columns I grew up and saw the game for what it is, a truly amazing experience. I unlocked it on Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection to give it a second chance, fifteen years or so after the first time I played. Once again I saw how wrong I was, the game is just so awesome it is so full of color with a great sound track and amazing graphics that hold up today. It also provides a great challenge, but has unlimited continues for the noobs like me. This game is fun to play and has almost no age to it; still I would love to see an HD remake but that’s a topic for another day.

So any of you guys/girls have a similar situation, a Sega game you hated at first but it eventually grew on you?             

[SOUP]

A couple of titles that come to mind for me are Sonic R for the Saturn, and Space Channel 5 on the Dreamcast.
The first time I played Sonic R, I think I was expecting something more along the lines of Mario Kart. The controls felt loose, characters seemed to slide all over the place, and music seemed really out of place. After putting more time into it, I got the hang of the controls, and got pretty good at it. I was getting all the Chaos Emeralds without any problem at all. The music ended up being one of my favourite things about the game. Songs like "Can You Feel the Sunshine", and "Super Sonic Racing" are still stuck in my head. The fact that it seemed so out of place in the game, just made it even more enjoyable .
Daytona USA is another one of those games where the soundtrack played a huge part in increasing my enjoyment of a game that I didn't care all that much for at first.

I got Space Channel 5 for around 99 cents (factory sealed) around the time that Dreamcast games were dirt cheap everywhere. I really liked the atmosphere, but I just couldn't make a dent in the gameplay. Ulala's animations for the moves kept throwing me off, and I just couldn't keep the rhythm.  A while after that, I found a sealed Japanese Dreamcast copy of Space Channel 5: Part 2 on eBay for around $40. I wasn't even aware there was a sequel, but I figured that it was worth a shot.
Once I got it, I was blown away by just how much they'd improved on the game. The animations would speed up if the button presses dictated, so it was much easier to get the hang of everything. It ended up being one of my favourite games of all time. After beating it, I decided to give the first game another shot, and ended up loving it. I managed to beat it without much issue, and consider it one of my favourite Dreamcast games out there.

Skies of Arcadia took me a bit of time to get into too. I played it not too long after finishing Grandia II, so the battle system didn't really do that much for me. I didn't really get the hang of what colours trumped what when switching weapons around. The amount of random battles didn't really bother me that much, but seemed like a bit of a step back from everything else I'd been playing at the time. Over time, it all really grew on me though. The personality of the characters, and the sense of adventure drew me in, and again, it's one of my favourite games on the system.

[JohnOfRage]

A first bad impression game for me was Shenmue. The reason why this game was a bad first impression was because I never understood how to play. It was long and at the time I thought it was boring. Then when I got older and actually played it then i realized that I was an ignorant kid, Shenmue is one of the best SEGA games i ever played. Great story line, good graphic for its time, fun extras and unique eater-eggs.

[George]

Diffidently an interesting topic. A few I recall...

- CRUSH: No advertisements. No hype. No one knew the game existed until SEGA updated their domain saying it was out. Good game. Really good.

- Viking: Battle for Asgard- Creative Assembly on console? Bad reviews? Well since the game dropped to 30 dollars the second week it was out, I decided to get a copy. Even though the game isn't perfect and was rush, what is in there is solid and fun. If they had finished it, this game would have been beasting hard.

I know, I'll add more later. I know these are more 'recent', but I have a bad memory right now. When I come with more i'll updatecha.

[SOUP]

@JohnOfRage: I could see Shenmue taking a bit of time to get into. The conrols took a while for me to get used to the first time around. Moving with the D-Pad, controlling your speed with the trigger, and moving your head around with the analog stick took a bit of getting used to. Great game though .

[el_clown]

Phantasy Star Online I got the game on its first day. I was SUPERHYPED, the return of the Phantasy Star series for Dreamcast and by Sonic Team, YAHOOOooo... Of course I didn't get the Online part of the title, and since dialup internet SUCKED in Spain in 2001, I tried to play solo... I found the graphics crude and boring, the overall design felt cheap to me, and the stage design lazy as hell, also I couldn't pass the first dragon boss. After the first couple of days I left the game to rot until a year later. I got a Japanese Dreamcast and wanted to try the 56k modem (in Spain the Dreamcast came with a 33.6k modem) so I fired up PSO and went Online for the first time... OMG! What I had been missing!! I felt in love with the game! I understood the reason of the low profile graphics, the open spaces in arenas and everything I thought that sucked. I even bought a keyboard for the Dreamcast to chat. After PSO I tried PSU and I kinda enjoy the solo story, even if it's corny as hell, but I simply don't have the commitment to gaming as I did back in the day to make use of a monthly fee.

Panzer Dragoon It was the first game I got for Saturn (well after Virtua Fighter which came with the console), I thought it was ugly, boring and slow. Also I found it too fustrating and difficult. In 1998 after Saturn's dismayal I waited patienly for a Dreamcast and refused to buy a PS1 or N64, so I replayed my Saturn games, even those I didn't like. It was then when I realized how stupid and ignorant I had been, Panzer Dragoon was one of the greatest games I had ever played! I bought Zwei and Saga (which cost me around $150 and the cardboard case containing the PAL Saturn cases was ripped and damaged) and became a Panzer Dragoon SUPERFAN. Actually a couple of years ago I made a fan teaser for a Panzer Dragoon inspired film (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDD0G5I7g0Y). It's in Armenian with Spanish subtitles, but it's only 90seconds long, if any of you guys take a look, tell me what you think.  :D