Game Series you just stopped playing. Sonic is the correct answer, by the way.
 

Have you ever noticed that you stop playing game series as a whole? You know, waaaay back in the day, you thought that series was one (if not THE) best? Well, what stopped you from playing them? Money? Life? Boredom? Stupid features?

Here are a few series that come to mind:

Pokemon: I will admit it. The FIRST batch of Pokemon games had me excited. I bought Blue, my friend bought Red. We both tried to go for all 150 Pokemon (he succeeded but I did not because he got the WRONG Pokemon at some point in the game. OR something like that). We both played them and then had fun with battles and such. The game was also fun given the rather simple but effective formula.

What Happened?: The game felt like it was recycled with just a few new features added in for several incarnations. More so, the game had the 'only for kids' stigma which wasn't good for teenager becoming a young adult. Also, around this time, sitting there, waiting for Pokemon to pop up and capturing them just seemed boring.

Final Fantasy: I played the first game simply because "Hey, this game has the most game genie codes. It's got to be good!". Despite that rather odd mentality, I played and beat the game. I then didn't play any Final Fantasies (excluding adventure and I think Legends but not sure) until FF6/3. I played FF3, and the music, the graphics, the battle system, all of it was awesome. I HAD to have that game and I did get it. I also played FFIV, which I enjoyed and eventually decided to get the other Final Fantasies available at the time.
When FF7 was coming up, I bought it and went through the game twice. The updated graphics, the music, the story, were all quite fun. Getting super materia was just awesome. All and all, a fun game, as was the next game, Final Fantasy Tactics (which I might replay on my PSP).

What Happened?: Final Fantasy 8. I tried the game and within a few hours was bored with it. I put it down, never to play it again. The music was fine, heck, the final boss music was excellent and so I was excited with the game. However, the game just didn't have that "Fantasy" feel for some reason. Final Fantasy 9 was a step in the right direction, which I enjoyed, but due to time constaints and just the Final Fantasy aura wearing off due to 8, I never beat it. Same deal with X. As for X-2, and up, I never even bothered, mainly due to 1) the cost (although they have gone down), 2) time, and 3) again, the aura that Final Fantasy had being gone.

Ace Combat or rather Air Combat as it was back then. I was a huge fan of the first three, but when the series went to PS2 I just stopped enjoying them. I still bought 4, but couldn't get into to it. With all the Ace Combat weeks and stuff here I bought Zero, but again couldn't get into to it. Eh, I still have really fond memories of the first 3, undoubtably my favourite games on the PSX.

I have to say Pokemon too. I loved it, played through Blue and Yellow, got Stadium 1 and 2. Blue was my first game, Yellow I got because I'm a sucker for Pikachu, and you can get all 3 starters without trading. The adventure itself was alright, but the best part was customizing your team of six pokemon and their moves. A bit unfortunate that I didn't know anyone that played a legit version of the game for me to trade/battle.

The Stadium games were probably my favorite part about the series, regardless of what others may think. These games actually encouraged training your pokemon and using TMs, due to the restrictions placed on each of the competition. I mean, sure you can get into trainer/gym battles in the GBA games, but you can go into most battles with your pokemon at 10+ levels higher than your opponents, and most trainers don't use anything resembling a strategy. In Stadium though, your opponents are varied, and you're pretty much playing on an even playingfield. Also, the opposing pokemon have really unpredictable movelists, or a trainer having pokemon with specific tactics. One that I remember clearly is the Gambler trainers, who outfits all their pokemon with at least one OHKO moves, like Fissure. It's neat that they also put in rental pokemon (and I definately used them for Prime Cup), but they get crappy stats, and the evolved pokemon usually gets really horrible moves. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Squirtle with Hydro Pump while Blastoise gets Bubble.

I got into the card game too, but it got a bit too expensive with the constantly expanding card set. The GBA game was fun for a bit, but it was so sloooooooooow, and not really exciting to play.

Why I stopped playing:
I think it's after I beat Stadium Round 1, and decided to train my Yellow team up to play Prime Cup. The training bit just got really really tedious, going to the Elite 4 billions of times. I maxed out the money counter, bout some stats upgrading stuff, and maxed it again, yet my team still isn't lvl 100 yest. I think, until this day, they're around lvl 94.

I tried to pick up the later games again, but I seem to just stop playing after the first few badges, might be because I play them on emu, or that I stopped following the pokemon list after the first 151. I still understand the appeal, but unless they re-invent the battle mechanics, I don't think it's a series for me anymore (still love the original 151 pkmn though).

A Smash Bros. style game with epic storyline and keeping the stat/move level ups? I'm all for it!


Star Wars Rogue Squadron:
Not sure if it's a series I used to play a lot, but I did recall really liking the original for what little time I spent with it, and loved RS2, even though it was a bit shorter than I would have liked.

Why I stopped playing:
RS3. Sure enough, the two player co-op was pretty awesome, but single player was pretty crappy. On-foot missions were a chore and didn't feel that good. I think what I hated most was the level designs though. I only recall 1 or two that were actually enjoyable, and the rest were annoying as hell when compared to RS2, and also needed a bit more flying missions. Using the ATST and landspeeders were fun for a bit, but honestly not fun enough to take that much time in the canpaign mode.

Definitely the Sonic series for me. I played Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic Chaos all on the Game Gear when I was very young and I must have enjoyed them, eagerly playing through each iteration. As I grew up though, I clearly started to form a preference for Mario and sort of just forgot or lost interest in the speedy nature of the Sonic games. Perhaps it was a couple of issues within the Sonic series, like the startling number of spikes you could run into, only needing one ring to live technically, and how exactly one attacks with Sonic without being hurt. Regardless, I literally forgot about the series for years and when I started to really get into gaming, all the newer Sonic games were pretty crappy, effectively sealing off my interest towards the brand forever.

Yes, Sonic is a great call--I've gone from unbridled enthousiasm for a new Sonic (Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles especially had me delirious, still holding a spot in my top 5 favorite games of all time) to dreading the letdown of another poor game in my favorite franchise despite it all.

For me, it has to be almost all FPS's, but most importantly Doom. I grew up loving Doom and Duke Nukem 3D as a young teen. When Doom 2 came out, it vaguely coincided with my going to high school, where a network was in place. So we played a LOT of online multiplayer Doom 2. And I mean a lot. All we ever played was deathmatch on the first map, I don't believe I've even seen the rest of the game, but it was just amazing.

When Doom stopped and Quake made its way, I was still really into it, and when Quake 2 came out, I even joined an online clan, mostly playing Rocket Arena. When Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena came out however, UT was the victor. I just found it to be so much more fun than Q3A, although I still enjoyed both. But starting from those games, I just didn't get into playing multiplayer FPSes anymore, and then I gradually lost interest in the FPS genre altogether. I tried to play and enjoy Doom 3, Quake 4, and the various Unreal and UT games, but I just couldn't get into it. I still like Half Life 2 though largely cause of the story.

Pokemon - I was bothered about it through middle school and finally got my first Game Boy (Color) and bought Red and Blue. After that, I went up to Yellow and played Snap and Stadium for the N64. I bought Silver and Gold, but I never beat them...I pretty much lost interest in those games seeing as how 151 Pokemon to collect just wasn't enough, so they went up to about 250 or something like that. Nowadays, they have male and female versions of each Pokemon to collect (back in the day, it was just Nidoran) so now they're up to what, 1,000?

Mario Party - 1 and 2 were awesome, 3 was a little meh, 4 was cool since it was the first one to come out on the Gamecube, but then I bought 5 and I just lost interest. I know, I know...it took me 5 somewhat similar games to get me to stop buying them.

WWE - This might not count since I downloaded the demo for 07 on the 360 and...well, maybe this does still count. I couldn't win with either character and I couldn't figure out the whole stamina thing. I understand they're trying to go for realistic gameplay, but the older wrestling games set a better example. Back then, you had a simple life bar that would go down as you were dealt damage by your opponent. Last best WWE games to come out were Attitude and the first Smackdown! for the PS1. Attitude was the last WWE game I played that stuck with the old life bar tradition, whereas Smackdown! relyed on fast paced action and some freakin awesome in-ring music to boot. However, after the first Smackdown I lost interest.

Namco's Tales of series - The first time I saw this series was a Nintendo Power preview for ToP. Of course it was followed by the classic line that went something like "...but we don't see this being released outside of Japan". Then comes the PS1 era and ToD which I decided to get since I had been so interested in ToP's gameplay mechanics and story when I read the NP preview. I throughly enjoyed everything in ToD, and it just felt like a fun RPG to play in the way that its fights mixed action and RPG elements together. I think it was kinda under the radar at the time due to having been released near Xenogears.

What Happened?: I'm not too sure why I lost interest in this series. It has (had?) a lot of RPG elements and themes that I liked in ToD. Sure it's not mind blowing with some of its story elements and such, but I still don't understand how I can't seem to get into any of the other titles in the series. I got ToE off ebay along with the guide for a good price, and got bored somewhere around the 2nd disc. I tried ToS on the GC, and while it sorta held my interest at the start, I found no compelling reason to continue playing. I also tried the translated ToP rom, and barely got anywhere in that. I don't know if I've been spoiled by other RPGs and games in general, or that when I tried playing those games that maybe in the case of ToE and ToP that they felt too dated. It's kinda disappointing since I know the games are good in their own right, but since I haven't been able to finish any of the ones I listed up there besides ToD, I thus haven't bothered getting any of the subsequent releases since ToS.

Sonic, definitely.

I love the Genesis games. Grew up playing them, alongside Bubsy, as my favourite platformers (pre SMW), I even really liked the Dreamcast incarnations as far as 3d goes. But man, after that? Forget it. Won't go near them anymore, they've completely taken out everything I ever loved and left them a broken husk I can't be bothered about. Give me speed, give me simplicity, and I might come back again. Maybe.

The Shining Series.

Man, that Shining Force I-III are pretty great games. Man, I could play that series for a long time. Hey, what's this Shining Tears thing? Jesus Christ, what'd they do to my games? Give me Shining Force IV, you bastards.

Mega Man

Actually, I should have stopped playing the series a lot earlier than I did, but I kept convincing myself that THIS time they wouldn't fuck it up. If I'd been smarter, I would have told Capcom to screw off after Megaman X5, but I went on through X8 (skipping 7, at least).

What happened? Capcom stopped giving a shit. The storyline was actually going in an interesting direction in X5, building on the concept of Zero being Dr. Wily's robot, and then they dropped it entirely in favor of X6's non sequitor of a storyline, and fucking Axl from then on. Everything from X5 on was, at best, a half effort. The graphics were terrible, the levels poorly designed, and when the game jumped to PS2 they introduced all this terrible 3D bullshit that was barely playable at all.

They started fresh, after a fashion, when they jumped to the Mega Man Zero series on Gameboy. Only problem was that the Zero games were punch-you-in-the-balls hard, where you weren't allowed to have the boss' special weapons if you so much as took a single point of damage during the level, counting the boss fight. They were essentially using Devil May Cry's rating system, except tying vital power-ups to ludicrous performance standards. The last two weren't quite so bad, but the tiny GBA screen kind of hurt things.

No, I didn't buy any of the Zero series. I played them through alternate means. I'm glad I did, too. The hell with doing these without save states.

The ZX games on the DS are actually good, without qualifications, but I'm not surprised that nobody cares after the crap Capcom's been shoveling for the last several years.

I was prepared to love ZX, but the map thing just made the game over-complex and I lost interest. So while not a "bad" game, it didn't do much to stop the overall slide.

Would be nice if they could something even 10% as appealing as Megaman 2 nowadays.

Did you play Shining Soul for Gameboy Advance? That was heart crushing. I did hear Shining Soul II was much better, but the first left such a wretched taste in my mouth that I couldn't be bothered. After all, much better than heart crushing can't be anything to look forward to.

Megaman X also got ridiculous with the names. Optic Sunflower? Earthrock Trilobyte? Vanishing Gungaroo? Less crack when you're naming things, please.

Grand Theft Auto
I've only played the first two in small amounts, but I'm mostly speaking about the GTA 3s. The first one was pretty enjoyable due to the novelty. The free-roaming and wanton violence was nice and visceral. But after a while, there's so many times you can shoot a hooker and blow up the ambulance that came to get her. In the end, I tried to do ridiculous stunts with the vehicles and sending Claude to drown a lot. I couldn't finish half of Vice City. San Andreas was pretty much DOA, especially due to the MMORPG bits, like building muscle mass and whatnot.

I'll wait and see what GTA 4 does.

Shining Soul 2 was much better. Just not good.

Deni... it's funny how we had massive arguments in the past - most of them containing swear words directed at me and yet I barely even know you - but we are so alike. My answer for this thread is also Shining Force because of Shining "Force" Neo and Exa and Shining Soul. I must also note we are in the NHL thread a lot too.

Too bad Camelot cannot make SF games anymore...

I'd argue I'm -in- the thread in name only. Have you seen my score? Clearly I'm not really "in" the thread.

And man, I want Shining Force IV so badly. Thank god for the translations of SF III scenarios I and II and a modded Saturn.

You mean scenario 2 & 3. Do you have a website for copies of them that are translated so I can play on my modded Saturn? I already beat them in Japanese and read the storyline on a website. It would be sweeter to play them in English!

No, I meant one and 2. But apparently they've recently finished 3 as well.

Shining Force III Translation Project « Suspended In Dusk

That is all kinds of awesome. I always hated Sega because of that stupid crap. Since the Saturn was the first Sega system I ever owned and so little got released on it. Sure it had some great gems in that small collection but man owning a Saturn sucked without a PS1 to go with it.

As for the topic, I stopped playing the Mario games. I don't hate Mario but I never had a N64 and I thought Mario Sunshine looked lame, so I just stopped bothering to pay attention to Mario.

Final Fantasy:

Played quite a few, enjoyed 9 the most. I still have a soft spot for that one, and as far as fan games though I don't mind the traditional set.

Why I stopped: Two words: Kingdom Hearts. (Two more words: Stop laughing) KH introduced me to the action RPG genre that I avoided since disliking the slow pace of the Zelda games. KH, despite all of it's rumored "kiddyness" (but LOL at all the guys at tvtropes claiming it's nightmare fuel) and "emoness" (Hercules notwithstanding), had a decent story and fast gameplay I could get into. Plus the FF7 crowd looked and acted so much better than they did in their OWN universe! I decided KH had rendered FF obsolete, and I could never touch a slow paced RPG ever again.

And it still irritates me that everyone's like "LOL 3-D Sonic games suck" when this causes them to ignore and pass up his handheld epics like Advance 3 and Rush/Adventure.

Wait, SFIIIEp3 was translated (I can't get the link to work and when I checked the forum that has the translation project, it seems like they are not finished)?

The Zelda series. Although, it's not really a case of completely ignoring the series. Huge, huuuuuuge large big fan of them back in the early 1930's. Zelda, Adventure of Link, Link to the Past, Link's Awakening. Yes. Yes! Nobody could stand in my way of being a praise shooting demon beast for these games. Link's Awakening is still one of the best games I've ever played, true story.

Then it went 3D, with Ocarina of Time. Everyone shit their pants at how amazing it was, but I made a squishy kind of face. I didn't even bother with Majora's Mask. So, some years passed. Along comes Wind Waker. Everyone's shitting their pants, but with anger this time. How it's forcing their sexual orientation switch to the gay position due to the graphics and so forth. But for me it was like fuck, yeah! Zelda's cartoony style is back! And a cheesy 80's synth pop song played in my head. I loved Wind Waker.

So I figured it was time to go check out the ones I missed, Majora's Mask and those Game Boy Color ones. Nope. Flaccid. Wii launches, I pick up Twilight Princess due to the insane hype and the fact that it was in development since the Big Bang. It didn't hold my interest for long, I ended up forcing myself to play through it because it was too late to return it for my money back. I don't know, I just found it extremely boring. I'm sorry internet! ;_;

I checked out that DS one too, I made it past the first boss and never played it again. Why do I keep doing this to myself, it's like returning to an abusive lover. His name is Tingle. :(

Also, yeah. Pokemon. The main Pokemon games, that is. I love the spin-offs! Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Pinball and Pokemon Channel 2 plz Nintendo/The Digimon Company.

You did try out Zelda: Minish Cap though, right my friend? I found that game was pretty decent and brought back the feeling of Zelda of old to a degree.

Minish Cap was all right, but it felt like half a Zelda game. To me it seemed like it was wrapping up about the time Link to the Past was getting to its midpoint.

I think we're getting to that point where Nintendo is just throwing the same old stuff at the wall trying to make lightning strike twice, instead of coming up with something new. I didn't realize until I recently replayed Ocarina of Time just how much Twilight Princess swipes from that game. It's like they spent more time prostrating at the feet of OoT and trying to hurredly rewire the controls to work with the Wiimote than they did making a game that could stand on its own two feet.

I gave up on Quake after II. I played through Quake III and IV, but really didn't enjoy them that much.

Final Fantasy, X was it for me. X-2 and XII were so utterly unenjoyable in the little bits I tried (I own both but haven't played either for more than an hour) that I'm tired of it. I still like the classics - Technically I've only beat 6-10, so I'm playing 4 and 5 right now. But one of the main points for me is that if I want some goofy "realistic" battle system, I'll play, you know, an action game. I like turn-based combat in my RPGs, sorry.

Also, yet another vote for Pokemon. I loved red/blue. Everything like that has seemed like a cheap milk-the-cash-cow attempt, sort of like the entire Friday the 13th series.

Final Fantasy series.

I appreciated the traditional turn-based old school rpgs more (ditto Arainach). I stopped after IX... its just not the same. I could be an oldbie for not accepting the new vamped battle systems but really... I couldn't give it much of a damn other than the eye candy work they give you in the guides instead. Although I must make a mention of XII's battle system, its engaging but its not as exciting as til way late into the game (til you gotten all of those necessary gambits...).

Phantasy Star Series.

OMG. While its nice for the MMO scene but fuck you guys. I want my traditional turn-based battles back. I want my IPPO music back. I want my awesome old school sci-fi plot back! DAMN IT... ;___; Watching SD play this PSU's BLANNNNNDDDDDD single-player's gameplay was demoralizing to the memory of this classic series. ;___; I don't see a remake/classic return happening however.

I'll take a stab and say Phantasy Star Online. I loved that game on the Dreamcast. I was amazed that latency was actually pretty good most of the time, considering that it ran off just a measly 56k modem. What made it go bad was the ridiculous amount of cheating that went on. I even bought version 2 on the same system but by then they wanted you to pay to play, and I didn't really feel like that was worth doing at the time. I later got Episode I & II on the Gamecube, but it just didn't have the same feel as it did back then, since I didn't feel like shelling out money for a broadband adapter to play online (not to mention paying for online play itself; I think you had to..?) . And then episode III just looked stupid. I later got to observe Phantasy Star Universe when a friend had bought it, but we both agreed (as he played PSO in the past as well) that it was more or less different enough from PSO that the feel spoken of earlier just wasn't there either. Fun in its own way maybe, but not the same. I miss those days.

Final Fantasy. I absolutely adored FF6 when I was a kid and it's one of the main reasons I started getting into games at all. Still one of my favorite games to this day. Then FF7 came along and instantly became my favorite game of all time. This game has either a love or hate relationship with people, but it'll always hold a special place in my heart. After that, Tactics rolled in and I was simply amazed by how great it was. I still believe it has one of the best plots of any rpg I've experienced. I tried out 4 and 5 and while they aren't my favorites by any stretch, I still like them much more than the current FF titles.

What happened? I look at Tactics as the last great FF game. 8 and onwards were either terrible or completely forgettable. I've been disappointed for quite a while with the direction the FF series is headed. Most characters are bland and undeveloped, it seems like they could care less about plot these days, and the battle/skill setups leave much to be desired. I'm also really tired of this jpop craze.

I'm rather disappointed with Suikoden as well. I absolute love Suiko 1 and 2. I know everyone loves 2 the most, but 1 was quite enjoyable and had a great plot. I'm not usually into tragedy, but Tir's struggles in the first game drew me in and made him stand out as a character. It was the most enjoyable part of Suiko1 for me. As for Suiko2, even though Suiko2's translation left much to be desired, the thing I enjoyed the most about the game was that it was a direct sequel. You see almost all of your favorite characters return and even get to use a lot of them. It was done just perfectly.

Which leads me to why I started to dislike the series. Suiko2 was perfect in my eyes since it picked the plot right back up and brought back important characters. I was expecting the same in Suiko3, but I was severely disappointed. Even though it was set a while after the second game important characters could have returned, but we're just left to guess what the hell they're doing while all of this supposedly important stuff is going on. The plot wasn't that bad, but it just didn't pull me in the way Suiko 1 and 2 did. The music sucked too, which is a shame since the previous games had great soundtracks. After my disappointment with 3 I didn't even want to bother with the rest. From what I've seen everyone hates 4 and Tactics, but a lot of people have said 5 is good, so I may check that out someday. I have no idea if there are plans for another Suiko, but it really annoys me that they wasted so much potential to explain the world and runes more throughly.

All right, I disagree with your dismissal of IX, especially since you've played the SNES era FF games. I think it's a brilliant book end to those games and is wonderfully nostalgic.

But that's a matter of taste, so whatever. However, I very strongly urge you to play Suikoden V. I'd given up after III (double ugh), IV (ugh) and Tactics (violent reaction and throwing of things). And as such, I didn't pick up V for a long time after it had come out. I think it was largely because of Leknaat and someone else constantly harping at me to give it a shot. Not only did V work as a wonderful follow up to I and II for me, and completely restore my love of the Suikoden series, it actually rekindled my love of video games in general. I hadn't sat down and played an RPG I really enjoyed in years, but I tore through V, absolutely devoured it. You won't regret it.

I was going to go into more detail about why I thought the other FF games were this and that, but I thought I had rambled on enough. The forgettable comment was meant for 9 primarily, but even though I feel that way I really don't think it was a bad game. Anyway, thanks for your input about Suiko5. I've always been debating with myself if I should bother, but I think I'll finally give in and get it. I've really been missing the Suiko world.

Seems like Elegy and I feel similarly about the FF series. Only difference is that I like FFXII, though I knew that I would based on my tendency to enjoy Matsuno-directed titles. Also, I enjoyed FFVII a great deal, but FFVI is untouchable in that number one spot for me. FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX were all forgettable for me, though FFIX is the lesser evil of the three. Overall, I feel that Final Fantasy was most consistent during the 16-bit era. FFIV, FFV, and FFVI were all good games.

Sonic is a good answer for this thing, though I could just say that I stopped playing Sega titles in general. I had both a Genesis and SNES during the 16-bit era but I just forgot about Sega after that. Once Dreamcast rolled around, I opted to wait for a PS2 (well, I was waiting for Gamecube, but I got caught up in the PS2 shortage hype), so I'm still in the process of checking out the Sega titles I missed from the 32-bit and 128-bit eras.

Grandia is one that I stopped playing. I loved the first game but I didn't care for the second one. Never played Xtreme or part three because of all the negative things I heard about them.

If you liked Grandia for the battle system and not for some boring story with mediocre voice acting, then Xtreme is the best game ever.

Xenogears and Xenosaga. Gears was great, Saga rocked, but 2 and 3... I just dunno. Everything was too much of the same and the balance of game play to cinemas was unbearable.

Mortal Kombat. Come on, it's sucked ever since it went 3D. Do I even have to say anything about the DC mix? No. I didn't think so, either.

Pokemon. If you had this game in 7th and 8th grade it was THE thing to do on the bus. I think the lack of a story really got to me here - cause you know, I needed something deep to match my taste for Power Rangers.

The funny thing about all the people here saying Pokemon is that I never played a Pokemon game all the way through till the remakes of the originals on GBA. I had Pokemon Blue for the original gameboy when it came out, but I hated trying to look at the screen on the old gameboys and I actually only had the game cause I got bitched at for not having it. I was in highschool at the time and for some reason around here even if you were a teen you were considered a loser if you didn't like Pokemon. So it's kinda funny cause I've went kinda the opposite direction of a lot of people, rather then lose interest in the series, I gained interest in it cause the handheld screens don't suck so much anymore.

Also, I already posted but I'm gonna have to throw my name in with the people who have said Final Fantasy. 7 and Tactics were the last ones I played. I loved 1, 4, 6, 7, and Tactics. But when I went to play 8... I just couldn't stand to play it. The music and graphics were great but the story was so boring and I didn't really care for the combat system either. I never really gave the series another chance after that. I've seen friends play X and while it doesn't look horrible, it just doesn't really inspire me to want to play it.

Wild Arms too. I'm probably one of the few people on earth who liked the second game, but all of them after that didn't look very interesting.

Gotta go with Zelda games as well.

Loved the ones I did play, Original Zelda on the NES, Link to the past on SNES, and of course the mighty Ocarina of Time on the N64, even Link's Awakening on the GB.

After Ocarina of Time I never really touched a Zelda game again. I tried to get Majoro's Mask on the N64, but I could never find that stupid extra memory cartridge you needed, so I never got to play it.

Don't know if it was lack of interest, or the fact that I never owned a Nintendo system since the N64, but haven't touched one since. I've seen a few screenshots and videos, but that's about it.

Megaman
I used to love these games like crazy as a kid. I would play Megaman 2 over and over and over again, I figure that was the perfect game for me as a kid. I can choose any stage I want and just blast away at huge dogs shooting fire.

~I'll never forget that as a child, the intro to Woodmans stage ALWAYS reminded me of bouncing boobs and I don't know why.

After Megaman 4 though, I stopped caring about Megaman as much. After I could beat every boss in Megaman 5 except for that asshole in the bottom left corner known as Waveman I gave up on pretty much the entire series. I couldn't even make it to that boss because his stage was overly annoying and difficult.

Many years later, Megaman was going 3D with Legends, and I could not wait for it to come out. It was much different and some of the voice acting was so bad, they became ridiculous inside jokes with friends. *hands lady lipstick to finish her paint* She then replies 'THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!" then runs across town to god knows where.

Megaman now though, is horrible. I tried playing the game on PSP where you can create your own level. Without cool music and odd graphics, it just doesn't seem as fun as it could have been. Oh well.

Madden
I never liked football much, but I've always loved these games, especially on Sega. There was something fun about just trying to injure someone with brutal tackles and hearing the sound effects of bones popping.

Now, if I just TRY to play it, I get my ass kicked completely. You have to know the inside and out of football to even catch a pass. Whatever happened to those shitty awesome Mutant League games? They were amazing, I can't imagine how awesome those would be now.

Mortal Kombat
As soon as it went from me killing paper cutouts of actual people, to shitty 3d versions of them which didn't look realistic at all, the fun was sucked from the series.

Deni and I were talking about the Mutant League games and how it's amazing they never were remade. They are pretty darn awesome.

I dunno if the Mutant League games count. I didn't stop playing the series by choice, the games just stopped existing. I'd buy a new Mutant League Football in a heartbeat if someone would actually make the damn game.

It's another case of my amazement at video game companies refusing to print money. Do they really think there's no market for this? It's not the mid 90s anymore but there's ample room to update the game's sensibilities.

Good lord, a new Mutant League Football or Hockey would just mean an instant buy. EA released that EA collection on PSP that had Football on it, so a remake or a new addition to the series isn't out of the question because it's obviously still alive.

Keeping on topic, another series I stopped playing is Street Fighter. I had II Turbo for the SNES and I loved it, but I didn't play another one until about 3 years ago when I borrowed the Anniversary Collection from a friend on the PS2. I tried Street Fighter III on there, and it was awful. Then I tried Street Fighter II on XBox Live and found myself losing every time to the Ryu spammers who did the jump kick and sweep. Part of it might be because I've always been a fan of Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter and part of it might be that I just suck at Street Fighter, but back in the day when everyone else's skill level was down to mine SF2: Turbo was an amazing game.

However, maybe SF4 will change my mind. I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

I just look at the fact of the type of games people like today (GTA IV, NFL Blitz, Wayne Gretzy Hockey, etc) or within the last few years and super amazed that Mutant League Hocket/Football was never updated.

The Megaman series is another series that has slowed down. I went through all the NES and SNES games, but never really went far on the PS1 or PS2. Not that they were horrible, but just uninteresting. The GBA series was different but the difficulty was insane. I got smashed by the bosses way too many times. And if it's true you must go through the entire level/boss right without taking a hit to get their weapon, then geez, forget that.

Um. I don't think there's been a Wayne Gretzky hockey since, what... the SNES? Maybe the N64? And is NFL Blitz still getting made? For serious?

Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 was the last Gretzky game and was on the N64. Blitz is no longer NFL Blitz, but is now known as Blitz: The League; a completely original football game with original teams and cheerleaders with the shortest skirts I have ever seen. It's hilarious because one of the main points of the game is something called Dirty Hits. Sometimes these Dirty Hits will cause an injury, and will cause an x-ray closeup to see a muscle tear or a certain bone area in the body break. There's also trash talking which can be either horrible or hilarious.

The game might get boring after a while to some people, but I never tire of it. I think it's because for me it's the closest a next-gen game has gotten to Mutant League Football.

I'm surprise my mention of Mutant League would have caused discussion.

-Blitz games are alright, but they don't compare to how amazing I used to think Mutant League was. I remember just killing and getting killed like it was the best thing ever. Not even that, playing football in space and falling off the planet. Playing hockey was amazing also, falling through the ice instantly killing yourself. ~ The golden days of my video game playing :D

I, myself, didn't like the Blitz games. However, Mutant League Hockey was just fun, fun, FUN. It's just one of those games that seriously, again, I look and say, 'In this day and age, with these types of games, how did this NOT get remade/a sequel?'.

Maybe I meant NHL Hitz, but I thought for sure it was Wayne Gretzy Hockey for N64. Ya know, the game where there is crazy scoring and the CPU will never trail too much?

I've never played NHL Hitz, but what you're describing definitely Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey. You could be leading in the middle of the period by three goals and by the end of the period, your lead is either cut to 1 or nothing. NBA Jam was also like that...if you had a huge lead, the CPU would just start busting three pointers out of nowhere. Oh, and where you've got like a two point lead and the CPU takes a long three at the buzzer and wins it AND the game? It pissed me off, but those were two classic games for me.

Speaking of Gretzky's Hockey, that's another series I stopped playing. I played the one on Genesis and then the one for N64, but I didn't bother to play '98 since it looked more of the same and I never bothered with the Gretzky game on PSP. A shame too, because Gretzky was the reason I even got into hockey.

I'm going to take a dive here and say Tony Hawk. I never actually could get into the original Pro Skater games because having time limits in video games makes me feel like I'm suffocating oh Jesus Christ I can't breathe open the window, but I did really enjoy the skating mechanics. I picked up the first Underground because it offered the fun of skating without horrible, trachea-clenching time limits and had a good amount of fun with it despite the groan-inducing story.

Then came Underground 2, or rather "Bam Margera takes a shit on the ground and a bunch of potheads laugh for two hours oh hey here's a skateboard." Nevertheless, I ended up picking up American Skateland for DS because it was one of the first Wi-fi enable games. Of course, I was one of maybe twelve or so people who purchased it so I didn't actually get to take advantage of any online features. I gave into the hype of American Wasteland, with it's supposed lack of load-times and giant GTA-styled city and gave Mr. Hawk one last purchase. Needless to say, they fucking lied. I haven't touched any Tony Hawk games since then and don't really plan to.

I quit Tekken after 5.1 because the place where I studied had a severe lack of competition.
I quit console RPGs (except I forced myself to eat FFXII bitterly) because they just became too time consuming.
I quit Pokemon games because I wanted to save face.

Instead, I picked up the Run'n'Gun genre, Devil May cry 3 and the Castlevania series. And I have never looked back :)

This thread is really interesting... it seems like people who originally played the "original" games in the series hated the ones after

For example.. those who played FFVI and BEFORE hated the series afterwards. Those who played Suikoden I and II didn't like the continuation... or xenogears to xenosaga (even though they technically aren't related)

I'll be honest, I haven't played before FFVI or Suikoden III... I LOVE all FF (other than X-2 and XII) and all of Suiko (other than IV). Sure this isn't as good as that - but they are still good games in general. I have NOT played Xenogears (I did buy a used copy from eBay though)... as for the Xenosaga series - Xenosaga III is by far my most favorite game ever!!! (if you stick with the series that is)


As for games I D/C-ed... let's see Ace Combat - lost it's flavor, Wild Arms (pretty much the same theme over and over again), FPS (because the online community = shit talkers and rather annoying... FPS = much more fun when you play against others... and since "others" = noobs or 8 year old idiots... I pretty much gave up on them)....

Actually, most people who liked Suikoden I and II loved Suikoden V. Just hated the stuff inbetween.

Really. XS III is your favourite game -ever-. Wow.

Actually many if not most people who liked Suikoden I and II stopped playing after III - but those who did play V loved it too

As for XS III - YES IT IS MY FAVORITE game - u got some problem with that??? "Wow" what's what supposed to mean???? Last time I checked we are all individuals of different tastes and to top things of you're a male and I'm a female so that by itself makes our tastes quite different (for the most part).

If you can name me a game with a controversial and deep story on the PS2 or a game readily available on the PS1 then I'll try it... but I'll have you know I'm an RPG fan! Oh and please dun say GTA or a FPS. Suikoden V was a great game (which I noticed you enjoyed) but it's story level was no where near Xenosaga III.

Geez I don't see why you out of all people in this entire thread have to disagree with OPINIONS... this isn't math and there is no right and wrong. If you dun like the game so-be-it but don't personally quote someone and just say "WOW" because that sounds very disrespectful

Wow.

Settle down there, sport. It's just that--you may have noticed this--a lot of people hate Xenosaga. And uh, our definitions of deep storyline clearly differ.

Also, if you would be so kind, please post the scientific study that says your having a gaping hole between your legs means we must obviously like different games. I think I missed that bit in psych 101. Or was it biology?

I also didn't SAY anything about your liking Xenosaga. I expressed surprise at it being your favourite game ever. Because I'd never heard that before.

The "wow" in this post, though? Yeah. That's because you're fucking crazy. Take your pills, sweetheart. Your dementia is showing.

I suppose the best response I can give is the example of Final Fantasy. It's not so much that I "just stopped" playing but that at some point around the release of FF9, the series got way too self-indulgent and self-referential for my tastes. Odd, too, considering that I didn't mind FF9 as a game all that much (dog-slow engine notwithstanding) but something about 10,000,000 in-jokes, series allusions and references, and other little tie-ins like that being presented with the expectation that I would think it to be unparalleled genius rubbed me the wrong way. Following up with the melodramatic FF10 didn't help either.

Haven't bothered with Crystal Chronicles, FFTA, FF11 or its expansion packs, any of the DS rereleases, or anything since, though I'll admit to trying FF12 and actually being somewhat impressed. Though it may have to do with 12 being developed by the Vagrant Story/FFT team and actually seeming to have a sense of humility and trying to tell its story as opposed to saying "ZOMG STORY!!!111!!!!" and glaring at fans until they respond "Yaaaaaaaay Squaresoft!" as they goddamn rightfully should.

Jaded? ME?

Otherwise, yeah, Sonic was it. I didn't buy a Dreamcast when it came out, so that hurt my involvement in the series, but I tried Sonic Rush and found the frustration factor to be a complete turnoff. Either I've gotten to be shit-bad at platformers or they made Sonic a LOT harder since I went away.

The Mana series. I made a thread about it a while back, but I can't stress it enough. They've completely massacred what was good about the games up to Seiken Densetsu 3, and I can't stand seeing new Mana games coming out one after one. Still, I always do try the games to see if they eventually have gotten better just in case, but alas, the more games that come out the more they seem to suck ass.

Okay so maybe I went overboard - but it is simply because people like you exist who pester me all the time for my opinions and others who just can't believe that a girl like me actually plays "games" that they used to play in grade 7.

I just got an infarction for being "clinically" insane LOLOLOL - that is the coolest thing I ever heard even though it's supposed to be warning. You know - I think I just may be "clinically" insane and I hope this summer returns me back to normal. Guess I offended you since I was reported - Sorry

Now for your second paragraph - let's see... without being sexist (let's face it less girls do videogaming than guys). FPS dominated insanely by guys, girls enjoy different fighting games than guys, "Harvest Moon" played mostly by gurls (had to through this in), GTA enjoyed more by guys

So no shit our opinions will differ insanely and a vagina does make a giant difference believe it or not - sorry can't find any double blinded randomized clinical trials since video gaming is not a big interest of "scientist" and in the long run won't pay for their bills - but behavioral studies DO exist and and as hardcore as a chick wants to be - a chick is still a chick and will react like a chick for the most part...

Anywayz what exactly did you mean by "Because I'd never heard that before." - have you ever played the Xenosaga series? If not I suggest you try it and GIVE IT A CHANCE UP TO XENOSAGA III. This is true especially if you have not played XENOGEARS because then you won't have much expectations.

And hmmm - the game is known for it's LONG CGs but if you live with them they are actually fun. I remember playing this game when it first came out and the long CGs were annoying but then I learned to sit back and enjoy it (the graphics for the time were pretty neat too). Also - you can skip PARTS in the CG so it's not as bad as kids complain "OMG I had to DIED against the boss so I ended up having to watch this long movie" - COMPLETELY UNTRUE!!! The first two games somewhat lack gameplay but Xeno III completely makes up for it and the story is amazing 'cause it's sooo full "stuff" (I seriously don't know what other word to use).

~The Truth of Xenosaga~ <--- lil sample of the story - but it's sooo much more fun to actually explore it yourself. The game is so under-rated really.


Now I have NOT played Xenogears and I'm pretty sure that game is better - I did buy a "mint" copy for $50 but when I get my ash-hole out of DDR (which is currently what I'm addicted to - and I am rather new at the game so I suck) then I may try it.


EDITING: OOPS it's infraction not infarction - I was thinking "clinically insane" that's why... lol I just finished a Module in Cardio <.....<

EDITING AGAIN: Xeno is not for all - Anime Haters = big no no... and people who are kinda religious may be offended too. Heck I'm quite religious but a game is a game to me... just thought I'd mention it since one of my friends passed this game on due to "God's" interpretation <......<

Stop making actual fans of the series look bad, please and thanks? I feel like cutting my own balls off by association.

I believe the Shadow Hearts series (expect the bullshit that is From the New World) is more interesting than say, Xenosaga. I just heard.

Topic-related: Sonic, definitely Sonic. Loved 2 and 3. Just going through the stages, getting emeralds, trying to get 50 rings and just mow everything down and earning up to 30 lives in one game is something I remembered fondly. And now it is gone (its simplicity and charm that is).

I've played III and IV also. Not my favorites in the series, but, by God, I want to know about those true runes! (This desire--among other things--makes Deni call me a Suikoden fangirl...)

Yes, there are gender-specific video games out there (Barbie!), but they are for younger children and are more than likely aimed at trying to bring more females into the video game arena. That's it. I'm 39, and I'm not going to play any Barbie games--give me a game where I can kill something....

True--nowhere in Suikoden V do they repair something in a "dream world" only for those repairs to exist in the real world. LOOPHOLE!

It wasn't disrespectful--it was shock. That's our Deni for you. And yes, we will argue with peoples' opinions. That is what is called a discussion. That's exactly what Deni was doing.

Now, for my answer to the topic...

I stopped playing the Tomb Raider series because it became the same thing over and over. Especially in II--or was it III--when you had to find the same objects in each area....Please--give me something new to do. I had more fun in the first game when I made her swan dive out of the music room and die in her mansion....:)

Yeeeeah. All right, let's get a few things out of the way.

Yes, I played Xenosaga. Yes I played III. Yes, I've played XenoGears, yes, Gears is better than Saga in my opinion.

I was not on your balls (figuratively) about XenoSaga, because I don't really care if you like it or not. If you'd come in here talking about how FF VIII had the best narrative in the history of video gaming, we might have had a problem.

However, you did come in yelling at me about how gender decides what games you like. Which would be brilliant if it wasn't BATSHIT crazy. I mean, I get that someone wrote a book called Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus, but I'm pretty sure that was complete bullshit, much like your argument is. I know tons of people, male and female, that play RPGs (my genre of choice, by the by), and it has little to do with whether or not they bleed once a month.

So, though I appreciate your argument that gender decides preference, you need to appreciate my argument that it's complete horse shit and you're coming off like a crazy person.


P.S.

What did I mean by "I've never heard someone say XenoSaga is their favourite game before."? Allow me for a moment, to use an approach to better explain my point that I once saw a brilliant young philosopher use:


I've never heard someone say XenoSaga is their favourite game before.




No it isn't. I played III, IV AND Tactics. I call you a fangirl because of the obsession, not the enjoyment, dear. You know that. And because I think you once tried to argue with me about how III was good. But I may have just been being a dick at that point.*



*protip: This is likely.

Exactly--desire can lead to obsession. Didn't you know that, love? <3 I remember saying I liked the Trinity Site system, Yuber and Little Viki, but did I say it was good, or did I say it was tolerable? I can't remember!

Anyway, Deni and I enjoy a lot of the same games--RPG is also my genre of choice--and we are opposite sexes.

There is ALWAYS a first time for everything... and I'm a pretty amazing and UNIQUE PERSON (slash out the first word).


Do you seriously believe that gender does not play roles in tastes, possible preferences and way one perceives things for the most part? I'll have you know - I'm NOT the gurl-ist gurl out there and most of my friends are guys. While I don't watch porn, I can openly talk about it. I go to the theatre to watch Saw IV (I don't feel the least bit "scared" or disgusted) just to so I can amuse myself watching other girls squeak... but still I do notice that my tastes somewhat differ from guys no matter how much I hang out with my brothers or guy-friends.


Denicalis Trick Question: If you had a choice to wear one of the following what would it be? Perfume or Cologne (think this over please!). Hint: I am referring to what you would put on yourself! NOT the smell you may get from hanging around someone - if you know what I'm saying.

I was unaware that Xenosaga gave off pheromones.

Rez, maybe, but not Xenosaga.

There's perfume for men and cologne for women. Is that the trick?

Sorry, Deni...

LOLOLOLOLOL Leknaat - Interesting catch <.....<

Okay - under NORMAL circumstances then... what would Denicalis wear?

If you notice men cologne (or the perfume which I haven't actually smelled) have a much more distinct and strong smell than female related smells. But that is just one example. There are many examples like clothing and others.

@RacinReaver... funny how people are putting words in my mouth... I don't remember saying that Xeno is liked by females only or even female directed... for one Shion and KOS-MOS tend to show more skin the more the series advances and to top things off a useless "beach" scene was there just for the sake "fan service"... but you're the mod so you're right and I'm wrong.

Geez all I was trying to say is "Our opinions are different. People have different opinions and the fact that we're not even from the same sex makes it even more UNLIKELY that our TASTES are are the same... tastes does not equal opinions necessarily.... so the "REALLY??" and the "WOW" struck me as huh? You don't believe that others have different tastes or enjoy different things

So, your argument is that because people tell women they should smell like flowers, and men like musk, that they must be different? I'm not getting into a nature vs nurture debate with you, and I'm definitely not getting into a debate about the concept of learned behaviour as it effects gender.

HOWEVER, I will say this: The concept that enjoyed games has anything to do with having an XX or an XY chromosome is idiotic, yes. Our opinions differ. I would use Elmo to point out how shocking that is, but I already played that card this week.

However, the only thing ridiculous about this thread so far is the sheer level of reaction you took to someone having an opinion that differed from yours. We're at about a four. You're up around an eleven. We need you around a five.

LOL!! Okay... after my INITIAL reaction didn't I apologize???? I admitted I'm crazy, I went overboard and that I was sorry for offending you RIGHT? And my new posts are all DISCUSSION based - Leknaat said we argue right? So I'm joining the team and discussing further what I initially in my crazy mood meant - not attacking anyone anymore right?. So what's eating you to the extend that you have to keep going on and on about how crazy and I am? I'm guessing it's hard to let go of things?

Now I'm not going to argue with nurture vs nature (there is to much controversial things going on for example a people who are gay = nature, suicide can be found on a gene etc... if we do take these as evidence then that's one thing. But I personally don't believe there is such a thing as a suicide gene. But this is all besides the point) - maybe another thread about this would be interesting...

But the shear fact that you said

is completely wack - I mean there ARE differences between men and women and those should be clear. Maybe not as strong as strongly in video gaming simply because video games are video games (not real life). However, there has to be some reason why much more men are into FPS as opposed to females (yes that is taking into consideration the amount of females to males that actually play games).... and why do males appreciate GTA more than females? Don't tell me those two points are not true...


Eitherway, Denicalis you managed to complain about everything I wrote... so u gonna tell me which you prefer of the two smells?


PS. I prefer it if guys didn't smell like musk...


EDITING: PS. I gotta go make dinner and then do some DDR which I suck at.

Got studies on that one? You think maybe it could be because the game is marketed to males? Or, hey, here's a crazy one, maybe there IS no correlation, and the percentage of female gamers who play GTA IV is pretty much right on par with the percentage of female gamers to male gamers.

You know why I can postulate that? There hasn't been a study on this. It's all conjecture, and horribly thought out conjecture at that.

And as for my saying that men and women aren't really all that different being "wack", well, I'm afraid not all that "wack". Women just aren't all that different from men. You're raised on different things, you're dealt with a different way, and that has more to do with the differences between the genders than any biological separation.


Oh, then you must not be female! Since that's what females prefer the smell of! Oh my, you don't fit the pattern. That's problematic.

Also, what do I prefer the smell of? Pussy. Well manicured pussy. The hell do I care about juniper berry smell?

But see, none of this has anything to do with the discussion at hand. According to you, all girls should play Horsez on the DS and nothing else. And I only dislike XenoSaga because I'm a man and should like FPS (I don't own a single FPS, by the way).

Buy Mass Effect and stop playing JRPGs, you goddamn weeaboo.

I'm going to start importing games so I can have the Japanese voices.

Just to piss you off.

Tsunade, please. You're just embarrasing yourself now. What with this and all:

It's just a thread on video games. Yes people have varying opinions, but there isn't a whole lot of SCIENCE behind it. Personal preference is what it's called. There's just really no need to sustain such a weak argument; it's stuff like this that makes certain Video Game threads at GFF unbearable.

AS FOR THE THREAD

I would say Suikoden, if it weren't for Suikoden V. Seriously if Suikoden V were along the same lines of III, IV and Tactics, then I would consider losing complete interest in the series. Those three games were pretty horrible (I actually want the time I spent playing Tactics back...it was that bad). Suikoden III's story was intriguing to a certain level, but the game mechanics and design was cringe-worth to say the least. It was as if Konami was trying to conform with the rest of the market, toying with the incredibly successful Suikoden formula. And I hate having to resort to the sailing factor for Suikoden IV, but DAMN THAT WAS ANNOYING! A much cleaner, more Suikoden-y game than III, but it still needed a lot of work. And all of that was fixed in Suikoden V, which is an amazing game. So in summary, I was on the edge with the Suikoden series, but it's all fine now, yeah~ (Suikoden II (and I) will remain my favourite game ever so it'll always be tough for installments to match that standard; V came fairly close, though.)

I've got a few series I could mention, but I guess the main one is Pokemon. I loved the first subseries (Red, Blue, Yellow), and the second was awesome too. My interest sort of waned a bit at Ruby etc, and almost completely dropped with Diamond and Pearl. Chances are that if they continue the same basic formula with hackneyed pokemon designs, then I'll just stop playing. What the series needs is a Wii installment with advanced use of the remote. (Also I dislike the people who complain about the GB-era pokemon noises; I think they're fantastic, and if they changed them I'd definitely lose interest!)

Final Fantasy almost creeps into this thread topic; I played XII but just couldn't get into it, even though it looks like a damn fine game on paper and in practice. =/ As lame as it sounds, I do have high expectations for XIII (I'm more skeptical about vsXIII actually). And I never got into XI. Damn Playonline kept charging me after I'd stopped playing the game for about 4 months. Shit service, that one.

I don't think anything in the series will reach the standards set by VI and VII. (VII IS A DAMN GOOD GAME AND YOU SUCK IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE...<-- this isn't fanboyism, it's just appreciation of an objectively good game.)

Tsunade, stop posting your ridiculous horseshit. Last warning.

Hmm...
The only thing I could think of, would be something of a reverse:
The first Resident Evil game I fully played and owned was 4. Then I tried playing 1 (remake), but ultimately stopped because it just wasn't my thing. Too much resource management and fiddlesticks-camera.
But I don't think that's valid in the sense of the thread. *_*

I really can't blame you for that. It's something I've been wanting to know since I first started the Suikoden series! I want to see the hero from the first game again too, damnit.

The last Mana game I played was Legend of Mana. The newer ones just seem like crap, but I really just need to try them out and quit being lazy about it. I absolutely adored LoM, but that game is extremely hit and miss with people. I don't blame you for hating the game since most do, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the game.

Yeah, I can totally understand why people like the game. The atmosphere of it is pretty nice, the 2D graphics give me a boner, but damn, I just can't stand the actual gaming and lack of story.

There was story there, it was just very fragmented and not well developed.

There were three or so large story blocks in the game though and then the rest were small ones with maybe one or two quests worth of stuff fleshing it out. I can see why people didn't like it, but it was a fun game with a nice soundtrack and "some" of the story was alright. I liked the Jumi stuff and the netherworld plot. Certainly a fuckton better than the games that came after it. :(

Legend of Mana is a great game. A truly misunderstood title because of its non-linearity and emphasis on tinkering with the colorful world it provides. The artistry of the game certainly elevates it beyond the petty complaints that I often see held against it.

After that I stayed away from the series, so I guess that's another one that I stopped playing.

Misunderstood? Really? I wouldn't say that.

It lacked a cohesive combat system. Gameplay itself was stilted and felt at times both too slow and too fast. The story issues have already been touched upon. There's a variety of very legit complaints one could level at the game, so "misunderstood" seems like a term that's either incorrect or being used to make yourself sound artsy for appreciating something that was inherently flawed.

To claim it's presentation more than makes up for it's vast multitude of problems is pretty bonkers, too. If we start going there, one could claim Unlimited SaGa was awesome because of it's "artistry". Are we gonna say that one's misunderstood too?

Don't get me wrong. I like it a lot, but misunderstood it is not. If anything, it's overly simple. It's difficult to misunderstand. You either forgive it for it's faults and enjoy what it does right, or you can't manage to get over them. There's little to no gray area here whatsoever. Misunderstood my ass.

Even though at the moment I'm finding more and more time to play a wide variety of games, there are actually a lot of series that I've stopped playing altogether.

I guess the biggest ones are definetely:

1.) The Super Mario series. I think it is safe for anyone to say that they have at least played a mario game during their entire life being a gamer. I always loved the mario games especially in the nes and snes era, but to be honest the last mario game I've ever played was super mario 64. I never even finished that one. I've played other games with mario in it such as Mario party, mario kart 64, and a few others. Its not the fact that they're not great games because they definetely are, but they just don't have that same appeal to me that they did when I was a kid. I would probably pick up and play a mario game if there was nothing else to play.

2.) The Legend Of Zelda. I have only ever finished two zelda games in my entire life. Those are the original legend of zelda for the nes, and the legend of zelda: a link to the past. I have played Ocarina of time but yet it is another game that I haven't finished. To be honest thats the last legend of zleda game I have ever played. The reasons why I don't play the series anymore are still the same. It is a series that has just lost that appealing factor to me.

I truly wouldn't be surprised if my interest for these games came back. I'm at that age now that I sometimes find my genre of games change a little bit every couple of years. When I was a teenager I hated playing puzzle games and top down shooters, but now at the moment they tend to be some of my favourite genre's. I'm recently getting back into playing 2D platformers lately especially from older video game collections.

Probably Smash Brothers...I was at a get-together this past week and they had Brawl. I was a huge fan of Melee and the original, but I played maybe three games before I got bored playing it for the first time and went to play Guilty Gear and Guitar Hero. Fun to play socially, but my enthusiasm for the series is largely gone, even though I got to play Pit. Maybe a year or two ago, I'd have bought a Wii just for it, but now...

And I've only had Rock Band for about a month, but I'm done with the guitar parts at least...Even through the DLC (which has some of my favorite songs of all-time), the guitar parts are horrible. Not enough notes and when a hard part comes up, it's either annoying to play or it's the same descending/ascending 3 note solo repeated. In any case, the HOPO's are atrocious because of the timing. At least let me use GHII's timing system instead of needing to hit the note before it hits the detection. Then there's the fact that 95% of the songs are a cakewalk on expert...Synchronicity, Message in a Bottle and Electric Eye pale in comparison to their GH counterparts. Compared to both drums and vocals, which are downright ruthless on expert, it makes no sense at all (and no, busting me with the same stupid solo again and again isn't fun). Again, fun for a social round, but the guitar parts are a complete wash almost. I imagine I'd be using the overdrive from the guitar/bass parts to save the asses of the singer/drummer on a round of full band expert a lot.