Cult games.

This topic has mutated from what was originally going to be the Official Panzer Dragoon Saga thread. I've been revisiting the game like I do every couple of months, and I was thinking about the game and the fact that it topped a list in EGM of the 'top 10 cult classics' some time last year, so I thought 'hey a PDS thread would only get about 5 replies anyway (cult!), so why not widen the topics breadth?'.

Talk about cult games here then. What cult games have you played and enjoyed? Is it a crime that more people haven't experienced such and such game, or do you like being a member of an exclusive privileged group? What is cult in your mind? Is it a term for a game with a greatly unbalanced Quality to Amount of People Played ratio; or maybe it's just a way of saying overrated, because hey, if these games are so good why doesn't EVERYONE know about them?

Here's that EGM list.

Spoiler:

10 Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee · PS1 · 1997
09 Samurai Shodown II · Arcade · 1994
08 R-Type Delta · PS1 · 1999
07 Gunstar Heroes · Genesis · 1993
06 Dragon Force · Saturn · 1996
05 Tetris Attack · Super NES · 1988
04 Phantasy Star · Sega Master System · 1988
03 NiGHTS · Saturn · 1996
02 Ico · PS2 · 2001
01 Panzer Dragoon Saga · Saturn · 1998

I will be back to gush Panzer Dragoon Saga later.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I loved R-Type Delta. One of the best scrolling shooters ever in my opinion. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a copy.

How ya doing, buddy?

I don't think cult games have anything to do with how few or how many people played them. Abe's Odyssee and Exodus were huge successes on the PS1 and PC, just as Tetris Attack was on the SNES.

While a relatively small success goes some way to strenghtening the image of a cult game, I don't think low popularity makes one. I think it has more to do with a game with qualities that while niche or mass appeal, will attract a concentrated group of people who not only play it but absolutely love it. I think it's about how much dedication it can bring out from the people who enjoy it. Everquest was a huge success, but what I think made it a cult game is the community and obsession it brought about in the central group of fans.

From that list, of course my favorite would be ICO. It's definitely a cult classic, but people who think it's there because not that many played it, misunderstand. Sure it wasn't a megahit, but what made it a cult favorite is the love people have for it. The gamers who were there at the time and loved the game, truly love it.

Katamari Damacy enjoyed a pretty large popularity, but I think the amount of gamers who truly love it and "get it" is not nearly as high. Similarly, Rez is still underrated, but the ones who know it well enough to appreciate it, adore it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I tried to play Rez, but I think I didn't get it. Do you have to like trance/be on acid to get it?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Aardark

I tried to play Rez, but I think I didn't get it. Do you have to like trance/be on acid to get it?

I don't think so, but a taste for trance music goes a long way in helping.

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I really enjoyed Gunstar Heroes, it's completely hectic, and a great change of pace from Contra.

The only Panzer Dragoon I've played is Orta on Xbox, great game, though I read somewhere that it bombed in sales.

I'm not sure exactly what defines a cult game, but I always thought C&C Renegade fit the bill. The game still gets updated, and it's done by the fans. I believe this game also sold miserably, even though it was really unique and incredibly addictive.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Oh yeah, Tetris Attack is so cult.

I mean, who the hell plays Tetris, right.

FELIPE NO

Protip: cult is not synonymous with obscure.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

All the previously mentioned games are pretty well known games once you look after something other then Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto.

A real Cult game would be Shin Gouketsuji Ichizoku: Matrimelee, also known as Power Instinct Matrimelee. It's a 2d fighter from the old Power Instinct franchise of Atlus, developed by Noise Factory. The Power Instinct series is long famous (well, not really famous, but no one forgets about it after seeing it) for having the most absurdic character design ever: 80 year old grandmas spitting dental teeth as a projectile, or a buffed up old guy (think Hulk Hogan with grey hair) who turns into a frail grandpa after using his super combo on you which ends with a super fart move. Or the 7 year old jungle boy dude who quit visibly lacks any kind of underpants in his getup. He also turns into an overly muscular antropomorphic dog who which looks like a Cho Aniki reject, after doing a special transformation move.
Well, in Matrimelee, they revisited the game with up to date 2d graphics and HILARIOUS music. The game itself is rather mediocre, but the freaky moves make up for it - and the music is just awesome. You have a girl singing about the torment that her french fries are taken away from her in a restaurant before she could eat them, a song about overclocking a PC, a song about aliens who do not enjoy Earth because people constantly accuse them of abducting, and every track is perfectly synched to the background. Oh and the boss tune is a heavy metal remix of the wedding march. And one of the many special moves in the game includes turning the opponent into a frog or duck or a pig.
Matrimelee is not the most serious competitive fighter, nor is the most beautiful one, but its a perfect example of a "cult" game.

It's also getting a PS2 upgrade with bonus characters and better gfx/audio in may for those interested.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Does Gitaroo Man count? i was never able to find any copies, but if i asked the masses only the people with the copies would answer whether or not it was a good game.

Rez definitely gives off one of those vibes... it's sad that i haven't found a copy yet, but i really liked what it was going for.

what do you guys think about the "cult legitimacy" of these games

Gotcha Force (GC)
I like gotcha force a bit though, it's another one of those titles that "no one has" (i had to introduce it to my friends+ it's a bit rare). the 200+ borgs (5 variations in color scheme=1000) that each have their own feel make for some pretty diverse 3-d multiplayer melee content.

Wonder Boy in Monster World (GEN)
i think it's synonomous with the Zelda II style gameplay, though... there's no overworld. the whole 2-d sidescroller action/rpg game fascinated me, cause it was something i didnt see very often... kinda like the next game....

Ys III (SNES)
i stumbled upon this game fairly recently, and admired its sidescroller action/rpg feel. though i had only played the game for an hour, i adore the game for its unique qualities.

Magic Pengel/Graffiti Kingdom (PS2)
I thought the whole drawing your own 3d creatures thing was pretty cool. magic pengel was a bit narrow for my liking (the redundancy of battle/doodle/battle/doodle) but i liked the cel shaded crayon-esque style monster created. Graffiti Kingdom's refined drawing system was pretty nice, and the design was pretty cool.

Mega Man Network Transmission (GC)
the conversion of Battle Network style gameplay to the classic platformer style seemed to be a bit awkward for many people, but i thought it was a pretty good progression. i liked it a lot. the difficulty curve was a bit funny, but i thought it was moderately well-rounded game none the less...

i need some time to recall all the other games in question, so i'll be back again..

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Gunstar Heroes is a cult game? It might've qualified as "cult" when it was first released, since nobody'd heard of it and had no idea how awesome it was.

Now, I don't think cult = obscure. Everyone has heard of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it's hardly overwhelmingly popular. ICO qualifies as cult, but I don't think Phantasy Star necessarily does. It remains somewhat obscure only because not that many people owned a Master System (not as compared to NES owners, for certain). Likewise for Dracula X on the PCEngine CD; practically nobody has ever played the game, but everyone who has immediately agrees it's one of the best Castlevanias ever.

Other cult games that should go on the list? Earthbound, for one. No matter how much we rave about it here on the internet, it still doesn't seem to have a ton of fans. The fans it does have are fanatically loyal, though.

Planescape: Torment is one of the best RPGs ever, but nobody seems to care. I picked it up out of the bargain bin for $10, in a bundle with some other crappy throwaway game, and that's just not right. It got critical acclaim from every single game critic, but for some reason people shunned it.

Silhouette Mirage is another cult qualifier, since I'm pretty sure the entire cult consists of me alone. It's a good game, dammit! It's just really wierd.

Quote:

Posted by evilboris
A real Cult game would be Shin Gouketsuji Ichizoku: Matrimelee, also known as Power Instinct Matrimelee.

THAT'S the fucking name of the game. The one with the superhero guy in the dog costume, right? God, I've been trying to find that game for forever (well, the Neo Geo one, I was unaware it was part of a whole series), but damned if I could remember what it was called.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Monkey King

THAT'S the fucking name of the game. The one with the superhero guy in the dog costume, right? God, I've been trying to find that game for forever (well, the Neo Geo one, I was unaware it was part of a whole series), but damned if I could remember what it was called.

Well, the series is called as Gouketsuji Ichizoku. Translates to "Gouketsuji Family". The english versions were renamed to "Power Instinct". Check the story of the first game or some story faq (theres one at gamefaqs i think) to learn why it is "Gouketsuji Family". It had a bunch of episodes, with the 3rd game (Groove on Fight ~Gouketsuji Ichizoku 3~) having a completely different (and pretty crap) cast of characters. The most popular character of the previous games, Hanakouji Clara also had a game of her own on the Saturn (Purikura Daisakusen).
Anyway, the series went on a hiatus after that and was revived on the Neogeo featuring the original cast of characters retouched by Noise Factory, and the game used the Rage of the Dragons engine, albeit heavily modified. It was called a "Shin Gouketsuji Ichizoku Toukon: Matrimelee", Shin meaning News, and Toukon and Matrimelee being combined words (japanese love these abbrevation + combinations). Toukon consists of the kanji meaning war or fight, Kon being written with a kanji that means marriage. So its Marriage Fight or so. or Matrimelee, which is a combination of matrimony (marriage) and Melee (close combat fight). The story of the game has to do something with a prince and princess holding a tournament in the Gouketsuji clan in which the winner gets to marry one of the royals. So the clan members do, some of them for the wealth and power, others because they think the prince is a dreamy kind of guy, etc.

Eh, anyway, the game was never officially translated to Power Instinct Matrimelee, but some dork figured it would be the correct name considering the legacy of the series. MAME lists it as just Matrimelee which is I believe what the american version calls itself. "Calls itself" is a stretch cause they didnt touch the main screen in which Matrimelee is the only non-japanese word. But do avoid the USA version because it has many of the voices completely removed and the awesome music completely ditched.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quote:

Oh yeah, Tetris Attack is so cult.

I mean, who the hell plays Tetris, right.

Tetris Attack is an AMAZING game, and definately one of the best Puzzle games ever released. I've easily spent over 1000 hours playing it, and I still come back to it every couple of months. Seriously, it's like a form of crack that I just can't put down...

How about Dragon Force? I remember spending only a couple of hours playing it at a cousin's house (I still don't have a Saturn), but I was blown away by the strategy, the battles, and everything else. I'd love to get my hands on a copy today.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Anyone who denies DDR as the #1 cult game is living under a rock.

When's the last time you saw 5 dudes hunched over a laptop in your university watching someone playing a NiGHTS emulator at full volume on the keyboard, memorizing what comes on screen?

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, if the Saturn wasn't so hard to emulate...

FELIPE NO

Quote:

Posted by Matt
Anyone who denies DDR as the #1 cult game is living under a rock.

Dance Dance Revolution can't possibly be a cult game because it's so wildly popular. The key element of cult status is NOT achieving mainstream popularity. DDR is a guaranteed cash cow for any arcade that installs a machine, whereas they're far less likely to be making money off the Pistol Daimyo cabinet in the corner.

Also,

Quote:

Posted by evilboris
[a whole lot of information about the Power Instinct series]

Yipes! A brief summary would have sufficed. I'm capable of looking this stuff up on my own, once I know what it is I'm looking for. -_o

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Kolba

Well, if the Saturn wasn't so hard to emulate...

http://evilboris.sonic-cult.net/SSF/

Monkey King: no doubt, but too many sites contain misinformation or barely understandable, confusing information. It's a pretty unknown series, really.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think Planescape: Torment qualifies as a cult game. It should be in every RPG library from that time period. I feel they should do a new Planescape game. With today's graphics, they could actually have Sigil "morph" as you walk around, etc. How cool would that be?

Also, "Tass Times in Tonetown." Just because it's ultra-tass!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Columns is a cult game simply because Tetris overshadowed it. Columns was a fun game and very additcive, as evidenced by the fact I played until I had over 5,000,000 points.
I personally think it's better than Tetris, it's one step more complex than Tetris and that adds immensely to the gameplay.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Monkey King

Dance Dance Revolution can't possibly be a cult game because it's so wildly popular. The key element of cult status is NOT achieving mainstream popularity. DDR is a guaranteed cash cow for any arcade that installs a machine, whereas they're far less likely to be making money off the Pistol Daimyo cabinet in the corner.

I guess I was just under the impression that something with cult status could have any level of popularity as long as it was devotely worshipped by its fans.
Ya know, like Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek, or Harry Potter.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, but being enjoyed by the masses is a lot different than having people devote absurd amounts of time and brain cells to it. Compare a 'hardcore' DDR fan to a 'hardcore' Star Trek fan, and you'll see a huge gap in devotion.

I was speaking idiomatically.

By that definition, any fandom-related material becomes 'cult' up to and including professional sports. Many people are absolutely fanatical about their various sports interests. Indeed, it's the one socially acceptable nerdly fandom. But despite the hardcore fans, who can be every bit as hardcore as Star Wars or Trek fans, the sports fandom is hardly a cult interest.

Harry Potter, Star Trek, and D&D started out as cult interests, but have progressed into mainstream, so they no longer count. The comic book fandom doesn't really apply either; it's a smaller subset, but there's enough average people who occasionally read Spider-Man to count it as mainstream (just drop by Hot Topic and look at their Green Lantern shirts).

A cult topic has to have genuinely devoted fans, yet only enthrall a small portion of the general population. Stanley Kubrick films and console RPGs in the early 90s are cult, Street Fighter 2 is not.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

If anything, mainstream is not cult. Other then that, I consider games which failed to be widespread even though they are awesome in some aspect, and have a small yet dedicated, almost fanatical fanbase to them.

Keio Flying Squadron comes to mind.

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As excerpted from Wikipedia:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia Artice: Cult computer and video games

Cult computer and video games are computer and video games that usually garnered limited sales figures but attracted a loyal fanbase and earned generally great reviews from the press. The games that should be, or are, included on any "cult" list are often debated, due to the subjective nature of the title. Regardless of the disparity, there are a few themes that are shared by many titles in this category.

Some cult games have a limited production run due to weak public interest. Often these video games feature a visual style, storyline, or game mechanic that is out of the mainstream. A lack of marketing can add to this by ensuring that the game receives insufficient attention from the general public. Games like Ico or Rez fit several of these categories. Limited availability also presents an opportunity for a game to receive this classification. The game Katamari Damacy had limited availability, since it was initially released in Japan only, but many gamers were intrigued by it. The title was widely sought after and became a cult game and sleeper hit in many game import stores.

Of particular interest is the fact that actual game quality has little bearing on cult status--some games are notoriously bad yet that reputation has earned them more popularity than they would otherwise have attracted, e.g. the Atari 2600 game E.T., or Bad Dudes for the NES.

And generally I agree. Though I use the term "Sleeper hit" (as said in Computer Gaming World) as opposed to cult, because it flew below the radar of many gamers.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?