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Post by megamixer on Sept 10, 2022 10:27:31 GMT
We've become accustomed to Nintendo games and consoles being treated as if they are diamond-encrusted, gold-plated treasures that you can put in a cupboard and retire from the profits made a few years later, and it sometimes seems that everything they have ever published is known about, highly-regarded, or infamous for some reason.
However, there are quite a lot of games that nobody ever seems to mention. I'm kicking us off with four relatively modern examples (by "modern" I mean Gamecube/DS era) that I personally remember reading the previews for, then the reviews, and - finally - witnessing them immediately sink into obscurity or make zero impact.
Mario Superstar Baseball (Gamecube) - Baseball game with all the usual 'Power' moves and Mario wackiness that nobody bought during the Gamecube's twilight year(s). Interestingly, it was also developed by Namco. I did own this at one point but sold it without ever playing it. Now it's an easy £100+ game on the 'bay. A much better Wii sequel was released but didn't come to Europe/UK.
Dancing Stage Mario Mix (Gamecube) - Another late GC release and this one REALLY bombed. I've never seen a copy - either the game or the big box mat bundle - in the wild and I don't remember ever hearing anybody discuss it in Gamecube threads on forums. Developed by Konami, it was a mash-up between Mario and their Dancing Stage series. Good luck finding the complete edition with the mat. Needless to say, you will be paying well beyond £100 for the privilege.
Odama (Gamecube) - One more GC game: Odama. This is a crazy pinball and RTS mash-up where you control your army with microphone commands. The mic peripheral attaches to the back of the pad with a plastic clip-on thing and only Odama and Mario Party 6 & 7 utilise it. This one I DID once own but it was a bit annoying to play in all honesty. The voice recognition wasn't always great, and sitting there barking military commands into the mic made you look/feel like a right knob! I admire the concept though! Again, if you want this complete with the mic and outer box in good condition, it's another £100+ ebay job.
Mario Slam Basketball (DS) - Of all the sports Mario has starred in, this is still the one and only basketball game (not counting the NBA basketball game on GC that you could play as some Mario characters) and it was on the DS of all things. The best fact about this game is that it was developed by Square-Enix of all people and featured a few minor FF characters to play as such as Moogles. Thankfully, this game is a LOT cheaper to pick up than the ones above.
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Post by kerr9000 on Sept 10, 2022 11:58:32 GMT
I have Mario Baseball for the Cube and BasketBall for the DS , I always wanted Odama but never got my hands on it.
Another one no one ever talks about but is interesting and still not very expensive to get a hold of is Boom Street for the Wii (also known as fortune street) It is a complex Monopoly sort of game which has Nintendo and Dragon Quest characters in it... I never really even heard people talk about it when it was current let alone now.
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Post by rednoggy on Sept 10, 2022 13:42:08 GMT
My local chips had that mario dance game. Massive box. Nearly bought it, never saw it again.
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Post by merman on Sept 10, 2022 13:48:18 GMT
I have a soft spot for Boom Blox/Boom Blox Bash Party. Throw coloured blocks at each other to eliminate them, it has great physics and the motion controls are not painful.
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Post by rednoggy on Sept 10, 2022 15:28:05 GMT
Links crossbow training on wii. A cheap game packaged with a cheap peripheral but me and the then gf played that to death.
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Post by kerr9000 on Sept 10, 2022 15:31:59 GMT
Links crossbow training on wii. A cheap game packaged with a cheap peripheral but me and the then gf played that to death. Yeah I have played bags and bags of Links Crossbow training it is great just to put on for a quick go |
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Post by megamixer on Sept 10, 2022 16:02:49 GMT
Links crossbow training on wii. A cheap game packaged with a cheap peripheral but me and the then gf played that to death. Yeah, that's a good shout. A Zelda game that nobody ever mentions, probably because it isn't considered a "proper" game.
I remember buying that Zapper peripheral and expecting nothing from a bundled "free" game and really enjoying it. Old school high score chasing arcade-style fun.
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Post by merman on Sept 11, 2022 13:21:55 GMT
Yeah, there’s not a lot of content but it’s fun while it lasts.
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Post by AlexH on Sept 11, 2022 13:41:28 GMT
I bet that Mario Dance game will be worth a lot more in a few years.
Another Gamecube game, I never see 1080° Avalanche mentioned, despite the continuing popularity of the original 1080° on the N64. It can be bought cheaply enough.
A game I don't even remember getting much publicity at the time - Pokémon Puzzle League. I've never been a Pokemon fan but wish I'd bought it back then as it's basically an update of Tetris Attack on the SNES (one of my favourite games). Complete originals of the N64 version sell for close to £100.
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Post by pratty on Sept 11, 2022 15:21:30 GMT
The Mysterious Murasame Castle for the NES. Originally only released in Japan but now available in the West digitally on the 3DS. It's made using the same engine as the original Legend Of Zelda but the gameplay is more frantic action based.
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Post by blucey on Nov 1, 2022 15:26:06 GMT
Radarscope. It's an old coin-op that got repurposed, in terms of cabinets, when Donkey Kong got popular. It was a decent little shooter in its day though.
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Post by Antiriad2097 on Nov 2, 2022 13:36:49 GMT
Donkey Konga died a death. They could easily have brougth that back on DS or Switch using the touch screen to drum.
It's kinda weird when the Taiko No Tatsujin series has kept going.
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Post by megamixer on Nov 2, 2022 19:44:34 GMT
Donkey Konga died a death. They could easily have brougth that back on DS or Switch using the touch screen to drum. It's kinda weird when the Taiko No Tatsujin series has kept going. Well it died out on GC, the platform it originated on, to be fair. We never got Donkey Konga 3 in the West and I can see why: it was becoming a case of just releasing new packs of music and how far you can carry that with £40 (what the RRP was back then) releases? Even Donkey Konga 2 wasn't such a big deal as the original.
If it only come along a gen later, the game could have been consistently updated with DLC music packs so that you'd only ever have to buy the base game.
I agree that it could come back on a touchscreen console but I think the whole appeal was the bongos in the first place as they were just so different (and looked pretty cool).
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mattb
ZX81
Posts: 196 
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Post by mattb on Nov 2, 2022 23:41:32 GMT
That's just how Nintendo work though. They'll spend a small fortune developing a unique controller, only use it for a handful of games and then forget it ever existed when they move on to the next one.
At least the Bongos got a better selection of games than the Power Glove or ROB did.
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Post by pratty on Nov 3, 2022 14:54:40 GMT
That reminds me, you don't hear much about the Super Scope these days. To be fair it probably doesn't deserve much attention, but I haven't seen it mentioned even as just a curious oddity on any of retro YouTube channels I watch.
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Its just some interesting potential opportunities for AI and automation to help and free humans in the future, rather than enslave us. We need General Zod to implement it.