Games that make you say "What were they thinking ?"

Xeon · 11 August 2006, 19:26

Ok, I think this should be fun.

You know that game you bought or tried out (Amiga only) and you boot it up only to wonder how the hell this was even released ?

thats what this thread is about. I'll start off with:

Kickoff 96

This game has a feel and look of a mid eighties game, they must have been crazy to think it would sell. I seen bad reviews on this game but I had to see for myself

and they were so correct !

mr_a500 · 12 August 2006, 01:09

How about "Heart of the Dragon".

The advertisements showed faked screens and bragged about being a HAM game with amazing graphics. In real life it was an ugly unplayable piece of shit.

StarEye · 12 August 2006, 01:24

Cisco Heat. When you jump, the car sounds like a garbage can when it lands.

Not to mention the horribly confusing graphics.

On another note, I got hold of an original Cisco Heat today.

Peanutuk · 12 August 2006, 01:32

I remember playing that quite a lot in the day. I knew it was rubbish then but for some reason it had something. The music was pretty good.

My nomination is Under Pressure. What were they thinking? It seems like a tribute to Psygnosis, which is all well a good if it were a PD release, but asking full-price for it was a joke. Literally.

StarEye · 12 August 2006, 10:10

I assume it didn't play very well. 'Cause from what I see, the graphics were okay at least.

Marcuz · 12 August 2006, 10:51

any Kick Off episode. the last episodes are even uglier: players are too big for the size of the screen, that gives me the impression of claustrophobia and less understanding of the actions and schemes, i can't get well what is happening. fields look like they are waxed and polished, slick and the menus are a bright exemple of designing laziness. crappy sound too. my 2 cents of course

Marcuz · 12 August 2006, 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_a500

How about "Heart of the Dragon".

The advertisements showed faked screens and bragged about being a HAM game with amazing graphics. In real life it was an ugly unplayable piece of shit.

oh yeah that too.
this makes me wonder on a particular problem. about heart of China, not of the dragon

i figure that when you start designing a game or, i think any kind of interactions, you have to, at an early point, decide where to seth the path in an array of possibilities between two extreemes:

on one side 1) the user proceeded in a path of trial and errors that excludes any reasonative or intuitive thinking, and he pass any single step by chance when he stumble in the right move; this choice gives you the longest time to reach the end, expecially if you make the correct moves seemingly or effectively unreasonable and if the consecution of events seems to take a pee on causes and effects concatenation. also if you make the solution misleading, you can make the user to follow a path that sooner or later will have a dead end, even if it is no better or worse than the correct one.

on the other side 2) the story is so reasonable that the user has no chance for lateral thinking, he is practically forced to follow the mechanical structure of the play, where every choice is consequent to the last, with no possibility of wrong ones because these simply don't make you advance, but differently from the other path, here logic is apparent and it invades your enjoyment of the interaction.

of course both makes a frustrating experience; i would say that the Heart of China game is in the former of the two path, prolly Dragon's Lair too. many textual adventures were like that too.

Graham Humphrey · 12 August 2006, 11:34

Desert Racing of BarDos from APC&TCP would be my vote. The most cynical cash-in I've ever seen, and one of the worst games I've ever seen. For £20! What a total rip-off - it doesn't even seem like it's fully finished. It's the racing game equivalent of Kick Off 96.

paranoid · 12 August 2006, 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_a500

How about "Heart of the Dragon".

Wow, I got suckered in by that one too.. Bought it at a local swap meet and I think played it maybe twice. Didn't exactly affirm my ideas about buying games, feeling ripped off and like I should have bought blanks with the money instead.

DDNI · 12 August 2006, 16:11

Amiga Outrun - nuff said!!

Xeon · 13 August 2006, 17:57

Here's another one to add to the list. Dont know how I forgot about it, but it was one of the very last games I bought, why I cant remember (must have been drunk)

Pit-Fighter

Just two words: Complete garbage !

Like a fool I bought it on looking at the cover (now thats a bad thing to do) like I said I was not all there.

StarEye · 14 August 2006, 21:12

I don't know how I did it, but I actually managed to like the game back in the days. Now, I have no idea why.

Legerdemain · 16 August 2006, 15:20

Project X. For sure. I love schmups, and I've played more of them than possibly can be healthy... but what the heck where they thinking when designing this game? Is it even possible to complete the 2nd stage? And if so, how are you EVER supposed to manage the entire game? I've played this game so many times, badly wanting to one day realise the genius of it... but I can't... simply because it is too damn hard (the regular version aswell as the special edition). Besides, I still think that the stages are too long, border on repetative and bland. So, no... this is not, according to me, the masterpiece so many claims it to be.

DamienD · 16 August 2006, 15:32

I love Project X but I do agree with what you say. It's way too hard (as I've posted here http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=262727&postcount=79)

I think there is only one .adf version that has a trainer (correct me if I'm wrong) but from memory this only allows you to skip levels and doesn't give you unlimite lives or power-ups

Flashtro, if you read this thread can you make a cool trainer for this game?

Retro-Nerd · 16 August 2006, 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

I love Project X but I do agree with what you say. It's way too hard (as I've posted here http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=262727&postcount=79)

I think there is only one .adf version that has a trainer (correct me if I'm wrong) but from memory this only allows you to skip levels and doesn't give you unlimite lives or power-ups

Flashtro, if you read this thread can you make a cool trainer for this game?

The Skidrow +15 crack gives you unlimited lives.

DamienD · 16 August 2006, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

The Skidrow +15 crack gives you unlimited lives.

Hmmm, I think I tried that and had issues.

Will try again when I get the chance

Retro-Nerd · 16 August 2006, 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

Hmmm, I think I tried that and had issues.

Will try again when I get the chance

It is in Gamebase Amiga, so i assume that it works. Never played this version so far.

Crown · 16 August 2006, 17:03

ESWAT..

http://hol.abime.net/2872

Look how terrible. no gameplay and terrible gfx.

Tony Landais · 16 August 2006, 17:52

Problem with ProjectX or Shadow of the beast or all those beautiful demos is there is just one way to play them and finish them. So you rather find them too easy (means I know where to be and what to do at the right time) or impossible to achieve and pointless. I wish all those game developpers were more game designers than demo makers

Team17 was one of the worse for that and we didn't have enough Archer MacLean or Geoff Crammond around.

To be back to the topic I would say Gold of the Aztecs...
One of the worse frustrating experience with a game

Npl · 16 August 2006, 18:25

Life & Death: Has not much to do with the quality of the game, but I just muttered WTF when I tried to play it.

I just had no clue what was happening, unfortunatly my copy arrived without manual which only added to the confusion

Vixen: Ugly, choppy, boring, shit.

11 August 2006, 19:26	#1
Xeon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York, USA Posts: 32	Games that make you say "What were they thinking ?" Ok, I think this should be fun. You know that game you bought or tried out (Amiga only) and you boot it up only to wonder how the hell this was even released ? thats what this thread is about. I'll start off with: Kickoff 96 This game has a feel and look of a mid eighties game, they must have been crazy to think it would sell. I seen bad reviews on this game but I had to see for myself and they were so correct !

12 August 2006, 01:32	#4
Peanutuk Registered User Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The North, UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,082	I remember playing that quite a lot in the day. I knew it was rubbish then but for some reason it had something. The music was pretty good. My nomination is Under Pressure. What were they thinking? It seems like a tribute to Psygnosis, which is all well a good if it were a PD release, but asking full-price for it was a joke. Literally. Last edited by Peanutuk; 12 August 2006 at 01:43.

16 August 2006, 17:52	#19
Tony Landais Zone Friend Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: uk Posts: 426	Problem with ProjectX or Shadow of the beast or all those beautiful demos is there is just one way to play them and finish them. So you rather find them too easy (means I know where to be and what to do at the right time) or impossible to achieve and pointless. I wish all those game developpers were more game designers than demo makers Team17 was one of the worse for that and we didn't have enough Archer MacLean or Geoff Crammond around. To be back to the topic I would say Gold of the Aztecs... One of the worse frustrating experience with a game Last edited by Tony Landais; 16 August 2006 at 18:28.

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12 August 2006, 01:09	#2
mr_a500 Amiga-based Cyborg Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 808	How about "Heart of the Dragon". The advertisements showed faked screens and bragged about being a HAM game with amazing graphics. In real life it was an ugly unplayable piece of shit.

12 August 2006, 01:24	#3
StarEye Zone Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Norway Age: 46 Posts: 987	Cisco Heat. When you jump, the car sounds like a garbage can when it lands. Not to mention the horribly confusing graphics. On another note, I got hold of an original Cisco Heat today.

12 August 2006, 10:10	#5
StarEye Zone Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Norway Age: 46 Posts: 987	I assume it didn't play very well. 'Cause from what I see, the graphics were okay at least.

12 August 2006, 10:51	#6
Marcuz Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: . Age: 48 Posts: 5,562	any Kick Off episode. the last episodes are even uglier: players are too big for the size of the screen, that gives me the impression of claustrophobia and less understanding of the actions and schemes, i can't get well what is happening. fields look like they are waxed and polished, slick and the menus are a bright exemple of designing laziness. crappy sound too. my 2 cents of course

12 August 2006, 11:34	#8
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Desert Racing of BarDos from APC&TCP would be my vote. The most cynical cash-in I've ever seen, and one of the worst games I've ever seen. For £20! What a total rip-off - it doesn't even seem like it's fully finished. It's the racing game equivalent of Kick Off 96.

12 August 2006, 16:11	#10
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	Amiga Outrun - nuff said!!

13 August 2006, 17:57	#11
Xeon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York, USA Posts: 32	Here's another one to add to the list. Dont know how I forgot about it, but it was one of the very last games I bought, why I cant remember (must have been drunk) Pit-Fighter Just two words: Complete garbage ! Like a fool I bought it on looking at the cover (now thats a bad thing to do) like I said I was not all there.

14 August 2006, 21:12	#12
StarEye Zone Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Norway Age: 46 Posts: 987	I don't know how I did it, but I actually managed to like the game back in the days. Now, I have no idea why.

16 August 2006, 15:20	#13
Legerdemain Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Skåne / Sweden Posts: 259	Project X. For sure. I love schmups, and I've played more of them than possibly can be healthy... but what the heck where they thinking when designing this game? Is it even possible to complete the 2nd stage? And if so, how are you EVER supposed to manage the entire game? I've played this game so many times, badly wanting to one day realise the genius of it... but I can't... simply because it is too damn hard (the regular version aswell as the special edition). Besides, I still think that the stages are too long, border on repetative and bland. So, no... this is not, according to me, the masterpiece so many claims it to be.

16 August 2006, 15:32	#14
DamienD Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London / Sydney Age: 47 Posts: 20,420	I love Project X but I do agree with what you say. It's way too hard (as I've posted here http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=262727&postcount=79) I think there is only one .adf version that has a trainer (correct me if I'm wrong) but from memory this only allows you to skip levels and doesn't give you unlimite lives or power-ups Flashtro, if you read this thread can you make a cool trainer for this game?

16 August 2006, 17:03	#18
Crown Demoscener Join Date: May 2006 Location: FR Age: 54 Posts: 459	ESWAT.. http://hol.abime.net/2872 Look how terrible. no gameplay and terrible gfx.

16 August 2006, 18:25	#20
Npl Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Vienna / Austria Age: 44 Posts: 257	Life & Death: Has not much to do with the quality of the game, but I just muttered WTF when I tried to play it. I just had no clue what was happening, unfortunatly my copy arrived without manual which only added to the confusion Vixen: Ugly, choppy, boring, shit.

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