EGM's "10 Most Overrated Games List" Talkback

[Martianinvader]

I just got my EGM....they're firing up a lot of controversy with this list: the 10 most overrated games ever. See what you think (wow, Rare really got blasted, they're half the list).

10) Ico
9) Shenmue
8) Banjo-Kazooie
7) Final Fantasy 9
6) NiGHTS
5) Perfect Dark
4) Donkey Kong 64
3) Killer Instinct
2) Donkey Kong Country
1) Battle Arena Toshinden

The biggest outrage to me is the inclusion of FF9 as worst PS1 FF, because not only is it there, it's there over FF8!
"Nostalgia is a tricky thing. FFIX brought many traditional series elements, but it also introduced a weak plot and lame characters." 9's plot is lamer than 8's is? Zidane is lamer than Squall???? EXCUSE ME?? Do these stupid idiots actually prefer whiny blond losers in weird clothes over creations with actual imagination in them? To me, when it says "fantasy," that doesn't mean "dress a bunch of realistic-looking people up in cheesy costumes and give them bad voices." Save that tripe for B-movies and actually USE the CGI equipment, Square. I've been disappointed with the turn that 8 made the FF series go. We need more 9's, not more 8's.

[MJC]

Ico? Nights? Shenmue? :mad:

[Zach]

Of course Zidane is lamer than Squall! I agree wiht this list but I think Donkey Knog 64 should be exchanged with Halo 2(SCREAM AT ME ALL YOU WANT!!!!!!!!!! HALO 2 DOESN'T DESERVE GAME OF THE YEAR 2004!!!! IT WAS MEDIOCRE AT BEST!!! 7 OUT OF 10 OR SO!!!! HATE ME!!!)

[JohnCrichton]

You know, if I had a subscription to EGM, I'd totally cancel it.

How DARE they say Shenmue's overrrated those no good sonsvu--:mad: :mad: :mad:

The game barely sold as it is and it was fantastic.

I will destroy them... destory them ALL!!! >_<

[Eddy]

Well, I will agree that Donkey Kong 64 was overrated. DK64 was a bit of let-down and mediocre at best.

[Demonic Raven]

Donkey Kong Country? Are they insane?

Why the hell isn't FF7 on there?

[chris3116]

Where's Halo?

Sorry but EGM has no credibility.

[Zach]

Donkey Kong Country? Are they insane?

Why the hell isn't FF7 on there?
Because FF7 is one of the greatest games ever to grace our planet...

[Captain Harlock]

I guess I'll break the list down with my own comments.

10)Ico

- I pretty much agree with this. I played Ico and beat it, and wasn't all that impressed by it. I know severeal people go wild about this game, but it just didn't appeal to me. It looked beautiful and all, but the gameplay was just too boring.

9)Shenmue

- Agree yet again. It was fun for a little bit, but it's repetitive nature and jerky battle system aren't exactly positives. The voice acting was average at best.

8)Banjo-Kazooie

- My first disagreement on the list. I thought Banjo Kazooie was a great adventure game. Banjo and Kazooie had their own distinct controls which worked in the game world. Keeping it limited to two characters was a good thing, as DK64 would show that too many characters is a bad thing.

7)Final Fantasy 9

- Another disagreement. I felt that Final Fantasy 9 was the best Final Fantasy for the Playstation. I loved the system where you learned abilities and support abilities through equipment. The game delivered in what it promised, 'a throwback to the old Final Fantasy', instead of the more realistic versions we've been getting.

6)NIGHTS

- It was the Saturn's best game, and not a bad one at that. I think everyone rates it so highly because of that fact.

5)Perfect Dark

- It failed to capture the magic of Goldeneye's single player experiance, but had a decent multiplayer. However, too buggy.

4)Donkey Kong 64

- I perfectly ageee with this one. DK64 was probably the worst adventure game to be on the N64. It's only redeeming feature was the including of the expansion pack. Too many characters and too many collectables.

3)Killer Instinct

- Around the time of the SNES, SFII and Mortal Kombat were dominating the fighting market. KI brought out upon a different and unique experiance with great visuals. I don't see how it's overrated when most people will tell you how great Street Fighter II is.

2) Donkey Kong Country

- Great, great, great music. The gameplay was also top notch. I found myself addicted to DKC and its sequels.

1)Battle Arena Toshinden

- I thought a game had to be rated before you could overrate it. I don't know anyone who thinks highly of BAT.

Perhaps the funniest and most hypocritical thing about this list is how EGM rated the games.

Ico: 8.67 / 10
Shenmue: 8.66 / 10
Banjo-Kazooie: 9.37 / 10
Final Fantasy 9: 9.6 / 10
NIGHTS: 8 / 10
Perfect Dark: 9.83 / 10
Donkey Kong 64: 8.37 / 10
Killer Instinct: 7.75 / 10
Donkey Kong Country: 9.25 / 10
Battle Arena Toshinden (Couldn't find the PS1 score, but the Saturn port): 5.25 / 10

If it's overrated, then I guess we can blame EGM's inflated scores of them then. Or maybe they just don't know what they're talking about. Silly EGM...

[William C. Maune]

I'll add Perfect Dark to the "What the?" list. I thought it was a worthy "sequel" to Goldeneye and the best console FPS available at the time.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Shenmue, Banjo-Kazooie, FFIX, Donkey Kong Country? Overrated?:mad:

EGM wouldn't know a good game if it came up and bitten them in ass. That is complete and utter bull.

Seriously, Donkey Kong Country is one of the greatest games ever, including it on a list like this is stupid beyond belief. All of these games were brilliant.

[Artimus Gigan]

These "lists" that they do are just stupid to begin with. Why the hell do you always need to classify somthing as somthing?

[NachoHat]

10) Ico

Only played it for about an hour, so I guess I can't really say anything about it.

9) Shenmue

Not really. It was hyped to revolutionize gaming, but when it came out, it received around 8's from most publications.

8) Banjo-Kazooie

Yeah, I'd agree. I think most of Rare's games are pretty overrated. It's one of their better ones, though.

7) Final Fantasy 9

Nope. It's pretty much the forgotten PS1 Final Fantasy, so why would it be overrated? I'd give FF8 this spot.

6) NiGHTS

Maybe. It's really good but I dunno if it's as good as a lot of people say it is.

5) Perfect Dark

I think this is the same case as Shenmue; it's not really overrated, it just didn't live up to it's massive hype.

4) Donkey Kong 64

No, because 90% of people didn't like this game in the first place.

3) Killer Instinct

At the time it came out? Definitely. Now? No. It's actually a pretty solid fighter but I don't think anybody really thinks about it anymore.

2) Donkey Kong Country

I suppose. It's a good platformer but it pales in comparison to some of the more creative ones of the day. I'd take Super Mario World, Sonic 2, and Yoshi's Island over this.

1) Battle Arena Toshinden

See KI.

I don't think it's really too bad of a list, but you really can't ever win with these lists. Making one requires you to name games people actually like and (as shown in this very thread) people are waaaaay too oversensitive about the games they like, so I'm sure EGM's gonna see a ton of undeserved hate mail.

[Swonker]

Yeah, I disagree a lot with this list. Not only did they put a lot of great games on the list, they neglected to add Halo 2, which, IMHO, is alot more deserving of being on it.

[Nik Jam]

BK and DK64 fans are rare (no pun intended) so I don't see how they are overrated.

[Cactus Gunman]

DK64 was overrated? I thought the game drove anyone who played it to the brink of insanity over the amount of crap you had to collect for each character.

[Behonkiss]

I fail to see how DK64 is overrated. It was bashed pretty heavily upon release.

[Dark Fact]

This thread is turning into asinine fanboy ranting. C'mon people. Let's put some more reasonable responses for our answers lest ye want a scolding from the mods? :o

[Lord Dalek]

You gotta wonder...

Where's MGS2?

[Master Moron]

Seriously, Donkey Kong Country is one of the greatest games ever, including it on a list like this is stupid beyond belief. All of these games were brilliant.

Donkey Kong Country sucked. There, I said it. Yes, it looked great and had nice music, but the game was hollow. It was very simplistic. As I seem to recall there were no secret levels. You could find secret areas in certain levels that gave it a little bit of replay value, but those really weren't hard to find and yielded limited rewards. The gameplay was rather repetitive as it seemed that you often explored levels that looked almost exactly the same as previous levels, and the bosses themselves often repeated. Let's face it, if this game didn't have great graphics and sound it wouldn't get a second look. There are much better 2-d platformers than this game. And did I mention the ending sucked? I can't be the only one who went all the way through this game and said "Whoa, that sucked."

Now, I haven't played the game in years so I might have gotten a few things wrong, but I remember I loved the game when I first played it because of the graphics and sound but after beating it I found myself completely dissappointed in the experience.

Anyway, another game that needs to be added to the list, Earthbound. That was one of the worst rpgs I've ever played yet I hear it praised all the time. Of course, that list seems to be lacking 16 bit and older games in general, actually I'd add the original 8-bit Metroid game to that list. There's a lot of 8-bit games that are still fun after all these years, but Metroid isn't one of them.

[Killtacular]

That list is pretty accurate, except replace Toshinden with Goldeneye. Why is Toshinden even there? Since when did anyone rate that game highly? Ever?

[Curt]

Better yet, has anyone even ever heard of that game to begin with?

[MJC]

You gotta wonder...

Where's MGS2?

MGS2 wasn't overrated. I mean, sure, the story got a little...weird near the end, but the gameplay was fantastic.

[Kasumi]

Of course Zidane is lamer than Squall! I agree wiht this list but I think Donkey Knog 64 should be exchanged with Halo 2(SCREAM AT ME ALL YOU WANT!!!!!!!!!! HALO 2 DOESN'T DESERVE GAME OF THE YEAR 2004!!!! IT WAS MEDIOCRE AT BEST!!! 7 OUT OF 10 OR SO!!!! HATE ME!!!)
I did have a witty response for this but then I saw that you're one of those fanboys who thinks that Final Fantasy VII is one of the greatest games ever.

I do wonder why FFIX is on that list. Wherever I go, it's as bashed as FFVIII. Kind of sad. I've played FFVII and was very disappointed when playing it. It's wasn't great. It was good. Not great. FFVI should have gotten all the attention but no. I enjoyed FFIX greatly. I liked all the characters unlike in FFVII when Tifa, Yuffie, and Disc 2!Cloud were my saving graces. And you have to admit. FFIX (and possibly FFVIII's) magic system was much better than FFVII's.

Oh well. To each their own opinion until they start thinking it's fact.

[SuperLuigiBros]

I fail to see how DK64 is overrated. It was bashed pretty heavily upon release.
I see it as overrated because it won N64 Game of the Year in a year with Super Smash Bros, Jet Force Gemini, Resident Evil 2, Harvest Moon 64, Duke Nukem Zero Hour, the original Mario Party, and Rayman 2. For shame. Hell, I'd probably put Pokemon Snap higher on the list than DK64.

[Spike Mcdougal]

You know, if I had a subscription to EGM, I'd totally cancel it.

How DARE they say Shenmue's overrrated those no good sonsvu--:mad: :mad: :mad:

The game barely sold as it is and it was fantastic.

I will destroy them... destory them ALL!!! >_<
But it is:D

[Juu-kuchi]

Personal commentary on certain games. (Ironically from 10 to 7)

10. Ico - I'm sorry to say it but I have to agree that Ico IS overrated. I bought the game for 7 dollars and found myself intrigued at how the game played and how the story was brought out. But in the end, it really is hard for me to play again or even recommend because it's so short. Just when things get good, it just ends.

9. Shenmue - I think the contrary, Shenmue is underrated. It's too esoteric for people, and it takes a certain person to actually appreciate it on a certain level. I like it.

8. Banjo-Kazooie - I disagree. Banjo-Kazooie is not overrated, because it epitomizes what a good platform game entails and how to properly make one.

7. Final Fantasy 9 - What? Compared with the angsty Squall and Cloud's games? I don't think so. It's not overrated because it's not as saturated as 7, 8 or 10. Do you see FF9 characters in Kingdom Hearts or are remembered elsewhere? No. If anything it's either 7 or 8 that should be here instead of 9.

[Pepperidge]

NiGHTS? NiGHTS into dreams? We are now enemies, EGM.

[Lucky Bob]

Donkey Kong Country? Why is this in every overrated game list? Unlike the reviewers, I've actually played this game in the past four months. It's not just about the graphics. There are little quirks here and there that keep the gameplay from becoming totally run-and-jump.

Granted, compared to its sequels, it's a bit outshined. But it was pretty good for its time. There are other more deserving games of the period. Like...8-Bit DDR. (I read on the internets that it existed, so you know it's true.)

[Eddy]

Granted, compared to its sequels, it's a bit outshined. But it was pretty good for its time. There are other more deserving games of the period. Like...8-Bit DDR. (I read on the internets that it existed, so you know it's true.)
Not neccesarily. Donkey Kong Country 2 was better than the first, but I think the original Donkey Kong Country was better than DKC3 and much better than DK64.

[Keiichi]

Why is Toshinden even there? Since when did anyone rate that game highly? Ever?
The first one was popular back when the PSX first appeared since it was one of the first "3D" fighters. I remember the game mags giving it high marks.

[Fresh V]

10) Ico
Never heard of it
9) Shenmue
Never heard of it.
8) Banjo-Kazooie
Now this struck me by surprise. BK was a great game, IMO, and I don't think it was overrated. It's one of the most unique games I've played, and it's so fun all the way through (I loved the music, BTW). I am shocked this game is in EGM's Most Overrated Games List.

7) Final Fantasy 9
Never played it before.
6) NiGHTS
Never heard of it.
5) Perfect Dark
I've played this a few times on N64. I think it's pretty cool, and I brother and friends loved it. I think this was a decent game and not at all overrated.

4) Donkey Kong 64
Yes. I agree with this one, somewhat. The game was pretty good, the music was great, but I kind of agree that this was a little overrated. Not the best DK game I've played.
3) Killer Instinct
It looks like I haven't heard of many games......
2) Donkey Kong Country
Woah. This takes me by surprise as much as BK did. I actually have this game on SNES, and I think it's the best DK game ever. It is always entertaining, the music is great, and there are many great levels. Yeah. I don't think DKC is overrated.
1) Battle Arena Toshinden
I've never heard of it.... but it sounds stupid.....

[Dark Fact]

I do wonder why FFIX is on that list. Wherever I go, it's as bashed as FFVIII. Kind of sad. I've played FFVII and was very disappointed when playing it. It's wasn't great. It was good. Not great. FFVI should have gotten all the attention but no. I enjoyed FFIX greatly. I liked all the characters unlike in FFVII when Tifa, Yuffie, and Disc 2!Cloud were my saving graces. And you have to admit. FFIX (and possibly FFVIII's) magic system was much better than FFVII's.

Finally! Someone out there giving FFVI the respect it deserves. FFVI is my favorite of all the Final Fantasy games because it has memorable characters that I can actually feel for. This should have been the game that should have skyrocketed the Final Fantasy franchise.

[Keiichi]

I've never heard of it.... but it sounds stupid.....
BAT was weapon based fighting game and one of the first 3D based fighting games. For its time its graphics were fantastic and it was Sony's answer to Virtual Fighter on the Saturn. Even though it had the typcial Ryu, Ken clones that were real popular back then I thought the game was really fun and the best weapons based fighter out til Soul Blade appeared. It had three sequals but none ever lived up the first one.

[Fresh V]

BAT was weapon based fighting game and one of the first 3D based fighting games. For its time its graphics were fantastic and it was Sony's answer to Virtual Fighter on the Saturn. Even though it had the typcial Ryu, Ken clones that were real popular back then I thought the game was really fun and the best weapons based fighter out til Soul Blade appeared. It had three sequals but none ever lived up the first one.
Oh, ok.

So, in my opinion, this list by EGM is a piece of cRap.

[Railith]

. I've been disappointed with the turn that 8 made the FF series go. We need more 9's, not more 8's.
I agree 100%, FF9 is my favorite Final Fantasy and will always be my favorite.

[Chosen Raven]

Well, I haven't played all the games on the list, but of the ones I have played, I definitely believe EGM to be wrong about them.

Ico was a wonderful game. It had amazing graphics, beautiful music, and inventively fun gameplay. Definitely one of my all-time favorite games.

Shenmue is another one of my all-time favorites. Sure, it had absolutely horrible voice acting, but everything else about the game was really, really good.

FF9 is one of the best of the Final Fantasy series(definitely better than 7 and 10....though I probably like FF6 the best). It had a fun storyline, and some of the best characters ever to grace the series. It remains the only game I can think of where I actually liked learning abilities from weapons and items.

DKC is one that I have mixed feelings over. Me and a friend I used to have played like mad men back when it first came out. We loved it to death. I haven't played it since then, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn't like it that much if I played it now.

Games I feel were more deserving to be on the list: FF7, FFX, the GTA series.

[Alaskanbullworm]

Hmmm, quite a bit of Rare games on that list. Well, I haven't played many of those games, but I do agree with DK64 and Perfect Dark being overrated. But Banjo-Kazooie? That was definately not overrated, it was fun through and through. There are plently of games that are more overrated than these, but to each his own.

[Artimus Gigan]

I agree 100%, FF9 is my favorite Final Fantasy and will always be my favorite.Then you people should like FFXII

Holy crap it's like 9 on steroids...it's got lightning fast battles...fantasy setting, and regular proportioned characters

[Invader_Spooch]

Then you people should like FFXII

Holy crap it's like 9 on steroids...it's got lightning fast battles...fantasy setting, and regular proportioned characters
Which seals my "I'm going to hate it". Curse it (and FFTA) for taking Ivalice, drudging up it's corpse, and defiling it. Why can't they just let it RIP...

Oh, and for stealing Vagrant Story's battle system (from what I've heard).

Can we not write a decent story anymore, or are we doomed to anime-derivative crap?

[Martianinvader]

Then you people should like FFXII

Holy crap it's like 9 on steroids...it's got lightning fast battles...fantasy setting, and regular proportioned charactersAnd it will also be by the guys behind FF Tactics and Vagrant Story. It has my hope for restoring my faith in the franchise, if temporarily.

[Artimus Gigan]

Which seals my "I'm going to hate it". Curse it (and FFTA) for taking Ivalice, drudging up it's corpse, and defiling it. Why can't they just let it RIP...

Oh, and for stealing Vagrant Story's battle system (from what I've heard).

Can we not write a decent story anymore, or are we doomed to anime-derivative crap?How can they steal from VS if they have people who worked on it, also be working on XII?(Not to mention it's the same company, so it's incorporated not stolen). Also Ivalice from FFT was really nothing exploration-wise, I mean it's not like it's the same Ivalice from tactics anyways, it's name only.None of the locations in FFTA are in XII to begin with...you may get a reference here or there, but that's expected.

Though I can tell you one thing, while it has the Lizards and Rabbit species from tactics, those are DEFINETLY DEFINETLY not the same moogles....they look like Stich after getting thrown into a blender with Invader Zim...and coming out all creepy, they almost seem to fit in more with Nightmare Before Christmas...

[Speedy Boris]

I haven't played Ico, Nights, Final Fantasy 9, Perfect Dark, or Shenmue, but I have played the rest. And of those...

Toshinden. OK, this game is dated. It was hailed as a good launch title, but that was about it. It never made the jump to the next console generation. So I don't see how EGM thinks it's an overrated title if few people have heard of it, and the few that do either hate it or find it mediocre. I'm in the mediocre category. Its fighting engine is dated and sluggish in the age of excellent fighters like Soul Calibur II and DOA Ultimate.

Donkey Kong 64. One of the worst 3D platformers on N64. Blurry graphics, slowdown galore, and unfun item collecting. But was this ever hyped as a great game? I mean, aside from Nintendo Power? I never really heard any hype about it, besides DK making the jump from 2D to 3D. Seems like more buzz was around Banjo Kazooie.

Donkey Kong Country. Disagreed. This game is still fun, it has a great presentation, and some of the later stages still pose a challenge for timing the jumps just right. I still think DKC2 is the best game, though.

Killer Instinct. Button-masher. Not as much strategy for the fighting engine compared to Street Fighter II. Even the Mortal Kombat series has more strategy and more fast-paced gameplay. It's not a horrible game, and is still somewhat fun to play, but it's baffling why it was so popular in the mid '90s. Must've been the blood and Nintendo mixture.

Banjo-Kazooie. Not a fan. Better than DK64, but once again, the style of gameplay didn't appeal to me. It was like Mario 64 with the fun removed. So I guess I agree with that being on the list.

[guinaevere]

But... April Fool's anyone?

[Punisher]

I'll just point out that I might be the only one on this forum who thinks DK64 is NOT overrated and I loved playing every minute of it, down to the wacky final boss battle against K. Rool. Everything about the game was top notch, the levels were incredibly varied i.e. Fungi Forest and Cyrstal Caves. I've never had a problem with a slowdown, and playing with five characters made the game better, not worse. Why do people hate this? Is it because it's good? Or is it because it's too different from the other DK games, the same reason for people hating Star Fox Adventures? The multi-player was also great, me and my friends always had a blast shooting each other with pineapples and feathers. This game is underrated if anything, because there are more people who hate it then love it.

I actually have a file on DK64 right now that I haven't touched in about two weeks, but thankfully this thread reminded me that I need to try it again and get out of Fungi Forest.

[Jon Hanson]

The point of the list was too get people talking, and it looks like it has.

[Killtacular]

But... April Fool's anyone?
That'd be a cruel joke, seeing as the list is 90% correct. :)

[Nin-Nin69]

This is completly fake. People don't hate Nights, Shenume (besides the impatentent gamers), Killer Instinct, or ICO. BAT was thrown even on the Game Spy top 25 most overated last year. What is everyone's beef with that game? No real combo systems? Well then if you probally played the game rather than mash the L1 and R1 buttons, you would've found some simple combos. Sure Tekken came out the same time as BAT, but people didn't discover the greatness of Tekken sometime after BAT2 was released.

That'd be a cruel joke, seeing as the list is 90% correct. :)
You should've finished that Mario Playset Flash.;)

[guinaevere]

That'd be a cruel joke, seeing as the list is 90% correct. :) Sugar, I'm going to go on the record and state that the list is unquestionably EGMs April Fool's Joke.

The fact that you agree with 90% of it says a leetle sumpin about j00. :D

[Dark Fact]

...except that April Fool's isn't for another week.

[guinaevere]

Yes, but in periodicals Dark Fact, you'll find that the rags dont come out ONLY on one specific day.

They come out ahead of the actual date in question. Go to the book store, take a look at the comics or the mags. The issues on the stands are generally one to two months ahead of the actual date. So, go to the store, pick up this particular iss of EGM, and you'll note that it is the April edition.

[Captain Harlock]

I'm pretty sure that EGM's April Fools Joke was the Wind Waker remake with realistic graphics. I don't know if they've ever done more than one joke per April issue.

[Martianinvader]

This is the MAY issue, Gwen. EGM always does their joke in the April issue. And that was the Zelda WW redo thing.

[GagaMan]

Surely shouldn't FF7 been in there? That, and Halo, if you ask me. There good games, but come on...

And I didn't know anyone actually liked Battle Arena...:shrug:

[Wolfie~Giri]

I just got my EGM....they're firing up a lot of controversy with this list: the 10 most overrated games ever. See what you think (wow, Rare really got blasted, they're half the list).

10) Ico
9) Shenmue
8) Banjo-Kazooie
7) Final Fantasy 9
6) NiGHTS
5) Perfect Dark
4) Donkey Kong 64
3) Killer Instinct
2) Donkey Kong Country
1) Battle Arena Toshinden


Donkey Kong is a classic(but Dk2 is much better)..replace that with MGS 2 Sons of Liberty.
Perfect Dark disserves no place in this spot. Banjo-Kazooie was cheap not overrated;cheap meaning all that hard work for hardly anything..

EGM there's nomore GMR left and your all i got..don't screw this up..

[Dark Fact]

They come out ahead of the actual date in question. Go to the book store, take a look at the comics or the mags. The issues on the stands are generally one to two months ahead of the actual date. So, go to the store, pick up this particular iss of EGM, and you'll note that it is the April edition.

This completely reminds me of the infamous "Valkyrie Wylde" incident a couple years back.

And April Fool's isn't April Fool's unless the pranks fall on April 1st. Any other day just defeats the purpose.

[Dark Fact]

I do agree with them about the Killer Instinct combo system. That system was absolute murder and I found myself at the receiving end of my friends Ultra combos over and over.

The best I could muster in that game was a TRIPLE. :sad:

[Mynd Hed]

April Fools' joke or no, I've just got to put in my two cents on some of them:

Shenmue:
Agree, agree, agree. Opinion is sharply divided on this one, but the fact that anyone rates it as any good at all is more than it deserves and ranks it as overrated.

Banjo-Kazooie:
Agree. It had some decent play mechanics, but the visuals were pretty typical of the time, the characters were generic, and the collect-everything gameplay was a lazy way of forcing the player to explore. In a good platformer, exploration is its own reward and the player does it for the fun of it, not because they need fifteen Bizarro Tokens to get to the next stage.

Final Fantasy 9
Disagree. Not that the game doesn't have its problems, but it's usually remembered fairly-- as a decent entry into the franchise, but hardly the best.

Perfect Dark
I can sort of see the rationale behind this one. It's remembered as one of the better console FPSs, but for all its ambition (tons and tons of weapons, co-op story mode, and multiplayer bots) it was too held back by the already-aging technology of the N64 to be more than mediocre.

Donkey Kong 64
Now, I've never played this one, but I've also never heard anyone who DID play it with a single good thing to say about it, so I don't understand how it could possibly be overrated.

Killer Instinct
Disagree. When people list the great 2D fighters of all time, KI is never on their lips. Folks tend to remember it as what it was-- a half-decent fighter with some very pretty graphics for its time.

Donkey Kong Country
I love this game, but I gotta say I agree. Strip away the pretty graphics, and you get a well-made and enjoyable but thoroughly typical sidescroller.

Battle Arena Toshinden
Disagree. Like KI, this one tends to be rated pretty fairly. As a PS1 launch title, it held its own against other fledgling 3D fighting franchises. Sure, it got eclipsed by Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and Soul Calibur, but you don't hear anybody claiming that it didn't, either.

[guinaevere]

This is the MAY issue, Gwen. EGM always does their joke in the April issue. And that was the Zelda WW redo thing. Well, as I went on record as saying I believe it to be an April Fools joke, I go on record as being wrong. Though I still believe it to be a prank of sorts.

why? Because of the following:
And I didn't know anyone actually liked Battle Arena...:shrug: Yeah. I'm one of the only 5 people in this country that's willing to say that I love Toshinden. Five is over-rated? Sumpin just doesn't add up about this list.

[Eddy]

Why do people hate this [Donkey Kong 64]? Is it because it's good?No, if it were good I wouldn't hate it. Donkey Kong 64 was a huge dissapointment. There were too many characters and you needed to get certain items with certain characters, you had to collect way too many items (golden bananas, banana tokens, Nintendo tokens, Rareware tokens, blueprints, etc.).

DK64 was just... bad.

[Crow]

This is the fourth page so people will probably start to let this thread drop but help me out on a few things please fellas:

EGM is America's videogame community's Time Magazine, right? Its Wall Street Journal? It's what IGN/Gamespot is to the 'internet-savvy' global videogame community - the largest print resource for news and analysis and by default the one with the most clout, right?

Secondly, this April Fool's thingo. I realise there's a planned and executed hoax/ruse/joke published and it's part of the fun. Is the admission that the article is fake hidden in the magazine somewhere? Or is it made loud and clear in the next issue?

From what I understand, the joke for this year was an un-cel shaded Wind Waker. Does EGM now do more than one April Fool's hoax for its readers?

Don't get me wrong, I know what April Fool's Day is but I think I'm misunderstanding the way EGM/IGN/Gamespot/a tiny insignificant newsgroup or geocities page implement their April Fool's Day pranks. I think it's great but when a single post on one of the messageboards at a site like gamefaqs or something is meant to be an April prank and is replicated on dozens of websites and it's the middle of March it's just plain weird.

[RAINMAN]

What? No war game? No sports games? No game base off movies/TV/comics/ etc and most of all no GTA game? Why I`m not suprise? Doneky kong country 3 should replace DCK on the list. Neither of the main char who star in the first one was no where to be find.

[Lucky Bob]

Thing is, DKC has already been on one "overrated" list. Gamespy's. (Too lazy to look for the link.) So, I have a feeling that this article is the real chalupa.

[guerillacropoli]

Couldn't EGM just have a Rare bias?

It looks like Killer Instict, both Donkey Kong's, and Perfect Dark are all Rare games. Four out of ten games from the company that brought us Goldeneye. That seems like a shame. And isn't Banjo Kazooie Rare as well?

Plus, they don't have by far the most overrated videogame ever:

Myst.

[guinaevere]

Secondly, this April Fool's thingo. I realise there's a planned and executed hoax/ruse/joke published and it's part of the fun. Is the admission that the article is fake hidden in the magazine somewhere? Or is it made loud and clear in the next issue?The facts would lean towards this not being an April Fool's joke. Though I still can't believe the list. And while it's been a while since I've read an EGM April Fools prank (the last one being that Joe Lieberman was going to be in a Sims expansion) they're not noted or revealed elsewhere in the issue. They're written seriously.

[RAINMAN]

All EGM is trying to do is make themselves look cool. Insted they look like fools. The ps1& saturn did not come out until 95. DKC was made to revile the DK seriesit had nothing to do whit mkaing a game trying to match graphic whit game on a CD systems. They starting to become bigger idiots then G4.

[Crow]

The facts would lean towards this not being an April Fool's joke. Though I still can't believe the list. And while it's been a while since I've read an EGM April Fools prank (the last one being that Joe Lieberman was going to be in a Sims expansion) they're not noted or revealed elsewhere in the issue. They're written seriously.
Thanks guinavere, I do believe without any doubt it's for real, I was just unclear with the april fool's thing that magazines/sites do these days. It used to be good and fun but now it's strange and confusing. I mean, reports of a SC3 being a PS2 only game don't sound like a prank because it sounds too 'boringly true'.

Conker's Bad Fur Day.

What did they rate this?

What was the general reaction to this game?

I find it strange that those particular Rare games are on there but the biggest contender Rare has going for them doesn't seem to be on there.

[Jave]

DK64 wasn't bad. It was just extremely tedious and frustrating. I was like... what? 6 hours (Game Clock) trying to get absolutely everything on level 1. And after that I still had 8 more levels to explore, even harder.

Sad, because this game had a nice premise but they killed with an overdose of challenges. Trust me though, this games deserves to be on that list, as almost every magazine out there gave the game a GOOD review, noone ever complained about the somtimes ridiculous tasks.

[guinaevere]

EGM is America's videogame community's Time Magazine, right? Its Wall Street Journal? It's what IGN/Gamespot is to the 'internet-savvy' global videogame community - the largest print resource for news and analysis and by default the one with the most clout, right?I might give EGM the Time analogy, but not the Wall Street Journal. To me the only game mag to ever earn such a kudo would have been Computer Gaming World. EGM/1up is pretty much a band of idiots who occasionally write something funny, but for the most part, write main-stream drivel.

Most over-rated magazine? Electronic Gaming Monthly

[Conekiller]

*looks at list* I don't see Tekken series on there *walks out*

[Zyzzybalubah]

10) Ico: Haven't played.

9) Shenmue: It's a decent title and has a very awesome story but the controls do need some work. Especially if you play Shenmue 2 on Xbox, yikes!

8) Banjo-Kazooie: Most people I know don't like this game. Lots of online praise, I agree with EGM, this one isn't that great.

7) Final Fantasy 9: Same with Banjo, most people I know dislike this one. I don't care for the designs, but I heard this one was good and much better than 8.

6) NiGHTS: Disagree big time. This game is so fun and one of the bettter done Sonic Team games. It NEEDS a new game.

5) Perfect Dark: Nah, this game is good.

4) Donkey Kong 64: From the reviews it recieved, yes I agree it's very very overrated. Yet again though, most people I know didn't like it at all.

3) Killer Instinct: Agreed, I don't get why most people like this game. Perhaps it's published by Nintendo and developed by Rare? To me this is like another crummy Midway fighter from the day.

2) Donkey Kong Country: I'll agree. I still like the games, but they're not as good as everyone praise them to be.

1) Battle Arena Toshinden: Like everyone else said, this game needs to have been talked about to even be rated. I only played some of this one and it wasn't too bad, but since no one I know ever talks about it and I haven't heard any one mention this series since the PS1/N64 era I'm going to have disagree with them.

Series I feel are overrated: Tomb Raider (VERY VERY), Final Fantasy X (and forgive me everyone, Square-Enix in general, moreso this era's games), Grand Theft Auto series, and Majora's Mask (least favorite Zelda IMO).