DS Daily: Overrated

Mario Kart DS -- Rehashed tracks, horrible wifi support, callous-inducing control scheme with no way to edit it. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not as amazing as it's made out to be, and not even close to being the best Mario Kart, as some have claimed.

I have four fingers, and I am pointing them at:

4. Brain Age. It's fun for a while, but after a week or two of doing the exercises, it's just monotonous, and the level of benefit tapers off. After awhile I was just doing sudoku puzzles on it - I can get Zendoku if I really want to do that, thankyouverymuch.

3. Mario Kart DS - see the first commenter. "Rehashed tracks, horrible wifi support, callous-inducing control scheme with no way to edit it. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not as amazing as it's made out to be, and not even close to being the best Mario Kart, as some have claimed." I have nothing to add that onepointfivevolt didn't already say, except that sadly the horrible wifi in MKDS just showed us that the friends code system Nintendo's saddled us with is here to stay, like a monkey with an overactive bowel disorder.

2. Metroid Prime Hunters - Lordy, lordy, what a piece of crap this was. The expectations were set WAY too high. Number one on my complaints: every. Single. Control. Scheme. Sucks. Dear Nintendo: I have big hands. I don't want to get hand cramps playing your FPS. End of discussion.

Here's the one I'll get crucified for. Last but not least...

1. New Super Mario Bros.

Seriously.

The new play mechanics (woohoo, super-big mushroom) were not enough to make up for the fact that the game is way too short and provides neither challenge nor replay value, in any way whatsoever. And, well, like I mentioned, it's *easy*. I don't know if this is part of Nintendo's whole casual gamer approach, but NSMB was so watered-down I beat it in one night. I was expecting something approaching the challenge level of SMB1, given the way it was being promoted, and I was sorely disappointed.

There was also absolutely no need to go back and 100% it by getting all the coins, finishing all the levels, et cetera. As far as I can tell, your reward for doing so was a big fat nothing. Whoop-de-doo.

I traded it back the next day.

Phil

Well that's why you finished in one night

I want to agree with pretty much everyone here when I say NSMB, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and Mario Kart. On the other hand, these three games seem to have, in my opinion, been simultaneously over hyped AND gotten the praise they deserve. Make sense? I didn't think so. :)

It comes from the fact that all three games really were innovative when it comes to how they played and what they brought to the DS.

As far as remakes go, NSMB was top notch,

MP:H found a way to bring PC like FPS deathmatching to handhelds, and

Mario Kart brought another fun installment to a long running franchise (yeah, it could be considered another remake, but for the sake of listing the three I decided to mix it up a little.)

On the other hand, NSMB was incredibly easy,

MP:H had a control scheme which seemed far to complicated for many gamers, and

Mario Kart. Drifting. 'Nuf said.

I really do think all three were incredible games, to a point. At the same time, I feel their shortcomings caused the hype to be to much... "overly" so, you might say.

I COULD go back and proofread this post, in order to double check my logic and grammar. Instead, I shall simply hit submit, log into my email, and approve the comment. Livin' on the edge! :)

*far TOO complicated.

*caused the hype to be TOO much.

Damn.

New Super Mario Brothers.

I have to agree with Phil. The game's popularity is easily explained. There hasn't been a 2D Mario scroller in years so everyone who played SMB, SMB 3 and SMW went nuts for this game. It even appealed to the new "non-gamer" crowd because they most likely figured if they were going to be playing video games, they should be playing Mario. What I can't understand however, is how the game wooed over so many critics as well. NSMB in relation to a game like SMW feels like Halo 2 is to Halo. That is to say that on the surface they both appear to be sequels, that is to say, the same game with a whole bunch of upgrades and prettier graphics. However dig a little deeper and they feel completely different! NSMB is slower, the level design is plain and uninspired and the entire endeavor reeks of cash-in. The multiplayer modes make the game an 8.0 to say the best but nothing about this game justify it as the best game on DS and some websites have rated it as such.

I have to agree with ya, Alisha. MPH was way overrated, IMO.

SG

the holiest of holy cows: metroid prime hunters, phoenix wright, and elite beat agents. i played elite beat agents in particular for about half an hour, and promptly sent it right back in to GameFly.

YES! NSMB was way too easy. Fireballs on Bowser? Come on! I didn't even realize that you could do that until World 8 because I never thought the Mario Universe would stoop so low. It also took me a day to beat it. Waaaay too easy.

I like Brain Age though. Ok, maybe it doesn't make you smarter but when you share one DS between four family members Brain Age becomes a real fun challenge course for "who is the smartest sibling". Definitely worth the $20.

Metroid was fun. Overhyped, but not a bad game once you got used to the control scheme.

I think Pokemon was overhyped. I was super pumped to play a new game, but it ended up being so similar to Red and Blue that it just got boring. Also is it just me but is leveling up twice as easy as it used to be?

I find MPH to be over-rated by major reviewers, and under-rated by gamers. It is a good game, a lot of fun with friends, and goodness the control scheme was a dream when you got used to it. Cramps every once in a while, true, but it was so precise! I'll trade a little discomfort for such precise aiming.

Mario Kart is not over hyped. End of. The Wifi was lacking, but it was internet play darn it! No longer did you have to have a friend right there to play with. It was simple and limited, but it was also Nintendo's first entry.

NSMB, perhaps. It was a great game, and a ton of fun, but it was too easy.

My most over-rated game is Star Fox Command. I did not like this game at all. The story, what story? You mean some of you actually played through this multiple times to get the different weak endings? The control was difficult at first but ended up okay. Needed to be a bit tighter though. The Wifi was absolutely terrible. Much worse than MK, and came out almost a year later. The strategy element felt taped on, and the fights were repetitive. I was very disappointed.



With all due respect,
Fox

Say Phil. Did you ever use the thumb-strap on MP:H?

Contact and Lunar Knights. Both are boring as hell, have terrible level design and are nowhere near as interesting or fun as reviewers claimed.

As for Metroid Prime: Hunters, it has an 85 on Metacritic, which I think is just about where it belongs. I thought it was amazing when I first played it, but can't bring myself to play it again owing to the tough control scheme.

Nintendogs. God that game sucked.

Pokemon games will ALWAYS be overhyped. When the formula changes so little between iterations of the series, and there's such a massive fanboy audience, it's inevitable.

NSMB - Agreed. It was good for what it was, but I'm surprised game critics haven't been more, well, critical. The new mechanics were largely gimmicky and under-utilised.

Nintendogs FTL

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
...for saying Pokemon. I didn't want to be the first to say it. Although I'll admit a bias here - I got bored with Red/Blue after about, oh, 1 minute of play. Cute as they are, it's just not the game for me.

Risking further hate mail, I'd also put Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the overrated list. Enjoyable, yes, but all that game of the year talk in the reviews were a bit much in my opinion.

I agree with the comments on MPH's cramp inducing control scheme but I picked up a thumb stylus and it's way better. Plus, I find it more accurate (or so I like to tell myself).

EBA is the only one I've been unhappy with so far. Piece of crap. Tapping the glass to a beat is not fun.

I have to agree, I was severely disappointed in New Super Mario Brothers. It was waaaay too easy and the power up schemed flawed by being able to tear through everything with the fire flower. Again, it no replay value whatsoever. I'm glad someone pointed out how flawed NSMB is, I thought I was the only one (or maybe I grew up and lost the love for the Mario Bros.)

pokemons and animal crossing

Whoever has a dis-taste for NSMB obviously hasn't played the multiplayer. That's worth 34.99 for me.

I must be a crappy gamer then, I found NSMB to be really hard.

My vote? Tetris DS. It's just not got the simple charm of the game boy original and the whole music thing is annoying - I'd rather play the NSMB minigames. Which are amazing and should have a game to themselves. So good.

Phoenix Wright, the game which is simply a "choose the right option" text adventure, would not really stand up to many novel releases as a story, and has pretty much no replay value what-so-ever... Yes, this game is severely over-rated.

At the danger of sounding like the only person on earth who liked it, I really enjoyed MPH (gasp!).

Although I should add I used the thumbstrap (which I found very comfortable and precise) and had some *epic* multiplayer matches with friends.

Good times.

Of all the games I've bought for the DS, (which is a lot), I've not really found any of them to be overrated.

But then I am, as the website implies, a DS Fanboy. ^_^

NSMB was a great game, just way too easy. Maybe if it had been twice as long and been much tougher it would have been better.

MPH had some great gameplay mechanics, but having to redo levels every time you get a new gun gets really annoying really fast, especially because the game gives absolutely no indication of what new areas have been unlocked, so it's up to the player to remember. This is in stark contrast to EVERY SINGLE PREVIOUS METROID GAME which showed a map of the entire game world and didn't require a player to remember what was in what part of what level. Also, the multiplayer was bland, not even measuring up to free first person shooters such as Urban Terror or Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, let alone other commercial FPS games.

I don't know why people are criticizing MKDS for rehashed tracks; it has just as many new tracks as Mario Kart 64, Double Dash, or Super Mario Kart, so it's not like the rehashes were just an excuse not to make new ones. Furthermore, I think it is kind of nice to be able to play some of my favorite tracks from previous games in handheld form. Sure, the game is a bit overrated, but it's still a great game, just not perfect.

I don't understand why people like Big Brain Academy. That game is just boring. I played for about five minutes, and afterwards wished I hadn't wasted that much time on it.

Nintendogs may very well be the most overrated DS game. It takes forever just to set it up the first time, and then the novelty of "roll over" quickly dissipates. Voice control is cool, but it would have been nice if there was a game in there too. Note to Nintendo: Make a remake of "Hey You, Pikachu!" That game was essentially Nintendogs except it was actually fun.

@Chris (#11): Dude, it's pretty much always been possible to kill bowser with fireballs. It worked in SMB, it worked in SMB3, and even though it didn't work in SMW it was still possible to at least get his kids with fireballs. The only Mario games where you COULDN'T defeat bosses with fireballs were the ones that didn't even have fireballs, such as SMB2, Yoshi's Island, and Mario Tennis.

Nintendogs : I thought it was going to be a dog version of a tamagothchi but boy was I to be let down.

Overrated Games:
Metroid Prime: Hunters- Amazing multiplayer, single player, not so amazing
Animal Crossing: Wild World- Was practically addicted to it when I got it, now that i've payed off my mortgage, I just can't be bothered.
New Super Mario Bros- Slower control system, and shorter game
These games are overrated yes, but awesome nonetheless.

IMO Siphon Filter Dark Mirror (PSP)>Metroid Prime Hunters
and Locoroco>NSMB
and I have a PSP, but there are not as many amazing games for it as there is on DS.

Yeah, not being a Poke-fiend myself, I find Pokemon games to be soooo hyped. But so many people are into it that I don't know if I can say that it's over-hyped.

Re: MKDS... I don't know. I don't think it should be reviewed quite as highly as it was, but it's a great game. It's a perennial favorite at game night (maybe because everyone has it!) and the controls are great, which for me is a boon -- my hands tend to cramp on a lot of extended game sessions (off topic: the Halo 3 Beta has me feeling like I have claws, not hands. owww.), but MKDS doesn't, and that's really refreshing. It may not offer much that's new, and the online may be flawed, but... it's still online! And that makes up for a lot, to me.

So I'm on the fence. I can understand how some could think it was over hyped, but I have nothing but love for the MK.

I thought of Phoenix Wright before I saw your note at the end daring someone to mention it. I don't understand all the hype. Basically I hit the X button to advance text, press everything the witnesses say, and present evidence when I spot a contradiction. THRILLING. I thought I would LOVE the game, based on all the positive comments and my love for the mystery/forensics/true crime genres. Why don't I love PW? I don't know, it kinda bores me. I don't think it's a bad game, it's sometimes funny and I've enjoyed some of the twists, but I won't breathlessly recommend it -- and I won't buy PW #2.

(I'm still on case #4, people say #5 is the omgbestest so I'll finish the game to see what they're talking about before I trade it back in.)

JBGUY2K: Yes, I did. It didn't help. My thumb just blocked a load of the screen.

aparrish: Haha, I forgot Contact. If only it'd been what the rumors before it was released said it could possibly maybe kinda be - a sequel to Earthbound (based entirely on the fact that the Prof looked like Dr. Andonuts). Amen to that one.

To anyone complaining about MPH:
I got huge hands AND a ds lite and i have no trouble at all playing it. I can play MPH for 12 hours straight and not bitch about the "controls". There's absolutely nothing wrong with the MPH control scheme i think its only flaws are:
-Single player
-WW Battle Mode is the only choice.

Other than that, anyone who complains about MPH "controls being too hard" just probably lost too many times and doesnt have a better excuse. *sniff sniff...I SMELL NOOBS!!!

that being said, back on topic.

NSMB was too freaking short and easy and multiplayer sucks. its boring. "Chase a star, woopee.." SM64DS was a lot more fun.

Animal crossing. Its the sims...for 12 yr olds.

Last but not least..

POKEMON. OMFG. POKEMON IS LIKE AHHH!!! OVERRATED.
pokemon red, blue, green, yellow, gold, silver, ruby, FUCKING MAGENTA I DONT CARE! JUST STOP!! PLEASE!

Dare not say Pheonix Wright is overrated around me.

OVER RATED games are games I bought because the reviews where so good, where i would not have bought them otherwise. My top five are:

5. Mario Kart : Meta-Critic gave it a 91 and it's at the TOP of it's list. FUN, yes. But you have to unlock half the game and only have four courses to begin with. Reviewers list individual tracks intead of courses (a set of 4 tracks) making the game sound WAY bigger then it actually was.

4. Phonix Wright : joystick is specifically responsible for making me shell out for this one. The game seems fun at first, until you start to realize it's playing itself and is way to drawn out.

3. Elite Beat agents: Fun? Depends on the song. They picked tons of songs by people that have....
NO RYTHM!!! As a guy who's sort of a great dancer I found myself thinking "This game has no rythm!" There are parts where your taping numbers where there is no actual beat in the music to match it. Or you'd be taping to the lyrics NOT the music.

2. Brain age: Nintendo's the the culprit on this one. Yes it has sold alot. Yes it's expanding the market. But it plays for a week before becoming your sudoku game.

1. Nintendogs: or as i call it, "guilt trip simulator". The micro-phone comands just DON'T work
The functionality just isn't there. My dogs would not recognize my voice comands easily enough and the critics should have called nintendo out on it's claims that the DS has capable voice recognition. It doesn't.

I have yet to hear a legitimate complaint for Elite Beat Agents, so the people who are ragging on it either have not played the game, only played shallowly into the game, or were not allowed to be happy as a child.

Metroid Prime, I have to say, I found rather dull. I can see why other people think it is fantastic, but as for me, there's not enough there to keep me interested.

Likwise, when Lost in Blue was about to be released, there was a buzz about how great a new Survival Kids game would be and to top that how perfect the DS would be. This game bored the socks of me, literally, I had to take of my socks and stuff them in my mouth to stop me screaming. I've tried to go back to, but to no avail.

Yoshi's Island DS. There's nothing that seperates that game from the previous installment, except for new, useless, extremely annoying babies.

I also feel as though I should have been paid an hourly wage while I was playing it. It felt too much like work.

Pokemon is way overrated. When will they actually add something new to the series? I wasn't a big fan of MPH, but I'm not really into those kind of games. And I have enjoyed EBA but wished there was a little more replay value.

@26 - If we were doing a PSP overrated games list, LocoRoco would be at the top!

My list:

PoR-First Castlevania game I tried...The combat just bored the hell out of me.

Ouendan/EBA-Fun, but its fans overblow the hell out of it.

The complaints against MPH are pretty bizarre to me. I thought the control scheme was the best thing in the game, and my hands are bigger than most.

Resident Evil DS:

I failed to notice that this game has the same horrible controls as all the old RE games, and thankfully tried before I bought. Saved myself some big money that day! It's as bad as every RE game before they went to proper controls (RE4 GCN I think)

Animal Crossing and Metroid Prime: Hunters.

Metroid Prime Hunters. I just could not get over the controls. Plus that fact that it has hords of people cheating online doesn't make it any better.

Overrated games? Well, how about ALL OF THEM? Just take a look at Metroid, Yoshi's Island 2, Star Fox Command, Hotel Dusk... The list is long. God knows I have'nt played many good games the last two years...

The Star Fox series continues to be overrated. I never understood why anyone ever got interested in those. The 3D in the original was ugly even for a 16-bit game, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but I couldn't find any actual gameplay to back it up. It was a failure of a tech demo.

The sequels all failed to be as good as the first one, except for the one on the N64, which unfortunately succeeded at being an N64 game. Unappealing, ugly characters in crappy gameplay? Pass. And I like rail shooters.

I love EBA! I could not put it down! And I still haven't beat it on the hardest level.

"Nintendogs: or as i call it, "guilt trip simulator". The micro-phone comands just DON'T work "


I second you there - I *wanted* to like Nintendogs, if only my puppy would obey me...

i think EBA is overrated. its kinda fun but not that great. i dont see what the big deal is about that game