What games have actually surprised you? (either fell short or surpassed)

Games that impressed me:

Saturn:
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Nights
Burning Rangers
Fighters Megamix
Sonic R


PSX:
MGS
Wipeout
Ridge Racer4
Toshinden
FF7
FF8
Wipeout2097
Tekken3
Sould Edge
Omega Boost
Resident Evil
Resident Evil2
Parasite Eve
Vagrant Story
Tobal2
GT

DC:
Sonic Adventure 1
Sonic Adventure2
Shenmue1
Shenmue2
Soul Calibur
JSR
Dead Or Alive2(I prefer this version 10 times more than PS2\'s)
Ecco
F355(Looking and playing better than the PS2 version too)
PSO
Heavy Metal
All Street Fighter 3s

PS2:
Kingdom Hearts
Zoe
MGS2
GT3
DMC
TTT
The Getaway
R&C
ICO
AC4
T3
Primal
TS2
SH2
Burning Road2
Auto Modelista
VF4

XBOX:
DOA3
HALO


GC:
RE0&REBIRTH

I could list dozens and dozens of games, but I\'ll just say that ICO totally swept me off my feet. It was short, but as sweet as a game can get.

What made it so great were the awesome use of light (best solar flare effect ever, better than the real thing), the fact that the screen remained uncluttered by menus and HUDs all through the experience and the totally believable environments. And Yorda... she didn\'t just seem like a silly bot but a real character, I really cared for her... Shure, the texturing could\'ve been a lot better, but they had to leave some room for improvement for the sequel

Gran Turismo 3 - I knew it would be good but never thought it could blow me away like it has.

[Bobs_Hardware]

Burnout 2 was the biggest surprise for me.  Best racing game ever made.

And for the record, theomen.......

Burnout 2 destroys Tokyo Extreme Racer  

Wipeout Fusion suprised me, i want expecting much from it

I seem to be the only one liking it

Originally posted by Bobs_Hardware


State of Emergency.

Thats the one! Thanks Bobs

Surprise: Final Fantasy XI

I bought it when it came out, I played it a little, but due to certain circumstances, never got to really sit down and play it a lot until recently.  Now, I think I\'ve amassed more than 100 hours in the game, and it\'s very addicting for some reason.  There\'s so much to do that I don\'t think I\'d ever really get bored of this one.

Wipeout Fusion was great, though I really wish they had of turned to gravity off like in XL/2097 and had sleeker ships instead of the POD inspired ones.

Great game though.

Got a little more time now, so...

Games that really surpassed all my expectations :
Fantavision
ICO
Devil May Cry
Hitman 2


Alright, then to the games that fell short of my expectations :
Metal Gear Solid 2 (Eh?)
Final Fantasy X (Blah)
Resident Evil : Code Veronica (EWWW!)
Grand Theft Auto : Vice City (mm...)
WipeOut Fusion (Yipe)

The greatest surprise hit:

Final Fantasy VII
I was young and foolish. I didn\'t understand english much. All I saw, at first, was a blokkish character. Blocky graphics, a gameplay-mechanic I didn\'t understand - and \'thus my attempts at playing the game ended on the first boss. Given that the retailers hailed it as the "revelation of videogaming", I wasn\'t impressed.

A year or so later.

I decided to buy the game. I had learned to understand english to a great degree. After reading numerous reviews of FFVII and hearing mouth-to-mouth praise, I bought the game. And I am glad that I did.

It was my first Role Playing Game. My first game which had a really in-depth story-line, well-rounded characters and wonderful musics to boot. It was the perfect package, and still in my top-three. At no. 1. Nothing has rivalled it since - although few games landed close ( Half-Life, for example ).

Truly an awesome game.

Games that surpassed:

GTA3
Halo
FIFA 2003 (Just got, massive improvemant o previous FIFAs)

Games that flopped:

ZOE (overhyped, i hated it)
State Of Emergency
Wipeout Fusion

Originally posted by theomen
Tokyo Xtreme Racing Zero- best racing game on the planet, every time I buy a racing game I\'m disappointed because of this titles amazingness.  Even GT3 is shadowed by this little gem.  And if Xbox ever releases a sequal to it, I will make sweet love to it.

Oh yes, I forgot about this one.. This game rules ass. This is the only game that I haven\'t traded in.

[Viper_Fujax]

I sold my PS1 so i would have extra money to buy the ps2, and i had some cash left over(50 bux). So i decided to get a game. I already had madden2001, and i asked all my friends who had a ps2 on what game theyd recommend. 3 of them said NBA Live 2001 was a very good game and they always played it. But then i got it and it sucked monkey ****. The only fun part of the whole gmae was the 1on1 on the street which got old after about 2 games. Other than that, iv had good luck with all the games iv perchased. None have really been better than what i expected cuz im usually in high expectations whenever i get a new game.

For those of you who mentioned State Of Emergency as a dud, couldn\'t agree more. Bad game. Other disappointment was Stuntman. It wasn\'t that bad but the reward for all the frustration was harly worth it.

What games did you guys get over the holidays that kicked ass and which ones sucked. I want to exchange a few and could use some ideas.

Hey guys, just thought I would check back to see if anyone had any suggestions for games. I wanna take back Metroid and get something else. Just wasn\'t what I expected. I\'m glad I\'ve had Dr. Muto to keep me busy! Also, anyone tried Nightfire? I was wondering how that one is too?