Over rated, under appreciated?

[Nemo]

I think what most people hate about it is the fact that the play mechanics are all kinds of screwed up...the far-side screen scrolling, which not only brings about cheap hits but is also a simple no-no when it comes to game design, is the major factor...bad collision plays a major role too. The game is also severely unbalanced, with enemies being way too strong and your characters being way too weak...even at max level with the best equipment for the time. Having to spend almost 2 hours in the Spire Of Eternity building up levels just to get past Crully and then the mountain after it is completely bogus. On the bright side, the cinemas are great (shows how much better cinemas can be made with 256kb as opposed to only 64kb) and the music is more accurate in terms of where the game takes place (Exile II was based on many actual areas as opposed to the original which was almost completely fictional, with a few exceptions). Blake Dorsey IS Sadler as far as I'm concerned and it's almost blasphemy to hear him play other characters.

A game is considered challenging when it is legitimately difficult to beat. A game is considered cheap when it is difficult to beat for technical reasons, such as poor control, a lack of game balancing, or "cheap hits"...all of which Exile II is unfortunately guilty of.

I agree with what you're saying (I have the JP version too though I can't recall if it suffers from the same flaws), and while these things are an issue, I personally was able to overcome them rather quickly so that they didn't hinder my experience.  Just exploring the levels and knowing what enemies are where was enough for me to offset most techincal issues.  The only thing I felt was cheap was the boss battle with Lawrence since his main method of attack was to run into you which causes more damage than anything, but every other boss was so patternized that they could be beaten without getting hit.  I also think people make the last dunegon harder than it really is, the best strategy is knowing when to fight and knowing when to simply run past enemies.  The last boss is a total cakewalk too.  The game's biggest flaw IMO was the fact that combining two herbs would produce unpredicatble results, so at times when you're in dire need of health you would either get a huge refill or a speck.  Even this, however, wasn't a major hindrance because I usually had more herbs in stock than were needed.

[nodtveidt]

The last boss of Exile II was a real disappointment IMO. Do-Tar was a joke...Shimbatha was way harder to beat the first time through but still not really much of a challenge either. I too overcame the technical difficulties of Exile II but regardless, I feel this still hurt it as a whole. It could have been a much better game...

The tonic combination thing was stupid, I thought. You could even get HP reductions from using two in sequence.

[Nemo]

Heh, I almost forgot about that, that was definitely lame.

[Sinistron]

From the games I own-
I'd say

OVERRATED:
Dragon Saber
     I actually find this poorer than Dragon Spirit- I was expecting a big upgrade in everything but to me it just feels cruddier.
New Zealand Story
     I don't find this playable whatsoever.  yeah- it's cute- but not much else.  Liquid Kids and Bonze Adventure are leagues better.
Ninja Spirit
     I LIKE it- don't get me wrong- but too short and too easy for me to hail as great.
Sidearms
     I know this game has its fans- I'm not one.  I hate running into all the speed power-ups and having my guy ludicrously fast.
Splatterhouse
     Same as Ninja Spirit.
Steam Hearts
     Eh.  Paid a lot of money for this one and was really disappointed.  Also not enough hentai to satisfy my inner and outer now that I think about it pervert.
Turrican
     To me probably the most craptastic game ever.  Even with an invinvibility code I can't beat this.  Insanely hard and devoid of fun.

UNDERRATED:
Doraemon Arabian Nights
     I LOVE this game and am surprised I don't read more about it.  Closer to a Bonk game to me than say Dracula Boy.  And the music in some stages sounds like the same team that made Bonk music.
Hani on the Road
     Love this one too.  It's like a berserk bastardized Frogger with two-player.  What's not to love?
TaleSpin
     Ain't THAT bad.  Has a lot of variety for a game that isn't great.
Time Cruise
     No- not Devil's Crush- but pretty awesome.
Image Fight
     Everytime I play this it screams "classic" to me.  Yeah- it's hard.  But I can't beat R-type either.
Veigues Tactical Gladiator
     To me this is the most underrated of the hucards.  So much stylized gameplay going on for a game in which you use a two-button controller.

[Tatsujin]

Ninja Spirit....but too short and too easy for me to hail as great.

you must be the holy uber gamer send from heaven not that it isn't beatable, but it is anything else than easy to do that, especialy when you're new to the game.

[Michael Helgeson]

Yea I wouldn't go to say that Ninja Spirit is easy. Its def beatable,but also its graphics and play hold up really well. There isn't anything wrong with the game. Any hype I tend to read about it holds up true for me in my own personal experiences with the game.

[SignOfZeta]

As for Conan Future Boy, I have had the chance to buy this game and never have because....well I don't want to buy crap and I know nothing about this game, so without changing the subject...can someone who has played this game tell me if it is good or not?

This is what I wrote on PCEdaisakusen:

"Extremely authentic for fans of the TV series or just Miyazaki stuff in general. Merely average though if rated against other platform games. Lots of quality cinemas and music (since most were taken from the anime)."

Its really weird to see a guy say that Kaze Kiri isn't that great, but promotes Conan. I really love the TV show, and I'm glad that a game based on it is at least playable (anime games back then were almost all shit-tastic) but its really not that good. As far as anime based games go, Yamato, Blue Blink, and both the Macross games are much better from a purely "game" perspective.

As for the under/over thing...that depends on who you listen to, but I think that the general perception of Drac X is right on. Its very very good, and better, honestly, than any PCE title except maybe Tengai II, Kabuki, and Y's 1&2.

Overrated:

Sapphire. No question. Its really cool and all, but its barely a top 5 shooter on PCE, IMO, and I'm not even sure that it isn't just outside the top 5.

Cosmic Fantasy 2: A nice story, very enduring, but a really really terrible RPG regardless of it being the US, or JP version.

Any US release. Anyone who pays $100 for the "English" version of a game that has 8 words in it when the JP version, with massivly superior cover art, can be had for $6 is just a f*cking tool. I don't know what's wrong with these people. Get thee to a nunnery or some shit. WTF...

Underrated:

Fray CD: Xak Gaiden. Its funny, cute, good graphics, lots of action.

Burning Angles: On one hand its pretty generic considering how many shooters are on PCE, but I personally like it.

Aero Blasters: This thing is so solid! And cheap! Too hard though.

Bazaaru de Gozaaru no Game de Gozaaru: Underrated because nobody ever talks about it. Obviously some people talk about it because its hella expensive.

Hana Taka Daka!?: Cool traditional Japanese mythology based shooter...or is it? Very pretty.

[nat]

I thought Ninja Spirit was easy. The only slightly difficult part was after the final cave finding the right path to fall without getting hit.

Also, there is some nasty flicker on a couple bosses. Although Michael's right, it's a great game.

Now try beating it on ARCADE mode, and that's another story.

[Sinistron]

It's all about the dynamite sticks.  Later boards and bosses you just run through with it.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Me wonders, if the game was made a year or 2 later, if any of that flicker would be there.  Oh, & I deffinitly love everything about Dragon Saber over Dragon Spirit.

[termis]

Ninja Spirit Rules.  Though I do agree that the only *real* hard part was the pit with the Ninjas coming out -- and even that's not too bad once you figure out where you need to be.  I do confess that I haven't beat it on the arcade mode, though.

Anyway, a thread like this is bound to cause division.  But as for myself...

Overrated
- Gates of Thunder: It was good (especially the music tracks), but I never thought this one was great compared to some other shooters on the PCE/TG or the shooters on systems of that era.
- Bonk series: Never played III, but I tried I & II, and could never really get in to it.

Underrated
- Vigilante: Lot of people seem to write this one off, but I really enjoy the simple, beat-the-shit-out-'em action of this one.
- Ys III: Granted, it wasn't as good as I/II, but it was still _good_ IMO, and a lot of people seem to disagree with me on that point.
- Blood Gear: This is a friggin GREAT action RPG game.  I dunno why this isn't as popular as some of the other action RPGs on the PCE.
- Kato-chan & Ken-chan: Seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it game.  As for me, I love that toilet humor.

[FM-77]

Overrated:
(The Ys 1 part of) Ys 1-2 - most people like this almost entirely because of nostalgia, it seems - and they fail to realize that this game is COMPLETELY broken because they haven't played a real Ys 1. The new, not at all thought out level system ruins the gameplay completely. All other versions of Ys 1 are very well planned and fine-tuned games - you're always "supposed" to be at a certain level in order to beat a boss or a part of a dungeon - it will be challenging, but not impossible. But in this game, it's always either too easy or too hard (mostly too easy) since you level up all the time. In fact, you can (and probably will) be completely IMMUNE towards the bosses (and enemies) because of this. In the real Ys 1, you're supposed to be at level 10 on the third boss, and it will be really hard to beat. You cannot level up more to make it easier either. You will stay at level 10 for the remainder of the game, and so the later bosses will be challenging as well. I also think the soundtrack is bad, but that's just an opinion and not a fact, unlike the previous things I said. All I know is that I don't want to hear a GUITAR SOLO every two minutes when I'm walking around for hours in a mysterious, lonely tower.

Since this isn't an RPG, you're not supposed to be able to level up as much as you want - Falcom had a plan with this game. And they made it that way. Alfa System didn't understand this, and destroyed it.

Since everybody will disagree with me (without any arguments), all I can say is - play a real Ys 1 (pick ANY version!) and feel the balance!

Deep Blue - some people consider this playable. They shouldn't. As long as ANYBODY finds REMOTE enjoyment in this game, it's overrated. This game is likely the worst shooter ever made.

[Necromancer]

Since everybody will disagree with me (without any arguments), all I can say is - play a real Ys 1 (pick ANY version!) and feel the balance!

I heartily disagree, and here's why: unless you spend an inordinate amount of time wondering around and killing enemies, you won't be immune to enemy attacks.  Gaining a single level won't ever change the game from being 'too hard' to being 'too easy'.  It sounds like the only reason that you dislike the PCE version is almost entirely due to nostalgia - nostalgia for one of the other versions.  If something as simple as the change to the leveling system could 'break' the game, then you must not like it much to begin with; how can an easy game equate to a broken and ruined game?

Deep Blue - some people consider this playable. They shouldn't. As long as ANYBODY finds REMOTE enjoyment in this game, it's overrated. This game is likely the worst shooter ever made.

It's completely playable (looks nice too), and it's not the worst ever shmup, but it is the worst one on the Turbo.

[Keranu]

Don't waste your time debating with Seldane, I've tried numerous times . If he wants to play his slow ass versions of Ys, he's more than welcome.

[FM-77]

Nope, I like every version of Ys 1 except the PCE one. I even think the f*cking DOS version is better. And no, I do not spend time killing monsters. Normal gameplay = overleveled Adol. And the PCE version is as slow as the others (except from the super speedy Saturn and PC-Windows versions).