Least Favorite - Tumblr Posts

y'know people always ask what you're favorite game is

but nobody ever asks what your least favorite game is

truth be told, that's a much harder question to answer! i'm usually able to wring some enjoyment out of the worst games, if only to laugh at them, explore them in a historical context, or find lessons on what not to do when making a game. even the time i streamed "Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade" – the lowest rated game currently on Metacritic – i got some enjoyment out of laughing at the game with my friend, and i still think of it as one of my favorite early streams!

that means that, generally, my least favorite games sit somewhere in the middle; they're competent enough to not have laughable flaws, but boring enough that i have no desire to finish them. unsurprisingly, i remember very few of these, because they don't leave any impression on me!

so discarding that angle... in the vein of my favorite games of the year being ranked by my favorite memories, the most fun i had – i need to dig through my memories for something so horrifyingly bad that it left a lasting impression on me. and i might just know the answer. so without further ado, here's the story of:

My Least Favorite Game Ever

i like to brag that my first console was a sega dreamcast at any opportunity i can get – it's worth bragging about! that cute little console was way ahead of its time, and i was proud of the library i had built up. sonic adventure 1 and 2, daytona usa 2001, chu chu rocket, rayman 2…

every saturday my friends from the area would come over, and we would all take turns racing each other at sa2 or daytona. my parents would provide us with snacks and drinks – one time they even hosted a daytona tournament! those saturdays are why i love streaming so much, why i love playing mario kart with friends… they were essential to my growth as a kid, and i cherish the memories dearly.

one day, though, we had to move away from my friends in the area, because my dad was graduating and we could no longer live in the apartments on campus. it was a time of great change for many reasons: right before we left, mom found a big gaming deal – we could trade up my dreamcast for a gamecube with a memory card and a free game! so mom managed to drag me to e.b. games and jump on the deal, even though i didn't understand why… my dreamcast works perfectly fine, right?

but it was 2003, and nobody told me that the dreamcast had been dead for two years. few stores carried dreamcast games anymore, and frankly, it was a miracle that e.b. games was offering a trade-up deal this late.

i nervously brought my dreamcast and my precious library of games to the counter. they handed me a list to choose my free game from – just a simple printed list of names, with no covers or gameplay details, no way to look at the back of the box.

i did not recognize a single game on the list.

i nervously tried to back out of the deal, but we were already here, and mom was growing impatient. so i chose the one franchise i recognized – a game called Shrek: Extra Large – and took my new gamecube home.

i HATED it.

the game was dull, short, and crude; it had no life in it whatsoever. i remember 100%ing the game in just the short week between trading everything in and the time we moved. i hated the story, hated the gameplay, hated the music, hated the humor.

i wished i could play anything else… but i had no other games anymore. the dreamcast was my only console, and i sold it all. for this.

worse still, the game had no multiplayer. on my last saturday there, i had to tearfully explain to my friends that i no longer had my beloved dreamcast, so we could not play sonic adventure 2 anymore, and we couldn't even play the one game i did have together.

it stung all the harder when we moved, and i no longer had my dreamcast… or my friends.

as soon as we finished moving, the first thing i did was sell that accursed game. i got a couple bucks back, which was just enough to afford a used copy of Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly – a game that, these days, has a reputation for being glitchy and repetitive.

…and i had WAY more fun with it! the gamecube wasn't a total wash after all!!

before long, i gathered a library of new games i was actually happy with: sonic heroes, crash bandicoot: wrath of cortex… games that most people these days would call "mid." it didn't matter. i was too young to care, too broken myself to notice how broken the games were. i made do.

and then, one day, i finally found Sonic Adventure 2: Battle in the store – and i begged my parents to buy it for me. the void in my heart was finally filled, and the gamecube would go on to become my childhood favorite console.

was Shrek: Extra Large actually that bad? honestly, i don't remember enough about the game itself to speak from experience. wikipedia suggests that it was heavily panned by critics, so it probably was that bad. one day i want to revisit the game on stream and find out for myself…

but does it matter whether it was good or bad? the game is associated with some of my worst childhood memories – trading my familiar dreamcast away, moving away from my friends without getting to play one last game with them, losing everything i held dear as a kid. the game could be an underrated gem, and it would still be tarnished enough that i could never engage with it in good faith.

if that doesn't qualify for "least favorite game," i don't know what does.

————————————

one last footnote… i've always been curious about which other games i passed up on when i traded in my dreamcast for a gamecube. what other games were on the list? a broken fragment of a memory says that Luigi's Mansion might've been on there… which makes sense, because i wouldn't have recognized it as a mario game from the name alone! but given that shrek was even on the list, it was probably just a bunch of other underselling tripe.

so if you know of any way to dig back through time for that info, let me know! it would've been in December 2003 at e.b. ɡames (or possibly gamestop?), and i imagine it was a nationwide deal rather than a local one. i would love to go dig through some old promo paper scans or press releases…

The conflicting feeling has returned.

You've been terrible to me and I want you to face consequences.

But you're in danger and I don't want anything awful happening to you.

But you've done so much to hurt me over the years.

But you've also done so much to help me.

You were apathetic towards my plight and my cries often fell on deaf ears.

I would help you if I could but my untreated and undiagnosed disorders and years of abuse have led me to a terrible mental state and I have no funds to help you.

My abuser needs to go to the hospital. They refuse. Their ailment could get worse. I have no car, nor license, nor insurance, nor funds and I cannot help them.

I would like to show just the smallest bit of mercy to my abuser, despite how often they refused to show me even a grain of it, but we are both helpless for the time being....

My favorite will always be MS3 😁

Here's my ranking of all Metal Slug games I've played from most to least favourite:

Metal Slug 3: By far, it's the highest point of the series. It's a literal magnum opus and an instant classic with a good amount of enemy variety and alternative paths.

Metal Slug 2/X: It's almost as good as the third game, but not quite. However, it does perfectly build upon the first game in interesting ways by adding new vehicles, new enemies, new locations, new weapons, and two other playable characters (Eri and Fio).

Metal Slug 1: I believe they're as good as the first two games, but it mostly serves to lay down the groundwork for the other games.

Metal Slug 5: I personally enjoy it a lot, but it's not as good as the original trilogy.

Metal Slug 4: Sadly, it's the lowest point of the series. It's a shame because it has the makings of a great game. However, due to corporate financial troubles, the final product had to be rushed to save money.

This lil' ranking of mine might slightly change in the future, but let's see.

Here's my ranking of all Metal Slug games I've played from most to least favourite:

Metal Slug 3: By far, it's the highest point of the series. It's a literal magnum opus and an instant classic with a good amount of enemy variety and alternative paths.

Metal Slug 2/X: It's almost as good as the third game, but not quite. However, it does perfectly build upon the first game in interesting ways by adding new vehicles, new enemies, new locations, new weapons, and two other playable characters (Eri and Fio).

Metal Slug 1: I believe they're as good as the first two games, but it mostly serves to lay down the groundwork for the other games.

Metal Slug 5: I personally enjoy it a lot, but it's not as good as the original trilogy.

Metal Slug 4: Sadly, it's the lowest point of the series. It's a shame because it has the makings of a great game. However, due to corporate financial troubles, the final product had to be rushed to save money.

This lil' ranking of mine might slightly change in the future, but let's see.

What about you?? Do you have a least favorite character?

This b lol I don’t like that she uses Rudy

Also…..SOMETIMES I don’t like Teddy 🫣 when he goes from funny sad to ick awkward sad 😅