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Worst pack-in game(s) ever

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 4:11 am
by Trev
Launch game(s) only (ex - for Genesis Altered beast & not Lion King or some later release) Oh, and consoles only (no hand helds)

I'd have to go w/Pole Position II for the 7800. I mean, what was the point? How could they even hope to begin to compete w/the likes of Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) w/this moldy relic? :roll:

Runners up ... maybe Keith Courage for the TG-16. Forgetable generic side scroller.

Re: Worst pack-in game(s) ever

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:21 am
by Austin
Trev wrote:I'd have to go w/Pole Position II for the 7800. I mean, what was the point? How could they even hope to begin to compete w/the likes of Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) w/this moldy relic? :roll:
Don't forget that the 7800 was launched in '84 before being yanked from the shelves for various legal/rights reasons. It's pretty impressive for a game of that year, if you ask me.. Now, years later when Atari got all the BS figured out and they relaunched it, they could have certainly picked a better game.. or at least expanded on the cart and gave it a little more depth (a championship mode, perhaps)? Another thing to keep in mind that the NES wasn't the sensation in '86 that it would soon be, so Atari not packing in something else more noteworthy was a bit of a moot point considering most of the NES games at the time were the black-box titles, mostly arcade ports and simplistic exclusives (minus Zelda and SMB).

I agree on Keith Courage, btw. It's not a bad game, but a pack-in game should be great..

Cybermorph on the Jaguar was so-so.. Kind of like a Keith Courage if you ask me. It was kind of cool, but still lacking sorely in several spots.. It wasn't exactly a Mario World or anything like that.

This question is hard by the way.. A lot of systems didn't launch with any pack-in game.

Re: Worst pack-in game(s) ever

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:12 pm
by Trev
Austin wrote: This question is hard by the way.. A lot of systems didn't launch with any pack-in game.
I know it ... but shouldn't that make it actually easier since there is less to choose from? :wink: I figure it limits the nominees to the 8 & 16-bit generations w/early next gen sytems like 3DO & Jag rounding out the field. (oh, & Wii Sports)
Austin wrote:
Trev wrote:I'd have to go w/Pole Position II for the 7800. I mean, what was the point? How could they even hope to begin to compete w/the likes of Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) w/this moldy relic? :roll:
Don't forget that the 7800 was launched in '84 before being yanked from the shelves for various legal/rights reasons. It's pretty impressive for a game of that year, if you ask me.. Now, years later when Atari got all the BS figured out and they relaunched it, they could have certainly picked a better game.. or at least expanded on the cart and gave it a little more depth (a championship mode, perhaps)? Another thing to keep in mind that the NES wasn't the sensation in '86 that it would soon be, so Atari not packing in something else more noteworthy was a bit of a moot point considering most of the NES games at the time were the black-box titles, mostly arcade ports and simplistic exclusives (minus Zelda and SMB).


I dunno ... I look at ambitious (for the time) Nes launch window driving games like Excitebike and (to a lesser extent) Mach Rider. Very hard to compare PPII favorably even w/them never mind a Duck Hunt or Gyromite, or SMB.
Austin wrote:I agree on Keith Courage, btw. It's not a bad game, but a pack-in game should be great..


Yeah ... it had some ok ideas, but the overall presnetation was pretty meh.
Austin wrote:Cybermorph on the Jaguar was so-so.. Kind of like a Keith Courage if you ask me. It was kind of cool, but still lacking sorely in several spots.. It wasn't exactly a Mario World or anything like that.
There is an understatement if I've ever heard one. :lol:

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:44 pm
by 3DOKid
Didn't the CD32 launch with no games, at all, available?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:01 pm
by Trev
3DOKid wrote:Didn't the CD32 launch with no games, at all, available?
I thought it had a combo disc that was bundled w/ at least 2 games. Can't remember exactly, but I think one of them was a fighter (mean streets?) that I seem to remember getting poor reviews.

Maybe I'll dig some of my Old Amiga mags out.

EDIT - Wikipedia is quicker than trying to find my old mags. :wink:
At launch, the CD32 was bundled with two games, Diggers, a new game from Millennium Interactive, and Oscar from Flair Software. A later pack included the one-on-one fighting game Dangerous Streets, a move by Commodore that was met with derision by the press.
Hopefully this is accurate ... certainly better than my memory at any rate.

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:35 pm
by 3DOKid
My memory is all over the place. Perhaps it was the PS2 then?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:54 pm
by 3DO Experience
I was thinking Keith Courage before I finished your post. LOL

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:40 pm
by Austin
All right guys, now it's time to list the BEST pack-ins!.. :lol:

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:45 pm
by 3DOKid
Well obviously Crash 'n Burn and Total Eclipse. [/cough]

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:41 am
by Trev
I dare someone to mention a game from Nintendo! :lol:


Btw Austin, I took your suggestion ... http://www.3do.cdinteractive.co.uk/view ... 4121#24121

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:27 am
by 3DOKid
Not even me.

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:52 pm
by sneth
Most of these systems didn't launch with pack-ins, but later bundles had games.

That was definitely the case with CD32.

Post 16bit era had almost no pack ins.


Wasn't Pac-Man packed into a 2600 bundle? That game was whack...

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:57 pm
by Trev
sneth wrote:Most of these systems didn't launch with pack-ins, but later bundles had games.

That was definitely the case with CD32.

Post 16bit era had almost no pack ins.


Wasn't Pac-Man packed into a 2600 bundle? That game was whack...
Yeah, pack-is were common up through the 3DO/Jag, but I don't remember any after that until the Wii.

Do you have a link for your CD-32 info?

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:48 pm
by Austin
Just remembered another one.. Blue Lightning on the Jaguar CD. I guess the pain of that one was alleviated slightly though thanks to a handful of other discs included in the pack as well.

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:35 pm
by Trev
Austin wrote:Just remembered another one.. Blue Lightning on the Jaguar CD. I guess the pain of that one was alleviated slightly though thanks to a handful of other discs included in the pack as well.
Other discs ... you mean like that Myst demo that wouldn't even let you leave the library :lol:

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:14 pm
by Austin
Vid Grid and the Tempest 2000 soundtrack (VLM! :lol:), mainly.