Can't remember the name now but there was a series of 2D mech games on the Acorn/Archimedes where for their next game they were going 3D with massive hype and hugely ambitious features, about that time the RISC OS platform started to die out and when it finally launched was few people left to buy/play it, it was hugely watered down features wise and required the latest hardware to realistically be playable performance wise at a point where most people were swapping to spending that money on buying Windows PCs.
Which old game back in the day had the most hype but was the biggest flop?
- Thread starter GGizmo
- Start date
Lots of the 8-bit licence games like Knight Rider, Miami Vice and Street Hawk were pretty bad and overhyped.
The biggest travesty was World Cup Carnival, published by U.S. Gold, which was the awful World Cup Soccer by Artic computing repackaged in a nice box with various goodies. ZZap! 64 gave it 11%!
Apparently it was a last minute replacement for a game that ran into development issues.
The biggest travesty was World Cup Carnival, published by U.S. Gold, which was the awful World Cup Soccer by Artic computing repackaged in a nice box with various goodies. ZZap! 64 gave it 11%!
Apparently it was a last minute replacement for a game that ran into development issues.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2010
- Posts
- 2,722
Duke Nukem Forever
I bought a game called Legends of Valour, which was a pretty good concept. But at the time most of the machines it was released on were underpowered so the game had jerky animations.
It inspired Todd Howard with his Elder Scroll series.
I liked the game. But it was a technical flop. I had it on the Amiga and it came with a number of disks.
Charles Hoskinson, an American entrepreneur, bought the license for the game in 2020 and is trying to make a re-release of the game. He's trying to setup a studio for it.
It inspired Todd Howard with his Elder Scroll series.
I liked the game. But it was a technical flop. I had it on the Amiga and it came with a number of disks.
Charles Hoskinson, an American entrepreneur, bought the license for the game in 2020 and is trying to make a re-release of the game. He's trying to setup a studio for it.
Soldato
Terminator 2 the computer game. Priced at £29.99 in the local Virgin Megastore (PC version), it was an enormous amount to me at the time. I remember Virgin were good at deals back then (this was early 1992) and thus also managed to get a Blitz copy of Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road thrown in. T2 also came with a licensed printed T-shirt, I was super chuffed.
It looked great, but sadly T2 was utter ****
Turns out the devs were only given 6 months to complete the game by the publisher (Ocean Software). How many times must this have been the downfall of countless titles back then and perhaps even now.
Still, Super Off Road was pretty good fun and I had a T-shirt which I wore for years until it disintegrated. I've still have the T2 game somewhere at my folks', even now it serves as a reminder not to **** all my money away.
It looked great, but sadly T2 was utter ****
Turns out the devs were only given 6 months to complete the game by the publisher (Ocean Software). How many times must this have been the downfall of countless titles back then and perhaps even now.
Still, Super Off Road was pretty good fun and I had a T-shirt which I wore for years until it disintegrated. I've still have the T2 game somewhere at my folks', even now it serves as a reminder not to **** all my money away.
Last edited:
Always felt the Robocop franchise was squandered.
Soldato
For me it was Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles on the Amiga. I was so hoping for something reminiscing the Arcade game.
Bless my parents, I traded many presents for this one big one. I couldn't play it when I opened it as we spent Christmas at my Grandparents without my computer.
And when I finally played it..
Bless my parents, I traded many presents for this one big one. I couldn't play it when I opened it as we spent Christmas at my Grandparents without my computer.
And when I finally played it..
Soldato
This was going to be my vote.
Going back before that then any games from the spectrum/commodore era where the box art looked amazing but the game was just rubbish.
This was going to be my vote.
Going back before that then any games from the spectrum/commodore era where the box art looked amazing but the game was just rubbish.
Often they'd put the arcade screenshots, or the best looking version on the back of the box, e.g. the BBC or C64 version instead of the Spectrum.
Associate
Yeah - I loved Freelancer, and bought it on its release. It got decent reviews - but I don't think it sold well. There was a planned sequel - but I think it got cancelled. I think the troubled development didn't help it.
I think I'll also Anachronox. That came out very soon after Deux Ex and from the same software developer(Ion Storm) and as such, a lot of expectation was riding on it. It got quite good reviews, but it tanked commercially.
Caporegime
Duke Nukem Forever is the obvious one but Doom 3 was a massive let down.
Doom 3 was (is) incredible IMO. Slower pace of game but still holds up well today and there are many mods. It has also had remakes / remasters.
Might play it on Steam deck.
Im sure people have even got it working on retro machines with 3dfx cards.
Caporegime
Doom 3 was (is) incredible IMO. Slower pace of game but still holds up well today and there are many mods. It has also had remakes / remasters.
Might play it on Steam deck.
Im sure people have even got it working on retro machines with 3dfx cards.
Graphically it was a masterpiece and a benchmark but the game was dull as dishwater. Unlike HL2 which came out a year later.
Sorry I was reading page one, posted, and then saw you’d already said this one.Frontier (Elite II).
Ultima 8 onwards.
Yes I'm old