Tuesday, December 29, 2015

SuperPhillip Central Best of 2015 Awards - Top Five Most Overlooked Games

SuperPhillip Central seemingly is constantly talking about overlooked games. In fact, the site holds a Most Overlooked Games segment, detailing titles from current gen to past gens, console and handheld. Regardless, even with my best effort, titles slip between the cracks and fail to deliver impressive sales. The five titles on this list are overlooked to varying degrees, whether by consumers or by gamers at large. Perhaps through reading this list you can be persuaded to try out one or all of these games you might have missed out on!

5) Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)


The main issue with the first game on this list not seeing as great of success as it could have was that Nintendo of America delayed the release compared to both Japan and PAL territories. While Yoshi's Woolly World released in those two areas of the world in the summer, North American gamers had to wait until this past fall. What further complicates things is that a lot of critics blew through the game, not bothering to go after collecting the well hidden goodies, which is a totally different and better experience than just beating the levels. It is these reasons that Yoshi's Woolly World makes it to the starting position on this Most Overlooked Games of 2015 countdown.

4) Fossil Fighters: Frontier (3DS)


Battling dinosaurs-- excuse me-- Vivosaurs, like Pokemon is a very exciting prospect. It didn't lead to sales, but it did have an awesome commercial (your mileage may vary), so at least there was some kind of victory to be found. Exploring multiple parks, unearthing fossils buried deep in the soil, bringing said fossils to life as powerful Vivosaurs, and watching them battle one another in fierce combat made for some enjoyable times for SuperPhillip Central. Unfortunately, all this did not make the sales of Fossil Fighters: Frontier anything to boast about. This is disappointing, as the game is quite entertaining and should have had a great impact especially with the kiddies.

3) Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash (3DS)


Nintendo developers said that this game was essentially Chibi-Robo's last chance to shine. Sales were less than impressive, to put it kindly, so we might not be seeing Nintendo's small helper robot again for a while. A true shame, as the game was more than a decent 2D platformer, offering a unique hook with Chibi-Robo's whip that could pull him to far away platforms, defeat enemies, and nab collectibles. Rightfully so, Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash was raked over the coals for its ludicrous level select system and some less than stellar vehicle levels, but if you can get past those two things (the former can be cheesed for maximum enjoyment), then you have a game that is incredibly capable and full of fun.

2) Transformers: Devastation (Multi)


Platinum Games' titles don't jump off store shelves and rake in gigantic boatloads of money, but the developer is so successful and keeps getting work because they're absolutely fantastic at creating fun games. This is no truer than Transformers: Devastation. A Transformers game made by the developers of Bayonetta and Vanquish, to name a couple? While the mainstream audience wouldn't know heads or tails of who Platinum Games is and their body of work, gamers should have jumped at the chance to play this game featuring the robots in disguise. It's a phenomenal action game that shouldn't have been overlooked, but unfortunately was.

1) Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS)


An unfortunate side effect of having a demo that failed to engage players, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. failed to light up sales charts in any territory. The demo put a lot of potential players off due to its slow enemy turns. This was understandably a big griping point for critics. However, soon after its launch, Nintendo released a patch offering the ability to fast forward through enemy turns, making what was a tedious experience far less so. Still, the damage was already done and it was too little too late for this turn-based tactical title. Nintendo gets a lot of grief for not coming out with a lot of new IP, so it was disappointing that one of their new IPs not named Splatoon didn't do hot by any stretch of the imagination.

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