Licensed Games Appreciation Thread - Why yes, a Scooby-Doo game is better than a Resident Evil game

IDanceonTrannyGraves said:
Snoopy vs. The Red Baron on PS2 is a genuinely fun air combat shooter. Nobody talks about this game, which is a shame.
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I played the Snoopy Flying Ace demo on XBLA. I suck at flying, but I loved the simplistic arcade approach with respect to the Peanuts material. Shame it was delisted; I regret not buying it. No BC either. I heard it's Crimson Skies retooled with Snoopy characters. Never played that either.
 
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Here's a couple that nobody has mentioned (specifically, anyway), on, of all things, the C64. Now, I want to preface this by: These are still c64 games. If you didn't grow up with a C64 or similar computer, they're going to feel like complete shit. I get that. But for the time and the hardware, these were pretty good games:

Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo. Based on the famous comic. It was so close to almost being /amazing/, held back from it's true ambitions by hardware limitations. A better coder could probably have made it work, but even so, what we got was a reasonably ambitious adventure action game with some light roleplaying elements. Good music and graphics.


The Simpsons Arcade Game. Yes, this came out for the C64, too. An official port, by a Hungarian studio. It is surprisingly complete, given the necessities of adapting it for the C64 hardware. It's honestly one of the most impressive C64 games. The gameplay is... okay. Again, the necessities of converting it for the C64 meant the gameplay is slower and more simplified. But it does work. It's perfectly playable.


Surprisingly the C64 had a fair few tie in games that weren't bad, for what they were. All three Aliens movie had a decent game, for example.
 
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Do card games count? UNO on the XBLA was a simpler time. You could set house rules where if you couldn't play a card, you had to KEEP grabbing cards until you can. I also remember the title freezing when you enter rooms mid-game.
 
Obake_no_Q_Tarou_-_Wanwan_Panic-title.png

Obake no Q-tarō: WanWan Panic is based off of the Manga/Anime series of the same name, which in itself had 3 run cycles (1956 Series, 1971 Series, and 1985 Series). The series were mostly about Q-Taro and his human friends going on crazy antics and adventures... so think Doraemon except with a Ghost. it also tackles topics like everyday Japanese life, with Q-Tarō questioning the structure of Japanese society and the comedic situations that occurred because of Q-Tarō misinterpreting it.

Regarding this game, you grab power-ups in the form of candy that allow you to fly, and you loose that ability of the meter is too low. You CAN go through a stage by just walking, but you walk and jump REALLY slow, which as you can imagine makes things harder. You also attack dogs, whom also attack you with their barks... can't kill cats though. There's a total of 12 characters you have to look for at the end of the stage and there's also bosses at some of the stages you have to face. If this sounds familiar that's because it's also the same gameplay style as Chubby Cherub. Only difference outside of the translation and sprite changes is that the power bar in Chubby Cherub is more lenient as it depeltes slower than in Q-Taro
 
LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV] said:
Actually Parasite Eve is a licensed game too. It was based on a novel
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I have that novel, it's pretty good.

MembersSchoolPizza said:
Surprisingly the C64 had a fair few tie in games that weren't bad, for what they were. All three Aliens movie had a decent game, for example.
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The Aliens game was good, I have a soft spot for the Friday the 13th game and the Rocky Horror game is goofy fun.
 
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I'm not much of a gamer but I haven't seen this mentioned: Alien Vs. Predator arcade game. Probably my favorite arcade game as a kid followed by Xmen and The Simpsons arcade games.
 
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These are a little different because they are not licenses of IPs exactly but the actual IRL people.

I remember really liking the Jackie Chan game for the PS1, as far as I know its a completely original game not based on any previous movie of his Jackie Chan's. Its a pretty respectable beat em up.
The Wu Tang game on the PS1 was a solid 4 player 3D fighting game, was basically a re-skin of the cancelled Thrill Kill game with the Wu Tang Clan slapped on and a pretty decent soundtrack. I don't remember ever beating the campaign though because the AI in the later levels is absolutely savage.
 
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Nice to see a thread like this. Despite all the problems that can come from licensed game development, said license can, when done well, elevate a title to a much higher standard.

For a few that I like, there's Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay, Alien Isolation, Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1, X-Men Origins Wolverine Uncaged Edition, Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2 Rogue Leader, Batman Arkham City, and Terminator Resistance.
 
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LightDragonman1 said:
Nice to see a thread like this. Despite all the problems that can come from licensed game development, said license can, when done well, elevate a title to a much higher standard.
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Best thing about them is you go into it knowing they almost can't fuck it up in terms of characters and setting. Sometimes they go above and beyond and manage to somehow fuck that up too though, see Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu.
 
It’s been 20-odd years since I played it, but the GBA version of the Two Towers LotR game was big fun. It was an isometric hack n slash with (4?) different characters that had mostly-different levels and paths through the game, like Aragorn starts chasing down the orks to rescue the hobbits, Gandalf starts from his fall beneath Moria, etc.

The real thing that kept me hooked though was the Diablo-style loot and NG+. it was great for long car rides as a kid, just mowing down orcs and collecting gems and new gear to make number go up. I’ve gotta find a rom and see how it holds up.
 
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MembersSchoolPizza said:
Here's a couple that nobody has mentioned (specifically, anyway), on, of all things, the C64. Now, I want to preface this by: These are still c64 games. If you didn't grow up with a C64 or similar computer, they're going to feel like complete shit. I get that. But for the time and the hardware, these were pretty good games:

Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo. Based on the famous comic. It was so close to almost being /amazing/, held back from it's true ambitions by hardware limitations. A better coder could probably have made it work, but even so, what we got was a reasonably ambitious adventure action game with some light roleplaying elements. Good music and graphics.

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Interesting fact: Ghost 2.0 has an omage to that scene in the bunny game where you have to greet the Ronin.

But yea I'll add Multiversus and Nick Allstars 2 to the list. I don't care how much SMB pros diss on these games, they are legitimately awesome and try to innovate one way or the other.

Nick2 lacks the polish, but it's a downright better game.

Multiversus was just fun and tried to innovate with the 2v2 perks. Customizing your fighter was really fun.
 
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