Help me catch up on 3D action games.

[esteban]

SamIAm, I know you said you didn't want FPS, but you gotta give Metroid Prime a chance. It focuses on exploration (the spirit of the franchise) with some battles thrown in to keep up the excitement...but these battles are very manageable. I can't help but feel Metroid Prime is "perfectly suited" for newbies/"hesitant 3D gamers" and the game holds your hand in the 3D realm without completely insulting you. At least, that's how I felt.

Gamecube!

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'll have to disagree with you on Metroid Prime.  I still have yet to get myself to play thru that series.  I had the GC versions, & could play them much, then I got the Wii collection, thinking it might be easier to play with the Wiimote, but they still don't excite me.  Honestly, I totally enjoyed Other M, even though it was short, & held your hand a bit, & it did have a few moments of "What am I supposed to be searching for?!?" when it forces you into search mode.  One of these days though, I'll get myself to play thru the Primes.

[SignOfZeta]

SamIAm, I know you said you didn't want FPS, but you gotta give Metroid Prime a chance. It focuses on exploration (the spirit of the franchise) with some battles thrown in to keep up the excitement...but these battles are very manageable. I can't help but feel Metroid Prime is "perfectly suited" for newbies/"hesitant 3D gamers" and the game holds your hand in the 3D realm without completely insulting you. At least, that's how I felt.

Gamecube!

Yeah, I absolutely HATE fps and even I liked Metroid Prime.

[Arkhan]

I thought Prime was "bleh".  Mostly because I hated that space jumping was reduced to a stupid extra boost, there was no fun wall jumping, and the combat was mostly "lock on, strafe, shoot" over and over and over.   It was fun for awhile, but near the halfway mark it got really tedious to battle stuff. 

I liked the exploring though.  I really did.  The atmosphere in the game was friggin' Might and Magic caliber stuff.  I thought they did a kickass job of making the scenery really grab you. 

Anyway, its still worth playing.  It's an FPS game for people who don't like FPS games, apparently.    You don't have to aim! 




Don't play 2.  It's f*cking retarded.

[SignOfZeta]

The lack of normal fps battles is why I like Prime.

See, for non-fps types, fps combat is like this:

I'm walking along, checking out the scenery.

Someone I never even knew was there shoots me.

I die.

It's the opposite of fun. Sometimes I see the guy, but in an effort to hide or position myself to shoot him I just end up facing a wall or looking at the sky. Then I die.

I really really really hate fps.

I like Street Fighter. The dude you are fighting is always right there in front of you.

[TheClash603]

The best 3D action games are the Ratchet and Clank series.  I believe Crack in Time was the last solo player game, prior to All 4 One.  I typically dislike 3D action games, but that series has me hooked.  Only problem is the games got better as they went, so you only really need to play the newest one (not All 4 One or the new Tower Defense game).

Mario 3D Land on the 3DS was the most 2D-like level design of any 3D game.  It is basically linear and very straight forward.  Best game on the 3DS in my opinion and I think it is the 3D Mario game you should be playing.

[futureman2000]

Blast Corps for N64 was stellar- I think it qualifies as an action game.

[Arkhan]

The lack of normal fps battles is why I like Prime.

See, for non-fps types, fps combat is like this:

I'm walking along, checking out the scenery.

Someone I never even knew was there shoots me.

I die.

It's the opposite of fun. Sometimes I see the guy, but in an effort to hide or position myself to shoot him I just end up facing a wall or looking at the sky. Then I die.

I really really really hate fps.

I like Street Fighter. The dude you are fighting is always right there in front of you.

lol.

Yeah, Prime's battles are scripted and obvious.

Doors shut, noises go off, alarms start bleeping, and then the enemies jump at you.   I don't really mind that.  I just didn't like how the battles are completely blehhh


you just lock on to whatever, hold the button, strafe around its shots, rinse/repeat.      Even fightning Ridley was all blehhhhhhhhh.

You just lock on, strafe around, and press the button when you're supposed to basically.  The action/dodging wasn't as fun as Super Metroid.    It's hard to top that game.

[bartre]

I like how we all ignored the Other M comments, I couldn't stand that game.

but aside from that, my recommendations are to get a dreamcast and futz about trying new cheap games, or to get a ps3 and get the HD collections.
personally Jak and Daxter is my favorite of them, but Ratchet ain't bad, that's for sure.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Yeah, the Jak & Daxter series is where it's at for me, though the 2nd one may turn people off a bit due to some imbalances in the difficulty.  I wish Naughty Dog would continue the series. Actually, I wouldn't mind if they'd do another HD collection with Jak X, Daxter, & Lost Frontier, as long as they gussie up Lost Frontier a bit.

[SamIAm]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

I'm 50 stars into Mario 64, and I'm honestly not sure I want to finish it. I'm torn over how to feel about the game.

On one hand, there's a lot about it that's completely amazing for its time, and its clearly the work of some genius game developers.

On the other hand, I spend a lot of time yelling at the TV because of the control and the camera. I've gotten much better at the game in general, but the control is still something I have to "deal with", not something I can take advantage of. Instead of developing a sensation of direct control, I feel more like Mario is a ball in a pinball machine and I'm just working the flippers. Maybe that will come around with time.

I'm thinking it would be fun to play another 3D platformer-ish game that came out some relatively short time later and has a better camera system/control. It could help me appreciate the evolution of 3D game development, if nothing else.

If I ever come across a cheap Gamecube, I'll buy it. For now, maybe my Dreamcast is where I should go next.

[Arkhan]

DREAMCAST IS THE BEST

GO GO GO

PLAY IT HARDER

YEAHHHHHNHGNNNNFFFFFGHJNM

[Burnt Lasagna]

I'm thinking it would be fun to play another 3D platformer-ish game that came out some relatively short time later and has a better camera system/control. It could help me appreciate the evolution of 3D game development, if nothing else.

Don't know if this exactly qualifies, but I'd like to put Klonoa 2 (PS2) on this smörgåsbord of recommendations.
I just recently played through it and I enjoyed it immensely! It still moves mostly in a 2D plane though.

Also, if you don't already own it, buy a PS2. It's an amazing system and it dug-on-got that 3D that those kids are into

[SignOfZeta]

I'm thinking it would be fun to play another 3D platformer-ish game that came out some relatively short time later and has a better camera system/control.

Don't bother looking for something like that, it doesn't exist.

If I ever come across a cheap Gamecube, I'll buy it. For now, maybe my Dreamcast is where I should go next.

Here in the states you can get a GC for $20. The thing didn't have many games (by PS2 standards, nothing does) it never breaks, and the Wii is backward compatible so...GCs aren't worth a broke dick.

Personally, I quite like them. Good games were so infrequently released that when they did come out nobody noticed. The end result is that there are actually a couple dozen good titles that haters simply refuse to acknowledge. I can only partially blame them though. Every time I went to the store they basically just had Brazt, movie licensed games, and years-old Nintendo releases. The good stuff gets lost in the pile.

The Gameboy Player is wonder too, btw.

[SamIAm]

Klonoa 2 looks like a lot of fun, but it's also a little too 2D for this particular endeavor.

I enjoy 2.5D games a lot, though. I actually picked up Kirby 64 for about 500 yen, and it's the most fun I've had on the system so far.

EDIT: I was afraid of that, Zeta. Still, I'll keep pressing forward. I want to find something from the last 15 years that I really like.

Gamecubes in Japan tend to run a bit more, I'm afraid, but I may stumble upon a good deal yet.