GameSpy is running a series for the week that lists their Top 25 overrated games of all time.
I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to "lists". In some instances, I think lists are God's answer to, well me. They say everything about a topic in a neat, organized, and concise manner that contradicts the verbal diarrhea usually spewing from my mouth when enumerating important points on a topic. On the other hand, lists are cruel, harsh, and have a penchant for showing writer bias better than a Kenneth Star investigation.
Naturally, GameSpy isn't even in to the top 10 yet and I already have issues with it. First, they attempt to categorize the things that made the game overrated - more hype than entertainment, done better before, complete letdown, and overpraised (GameSpy's attempt at being magnanimous). Somehow, GameSpy screwed up its application of categories on the first game, Neverwinter Nights. They say it was done better before. If they are speaking in terms of PC NWN vs. pen-and-paper RPG, then they are correct. However, this is all about video games. It's tough to claim NWN was done better before when there isn't another game that even comes close to offering up the ability for player-driven modules and DM'ing. Nice try, GameSpy.
Unfortunately, thus far, the entire list is rife with gross category misapplications such as these. Battle Arena Toshinden is pegged as overpraised and a total letdown (contradictory labels in their own right). While BAT may have been a shallow fighting game, it did showcase some stunning 3D graphics and straight-forward 3D gameply on a new platform (the PSX) that needed something to catch people's attention. For all intents and purposes, BAT performed exactly as Sony intended it to perform. Curiously, the GameSpy article spends as much time talking about the failure of the franchise (beyond the first game) as they do about the game itself. Sounds to me like the editors placed Toshinden in here based upon a comparison with the masterpiece that is Soul Calibur 2 and not on the game's own flaws and faults.
I could go on and on about this article (heck, I just quit complaining about #24). The placement of Battlecruiser: 3000AD at #19 before Super Mario Sunshine is an abomination itself. I cringe at the thought of what is to come. Will they end up placing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City at #1 because it was to GTA what X-Com: Terror from the Deep was to X-Com (e.g. more of the same)?