Heh. Man, I'm usually fairly... bad, at calling games. I expect more than it'll give (case in point, I actually bought the Sonic RPG. Had some fun with it, but so goddamn short), and quite often, this leaves me cynical regarding the games. But there have been a few like this that I've really liked.
1) Bioshock. I heard about the game, saw the hype, eventually saw that it was on sale. What the heck, I try it out. LO AND BEHOLD, I find a game that has well developed characters, a good art style, challenging enemies, and the ability to actually melee everything in the game until they fall down and stop twitching. Fort Frolic was where the game really hit its mindf*ckery stride with me, when... I won't spoil it for anyone. Plaster statues now scare me.
My only qualm is the goddamn ending! I go into the final boss fight expecting some epic showdown, only to kill the bastard with a few explosives! I want a fight that's... big! Difficult! Give that guy about 10 more attacks and 10x his current HP, THEN we've got ourselves a fight!
2) Psychonauts. Saw Yahtzee's review, went in expecting a decent game. Found something that was highly entertaining, and kept me laughing. All things considered, the game only exceeded my expectations because I expected OVERhyping on Yahtzee's part, when it was merely appropriate hyping. Good game, good experience, but not something I'd play through more than once in a while.
3) Half Life 2. My first FPS. If you don't count Portal or the Metroid Prime games, the first being more puzzle and the second being a console game. I mean, I'd never heard of the Half Life franchise before this game, and yet one day I buy the Orange Box and try this thing out. It started out slow, and proceeded to BLOW MY MIND. Instantly made me a fan of the FPS genre. No joke, no exaggeration, the Orange Box switched me to the PC gamer I am today.
4) Super Mario World. Technically, it exceeded not my expectations, but my memories. I'd only ever gotten to World 3 as a tyke, and remembered this game as a happy little romp through same-y worlds with some fun jumping. I revisited it when I was a competent gamer and got into the later levels, proceeding to find levels that bordered on the legendary NINTENDO HARD status. I mean, christ, the Special Stages were worth the rest of the game (even if you had to cheat and use the [Blue Yoshi]+[Any Shell]=[Flight] trick to get through some of them. Bottom line, this game kicked ass and took names.
5) The Golden Sun series. Just... just... "Ooh look, an Errpeg for that Games Lad Advanced system I have. Let's just pop this in here and OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS GAME." Good storyline, great character development, just the requisite cheesiness to abstain from ascension to godhood, and awesome art style. They remain two of my favorite games to date.
6) No More Heroes. I really didn't know what to expect with this game. What I got was a bit of cash grinding, which I promptly ignored through Assassination Mission 18 and a box set of Burn Notice to take my attention away from the time I was spending cleaving enemies in two, and ten of the most memorable, insane, hilarious, or just downright odd bosses to ever cross my path. Obligatory statement: Destroyman remains one of my favorite video game bosses of all time.
7) Megaman Classic.
Expected: Platformer
Got: Nintendo Hard platform shooter that remained fun while you ripped out your own hair in frustration (first time playing the Quickman stage, anyone?)
So, my few cents. Feel free to quote with any additions/arguments to any of these titles you might have.
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