Okay, it's been a while since we had one of those friday afternoon videogame history memory tests, so here's one that came to me while sorting through my games collection yesterday (I knocked a massive pile over while putting the Christmas tree decorations back in the attic...). Sometimes very poor games include one quite stunning idea buried away in an otherwise abject experience, other times, the central concept behind a title is stunningly original, but the resulting game just doesn't work.
What are the most interesting examples you've come across? I was thinking, perhaps, of MDK, Shiny Entertainment's more-or-less forgotten shooter, which more-or-less invented the zoom-in sniper scope. (Actually, Shiny also developed Messiah a mediocre game with the great idea that your character could inhabit the body of others...). Also, Vib Ribbon, the extraordinary PlayStation game that created twisting, looping landscapes in response to any audio CD you put in the drive. And then there was Soul Reaver with its use of co-existing real and spirit worlds, oh and Libero Grande, the Namco footie game where you controlled only one player on the field. None of these were terrible, though - I'm racking my brains to think of really crap games with a single incredible idea.
While I'm thinking, it's over to you...
