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GOAT playable game demos, alternatively demos you got the most time/enjoyment from
- Thread starter wafflebrain
- Start date
I used to love playing the Spyro demos hidden behind cheat codes in Crash 3 (Spyro 1), Team Racing (Ripto's Rage), and Bash (Year of the Dragon). Each one gave you a couple different levels to play around in, remember having my mind blown finding out I'd missed an entire Orb challenge in Ripto's Rage. Coolest part was this must've been a partnership between Naughty Dog and Insomniac since Spyro 1, Ripto's Rage, and Year of the Dragon contain a demo for the Crash game which had their respective game's demo in it!
This was referenced in the N. Sane Trilogy by performing the cheat code when selecting Crash: Warped, showing a trailer for the Spyro Reignited trilogy. IIRC it was partially implemented at launch before the Reignited Trilogy was officially confirmed, which was our first hint that the Spyro remakes were coming.
This was referenced in the N. Sane Trilogy by performing the cheat code when selecting Crash: Warped, showing a trailer for the Spyro Reignited trilogy. IIRC it was partially implemented at launch before the Reignited Trilogy was officially confirmed, which was our first hint that the Spyro remakes were coming.
Starsiege: Tribes demo. There were people who solely played this demo and not the full game which was already out. It was such a revolutionary multiplayer game and easy to install on school computers. I spent many hours just playing Raindance map on this.
Starcraft demo. I think it had an unique mini singleplayer campaign. This demo sold me the full game.
UT2003/UT2004 had a good amount of content for a demo.
Myth: The Fallen Lords, Carmageddon 1, and Diablo 1 demos. I played these a lot.
Starcraft demo. I think it had an unique mini singleplayer campaign. This demo sold me the full game.
UT2003/UT2004 had a good amount of content for a demo.
Myth: The Fallen Lords, Carmageddon 1, and Diablo 1 demos. I played these a lot.
The Dynasty Warriors 3 demo is one of my favorite demos ever. I'm too tired to do a big write up atm, but it's just a very replayable demo. They let you play around on one of the best maps in the game (the Nanman Campaign, which has all sorts of cool shit, like poison ponds, rainy terrain, elephant mounts etc.) with a small but decently strong set of characters and a modest choice of items that you can experiment with. You can play in a number of ways, just exploring the map and helping allies progress or trying to kill the enemy commander as many times as you can before the time limit runs out (this is especially fun if you play co-op and memorize all the bosses' spawn points. Did I mention the demo has co-op? It totally does)
The best part was figuring out there was a way to actually win before the timer ran out. It's not a secret, but the game absolutely doesn't tell you it's possible (if you play "normally" you'll never get that unlock condition without timing out). Finding this out and finally getting through the demo without seeing that defeat screen (that you would get whether you died or timed out) was one of the most satisfying things as a kid
The best part was figuring out there was a way to actually win before the timer ran out. It's not a secret, but the game absolutely doesn't tell you it's possible (if you play "normally" you'll never get that unlock condition without timing out). Finding this out and finally getting through the demo without seeing that defeat screen (that you would get whether you died or timed out) was one of the most satisfying things as a kid
I remember really liking the demo for Einhander on the PS1. It was a game similar to Gradius, but made by Square.
Yeah, I've played it as much as I've played most other games purely off of it being 100% playable 2-player, well... Puyo Puyo Tetris. It's way too generous of a demo but hey free Tetris
Tony hawk pro skater 2 takes the cake for me. It included the fucking level editor, dude
Followed by unreal tournament 99 which I played pretty much non stop until I was able to afford the game
Then I remember playing a shitload of sled storm because it had dragula and I loved that song as a kid lol
Followed by unreal tournament 99 which I played pretty much non stop until I was able to afford the game
Then I remember playing a shitload of sled storm because it had dragula and I loved that song as a kid lol
I'm certain the popularity and longevity of that demo is the sole reason Wake Island itself continues to pop up in Battlefield games to this day. It was so damn good.
I was gonna say that. Never had the actual game but put plenty of hours into wake island.
Also, halo CE demo with blood gulch and silent cartographer. So damn good.
Not only it's still my all-time favorite racing game the demo also got me into online racing. Back in the day, I was only playing FPS games online GRID's demo had multiplayer and it was a blast.
I agree - I remember when they released BF1943 and I immediately thought "welp, time to sink another jillion hours into this one map."
the Demo for Lost Planet 2.
coop, could try the great mechanics, voice chat on ps3, it was so amazing and replayable.
Same could be said for the demo of Resident Evil 5, must have played that one 40-50 times.
And obligatory, demo for Dragon Quest XI that lets you try a nice portion of the game.
coop, could try the great mechanics, voice chat on ps3, it was so amazing and replayable.
Same could be said for the demo of Resident Evil 5, must have played that one 40-50 times.
And obligatory, demo for Dragon Quest XI that lets you try a nice portion of the game.
I used to play that Lost Planet 1 demo every morning with my cousin. Didn't stick with 2 for whatever reason
I had a demo disc with Burnout on it that I loaded up regularly just to smash shit.
Never bought the game. Forget it or was ps2 or 3 era.
Never bought the game. Forget it or was ps2 or 3 era.
PS1's Demo 1, when I was a kid. I played it for weeks and, meanwhile, I was renting games from a videoclub on the weekends. In the demo I played Tekken 2, Battle Arena Toshinden 2, Adidas Power Soccer, WipEout 2097, Destruction Derby 2, Crash Bandicoot, Actua Golf, Monster Trucks, Ridge Racer Revolution, Die Hard Trilogy...
Tekken, Toshinden and Die Hard hitted me hard. I was so impressed with these games... Specialy with Die Hard and those screams when people burned.
And that trailer from Broken Sword... My god, I watched it thousands times until my brother finally bought me the game and the sequel.
Tekken, Toshinden and Die Hard hitted me hard. I was so impressed with these games... Specialy with Die Hard and those screams when people burned.
And that trailer from Broken Sword... My god, I watched it thousands times until my brother finally bought me the game and the sequel.
Skate 2.
Hall of Meat.
Just spent hours with my brother basically yeeting our skaters and seeing who got the "best" bail.
Hall of Meat.
Just spent hours with my brother basically yeeting our skaters and seeing who got the "best" bail.
As a teen GTA1; I just messed around driving around and pissing about.
Also Rush 2049 on the Dreamcast; the Disco map and stunt mode, 20 minutes 4 players trying to get the best score (Random driving fast at ramps and spinning and hoping you land 1 in 100 times); we all loved that. A mate then bought the full game and we continued just playing the same map with the same rules.
Also Rush 2049 on the Dreamcast; the Disco map and stunt mode, 20 minutes 4 players trying to get the best score (Random driving fast at ramps and spinning and hoping you land 1 in 100 times); we all loved that. A mate then bought the full game and we continued just playing the same map with the same rules.
I had a demo disc from an xbox magazine I used to buy quite regularly. It was playable on the original xbox and had a halo combat evolved demo (the silent cartographer level) and a splinter cell demo (the police station level) among others. I was a kid and it blew my goddamn mind at the time.
Bioshock's demo convinced me to buy the game immediately.
Shadow of the Colossus's demo was a great encapsulation of the the full game's sense of loneliness and desolation. I loved climbing up to the secret garden in the castle.
Bayonetta's demo is so good because it lets you play through the entirety of the first level, which happens to be one of the most fun and reachable levels in the game. I find it to be a perfect bite-sized portion with just the right amount of variety in the traversal and encounters. I replayed it often.
Devil May Cry 5's demo is similar to the above. You get a super fun and well paced level to play through, complete with a simple but enjoyable boss fight at the end.
Shadow of the Colossus's demo was a great encapsulation of the the full game's sense of loneliness and desolation. I loved climbing up to the secret garden in the castle.
Bayonetta's demo is so good because it lets you play through the entirety of the first level, which happens to be one of the most fun and reachable levels in the game. I find it to be a perfect bite-sized portion with just the right amount of variety in the traversal and encounters. I replayed it often.
Devil May Cry 5's demo is similar to the above. You get a super fun and well paced level to play through, complete with a simple but enjoyable boss fight at the end.
If it does, it's almost impossible to top.
