Ten Games That Were Derivative But Still Rocked

Some of the most hyped games these days are also usually very derivative of other very successful titles, and recently examples such as Medal of Honor and Dante’s Inferno have shown us that such games are often given lower scores than what they deserve, simply because they take heavily from their competition.

We will list below ten games that that were hugely derivative of other titles, yet were still rather good.

Forza Motorsport (Derivative of the Gran Turismo series)

The Gran Turismo series was basically ruling the roost with no competition at all in the racing simulator genre. Forza Motorsport came, and it took heavily from Gran Turismo, the series it sought to overthrow, and even though it was not thrashed and/or underappreciated because of its obvious derivative nature, it still was, at that time, a “rip-off.” But it was spectacular, and it spawned two of the best racers ever released in the coming years.

Torchlight (Derivative of the Diablo games)

Torchlight is Diablo through and through,with some minor changes. It even looks the same. If Torchlight was released under the name of DiabloIII, it wouldn’t be hard to pass of as it. Yet still- who known anything about Torchlight? Most of you might not have even known a game called Torchlight existed before reading this- Torchlight surely deserves more. It is a really good, qualitative, addictive game, that deserves much more than just a “Diablo rip-off” tag.

Singularity (Derivative of BioShock)

Singularity was highly derivative of BioShock, and to an extent, even F.E.A.R. But that does not mean it wasn’t good. I mean, Bioshock and F.E.A.R were basically really good shooters, and what’s wrong with having more of the same? Singularity was like the best “best-of” compilation, combining all the great elements of BioShock and FEAR. It’s a pity that very few people actually got around to playing it, and that it received such mediocre reviews.

Lost Odyssey (Derivative of all JRPGs)

What did Lost Odyssey do? It took all the traditional JRPG formulas and mechanics, and just kept them as they were, with no tweaks or innovations. It stuck to the tried and true formula, and was thus given the tag of being “derivative” of all JRPGs, and trying nothing new. But how is that even supposed to matter? What mattered was that Lost Odyssey was a really good game, and deserved much, much more than what it got in sales and reviews, both.

ModNation Racers (Derivative of the Mario Kart series)

It was known long before MNR even released that it was being in released as competition for the almost unbeatable Mario Kart series, and people knew that other than the Play Create Share feature it borrowed from LittleBigPlanet, it was going to be a Mario Kart rip-off. While ModNation Racers was unable to perfectly recreate the fun and wacky nature of Mario Kart, it still turned out to be a really good, fun and addictive experience. Pity, though, that the game did not sell as well as it should have, and that it got only decent reviews.