Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005). Two things:
1. They have playable variants of the traffic cars and cop cars in the challenge series, but they are only usable in the challenge series and can’t be used elsewhere despite being totally functional. And it sucks because they’re pretty fun to play with and add a sense of variety to the game.
In the devs defense though, some of them are lower poly compared to the other cars in the game and have very limited customization options with some options causing the game to crash. However, I think they should have added them anyway and did something to prevent people from accessing customization options it didn’t have like they did with the M3 GTR.
2. They have a Mercedes Benz SL 65 AMG and Porsche 911 GT2 you can unlock by beating the challenge series and the Corvette C6-R for beating the career, but they’re only playable in arcade mode and nowhere else. Which I think is kind of stupid and takes away some of the value in unlocking them.
Once again, in the devs defense, what I said in #1 applies here as well and so does my solution. Another thing I can add is people could play the challenge series first and then get the Benz and Porsche too early in the career making it too easy. However, they could just make them unlockable elsewhere because they’re not good rewards for what the challenge series asks for anyways.
Need for Speed Carbon.
Even worse in this regard than MW is Carbon, which has half its car list reserved for quick race only. Things like the Lexus IS200, Lotus Europa S, and Plymouth Roadrunner only being playable in the challenge series (in the PS2 version anyhow) and the fire truck, Audi Le Mans Quattro, Chevelle, 1999 Eclipse, and more I can’t be bothered to list being reserved for quick race only. Then we have the M3-GTR which is only playable at the beginning of the career and in quick race, for some reason.
Of course what I said earlier about the customization of the cars in MW also applies here and so does my solution. This is a major bummer because they’re some of the best cars in the game in my opinion and they make up a good portion of its car list, yet you can’t do much with them, which really undermines it.
Star Wars Battlefront (2004).
You have the battle droid, which is only playable in the first 2 missions of some story mode I forget the name of and it can’t be used elsewhere. Maybe they thought it was pointless since we have the super battle droid, but the battle droid still has its place in my opinion, and should have been included everywhere as well.
Star Wars Battlefront II (2005).
Theirs so many space maps in this game, like space Coruscant, space Mustafar and MANY others that are reserved for Rise of the Empire and galactic conquest only and aren’t in instant action for some reason. And it’s a pity because space Mustafar might one of my most favorite space maps and theirs so many I would enjoy playing often if they were more accessible. The fact they excluded space Coruscant is especially weird given they advertised it on the back of the game case only to not use it much at all. Adding these may add a crap ton of space maps, but they should have added these to instant action anyways, especially given some of them are more unique than the ones they already have in it.
Star Wars Battlefront (2015).
I can recall a lot of levels and game modes being reserved for online-only that could have been added to single player. This
might just be one of the most offensive examples of needlessly reserving content for certain parts of a game I can think of. I say this because the huge emphasis on online play (which I dislike) and lack of single-player content was one of my biggest problems with this game. Made even worse knowing so much of what was reserved for online-only could have been added to single player. When I said “it could ruin an entire game”, this game was a huge part of why I mentioned it. Though I must confess, it’s been a long time since I played the game again.
Lego Island 2 (PS1).
I talked about this earlier, but this game might just be the 2nd or 3rd biggest offender for this. And it gets this title because Adventurers Island is divided into several parts, but you can only access each part as you play through the story. Once you beat it, you can only walk on one part of the island and the rest becomes inaccessible. Even worse, theirs an island called Ogle Island that’s really cool, but very short and once you beat it, you can
never access it again without cheats.
I love Lego Island 2, but those 2 maps are some of my most favorite in the game, and the fact you can’t revisit them after you finish them just kills a lot of the replayability it could have had.
Spyro Season of Flame.
This game had a cool little hockey game you could play as you progress through the story, but once you beat it, you can’t play it again. It would have been neat to be able to do so, especially since the classic games did a decent job at this sort of thing.
Spyro Year of the Dragon. In Evening Lake, theirs a whale swimming around that will swallow you if you get close to it and when you do, you can find an egg in its mouth. However, you cannot go into it again after you collect the egg and exit. Not a huge deal really, but it would have been cool to be able to do that at any time after collecting the egg.
Gran Turismo 5. 2 things.
1. So they later added the Red Bull X2010 5G to the game, but it was only playable in a seasonal event, which obviously didn’t stay around forever and was completely unobtainable without hacks. Seems like a total waste to create this car only to make it playable in a specific challenge (that didn’t stay around long) and not let the player add it to their garage.
2. Some special events, I forget the names, had some course maker tracks that were point to point and could only be raced on in these events. They were unique given that they were point-to-point course maker tracks that didn’t exist anywhere else in the game and could not be recreated normally. This one bummed me for years because I loved these tracks and it’s a pity they couldn’t have been added to the course list because they’re fun to drive on.
Gran Turismo 2.
1. Autumn Ring Mini for some reason is only playable on the arcade mode disc and despite existing in the simulation mode and being fully functional, it’s never used anywhere.
2. In arcade mode, theirs some rally cars available to the player, but they’re only usable in arcade mode for some reason and are completely unused in simulation mode. Which is a bummer because some of them look pretty good and I am quite fond of them.
To be fair though, they lack performance data in the simulation mode, which is strange given they had it in arcade mode. Still, they could have easily given it the performance data and made it available in some form, especially since they already did in arcade mode.
3. In the license tests for simulation mode, there are the D-Rights Miata and D-Rights Silvia which are only playable in the license tests they’re featured in and aren’t normally usable outside of them for some reason.
To be fair, they also lack performance data outside of their intended tests. Again though, they could have easily just given it the proper performance data in simulation mode since it was already made for the license tests and made it available elsewhere.
Test Drive 5.
While the game lets you change the color of your car in just about every mode, two-player for some reason lacks this and I can’t think of a good reason why it would.
Need for Speed Undercover (PS2).
This game for some reason has a 370Z reserved for only multiplayer, which for a LONG time I didn’t even know about, and while it ain’t much, I really don’t see the reason for this whatsoever.
Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy and Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga.
While I can get behind why things like the mouse droid and womp rat are reserved for extra toggle only, what I don’t get it is why the Scout Trooper and AT-AT driver are. They don’t exactly fit in with the other extra toggle characters and feel more like something you should be able to buy, yet they aren’t. It honestly doesn’t make much sense to do this and they should have just made them buyable instead.
Tonka Space Station. Two things:
1. Each module has several different levels that can be played on as you progress through simulation mode, but the upper levels can only be played in simulation mode and are not playable in arcade. All of this seems like a missed opportunity because they could have expanded the replayability a bit more, but they didn’t.
2. Both the boss and bonus module are another. You challenge the boss module at seemingly random times in simulation mode and in the same mode, you only get to play the bonus module once when you beat the game, and never again as far as I know. Neither of which are available in arcade mode and it’s a shame because you never really get to play either of these much at all. Having them unlockable in arcade mode would have also made the game a lot more enjoyable.
007 Nightfire.
My memory is a little hazy since I ain’t played this game in a long time, but I think the first level has a sniper rifle you use, but to my recollection, it’s never seen again afterward. I could be wrong though.
I was surprised at just how many examples I could find for this and I have a feeling this may not be the last time I talk about it either. I am sure there could be reasons for some of these that I am not aware of right now, but this sort of thing just really sucks and feels so pointless sometimes.
