A lot of games strive on doing something new. Coming up with the new innovative battle system or way to traverse a world map is what many game developers think is the claim to fame. Well, although it can be the claim to fame, what's exotic isn't always what works.

I have here 3 games that are the first (or widely-believed to be the first) to perform their system, and do it right enough to be hailed as amazing. I also have 3 games that are unique in a significant way, but their system simply fails.

Games that are innovative in a good way:

Pacman (mazes) - Pacman did a lot that they first did in this nation-wide hit. A maze-like gameplay in a maze-like world gobbling pellets in a maze-like pattern. No matter what Pacman did, if it didn't do it like it did the maze concept, I doubt people would have flocked to it with so much enthusiasm.

Chrono Trigger (battle system) - Chrono Trigger is another game that did so many things right, but what kept players jumping for joy was the amazing battle system. The shape of a battle, no random encounters, and consideration for teamwork between combinations of members of a party. Seriously, Chrono Trigger is an example of pure excellence in a battle system, and it is considered one of the best battle systems to this day. I guess innovation was the seed for something greater.

Super Smash Bros. (free movement) - A fighting game was well-known for being on a flat area, usually not very big, fought on by two battlers who had a strict engine to work by. Nintendo decided to not only unite many great Nintendo characters, but also make a field worthy of 4 simultaneous players with platforms, items, and tricks galore.

Okay, but what about games that failed in their attempts?

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - This game paid a good sum of attention to Harvest Moon's base concepts, but widely changed a good amount of it to fit a new concept. I don't fully understand what it wanted to do, but it was obvious to me that this wasn't going to be like previous Harvest Moon installments. What was different? Well in other Harvest Moons, you're given nothing and must bring it all to greatness in an explorative environment, where you can enjoy a farming world. In this game, you're given plenty, and are forced to repetitive gameplay and shallow townspeople from the get-go. Ugh.

Final Fantasy VIII (draw magic) - The common belief as to how magic should work is that it is infinite. You have magic forever and ever, and your only limit is an abundant source of power known as MP (magic points). FFVIII wanted to take a new look, and make it similar to items, where you can run out of the spell altogether, even if you could use other spells. This concept was failed, because magic that you run out of, was basically the same as using items. Turns out most people don't like the urgency of running out of crap like that.

Metal Gear (stealth) - Metal Gear was an NES game hailed as a classic by many gamers and fans of the franchise. Although the NES one was a remake, many people have not tried Hideo Kojima's original version. What made the stealth of this game so poor was the fact that the player never had the chance to use it at certain times where it would be needed. when making certain map changes, you were already in the enemy's line of sight, thus you at times take damage before you even had a chance to react or move. It would take until further installments for the stealth element to be done in a realistic or workable way.