This is a thread to talk about games that throw something in the middle of the game the diverges from standard material found in the game. Not a thread to talk about games that were different from their franchise counterparts (Super Mario Bros. 2, Zelda 2, etc.) or optional stuff like sidequests. An exception to optional stuff is when you have to beat/complete something to get the best ending in the game (i.e. Sonic's gem levels). Please describe what you liked and hated about said game diversion in a detailed response that allows people to understand who haven't played the game before why it was good or bad. For other ones you want to mention that don't fall under the best or worst make note of them so we can have a big compilation of all the notable in-game diversions. Here are mine:

My best diversions:
Contra 3's Topdown levels
-Maybe the positive memory of Fortress Zone -- a game I played in my early years on GameBoy -- influenced me but I found these levels to be pretty entertaining. Getting swarmed in 360 degrees is good for providing tension and paths to blow through enemies to escape the en masse. It was cool to see the weapon fire from a different perspective than from the side and hiding behind barriers didn't become stale like Gears of War. The levels had no mindless wandering around and the different areas you went to -- sometimes traversing through tight walkways or mine-riddled floor spaces to do so -- to destroy the 7 enemies to proceed to the boss provided fresh excitement to wherever you went. The first boss you fight was pretty cool. It produces a lot of moments where you could scream "get out of the way" or "it's coming right for us!". This diversion level was introduced again before the final level of the game and intensified certain aspects.

My worst diversions:
Gunstar Heroes & Gunstar Super Heroes' Flight Levels
-I really disliked the inclusion of these dumbed down topdown piloting levels. The ships lost all the fun moves you had with Red and Blue. The boss and enemies didn't have any great designs from the game that blew away other boss battles. Just was really boring and out-of-place. The Gunstar Super Heroes helicoptor level on hard is stupidly harder than the entire game. You shoot at a boss that will kill you in less than 15 seconds. I stopped playing the game due to how annoying this boss was. When I later picked up the game I beat it on my first try.

Other diversions:
RE4's Ashley level (fine) and Viewtiful Joe's aerial dogfighting level (bad).

Could you edit your post and describe it some more? I've never played FF7.

vert1 wrote:

Please describe what you liked and hated about said game diversion in a detailed response that allows people to understand who haven't played the game before why it was good or bad.

What is the card game like? Super Mario Bros 3 card game? Can you guys please describe the stuff or link to youtube videos or something?

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)

This game is chockful of great sidegames to play. You have Gradius 1 running arcade smooth (no slowdown) to play, you can bet to double your money in a card game I call high or low (1,2,3 are low bet; 4,5,6 are high bet). If you make the wrong call you lose all the money you bet. There's a lot more I haven't mentioned that are fun as well.

My favorite sidegame to play was wack-a-mole. There are 8 holes that correspond to a
button on the SNES controller (so the holes form two diamond mounds like baseball bases). Press the corresponding button to deliver a hammer bonk to a mole. There are normal moles and blue moles (worth more points). Every now and then your partner Ebisimaru's head will pop up (who I think makes you lose points if you hit him).