A strange one but I absolutely hated Super Mario 64 as a child, and rated Banjo and DK64 more. Maybe because SM64 was anyone's real first crack at a 3D game, and I just never really got past the ship water level. I've replayed it though since, on the DS and All Stars, and I've come to appreciate how revolutionary it was, and it had some great level designs.
Ocarina is another one, where I just got stuck for months (maybe years) in Kakariko village and didn't figure out that I needed to give the letter to the guard.
For both games, I think I was still a bit too young to appreciate them for what they were!
Notable mentions
- The Half Life games: again too young to appreciate for it really was
- Mario 3D World: I just got annoyed at Nintendo during those years for seemingly making less expansive games and felt like a slap in the face after the incredible Galaxy games but I now appreciate there was lot more depth to them







