What's a game (or games) you really loved, from a genre or type of game you generally dislike, and what made you like it?

Smash court tennis... Hate sport games.... well i kinda love tennis :P

Bioshock and Doom (2016) for first-person shooters come to mind. I don't hate these kind of games, but there are only very few of them that I enjoy. I despise military shooters like Call of Duty though. I'd never touch that. In fact, for me first-person shooters need to have something crazy, fantastic, artistic, surreal to them.

Skyrim for western RPGs. If I play a an RPG I want to experience a set story with pre-defined characters instead of making up my own story and building my character in an editor at the beginning. I just don't like that. In that way I enjoy JRPGs much much more because they tell a story that I can follow through with all it's ups and downs, with plot twists and surprises, heartwarming and shocking moments. A western rpg that only has a rather tiny main quest just cannot deliver that. However, I found out that I got quite invested in Skyrim once I got the hang of it.

Bioshock for FPS, Mass Effect for TPS. I also like the Mario Golf games a lot but don't generally like sports.

Disgaea/XCOM for TB RPG/TBS respectively.

Mario Kart is the only racing game I like.

Even though I don't hate twin stick shooters, I nerver play them. Still I played and have fond memories of Dead Nation.
Perhaps I should try picking up another Housmarque game. I'm really lookong dorward to returnal.

Sports - Punch-Out!!
JRPG - Xenoblade and Octopath Traveller
Life Sim - Animal Crossing New Horizons
TBS - Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
Racing - Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Point and Click Adventure - Shadowgate

I am such a diverse gamer, that I am having a hard timebfinding a genre that I cannot actually enjoy. I mean, I never thought I would like a game like Animal Crossing, but I have sunken over 320 hours into it easily sooooooo...that?

Don't play many JRPG's, but loved Golden Sun. FF7R was good, too.