Games that lived up to or exceeded your expectations in a good (or bad) way

Good way:
Batman Arkham Asylum/City
Ultimate Alliance 1 &2
The Suffering
Resident Evil 2
Super Mario Bros 1-3
Super Mario World
Ren and Stimpy: Time Warp
Turtles In Time
Mega Man X1 – X3

I’ll add more as they come to mind.

Exceeded Expectations

Paper Mario
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask
Super Mario 3D Land
The Sims 2
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Donkey Kong Country (all 3)
Donkey Kong 64
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Partners In Time (will find out about Bowser’s Inside Story after I beat Partners In Time)

Lived Up To Expectations

Rayman Origins
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2

Didn’t Live Up To Expectations

Super Paper Mario
Paper Mario Sticker Star
New Super Mario Bros. 2

Will add more as I go along…

Super Mario Bros 1, 3
Tomb Raider Legend/Anniversary
Final Fantasy IV, IX, X
Rayman 2, Origins
Ys:Ark of Napishtim

Good way

Mischief Makers – I didn’t like the box art but when then I could not stop playing it, it’s my favorite game: Great character design, music, gameplay and story.
Marina deserves to be a playable character on the next SSB. title.

No More Heroes – People in GameSpot loved the game, the box art looked different from other games, so I decided to play it. It was a fantastic experience! Likeable characters, catchy music but the story and the gameplay are wonderful.

Bad way

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days – The story, graphics and music are amazing but the gameplay is terrible.
I don’t like KH anymore but I will never forget KH358/2D, a beautiful story that deserved something better than a DS.

Mega Man 8 – Once more, a hard MM game but this title got the worst Robot Masters (I only liked Tengu/Astro Man).

Dead Space in the most evil GOOD way. It was a nerve wracking thrill playing 1 and 2 back to back. Can’t wait to gey my hands on 3.

A Bad way? The awful Bill & Ted game for NES still gives me odd and confusing nightmares.