Damn. I loved that game. The nemesis system alone was worth the price.
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What's the worst game you've personally ever experienced?
- Thread starter Exellus
- Start date
Damn. I loved that game. The nemesis system alone was worth the price.
The worst I played is probably some NES or SNES game I rented and have blocked out of my memory. I remember and still hate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (stupid water level!) and Zelda 2, but I know there's much worse out there. Mario is Missing is probably the worst game I've ever purchased...but it's not an all-time worst; it's just incredibly boring and makes me feel sick if I play it longer than half an hour. Also, it's been really a long time since I've played some real stinkers. I bought the aforementioned Mario is Missing over twenty years ago, and the worst game I've bought since the PS1/N64 days is Final Fantasy XV. Now, I call myself an FFXV hater, but I feel things are good if that's the bottom of my barrel.
Eh, I'd definitely call it a bad game, even without its lowering of the Final Fantasy reputation (although I'm not sure the series has much more reputation to lose at this point).
Eh, I'd definitely call it a bad game, even without its lowering of the Final Fantasy reputation (although I'm not sure the series has much more reputation to lose at this point).
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. This game's multiplayer was the most broken I've ever played. Extreme garbage. Such a huge letdown coming from the amazing Allied Assault. It's online multiplayer was a laggy gongshow. 😣👎
EA L.A. tanked it hard. WTF, how does this game have an 80 on Metacritic? EA review purchasing methinks.
EA L.A. tanked it hard. WTF, how does this game have an 80 on Metacritic? EA review purchasing methinks.
Adventures of Bayou Billy is definitely up there for me. Got it when I was a kid, back when I only got a new game maybe once every 6 - 12 months. So... I basically had nothing else new to play and ended up beating it.
Same thing happened with TMNT NES, Fester's Revenge, and Battletoads. Those were all hard, but overall fun and playable.
A few other gems include Quest64, a bunch of XBLIG on the 360, and most recently Loco Cycle. LC wasn't necessarily a bad game, but the racist overtones just proved too much and I feel by the time the game came out they should have known better than to make a story like that.
Same thing happened with TMNT NES, Fester's Revenge, and Battletoads. Those were all hard, but overall fun and playable.
A few other gems include Quest64, a bunch of XBLIG on the 360, and most recently Loco Cycle. LC wasn't necessarily a bad game, but the racist overtones just proved too much and I feel by the time the game came out they should have known better than to make a story like that.
There were some shitty ones on the NES, ninja turtles, silver surfer, star voyager. But the one that stands out to me now is Fellowship of the Ring on Xbox. It was licensed from the books, not the movies and it wasn't offensively bad. It was much worse, it was incredibly dull, it's just a boring lifeless game that didn't do anything very well.
TFW you enter the thread knowing you coded two games that may be someone's worst ever then realize that for that to happen someone would've actually had to buy them.
The other versions had nicer graphics but i remember the ps2 version being complete and playing fine. I suprised it would go from a good game to the worst game youve played.
Grew up with an Amstrad CPC. Even ports of good games were a horrific struggle to deal with.
But, that's not entirely fair. Some crappy game knocked out by a teenager shouldn't be held to the same standards as something that went through all the official channels to get published on a modern day console.
In that sense, I'm not sure what the absolute worst thing I've played is. A lot of objectively bad games I've managed to wring some enjoyment out of.
That said, Sonic 06 is one of the first games in a long while that had me go from "this is giving me Dreamcast nostalgia!" To "Fuck this. I never want to play it again!" Within the space of a single course.
Holy hell, that game is so bad!
But, that's not entirely fair. Some crappy game knocked out by a teenager shouldn't be held to the same standards as something that went through all the official channels to get published on a modern day console.
In that sense, I'm not sure what the absolute worst thing I've played is. A lot of objectively bad games I've managed to wring some enjoyment out of.
That said, Sonic 06 is one of the first games in a long while that had me go from "this is giving me Dreamcast nostalgia!" To "Fuck this. I never want to play it again!" Within the space of a single course.
Holy hell, that game is so bad!
Dark Side of the Moon and Wild Wild West. I guess they weren't terrible. They sure didn't sell many copies though. Dark Side was a PC FMV adventure game released in 1998 (a tad late for FMV) and WWW used the characters but none of the plot from the movie (perhaps for the best) and was a PC 3D characters on pre-rendered backgrounds adventure game released in 1999.
My parents allowed me to pick a new SNES game to buy every 6 months or so when I was a kid. Not knowing english, I relied entirely on what looked "cool" based on the box art. My favorite games were Mario Kart and Super Mario World, so naturally if I saw Mario, I went for it.
This time, my parents were generous and allowed me TWO games.
... yeah. If you are unaware, both of these were "educational" games, with minimal gameplay, and emphasis on exploration and, well, given that they were educational games - reading, and answering quizes. I didn't understand ANYTHING. At least Mario's Time Machine had a segment where you could surf around, that's pretty much the only enjoyable gameplay I got out of these.
This time, my parents were generous and allowed me TWO games.
... yeah. If you are unaware, both of these were "educational" games, with minimal gameplay, and emphasis on exploration and, well, given that they were educational games - reading, and answering quizes. I didn't understand ANYTHING. At least Mario's Time Machine had a segment where you could surf around, that's pretty much the only enjoyable gameplay I got out of these.
Has to be some mobile, flash, or rented ps2 game I can't remember.
Worst I remember is Street Fighter 5 though. Barebones release where the online didn't even work for me for the whole first week. Stuck doing the annoying survival mode to grind colors but sometimes connection would get lost like 40 minutes in and the progress was gone. Add to that menus & hud that looked like pre-alpha, clipping on character select screen, etc.
Tried to look past all that and just have fun playing against friends and do training mode but didn't like how the game plays at all.
Worst I remember is Street Fighter 5 though. Barebones release where the online didn't even work for me for the whole first week. Stuck doing the annoying survival mode to grind colors but sometimes connection would get lost like 40 minutes in and the progress was gone. Add to that menus & hud that looked like pre-alpha, clipping on character select screen, etc.
Tried to look past all that and just have fun playing against friends and do training mode but didn't like how the game plays at all.
People have their gripes about the game, I can honestly say I have not seen somebody state it was among the worst games ever until this post of yours drenched in edge came across my screen.
For you to have it as the single worst experience ever, I have to assume you've only played around the 5 or so games listed among its equal in terms of critical and consumer adulation and rated it as the lowest game on that totem pole.
I do hope you are not older, as I'm sure you've played some real porcelain staining wet shits in your day.
Botw worst game, you lived a damn good gaming life
I played a fair bit of dross as a kid. The worst thing I remember was a thing called Maze of Death.
It was a cassette loading game that I played on the Atari 400 home computer of the early 80s and while it was cool listening to a recording of Sorceror's Apprentice during the long loading screen (being able to play back audio from a cassette while loading)
It may have been a great game, but I fucking hated it. Since we didn't have too much else to lay, I probably tried it a few times.
Superman 64. I never owned it, but the one time I tried to play it was weird. I was working in a second hand store in 1999 and it was one of the few n64 games we had in stock (this and a hockey game, which wasn't a thing anyone cared about in Australia) and some woman wanted it for her kid but she wanted us to try it out first. So I booted it up, knowing it had a bad rep but when I couldn't get Supes to do anything, i was embrassed as fuck. She didn't seem impressed but bought it anyway.
It was a cassette loading game that I played on the Atari 400 home computer of the early 80s and while it was cool listening to a recording of Sorceror's Apprentice during the long loading screen (being able to play back audio from a cassette while loading)
It may have been a great game, but I fucking hated it. Since we didn't have too much else to lay, I probably tried it a few times.
Superman 64. I never owned it, but the one time I tried to play it was weird. I was working in a second hand store in 1999 and it was one of the few n64 games we had in stock (this and a hockey game, which wasn't a thing anyone cared about in Australia) and some woman wanted it for her kid but she wanted us to try it out first. So I booted it up, knowing it had a bad rep but when I couldn't get Supes to do anything, i was embrassed as fuck. She didn't seem impressed but bought it anyway.
I've thankfully avoided most of the famous examples. As for what I've personally played; Prototype. Fun sandbox and gameplay to fuck around in, but actually playing through the story missions are dreadful.
Came in to post this, Still makes me chuckle thinking back the hype this got before the reviews rolled in "Street Fighther beater" indeed 🤣🤣
The arcade version, even the Mega Drive/Genesis port wasn't too bad but the SNES version was an absolute travesty!
I remember seeing piles of these stack up in the bargain bin going for £1 each, and even then it's not worth the money! LOL
The arcade version, even the Mega Drive/Genesis port wasn't too bad but the SNES version was an absolute travesty!
I remember seeing piles of these stack up in the bargain bin going for £1 each, and even then it's not worth the money! LOL
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Well to me it is, but i noticed many liked it for some reason I'll never understand.
I have a past as a Commodore user, so I guess the amount of trash I tried in that days is countless. There was a really BAD level of "being bad" for videogames back then.
If I have to pick a specific game I guess I'll go with the Chase HQ conversion on Commodore 64.
That was really painful.
If I have to pick a specific game I guess I'll go with the Chase HQ conversion on Commodore 64.
That was really painful.
I haven't had too many bad game experiences in my life, but I did play some bad games and some that were disappointing.
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly was awful. Just a huge step down from the PS1 games. If they didn't rush it, it'd be a much better game.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus on the Vita was one of the worst ports I laid my eyes on. There were tons of framerate issues on the first level, the resolution was low, and it felt sluggish. It was so bad I took the game back almost immediately after buying it.
Borderlands 2 on Vita was garbage. The framerate was awful, the loading times were long as hell, and you couldn't even use the OS while the game's suspended.
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain was a disappointment. I wanted to play it for years after playing every other game in the series. Once I got to Omega Strain, I became underwhelmed. Respawning enemies, weak story, and, arguably worst of all, Gabe Logan and the others aren't playable outside of some shitty bonus missions that are stealth focused. WTF? First of all, Syphon Filter's primarily a third-person shooter with some stealth elements, not the other way around. Second of all, who thought it was a great idea to not have Gabe, Lian, and the others take such a backseat in the story. On top of that, there wasn't even supposed to be a campaign, as it was focused on multiplayer. Good lord, screw this game!
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly was awful. Just a huge step down from the PS1 games. If they didn't rush it, it'd be a much better game.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus on the Vita was one of the worst ports I laid my eyes on. There were tons of framerate issues on the first level, the resolution was low, and it felt sluggish. It was so bad I took the game back almost immediately after buying it.
Borderlands 2 on Vita was garbage. The framerate was awful, the loading times were long as hell, and you couldn't even use the OS while the game's suspended.
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain was a disappointment. I wanted to play it for years after playing every other game in the series. Once I got to Omega Strain, I became underwhelmed. Respawning enemies, weak story, and, arguably worst of all, Gabe Logan and the others aren't playable outside of some shitty bonus missions that are stealth focused. WTF? First of all, Syphon Filter's primarily a third-person shooter with some stealth elements, not the other way around. Second of all, who thought it was a great idea to not have Gabe, Lian, and the others take such a backseat in the story. On top of that, there wasn't even supposed to be a campaign, as it was focused on multiplayer. Good lord, screw this game!
Lmao "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime, summertime gaaaaaaaaaaaaaal"....has anyone said Aliens: Colonial Marines yet? Because crikey that was buggy as shit.
Some hot takes in here.
I think it would have to be Airwolf
Loved the tv show, did not love the game.
Maybe not the worst, but right off the bat Excalibur 2555AD is what comes to mind. I still want to punch in the face the reviewers (there was more than one) who dared put the words "Tomb Raider" in their reviews as if this turd is even remotely comparable, bare for the fact it has a female MC.
Never has a game pressed all the wrong buttons for me more than this game. I'm a big JRPG fan but this game did nothing for me and actually made me angry/depressed (yes it really did inflict those emotions on me) playing it due to pretty much everything about it.
I've fished out a post I made back in 2011 on GameFAQs:
That's a tough question.
There was so much absolute shit back in 8-bit era, and we didn't really know any better. Most of my games were because of cool box art, or random gifts for birthdays/christmas. Or, simply because E.T. or He-Man was on the cover. Reviews weren't really a thing... Magazines where fledgling at best, and of course no internet, or substantial media coverage. It felt like word of mouth didn't really become much of thing until well into the NES era. And that probably went hand in hand with mags like Nintendo Power and EGM picking up steam. So, I ended up with a lot of crap in my consoles. Some Atari (your choice of console) games where barely playable. Even on the the NES you had a trove of licensed games that could easy make a "worst of all time" list.
So yeah, I have nothing to specifically contribute. Just an overall anecdote. lol
There was so much absolute shit back in 8-bit era, and we didn't really know any better. Most of my games were because of cool box art, or random gifts for birthdays/christmas. Or, simply because E.T. or He-Man was on the cover. Reviews weren't really a thing... Magazines where fledgling at best, and of course no internet, or substantial media coverage. It felt like word of mouth didn't really become much of thing until well into the NES era. And that probably went hand in hand with mags like Nintendo Power and EGM picking up steam. So, I ended up with a lot of crap in my consoles. Some Atari (your choice of console) games where barely playable. Even on the the NES you had a trove of licensed games that could easy make a "worst of all time" list.
So yeah, I have nothing to specifically contribute. Just an overall anecdote. lol
I'll repeat myself from the old place:
This beauty:
Now, first of all, it's imperative that I highlight that people might argue it's not a JRPG. I'm including it because it has JRPG battles and a Japanese designer (emblazoned on the cover, to boot!) (Edit: and I've just looked up the name. If it's the *same* Hiroyuki Miura, he's certainly got valid JRPG credentials)
In between the battles progression is closer to a point-and-click adventure. Very simple puzzles, but given it's aimed at a family audience, I'm willing to overlook that. The graphics *are* diabolical, though. It's from 1995 and very clearly low-budget, and my word, it shows.
But all the negatives would be forgiven if the gameplay was top-notch...
...the gameplay is linear, boring, combat is dull, and the whole thing is over in about an hour. The whole thing. There's about five fights, total
Oh, and on the subject of an ending... it doesn't, really. It ends with 'To Be Continued", and does very little to resolve the plot.
I need to highlight: This isn't me being an arrogant, oh-I'm-too-good-for-kid-friendly-games person. Both of my parents were in education, so I saw a lot of software pitched at kids for education purposes, and I developed an understanding on their own merits; I remember being utterly charmed - in my mid-teens - by the Broderbund Living Books series, for instance. This game, though, is still dire.
I have since discovered the existence of a Japanese-only sequel. If I ever get around to doing Let's Play-esque stuff, that's definitely on the cards.
Particularly frustrating is that the Speccy version was genuinely great.
I'm a little surprised it's been so long since we last had a racer built around the Chase HQ structure, there's gotta be scope for more on that front these days, surely? At the moment the best we get is the occasional mission in an open-world game, but the gameplay changes somewhat when you have to be concerned about your own car's condition!
This beauty:
Now, first of all, it's imperative that I highlight that people might argue it's not a JRPG. I'm including it because it has JRPG battles and a Japanese designer (emblazoned on the cover, to boot!) (Edit: and I've just looked up the name. If it's the *same* Hiroyuki Miura, he's certainly got valid JRPG credentials)
In between the battles progression is closer to a point-and-click adventure. Very simple puzzles, but given it's aimed at a family audience, I'm willing to overlook that. The graphics *are* diabolical, though. It's from 1995 and very clearly low-budget, and my word, it shows.
But all the negatives would be forgiven if the gameplay was top-notch...
...the gameplay is linear, boring, combat is dull, and the whole thing is over in about an hour. The whole thing. There's about five fights, total
Oh, and on the subject of an ending... it doesn't, really. It ends with 'To Be Continued", and does very little to resolve the plot.
I need to highlight: This isn't me being an arrogant, oh-I'm-too-good-for-kid-friendly-games person. Both of my parents were in education, so I saw a lot of software pitched at kids for education purposes, and I developed an understanding on their own merits; I remember being utterly charmed - in my mid-teens - by the Broderbund Living Books series, for instance. This game, though, is still dire.
I have since discovered the existence of a Japanese-only sequel. If I ever get around to doing Let's Play-esque stuff, that's definitely on the cards.
Particularly frustrating is that the Speccy version was genuinely great.
I'm a little surprised it's been so long since we last had a racer built around the Chase HQ structure, there's gotta be scope for more on that front these days, surely? At the moment the best we get is the occasional mission in an open-world game, but the gameplay changes somewhat when you have to be concerned about your own car's condition!
Apologies accepted :)
I was old enough (14-15yrs) back then to understand the "Autobahn Raser" controversy, so let me give you kids a quick history lesson:
Autobahn Raser was a horrible game. It was basically Outrun with ugly 3D graphics. Compared to Need For Speed 2, Bleifuss or Formula 1 96, Raser was years behind. PC gaming magazines hated this game with a passion.
BUT it sold like crazy here becasue, it had "Autobahn" in the title, came out at a point of time when people bought "ALDI PCs" like crazy, it only cost 40 DM instead of 80-90 DM (like proper AAA games did back then).
So yeah, it's totally understandable that kids & novices liked the game. Probably the first time I ever experienced that "critics vs journos" thing.
Driv3r. First time I ever pre-ordered a game too. That was a hard lesson. I'll never forget the game having you seek out and attack "Timmy Verchilli" making fun of GTA Vice City that was light years better than driver. What an embarrassment.
It's not the worst game ever, but it's the most recent game I remember quitting.
The Cave by Doublefine
I just could not with it's convoluted puzzles and empty set pieces anymore.
The Cave by Doublefine
I just could not with it's convoluted puzzles and empty set pieces anymore.
AC1 - I just thought the set up missions to get to the assassination were just do a few and you're good but they were too long for how many times you did them, repeated too often, and the controls made it hard to really do them smoothly.
If you're serious, then you've never actually played a terrible game.
Sonic 2006 is probably my most recent horrible game. I've been a lot more careful with my purchases since then. Obligatory E.T. on Atari. Mario is Missing on NES left a pretty foul taste in my mouth in my youth.
I used to see that "Rise of the Robots" game in the store all the time and I thought it looked so cool but I didn't have anything that it was on... Now I'm glad LOL!
This is true.
For me it is probably some broken Atari clone of a decent game. So many games on the Atari were garbage.
I dont think anything Ive played ever comes close to how awful this was as a 5 year old.
Same here. I was 7, but not like that made it any better. Plus, I bought the game, and my parents rarely bought me games, we mostly just rented them, so that was a waste of a purchase for an impossible game for a child to beat.
My first Metroid game was Super Metroid, so I was spoiled by its greatness. But when I played the original Metroid, it was one of the worst experiences. Horrible controls, very hard, falling in traps, no maps, and graphics were pretty bad even for NES. Terrible game.