Sometimes even the worst games can bring us great joy.
Over the past two decades audiences have become enamoured with the ever growing list of movies so bad they’re good. Standouts like The Room and Miami Connection have led the charge with cult followings and a resurgence of late night showings decades after their initial premieres.
Video games are a harder sell when it comes to quality. Players have to interact and move the game forward, something that can be difficult to do when the game itself seems to be working against them. What some might find off-putting or aggravating might seem enjoyable and challenging for others. Though often times, even if one is slowly staggering their way through a game, they know if it’s something the average person would be able to tolerate. Well, maybe not if you’re a kid.
A few weeks back a friend and I were chatting about the games we loved most from the Nintendo 64 era and he excitedly said, “Remember Glover? That game was awesome.” Words I didn’t think could be arranged in such an order, and to which I responded, “Are we thinking of the same game… Glover was awful.” Being the collector that I am, I soon pulled Glover from a long row of grey cartridges and popped it in my N64 for a quick refresher.
Ladies and gentlemen – Glover
The controls were wonky. The levels were poorly designed. The characters were forgettable. It was terrible. But also kind of fun in a frustrating sort of way. I guess I could see how someone might enjoy it.
So what’s your favourite terrible game? Maybe you liked the challenge, maybe it made you laugh, or maybe it just helped to pass the time. Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
21 responses to “What’s Your Favourite Terrible Game?”
Well, according to many people and articles of late, Bubsy was a giant POS but I loved it.
Not sure it counts because it was more unpopular than flat out awful but…
Art style aside, XIII on the PS2 was a pretty generic shooter game but when you’re a kid and can’t afford all the games you play what you’ve got. I must of finished that game at least 5 times and me and my mate would spend tons of weekends playing the most basic multiplayer.
Great story. Art that echoed the graphic novel on which it was based. Beautiful cel shading and little comic touches like the tap-tap-Tap-TAP as enemies walked past.
Loved it.
Shame the TV show became so utterly confusing… 🙂
I feel like the Nintendo 64 was the awkward puberty of video games that made a lot of favourite bad games. Mine is Hybrid Heaven, an ambitious clunky mash up of a turn based fighting game, with one of the wackiest sci-fi plots I’ve experienced.
I picked up a copy of that for some reason a few years back, I’m not even sure why. Never heard of the game or knew anything about it, just saw it and for some reason was drawn to it 😛 Should give it a burl.
It’s really worth it for the ideas, just brace yourself for a really clunky time.
YES! Hybrid Heaven was terrible and excellent and bonkers.
Deadly Premonition is the greatest bad game of all time. Everyone should play it!
Mass Effect: Andromeda or Fallout 4. Take your pick.
I don’t think either of them were horrible (certainly not without issues) but the general public seem to had both.
“Ballblazer Champions” on PSX. I’ve been playing a bit of “Rocket League” lately, and it’s reminding me how much fun my brother and I had with “BallBlazer”. It was pretty cool, but only got middling reviews and no one else seems to have played it.
Also “Shoalin”, a little fighting game that came out right at the end of the PSX’s lifetime, only released in EU/Asia, and was largely ignored. It played a bit like “Dead or Alive”, supported up to 8 players simultaneously, and had a little single-player RPG story for each of the fighting styles. Slightly janky, but I loved it.
Deadly Premonition is the worst game that is also the best game, isn’t that right Zach?
Clear as a crisp spring morning!
Crime Killer on the PS1, rented that one out way too many times! I just really like the future cars/jet/bike.
My favourite terrible game was wild 9 for the psx, me and my best mate growing up clocked crazy hours on that shit, and sometimes I still get the main characters catch phrase pop in my head “wexalicous”
Green dog – the beached surfer dude.
For Sega mega drive.
It was bad, but I played it soo much.
Damnation for the PS3. Terrible game by all standards, but it reminded me of the old Jedi knight games (nowhere near as good, just that sort of jank style). Played it through to the end and was always surprised how many bad decisions a game can go through. Riding huge bikes on canyon walls as a steampunk cowboy at least made things interesting.
Minon: Everyday Hero. It’s awesome.
I really liked Too Human… apparently no one else did.
Glover was terrible, but I see the appeal.
I really liked Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the ridiculous platform/RPG game that became a mecha fighting game and also forced you to watch the entire music video for IMPAKUTOU (the giant sentient robot who helps you fight bosses) every single time.
Oh, and Holy Magic Century.
The N64 really was puberty for gaming.
Reloaded and rascal were my first two games on PS1.
Ohhh boy.. played them to bits, without a memory card. Brutal times.
Wosrt game ever is without a doubt City of Lost Childen on the PSX. “There’s nothing in my pocket” still rings in my ear.
I’ll name two………. Terminator: Dawn of Fate (ps2/xbox title). Sub-par graphics, bad camera angles and controls. But what a story and some of the game play elements (crawling Terminator endoskeletons FTW). It had mixed reviews at the time and the reviews on Gamefaqs reflect it.
The other game – Terminator: Salvation (Xbox 360/ps3). Got it for $20, it was a bug filled mess…….. if the entire game was filled with the sequences in the final two levels. It would have been soooooooooooooo much better all round. I remember playing through to the final mission, finishing it and being disappointed that the game ended right as it was entering in AWESOME territory.