that have '''attracted the most criticism''' among the Media , and the games players themselves, are '''listed''' in this article.
Games are considered to be "the worst ever" for various reasons, including exceptionally poor Graphics or Music , a Cliché d or Stereotypical Premise and storyline, a poor user interface, or what is perceived to be poor gameplay. More generally, and despite the natural differences in players tastes and tolerances, a game attracting the "worst game ever" comment is usually failing in being Enjoyable '' for most players.
It should be noted here that the concept and criticism applies mostly to games commercially released and marketed by major distributors and targeted at well-known Gaming Systems such as Personal Computers , consoles and arcade machines, while Shareware , Freeware and Public Domain or amateur-made games are usually not exposed to as much criticism.
The concept of "worst video games ever" is somewhat controversial because, unlike Films , Music or other forms of Art and Intellectual work, there is no widely accepted and accredited institution or individuals specifically trained for judging video games. There are usually no Critic s, Estimator s, study institutes, or similar entities and no universally accepted and systematic video game reviewing method.
In fact, most reviews of a specific game, even those by specialized Magazines or Websites , are done by people who are not, in any way, officially recognized ''video game critics'', as such a professional qualification does not yet exist, and there is a non-trivial component of personal views, bias or mere inexperience or ignorance in many games reviews. Nevertheless, those reviews are usually accepted by the gaming community as guidelines, and have the power of affecting the sales or just the fame of a game.
Also, some games have a well-documented failure or success history, including traditional media coverage (such as the case of many failed Atari 2600 titles), while the fates of lesser or more obscure titles usually lay in the hands of a few reviewers, or even a single reviewer.
Any game which, at least once in its existence, has been considered as being "the worst ever" or merely a "bad" game, usually falls under a precise category of reasons that made it gain such a reputation.
Technical criteria such as graphics and Sound are the most variable with the passing of time and evolution of technology, as they are strongly tied to the game system's Hardware or just to the Trend of a particular review time, and are particularly restrictive for what regards commercial games. For example, a 2006 game using NES -quality graphics or an older 3D Graphic engine (e.g. '' Quake 's'') is very likely going to be labelled as poor for its time by most reviewers, putting it on par with an Atari 2600 title, as is a game using mostly 2D Graphics . However, there are some important exceptions to this rule, like Manager Games (eg. '' Eastside Hockey Manager '') where numbers are more important than graphics, certain tactically accurate Wargames where symbols are used instead of graphical units or Roguelikes which usually sport ASCII or minimal tile based graphics (although such games tend to be of Independent , Freeware , Shareware or Public Domain origin rather than being mainstream, especially after the mid 1990s ). Games for handheld systems such as the Game Boy Advance , Sony PSP , and Nintendo DS are held to a lesser standard as these units entail a trade of technical capability for necessary traits such as significantly reduced physical size and power consumption, although 3D graphics and thousands (or millions) of colors have become commonplace even on portable systems after the year 2000 .
Some game genres fade in and out of popularity, or are not particularly welcome by reviewers on a particular gaming system. For example, 2D Shooter s or Platform games are considered as "out of fashion", at least regarding the gaming industry and the latest gaming hardware, and thus any such new release by a major manufacturer, even in some cases for a modern handheld system, would probably bias most professional reviewers negatively merely on the basis of being a 2D shooter or platform game. Similarly, PC ports of games or genres considered more appropriate to game consoles often receive negative reviews, and most reviewers consider good console ports to be the exception rather than the rule.
There are some notable exceptions to the 2D "out-of-fashion" theory, however. Games such as '''' were produced in the boom of 3D gaming. While other companies had left the 2D gaming market for handhelds, Konami showed that a 2D platform game that was deep, well written, and with fun Gameplay could still be profitable.
There is also a class of games that, while not technically challenged or deficient, for their time of release and compared to similar titles, were ridiculed for a secondary feature or concept in their design, such as being too unoriginal, too bizarre or simply incomprehensible, effectively condemning them to the "worst games ever" class without their really being unplayable or flawed.
Finally, a significant number of video games fall into the "obscure" category.
These are games that never attracted much attention at the time of their appearance, and very often resurfaced because of the "attentions" of mostly cynical or humourous reviews, especially of Emulated console or arcade games.
Usually, this kind of "worst ever" game has no real technical flaws, but rather is unoriginal, has unappealing gameplay, or simply was "obscure" in the sense of "rare."
Interestingly, not all games receiving the "worst game ever" title were commercial failures or clamorous Flop s, and with the evolution of the Internet , emulators, and the relative ease of finding playable versions of these games online, many of these "worst games ever" received unprecedented levels of attention by players and collectors, not unlike the way some films fans are interested in what are considered to be by the '''"So bad they're good"''' principle.
- Non-intuitive, non-standard or awkward controls usually frustrate reviewers and gamers alike. For example, if a game requires players to use the standard buttons to move (instead of the analog stick), the controls are counterintuitive. ''Note: what a "standard" control is depends largely on the game type itself.
- Slow response is almost universally viewed as a bane to any videogame. Some computer platforms like the Amstrad CPC were almost universally plagued with slow response, mostly due to the fact that most of their games were improperly programmed.
- On the other hand, excessively sensitive controls, or those requiring exact timing or precision, are also hated by gamers.
- In general, when the inadequacy of the controls themselves is an important factor in a game's difficulty. This makes the gameplay appear poor and based only on hard-to-use controls, and is likely to cause players and reviewers alike to turn away from a game very soon.
- In computer games, non-configurable user controls or usage of console-like limitations.
- Non-intuitive gameplay. In general, games where it is not clear almost immediately what a player must do are heavily criticized.
- Repetitive and unoriginal gameplay.
- Having a very limited number of stages, objectives and goals.
- Having a large (even infinite) number of mostly randomly generated or repeating levels with little or no variation in gameplay. This was a quite common "feature" for many early 8-bit games, especially on game consoles.
- Excessive or, on the converse, minimal difficulty.
- In certain types of games, lack of a Save Game feature or having a restricted functionality, e.g. limited number of saves, use of methods such as checkpoints or a Password on a PC game perfectly capable of saving, etc. There are several exceptions to this that were well received, one of the most prominent being the game '' Halo ''.
- Graphics not up to the capabilities of contemporary hardware. This parameter is heavily correlated with technical evolution, industry standards, and programming techniques.
- Graphics not up to the standards set up by competing products, if any. For example, on the Amstrad CPC platform, it was common to witness two extremes in equally priced games: some of them had colourful smooth-scrolling graphics, while many others had both monochrome, ZX Spectrum -like graphics and poor scrolling.
- Bad taste or elements of Kitsch in graphics, such as bad colour choices, badly drawn images, or elements of dubious taste.
- Sometimes, graphics not using what is considered a gaming industry "must" (for example, 2D graphics after the advent of 3D Accelerator Card s and PlayStation -like consoles). This has led to the creation of many slapdash 3D versions of 2D games and genres, where the third dimension either added nothing to gameplay, or ultimately made the game less appealing. Examples include '' Welltris '' or "3D" versions of '' Pac-Man '' or '' Space Invaders ''.
- Sound effects and music not up to the capabilities of a given system or hardware, as with graphics.
- Sound effects and music not up to the standards set by competing products.
- Improper choice of music and/or sound effects, or even a lack thereof.
- Bad quality samples or speech (where applicable), or a lack thereof.
- Irritating music and/or sound effects, such as excessively high-pitched or unpleasant music.
- Bad Voice Acting , where either acting or casting is poor.
- In games where it is important, e.g. RTS games, buggy Pathfinding is considered to be bad.
- In driving and racing games, extremely unrealistic or extremely realistic controls and physics may be considered good or bad depending on the players' expectations and whether the game presents itself as a "realistic Simulator " or an "extreme Arcade " game. Note that poorly implemented physics and controls can actually make driving in a game harder than a real-world Vehicle would; for example, many driving games lack automatic Steering Wheel recovery.
- Failure to implement physics and mechanics that are considered standard for the game's genre and industry trends at the time of release. For example, in most FPS Games the ability to Jump , freely looking and aiming around as well as the presence of Gravity , Falling Damage , player-background interaction etc. were generally considered standard as far back as 1998 , yet some titles which failed to meet these criteria have appeared since, earning caustic reviews.
- In genres that require precise movements and actions, poor collision detection can result in a game that is nearly unplayable.
While it may appear absurd that marketing and public relations strategies behind a game can diminish its value down to the point of it being labelled as scarce or "worst ever", there are many documented cases where excessive, overconfident, or too risky marketing practices backfired.
- Creating excessive hype and expectation around a game, is a common market tactic, which can however backfire, especially when the product's release date is continuously delayed and the final product is not up to the created expectations when released. John Romero 's infamous game '' Daikatana '' passed through various stages of aggressive hype and advertising, repeated release delays, quasi- Vaporware status and was judged quite harshly when it was finally released.
- Excessive zeal in defending one's work. This is the case of the famous game developer Derek Smart , whose zeal in "defending" his games from criticism has led to long Flame Wars . Derek's filing of numerous Lawsuit s has biased the press and gamers against him, and a game by Derek Smart is likely to attract negative prejudice.
- Republishing an old game as a "new" one will almost surely trigger very negative reactions from the specialized press, which might sometimes even refuse to review the game properly. Examples include '''', which is considered a true legend of "worst ever" games.
- Releasing incomplete or not thoroughly Beta Tested games, in hopes of meeting artificially imposed market Deadline s. This creates the need for releasing major patches in a short time, and can even cause very negative reactions to the first, likely flawed versions of a game. It is unclear how an early release of an incomplete or flawed product has usually been seen as more "profitable" than releasing a more robust product later, but there are documented cases throughout video gaming history, and are more frequent on personal computer games than on game consoles and during recent years (mid 1990s and onwards) than the earlier videogaming periods.
= List of specific video games considered to be the worst ever =
- '''''199, far more than most games at the time, and still more than most games cost today. It also marked the first appearance of the '' Cheetahmen '', whom Active Enterprises hoped to turn into a franchise akin to the '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''.
- '' (1996, PC) is another panned game (a horrible interface is cited as the main culprit) although it is more infamous for its creator, Derek Smart , who began one of the largest flame wars in Usenet history. Initially, the game was promised to be the most sophisticated game at the time, yet had its release date pushed back repeatedly. After the initial and buggy release, numerous patches were created that fixed many of the game's issues and made it a playable game. {Link without Title}
- '' (1982, Atari 2600 ) was a pornographic video game notorious for its particular plot. The gameplay involves a naked man running around the roof of a building masturbating and moving two naked women around to catch his semen with their mouths. {Link without Title}
- '' (1993, SNES ) is notorious for poor control and gameplay, and hailed as the worst film-to-game conversion in history, topping '' Nintendo Power 's'' 10 Worst Games list in their 100th issue. Notably, the Film Itself was also a giant flop. Ironically, the gameplay was very similar to an earlier game, '' DJ Boy '', which is considered one of the most (perhaps involuntarily) Racist arcade games, while ''Bebe's Kids'' main characters were African American , thus making the whole game appear, in addition to having its own problems, a sort of "''DJ Boy'' with the roles reversed." [http://www.gamespy.com/articles/492/492996p1.html
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