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The following is a list of video games notable for negative reception; these include games that have been named to lists of "worst" games published by major video gaming publications and websites, games that have notably received low review scores from such publications (often determined by low aggregate scores on sites such as Metacritic).

1980s

Custer's Revenge (Atari 2600)

Custer's Revenge, alongside its low quality, was also controversial due to its plot involving the apparent rape of a Native American woman. Atari received numerous complaints about the game and responded by trying to sue the game's makers. Ultimately, the game was withdrawn from circulation.

The game was also poorly received for its quality; it was listed as the most shameful game of all time by GameSpy, as the third-worst game of all time by PC World, and GameTrailers and the ninth-worst game by Seanbaby in Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Custer's Revenge quickly gained notoriety upon its release. Sold in a sealed package labeled "NOT FOR SALE TO MINORS" and selling for $49.95, it acknowledged that children might nonetheless see the game. The game's literature stated "if the kids catch you and should ask, tell them Custer and the maiden are just dancing." The makers elected to preview the game for women's and Native American groups, an act which some thought was a publicity stunt. The game did prompt criticism from women's rights groups who stated that the game was a simulation of rape; the back of the packaging states "she's not about to take it lying down, by George! Help is on the way. By God! He's coming." Other groups such as Women Against Pornography, Native American spokespersons, and critics of the video game industry in general protested the game. Andrea Dworkin claimed the game "generated many gang rapes of Native American women." Activists tried pressuring legislators to outlaw the game, which Oklahoma City, Oklahoma did. Multiple Industries pursued an $11 million lawsuit against Suffolk County, New York and legislator Philip Nolan "because of a resolution authorizing the county executive to take action to halt sales and distribution" of the game.

Nevertheless, the focused media attention caused the game to sell approximately 80,000 copies, twice as many copies as Mystique's other adult-only games, Bachelor Party and Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em. However, Atari, only the platform for the game and not the maker, received numerous complaints about the game, and responded by trying to sue the game's makers. Stuart Kesten, President of American Multiple Industries (Mystique), stated "our object is not to arouse, our object is to entertain When people play our games, we want them smiling, we want them laughing." The game's designer, Joel Miller, said Custer was "seducing" the maiden and that she was a "willing participant." Ultimately, the game was withdrawn from circulation.

In 2008, the University of Calgary Tom Keenan professor cited "the hideous Custer's Revenge game", 26 years after its release, in an op-ed piece about current video game violence issues for the Calgary Herald. That same year, the game was credited by Australian PC Magazine as being one of the worst games ever made, while Games.net ranked Custer's victim as fifth on the list of top ten disturbingly sexual game characters. In 2010, Custer placed eighth on machinima.com's list of the gaming's top perverts in gaming. UGO.com ranked it as tenth on the list of the most racist video games in history in 2010, also ranking the game's General Custer as the second most unsexy video game character of all time in 2012.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was based on Steven Spielberg's popular 1982 film of the same name and reputedly coded in just five weeks in order to be released during the 1982 holiday season. Despite high expectations, the game sold only 1.5 million copies, and came nowhere near Atari's expectations of five million units. A large number of the cartridges sold were sent back to the company because many consumers found the game to be unenjoyable. Truckloads of these cartridges were allegedly buried in a landfill in New Mexico after they failed to sell. E.T. is commonly cited as the catalyst for a crash of the video game industry in 1983, as Atari had hoped that brand loyalty would keep consumers buying their games regardless of quality.

E.T. was listed as the worst game of all time by PC World in 2006, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and FHM magazine, and was ranked as the second worst movie game on the "Top Ten Worst Movie Games" (losing only to Charlie's Angels) by GameTrailers. It was also ranked the second worst game of all time by GameTrailers, losing only to Superman 64. Some considered it so bad that the title screen was the only good part of the game. In 2007, GamePro named E.T. one of the 52 most important games of all time due to its roles in the 1983 video game crash and the downfall of the seemingly unstoppable Atari. It is the only game to make the list for having a negative impact on the video game industry.

Anticipation for E.T. was high in 1982, and it was a sought-after Christmas gift. Prior to the game's release, Newsweek called Atari's procurement of the intellectual property its "biggest coup". In early December 1982, the New York Times reported that video games based on successful movies, specifically E.T., would become "an increasingly profitable source" for video game development. At first, retailers ordered more supplies than what was expected to be sold, but Atari received an increasing number of order cancellations as new competitors entered the market, an event the company had not anticipated. John Hubner and William Kistner of InfoWorld attribute the cancellations to changes Atari initiated between its relationship between distributors. On November 1, 1982, Atari informed them that their contracts were canceled and that exclusive deals would be established with select distributors. Hubner and Kistner believed the action prompted retailers to cancel orders, which Atari had not properly tracked.

E.T. met with initial commercial success. It was among the top four on Billboard magazine's "Top 15 Video Games" sales list in December 1982 and January 1983. The game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. However, between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold. Hubner and Kistner commented that the large number of produced cartridges would have resulted in excess inventory regardless of E.T.'s success. Even though the game was a best seller during the holiday season, retailers still stated that its sales figures did not meet expectations. Warner Communications also expressed disappointment at the number of sales. Lower than expected sales figures combined with excess inventory, which produced a negative supply and demand event, prompted retailers to repeatedly discount price. Former J. C. Penney employee Al Nilsen mentioned that his copy of the game was discounted five times from US$49.95 to less than a dollar. According to Ray Kassar, about 3.5 million of the 4 million produced were sent back to the company as unsold inventory or customer returns. Despite sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise, coupled with the expensive movie license and the large amount of returns, made E.T. a major financial failure for Atari. Next Generation Magazine reported that Atari grossed US$25 million in sales, but netted a loss of US$100 million due to overproduction and returns. By 2004, the cartridges were still very common and priced at very low amounts.

While reviews of the movie version of E.T. were highly positive, the game was negatively received by critics, with common complaints focused on the plot, gameplay, and visuals. New York magazine's Nicholas Pileggi described it as a loser when compared to other games Atari could have released like Donkey Kong and Frogger. Kevin Bowen of GameSpy's Classic Gaming called the gameplay "convoluted and insane", also criticizing its story for departing from the serious tone of the film. Author Steven Kent described the game as "infamous" within the industry, citing "primitive" graphics, "dull" gameplay, and a "disappointing story". An editor for The Miami Herald described it as a difficult game to learn to play, but felt it was worth dedicating the time.

People worry I might be sensitive about the ET debacle, but the fact is I’m always happy to discuss it. After all, it was the fastest game ever done, it was a million seller, and of the thousands of 2600 games, how many others are still a topic? Another thing I like to think about is having done ET (consistently rated among the worst games of all time) and Yars' Revenge (consistently rated as one of the best) I figure I have the unique distinction of having the greatest range of any game designer in history.

Critics bemoaned the repetitive gameplay involved with falling down holes. Emru Townsend of PC World discussed the game with a group, and found a universal dislike for the pits that E.T. falls into, describing it as "monotonous". Writer Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley also criticized the pits, claiming that they are "time-consuming" and "difficult to leave without falling back in". Trent Ward, a former Next Generation Magazine reviewer, commented that this element prompted him to immediately return the game for a refund after purchasing it in his youth. Classic Gaming argued that despite the negative reception, the game can be enjoyable after the player has learned to navigate the pits.

In published materials written over a decade after its initial release, E.T. has been universally panned by critics and is frequently listed as the worst video game ever. Reiley ranked it number one in a list of the 20 worst games of all time in Electronic Gaming Monthly's 150th issue. Michael Dolan, deputy editor of FHM magazine, has also listed the game as his pick for the worst video game of all time. Townsend placed E.T. at the top of his list of worst video games, noting that, "about a third of the people I quizzed came up with this title almost instantly, and it's not hard to see why." GameTrailers ranked the game the second worst on their "Top Ten Best and Worst Games of All Time" list.

Critics often attribute the poor quality to the short development time. Townsend commented that the rushed development was very apparent after playing the game. Warshaw's contributions to the game have been met with mixed responses. Classic Gaming called the game poorly designed, while IGN's Levi Buchanan stated the "impossibly tight schedule" given to Warshaw absolves him of blame. Warshaw does not express regret for his part in E.T., and feels he created a good game given the time available to him.

Pac-Man (Atari 2600)

Despite being a commercial success and selling over 7 million copies, Pac-Man, a port of the popular arcade game for the Atari 2600, was significantly altered from the original in order to meet the device's limitations. Some of these changes included simplified graphics, a modified maze layout, and "flickering" ghosts—a result of the game only rendering one ghost on screen per frame. Ed Logg, a former lead designer at Atari, considered the development a rushed, "lousy" effort. Developer Tod Frye did not express regret over his part in Pac-Man's port and felt he made the best decisions he could at the time. However, Frye stated that he would have done things differently with a larger capacity ROM.

In 1998, Next Generation Magazine called it the "worst coin-op conversion of all time" and attributed the mass dissatisfaction to its poor quality. In 2006, IGN's Craig Harris echoed similar statements and listed Pac-Man among his own list of the worst home console ports of arcade games. Another IGN editor, Levi Buchanan, described it as a "disastrous port", citing the color scheme and flickering ghosts. Chris Kohler of Wired commented that despite its poor quality, the game was an impressive technical achievement given the console's limitations.

Anticipation for the game was high. Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Simon predicted the sale of 9 million units during 1982, which would yield a profit of $200 million. Pac-Man met with initial commercial success, selling 7 million copies and eventually becoming the best-selling Atari 2600 title; Frye reportedly received $0.10 in royalties per copy. More than one million of those cartridges had been shipped in less than one month, helped by Atari's $1.5 million publicity campaign. However, purchases soon slowed and, by summer 1982, unsold copies were still in large quantities. Many buyers returned the games for refunds, and Atari was left with 5 million excess copies in addition to the returns. By 2004, the cartridges were still very common among collectors and enthusiasts—though the Sears versions were rarer—and priced at low amounts.

Critics negatively compared the port to its original arcade form, panning the audio-visuals and gameplay. In 1983, Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games reviewer Danny Goodman commented that the game fails as a replica of its arcade form. Conversely, he stated that such criticism was unfair because the hardware could not properly emulate the arcade game. Goodman further said that the port is a challenging maze game in its own right, and it would have been a success if fans had not expected to play a game closer to the original. In 1998, Next Generation Magazine called it the "worst coin-op conversion of all time", and attributed the mass dissatisfaction to its poor quality. In 2006, IGN's Craig Harris echoed similar statements and listed it as the worst arcade conversion, citing poor audio-visuals that did not resemble the original. Another IGN editor, Levi Buchanan, described it as a "disastrous port", citing the color scheme and flickering ghosts. Skyler Miller of Allgame said that although the game was only a passing resemblance to the original, it was charming despite its many differences and faults.

Video game industry researchers Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost attribute the poor reception to the technical differences between the 1977 Atari 2600 console and the 1980 arcade hardware used in Pac-Man cabinets. They further stated that the conversion is a lesson in maintaining the social and cultural context of the original source. Montfort and Bogost commented that players were disappointed with the flickering visual effect, which made the ghosts difficult to track and tired the players' eyes. The two further said that the effect diminishes the ghosts' personalities present in the arcade version. Chris Kohler of Wired commented that the game was poorly received upon its release and in contemporary times because of the poor quality. However, he further described the game as an impressive technical achievement given its console's limitations.

1990s

Link: The Faces of Evil / Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon / Zelda's Adventure (CD-i)

As a result of cancelled plans to release a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo granted Philips licenses to use some of their major characters in games for their CD-i system. Philips would release three The Legend of Zelda games for the system; Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure—produced with limited involvement by Nintendo. The first two games were developed in tandem by Animation Magic, using the same game engine, and were released on the same day. While well received at the time of their release, these two games gained notoriety in the 2000s when attention was brought to their animated cutscenes which for the first time became widely available through video-sharing websites like YouTube dubbed "YouTube Poop". These cutscenes were described as "infamous" by IGN, and Danny Cowan of 1UP.com noted that Zelda fans "almost universally despise these games." Beyond simply the animations, reviewers at GameTrailers have also ascribed modern negative criticism to "barely functional controls, lackluster gameplay, and numerous bugs." The Wand of Gamelon was ranked the #6 worst video game of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly and the #5 by GameTrailers.

At the time of its release, contemporary criticism was largely positive for both games. SNES Force magazine described the animated sequences as "breathtaking" and praised the game for its high-resolution graphics and its "brilliant" use of sound and speech. Highly anticipated by the French video game press, Joystick magazine's development preview of The Faces of Evil described it as a veritable arcade-quality game with stunning graphics and "perfect animation". They gave The Wand of Gamelon similar praise and gave it additional praise for its use of voice acting, its plot, and its backgrounds. The same magazine would ultimately score The Faces of Evil 79%, a few months later, giving particularly high marks for music, sound effects, and play-through time. Other publications gave more negative reviews. CDi Magazine rated The Faces of Evil 65%, stating that the game was a poor relation to the original Nintendo games, and singling out the perfunctory storyline, the lack of graphical features like parallax, and the slow and repetitious gameplay. Another reviewer for the magazine gave The Wand of Gamelon a higher 75% and called it a "reasonably good game" for its puzzles and animated sequences. He however criticized its plot and controls. In 1994, Edge reported that both Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon had sold a "respectable number of units", but as CD-i sales began to suffer criticism sharpened and the games were described as low-cost, low-risk ventures that had failed to excite any interest in the platform despite their sales figures.

Wired magazine said that the animation on the first two Zelda games was extremely simple and stilted and that the graphics had several glitches. IGN indicated that sales of CD-i games (including these two) were poor and caused the game to be readily available years later. IGN's Peer Schneider ranked the two games among Nintendo's biggest failures. Electronic Gaming Monthly contributor Seanbaby ranked Zelda: Wand of Gamelon the sixth worst game of all time while GameTrailers rated it fifth worst game of all time. The Star Tribune described the game's voice acting as "laughable" and it was also criticized by Zelda Elements as jarring. IGN described the games as "infamous" and "cheesy"; other reviewers called the animated cutscenes "freakish" and "an absolute joke". The designers were criticized by IGN's Travis Fahs for using a style similar to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for the games and for insufferable controls and the designers' poor understanding of The Legend of Zelda franchise. He noted however that the backgrounds looked decent considering the poor design of the CD-i's hardware. The Wand of Gamelon appeared in a bracket poll of "The Greatest Legend of Zelda Game" along with Zelda's Adventure. It lost in the first set of rounds to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. IGN's Peer Schneider criticized it for its cutscenes. He claimed that they were "entertaining ... for all the wrong reasons." He also claimed that the soundtrack sounded like "the same redbook audio CD pop". He added that the game does not do well to indicate when a platform begins or ends and that its controls were "sloppy".

Despite the largely negative reception that the games have received, there have been a few positive reviews as well. Both Danny Cowan of 1UP.com and John Szczepaniak praised Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon as among the best games on the CD-i. Szczepaniak in particular suggested that several of the gaming magazines that had rated and reviewed Wand of Gamelon and Faces of Evil had engaged in hate campaigns having never even played the game. Cowan's and Szczepaniak's praises drew from the games' detailed, well-drawn in-game backgrounds and "pretty decent" gameplay, although both criticized the controls. While the audio was thought to be "average", and not up to the usual Zelda quality by some reviewers, this has been contested by others who have described it as diverse and high-quality with an adventurous upbeat tempo blending electric guitar, panpipes, marimbas, and other unusual instruments. In a periodical for Retro Gamer magazine, Szczepaniak identified the natural comparison of the games by reviewers to the quality of games in the rest of the Zelda series as an improper comparison to make and suggested that when reviewed in their own right the games were actually excellent. Contrary to what were described as "lies perpetuated about ," Retro Gamer described these games as "astoundingly good" and rated them together as number ten in its "Perfect Ten Games" for CD-i. While acknowledging that the games lacked canonicity, the games were praised for exhilarating pacing and superb gameplay design and music. The games' background art was also described as ranging from Gigeresque to Monet-esque.

Like the other two CD-i Zelda games, Zelda's Adventure was widely panned by critics. The graphics of Zelda's Adventure were called "blurry and digitized". Wired magazine said that the graphics were some of the worst ever encountered. The game's acting was criticized as unprofessional. Another flaw that has been identified is that the game could not produce both sound effects and music at the same time. Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com called the box art of Zelda's Adventure one of the 15 worst ever made. Zelda's Adventure was released as the Philips CD-i was being discontinued and has become very rare over time, as have the first two Philips Zelda games; Zelda's Adventure is regularly sold for over $100. Zelda's Adventure appeared in a bracket poll of "The Greatest Legend of Zelda Game" along with Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It lost in the first set of rounds to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Despite giving positive reviews for Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon neither Danny Cowan of 1UP.com nor RetroGamer's John Szczepaniak would extend them to Zelda's Adventure, which Szczepaniak described as demonstrating arbitrary and illogical design, sloppy visuals, nearly non-existent music, excruciatingly high difficulty and cumbersome loading and controlling. Gameplay for Zelda's Adventure has also been portrayed as a trial-and-error effort to guess which items can be used to defeat which enemy. Cowan called Zelda's Adventure "practically unplayable" due to the jerky frame rate, unresponsive controls and long load times, summarizing his review with a warning to "avoid this game at all costs." In discussing the popular online conception that Zelda's Adventure is superior to Wand of Gamelon and Faces of Evil, RetroGamer pointed to the top-down perspective as fomenting misinformation regarding the game's similarities to the original Zelda when, according to RetroGamer, the game is actually not worth playing.

Hotel Mario (CD-i)

In addition to getting a license for Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda characters, Philips also received a license for the some of the characters in Nintendo's Mario franchise as well. Like the three Zelda games that Philips released, Hotel Mario contained animated cutscenes. Upon its release, Hotel Mario was widely panned by video game magazines Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro. The former commented that Hotel Mario's gameplay was simple yet addicting. GamePro, while calling the game fun, believed that it would soon bore players, and gave it a fun factor of 2.5 out of 5. When Electronic Gaming Monthly named Mario the greatest video game character in 2005, they considered Hotel Mario his most embarrassing moment. Similarly, it was deemed the worst Mario game of all time by ScrewAttack, who criticized the game for its audio and controls, as well as for being solely "based on shutting doors." GameDaily included Hotel Mario in its feature of the worst games starring Nintendo mascots, stating its gameplay lacked identifiable Mario elements. The game was also listed as the worst 2D platformer in the Mario series by N-Europe. The site found the Koopaling battles "uniquely bad", calling the game itself a "steaming turd".

IGN said that Hotel Mario was better than the respective The Legend of Zelda titles, but noted that closing doors was not "a strong enough hook for an entire game." Chris Kohler of Wired magazine regarded Hotel Mario as "a puzzle game with no puzzles", assuming it was one of the reasons why Nintendo was not impressed by the CD-ROM medium. The game was referred to as "craptastic" by GamesRadar and "little more than a really rubbish version of Elevator Action" by Eurogamer.

In its 1994 review, GamePro rated Hotel Mario's graphics at 3.5 and sound at 4 out of 5, citing that "the only intriguing aspects of this game are the well-fashioned animated sequences." Years after the game was released, the cut scenes have become a subject of criticism among video game websites, and were called "outright terrifying" by 1UP.com. IGN described them as "abysmal" and "a bad flip-book of images printed out of Microsoft Paint from 1987". The quality of voice acting was also questioned. both 1UP.com and IGN thought the voices were unfitting for the characters and did not achieve the same playfulness as those of Mario and Luigi's current voice actor Charles Martinet. Hotel Mario was also listed in the top 20 worst Mario games of all time.

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (3DO)

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties received negative attention for its "surreal" and "sexist" storyline, poor voice acting, and much of the game being presented as a slide show despite being advertised as a full motion video game (only its introduction was a FMV). Uproxx's Dan Seitz compared Plumbers Don't Wear Ties to a "Skinemax" movie, and felt that its constant use of still images was the "single saddest attempt to simulate a dream sequence ever." IGN cited Plumbers Don't Wear Ties as "a symbol for everything that was wrong with giving a license to anyone that wanted one"; referring to the many low-quality adult video games that plagued the 3DO console due to its relatively more "open" platform in comparison to other video game systems of the time. PC Gamer dubbed Plumbers Don't Wear Ties a "shallow, hateful waste of a game, may very well be responsible for having killed the 3DO, interactive fiction, and the whale", naming it #1 on its "Must NOT Buy" list in May 2007.

Shaq Fu (Amiga, Gameboy, Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES)

Shaq Fu, a fighting game featuring professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, has received negative reception from various sources, especially for its controls being unresponsive and broken. It was named the 4th worst game of all time by GameTrailers. GameInformer also ranked it 2nd in their "Top 10 Fighting Games we'd like to forget" list. There is also a website known as Shaqfu.com which, instead of supporting the game, is dedicated to making it nonexistent by destroying as many copies as possible.

Catfight (PC)

Catfight is a highly exploitive fighting game and was panned by critics, receiving a GameRankings score of 8.67%, while GameSpot called Catfight "without a doubt, the worst computer game ever released", rating it 1.6/10.

White Men Can't Jump (Atari Jaguar)

White Men Can't Jump for the Atari Jaguar was heavily criticized for its poor graphics, among other factors, and has been hailed as one of the worst games for the console by some critics.

The Crow: City of Angels (PC, PlayStation, Sega Saturn)

Loosely based on the movie of the same name, The Crow: City of Angels, a beat 'em up style game, was panned by many critics and has a GameRankings score of 23.50%. Duke Ferris of GameRevolution called the game "the worst title has ever saw", and also concludes saying to "avoid all contact with this game". GamePro called the game "a turkey", criticizing its graphics and "asinine" gameplay.

Bubsy 3D (PlayStation)

Bubsy 3D (also known as Bubsy is 3D in Furbitten Planet) received negative reviews for its bad graphics and controls, as well as the titular character's personality. Gamesradar named it as the video game equivalent to terrible films such as Plan 9 from Outer Space and Battlefield Earth. Gametrailers named it the eighth worst video game ever made, calling it a "Cheap imitation of a quality product", referencing it as a rip-off of Super Mario 64, which was released around the same time as this game. Internet reviewer Seanbaby named it the 17th worst game of all time, criticizing its controls, the character's personality and the graphics, which "look like ass."

Bubsy 3D was heavily panned, and is considered one of the worst games of all time. Talk show host Scott Rubin called it a "terrible clone". They described the visuals as resembling "painted cardboard boxes", criticizing also Bubsy's one-liners. GameSpot's Peter Criscuola called it the least fun of all the 3D action/platform games for the PlayStation at the time of its release. GamesRadar's Tom Goulter described Bubsy 3D as the video game equivalent to terrible films such as Plan 9 from Outer Space or Battlefield Earth. Seanbaby named it the 17th worst game of all time, criticizing its controls, the character's personality, and the graphics, which he calls "ass". He adds that "you can almost taste how much the Bubsy 3D makers hated the children of America." According to the box art, it received positive reviews from "EGM" and "PSExtreme", plus it won a "Gold X Award", however the first gave it negative reviews and the latter one has never been known to exist.

IGN's David Zdyrko called it an "all-time classic debacle". IGN's Levi Buchanan used it as a prominent example of a bad attempt at the transition from 2D to 3D, criticizing its controls as well as the character design, which he says was ruined from the previous games in both appearance and personality. In describing the game, they call it "not-so-loved". IGN noted that it was widely regarded as one of the worst games ever made. 1UP.com called it "wretched" and a "would-be "Mario killer"". GamePro called it a "cash-in job". GameZone's jkdmedia referred to the early days of 3D gaming as the "dark and scary days of Bubsy 3D." He later compared the graphics of Chessmaster: The Art of Learning to this game's, commenting that "even Bubsy 3D is laughing." Kotaku's Michael McWhertor called the unreleased Pac-Man Ghost Zone closer to Bubsy 3D than Super Mario 64.

However, despite almost universal criticism, Absolute PlayStation gave it a score of a 67 out of 100.

Extreme Paintbrawl (PC)

Extreme Paintbrawl, a first-person shooter based off the game of paintball, suffered from low quality maps that did not model typical paintball fields, poorly functioning AI with computer-controlled teammates who mindlessly ran straight forward at the start of a match (only to be stopped by an object in their path), a misfitting and peculiar soundtrack, and a "downright laughable" practice mode.

A GameSpot reviewer gave the game a 1.7/10, stating that the game took the first-person shooter genre too far by trying to "wed a tired game engine with the paintball phenomenon", and wondered how it had even made it out of the beta phase with such poor quality. IGN gave it a 0.7/10, the second game in the website's history to receive a score lower than one and PC Gamer gave it 6/100.

South Park (PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64)

Based on the hit television show of the same name, the PC and PlayStation versions of South Park received poor reviews for its bad graphics, repetitive voice acting and lack of playing abilities in multiplayer mode. It received a 1.4 rating from GameSpot, who said "South Park" is definitely one of those games that is bound to come up when you start thinking about the worst game you've ever played." By contrast, its Nintendo 64 version received better reception, including praise for its storyline and 3D graphics.

Superman (Nintendo 64)

Based on the acclaimed animated series, Superman was largely criticized for having unnecessarily repetitive, difficult, and confusing objectives, unnecessarily short time limits that left no margin for error, numerous glitches that interfere with gameplay, poor graphics, extremely short draw distances (covered by distance fog referred to in-game as "Kryptonite fog"), and poor controls. As a result, critics were overwhelmingly negative in reviews; Joe Fielder of GameSpot declared Superman the worst game he had ever played, and stated that "it serves no purpose other than to firmly establish the bottom of the barrel." Both IGN and Game Revolution panned the game for its atrocious set-up, gameplay, and graphics.

Superman was listed as the worst game of all time by GameTrailers, the worst game on a Nintendo platform by Nintendo Power, and as the worst video game adaptation of a comic book by both GameSpy and GameDaily.

2000s

Daikatana (PC, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color)

After being delayed multiple times from its conception in early 1997 Daikatana was finally released in 2000. By this time, numerous games based on more advanced graphics technology (such as id software's Quake III and Epic MegaGames' Unreal Tournament) had already been released, causing Daikatana to lag technologically in the market with its dated Quake II game engine. The game had already received controversy for its advertisement which was a red poster with large black lettering proclaiming the designer, John Romero "about to make the player his bitch", a reference to Romero's infamous trash talk during gaming. Nothing else was featured on this poster but a small tag-line reading "Suck It Down," an Ion Storm logo and an Eidos logo. Romero would later apologize for the advertisement, stating in an interview that "up until that ad, I felt I had a great relationship with the gamer and the game development community and that ad changed everything. That stupid ad. I regret it and I apologize for it."

The game was a major contributing factor in the closure of Ion Storm's Dallas office. In 2009, ScrewAttack named this game the #7 bust on their "Top 10 Biggest Busts", which listed the biggest failures in gaming, due to its controversial advertising and the hype that Romero built on this game, which in the end turned out to be a failure. In 2010, GameTrailers ranked this game the #2 biggest gaming disappointment of the decade, citing the game's terrible AI for friend and foe alike, pushed-back release dates, controversial magazine ad, and gossip-worthy internal drama (among other things) as "the embodiment of game's industry hubris."

Survivor (PC)

Based on the popular reality show of the same name, Survivor was panned by critics for its poor graphics, repetitiveness, and boring survival period stages. Aside from a 26/100 rating on Metacritic, a 2.0/10 rating from GameSpot and a 2.4/10 rating on IGN, the game has received an F- from Game Revolution, a grade made specifically for the game.

Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure (GameCube)

Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure was developed and published by Kemco for the Nintendo GameCube. Set in a Universal Studios park, the object of the game is to complete several mini-games based on the real-life attractions Back to the Future: The Ride, Jaws, Jurassic Park River Adventure, E.T. Adventure, Backdraft, Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show and Waterworld. There is also a movie quiz, in which the player must answer trivia questions about the Universal Studios films. Reviews for the game have been mostly negative. IGN gave it a 3/10, and UGO has rated this game #78 on their list of "The Worst Video Games of All Time." Meanwhile, The Video Game Critic hailed this as the worst video game ever. Metacritic gave this game a 39 out of 100.

Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis (GameCube, Xbox)

Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis was criticized for its poor controls, graphics and repetitive gameplay. GameSpot gave the game a 2.3 out of 10, stating that "he game itself only has the bare minimum requirements necessary to technically be called a game, and even these components are an ugly mess." Aquaman was named one of the worst games of all time by G4's program X-Play; in reference to Aquaman's hair style in-game, X-Play began awarding the "Golden Mullet Award" to the worst game of the year. The game has a Metacritic score of 27/100 for its GameCube version and 26/100 for its Xbox version.

Batman: Dark Tomorrow (GameCube, Xbox)

Batman: Dark Tomorrow received very negative reviews by critics for its confusing game play engine, its repetitive mission modes, and its awkward camera angles. The end of the game is also criticized because there is no direction to the "fulfilling ending" of the story, outside of another source. GameSpot gave the game a score of 2.8 out of 10, while IGN gave it a score of 2.2 out of 10 for the Xbox version and 3.5 out of 10 for the GameCube version. GameRankings gave it a score of 24.06% for the Xbox version and 27.83% for the GameCube version; while Metacritic gave it a score of 25 out of 100 for the Xbox version and 29 out of 100 for the GameCube version. A PlayStation 2 version was planned, but got cancelled due to the game's poor reception.

Charlie's Angels (GameCube, PlayStation 2)

Released as a tie-in to the film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and featuring the voices of its stars Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, Charlie's Angels received criticism for its poor gameplay (with a large number of bugs and glitches), graphics (including poor character models, and unique "fighting styles" that had little differentiation), and storyline. Alex Navarro of GameSpot believed the game's voice acting, despite involving the actual actors from the films, " the impression that they had each individually been roused from a bad hangover and thrown in front of a microphone." The game ultimately received a 1.9 out of 10 from Navarro, who dubbed the game a "horrific display of ineptitude." IGN gave Charlie's Angels a 4.0 out of 10, considering it "the textbook example of what happens when no care or thought is put into the digital adaptations of lucrative movie licenses" due to its shallow gameplay, and being "neither sexy nor cool" like the films. GameTrailers named Charlie's Angels the "Worst Movie Game of All Time", considering it "degrading, not to women, not even to video games, but to humanity itself."

Charlie's Angels has a Metacritic score of 23/100 and a GameRankings score of 23.74%, the lowest aggregate score of any video game with more than 20 featured reviews as of March 2011.

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (PC)

Released in a seemingly incomplete and buggy state, Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing became infamous for its complete lack of collision detection, non-existent AI (as the computer opponent does not move, or otherwise participate in the "race" at all), extremely abnormal physics coding (including the ability to drive directly up vertical inclines, and accelerate indefinitely while in reverse), and its victory screen—an image of a three-handled trophy cup accompanied by the typoed caption "YOU'RE WINNER !".

Big Rigs was listed as one of the worst games ever made by GameSpot, Thunderbolt, and Netjak, and received the lowest possible scores from all three. Alex Navarro opened his review of Big Rigs for GameSpot by stating that the game was "as bad as your mind allows you to comprehend." His video review contained no narration whatsoever, consisting of in-game footage interspersed with scenes showing Navarro staring in disbelief, crying, and beating his head on a desk. GameSpot also awarded it its 2004 Flat-Out Worst Game award, with its "trophy" being the three-handled "YOU'RE WINNER" trophy from the game itself. Additionally after declaring it the "worst game ever made" in a "Games You Should Never Buy" segment, X-Play's Morgan Webb refused to rate Big Rigs as their scale went from only 1 to 5.

On aggregate reviews, it has the lowest aggregate score of any video game, with 8/100 on Metacritic, and 3.83% on GameRankings. Big Rigs was also named #2 as the "Worst Video Game of the Decade". Despite (or possibly due to) the universally negative response by critics, Big Rigs still sold surprisingly well, albeit mostly from discount software bins and at a $5 price point; the actual figures were never released, but GameSpot estimated sales of almost 20,000 copies.

Elf Bowling 1 & 2 (Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS)

Elf Bowling 1 & 2, a compilation featuring the first two Elf Bowling games, was panned by critics for its poor graphics, crude audio and controls. Frank Provo of GameSpot rated the title 1.4/10 — the lowest rating given for a Nintendo DS game — citing the fact that "charging 20 bucks for two freebie PC games is morally reprehensible", and criticizing the game's simplistic mechanics and "weak" visuals. IGN's Craig Harris called the compilation "absolutely retarded".

On aggregate reviews, it has the third-lowest aggregate score of any video game, with 12/100 from Metacritic, and 12.25% from GameRankings.

Lula 3D (PC)

The adult-themed adventure game Lula 3D was criticized for its tedious gameplay, poor puzzle designs, graphics (including inconsistent frame rates, poor animation, and blatant re-use of character models), voice acting, and controls. On Metacritic, the game received an aggregate score of 28% from 14 reviews. Eurogamer gave the game a 2 out of 10, believing that its low quality, combined with its packaging (which billed the game as featuring "Bouncin' Boobs Technology"), made the game " like it was developed by a 12 year old boy, on a 12 year old PC, at least 12 years ago. Nor does it warn that every minute spent attempting to play the game will make you feel like you've just lost 12 years of your life, and leave you wishing that you had some kind of mind bulimia so you could sick it all up and start again." PC Zone considered Lula 3D to be "oddly compelling" for its quality, comparing it to "all ten minutes of Michelle from Big Brother decked out in cheap purple underwear staring slackjawed into the camera on the midnight freeview on Television X." In conclusion, Lula 3D was given a 3.1 out of 10, and was described as being "so inexorably, mindbogglingly ignorant of how either real games or real sex works that it spread-eagles itself a fair way into the 'so-bad-it's good' category."

Jolt Online Gaming gave Lula 3D a 1.8 out of 10 for making "every mistake that can possibly be made by the designers of a 3D adventure", criticizing its poorly implemented controls and camera, tedious gameplay involving "mooching around listening to Lula’s terribly voiced and poorly translated descriptions of everything around you, while collecting everything you can lay your hands on", and voice actors whose quality were compared to rejected phone sex operator auditionees. In conclusion, Jolt felt that "if you like good games, Lula 3D isn’t for you. If you like sexual humour, Lula 3D isn’t for you. If you have no qualms about pulling yourself off at the sight of dreadfully rendered computer characters shagging, then you need to check yourself in at your local therapy centre."

In 2013, Polygon cited Lula 3D and other "low-brow" pornographic games as a factor in the mainstream video game industry's general non-acceptance of adult video games.

Ninjabread Man (PlayStation 2, Wii)

Ninjabread Man was widely panned by critics for its poor camera, controls, graphics and short length. GameRankings gave the PlayStation 2 version of the game an aggregate rating of 31%, while the Wii version has an average of 17.5%. IGN gave the Wii version a score of 1.5/10, saying: "Is Ninjabread Man actually a good game? No chance. It's buggy, often completely broken, somehow manages to have frame issues in tiny levels, and is completely ruthless if (and when) younger players die." Thunderbolt gave it 1/10, citing the game's length and the unimaginative use of the character as key flaws."

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Intended to reboot the Sonic the Hedgehog series and to celebrate the franchise's 15th anniversary, Sonic the Hedgehog was rushed for Christmas 2006 and was generally panned by critics and gamers alike for its poor controls, bad camera angles, numerous glitches, poor plotting, loading times and level design. IGN stated that "it offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control", while GameSpot lamented the gameplay, the amount of glitches, camera problems and the supporting cast, stating "only the most blindly reverent Sonic the Hedgehog fan could possibly squeeze any enjoyment out of Sega's latest adventure". Gametrailers criticized the story as well, by saying that "you might actually be better off reading internet fan fiction." The game was ultimately listed as part of its "Top Ten Disappointments of the Decade" list.

Because of the criticism, the game has a Metacritic average of 46% for the Xbox 360 version and a similar score of 43% for the PlayStation 3 version.

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	C (Xbox 360)
Eurogamer	2 / 10 (Xbox 360)
Famitsu	30 / 40 (Xbox 360) 29 / 40 (PS3)
Game Informer	6.75 / 10 (Xbox 360)
GamePro	(Xbox 360)
GameSpot	4.4 / 10 (Xbox 360) 4.2 / 10 (PS3)
GameSpy	(Xbox 360)
GamesRadar+	(Xbox 360) (PS3)
GameTrailers	4.6 / 10 (Xbox 360)
GameZone	4.5 / 10 (Xbox 360)
IGN	4.8 / 10 (Xbox 360) 4.2 / 10 (PS3)
Official Xbox Magazine (UK)	6.0 / 10 (Xbox 360)
Play	5.5 / 10 (PS3) 8.5 / 10 (Xbox 360)
PSM3	4.7 / 10 (PS3)
TeamXbox	6 / 10 (Xbox 360)
X-Play	(Xbox 360)
The A.V. Club	D−

Sonic the Hedgehog received predominantly negative reviews and is considered one of the worst video games ever made, with aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic assigning the Xbox 360 version a 48.74% and 46/100, and the PS3 version a 46.14% and 43/100. Reviewers heavily criticized the game's camera system, extensive loading times, poor controls, and several gameplay glitches; Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot labeled Sonic the Hedgehog as "a mess from top to bottom." Juan Castro of IGN said that the game "offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control," while GameTrailers concluded that the game was "flat-out unfinished, unfairly difficult, and most importantly, just isn't much fun." GameTrailers also ranked the game #9 in their countdown of the "Top Ten Most Disappointing Games of the Decade." In 2009, GamesTM ranked it #1 on their top ten "Video Game Franchises That Lost Their Way," commenting that "The blue hedgehog's next-gen efforts have been nothing short of appalling, none more so than his 2006 appearance."

Dave Halverson of Play Magazine initially gave Sonic the Hedgehog a 9.5/10 score for the Xbox 360 version. In the following issue, however, Halverson reassessed it as 8.5/10, citing that he was incorrectly told that the load times and glitches in his review copy would not be in the final version of the game. In a later review for the PS3, Halverson was frustrated with the glitches and load times not being improved upon, as well as how the game ran marginally worse despite the extra development time; Halverson gave the PS3 version a 5.5/10. Bobbi Dempsey of Common Sense Media gave it one out of five stars, also criticizing the game's "atrocious" design problems and the "quirky" control system, asserting that it's "not even a renter."

In a February 2007 interview for Kikizo magazine, Sonic Team producer Yojiro Ogawa was asked to comment on the game's glitches, control problems and loading times:

The reason why we probably ended up with what we see today, involves a lot of reasons. One is that we did want to launch the title around Christmas, and we had the PS3 launch coming up, but we had to develop for Microsoft's 360 at the same time and the team had an awful lot of pressure on them. It was very hard for the team to try and see how we were going to come out with both versions together with just the one team. It was a big challenge.

— Yojiro Ogawa

The game's plot was also less than well received. GamesRadar called the story "ridiculously overwrought" and "conceptually challenged," while GameTrailers commented about the plot elements to be "pretty ridiculous stuff" and that "You might actually be better off reading Internet fan fiction." Gertsmann stated that "While the character variety might initially seem like a good idea, most of them aren't too interesting," GameTrailers also commented that "even if you like the characters, the convoluted manimal melodrama is poor quality," while Eurogamer mentioned that "Rather than fleshing the game out, the supporting cast often just annoys." Game Informer, however, opined that "The story, though outlandish and nonsensical at first, eventually incorporates an interesting mix of interweaving time travel, pathos, and all-star teamwork to defeat an ancient evil."

The implied romance between Sonic the Hedgehog and the human Princess Elise was also heavily criticized. GamesRadar called their kiss "the most bizarrely cringe-worthy kiss in video game history," and in another article, concluded about the pairing that "True love has never been so disgusting." GamesTM went so far as to say that "...Sonic's relationship and kiss with Princess Elise truly marked the point the series had veered off into absolute nonsense." Some even accused Sega for supporting bestiality, during an interview with actress Lacey Chabert, where Chabert stated "Ha! No, you're just being silly. It's not an inappropriate relationship. Let's just say Sonic and Princess Elise have an attraction for each other."

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust was the eighth installment of the Leisure Suit Larry video game series, released on March 27, 2009. Critics and players both gave the game negative reviews for its poor attempts at adult humor, game play and controls, graphics quality and story incoherence. Metacritic scored the game of 20/100 for its PC version, 17/100 for its PlayStation 3 version and 25/100 for its Xbox 360 version. Screwattack.com gave the game a SAGY award for the Worst Multiconsole game of 2009. Giant Bomb gave the game the Worst Game of the Year Award in 2009. The Australian television show Good Game rated it as the Worst Game of 2009. Online gaming site IGN gave it a 2.2/10 for the PC and Xbox 360 versions and a 2/10 for the PS3 version, categorizing them as "painful", and stating that "the lowest rating numbers here at IGN are reserved for games with nearly no redeeming qualities or interesting ideas, with next to nothing enjoyable to offer players, and which under no circumstances should be purchased by anyone. Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust is, without a doubt, one of those games." GameCentral's review summarizes the game as "One of the worst video games ever made—brutally unfunny and monotonously inept on every level." The producer for early Larry games, Al Lowe, publicly thanked VU Games on his website for keeping him away from what he called "the latest disaster". GameTrailers also rated the game a 2.3/10, the lowest score ever given on the site.

M&M's Kart Racing (Nintendo DS, Wii)

M&M's Kart Racing was released in 2008 for the Nintendo DS and Wii. GameSpot gave the a game 2/10, saying "This truly horrible racing game could put you off M&M's for life". Gamezone gave the game a 1/10 for its concept, saying "how can you mess up a kart racer this bad?" GameRankings.com gave this game 22.5%, with the game's nearest "rival" being Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway with 26.4%. This game was given the "Flat-Out Worst Game" award in the 2008 GameSpot video game awards. IGN was a little more forgiving, but not too much, giving the DS version 3/10 and the Wii version 2.5/10.

Rogue Warrior (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Rogue Warrior was initially developed by Zombie Studios under the title Rogue Warrior: Black Razor: it would have been an Unreal Engine 3-based game with drop-in four-player cooperative play, and 24-player competitive multiplayer using randomly generated maps based on a unique tiling system. However, its publisher Bethesda Softworks was unsatisfied with the direction Zombie Studios was taking with the game; among other issues, citing the lack of emphasis on the personality of its protagonist Richard Marcinko. Bethesda rebooted the project with Rebellion Developments taking over development. The game was re-built from the ground up, completely scrapping Zombie Studios' work.

Upon its release, Rogue Warrior was panned by critics for its poor controls, extreme and incredibly frequent use of profanity, short length, very limited multiplayer, and broken combat techniques. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd awarded Rogue Warrior a 2.0 out of 10, calling it "an absolute rip-off" and finding that Richard Marcinko "doesn't just drop an F-bomb—he drops an entire nuclear warhead of repulsive language." IGN's Jeff Hayes stated that "players should stay far away from this title at all costs" and rated it a 1.4 out of 10, criticizing its "laughable and barely existent" plot. Eurogamer's Richard Leadbetter called it "the worst game I've played on either platform for a long, long time."

2010s

Naughty Bear (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Naughty Bear was met with negative reviews. IGN's Greg Miller scored the game 3/10 on Xbox 360 and 2.5/10 on PlayStation 3. GameSpot gave the game a 5.5/10. X-Play gave the game a 3/5. Joystiq gave the game a 2/5. The Escapist Magazine gave the game a 2/5, calling it "repetitious and clunky". Good Game's Steven O'Donnell and Stephanie Bendixsen gave the game a combined score of 2.5/20 and named it 'Worst game of the Year'.

Postal III (PC)

Development of the third installment in the Postal franchise was subcontracted by Running with Scissors to the Russian video game developer Akella; however, they did not have the resources to develop the game to the design that the series' creators intended and thought they were able to deliver. The game ultimately received poor reviews from critics, scoring an average review score on Metacritic of 24/100. The poor reception also prompted Running with Scissors to pull the game from its own online store, suggesting that players buy earlier installments of the franchise instead.

PC Gamer gave Postal III a 21/100, joking that "suck and blow" were "two things that Postal III will continue to do for some hours", criticizing its lack of an open world design like Postal 2, poor AI, and poor attempts at being offensive (drawing comparisons to the quality of Uwe Boll's film adaptation). IGN felt that the game's technical and gameplay issues were more offensive than the game's content, criticized the lack of variety or openness in its missions, and noticed poor loading times. However, the game's humor, wide variety of weapons (despite most of the more unique weapons not being as useful in-game as their conventional counterparts), and relatively better graphical quality than Postal 2 were regarded as positive aspects, but not enough to save the game from a 5.5/10 rating. Game Informer gave the game a 1/10, criticizing its "barely cobbled-together series of mostly linear levels", lazily using self-awareness to point out bugs that should have been fixed before release (such as a warning that an escort would "frustratingly disappear" if left behind), and concluding that there was "nothing redeeming about Postal III's frustrating, buggy gameplay."

MindJack (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

MindJack has a Metacritic score of 44 for the PlayStation 3 and 43 for the Xbox 360. Kat Bailey of 1UP.com found nothing to like about the game, calling it a "lazy, corporate-mandated cash-in." IGN summed up their review with "MindJack is ultimately a frustrating and forgettable shooter with horrible presentation, clumsy controls and a plodding campaign. It serves up a next-gen idea with its unique multiplayer design yet delivers it in a horribly last-gen package."

Self-Defense Training Camp (Xbox 360)

Self-Defense Training Camp was panned by critics for its badly implemented motion detection with the Kinect peripheral, poor character animations, and for being a poor substitute to actual self-defense training; since the user would not be directly interacting with their target while learning these techniques. Official Xbox Magazine gave Self-Defense Training Camp a 3.5 out of 10, feeling that the game "implies you can easily learn how to break free of any hold without any proper feedback, practice, or, you know, another person there", and also noted its "bland" supplemental content, plus a "weird preoccupation with going for the groin." IGN's Mitch Dyer gave the game a 1.0 out of 10; citing the poor motion tracking and graphical quality, and joking that he " extra stoked when the first piece of advice my in-game instructor had to offer was 'kick your attacker in the genitals.'" IGN also ultimately named it one of its worst games of 2011. The game currently holds an aggregated score of 21/100 on Metacritic.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (Xbox 360)

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor was released on June 19, 2012 by Capcom and received multiple negative reviews regarding the gameplay, controls and level design. IGN gave the game a 3/10 stating that Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is "far from fun" and the levels being "punishingly difficult." GameRankings gave the game a 38.54% Metacritic gave the game a 38/100 and finally G4 and Giant Bomb's scores were similar, being close to 0.5/10. All 5 sites were citing the game's poor control scheme, terrible gameplay, and levels designed to be nearly impossible.

The War Z (PC)

The War Z, an open world multiplayer survival horror game, was publicly released as a "foundation release" in December 2012. The game received negative reception from various publications for its poor gameplay experience, and for its use of microtransactions for purchasing items and reviving characters without waiting four hours, despite the game not being a freemium "free-to-play" game. GameSpy gave The War Z a half-star out of five and considered it "a bad game that deserves all the controversy its drawn", criticizing the broken state of the game and its use of microtransactions, but complimenting its overall atmosphere and far draw distance. IGN gave the game a 3.0 out of 10, citing that "the high spawn rate of weapons, as well as fear of hackers, makes the majority of player interaction in The War Z overly punishing and one-dimensional", and further criticized its missing features, the ability to lose purchased items, and its lack of a balance between ranged and melee weaponry.

The game was also met with criticism by players, who felt that the game should not have been released in its present state. They also accused the developers, Hammerpoint Interactive, of false advertising; since the game's promotional material on Steam highlighted certain features that were not yet present in the game, such as multiple large game worlds varying in size (only one was available), a skill point based leveling system (which was not yet implemented), servers supporting up to 100 players (that were actually capped at 50), and private servers (which were not yet available). Despite this information being corrected to consider them "upcoming" features, the flood of criticism prompted Valve to pull the game from sale on Steam and offer refunds, stating that the game was accidentally made available for purchase prematurely. In an interview with PC Gamer, executive producer Sergey Titov (who was also listed as a producer for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing) claimed that its servers were temporarily capped at 50 due to player feedback, and that its marketing team had misinterpreted information about the current state of the game. Due to its similar themes, gameplay, and title, some also felt that The War Z was a clone of the popular ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead mod DayZ (of which a standalone version was in development); on June 20, 2013, Hammerpoint announced that the game would be renamed Infestation: Survivor Stories, "primarily as a result of some confusion and trademark issues with a similarly titled property" (a statement which also factored in a conflict with the film World War Z).

Ridge Racer (PS Vita)

Ridge Racer, the first installment of the Ridge Racer franchise released on the PlayStation Vita, was critically panned by various publications for its bare-bones nature and a lack of proper progression, unlike other installments in the series. GameSpot gave the game a 3.0/10 and criticized the game's lack of initial content (which consisted only of a limited number of cars and tracks ported from Ridge Racer 7) as a ploy to force users to buy its downloadable content (while its first DLC pack, despite being available for free as a limited time offer, only consisted of more content originating from Ridge Racer 7), resulting in a poor experience that lacked any of the variety of past installments. In conclusion, the game was considered "a complete and utter ripoff" that "feels more like a cheap cash-in than a fully thought-out product." IGN also gave the game a 3/10 for similar reasons, criticizing its absolute lack of storyline or progression-based modes or leagues, and unbalanced online races that use a leveling system to determine a player's top speed (giving an unfair disadvantage to newer players). Ridge Racer was described as "racing in a vacuum, barely more than a tech demo, wrapped up in an online-reliant social framework that's fundamentally flawed on several levels." In June 2012, IGN also named Ridge Racer one of its ten "Worst Video Games of 2012 So Far".

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Declassified (PS Vita)

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Declassified, was released exclusively for the PlayStation Vita in November 2012, and was panned by critics for its short campaign, poor enemy AI and unreliable network mode and holds a score of 33.21% at GameRankings and 33/100 at Metacritic. Game Informer's Dan Ryckert gave the game a score of 3/10 and called the game a "complete embarrassment" for the Call of Duty franchise.Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann cited it as a "disjointed mess", criticizing the awkward touch-based controls, glitches causing enemies to get stuck on level geometry, and multiplayer maps "so tiny that you'll literally spawn with an enemy in your crosshairs". Daniel Rutledge of 3 News also criticized it stating that the single player campaign was "less than an hour long" and describing it as "terrible value for money". Peter Willington of Pocket Gamer was also unimpressed, calling it "a massive middle finger to the fans".

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade (Wii U)

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade, a minigame compilation for the Wii U released in December 2012, was panned by critics for its poor quality, and holds a score of 11/100 on Metacritic; the second-lowest score among all video games listed. Game Revolution gave the game a 0 out of 5 for " 30 'great' games, yet nothing more than confusion and anger instead of competition and fun." The entire game was criticized for being poorly designed (including a target shooting game that required players to aim with the Wii Remote's Nunchuck instead of pointing and shooting), and all of its minigames were considered to be "garbage" and "borderline unplayable". Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game a score of 11%, jokingly concluding the review (written in the style of a diary) with an "ONM Coroner's Report" that read "Patient suffered a psychotic breakdown while playing this game. No treatment possible."

Final Fantasy: All the Bravest (iOS)

Final Fantasy: All the Bravest, a Final Fantasy spin-off, was released on January 17, 2013 for iOS devices. It was advertised as a classically-styled Final Fantasy game developed specifically for iOS devices. Criticism was leveled at its simplistic gameplay mechanics (with one reviewer noting how the game could be completed with one's eyes closed) and the extensive microtransaction system embedded in the game. Of particular concern was the system for buying 'Legendary Characters', characters from past Final Fantasy games, wherein a random character from a list of 35 would be added to the party for a fee of $0.99. It was viewed by several reviewers as a cynical attempt from the publisher to exploit fans of the series, and was called by one reviewer 'a cash delivery system' rather than a game.

As of June 2013, it holds a score of 25/100 on Metacritic.

Star Trek (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Released on April 23, 2013, Star Trek was heavily criticized for its poor quality, as well as its large number of bugs and glitches. Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 46%, with the PC version having a score of 44%, and the Xbox 360 version a score of 42%. GameSpot also gave Star Trek a 3.5/10 rating, while IGN gave it a 4.2/10 rating. J. J. Abrams stated in September 2013 that he was "emotionally hurt" by the game's poor reception, and also stated that it "arguably hurt" his new film Star Trek Into Darkness by being released shortly before it.

Fast and Furious: Showdown (3DS, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360)

Fast and Furious: Showdown was released in May 21, 2013 and was poorly received by various critics. IGN cited that "Awful driving physics, weak shooting, short, buggy missions, ugly tracks, and badly impersonated voice acting make Fast & Furious: Showdown the epitome of an insultingly terrible movie tie-in game." Multiplayer.it said "Fast & Furious: Showdown is a nice example of how NOT to make a game." It currently holds a Metacritic score of 23/100.

Ride to Hell: Retribution (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

First announced in 2008 as a Grand Theft Auto-styled game set during the late 1960's, the eventual release of Ride to Hell: Retribution in June 2013 was met with largely negative reception. In particular, Ride to Hell was criticized for its largely broken gameplay, poorly implemented controls, poor voice acting and writing, and dropping the originally announced open world format in favor of a linear structure. Daniel Starkey of GameSpot considered Ride to Hell: Retribution to be "painfully insubstantial" and broken all-around, criticizing its plot for showing a "pathetic, out-of-touch approach to sex, violence, and masculinity", and believing that its developers were showing a lack of respect towards players due the game's abysmal quality. Describing it as the newest candidate for "Worst Game of All Time", Starkey gave Ride to Hell a 1.0 out of 10, making it only the second game (behind Big Rigs) to receive GameSpot's lowest possible rating. EGM criticized Ride to Hell for being "a linear, insultingly underdeveloped mess" with "endlessly clunky gameplay" and numerous bugs and glitches, concluding that "other games may have offered less content for more money or come up shorter in specific, individual areas, but I don’t think there’s ever been a game that does so many things so universally poorly", giving the game 0.5 out of 10. As of August 2013, the game has a Metacritic score of 19 out of 100, based on 14 reviews of the Xbox 360 version. It is currently the third lowest scoring game ever on the Xbox 360, and the lowest scoring full retail Xbox 360 game of all time. It received a 13 out of 100 score from Metacritic for the PS3 version, making it the lowest scoring PS3 game of all time.

Ashes Cricket 2013 (PC)

Ashes Cricket 2013, a cricket video game developed by Trickstar Games and published by 505 Games on Steam, was delayed from a release scheduled for June 2013 due to quality concerns; the original release date was to coincide with the English leg of the 2013 Ashes series. It was pulled four days after its release on 22 November 2013 (which now coincided with the 2013–14 Ashes series in Australia) following overwhelmingly negative user reviews. In its review of the game, Rock Paper Shotgun considered Ashes Cricket 2013 to be "hilariously awful", and criticized the game for having poorly implemented and documented controls, poor graphics and character animations, and other non-functioning features, saying that "trying to follow the ball is quite the thing, as each fielder sproings from one glitchy animation to the next, pinging from one place to another, while the camera chops and changes at all the wrong moments. It is, immediately, a bad game."

505 apologized to the game's users, saying that the developers were (despite their experience with cricket video games) unable to build a suitable product on the engine they provided, and that " couldn't meet the quality benchmarks of either us, our licensors or our customers." The company also indicated that its current priority was to "protect the Ashes name and that of the ECB and Cricket Australia, and do what we can to recompense the cricket community." 505 have offered refunds to all who purchased Ashes Cricket 2013, and also cancelled plans to release console versions of the game.

See also

• List of best-selling video games
• List of games considered the best
• List of commercial failures in video gaming
• List of films considered the worst
• List of television series notable for negative reception
• Don't Buy This – A compilation of several terrible ZX Spectrum games purposely released by its publisher as a joke
• Action 52 – A collection of 52 abysmal video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike Don't Buy This, the game collection was never meant to be a joke, but rather a collection of "52 fresh and exciting games," all of which were plagued by glitches.

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External links

• Gamescrap a site dedicated to bad video games
• The all time worst games at MobyGames
• Top Ten Worst Video Games of All Time at GameTrailers
• So Bad It's Horrible: Video Games at TV Tropes
• EGM's Crapstravaganza: The 20 Worst Video Games of All Time by Seanbaby

• Lists of worsts
• Video game lists by reception or rating