Top 20 Worst Video Games of All Time

Top 20 Worst Video Games of All Time

Written by Zeromage 108 Comments
Last Updated:: May 1, 2008

What makes a worst video game of all time? Poor story lines, insane difficulty, controlling issues to the point of broken screens… all these contribute towards video games that you threw out your window in disgust of wasting 3 dollars in renting them. On this list we prudently considered what games made us break the most things, and made us ask ourselves “how the fuck was this game ever made?” There were some obvious immediate choices like “Shaq Fu” and “ET”, and there were also some more personal choices like “Fatal Fury” and “Elevator Action”. Old-Wizard brings you these top 20 worst games of all time in hopes that you never have to experience the inexorably abominable game play that we’ve had to experience in playing a game like “Three Stooges”, where what you thought would be 2 days of rented video game euphoria turned out to be hours of personal disgust, wondering how it was possible you could have rented a game so bad. However, if you are one of those people who like to play bad video games because they make you feel better about yourself and ebullient about your own small accomplishments in life, then these are the games to play. As an elementary programmer, you probably have a decent chance at creating a game better than “Muscle”, and this doesn’t feel too bad.

20. Yo! Noid (NES)

Yo! Noid is about as much fun as eating left over pizza that was thrown in the garbage a week earlier. When an advertising slogan gets put into a video game, you can be sure it’s total ass. This game is no exception. “Yo! Noid” may be the best example of idiots in marketing who think that anything can be translated to a video game. This game is grotesquely difficult, much like “Ghost’s ‘n Goblins”. What’s more annoying though, is having absolutely no energy and no suit to protect you from just one enemy killing you. Even the smallest enemy can dominate the Noid into oblivion, making you wonder why the hell the Noid took it upon himself to save New York City. His weapon is a yo-yo, not a magic yo-yo like we find in Star Tropics, but a standard yo-yo, making you wonder even more why the Noid thinks he can save New York City, since he has no stamina and a fucking toy yo-yo. If you happen to be lucky beyond all understandable limits and get to the end of a level, you are put into a pizza eating contest while the city is on fire, making the Noid a hero with no stamina, a bad weapon, and no dedication to the task at hand. What’s worse, if you lose the pizza eating contest, you have to start the level over again. At that point, you throw the cartridge out the window and remain validated knowing how bad of an idea it always was to take a banal advertising signifier and assume it will be successful as a video game. I don’t think I ever ate at Dominos after playing this terrible excuse for a video game.

19. Skate or Die (NES)

Skate or Die? I would rather die then have to play Skate or Die ever again in this life time. The title screen shows some paltry loser who you want to beat on for looking so clownish. The game irritates you even more. You skate around different areas with the same ramps, same couple of maneuvers, and same impossible controller issues. Then when you finish an area you are bombarded with the same loser from the title screen, this time taking up even more space with his massive poaching noggin (who in their right mind would ever have a mo-hawk?) If you’re going to make a game called Skate or Die, how can it be one of the most pedestrian games ever made? Is it supposed to feel cutting edge because I’m looking at some goon with an ugly green mo-hawk? At least show a little bit of blood or anger when failing at these boring courses so that the game can merit the name “Skate or Die”. The same circle of courses proved to be quickly tedious, with little extra to spark any interest in playing further than five minutes, except if you like looking at 8-bit graphics of infirm skaters that may bring images of a “cool dude” flashing the rock hand signal at you when you were doing something cool. I suspect there are some people who like this trash. I should never meet these people, God willing.

18. Where’s Waldo (NES)

Who would have ever thought this game would have been a good idea? Okay, maybe if you were going to turn this NES installment into a superhero fighting game where Waldo had superpowers like something coming out of his glasses, but this installment turns out to be the same exact concept as the books, but only worse. At least in the books, you could spot Waldo. The graphics and objects for the NES “Where’s Waldo” are so poor that everything equally looks like shit making it impossible to have any chance at finding him. Why not just stick with the books though in the first place? Who in their right mind would buy this game? It’s hard to imagine even 5 of these games being sold. Could you imagine anyone admitting to buying this dung when you could buy the nice clear, iridescent books? “Where’s Waldo” consists of a big screen with a cursor moving around over nondescript objects. You would think the sales department would have something to say about this. But as with other games that were brought from the TV screen to platform console, all that mattered was cashing in on a good idea, no matter how bad the idea was for a video game.

17. Total Recall (NES)

When a publisher releases a video game based on a movie, it seems they often depend on the movie hype to sell copies rather than concentrating on actually producing a quality game. Total Recall for the NES was one such game (we’ll see two more games based on movies on the list as well). It is nothing short of amazing to consider that a console as great as the NES, with its track record of wonderful movie titled games (like Star Wars), would allow for such a mediocre title to be released. To add insult to injury, the game was actually released by Acclaim! Everything about the game leaves something to be desired: the controls are unresponsive, the graphics are atrocious and the game play is just plain confusing. In addition, the story line and characters fail to even resemble those of the movie it is supposed to be portraying — which may not necessarily be a bad thing, since I didn’t like the movie, either.

16. Top Gun (NES)

Top Gun for the NES is probably the most boring, hackneyed game to ever be released for the great 8-bit system. It’s a flight simulator with no extra features, no stirring sounds, and no control to do anything but move forward and sometimes shoot planes that look more like computer speakers. All is well though you think because a game this easy and boring will surely be conquered in no time, but then after 50 attempts of trying to land your plane on an aircraft carrier, you realize that this game is not only odiously trite, but is impossible to end because it’s basically impossible to land your plane. When landing your plane on an aircraft carrier, you are given terse directions from your “command screen” which you follow. If you follow the directions 100% perfectly, you will have about a 5% chance of landing the plane. I have personally seen the plane landed once. I remember that eventful day. I was at a friend’s house and four of us were watching my friends’ father trying to overcome this insuperable task. The first time we saw it land, we had a party. I remember looking over at one of my friends who may have been crying out of joy, that the annoyingly impossible task could be circumvented. The excitement lasted until the end of the next level where we all knew it couldn’t happen again, and it didn’t. How is it possible for programmers to make such a monumental mistake in making a task to finish a level so impossible? You make the game for months on end, you have testers testing it out for months on end. Who let this one slip by? This banal attempt at a flight simulator combined with poor programming make this one of the worst games of all time.

15. Elevator Action (Arcade)

Pac-Man is a simple game and its one of the greatest games of all time. Donkey Kong and the Original Super Mario Brothers are also simple games that rank as some of the best video gaming experiences of all time. Elevator action is also a very simple game, and is one of the worst games of all time, proving that simplicity doesn’t always equal genius. This game gets repetitive quick. Climb down stairs shooting the same fucking sleuth enemies over and over again. Once in awhile, take an elevator down and shoot the same enemies over and over again. The music is deeply irritating and completely uninspired. It’s easy to fall asleep to this music (not in a good Coastal Mario Kart level), which should not be the case for an action thriller that tries to be “edgy”. There’s really nothing more to be said about this game. You will fall asleep 2 minutes into playing Elevator Action or you will be angry it’s so fucking boring. There’s a line between sheer boredom and sheer genius when it comes to overtly simple games like those listed previously. Pac Man you can play for hours and hours on end with a levels that barely change and enemy’s that only gradually increase in speed and difficulty level. Elevator Action on the other hand you know almost immediately to be tired and uninspired.

14. Fester’s Quest (NES)

Playing this game for the first time, the initial thoughts that pop into one’s head are “I can’t believe this game was ever created.” Fester’s Quest for the NES is well deserving of its spot on this list. Loosely based off the 1960’s T.V. show The Adams Family, Fester’s Quest follows Uncle Fester as he attempts to save his town from an alien invasion. The first question we have to ask is “What do aliens have to do with the Adam’s Family?” The odd plot sets the tone for the game itself. Uncle Fester’s weapons include a gun that gets worse the more you power it up and whip. The story line, power ups, and game play give you the impression that this was supposed to be a different game before getting the Adams’ Family name slapped onto it. And as with many of the games on our top 20 worst video games list, Fester’s Quest is hard. I’m talking Contra with three lives hard. You get two hits, no extra lives, and no code. The various enemies are difficult to hit with the guns you’re provided with, and if you died even once, you had to start the entire game over again, making it not only hard but incredibly tedious and frustrating. There are almost no redeeming qualities to this game, other than the sound effects, which are lifted directly from Blaster Master, another Sunsoft game, and one of the greatest games ever made. Unfortunately, Sunsoft couldn’t repeat that brilliant success with this atrocious game.

13. Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (Sega Genesis)

This game was originally released in 1992 for the Genesis system and it maintained a small following for a while. The reason behind the following is most likely due to the onslaught of sequels to this game, which include “Jungle Strike”, “Soviet Strike”, and “Nuclear Strike”. It should be noted of course that all of these titles pretty much give the game away before one is even able to enjoy any playtime. This review however, will only focus on the first in the series “Desert Strike”.

Where should I start…?

I guess it all began with Saddam Hussein and his regime believing they could invade any country in the Middle East without any type of repercussions from an oil thirsty western civilization that wants to promote democracy and Starbucks. Global politics aside, a year after the Gulf War, rouge forces led by a General Kilbaba take over an Arab Emirate with the hopes of beginning WWIII. That is of course unless the mighty Apache attack helicopter and its Hellfire missiles has anything to say about it! The military industrial complex of the United States has done it again. A weapon was crafted that takes off from its frigate-base off shore and roars across the dunes with its Gattling gun blaring, leaving only smoldering structures and dismembered human tissue in its wake. Like most other games (all in fact), certain objectives must be met. In order to meet these goals and win, a warrior mentality is needed, along with a strong trigger finger. The Apache is outfitted with Hellfire missiles, Hydra rockets, and a loud cannon that tears shit up! Sounds fun huh?

Sorry…it gets old quick. This happens for several reasons. First, level after level occurs on virtually the same map. Maybe the enemy positions change a little along with the objectives. But the frigate is in the same place off shore. The main refueling and rearming areas are located in the same area. To the laymen, it is just repeated over and over. The game does try to save you from getting too bored with the map though. If you do not do the objectives in order, and approach enemy weaponry that is guarding say, a radio tower that is objective three, and you’re still on objective one, the enemies will automatically lock on you and unload their metal payload into the hull of your gunship. A second reason why it got old quick is because of the rather mediocre graphics. This is of course for Sega, so we aren’t expecting HD blood spatters, but when an enemy combatant is killed they fizzle into the dirt as if they were never there. Rather weak if you ask us. The final reason it gets old quick is because when you face off against the “Big Man” himself, he is rather easy to beat. The final boss is obviously inspired by Saddam Hussein. I mean come on! It took two wars and billions of dollars to find the guy in a spider hole. In Desert Strike it only takes a few well guided missiles and its over. You win. Yay…

Boo is more like it.

12. Superman: The New Superman Adventures (N64)

Superman: The New Superman Adventures, released for the Nintendo 64, is the worst thing to happen to the Superman franchise since Richard Pryor. Universally panned for its ridiculous plot, the game also offers up bad graphics and poor gameplay. The plot unfolds to reveal Lex Luthor’s entrapment the Man of Steel’s best friends ( i.e. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Professor Hamilton) in some virtual world into which you must enter to save them. Despite the stupid plot, I still had high hopes for this game. Unfortunately the gameplay and missions themselves are just plain boring. For some reason, Lex Luthor has suspended some hoops in the air, and you must fly through them in order to complete you mission objectives. The unresponsive controls will have you assuming you have pushed the wrong button, which usually results in mashing others to get some sort of response, all the while being confused by the weird perspectives. Not only that, but you barely get to use your other powers since you are occupied flying around through some boring backgrounds that look more like they belong on SNES than the N64. You do occasionally get to fight a virtual copy of one of Superman’s archenemies, though. The only reason to play this game is to see how bad it is, and only if you can find a friend who still owns a copy and hasn’t resold it or burned it.

11. The Three Stooges (NES)

While most games are bad because the idea of the actual game being played is terrible, or because it is so difficult you can’t get by the first level, “Three Stooges” introduces a new reason why a game can be awful. Three Stooges is basically incomprehensible to play. For the most part you have no idea what you’re doing when you’re playing this game. You press start and you’re taken to an outside street with the three stooges where a Wheel of Fortune wheel comes out of thin air that ostensibly picks what you’re supposed to do in the game. Next you notice you’re in another random place where you have no idea what you’re supposed to do. You’re at a bowl of soup with a spoon in it. There are also what looks like pieces of cat excretion in the soup that you have to eat. Trying to control your spoon proves to be one of the more difficult tasks you will take on in this life. After a couple of minutes of throwing your controller at the screen you hear a sound that sounds like a box fan breaking down which I think is supposed to be one of the 3 stooges getting angry that you didn’t pass a test that you couldn’t control and knew nothing about, and had no idea how you got there, and why your eating soup with ambiguous objects inside. You next may randomly find yourself in a hospital flying down an operating room with a nurse picking up things she’s dropping. You have no idea what you’re picking up though. Once again, trying to control this fiasco proves excessively enigmatic, and once again you will be throwing your controller at the screen.

This game is so bad, it’s difficult to review any longer. This is a perfect example of what happens when you try to take something from the TV or movie screen and apply it to video gamedom. Creators who want to cash in on screen success pay no attention to the garbage they’re putting out for the video game.

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108 Comments

#1 s says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:09 pm

sorry – worst game ever – ghostbusters on nes – i still dont know what that was about or if that was a working game even

#2 s says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:59 pm

oh yea and joust – cmon thats a classic – esp if you were all about ataris

#3 Aaron says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:28 pm

I can land the top gun plane easily. Now, you seem to have forgotten Time Lord. Very, VERY bad game. It consists of this guy who has to run around different periods of the past and collect these little orbs. I don’t know why; the game never explains itself.

#4 Josh Haskins says:
March 18th, 2010 at 2:53 am

this made me laugh until i cried. i agree with everything except joust.

#5 jon says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:57 am

WTF where’s E.T.???

#6 Fraught says:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:10 pm

@jon: On the #1 spot, you dim-witted lump of fuck?

#7 Matt says:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:09 am

Elevator Action is exactly like Mappy, except Mappy was actually popular.

#8 Dusty Loads says:
March 18th, 2010 at 11:53 am

Asshole.

#9 Manny Dont says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:39 am

Wayne’s World was fun if you put in the cheat code and started at a different level, otherwise it got boring pretty fast. I still can’t belive that I used to enjoy festers quest as a child *groan.

#10 Richard says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

As far as worst games ever, Star Voyager for the NES should be considered. The game consisted of you drifting in space to fight several flotillas of ships and getting obliterated if you got in battle. My brother beat Top Gun, though it admittedly took forever. Many NES games were near impossible though because of lack of saves, checkpoints or continues.

#11 Richard says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:53 pm

Oh, and we land the Top Gun plane about 99% of the time. Refueling is just as annoying.

#12 Burga says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:47 am

Beetlejuice on nintendo should be on this list, it was a horrible game. So should Bubsy 3D, that game makes me want to kill myself

#13 Waffles says:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:28 pm

I love this list. And I love waffles. Does that make me gay?

#14 dreamer says:
March 18th, 2010 at 12:07 am

you forgot dr jekyll and mr hyde, what? avgn did that already? oh ok.

#15 Andrew says:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

O.K. There are several problems with this list:

1. Where is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the NES?
2. Where is Custer’s Revenge for the 2600?
3. Where is Sewer Shark for the Sega CD?
4. Why is Jurassic Park for the Genesis up there? Playing as either Grant or the Raptor is a blast.
5. Finally, why isn’t Superman 64 higher on the list than Paperboy for the NES?

#16 Cyntac says:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:09 am

I have to disagree with Joust being on the list.

That game was awesome! I played it on the Atari for hours just to get the pteradactyl which was a bast to kill.

I really did love that game.

#17 avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 9:08 pm

Battletoads should not be there, sorry.

#18 avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 9:16 pm

10 worst games 10.Shaq-Fu (SNES, Genesis) 9.Paperboy (NES) 8.Custer’s Revenge (Atari) 7.White Men Can’t Jump (Jaguar) 6.Bible Adventures (NES) 5.Bubsy 3D (PS1) 4.Superman 64 (N64) 3.Action 52 (NES) 2.Big Rigs (PC) 1.ET (Atari).

#19 Brandon says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:58 am

wow… your list lost all credibility from me when i saw joust and paperboy on the list.

#20 avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 10:03 pm

Andrew:I actually didn’t think dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was that bad, I did get further than you probably did cause for some reason the lightning didn’t hit me. It isn’t the best game ever, but I wouldn’t call it 1 of the worst. it was kind of weird, but I would actually rather play it than quite a few of the 3rd-party, and even some 1st-party games on wii and 360, b4 you call me a sony fanboy all ps3 games I have played r sony, dats y i didn’t mention the 3rd-party ps3 games.

#21 Vectorben says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:48 pm

Fatal Fury doesnt belong on there, it is an SNK (Metal Slug) classic in the arcades!

#22 Vectorben says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

MUSCLE was based off a cartoon, and its not like they had very many games with real characters anyway.

#23 aaa says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:54 am

paperboy was a sweet game.

#24 Mark says:
March 18th, 2010 at 7:09 am

C’mon man, you obviously must have been terrible at paper boy to not make it past the first level. That should be on the best games list, not the worst.

#25 avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

uh, after playing paperboy again, ur right, paperboy rox.

#26 MrHerb says:
March 18th, 2010 at 11:41 am

Fatal Fury on the list?

GTFO….

#27 Avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:57 pm

they’re talking about Fatal Fury on Genesis, not arcade.

#28 PANCAKE says:
March 18th, 2010 at 7:10 am

Yes, waffle, that makes you gay. And why isn’t the incredible hulk (the one with the wimpy final boss) on there? It sucked.

#29 Avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 8:50 pm

I 4got Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Universal Combat and Guns ‘N’ Generals.

#30 Magnus says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Fester’s Quest was great.
Not really hard at all.

#31 where o where.... says:
March 18th, 2010 at 8:41 pm

How is Action 52 not here? It has to be the worst ever.

#32 CrustyOatmeal says:
March 18th, 2010 at 9:26 pm

no no no no no. this is the worst game of all time. there is no debate. its is like all the horrible points from soft porn mixed with the playability of a DVD menu

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/52921.html

#33 Avi says:
March 18th, 2010 at 2:45 pm

I loved Paperboy.. but I can’t name 20 games that are worst.

#34 Does Not Give A Crap says:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:26 am

ghoust’s in goblins and elevator action don’t belong there

#35 Freeloader says:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:56 am

Cosmic Carnage for the 32x almost made me quit video Games forever. I am still pissed, to this day, I saved for who knows how long to get a 32x and get that game only to see it suck as bad as it did.

Superman 64 is like 10 slots too low. That game was AWFUL. That was such a fuckin botchjob.

#36 RogersRoyal says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:18 pm

Sorry dude. But your list is very flawed and missing the point of a worst games of all time list. You have average ports like Joust and Paperboy on a list when there are dozens of worse games easily on any system. Are we talking about worst games of ALL TIME or just boring ports of games that you didn’t particularly care for. I didn’t see Pac Man (Atari 2600 version) which is credited to contributing to the downfall of video games in the early 1980’s. Last Action Hero for the SNES is worse than a lot of games you mentioned. Heck the Genesis version is even worse than that. I realize you had your own experiences with games but Paperboy on the NES, while not arcade perfect wasn’t a bad port of the game. I just think this list is flawed and not deserving of the title 20 worst video games. If anything it should be called “Games that I, myself, didn’t particularly care for after playing them.” list. Elevator Action? I mean come on. This list is bogus. Right away I knew something was off when you had Superman at 12. That already tells me you don’t get it. You found 10 games better than that? You would rather play Superman on the N64 than Fatal Fury? Fatal Fury at number 3? Is this for real? You seem to put ET there just because you felt you had to to make the list official but I don’t think you even get why that game stunk. Nah this list is no good. Sorry man. Good try but nope.

#37 Tony says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:48 pm

No Jaws? That game pisses me off to this day just thinking about it.

#38 nick says:
March 18th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Well I agree with the list, except for fatal fury. That game sucked, but it wouldn’t even be in my top 20.

#39 no says:
March 18th, 2010 at 9:23 pm

Well atleast everyone agrees on E.T. i wish i had my copy still. it would be nice to hold the stone that took down a giant.

#40 Alberto says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Hahahahahahahaha

E.T. poop home

#41 robert hernandez says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:42 pm

good games on this list:

paperboy
skate or die
fester’s quest

conspicuously missing:

dr jekyll
action 52
bible buffet
california games
etc etc etc

#42 JW82 says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:16 am

Joust is one of the greatest games ever made. This is ridiculous. And paperboy? If you were going to pick a game that was bad because it was hard you should’ve picked Hydlide.

#43 CaptainAustralia says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:47 am

Man, these guys clearly have ZERO idea what they’re talking about half the time…

…Desert Strike is a classic, and Jurassic Park for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis is just awesome and spawned two sequels on the same console.

I can’t stand it when noobs like these guys say sh** about “Low def” on systems that were made in the the early nineties. :S

Sorry Old-Wiz.com, but this list fails.
Hard.

(PS: It’s hard not to agree with the number 1 spot, though. ;D)

#44 Akiba says:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:04 am

I can see from this list that you love the NES but you what was with the Sega hating?
Seriously, Jurassic Park for the Genesis is NOT one of the worst games ever made. If you didn’t have such horrendous bias towards Sega you might have been able to enjoy it a bit more. What was with the constant “low def” references? Of course it’s low def the game was made in 1994.
Also Shaq Fu was released for the SNES AND the Genesis.
Fatal Fury? Wtf? You cannot be serious. It wasn’t intended to be the next Street Fighter it was intended to compete AGAINST Street Fighter. SNK designed it as an offbeat, slightly outlandish Fighter. Just because a Fighter was released after Street Fighter doesn’t mean it was simply a cheap Street Fighter clone.

Etc. Etc.

#45 Bonk84 says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:20 am

You guys want really bad games, go to youtube and check out angry video game nerd. He only rates the completly horrible games with the vulgaraty they deserve.

#46 james smith says:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:59 am

fuck you u stupid video game dorks

#47 Mark S. says:
March 18th, 2010 at 5:47 am

I’m surprised the 3 stooges made the list… actually once you figured out what you were supposed to do (admittedly, that was a pain in the arse), the game actually made some sense in a “slapstick” kind of way.

I don’t remember all the parts, but they were based on some of their show episodes… I remember the hospital corridor (“Ditzy Doctors” – Paging Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine) and the pie throwing (“Pies and Guys”), the “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup” routine was based on “Punch Drunks”.

You had to know your stooges shows to understand the purpose behind some of the games.

But figuring out what some of the objectives were, was very aggravating at times.