So some dude (aka Matt Wadleigh of Thunderbolt) recently put up an editorial examining the ten worst games he ever had the misfortune of reviewing, and to our great surprise, several of them were DS titles. After a moment of outrage (and perhaps a hissy fit or two), we were reminded that reviewers are subjected to many more terrible games than the average discerning gamer, and suddenly, things made a lot more sense (also, he probably reviews a lot of DS games). Still, it made us think a little about the worst DS games we've played, both in the line of duty and in our off time ... which means we have to ask you about the worst games you've played. But not just DS games -- let's consider games from all systems, including PC, and then stack them against the worst DS offerings you've run into. Have you played more bad DS games than, say, bad PS2 games? Insert the system of your choice.We're not surprised that a lot of bad DS games exist. With people looking to make money off the juggernaut that is the DS, people are willing to throw anything out there in the hope that it sticks. But how often have you been burned on games that looked good but simply weren't?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-28-2008 @ 9:19AM
Christopher said...
Well yeah, seriously. With more games than the PSP, the more shovelware you're going to get. For a site that complains about shovelware, I find this revelation a bit surprising.
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7-28-2008 @ 9:30AM
tlronin said...
Well my most recent and biggest disapointment was Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, a PC game. It makes the worst DS games (like Elf Bowling) look like diamonds. If you've every played a real Larry game that is.
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7-28-2008 @ 9:37AM
TheCoats said...
lets see....
-shaq-fu(sega)
-rampage(NES)
-ET (atari)
-Superman(N64)
-Aquaman(PS2)
-Any pet game besides nintendogs (DS)
-alone in the dark (Wii)
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7-28-2008 @ 10:00AM
Brittany said...
awww I have fond memories of playing rampage with a friend ...
now ET, hah I tried playing that again this weekend... Still don't understand what the arrows are trying to point me to...
7-28-2008 @ 10:06AM
Christopher said...
Wait... you played Shaq-fu?? Ouch.
And Aquaman? I feel for you. :-P
7-28-2008 @ 9:43AM
Ashley said...
Slow news day, huh?
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7-28-2008 @ 9:43AM
tamriel said...
Puzzle de Harvest Moon. Sorry, it really was on the DS.
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7-28-2008 @ 9:54AM
JohnathanEnder said...
Y'know, this would be perfect for the Angry Video Game Nerd. ^_^
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7-28-2008 @ 10:44AM
Jacksons said...
Looked good but wasn't, eh? I'd have to say Jak 2 (PS2) was my biggest offender. It even got good reviews, but compared to the others in the series, I found it absolutely abysmal. I haven't been burned on the DS, but I try my best to avoid crap. Jak 2 slipped under the radar.
There's some pretty popular titles on the DS that I've found mediocre at best, but I don't want to invoke any fanboy rage. :)
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7-28-2008 @ 11:09AM
Danny F. said...
Whaaaaat?? Jak 2 was awesome man. I'm surprised you hated it like that... If anything I think Jak 3 was worse, it felt like they tacked on the story and gave it the only crappy ending. But to each his own I guess.
One crappy game would be the DBZ games for the gba or ds that were adventure/rpg mode types.
7-28-2008 @ 1:24PM
Jacksons said...
See? I swear I'm the only one that didn't enjoy that game. So many things just rubbed me the wrong way. If not for Daxter's antics, I doubt I would have finished it at all. But yes, I'm way, way in the minority on this one.
7-28-2008 @ 10:45AM
acefondu said...
I don't play bad games. If you know enough about the developers, game-style, and production values you can easily avoid bad games.
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7-28-2008 @ 11:12AM
Danny F. said...
Yes and no, usually you can tell a crappy game from far away. But sometimes system seller looking games can turn up flat, the best exampe would be Haze for the PS3, they hyped that so bad that when it came out it ended up flopping for crappy story and soso gameplay.
That was a dark day for PS3 owners :-\
7-28-2008 @ 1:34PM
acefondu said...
'Hype' is not in my equations for knowing if a game is good or not before it comes out.
7-28-2008 @ 2:11PM
Danny F. said...
Its not just hype that can confuse ppl, Haze looked good without the hype and press release. Many games did infact, but once its gets to hands of gamers and the reviews come up is when they find how bad the game is and notify everyone else.
Sometimes you just never know until it gets released..
7-28-2008 @ 3:28PM
acefondu said...
Can't argue with that statement. But this is one gamer who's hands that particular title did not fall into the hands of. Still, I'm not one to spend money on a game I know I won't like. Admittedly though, I like a lot of games so that helps, lol.
7-28-2008 @ 6:30PM
aj said...
I've played a couple of games that I just flat out hated that had the hype and the good reviews (note that the hype and good reviews all come out before Joe Gamer actually gets to buy the game).
Final Fantasy XII is an example of a game that I would consider really, really bad. And there was no way to avoid it, really. Sometimes that'll happen.
7-28-2008 @ 11:13AM
LeMi said...
I took an entire list form metacritic a few months ago and found this:
(score) (%) (no. of games)
85-100 2.9% (24)
75-85 9.6% (79)
65-75 17.6% (145)
50-65 19.6% (161)
35-49 11.3% (93)
01-35 5.7% (47)
Critics can be harsh sometimes and i like most of the games at 65-75 range but there are a lot of bad games.
Most of the developers tries to cash out on popularity of the ds and hope that the pretty picture will lure the kids or the parents. Instead they should try to actually develop a good game.
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7-28-2008 @ 11:31AM
Danny F. said...
Whats sad is that formula ends up working..
Developers would spend for example maybe 50k on a game with a nice look on the cover and a brand name series on it to get it hyped. Then with the amount of DS owners out there you figure they sell about 4-5x what it cost to develop it and they still make a quick profit on top of their cost.
Wish there was a law against games like that man... :-\
7-28-2008 @ 11:13AM
Mike97 said...
I am pretty good at avoiding out and out bad games, but there are some games that have reviewed reasonably well but that I just don't like. Kingdom of Paradise on the PSP sounded pretty good - until I played it. Laughable acting combined with boring gameplay and criminal underuse of the abilities of the PSP combined for a very poor experience. On the DS, I sometimes get annoyed at games, like Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales or that Mario and Luigi RPG. Both of them just kept annoying me more and more until I sent them back - thank goodness for game rentals.
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