Codex Gamicus
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These games are notable for being awful for a variety of reasons.

Custer's Revenge[ | ]

Custer's Revenge was a game made by Mystique for the Atari 2600. It even had a label with the text "Adult Game Cartridge". This description is accurate, as the game portrays Custer dodging arrows in order to rape a native American woman. Atari recieved numerous complaints about the game's content and it was ultimately pulled out of circulation, with Atari threatening to sue. The content wasn't the only controversial thing though, the game was panned for it's quality as well. [1] [2]

ET[ | ]

This game is infamous for being one of the worst video games of all time. It was put together in just 5 weeks to be released in time for Christmas 1982. [3] Atari expected high sales, exploiting customer's loyalty. However, the game only ended up selling 2.5 million units [4], missing it's 5 million unit aim.

Unsold copies of the game were buried in a landfill in New Mexico, which was recently dug up. [5] It is blamed for the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Pac Man for the Atari 2600[ | ]

Despite selling well (7 million copies) [6], this port of Pac-Man was scaled down to a ridiculous extent to comply with the 2600's limitations. The code only rendered 1 ghost per frame, which resulted in the ghosts constantly flickering. Ed Logg said the game was a "lousy" effort. [6]

The developers blamed the lack of memory available on the ROM. IGN described it as a "disastrous port", with Craig Harris saying it was one of the worst arcade ports of all time. [7] [8]

Takeshi no Chōsenjō[ | ]

Takeshi no Chōsenjō was a Famicom game produced by Taiko in collaboration with comedian Takeshi Kitano. The player has to perform a series of strange, difficult tasks. All of these tasks were suggested by Kitano, sometimes while he was drunk or intoxicated. [9]

The game's entry for the guidebook of the anniversity event of the Famicom (hosted by Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography) says the following: "a game that sucked so bad, that craved its name in the history of the Family Computer. It then stated in its summary "We could be more than kind and say this was "an ambitious piece which pushed the limit of the video games", but "the worst sucking [sic] game" would be the adequate words to describe it." [10]

Taito recieved hundreds of phone calls every day, with questions regarding the game. If they could not provide a response, they simply said "the person in charge died". [10]

Action 52[ | ]

Most CDi games[ | ]

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties[ | ]

The Town with No Name[ | ]

Bubsy 3D[ | ]

South Park (PC and PS1)[ | ]

The PC and PS1 versions of this game were noticeably inferior to the Nintendo 64 version of this game. It is noted for its poor voice acting, bad graphics, and a lacklustre Multiplayer mode. It received 1.4 out of 10 from GameSpot, who said the following:

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.

[11]

Superman 64[ | ]

Daikatana[ | ]

Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis[ | ]

Charlie's Angels[ | ]

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing[ | ]

Drake Of The 99 Dragons[ | ]

Ninjabread Man[ | ]

Sonic 06[ | ]

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust[ | ]

Stalin vs. Martians[ | ]

Stalin vs. Martians is a parody RTS released on April 29, 2009. It was described as "trashy and over-the-top" by its creators. [12] It mocks World War II RTS games and contains humour similar to Monty Python.

The game was removed from all online stores on July 22, 2009 for an unknown reason. Most online stores simply redirect back to their main page, this link redirects to the main page of Steam.

The game itself recieved awful reviews, gaining a 23.41% average on GameRankings and 25% on Metacritic. GameSpot awarded it 1.5/10 saying it was "possibly the worst RTS ever made". The site given it the title of "2009's Flat-Out Worst Game". [13]

TatsTopsVideos included it in their "Top 100 Worst Games" list.

The WarZ[ | ]

Ride to Hell: Retribution[ | ]

A very recent case. Development for this atrocity was started in 2008, saying the game would be a biker action game based in the 1960s. Development went quiet shortly after, and was cancelled in 2010. This was due to production difficulties (a studio participating in development went bankrupt). The game was then largely revised, and was released in 2013 to awful reception.

The game was panned by online critics and journalists alike, mostly for the awful quality. This was for multiple reasons including bad voice acting, using women as sex objects and the unoptimised nature of the game.

The Official PlayStation Magazine UK given it the lowest possible score, a 1/10. [14] It has a Metacritic score of only 1.4, with no positive critic reviews. [15] The trend follows with many other media outlets also giving the game a 1/10 or a 1 star.

The game is considered the worst game of the previous generation.

File:Ride To Hell Angry Review

Credit to AngryJoeShow

File:Nerd³ Plays... Ride to Hell Retribution

Credit to Nerd³

File:GameSpot Reviews - Ride to Hell Retribution

Credit to GameSpot

Ashes Cricket 2013[ | ]

This game (developed by Trickstar Games and published by 505 Games on Steam) was scheduled for a June 2013 release, but was delayed due to quality concerns. When it did release in November 2013, it was pulled four days later citing horrific reviews. [16]

Rock Paper Shotgun said the game was "hilariously awful", and criticized the game for having poor graphics, poor animations and non-functioning features and controls. [17]

505 Games apoligized for the game's quality, blaming the engine they were provided to build the game on. They offered refunds to those who had purchased the game, and immediately cancelled plans for a console release. [18]

References[ | ]

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