Name your picks for NES games so bad they're good!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hey guys, I'm about half done my list of the top 100 NES/Famicom games. Once it's done, I plan to do two much shorter follow up lists. The first one listing honorable mentions that didn't quite make the top 100 but are still worth playing.

The other list is one I need a bit of assistance with. What are some of the very worst NES games that are actually worth owning for good laughs at game parties/making drinking games out of? Examples I can think of include the abysmal Action 52 and it's follow up, Cheetahmen 2.

I'm looking to scrape the bottom of the barrel here - please don't list unpopular games such as Zelda 2 or Castlevania 2. I want the truly awful ones that are are always good for a laugh.

Thanks!

[raptor94k]

Off the top of my head:

Silver Surfer - It actually isn't a TERRIBLE game but it's frustratingly difficult.

Karate Kid

Friday the 13th/A Nightmare on Elm Street - I think both are pretty bad, but I remember one being worse than the other. I just always confuse the two games.

[treismac]

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde is interestingly horrible. The game is so completely devoid of entertainment that it almost feels like an art game/though experiment that lacks any sort of epiphany, heart stirring, or "ahhh..." moment that makes an art game worth while. The switch from Dr. J to Mr. H falls far from redeeming the game's gameplay from being paint drying dull, but it is different enough to wake you up from falling asleep as you play as Dr. J.

[Drixxel]

Wrath of the Black Manta is not only a terrible game but features enough unintentional comedy that it may very well fit in with the likes of Action 52. There's an agonizingly generic plot that's pieced out through badly written and pointless exchanges of dialogue. The cutscenes themselves are blessed with hilariously drawn headshots, most notably the sad, dopey face of your ninja and the sinister, mustachioed countenance (reportedly lifted from a How To Draw Supervillains art book) of the street thugs you "interrogate".

[djshok]

Uncanny X-Men! It's so terrible that it's actually fun to try and see how far you can get.

[pseudonym]

Menace Beach, or any of Color Dreams' later titles for that matter.

-It's filled with Ninjas, Sumo Wrestlers, Elvis Impersonators (I think they're referred to as "Pelvis" in the manual), Clowns, people dropping bottles, bombs and other random items out of windows, and other weird enemies.
-While it's not a good game, it's not as bad as some as their other games. It's kind of fun to play in the right frame of mind. Most of the levels are fairly short, and not that difficult to complete.
-For some reason you have to go to hell to rescue the girl he was supposed to go on a date with. In-between levels, the girl is continually berating you for not rescuing her fast enough. Her clothes also start to slowly disappear as you play for some reason, too.
The final boss is someone named "Demon Dan", I guess segueing into the religious games that would release later on.

Not much of this game makes any sense, but I still enjoy it.

[aryoshi]

Spelunker is one off the top of my head. So many different versions of that game and the NES is, so far of what I've played, the worst port of all. While some of the annoyances exist still from the older versions such as dying in mid-air after a long fall, at least you have longer to fall rather than two centimeters. It's still fun to try trying to beat the first level! Which.. I have yet to do. >_>

Another one is Hydlide. I know there's a way to beat it, but damn it's awful. I almost have to mute it to even tolerate it, let alone the battle system is one of the worst out there. I can understand the battle system of the old DOS game, Rogue, where you simply walk into an enemy to attack, but c'mon that was in 1980, Hydlide is an NES game with two completely functional buttons, they could've at least given us attack methods like Crystalis or The Legend of Zelda. Hell, even Ys is better than that crap. But even still, it's interesting to play it to see how bad it is.

I, personally, don't find A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th bad at all, in fact, I enjoy them, especially Elm Street. I find them both completely playable, the music isn't too awful (while repetitive, but A Nightmare on Elm Street has a good variety of music all of which is well-composed in my opinion) and has some pretty intense combat at times. Friday the 13th can actually be scary at times, it's one of the few games where I actually jump. A Nightmare on Elm Street didn't have that startling factor for me, though it was quite eerie. The rest of LJN's games though.. Heh. Kind of like their Roll N' Rocker, just a piece of crap encased in plastic.

[XYXZYZ]

Oh my god, BAD STREET BRAWLER for the NES. It's the story of "DUKE DAVIS, former punk rocker and the world's coolest martial arts vigilante!" and it is the dumbest shit I've ever seen in a video game.

Just read Seanbaby's old review of it here.
http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/w20-07.htm

[DDCecil]

Time Lord. The music is excellent and one of my favorite soundtracks, but the actual gameplay sucks. Who's idea was it to have bosses without a lifebar or any indication of them being near death?

On Hydlide - If enjoying it wrong, then I don't EVER wanna be right.

[exit]

Edit: My bad I completely misread the title.


Another one is Hydlide.

I never understood the hate for Hydlide, I remember playing it back when I first got into emulation and enjoyed it for the most part. It's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

[Parodius Duh!]

Noahs Ark. My buddies get a kick out of when he turns into a fish....

[old man]

The Adventures of Bayou Billy.

[King_Salamon]

Deadly Towers.... painful but I wanted to play it... kept getting killed but wanted to see what the game was about.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I just gotta go with Action 52 and Raid 2020. Raid 2020 has so much variety in it that it almost wants to be good but it fails so badly. Another one is Deathbots.

Why hate on Spelunker just because your not good at it. It's one of my favorite NES games of all time honestly!

[kedawa]

Chubby Cherub. I've only played the FC version, but if the NES game is anything like that, then it's pretty, uh... 'interesting'.

[aryoshi]

Why hate on Spelunker just because your not good at it. It's one of my favorite NES games of all time honestly!

It's not that I'm not good at it, hell I can get a lot farther in it than most people I've sat down to play it, but it just feels broken compared to the PC versions of it, although I will give it that it had good graphics for the time and the music was catchy, but the control feels somewhat broken, the gameplay wasn't nearly as fun as the older versions I thought, it just didn't sit well with me. I never hate on a game just because I'm not good at it, if that were the case, I'd hate on Life Force too. Might suck at it and can't get past level 2, but it sure made my top 15.

[Baloo]

Wall Street Kid. The game is so difficult that you have to be a stock genius to get to the point where you have the down payment on the house, and it's just so freaking bland and without any true gameplay that it makes you wonder who thought having a game on stocks in the first place was a good idea!

And yet I always try to play it because for some reason this game is just so freakin' terrible with this motley crew of characters that you can't help but think "I might be able to actually get further this time!"

[Garry Silljo]

Wall Street Kid. The game is so difficult that you have to be a stock genius to get to the point where you have the down payment on the house, and it's just so freaking bland and without any true gameplay that it makes you wonder who thought having a game on stocks in the first place was a good idea!

And yet I always try to play it because for some reason this game is just so freakin' terrible with this motley crew of characters that you can't help but think "I might be able to actually get further this time!"

The game is easy as hell actually. Talk to the Lady who gives you stock tips. She is never wrong. Put all your money in what she says and then sell it next turn get another tip and repeat. If you dont have enough money for your house/castle/whatever the goal is this time, take out a loan the day before. Your debt doesnt come into consideration when the deadline comes up, just that you have the cash on hand. Pay back the debt while working toward the next goal and then right before your deadline take out another loan. As a matter of fact, after you win the auctionfor the castle (which i suppose is the last boss) the game is over and you dont even have to repay the loan!

[Collector_Gaming]

I, personally, don't find A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th bad at all, in fact, I enjoy them, especially Elm Street. I find them both completely playable, the music isn't too awful (while repetitive, but A Nightmare on Elm Street has a good variety of music all of which is well-composed in my opinion) and has some pretty intense combat at times. Friday the 13th can actually be scary at times, it's one of the few games where I actually jump. A Nightmare on Elm Street didn't have that startling factor for me, though it was quite eerie. The rest of LJN's games though.. Heh. Kind of like their Roll N' Rocker, just a piece of crap encased in plastic.

finally i thought i was alone in liking nightmare on elm st

i personally like it

i mean i can pick some flaws from the game
like some obstacles in the houses are a pain in the ass to reach.. i get that
the monsters you fight seem bland. but come on its NES what you expect? Some crazy detailed monster like from Castlevania Symphony of the night on the PS1?
The only thing that actually bothers me about the game is the fact its a game rendition of the movie "Nightmare On Elm St 3: 'Dream Warriors'" even though the title is Nightmare on Elm Street and not something to nod it off to the movie say "Nightmare on Elm Street" "Dream Warriors".
But other then that i think its a alright game given for what it was put on. The NES

[aryoshi]

finally i thought i was alone in liking nightmare on elm st

i personally like it

i mean i can pick some flaws from the game
like some obstacles in the houses are a pain in the ass to reach.. i get that
the monsters you fight seem bland. but come on its NES what you expect? Some crazy detailed monster like from Castlevania Symphony of the night on the PS1?
The only thing that actually bothers me about the game is the fact its a game rendition of the movie "Nightmare On Elm St 3: 'Dream Warriors'" even though the title is Nightmare on Elm Street and not something to nod it off to the movie say "Nightmare on Elm Street" "Dream Warriors".
But other then that i think its a alright game given for what it was put on. The NES

Every game has its flaws no matter how "flawless" it appears. I like when a game shows its flaws, it reminds me that humans made the game and put their hearts into it. The bland monsters can be found in any game really, they're basically fillers. Snakes, bats, all kinds of little critters in almost every platformer released since the Atari days, gotta love 'em! But yeah I noticed that too, that they based it more off of #3. The fun part about it though is that 4 people can play, but I've actually played a full 4-person game and it got a little crazy, couldn't figure out where I was :P Another game I can actually pick on for that same thing is Friday the 13th. Really, the first Friday the 13th movie had little to do with Jason and more to do with his mother, it wasn't until the second movie he actually took his role as the famous masked killer. Still fun games!

[Garry Silljo]

Another + vote for Elm street. I've always liked this game. Friday the 13th not so much though.

[The Dord]

Super Pitfall

How I hate thee, you can't duck to kill the frogs.. and just to put the pain topping on the bad game pizza, all the items you need are hidden.

Silver Surfer

I hate to be the weakest thing in the entire game. One hit deaths aren't fun.

[kupomogli]

I've never played a game that was so bad it's good. I don't really find any enjoyment out of playing bad games. There are games I like that other people think are bad, but there's already a thread for that and this is an entirely different subject.

[squirrel_king]

I've never played a game that was so bad it's good. I don't really find any enjoyment out of playing bad games. There are games I like that other people think are bad, but there's already a thread for that and this is an entirely different subject.

Yeah, I have to say for me there isn't the same scope for enjoyment in a bad game as there would be in a bad movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qSm_J_NUwI) - you can't just sit back and laugh at it, you actually have to wrestle with the awful controls, piss poor level designs and cheap deaths until you just want to claw your own brain out.

that said: The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. Just about the worst NES game I've ever played. And that includes unlicensed games. (Well maybe not Cheetahmen II, but then that was never finished or properly released anyway)

[Duke.Togo]

King Neptune's Adventure. I've spent time trying to understand what I am supposed to do, and made some minor progress. The game is a mess, but I would just like to understand what the hell King Neptune is even supposed to be doing in the game. I'd also throw in Quattro Adventure. The Robin Hood game on it almost seems playable, but I think it is just an illusion to torture you.

[Casati]

Super Pitfall

How I hate thee, you can't duck to kill the frogs.. and just to put the pain topping on the bad game pizza, all the items you need are hidden.

Silver Surfer

I hate to be the weakest thing in the entire game. One hit deaths aren't fun.

It sounds like you hate playing them, so how are they any good?

[Collector_Gaming]

Another game I can actually pick on for that same thing is Friday the 13th. Really, the first Friday the 13th movie had little to do with Jason and more to do with his mother, it wasn't until the second movie he actually took his role as the famous masked killer. Still fun games!

i think the game is suppose to be a spin off of number 3 where he finally gets the hockey mask (cause in number 2 he has a potato sack style mask) running around killing camp counslers and you see his moms head (because if you either made it far in the game or seen reviews like AVGN's review you will see a boss like character is his moms head floating around and such)

[Nirvana]

Donkey Kong Math. I know it was an educational game but...come on O_O

[Kevincal]

10-yard fight

[starsoldier1]

Zombie Nation, very weird game when you first play it (you being just a flying head and all) but it grew on me and it's a decent shooter overall.

[aryoshi]

i think the game is suppose to be a spin off of number 3 where he finally gets the hockey mask (cause in number 2 he has a potato sack style mask) running around killing camp counslers and you see his moms head (because if you either made it far in the game or seen reviews like AVGN's review you will see a boss like character is his moms head floating around and such)

Haha, good point, I actually forgot about that. It's been way too long since I saw those.. Really should watch them again.

[Th3 hoff]

cheetahmen 2 and action 52:vamp:

[Nightowljrm]

One game immediately comes to mind: Robodemons. I love that awful game. XD I get a migraine by the time I'm done playing it, but it's fun while it lasts. :D