There have been many bad games over the years and many reviews to go with them. From the “Video Game Crash of 1983” to the games that are the realm of “mostly negative” on Steam today. Metacritic is a trusted site that often collects reviews. Even fan-favorite game developers and publishers are not immune to the occasional bad game, including Nintendo.
Stuck in development or rushed production, some games come out half-baked. Other video games have suffered from control issues, especially during the era of mandatory motion controls. Some simply didn’t appeal to reviewers of their time, offering experiences that ran counter to what gamers expected of the time, hiding a creative gem among the complaints.
10/10 Pokémon Rumble U forgot the lessons of its predecessors
Meta score: 49
The pokemon rumble series had its ups and downs, but the release of the Wii U was definitely one of the lesser points for this spin-off series. The top-down brawler elements may be decent and approachable, but the level design, or lack thereof, leaves a lot to be desired and quickly becomes repetitive.
One of the few innovations it made in the first two games was the addition of small figurines using “near-field communication”, much like Amiibo’s do. The catch is that the figurines were both limited to use in a single game, and generally had limited availability, with Canada missing distribution entirely.
Meta score: 48
Released together with the Wii MotionPlus, fling smash took full advantage of the new and more precise motion controls it offered, even letting go of the device. But despite being a very creative game, it still suffered from the limitations of the Wii: there were only so many ways the controller could be improved.
But for those who made it work well, fling smash a unique side-scroller experience, where the player swings the Wii Remote to swing his character across the screen and break obstacles in the same way as Atari’s Outbreakalbeit with deeper gameplay, much better graphics, and a gripping soundtrack.
8/10 Pokémon Dash risked damaged screens and hurt hands
Meta score: 46
As a launch title for the Nintendo DS and the first pokemon game on the system, pokemon dash ended the hopes of many fans. While it was playable, the requirement to constantly tap and tap the screen to move led to both hand pain and damaged touchscreens.
The graphics were in a strange space, which resembled a pseudo-3D SNES game mixed with clay models of pokemon and a highly zoomed top-down viewpoint. It was an odd choice for many games, but especially for racing. The tracks themselves do have some charm and feature tracks in the form of a variety of pokemon.
7/10 One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP was cut in half
Meta score: 46
One Piece: Unlimited Cruise is the second game in ‘s “Unlimited” trilogy A piece games, which focus more on unique storytelling and action gameplay than on retelling a specific part of the franchise’s long timeline. While Unlimited Adventure was received well, Unlimited Cruise would have a more rocky start.
Inexplicably, while the Japanese 3DS version still has the full game, as was the case with the original Wii game, the PAL releases split it into two separate “episodes”, each containing about half of the game and half the content, while still selling at full price and requiring two cartridges.
6/10 Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was meant to be played with bongos
Meta score: 46
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast offers a remarkably unique racing experience. Instead of just having a gear button, players have to shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to speed up and use motion controls to jump, attack opponents or use items. It offered an unusual control scheme explained by early plans to use DK Bongos.
Used for the variety of GameCube Donkey Kong games, the Bongos allowed a player to direct the game via drumbeats, a mechanic mimicked by Wiimote moves after plans were scrapped to have Barrel Blast be the last GameCube title to use them. Nevertheless, the quirky controls made for a fun party game.
5/10 Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival offers a relaxing party game
Meta score: 46
A charming digital board game in the spirit of Mario party, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival offers a Animal Crossing spin the formula and capture the relaxed and pun-heavy feel of the series, while still including some fun minigames to spice up any gaming session.
Despite being panned by critics of its time, it can still provide some fun for anyone who still has a WiiU laying around, especially if they want a slightly less frenetic experience than what a Mario party game can offer. The ability to customize the board and characters via Amiibos and Amiibo cards is just a plus.
4/10 Aquaspace is a relaxed fish farming sim
Meta score: 45
AquaSpacealso known as Zenquaria in some regions was an underrated simulation game for the Wii that offered the player a virtual aquarium to care for and explore, including getting a literal fisheye or diving with a Mii of your choice.
While these days a chilled out game is often a hit – as was the case with 2015’s Viridia plant growing simAquaSpace received negative to mediocre reviews upon its release in 2010, with many critics citing the slow pace as negative. Seen through a modern lens, however, the game is delightfully charming.
3/10 Devil’s Third Nearly Died in Production
Meta score: 43
Supposedly seen as an “industry breakthrough” by the chief designer, whatever Devil’s Third was meant to have been lost in time. The game would go through many years of development after the initial plans to be published by Microsoft failed and the next two studios collapsed.
Quality was further impacted by the game’s migration to a new engine midway through development due to the casework of the company responsible for it. While initial reviews in Japan were positive, it was received quite poorly during its international release, with players praising the online game but criticizing some overused game tropes.
2/10 Tenchu: Dark Secret was more primitive than its PS1 ancestor
Meta score: 37
With classic games full of stealthy action, the Tenchu series puts the player in control of an agile and fierce ninja assassin. But Tenchu: Dark Secret failed on many fronts. Not only are the graphics worse than the original 1998 title, but the gameplay is also massively slowed down.
If this isn’t bad enough, the camera can make it nearly unplayable at times, as it’s always very zoomed in and offers a narrow field of view for what is ostensibly an action title. Perhaps the game anticipated its unpopularity, but was released for a short and limited time outside of Japan.
1/10 3D Classics: Urban Champion was a faithful albeit expensive adaptation
Meta score: 37
What Makes the Worst Rated Nintendo Game of All? Loot boxes? A low budget and a licensed home? It turns out that title belongs to 3D Classics: Urban Championa port of one of the earliest fighting games for the NES, and a rather innocuous product given its review scores.
Basically just the original game with a 2.5D perspective added, it’s aggressively simple by modern standards, and while it’s rather obscure these days, it was an exciting game for its time. The source of his terrible score comes mainly from the cost of five dollars. The price was quite low, but some players felt it was still worth too much for what the game had to offer.
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