20 HORRIBLE PlayStation 1 Games You Want To Forget
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Just because the original PlayStation was innovative doesn’t mean its games were good. Here’s some of the worst ones to hit the PS1.
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Up until the mid-1990s, Nintendo held onto the top of the home console market by a substantial margin. They had all of the developers under their strict, quality controlling wing. They had some of the best first party games from The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series that everyone wanted to get their hands on. Sure, SEGA would start to take their share of the pie of players, but Nintendo was the head honcho without question.
But when they chose to back out of a deal with Sony to collaborate on what would eventually become the Super Nintendo, Sony put their foot down, and entered the hardware business in 1994 with the first PlayStation console in Japan, creating a three way battle between Sony, SEGA, and Nintendo.
Eventually, SEGA began to fade out of the picture and left Sony and Nintendo to duke it out with one another. New to the console space, and seeing the success of Nintendo with putting a face to the brand such as Mario or Zelda, Sony needed to do the same. Now if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again they say. Luckily, Sony did find success, and by the time the PlayStation 2 rolled around they were clearly ahead of the competition. But the peaks weren’t without their valleys, and the PlayStation library does have a number of games that make it on many people’s “Worst Games of All Time” lists.
Here are 20 absolute duds. 20 times a new project made its way onto the PlayStation, only to see the hopes and dreams of its creators crash and burn. These are 20 of the most forgettable games on the PlayStation 1!
20 A Misstep For A Major Franchise
The PlayStation gave way to the introduction of many franchises, some of which are still relevant today. The Tomb Raider series was just recently rebooted a few years ago to much praise, Metal Gear Solid put the franchise of the map, and Resident Evil pioneered the survival horror genre for video games. With the success and critical praise of Resident Evil, Capcom decided to publish the Gun Survivor series as a spin-off to the mainline titles. The first entry of this spin-off was Resident Evil Survivor.
The first problem with Resident Evil Survivor is the difference between the Japanese and western versions of the game. The Japanese and European versions of the game were compatible with a light gun. Due to mass shootings in America, the western port excluded the add-on. Another big change was the perspective change from the series’ third person camera view to first person. There is lies the big problem, and that’s that the game was designed to be played with this gun attachment, making the game both difficult and terrible to play. What may be more surprising is that the game did, in fact, earn three sequels for the PS2.
19 How Is This Mortal Kombat?!
Mortal Kombat at its core is a fighting game. The underlying issue with Mortal Kombat, however, is it needs to only be a fighting game. The 1995 movie adaptation was subpar at best, and failed to bring one of the most gruesome fighting games in history onto the big screen. The same can be said for the attempts at creating any sort of spin-off series for the games, with Mortal Kombat Special Forces leading the charge.
Mortal Kombat Special Forces sees the attempt to pull the game into the 3D environment, just like most games that released for the PS1. While the game puts players in the shoes of Jax, I’m sure many players would have opted for another choice of character. So already, we’re off to a bad start. Some that game hasn’t been universally panned for the hand to hand combat (thankfully), guns eventually make their way into the game, making your fist combos useless. From there, Jax continues to mow down enemies with machine guns and pistols, because that’s what Jax is known for, right? Mortal Kombat could do without a spin off such as this one, that takes one of game’s more lesser known characters and eventually takes the fighting out of it.
18 Johnny Bravo He Ain’t
Blasto joins the list of many PlayStation 1 games that took their shots at the 3D platforming genre. The game does admittedly perform better than some of the other games that have made their way onto this list. With a heavy marketing campaign and character design that was unique, Sony showed their confidence in Blasto potentially becoming one of the faces of the PlayStation 1 generation.
Almost two decades later and Blasto is nowhere to be found. The cringeworthy motives and appearance of Captain Blasto is also parallel to the likes of Cartoon Network’s Johnny Bravo’s overly ambitious take on women. Aside from his overemphasized looks, the game proved to be too difficult for many players. Any game can be as good or as bad and it wants, but if it becomes too tough of a challenge, then players are just going to move on to something else. Turns out that two decades later, we all have.
17 This One Should Have Just Stayed In The Lab
Like every console before (and after) it, PlayStation 1 is no less a victim to the movement of licensed titles making their way to the platform. For Cartoon Network and Dexter’s Laboratory: Mandark’s Lab?, players are thrown into what feels like a copout of an episode from the series. Playing as Dexter, you must infiltrate your own laboratory in an effort to reclaim it from Mandark, whose broken in. Through the few levels that are offered, you’ll have to partake in a number of mini-games that include characters from the TV show.
The big issue with this game isn’t necessarily the licensing behind, but how long the game lasts. The full game of Dexter’s Laboratory: Mandark’s Lab? can be beaten in roughly an hour. Sure, I could gripe on the fact that many of the mini-games lack any sort of substance, but the lack of scope in the game makes it a one and done deal for most.
16 This Is One Game We Wish Wasn’t Eternal
Normally when a game is made based off of a movie, there’s reason to temper your expectations on it. Spawn: The Eternal, however, is based off a comic book adaptation of the anti-hero from the series created by Todd McFarlane. The big issue with Spawn: The Eternal is that the team decided to take a drastic shift in development to create the game in a 3D environment, similar to what Tomb Raider has done with its recent release at the time. Players got their 3D world alright, but they got one that was littered with visual bugs, empty levels, awful fighting mechanics, and rushed development. The drive to modernize Spawn: The Eternal left it as one of the most forgettable works in the PlayStation 1 library, with GameSpot declaring it as “one of the worst games ever to shame the PlayStation with its presence.”
15 Just Watch The Movie
Though there are some critics that say that fans of the movie will more than likely enjoy the game, The Fifth Element for PlayStation 1 makes the list based on how long it overstays its welcome. In contrast to Dexter’s Laboratory: Mandark’s Lab? getting panned for the nonexistent need to replay it, The Fifth Element is way too long for most, if any, to enjoy it. Universal criticism was given to the game’s lack of intriguing level design and boring puzzles, all spanning across sixteen separate missions. Yeah, you heard it, sixteen missions in total. The Fifth Element is a perfect example of the gift that never gives in the first place. For all of the awards and nominations that the movie had received in the late 90s, the game pales in comparison with an experience that’s best forgotten.
14 The Wrestling Game Nobody Wanted
The Simpsons had been cemented into pop culture since the late 1980s. With the series’ crude humor and parody portrayal of real life events, The Simpsons became one of the longest running television series around. With the early success of the show’s transition to arcade cabinets and home consoles, Big Ape Productions and Activision wanted to give PlayStation fans their own game to get excited about in the form of backyard wrestling in The Simpsons Wrestling.
What the PS1 got, however, was a complete dud. Many critics and reviewers panned the gameplay as a button mashing frenzy that relied on nothing but total luck for a player to come out victorious. To top off the atrocious gameplay, the character models and visuals didn’t look like something that should come out of a game being funded by one of the most successful video game publishers in the world. While not universal, many reviewers considered the game to be, at the very least, the worst game to ever come out for the PlayStation 1.
13 We Wish This Game Were As Short As His Shorts
Hellboy: Asylum Seeker lacks any sort of substance at every level of the game. If you want to talk about the graphics, I can simply tell you to look at the image posted for the game and leave it at that. Hellboy looks like he was trimmed out of a cardboard box and for whatever reason, only walks around with short shorts on during the entire game. While the success of Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider forced many developers hand to try and created engaging full 3D worlds to explore, most of them come extremely short, and Hellboy is another victim of it.
The combat as well is just a redundant to explain. Trying to fire a weapon at an enemy is mechanically daunting. Your only real chance of having one of your bullets actually make contact is if you’re standing two feet in front of them. Even then, Hellboy’s awfully animated melee attacks are just as effective as bullets, making your firearms useless. Sometimes people will say that something is so bad, “it’s good”. Yeah, Hellboy is none of that, not even close.
12 Why Does Everything Have To Be 3D?
Army Men 3D is just one of many games in the series developed by 3DO and Global Star Software. As a 3D adaptation of the first game in the series for Game Boy and Windows in 1998, Army Men 3D is a victim of a company that began releasing new games within months of each other (seven games in total launched in 2001 alone), and their quality expectedly went down with them as well. Of course, many of the games in this series can be as forgotten as the developer itself, as 3DO went defunct in 2003. Army Men 3D, however, tops the list of poor games from the series with its poor 3D presentation of the first title and lackluster objective based mission goals.
11 There Was A Story To This?!
First off, a pinball game has no right being on a home console. Second off, a licensed pinball themed game DEFINITELY doesn’t belong on a home console (and it’s not the only one that will show up on this list). Austin Powers Pinball only consists of two game modes, each based off of one the franchise’s movies. The worst part about the game is that it actually attempts to create a plot involving Dr. Evil, with the notion that the only way to “defeat” his is to rack up the highest score possible in each of the respective game modes. The layout of the machines are just as cringeworthy to look at, with poorly enhanced images from the movie box art and scenes plastered all over the score tickers and playing field background. If you really want a genuine pinball experience, I suggest you hit up your local arcade, and not your living room.
10 Mario Kart It Is Not
The late 90s to early 2000s can be summed up as the time where everyone saw the success of Mario and wanted to bring that success to other platforms. The problem with trying to bring that success over, however, is that nearly everyone failed to do so. Rascal Racers is no different than most, trying to establish itself as the Mario Kart of PlayStation, only to see the hopes and dreams crumble in front of them. No matter who you are, you what system you make your game for, any sort of cartoon themed kart racer is going to be placed with the high expectations just as Mario Kart is given.
9 Because This Band Definitely Needed A Game
Like the Austin Powers Pinball game I mentioned previously, KISS Pinball consists of only two different levels to play. This lack of content makes the gameplay get boring very quickly, on top of the lack of any sort of enjoyment to begin with. Another big reason why the game is so bad (aside from being a disgrace to the KISS license) is that there is actually a function off of the controllers D-Pad that allows players to nudge the ball in whichever direction you so please, so you can throw any concept of physic right out the window as well. The only scored review that I could find for the game was from PlayStation: The Official Magazine with a whopping 1/10. The lone score that I could find speaks for itself: not only has this game been as neglected as it should be, it was already D.O.A.
8 Go Go Away From This Game
The most impressive part about Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue is that between all four systems that the game was ported to (GBC, Windows, N64, and PS1), each has their own set of unique features and playing styles. The Game Boy Color Version was a side-scroller, while the N64 and PS1 ports were each 3D, with PS1 have a cheat code system implemented. Of each of the four version, PS1 had seemed like the upper hand, with the most options available.
More options doesn’t always grant the best experience. Despite having the most features of the four different ports of the game, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue is hampered by only consisting of seven playable levels. Along with the lack of levels to play, you can’t switch between rangers once you’ve begun the game’s story. The cheat system does give you the option to jump between levels with different characters, but the seventh and final level is excluded from being unlocked, making trying to play through the game in its entirety a hassle at times.
7 Where Are All The Women?
During the end of a console’s generation, you hope that what games developers decided to release for them leave their mark in the right way. For the PS3, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us was one of the biggest cherries on top for any console. Nearly seven years prior, Final Fantasy XII did the same for the PS2. But for the PlayStation 1 there was one of the worst final games to ever come out for a console, Hooters Road Trip.
First off, if you were looking for a good PS1 racing game, I’m sure that a copy of Need For Speed or Gran Turismo would have satisfied you. All of the levels in Hooters Road Trip are boring at best, making you have to dodge traffic and cones in the road in order to progress on your “Road Trip” across America. Not only are the races bad, but the cutscenes and loading screens that follow up are plastered with attractive women who simply don’t know how to act, period. If you’re going to try and sell a bunch of girls in a game as appeal, you should at least get some that are better on camera. Everything about this game deserves to be burned and thrown in the nearest dumpster if it hasn’t already.
6 Maybe There Is Something Barbie Can’t Do
What do you get when you try and mix Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot? Trust me, it’s not an answer you want to hear. Barbie Explorer for the PS1 is mechanically awful. The levels are very similar to the ones you’d find in the Crash Bandicoot series, acting as a 3D platformer while Barbie has to jump, dodge, and swing around to the end of the level in addition to trying to collect as many scattered gems as possible.
But the game’s coordination between the constantly active camera angles and controllers are some of the most frustrating that anyone has ever seen in a game. Trying to line up a rope swing or catching a float gem over a chasm is way harder than it should be, and it’s this simple issue where the cause for concern should have been noted by the development team. For what it is worth, the cutscenes in the game are graphically some of the best on the PS1, aside from the fact that Barbie looks like she has a forced smile on her face at all times. We get it, you’re happy… though I doubt anyone who’s playing the game actually is.
5 This Game Was The Devil’s Work
To be fair, most (but not all) of the games on this list have at least one, maybe two things about them that aren’t so bad. The Crow: City of Angels has none of that unfortunately. The mixture of 2D rendered backgrounds in a 3D environment look awful. The game’s tank controls coupled with the basic and unimmersive combat makes the game difficult for all the wrong reasons. Plus, the area of combat is way too big for how some of the fights begin to unfold, with enemies approaching from multiple sides certainly not the best situation to be in. The sequel to The Crow already wasn’t the best movie sequel, so it comes as a surprise no one though taking on this sort of project would have ended poorly for all.
4 Even Kids Hated This One
It’s not just the fact the entire Mary Kate & Ashley game series was terrible to begin with, but how it ended might be the craziest part about it. Before that, we need to talk about one game in particular, Mary Kate & Ashley: Crush Course, that hits all the right spots to be one of the worst games to ever come out on the PlayStation 1. Littered with lackluster mini-games and a cheesy teenage girl dating story, Mary Kate & Ashley Crush Course offers nothing we haven’t seen before, and does it fairly poorly. It’s a good thing the Olsen twins filed a lawsuit against Acclaim following the release of their last game a couple years prior. It probably saved all of us from having to endure anymore cringeworthy titles.
3 There Are Good Star Wars Games, But…
Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi should be a lesson to anyway wanting to make a Star Wars-centric game that simply slapping the name Star Wars on the cover doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed hit. The game was designed much like popular fighting games Tekken and Mortal Kombat, with players trying to knock out the opponent in order to come out the victor. Sorry, but there’s a little too much juxtaposition upon seeing Luke Skywalker with a lightsaber, Han Solo with a blaster, or Darth Vader trying to “knock out” somebody.
Along with the disconnect between the characters you can use and fight against each other, the game controls were rough, and could a times feel like a button-mashing battle. Many critics consider it to be “one of the worst Star Wars game ever made.” Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi probably had the highest of expectations of any game on this list, but that expectation turned out to be its Achilles heel, and gave developers a tough lesson in licensed titles.
2 This Wasn’t Meant For Single Player
It might not be the worst 3D fighter in the genre, but take one crack at Destrega’s story mode and your ears will probably start to bleed. Destrega’s voice acting might be some of the worst that anyone has ever heard in a video game, with less than mediocre voice actors recording with what sounds like horrible equipment and conditions. If I’m listening to a character speak while they’re sitting on their throne, they shouldn’t sound as if they’re trying to yell down an empty hallway; it’s just brutal at best.
As a two player experience, Destrega can be enjoyable at times with its large scale 3D fighting arenas. But as a single player experience, fighting becomes a game of cat and mouse, where character match-ups don’t need to be taken into consideration and players basically run around the grounds in an attempt to catch a free moment between enemy attacks. If you took on Destrega solo, chances are you didn’t last very long.
1 You All Knew This One Would Be Here
There’s no way you can have a list of the worst PlayStation 1 games that players would love to forget without mentioning Bubsy 3D. Compared to its superior, Mario 64, Bubsy 3D is a graphical and technical trainwreck. To start, the character Bubsy himself doesn’t shut up, making you question possibly muting all sound in the game. Next, the levels all look to be unfinished, with mundane platforming challenges and walls that appear to cut off or disappear based on where your character and camera are.
Bubsy 3D had so much ambition behind it. Fortunately its developer Sony Bend (known as Eidetic at the time) is still around and working on a new title for the PlayStation 4. But this was certainly a low point in the team’s history. No game can really match the solid, consistent gameplay mechanics of Mario games, yet so many companies tried to portray a good platformer in their own way. Some, to their credit, did make a splash and hung around for a while. But Bubsy 3D was a failure from the get go, and should never been considered or recommended as a game to get your hands on.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/horrible-playstation-1-games-you-want-to-forget/