Worst game ever...?

bobs · March 2007

I was wondering which spectrum game was widely regarded as being the worst game ever?

I don't just mean by personal opinion, but a universal acceptance that it was truly awful!

liamenikufesin · March 2007

The Great Space Race springs to mind, never played it though. That US Gold World Cup game too.

The Starglider · March 2007

I would assume (from the many posts of agreement here in the past) that Sqij is possibly the worst game ever made for the Speccy.

Matt_B · March 2007

I don't think there's a single clear cut worst game. The trouble is that there are a lot of bad games, most of them are quite forgettable and few of them ever got much exposure in the first place.

Games like The Great Space Race and World Cup Carnival are, although still pretty awful, merely just poor games that were terribly overhyped and sneaked onto an unsuspecting market before magazines could review them.

Then there are games like Voyage Into the Unknown and Kosmik Pirate which picked up notoriety through magazine reviews that otherwise would probably have just vanished without trace.

Sqij also seems something of a celebrity candidate, although quite what prompted someone to single it out from the huge mass of rubbish that's out there remains unclear to me. I'd reckon that there are at least forty worse games on the Cassette 50 alone, in any case.

FrankT · March 2007

Schizoids by Imagine is my worst game of all time. Because the original cassette was bought for me when I was a nipper and got all worked up over a new game, only to load it up and find that there was nothing to do, or if there was I didn`t notice anything happen. Vector Graphics? Pants!

bobs · March 2007

The Starglider wrote: »

I would assume (from the many posts of agreement here in the past) that Sqij is possibly the worst game ever made for the Speccy.

Just trying to play this now... but can't actually move the player... is that why it's so awful? (apart from being written in basic)

bobs · March 2007

bobs wrote: »

Just trying to play this now... but can't actually move the player... is that why it's so awful? (apart from being written in basic)

S'okay... just been reading another thread on this, and I have to turn caps-lock off in basic before you play it... Mmmm...!

Matt_B · March 2007

FrankT wrote: »

Schizoids by Imagine is my worst game of all time. Because the original cassette was bought for me when I was a nipper and got all worked up over a new game, only to load it up and find that there was nothing to do, or if there was I didn`t notice anything happen. Vector Graphics? Pants!

That's another game I'd put in the "overhyped" category, rather than being particularly bad.

For what it's worth, I actually found it quite playable...

bobs · March 2007

Sqij is most definitely winning at the moment. The fact you have to poke it to even play it, then the likely chance of it crashing when you exit a room, and the fun to be had getting bits of the bird to get caught in the scrolling of the enemies, and bits of the enemies to become attached to you! And all this is only manageable when you use an emulator to ramp-up the CPU speed.

Raphie · March 2007

Uchi Mata. Not because it's currently the worse Speccy game via votes, but because I personally owned that game and I always thought it was the worse game I ever purchased. Everything about the game is terrible. On a side note, Sqij is pretty awful as well as Stop Ball (another game I owned!)

chop983 · March 2007

The Worst game I ever owned was Flak

Jumping Stack · March 2007

chop983 wrote: »

The Worst game I ever owned was Flak

Was it the Your Spectrum review that persuaded you to spalsh out on it?

"Occasionally another sprite flickers up to you and that usually triggers off a dull looking cyan explosion. The screen scrolls more slowly than a C5 at top speed and your hypersonic wotsit flies at such a snail's pace that it's impossible to dodge the barrage of missiles blasted at you. Consequently, each game lasts about 10 seconds and can only be stretched out should you really want to, by using the one obvious bug - keep your finger on the fire button at take-off and you're invincible for a few seconds.
All in all, one that should've been drowned at birth. 0/5 "

Games like these are the true worst games becuase US Gold were not short of development cash. They knew they were releasing a stinker and just let one rip. Apparently they even used a C64 screen shot on the Speccy inlay to try and fool buyers.

Vampyre · March 2007

Ah Diddums would get my vote. What a stinking pile of unplayable cow-turds that was.

Winston · March 2007

Funny - in the same issue of YS that gave 'Flak' that terrible review, they also give 'Confuzion' three misses from the Joystick Jury. But Confuzion was (and still is) a game I find hopelessly addictive from time to time, and it's one that I think was well written. Not to mention it had music on the B side!

sirclive1 · March 2007

World cup carnival , biggest rip off ever

Eastenders - a close 2nd

cichlasoma · March 2007

there are hundreds of bad games nobody knows of, as they are really bad.
known as particularly bad game can be one which some people admire, but others don't.
(may i dare to say, i'd hold manic miner to be probabaly the best example (counting myself to the later group, naturally) ?)

edit: well, but thinking abou it, i'd exaggerate to say, i hold manic miner to be a particularly bad game - i just don't understand much, why its SO popular...

beanz · March 2007

War of the worlds CRL. Sure there was worse games but this was a high end game and just sucked and had a continous loop bug in it. I think games that promise a lot and deliver nothing are worse than those that suck out of the gate.

Bad Horsey · March 2007

Cosmic Cruiser springs to mind; I won that in a competition and still felt ripped off.

Voyage into the Unkown was incredibly poor - a miracle that it ever got released.

And Dk'Tronics Speed Duel was unplayable in the extreme.

Graz · March 2007

liamenikufesin wrote: »

The Great Space Race springs to mind, never played it though. That US Gold World Cup game too.

Well, The Great Space Race is not exactly a game, and for some inexplicable reason, I love it! Ah, well. My vote goes to Pulsonic's, 'Butterfly'

Graz · March 2007

beanz wrote: »

War of the worlds CRL. Sure there was worse games but this was a high end game and just sucked and had a continous loop bug in it. I think games that promise a lot and deliver nothing are worse than those that suck out of the gate.

Ooh, another game that I really enjoyed. I remember how ecstatic we were when my Dad completed it, to reveal the scrolling end sequence. Great days.

def chris · March 2007

Jet Set Willy II

probably not a terrible game in its own right, but coming after such a landmark game as the original, I couldn't believe how inferior this was.

as for downright badness, some of the football manager sim's were just depressing. too many to mention...

Skarpo · March 2007

I never cared too much for ... erm ... well ... hmmm ... I'll get back to you on that one ... oh, yeah! ... now I remember ... I was very disappointed with Yeti ... man I had looked so very much forward to it ... saved up moolah months on end ... and then it proved to be The Worst Game Ever (imho).

Skarpo
:-)

zx1 · March 2007

What about Kung fu master? Or maybe Thomas the tank engine? That music has to be heard to be believed!

dm_boozefreek · March 2007

Sport of kings (what a pile that was, I got it for free, but I still felt jipped).
I have to also agree with cosmic cruiser, I got it as a gift (didn't like it).
Eddie Kidds Jump Challenge (It is crap but I find something strangely addictive about it).
Molecule Man (Absolute Shite).
Sheepwalk
Octagon Squad
The H(cr)appiest days of your life.
Double Dragon (all 3 of em')
Cannibals ate my Granny.
Cassette 50.

Here's a few turkeys.

EDIT: I forgot Highlander! Stinkeroony!!!

def chris · March 2007

dm_boozefreek wrote: »

Molecule Man (Absolute Shite).

haha. I remember me and my brother went to buy a game each, I bought Kane, he got Molecule Man. and he spent about a year trying to convince himself it was good because he didnt want to admit he'd bought a bad game, but its plainly rubbish. I never really liked any 3D games though...

chop983 · March 2007

def chris wrote: »

haha. I remember me and my brother went to buy a game each, I bought Kane, he got Molecule Man. and he spent about a year trying to convince himself it was good because he didnt want to admit he'd bought a bad game, but its plainly rubbish. I never really liked any 3D games though...

I think I used to Editor more than I played the game

dm_boozefreek · March 2007

chop983 wrote: »

I think I used to Editor more than I played the game

Yup, the editor was the consolation prize :lol:

miner49er · March 2007

cichlasoma wrote: »

there are hundreds of bad games nobody knows of, as they are really bad.
known as particularly bad game can be one which some people admire, but others don't.
(may i dare to say, i'd hold manic miner to be probabaly the best example (counting myself to the later group, naturally) ?)

edit: well, but thinking abou it, i'd exaggerate to say, i hold manic miner to be a particularly bad game - i just don't understand much, why its SO popular...

It's brilliant that's why it's SO popular. I would say the one of the reasons it's SO popular is because it's perfect, when at the time many games seemed to have flaws or rough edges.

dm_boozefreek · March 2007

miner49er wrote: »

It's brilliant that's why it's SO popular. I would say the one of the reasons it's SO popular is because it's perfect, when at the time many games seemed to have flaws or rough edges.

Indeed! To many (including myself) MM is the polished beautiful diamond that emerged from the giant pile of dog shit.

If it was not for the elusive Mr. Smiths' masterpiece many, many platform games today would not exist. Or if they did I bet they'd be crap if there had been no MM.

Vanamonde · March 2007

The two that always spring to mind when this question is asked are Black Hole and Army Movies.

Black Hole is just utter crap,and I coukd never get past the first level in Army Moves as it rock hard..

alban lusitanae · March 2007

oooooooh and I have several as well

Kung Fu Master (was a master in the arcade, actually thought about killing the authors of the ZX version)

Knightrider (what the ACWTI (austrian city without the ing) was that?!)

007 License to Kill (well... it was crapISH)

could place here so many others...

Worst game ever...?

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