Successful doesn’t always mean good. Just ask the Twilight franchise. The truth of the matter is that many games don’t perform relative to how good the game is. A lot of times, it’s proper marketing, advertising, brand familiarity, and more that catapult it to the top of the best sellers list. In terms of fairness, it shouldn’t really work that way. Unfortunately, it does.
We can look all throughout history to see great games that sadly underperformed. Okami and War of the Monsters come as prime examples of this, featuring excellent design but not getting proper support after it launched. Because of this, many games fade out into obscurity because no one ever loved them like they deserved.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are poorly-designed games that get way more money in return than they have any right to. Regardless of whether they feature bad mechanics, unfinished levels, or horrible examples of DLC, they still manage to be financial successes. Those are the games we’re going to be looking at today.
Get the rage ready, because we’re going through our picks for 20 garbage console games that still made a ton of money.
20 The Crossover Nobody Was Asking For
For years, Nintendo and SEGA had a bitter console rivalry. Even after SEGA stopped making consoles, they were still directly competing with Mario by having their own prime mascot- Sonic the Hedgehog. After all of those days of fighting and bickering to try and beat the other, the two companies actually worked together to create Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, this title suffered from poor motion controls, uninspired mini-games, and a design that seems like a huge marketing ploy over anything else. Still, the game sold incredibly well and went on to create several different sequels involving the Winter Olympic Games and the regular Olympics, just in other regions of the world. Even the Wii U got an entry of this franchise.
19 Basically Just A Rehash Of The First Game
Game Freak is no stranger to re-packaging an old game with new Pokémon and calling it a day. It’s a strategy that they’ve done for years, and it’s shocking that people haven’t grown tired of it. One of the biggest examples of this is with Pokémon Stadium 2 on the N64.
After the first Pokémon Stadium was a massive success, Game Freak essentially made that game again but added in new creatures from the second generation. Other than that, there was almost no difference between the two games. Still, people were hungry for a console Pokémon experience, and the product sold incredibly well. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last Pokémon game to follow this model, as there was another title that did the same thing.
18 A Failed Try At Motion Control
You just have to stop at the word “Kinect,” and you know you’re in for something special. Kinect Adventures was Microsoft’s answer to Wii Sports, except your entire body is the controller. In short, the result wasn’t all that great, the controls didn’t work nearly as well as they should, and the experience felt like something you’d find at a local Dollar General.
Still, people were hungry to try out this new add-on for the Xbox 360, and Kinect Adventures was the best option. It went on to sell fairly well, justifying the excuse of having other games in the “Kinect” series to come to the platform. However, it wasn’t long before consumers started to wise up and avoid this modern Virtual Boy altogether.
17 I Don’t Feel Like Dancing
Just Dance is a game based on an interesting concept: take some of the best songs of the past few years and choreograph dances to them. Player performance is then based on how well they can mimic these dances. And thus, this quirky franchise was born.
The problem is that Just Dance isn’t all that great. When you’re a newbie, it’s difficult to read what to do, as spinning all around makes it impossible to see the on-screen character. The motion controls don’t always work, regardless of how well you’re doing the dance. Then there’s the fact that it’s not exactly a “dancing” game, as it’s just several different moves strung together. It’s nowhere near real dancing (save for maybe a few examples).
16 More Holes Than A Block Of Swiss Cheese
After the Modern Warfare trilogy ended and Treyarch was working on Black Ops, consumers wondered what Infinity Ward’s next Call of Duty game was going to be. They teased Call of Duty: Ghosts as an intense and epic first-person-shooter with a story that was going to break the limits of what the franchise could be.
Despite all of these promises, Call of Duty: Ghosts delivered on none of them. The overall game was lazily done, the story had more holes than a block of Swiss cheese, and the gameplay was way too similar to previous installments. The graphics weren’t even that much of an upgrade. This entry has quickly gone down as one of the worst in the Call of Duty franchise.
15 Not Worth Going To Space
One of the games stuck in development hell for nearly two console generations was Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game was marketed as a cooperative shooter where you would go up against the nearly invincible Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. While that sounds like fun on paper, the execution was severely lacking.
The AI was worse than anything we could’ve imagined, the Xenomorphs were too easy to take down, and the game was littered with bugs and glitches that made it nearly unplayable. Still, people were ready for this game to finally hit shelves, and it actually sold a decent amount of copies. Good thing that money was used to create Alien: Isolation.
14 A Failed Reboot
Once it was announced that the beloved Star Wars Battlefront series would be continued by EA, there was both excitement and skepticism. Unfortunately, those who were hyped for the game quickly changed their tunes as EA revealed more and more about how the title would work.
Star Wars Battlefront turned out to be a reboot that failed to understand anything about what made the original so great. The balancing needed a lot of work, the Class System was out the door, and they practically shoved the $50 season pass down players’ throats. It was a blatant attempt to cash in on the nostalgia of older gamers, and it was an overall dirty move from them. Believe it or not, these decisions didn’t stop the game from being an astronomical success.
13 This One’s Infamous For A Reason
You’ve all heard the stories by now. Often cited as one of the worst games of all time, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is not only one of the worst ways to celebrate an anniversary for the Blue Blur, but is a travesty to the gaming industry as a whole. Single-handedly, it represents everything wrong with many developers at the time.
The game was rushed so they could meet a deadline, the product was unfinished and riddled with glitches and bugs at every corner. The story played out like something from a fan-fiction rather than a full unique tale. Then there’s the fact that the way the characters controlled was never refined (just play Silver to know what we’re talking about). Yet, Sonic’s name still holds relevance and the game sold way more than it had any right to.
12 Just Watch The Movie
Disney has licensed some great games in the past. There was the classic Duck Tales, the brutally hard The Lion King, and the always-fun Aladdin. When they made the jump to the PlayStation One/N64 era, though, the games weren’t as good. Take A Bug’s Life for instance.
This title was a clear attempt to try and cash in on the 3D platformer hype of the time, but as with many rip-offs, it was done poorly. The game was a bore from start to finish and reeked of little quality management. Yet, it still managed to sell a whopping 1.5 million copies in total. Kids in the day must’ve been really hungry for a game that allowed them to play through the newest Disney/Pixar movie. Times were certainly different back then.
11 Barely Feels Like The Same Series
Looking at Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, it makes someone wonder why they felt the need to essentially restructure the franchise in the first place. The answer is Resident Evil 6. After the critical acclaim of Resident Evil 4, Capcom decided that they were going to bring the franchise away from its survival-horror roots and instead make it a tensionless action game.
Resident Evil 6, as a result, was the low point for the entire series. There was no love or care placed into this game after all of its identity was thrown out the window. Yet, because it was a Resident Evil game that came out during the zombie craze in pop culture, it still sold fairly well. At least Capcom was aware in the future that they needed a new angle.
10 Another Bad Pokémon Game
Pokémon Stadium wouldn’t be the only time Game Freak would try to bring their beloved series to home consoles. After two competent releases on the GameCube, the Wii got a game called Pokémon Battle Revolution. While many expected this to follow a similar story format to Colosseum or XD: Gale of Darkness, that wasn’t the case. As a matter of fact, Pokémon Battle Revolution was merely a series of battles in various arenas where you don’t even get to train your Pokémon. The only reason worth picking this up is if you had friends with DS consoles and you could battle in 3D on the TV. Other than that, this game wasn’t worth looking at (especially at $50). Yet, the Pokémon franchise is still a hit among consumers of all ages, and this game sold over 1 million copies. We haven’t had a console Pokémon game like this in a long time.
9 Different, And Not In A Good Way
Pac-Man was one of the most popular games of its day. Numerous people would flock to arcades just to have a chance to beat the high score on the machine. For its time, Pac-Man had a winning formula. It was later brought to home console systems to fairly great success. Then we move on to the Atari 2600 port.
The Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man is so drastically different from the original that it might as well be a completely new game. The visuals are done horribly, the performance was bad, and more. Yet, the brand name brought people in and the game sold very well. However, the poor reception of it overall motivated owners to take it back and nearly caused the entire industry to come crashing down.
8 Actual Hacking Is More Fun
After creating their success on Assassin’s Creed, gamers were excited to hear about Ubisoft’s new property, Watch Dogs. This game looked to be an open-world, modern day version of the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed. In it, you take the role of a hacker who can manipulate the surroundings and complete various missions.
Sadly, the final product ended up looking much worse than what was originally showed off. At its core, Watch Dogs was an unfinished game and brought shame to Ubisoft. Yet, the hype was still real, as the game sold very well around the world. However, it’s gone down as a game that vastly disappointed consumers. A lot of these mistakes were rectified in the later Watch Dogs 2.
7 This Game Is Just Broken
When the Assassin’s Creed franchise began, it quickly became the most popular series that Ubisoft had in its roster. Naturally, they expanded on the game with various sequel and spin-offs. However, at around Assassin’s Creed III, something changed: the games started to get worse in quality.
Fast forward a few years and we have Assassin’s Creed Unity. This game was a multiplayer Assassin’s Creed and was promised to be an experience unlike any other. Yet, the game came out and was still unfinished. Numerous bugs and glitches were rampant, and many people stayed away from it. Still, it sold well over 1 million copies despite all of these problems.
6 Don’t Even Bother With Single Player
When Nintendo began showing off the various colored Links in a Nintendo Direct, many people thought we’d be getting another Four Swords game. Instead, we were given The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes. It was a dungeon crawler that allowed up to three players to work together to defeat monsters, solve puzzles, and dig up treasure. It sounded great on paper.
However, the game didn’t feature an immersive story like Four Swords, and wasn’t as smart with its direction. Being a multiplayer game, the single-player mode was severely lacking, and there wasn’t much people could do other than go through dungeons and buy different outfits to wear. Still, the name alone brought many 3DS owners in.
5 Baby Mario Isn’t Even The Worst Part
Yoshi’s Island DS was the last Yoshi game that Nintendo made. After several years without a peep, we got word of Yoshi’s New Island coming to the 3DS. With the promise to revive the classic art style on top of the traditional gameplay, it looked like a return to the forefront of Nintendo’s thinking for the little green dinosaur.
While the gameplay was very solid in Yoshi’s New Island, the problem came in a lot of the music and aesthetic choices. There were often clashing ideas, making for an experience that felt disjointed at best. When compared to the later-released Yoshi’s Woolly World, there’s no competition. That said, the former sold just a little bit more units than its home console successor.
4 A Shell Of A Game
When the PlayStation 4 was nearing launch day, Sony needed some interesting titles to get consumers excited. Thus came a little property known as Knack. This 3D platformer was aimed at younger people to get kids interested in the console, but there were many behind-the-scenes mistakes made that prevented the game from being good.
Sony rushed the production so that it could meet the launch day for the console, and as a result, Knack was devoid of many of the ideas that the development team wanted to incorporate. What resulted was a pitiful shell of a game that could’ve been so much more, but only ended up being a forgettable launch title. Still, there were plenty who enjoyed the game and it sold fairly well.
3 Just Doesn’t Feel Right, Somehow
You’re probably wondering why this game is on the list. While Ratchet and Clank on the PS4 is a fine game, it’s not good as a Ratchet and Clank game. Where the original was full of style, personality, and story, the reboot has none of that. We are never shown why Ratchet and Clank are good friends, the story isn’t nearly as interesting, and many of the great levels were removed.
Yet, the visuals were bright and well-designed, as well as the tried and true gameplay. Many fans of the franchise loved this take on the series, and it became one of the fastest-selling titles on the PS4 (especially considering its $40 price tag). Do you have this game in your library?
2 The Pairings Might Be Epic, But The Game Isn’t
What happens when you bring the brutal fighters of Mortal Kombat and put them side by side with the roster of DC’s finest heroes? You get Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. While a big deal when it came out, this game has become the black sheep of the Mortal Kombat franchise, as it is lacking what made the series so beloved in the first place. The true fatalities are gone, the story is ridiculous and crappy, and a lot of the costume designs aren’t very good.
Still, the prospect of having Scorpion and Batman duke it out was too good to pass up, and many people flocked to this game. It sold very well, but the lasting negative reception caused Netherrealm to rethink what they would do the second time around. This spawned the Injustice franchise.
1 There’s Better War Games Out There
When creating a first-person-shooter, you better have a left hook that makes your title stand out above the rest. When it comes to the genre, players have their pick of what they want to use. Then came the game Homefront in 2011. This title promised a unique story and gameplay mechanics that hadn’t been seen before in the genre.
However, a lot of that initial hype turned into boredom after the game was released. The story started out well, featuring Korea invading the U.S., but it quickly fell flat into the same tropes players had been seeing for years. The same can be said of the gameplay. Overall, Homefront still sold well, but wasn’t nearly as good as it wanted to be.
