Most of the world’s top selling video games have notably high critical reception and are widely accepted as being some of the best video games of all time. While games like Wii Sports and Grand Theft Auto V remain on the top of the list for best selling video games ever, and rightfully so, they are highly regarded as some of the video game industry’s best. Despite that, simply because a video game sells millions upon millions of copies, it doesn’t necessarily mean that particular game is good.
Bad video games still manage to sell well today and many different factors affect that. Many games sell well because they come bundled with a popular accessory. Some games sell well because they are based off of a popular movie or show, or they are a spinoff of an already successful video game. Other games simply sell well due to initial hype before the game’s release and are already seen as huge hits before critical reception becomes widespread. Either way you cut it, not all best sellers actually manage to be good games and these are some of the worst video game titles to grace our consoles that game developers managed to make millions of dollars on.
20 It’s Just A Glorified Pet Simulator
At the height of Pokémon’s popularity boom, Nintendo could pretty much stick Pikachu’s face on anything and it would sell like hotcakes. Take Hey You, Pikachu! for example, a Pikachu pet simulator that let you raise and talk to your pet Pikachu through a microphone that was included with the game. While the game was marketed more to the younger Pokémon fan base, the game still lacked much depth or replay value. The microphone often times didn’t work, partially due to it being designed to pick up the higher pitched voices of children making the game ultimately unplayable for older audiences. While slapping Pikachu’s name on the title of the game may not sell units today like it did in the year 2000, it still sold almost two million copies worldwide, though this does include sales with the limited edition Pikachu Nintendo 64 that came bundled with the game.
19 There Are Just Better Versions Of This Game
While Pac-Man is universally accepted as one of the greatest games of all time and and is, for the most part, the same game with each version (minus a few variations), the Atari 2600 version sadly misses the mark compared to the original arcade game. While the gameplay is similar, the game turned out to be a shoddy port of the original due to hardware limitations. The graphics were less appealing, the game was full of glitches, and the sound effects weren’t so easy on the ears. Despite its technical failures, the game went on to become the most successful Atari game of all time with almost 8 million copies sold, largely due to the popularity of the arcade game and the mere concept of playing Pac-Man at home at the time was enticing. Despite its sales, Atari overproduced units for the game due to the game’s initial hype and many copies were returned.
18 They Hadn’t Perfected The Controls Yet
Love it or hate it, the Just Dance series has become one of the most successful video game franchises of all time over the past decade. The Wii’s motion controls, which were still a relatively new concept in 2009, were the perfect fit for a dancing video game and was a big step away from games like Dance Dance Revolution that had us only using our feet. While the original game went on to sell over 4 million units, the game was heavily criticized for its poor motion tracking and its lack of gameplay modes. Despite critics’ reactions to the original, it didn’t stop people from wanting to just dance and the game ended up becoming a massive success, producing annual sequels in the process. Despite the game’s initial tepid response, Ubisoft heavily improved the game with the inclusion of more gameplay modes, partnered and group dance routines, more routines per song, and bringing the games over to PlayStation and Xbox.
17 How Could They Do This To Borderlands?
Before the pitchforks are brought out, it should probably be clarified that Borderlands 2 is far from what most would consider a garbage video game. Actually, it’s one of the greats, which is why it probably seemed to be a natural fit for the PlayStation Vita as the idea of a portable version of Borderlands 2 with cross-play elements was enticing. Not to mention, packing the game in with PlayStation Vitas probably helped sell the under-appreciated handheld. Unfortunately, the port to handheld didn’t go as smoothly as expected. While the Vita carries a lot of horsepower for a handheld, it still couldn’t keep up with the PlayStation 3’s technical capabilities. It suffered from considerably bad framerate dips, a huge graphical downgrade, and terrible lag. On top of that, the PlayStation Vita just doesn’t feel as comfortable for shooters as a Dualshock controller does. The game managed to sell less than a million units, but still remains one of the best selling Vita games due to the handhelds relatively small user base.
16 So, We’re Taxi Drivers Now?
Licensed video games usually tend to be garbage, and the Simpsons family probably know that better than anyone. The Simpsons: Road Rage was considered to be one of the better games produced under The Simpsons label, due to it pretty much copying the exact premise of Sega’s Crazy Taxi. While the game wasn’t terrible, there was really no reason to pick it up over Crazy Taxi as it suffered from wobbly controls and poor collision detection, unless of course you are a die hard Simpsons fan and really wanted to play a poor version of Crazy Taxi through the streets of Springfield, Wherever. While the game wasn’t a huge blockbuster, it still managed to sell over a million units due to the licensing of the iconic television series and it being brought to the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox all at the same time.
15 Of All The Things On The Wii… You Play This?
Pretty much if you put the word “Wii” at the beginning of a Nintendo Wii game’s title, it was going to be a huge success. While Wii Play managed to be a commercial success with over 28 million units sold, it was little more than yet another mini-game collection for the Wii. It featured several mini-games that were rather bland compared to other titles on the market and the replay value was almost minimal. While the game was successful, this was most likely due to the game being packaged in with an extra Wii-mote, allowing an extra player to join in on the multiplayer “fun.” While the game was sub-par compared to other Wii titles, the idea of getting an extra Wii-mote with the purchase of the game… or buying a Wii-mote and getting a game for another ten bucks… was part of the appeal and the reason for the game’s success, though it most likely would have flopped without that extra incentive.
14 This Awful Game Even Got A Sequel
While famous rappers might not seem like the best mix for a video game, there was no denying that 50 Cent was one of the biggest rappers at the beginning of the millennium and his popularity was enough to slap his name on the title of a video game (50 Cent: Bulletproof) and have it sell. While the game was praised for its story and soundtrack (the game being based off of a popular musician, the latter should be good), it was criticized for its mediocre gameplay as it was repetitive and stale compared to other third person shooters in the genre. The game suffered from linear levels and wave after wave of enemies with little breaking up the monotony. The game was successful enough to warrant a sequel in 2009, three years after its initial release, as it sold over a million copies on both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox combined.
13 A Story That Didn’t Need To Be Told
Due to the popularity and success of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, it only seemed natural that Nintendo would go even further with the series, making Yoshi the main playable character featuring similar gameplay elements and movesets for the green dinosaur. Yoshi’s Story was the first sequel in that line with Yoshi ditching Baby Mario and going solo on his own adventure. While the game played similar to Yoshi’s Island, it changed its primary objective. Rather than making your way to the end of the level, Yoshi simply had to eat 3o fruit, finishing a border on the screen. This could be done easily within a few minutes and only six levels were required to beat the game, despite there being 24 stages available for replay purposes. The game was criticized due to its short play time and its overall simplicity, easily making this the least enjoyable Yoshi game. Despite that, any game produced by Nintendo with the name Yoshi in the title will most likely sell well and Yoshi’s Story is no exception, with almost 3 million copies sold.
12 Not Only Is This Game Awful, It’s Horribly Difficult
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the top selling licensed game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, selling about 4 million units total. This is largely due to the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise as the animated show had become a phenomenon with young children in the late 80s and early 90s and the image of the four turtles was on practically everything from lunch boxes to bed spreads. It only made since that the turtles would receive a video game of their own, but it wasn’t until the two side scrolling, beat ’em up sequels that we’d really get a decent title. The original TMNT was plagued with problems from glitchy gameplay to a near impossible difficulty level due to instant kills and difficult platforming segments. If you’ve played this game, there is no doubt that you still hear the zapping sound of seaweed in the dam’s underwater stage after hearing its name. While the game wasn’t the worst licensed game of its time, it held little resemblance to its subject material and was most likely not beaten without the likes of a Game Genie.
11 A Movie Video Game That Should Have Been Good
Fans of the original Matrix film begged for a video game iteration of the franchise for quite some time, as the action blockbuster seemed like a natural fit for a video game with its over the top action and its stylish fighting sequences. When the second movie to the film was released, a spinoff video game called Enter The Matrix featuring secondary characters Niobe and Ghost was released alongside it including movie footage that was only included in the game. Naturally the game sold well along with the movie, moving over 3 million units. Unfortunately, the game was met with harsh criticism making it one of the biggest disappointments of 2003, as the game was repetitive and suffered from terrible controls. Arguably, the game’s only saving grace was The Matrix branding and its storyline which connected closely to The Matrix Reloaded and it wouldn’t be until a couple years after the trilogy’s finish that we’d get to actually play as the main antagonist in the much better received Path of Neo.
10 Stick Of Truth It Ain’t
It seems that any bad video game could sell well if it has the right license to go with it. The show South Park has seen multiple video game titles over the year and most of them ended up being quite bad until The Stick of Truth was released in 2014. The biggest problem converting South Park into a video game was figuring out what genre the raunchy cartoon would fit in. Somehow, Acclaim decided to make it a first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation and it managed to sell close to 2 million units. South Park definitely captured the spirit of the show, which is why the game did as well as it it. It had all the toilet humor of the show and included its own unique storyline with the voice actors lending their talent to multiple playable characters of the show. It also somehow managed to capture the show’s cartoon spirit, despite its awkward transition into the third dimension. Regardless, as a first-person shooter, it was less than mediocre and each level was made up of wave after wave of the same enemy coming at you and later levels made these enemies damage sponges.
9 Take Off Your Nostalgia Goggles…
Disney Interactive has a track record for converting Disney’s beloved animated films into pretty decent video games as many game’s based off of their films of the same name are able to closely capture the same Disney magic. Despite that, Disney Interactive ran into a few hiccups on the transition from 2D to 3D. A Bug’s Life, a video game based off the movie of the same name is a perfect example of that as it was one of the earliest Disney Interactive games that utilized the third dimension. While the presentation of the game was praised, it simply failed to hold up as a game as it suffered from clunky controls and a poor framerate. The game still appealed toward younger audiences as it captured the style of the film, despite the negative criticism. A Bug’s Life still managed to sell over 3 million units on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 combined.
8 Can They Stop Just Slapping “Wii” In Front Of Titles?
Appealing toward the casual gamer, it seemed like Nintendo’s Wii was pretty much invincible a couple years after its release and any game with the Wii branding on it would sell well, even if it were mediocre. Wii Music is one of those games, selling over 3 million units worldwide. The game itself could hardly be called a game as there really was no point system and the player couldn’t be penalized for poor performance. Choosing from an assortment of different instruments, the player would simply use the Wii-mote and Nunchuk to mimic the motions for whatever instrument they picked. The game had little depth and it was a hard sell when it was competing against games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The sound track was questionable as well featuring a strange assortment of tracks from “Happy Birthday” to Madonna’s “Material Girl.” Even though it still sold over 3 million, the game was still considered a disappointment, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise when you can pretty much replicate the experience by turning up the radio and playing the air guitar.
7 Where’s Sigourney?
While multiple video game titles have been produced under the Alien franchise, it seems that none of them were as big of a disappointment as Aliens: Colonial Marines. Despite overall decent sales and managing to move well over a million units, the game was universally panned by critics. The game was so poorly received that Gearbox Software had a Wii U version in development, but it was ultimately cancelled due to the negative reception of the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 version. The popularity of the Alien franchise made this game able to move units, but that couldn’t save the game from its poor enemy A.I. and glitchy gameplay. The story was also heavily criticized as it was meant to be canon with the films, yet their was a lack of continuity between the two.
6 Possibly The Worst Game Ever Made
Superman: The New Superman Adventures, better known as Superman 64 is rather well known in the video game community for being universally accepted as one of the worst video games of all times and rightfully so. Even though the game may not have made gobs of money and didn’t even sell over a million units, it was still one of the top selling video games in its month of release back in 1999. The game was initially planned for a PlayStation release, but due to the Nintendo 64 version’s poor reception, the PlayStation version was ultimately cancelled. The graphics were a huge let down, the flying controls were sloppy, and the collision detection was rather unimpressive. Due to these many issues, the game’s difficulty was rather high, despite the Man of Steel’s wide array of super abilities. While Superman has never had much luck in the video game department, none of his attempts at video game stardom are as infamous as Superman for the Nintendo 64.
5 “Wii” Get It, Wii. Just Stop.
The Wii seemed like a natural platform to have a fitness game on, due to the Wii’s motion controls getting gamers to get up and actually move around for a change. While Wii Fit was a huge financial success for Nintendo selling over 22 million units (and that’s not including the success of Wii Fit Plus), it still wasn’t much of a workout and really couldn’t help people to lose weight, despite it being advertised as such. While the Wii Balance Board was an interesting accessory and worked rather well for what it was meant to do, Wii Fit suffered from a variety of other problems to really be considered an efficient exercise program. The cardio activities barely got the heart rate up due to roughly standing in the same place most of the time, and the player had to switch between different fitness activities between each game, making the player lose momentum in the middle of a workout. While many of the games were actually pretty fun, as an actual workout simulator, the game failed in many aspects.
4 The Most Infamous Game
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is one of the first known examples of a licensed video game that would ultimately flop (though that did not stop developers from grabbing rights to other popular franchises). E.T. for the Atari 2600 was supposed to be the big Christmas seller for 1982 and ultimately, it succeeded. The game has gone down in history as one of the worst video games of all time and was a huge flop in regards to Atari’s expectations for the game. While it still moved over a million units and stands in the top ten best selling Atari 2600 games, word of mouth spread quickly that the game was complete trash due to repetitive gameplay with poor controls and the game having little resemblance to the film of the same name. Poor Atari. The game was so poorly received that it has actually been dubbed as the cause of almost sinking the video game industry in 1983. Because Atari developed so many copies of the game due to high expectations, the rest of the unsold copies were actually buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, Mexico making this game garbage literally and figuratively.
3 Does This Count As A Zelda Game?
Due to the Wii controller’s ability to point and shoot at the screen, the Wii became a popular platform for light-gun style shooters and on-rail games featuring gunplay elements. Multiple games contained this element of gameplay, yet the Wii-mote didn’t necessarily feel comfortable as a light-gun as it felt more like a remote control for the television. Because of this, Nintendo introduced the Wii Zapper, a peripheral controller the Wii-mote could be attached to to make it feel more like a light-gun. In order to sell more Wii Zappers, Nintendo wanted to include a game with the new accessory and every Wii Zapper came packaged with Link’s Crossbow Training, a game featuring The Legend of Zelda’s main protagonist going through a series of levels shooting multiple targets and enemies from the franchise. While the game is far from the worst on this list, it was heavily criticized for being too short and it seemed more like a tech-demo rather than a full Zelda title (which it sort of was). Despite its overall replay value, the game still sold almost 5 million units due to its low price and coming bundled with the Wii Zapper.
2 The Human/Hedgehog Relationship Isn’t The Worst Part
After the failure of the Sega Dreamcast and Sega folding from the console scene, Sonic’s popularity was slowly declining and he didn’t seem to quite fit in on other consoles. In 2006, Sega released Sonic The Hedgehog, a game meaning to reboot the popular franchise and breathe new life into the series. Unfortunately, Sega released one giant dud and the game is widely known as the worst in the franchise. While it tried to capture similar gameplay elements of the Sonic Adventure games, it created a whole new variety of problems that went along with the already dated gameplay of its predecessors. The game suffered from sluggish framerate and horrendous camera angles resulting in cheap deaths resulting in multiple “Game Over” screens. The loading times were extremely long, sometimes lasting twenty seconds to simply load up a dialogue box, and appeared way too frequently. What most critics disliked about Sonic the Hedgehog was its huge emphasis on living in a realistic human world and its story where Sonic ends up falling in love with a human princess. Despite being the worst game in the series, Sonic the Hedgehog still sold over 2 million units between Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.
1 Kinect Took A Page Out Of The Wii’s Book
Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect made a lot of promises that it would eventually not deliver, despite early trailers showing the motion sensor device as a lot more capable than it really was. Kinect Adventures! was surprisingly the best selling video game for the Xbox 360, which was largely in part to it being released as a pack-in title for the Xbox Kinect. While there wasn’t necessarily anything too terrible about Kinect Adventures!, its success was most likely due to its inclusion with the Kinect rather than it being a video game that could really stand on its own merit. While the game successfully delivered upon showing the Kinect’s capabilities and was a decent title to go with it, it was still a relatively short experience and likely didn’t stay in many Xbox 360’s disc trays for too long as there just wasn’t enough content to keep playing for long periods of time. Despite its mediocre reception, the game was still a huge success, selling almost 25 million units worldwide.
