Bad games that became iconic (in a good way)

[OkaZenzo27]

White Knight Chronicles was a pretty good game that had low ratings. Overall I think it's a hidden RPG gem for the PS3!

 

[Tanner]

my hearty fellow i disagree pounds gavel
i remember postal 2 being a neat game and not designed poorly
i suppose that was a long time ago, why did you think it was a bad game michael frank? i yearn for your knowledge to enter my mind

I replayed it 10 years ago. Its an infamous game but not for beeing bad. Now in 2025 it shows its age even more though. The world is kinda empty but with that comes also that eerily surreal vibe which i absolutly adore. The weapons handling and feel might be an aspect which let you think its a bad game if you are only accustomed to modern AAA releases. Its perfectly fine though IMHO.
Well and then be careful to not cut yourself on that teenage edge. Aaw jeezzz, transports me right back into the mindset of an young annoying asshat.

Apocalypse Weekend is kinda weak tbh. Has some funny bits but doesnt live up to the main game.
That Paradise Lost DLC which released handily a bit after my playthrough was pretty great though. I think? Somehow i dont remember much of it. But i liked it back then.

All in all i managed to put in like 50 hours with all the DLC and some speed- and memeruns. Soon the VR port will be released. Then its time to go back in. Cant wait.

Until then i highly recommend the pro postal series of civvie!

Postal 3 & 4 on the other hand? Oof, pure garbage.

Post automatically merged: Today at 4:53 AM

But on topic: Clubdrive on the Atari Jaguar. Its pretty obscure but i came across it quite a few times over the years. The most prominent mention was probably by John of DF Retro fame i think? It was never put in a positive light... until now:

 

[thatguynamedxel]

My addition to this thread would be YIIK: A Postmodern RPG.

Much of the game's bad reputation stems from its rough launch; it was the Allanson brothers' second ever game, too, which certainly didn't help with the rough state it came out in.
Nowadays, though? The game has improved a LOT since then. And people have since eased up on the harshness, and even started enjoying it, too!

The 1.5, stylized as the I.V update, just came out last year. It's a far cry from the old releases. It's like going from Persona 4 to Persona 4: Golden, or Pokémon Diamond/Pearl to Platinum.

YIIK is very much an "Ugly Duckling," so to speak.
I like it, I find myself playing it and enjoying it without a single shred of irony.
...
Also, it's pronounced "Y2K", but calling it "Yeek" is just funnier. It's an inherently funny word to say.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Not sure if they're viewed in a good way now but,
Off the top of my head it's
HongKong '97
Bubsy 3D
Superman 64
Ride to Hell Retribution
E.T. Nes

 

[trickybus]

No The Mystery of the Druids yet? That game released to terrible reviews but became a cult favorite and meme factory several years after release mostly due to the unintentionally funny cover art. It's not a particularly good point-and-click adventure but the characters, gameplay logic, and overall story are all bizarre enough to be entertaining. Mandalore has a great video on it.

 

[legsrjust4show]

It's actually kind of tough trying to find a bad game that's really gone on to have an entirely new life of it's own. It's really easy remembering the bad stuff, but the games that became just purely notoriously bad that it has become as legendary as even as some of the genuine real deal classics out there? Real tough choice.

My pick has to be DARK SEED II. An unforgettable experience that simply sucks in all the best possible ways.

The original Dark Seed game was already a mess with it's EXTREMELY stingy puzzle solving, but it did a decent enough job with using H.R. Giger's art and it made it standout for so long and was pretty memorable (even if the voice acting is so cheesy it makes it silly).

The sequel feels like a mean parody of the original made by someone who wishes they were making a Twin Peaks game instead.

They made the main character the biggest dweebus in all of video games. He was a dorky guy in the first game, but in the sequel he's a total helpless dork who just makes everything worse out of sheer stupidity. It's one of the most memorable and accidentally funny experiences around.

I highly recommend checking out this long retrospective by Majuular on Youtube. He really captures the essence of why people keep coming back to it.

 

[ZombieFish]

I’m gonna say it…
Sonic.

 

[pingugaming]

resident evil survivor is an absolute meme cinema of a game

 

[Saru's Paw]

Black tiger ps4 :P.

 

[Bonkers225]

Bubsy. But idk why people say it's a bad game. It's a fun game, and I enjoyed it more then Sonic, and Mario growing up.

 

[ThatOneLum]

someone said illbleed and i take great offense to that as it is my favourite horror game

I've tried to get into Illbleed a bunch of times but I've never quite managed it. It looks really inticing but I found myself ultimately a bit confused about what I was supposed to be doing.

The most iconic bad game I can think of is Sonic Adventure (People are going to kill me, aren't they?)