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: Yesterday 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?)

 

[bigstinkie]

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.

amusingly, it is one of the uncommon video games where the first level is arguably the most difficult
after you have completed it you have the skillset to charge through the rest of the levels

 

[MemeAlert]

Sonic 06 should of been the obvious answer. The reason I also chose Ocarina of Time is because I considered games that are TOO simplistic to be bad.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

View attachment 84623View attachment 84624
Sonic 06 should of been the obvious answer. The reason I also chose Ocarina of Time is because I consider games that are TOO simplistic to be bad.

Wait... Isn't OoT considered to be one of the best game ever made?

 

[MemeAlert]

Wait... Isn't OoT considered to be one of the best game ever made?

Would I say Ocarina of Time is the greatest game ever made? ...No, just because I like it when a game has substance. Ocarina of Time is too simplistic to be considered a "game", it just feels like busy work.

 

[bigstinkie]

Ocarina of Time is too simplistic to be considered a "game", it just feels like busy work.

i am curious, do you dislike all simple games? do games like mario brothers 3 feel like busy work to you as well?

 

[dropsmegamega]

Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me

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.

ironically its original release (not the one Mandalore covers) was less buggy (no floating characters for example) and also has a completely different and extremely good dynamic soundtrack in which every area has like 6 variations

 

[MemeAlert]

i am curious, do you dislike all simple games? do games like mario brothers 3 feel like busy work to you as well?

Super Mario Bros 3 isn't simple.

 

[trickybus]

ironically its original release (not the one Mandalore covers) was less buggy (no floating characters for example) and also has a completely different and extremely good dynamic soundtrack in which every area has like 6 variations

That's fascinating! I didn't know that. Any idea why it's current state is so buggy? Mandalore points out that the game's store page features a dev-approved screen shot of the floating Lowry. so it gives off the idea that the creator knows about the bugs but has no intention of fixing them.

 

[bigstinkie]

Super Mario Bros 3 isn't simple.

what is your definition of simple in regard to game design?

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

i am curious, do you dislike all simple games? do games like mario brothers 3 feel like busy work to you as well?

Also I'd argue that OoT was one of the most complex game of the 5th console gen.


Hell, I'd even dare that fundamentally, FF7 and MGS kept their "2D-ness" in their game design:

Metal Gear Solid kept a fixed camera with many rooms having a top down point of view (that replicates Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2).

Final Fantasy VII had pre-rendered 3D background and the battle system still kept that "characters on the right enemies to the left" point of view and a turn based system that didn't use that many dynamic angles unless you use your character limits or a summon.


The PSX had struggles to make a fully 3D game that played good so that's why devs knew that they shouldn't go overboard with 3D and keep the angles as understandable for the player and the camera (thus why Tekken kept the side view like a 2D fighting game and RE had fixed camera angles instead of doing a TPS like in the later games).

Zelda OoT literally defined how you do behind the back 360° camera.

 

[dropsmegamega]

That's fascinating! I didn't know that. Any idea why it's current state is so buggy? Mandalore points out that the game's store page features a dev-approved screen shot of the floating Lowry. so it gives off the idea that the creator knows about the bugs but has no intention of fixing them.

keep in mind that the actual devs closed company in 2010, THQ Nordic is simply one of these typical companies that acquire a bunch of IPs to sell their games with the lowest effort possible

 

[MemeAlert]

what is your definition of simple in regard to game design?

As in easy to the point of redundancy.