Emru Townsend’s 10 Worst Video Games of All Time

Emru Townsend is a writer for PC World magazine. Below is a list of his 10 Worst Video Games of All Time. Townsend claimed to use some scientific formula to calculate the worst, but who knows since one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.

1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Atari, 1982) Platform: Atari. Apparently the game production was rushed; therefore the game play was notoriously bad. I’ve never played the game.
2. Super Columbine Massacre RPG (Danny Ledonne, 2005) Platform: Windows. At first I thought this was joke, but basing a game about a real world massacre of high school students lack taste and class. Thankfully, I’ve never played the game. The developer should be ashamed and apologetic to all the families and friends who lost loved ones during that horrific ordeal.
3. Custer’s Revenge (Mystique, 1982) Platform: Atari 2600. Apparently this was one of Atari 2600’s few “adult only” games. You played as a naked pirate searching through mazes for a naked Native American woman tied to a post. Fortunately, for players the game was on the Atari 2600, so the characters probably looked like peach colored blocks. Luckily, I didn’t play this game.
4. Daikatana (Eidos Interactive, 2000) Platforms: Windows, Nintendo 64, GameCube. This game was supposed to be next generation of Doom and Quake, but fail flat because of a two year delay in production. Additionally, the game’s characters were notoriously stereotypical. I never played this game.
5. Pac-Man (Atari, 1981) Platform: Atari 2600. This version of Pac-Man was the first arcade to home console port. Apparently, Pac-Man and the rest of his world didn’t translate well to home console. It looked and sounded incredibly different. I never played the original port, but I’ve experienced other ports that didn’t live up to the arcade expectations – unfortunate.
6. Smurf Rescue (Coleco, 1982) Platforms: ColecoVision, Atari 2600). I grew up watching the Smurfs, but according to Townsend this game is one of the worst because it lacked action. Apparently, you had to walk from Smurf Village to Gargamel’s castle, with little challenge and obstacle. I’ve never played this game.
7. Shaq Fu (Electronic Arts, 1994) Platforms: Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Amiga, Game Boy. Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominate basketball players in NBA history. His height and girth intimidate, and apparently someone in videogame world that it would translate well into material arts game. You got to play as Shaq as he fought in a martial arts tournament in an attempt to save a little boy. I actually played this game because one of my cousins owned it. I thought it was silly back then and similarly think its silly now. I honestly don’t remember anything about the game.
8. Make My Video (Digital Pictures, 1992) Platform: Sega CD. This game allowed you to make music videos for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Kris Kross, and C+C Music Factory. Unfortunately, you were limited by a set number of video clips and if you made a video, there wasn’t a way to save it. I never played the game.
9. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Ubisoft, 2004) Platform: PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows, Cell Phone, PSP. Apparently, this game evolved so much from its early form that many supporters of the franchise felt alienated. In an effort to increase sells, the game featured more violence, sex, and noise. Although I heard this was a fun game, I never had an opportunity to play it.
10. Elf Bowling (NStorm, 2005) Platform: Nintendo DS. The point of this game was Santa rolling a bowling ball at nine elves. It didn’t have any other features. I’ve played this game, it was fun for about thirty minutes, but probably not worth buying.

What videogame do you think should be added to this list?