Unique and memorable arcade games have been created throughout the years that have captured the hearts of many fans across several generations. However, to appreciate the greatest full sized arcade games that have been made, we also have to look at some of the worst ever made. During the 80s-90s, you’d best believe there were some severe stinkers in the past. Some were so bad that they could nearly fill a dump with the sheer amount of unsold copies they had. 

Hangman 1984

If you ever wanted to try out a bland and uneventful arcade game that you could regularly enjoy with other friends, then Hangman is that title. This game was so dull because the gameplay consisted of players uncovering the secret word by choosing letters from an alphabet. If they guessed wrong, a fully drawn stick figure hanging from a set of gallows would be created, not leaving much for you to get excited about. 

Name That Tune 1986

Based on a fairly popular television show that ran during the 1950s, contestants could guess the song being played, and the first one will win prize money. The arcade version would only take who could get the highest score. On paper, an arcade game like this being released during the 1980s wouldn’t be too bad of an idea. So you might be asking yourself, “where did it go wrong?”. The problem was that the technology didn’t live up to expectations. The quality of the songs and tunes being played through the arcade came out in a horrendous level of quality. 

Survival Arts 1993

When you think about the arcade games created throughout the years, many titles can immediately pop into our minds, such as Street Fighter, Tekken, and, most importantly, Mortal Kombat. In this case, these games are most important because it’s clear from the graphics, style, and digitized actors. Much of these games were based on Mortal Kombat, and sadly the emulation of such a beloved game series was only on the surface level. The bugs, glitches, and poor A.I. ruined whatever credibility this game could have built, leaving it nothing more than a broken and poorly attempted method of copying Mortal Kombat. 

Chiller (1986)

Once again, we must bring up Mortal Kombat again for comparison, but only because it helps understand the flaws of this current game. As we know, Mortal Kombat isn’t just great because of its incredible characters and fighting mechanics. It’s also the clever use of blood and gory mechanics that makes it both memorable, creative, and fun. However, some games often go far with incorporating blood and gore to the point where it’s gone tasteless. Chiller is one of those games where it features blood, gore, and violence on such an unprecedented scale for its time that it was anything but looked upon fondly for its style. This situation is the case since most of its gameplay featured shooting people bound, including torture devices of unprecedented scale, which pose too much violence without any meaningful purpose.

E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)

Out of the many full sized arcade games ever created, this has been one of the most infamous concepts ever conceived. Based on the popular movie directed by Steven Spielberg, the game’s concept, design and execution were all just bland and not fun to dangerously unsafe levels. This game was so unpopular and unsuccessful that many people believe that it significantly contributed to the gaming crash of 1983 due to the sheer amount of unsold copies that wound up getting sent to landfills. It was a symptom of the mere loss of money for those in the American game development industry and would change its landscape for years to come. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there have been many duds throughout the arcade games before the year 2000. Some were horrible; they changed gaming in ways you may never have initially foreseen. It’s good to reflect on these titles because it helps you appreciate the fantastic games that were developed today. 

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