The 10 worst launch titles

by Blake Snow { Nov 16th 2006 at 11:00AM }

The December issue of EGM profiles the 10 worst launch titles (or next-generation ... of crap) with quick-fix suggestions on how the games could have been better. Hindsight's 20-20. Regardless, here's the summarized list of games for any print-less readers out there:

Night Trap (Sega CD)
Street Fight: The Movie (PSX)
Cybermorph (Jaguar)
Altered Beast (Genesis)
Marky Mark: Make My Video (Sega CD)
Army Men Advance (GBA)
Mortal Kombat Gold (Dreamcast)
Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES)
Fighting Street (Turbo CD)
Perfect Dark Zero (360)

Some wise commentary from the article reminds us "hype destroys our perspective." So beware of launch poopskies.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Mike Cohen @ Nov 16th 2006 11:10AM

Altered Beast? really?

I haven't played Perfect Dark Zero, but that surprises me too.

FSK405K @ Nov 16th 2006 11:11AM

Who doesn't like Altered Beast?

goldbug @ Nov 16th 2006 11:12AM

PDZ shouldn't be on that list. It may have been overhyped last year, but it's still a decent game and doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as some of these other stinkers.

I remember Altered Beast was pretty good on the PC.

Nate @ Nov 16th 2006 11:12AM

How is Perfect Dark Zero up there?

The quality of those other 9 titles is no doubt, crap...but PD0 is a pretty good game....solid multiplayer, fun weapons, nice graphics....I just don't see how it's comparable to any of those.

Blue Stinger for the Dreamcast or Fantavision for the PS2 should be up there....god those games were terrible.

FSK405K @ Nov 16th 2006 11:12AM

How about Mario's Tennis? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario%27s_Tennis

Nate @ Nov 16th 2006 11:14AM

Damn, I didn't see Altered Beast...

That doesn't deserve to be there either. These guys are gaming journalists, and they couldn't come up with a better list?

Eddie @ Nov 16th 2006 11:15AM

I have this issue. The article was written by Seanbaby, so it's pretty much a crap article with no professionalism whatsoever. People have been complaining about the lack of REAL journalism in Video Games. Seanbaby doesn't help the case.

AJay17 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:16AM

PDZ and Altered Beast shouldn't be on that list at all

ByeLaw @ Nov 16th 2006 11:17AM

I quite liked Cybermorph on the Jaguar... no accounting for taste hey... Can think of worse launch titles.... Psion Chequered Flag for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum :)

Peter @ Nov 16th 2006 11:17AM

Night Trap? How can something that is supposedly so horrible bring back such happy memories? I love that game so much. Viva FMV!

crono141 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:18AM

I heard mario tennis was one of the better games for V-boy.

I preferred Teleroboxer myself, best boxing game since Punch Out.

Oh yeah, I went there.

Psyclerk @ Nov 16th 2006 11:20AM

#2 on the list should be Street Fighter: The Movie, not Street Fight. That game was pretty popular in my dorm when I got my PSX. Granted, it would have seen much less play time if we didn't need some variety after marathon Battle Arena Toshinden sessions.

32_Footsteps @ Nov 16th 2006 11:21AM

Wow, I thought nearly everyone liked Altered Beast. It was a hit in the arcades, and even now people are clamoring for a rerelease (probably on the Wii's Virtual Console).

On the flip side, how could they forget Ping Pals for the DS? Nobody liked that. And you could reasonably say Stack-Up or Gyromite belong on the list, too - while ROB might have helped sell the NES, the games for it are terrible.

Erec @ Nov 16th 2006 11:22AM

Heh. A year ago, EGM gave PDZ a 7.8. Now it's one of the 10 worst launch games ever.

PDZ was a good game. Not great, but good. Saying it's one of the 10 worst launch games ever is like some sort of reverse hype. De-hype, I suppose.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Nov 16th 2006 11:22AM

Altered Beast was friggin' schweet.

Jesse Isaacson @ Nov 16th 2006 11:22AM

Wise from you gwave!

Altered Beast rocked. A friend of mine and I finished it using our toes. It seemed very close to the arcade version, which was impressive for those days.

boo..

Jason W @ Nov 16th 2006 11:23AM

Where the hell is the fireworks sim from the PS2 launch? Damn these people are lame.

james f. @ Nov 16th 2006 11:24AM

Agreed on PDZ and Altered Beast not belonging anywhere near that list. Please substitute in any/all of the PS2 launch lineup, except SSX and DEFINITELY Kessen!

FSK405K @ Nov 16th 2006 11:24AM

You know what, how about the Worst Top Ten lists? What happened to real journalism? Any shmuck (we Joystiq commenters) can put together a top 10 list. How many people can write for www.escapistmagazine.com?

minus_273 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:26AM

huh? perfect dark zero ? while i have not played it, It has a 9.0(superb) on gamespot
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/perfectdarkzero/index.html?q=Perfect%20Dark%20Zero

sure it might not be the BEST launch title but it hardly seems like one the worst ever.

Mike @ Nov 16th 2006 11:27AM

Are you kidding me??? Altered Beast???? That game was awesome!

waxc3 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:28AM

pdz didnt live up to the high hopes but it wasnt horrible!
and altered beast was one of the best early games on the genesis. i didnt understand why they choose that. i remember when it was new that people were comparing it to the arcade version and complaining but for a home game it was great. good characters, multiple transformations. good sound (that was very memorable! so many people say "rise from your grave, and power up!"), great cheats, huge bosses, lots of repayability...

The _Boo @ Nov 16th 2006 11:28AM

"Wise from your gwave!"

Altered Beast was awesome, I didn't have Genesis but my best friend and I played the crap out of that game when he got it for Christmas.

Steven @ Nov 16th 2006 11:29AM

EGM is a bunch of idiots. Perfect Dark wasn't the best game. I bought it hoping that it would blow me away. I was surprised to find that it was good but not great. It was over-hyped but not one of the worst launch games. What a joke!

Eric Von Shpeel @ Nov 16th 2006 11:29AM

PDZ is an abysmal game and its even crazier how it got 90% reviews instead of 9%

Fergie @ Nov 16th 2006 11:31AM

universal studios and ping pals should be on there.

fenix @ Nov 16th 2006 11:32AM

Dudes, Altered Beast was genius. No doubt about it. The music was excellent.

Steve @ Nov 16th 2006 11:34AM

During the SNES era one of my college friends let me keep his bootleg Famicom system in my room and I, sadly enough, got hooked on Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I thought it was a really fun multiplayer title too.

It would have been released in 85 or 86 so, come on! Cut it some slack! It certainly wasn't that much worse than other simplistic NES titles of the time!

dantebk @ Nov 16th 2006 11:35AM

Altered Beast? ...the hell?

Rise from your grave!

That game is awesome!

mrfreeze @ Nov 16th 2006 11:35AM

Instead of Perfect Dark Zero,Alterbeast and Mortal Kombat Gold, it should be ALL of the Zelda games for the Phillips CD-i

modeps @ Nov 16th 2006 11:36AM

PDZ and Altered Beast were bad eh? Thats funny.

MosquitoControl @ Nov 16th 2006 11:37AM

PDZ was lame single player, lame deathmatch, but the best co-op console FPS at the time of release.

This is what made it worthwhile.

Frexy @ Nov 16th 2006 11:38AM

And suddenly, the adjective 'poopsky' became a noun... :p

stayontheroofs @ Nov 16th 2006 11:42AM

From what I remember Night Trap got good reviews when it came out. And although FMV seems like a bad memory now, it was massively innovative when it first came out.

casey chesnut @ Nov 16th 2006 11:42AM

PDZ shouldn't be there. if you were searching for a 360 title to round out the list, then you should have picked one of the titles that was identical to the XBox or PS2 version.

NATO_Duke @ Nov 16th 2006 11:43AM

I too thought altered beast didn't deserve that spot. I remember that many of us loved that game.

Also, perfect dark wasn't great- but it sure wasn't one of the worst games ever. I had a lot of games that were way more pathetic.

Ryan @ Nov 16th 2006 11:44AM

I used to like and trust EGM a whole lot, but not anymore. Their bias is very obvious at times, and they seem to be suckers for pretty graphics moreso than fun games. It's a shame, because their articles tend to be infused with classic humor, and valid points. It's only when they review games or talk about console wars does the magazine show its bias.

Balla360 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:49AM

Every single one of those games has *some* merit. PDZ, MK Gold, Altered Beast, and Cybermorph don't belong on any "worst of" lists. EGM has officially run out of ideas (and editors-in-chief, it seems).

Corey @ Nov 16th 2006 11:51AM

PDZ definitely shouldn't be on that list. It's not like Halo or anything, but it's still a good game.

Todd @ Nov 16th 2006 11:52AM

I bet to differ, Altered Beast kicked ass!

d1plomacy @ Nov 16th 2006 11:56AM

Seanbaby haters unite! Altered Beast definitely does not belong on the list. PDZ was not the Halo-killer it was hyped to be, but it also utter crap.

How about Combat for the Atari 2600?!

Jin @ Nov 16th 2006 11:56AM

Altered Beast? What are they basing this on? Sales? Hype versus actual income generated?

Pedro Van Faulk @ Nov 16th 2006 11:56AM

No fantasvision? Nothing from the Ps2 launch? Because for that first year, the ps2 had a grand total of zero good games.

fob2000 @ Nov 16th 2006 11:57AM

Fighting Street for Turbo CD? Are you KIDDING me? This was an arcade perfect translation of the original Capcom Fighting Street, which would eventually lead to the greatest 2D fighting series ever, Street Fighter II.

To my knowledge, this was the ONLY arcade translation of this game. Minus the big punch/kick buttons in the arcade, it has the classic Ken/Ryu/Birdie/Sagat matches. This list sucks.

ben @ Nov 16th 2006 11:59AM

Truth be told Altered Beast doesn't hold up well these days, but back in 1988/89 it was TEH BOMB. Thus, a great launch title. "Welcome to your doom!"

Night Trap was great cheesy fun!

PDZ I have to agree with, despite my love of the original. They have 5 years and that's the best they could do? Getting ported over 3 systems probably didn't help much.

Where's the Saturn "launch" titles?

Dracula Jones @ Nov 16th 2006 11:59AM

Seanbaby is the single greatest writer in the history of man. This article is what is commonly known as "satire". Saying EGM has no journalistic integrity based on this is like saying the same about CNN.com because they post content from The Onion.

sracer @ Nov 16th 2006 12:01PM

The fact that "Altered Beasts" and "Night Trap" are on that list is an indicator to me that the list is written by and written for hardcore gamers.

As a casual gamer, the visuals of Altered Beasts were stunning (for its time) and gameplay made it easier for non-gamers to get into it.

Night Trap (at least the 32XCD version) may have been light on button-mashing mayhem, but it was the type of engaging interractive video story that really appealed to all of the leisure gamers that I know (myself included).

I'd LOVE to see an XBox360-enhanced version of Night Trap.

Won't anyone think of us old-fogey lamer gamers?! :(

Thryon @ Nov 16th 2006 12:01PM

Altered Beast is the reason I purchased my Genesis way back when. I played that game more than Sonic.

PDZ is an OK game...not the best...but not the worst. If they actualy needed a 360 game, they could have picked ROBOTRON or JOUST (if GeoWars could be best launch title, then another XBLA could be worst)