Games that are crap... but you like anyway

[Matt_B]

Sorcery always had the nucleus of a great game in there. It just took until the game got ported to other computers, most notably the Amstrad CPC, before it was fully realized.

There's an improved version called Sorcery+ on the Now Games 3 compilation, which makes things a whole lot slicker though.

[cmal]

When I was about 10 or 11 a group of us would go to my mates house for lunch and play Rambo and Styx,

Styx is still a game I go back to quite a lot. It's simple with smooth pixel movement. But it also has a certain crapness about it. I wonder how many people bought this game because of the author.

There's one crap game that I've probably played more of than almost any other game, and I still go back to it once in a while. It's Menace by Fashionsoft. Probably because it's the first game I bought.

The game goes on forever. After you complete a stage you earn an extra life, and the next stage is the same thing over again. But it just gets faster and faster until it's going at an unplayable speed. Each time you get an extra life, it draws another candy stick on the bottom of the screen.

The real pathetic reason I played Menace so much was to see if I could collect enough lives so that the candy sticks start to print over the objects at the bottom center of the screen. I wanted to see what kind of buggy thing would happen to the game. Turns out the graphics just print on top of each other and it gets quite messy. I'll never get all that time back

[spider]

I suppose I can add Slippery Sid to my list, although a simple 'snake' game I still find myself playing it more than (better?) variants of the same.

[luny]

I have a soft spot for Metabolis



not sure why.

[AndyC]

I think I'm going to have to say Double Dragon. I mean it's not necessarily the greatest game ever and the graphics are a bit cartoony in places but I honestly have never quite understood why it gets so much criticism. It's a fun game, especially with two players and my only gripe was the multiload aspect, but that was inevitable on 48K.

[AndyC]

I have a soft spot for Metabolis



not sure why.

All I remember of it was that it had the world's most finicky loader. I had it on a Crash Tape and think I got it to load once and might have enjoyed it more if I could ever get it to load again.

[WIWC]

Metropolis is good.

I had a lot of fun with Realm of Impossibility in two players mode. But I enjoyed it alone too.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... ossibility

[blucey]

Also I really enjoyed Bump Set Spike, though admittedly although Crash & YS panned it, Sinclair User though it was decent. I agree..!

Yeah I played that one quite a bit and liked it too.

Although initially I picked it up off the shelf thinking it might be a platformer because of the name!

[Juan F. Ramirez]

That's the Spirit is a favourite which I think a lot of people criticised at the time. It's a little of a mess with some odd puzzles, but I like the idea of wandering around an empty city looking for solutions.

Absolutely agree. I played it a lot back in the day.

[RWAC]

Rick Dangerous 1 & 2.

Rick 2 was one of the few games I managed to complete back in the day which may explain why I have fond memories of it. Although I remember it reviewing quite well at the time, it seems to get a lot of hate now.

Impossamole. It's a bit slow but I enjoyed it. Another one I managed to complete.

[R-Tape]

Rick Dangerous 1 & 2.

Maybe not as good as the Miggy versions, but not crap at all!

Impossamole.

I'll give you that one.

[Morkin]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Zythum or Kosmic Kanga yet.

[bluespikey]

A few of the early Firebird games, but especially Run Baby Run. It sounds horrible with very basic graphics and UDG movement. But its still really fun.

[Vampyre]

It received poor reviews at the time but I think the general consensus is that it's a decent early resource management game now. Colony

I've never played it since that day, but one bored Sunday I once completed (or got close to completing - it was a long time ago) Back To The Future

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I've never played it since that day, but one bored Sunday I once completed Back To The Future

Wow! I presume you were too bored that day!!!

[AndyC]

Back to the Future always reminds me of the Ghostbusters game. You can kind of see what the developer was trying to do and it sort of reflects aspects of the movie, but as a game both are just flawed. I wonder what either of them would have been like if they'd been later titles when Ocean had a better grip on how to do film licences, or maybe they just wouldn't exist at all as the film's don't quite lends themselves in the way more action oriented stuff does.

[worcestersource]

It received poor reviews at the time but I think the general consensus is that it's a decent early resource management game now. Colony

Surprised Colony didn’t review well. I spent hours playing it.

I quite liked Dr Jeckyl and Mr Wide (or whatever it was called). And Future Games. I think I liked a lot of Mastertronic’s output.

Steve

[patters]

Rick Dangerous 1 & 2.

Rick 2 was one of the few games I managed to complete back in the day which may explain why I have fond memories of it. Although I remember it reviewing quite well at the time, it seems to get a lot of hate now.

Ha, that has always surprised me also. These days Rick Dangerous, and Space Quest, are poster boys for bad design. But they were well liked at the time. And Rick Dangerous is basically a memory game in platformer's clothing.

[Journeyman]

It received poor reviews at the time but I think the general consensus is that it's a decent early resource management game now. Colony

I was quite fond of Colony as well, and revisited it recently - I don't think it's aged well, but there’s quite a lot to it and it's surprisingly difficult.

[Ast A. Moore]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Zythum . . . yet.

How dare you, sir, suggest that Zythum (my Mirrorsoft) is anything but perfection!

Joking aside, I always liked it. Spent an enormous amount of time back in the day playing it. I didn’t think of it as a particularly good or bad game; just couldn’t stop playing it.

[PQR]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Zythum or Kosmic Kanga yet.

Kosmik Kanga is a good one. To me it is cherished because of the ridiculous yet also very cute protoganist.

[Vampyre]

Kosmik Kanga is a good one. To me it is cherished because of the ridiculous yet also very cute protoganist.

I never realised Kosmic Kanga wasn't particularly well liked either. I distinctly recall myself and friends playing quite a bit of it in 1984.

[clebin]

I never realised Kosmic Kanga wasn't particularly well liked either. I distinctly recall myself and friends playing quite a bit of it in 1984.

Don't listen to the heathens!

IMHO, it probably belongs in a different "Marmite" Games thread, with divisive stuff like Underwurlde. But it's definitely not crap!

I think it must come down to the controls. Personally I find them very natural and fluid but others don't seem to get on with them at all.

[Lee Bee]

A few of the early Firebird games, but especially Run Baby Run. It sounds horrible with very basic graphics and UDG movement. But its still really fun.

Yes! Run Baby Run is one of the worst games I've ever played, and one of my all-time favourites.

[Bolton80]

BILLY BONG
An almost unplayable mess due to unresponsive controls, blocky character movements, and a boomerang that seems to decide for itself whether it wants to hit the monster you have thrown it at.

Very little going for it, to be honest, apart from being fairly colourful and having a vaguely arcadey feel to it. I had it as part of the Spectrum Action Pack from Paxman, and somehow spent a lot of time playing, and return to it occasionally now. I must be mental!