It is a pretty common thought that in the whole history of video games up until this point in time, there have to be some titles that are the worst of all time. Sometimes these games can become famous on the internet because of their notorious aspects, which can have comedic effects.
But all of these games are eventually forgotten over time until the topic is brought up in jokes. So we have unironically decided to immortalize some of the worst games of all time through the list below.
Video Games That Have The Lowest Ratings
Superman: The New Superman Adventures
IMDB(1.3) Metacritic (NIL)
Unlike other popular heroes such as Batman and Spider-Man, no one has been able to crack a Superman game. This does not mean that attempts have not been made. It’s just that no successful game design has been found surrounding the character.
But people sure have found success in the opposite spectrum, coming up with some of the worst Superman games ever. The most notorious of them all has to be 1999’s Superman: The New Superman Adventures, which is based on the television cartoon series.
It is considered one of the worst games of all time and is also lovingly referred to as Superman 64 by the gaming community.
Bubsy 3D
IMDB (2.0) Metacritic (2.6)
The 90s were the era when the 3D platformer genre took off. We got the incredible Super Mario 64 on Nintendo 64, which changed the landscape of gaming with analog sticks. Fast forward to 2025, and we are still seeing video games get inspired by that kind of game design.
But success aside, it was not always sunshine and rainbows. In the same decade, gamers also got one of the worst platforming games ever made. In fact, it was in the same year as Super Mario 64. We are, of course, referring to the diabolical transition of Bubsy to 3D.
Bubsy 3D is considered one of the worst video games ever, with abysmally low Metacritic and IMDB scores. The negative reception of this game actually made the character and IP famous, and now we have a modern rendition of the game titled Bubsy 4D.
Ride to Hell: Retribution
IMDB (1.6) Metacritic (19)
We have talked about Ride to Hell: Retribution in a separate discussion before. It was originally conceived as an open-world title that boasted heavy metal themes with gangs and bikes. Pretty sweet premise for an action game from the 2000s.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the actual product that gamers got when it was released. Ride to Hell: Retribution is one of the worst video games ever, and the problems with this game can’t be attributed only to the problematic development.
The final product failed to deliver on the open world promise, and instead, what players got was a buggy mess. Voice acting, storyline, graphics, cutscenes, gameplay, it does not matter what we bring up, Ride to Hell: Retribution checks out all the boxes for worst categories.
Shaq Fu
IMDB (3.0) Metacritic (NIL)
When Street Fighter II dropped in the arcades, it changed the landscape of video games. For the first time, it was not about settling rivalries with a high score anymore. Players got to face off against each other and have one-on-one fights.
Thus was born the popular fighting game genre, and to capitalise on it, various developers and companies tried their hand at making their own Street Fighter II. Most of them got varying degrees of success, and some were utter flops, but one of them turned out to be the worst ever.
Shaq Fu is one of the worst fighting games ever made, if not the worst game ever. It is the prime example of how just having a celebrity in your game doesn’t mean it will be a hit. The developers behind Shaq Fu had no idea how to make a fighting game, and it shows once you try playing it.
The Lord of the Rings – Gollum
IMDB (2.1) Metacritic (33)
The Lord of the Rings IP is pretty big and has seen varying degrees of success in the gaming sphere, with the most popular one being the Shadow of Mordor series. But the latest game adaptation of the IP went abysmally wrong.
The Lord of the Rings – Gollum was pretty much an indie production by Daedalic Entertainment. It followed the adventures of the titular character Gollum, who is a major character from the source material. The title incorporated stealth mechanics as a core element of the gameplay.
On paper, the idea of a Gollum stealth game sounds exciting, but the product that everyone received on release was a hot mess. The game was riddled with poor game design, bugs, and graphical glitches, which ultimately led it to become one of the worst games ever made.
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
IMDB (4.2) Metacritic (NIL)
Would it surprise you if we told you that Nintendo once outsourced its video game IPs to a different hardware company to make completely original games?
CD-i, or Compact Disc interactive, was a product that was the result of a team-up between Philips and Sony, long before the original PlayStation came into existence. It was originally designed for edutainment games, but it also made an attempt to dip its toes into the major video game market.
Thus was born Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon in Partnership with Nintendo. This game is popular for being one of the worst Zelda games of all time. Having choppy frame rates with abysmal gameplay design, it checks out all the boxes for how not to make a video game.
In recent years, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon has become quite popular over the internet for its iconic and hilarious cutscenes, which are used as memes everywhere.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong
IMDB (1.8) Metacritic (23)
In 2017, Legendary Pictures rebooted the King Kong franchise with a fresh take on the iconic ape character, finally merging things with the Godzilla franchise. Skull Island: Rise of Kong is a byproduct of the Ip, based on the original King Kong novels
It was created in the spirit of classic movie tie-in games. These types of games were never headturners, but they still had the heart of low budget comfort game. Except, Skull Island: Rise of Kong, it is one of the worst video games of all time.
We did not think any modern game would surpass The Lord of the Rings – Gollum in terms of notoriety, but this game actually did it. Skull Island: Rise of Kong is marred with bugs and poor visuals, with its only remaining legacy being a hilariously bad cutscene that uses a JPEG.
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
IMDB (1.5) Metacritic (6)
This one is going to be a relatively unknown title on the list unless you are someone who was playing a ton of truck racing games from the early 2000s. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is a game that was developed by Stellar Stone.
Players get to choose their own semi-trailer trucks to race against others through various checkpoints on American truck routes. Pretty fun idea for an arcade racer, not so fun when you get your hands on the game.
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is one of the worst games ever made. It has the lowest scores of any racing game to date, even with both the IMDB and Metacritic scores combined. Ironically, the game received a re-release with the help of Margarite Entertainment in 2025 on Steam.
Babylon’s Fall
IMDB (3.8) Metacritic (41)
When two iconic video game developers, such as Square Enix and Platinum Games, come together to work on a project, you would think that it is going to be amazing. But that was not the case with Babylon’s Fall, which crashed and burned down.
The game was designed to be an RPG hack-and-slash live service title, set in a unique fantasy world. It had all the makings of a really remarkable MMO title with unique gameplay systems on paper, but after execution, everything fell apart.
Babylon’s Fall turned out to be one of the worst video games released in 2022. The poor reception eventually led to the game shutting down its service in February of 2023.
MindsEye
IMDB (4.0) Metacritic (37)
MindsEye is the most recently released worst game of all time, so you probably have heard about it. Post the game’s release, social media erupted with multiple clips showcasing the endless amount of bugs this game harbored.
To make matters worse, the head of the development studio came out to blame the poor product and reception on the ‘internal and external saboteurs.
This title had the makings of a great open-world action game, as the direction was being headed by Leslie Benzies, former Grand Theft Auto game series producer. It even starred Alex Hernandez, who is known for his role as the protagonist in Mafia III.
But it was all for naught because the final product that gamers got fell way too short of what could have been a title that goes toe to toe with Rockstar Games’ GTA series.
