We’ve done a top ten best fighting games list before and explained why those games, chosen, are the best and why they should still be played competitively. However, there is a flip side to those top ten best fighting games. Known as the worst fighting games to have ever been released, these games bring nothing new to the genre. In fact, some of these games were designed and released to be quick cash grabs for small developers hoping to make it into the industry. Though, that’s not how it played out for them. These ten fighting games are known as being hilariously bad, or as barely working products. Some of these games you may recognize, but most of them you probably have never heard of them, for good reason I assure you. Here are the top ten worst fighting games of all time.
10. Star Wars: Master of Teras Kasi
Publisher & Developer: Lucasarts
Released in 1997, Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi is a PlayStation fighting game that tries to be a ripoff of Tekken and Soul Calibur at once. Starting the round, you will begin with hand to hand combat, but press the shoulder button and out comes the weapon gameplay. The “combos” don’t link together, special moves a flat and unimpressive, and worst of all, character movement is stiff and extremely heavy. Nothing like Tekken‘s eight directional movements, Masters makes moving in-game a chore. Trying to move side to side and having a jump come out makes dodging impossible. For 3D fighting games, it’s better to stick with Tekken.
9. Shaq Fu
Publisher: EA/ Developer: Delphine Software International
So Shaq’s been a professional Basketball player, a rapper, an actor, and in 1994 he was a master in martial artist in his video game Shaq Fu. Known for its insane difficulty, this game had fans raging at their consoles and television for not being able to make it past the first CPU in the arcade ladder. Beyond difficulty, the game’s standard controls made it impossible to play. The combos wouldn’t connect with one another and the jumping couldn’t make up its mind. One minute you jump clear across the screen and the next minute you couldn’t even jump over your opponent to perform a proper cross-up. This game is highly beloved, for the simple fact of featuring Shaq; however, the game’s performance will leave a sour taste in your mouth.
8. Ballz
Publisher: Accolade/ Developer: PF Magic
Ballz is a 3D action fighting game, except the controls, are terrible. Poor hit detection leaves the game with no true combo path, terrible camera movement that leaves you nauseous, and a difficulty spike that makes you turn off the game.
7. Clay fighter 63 1/3
Publisher & Developer: Interplay Entertainment
A goofy twist on the fighting game genre, yes. A properly executed one, no. The problem with Clay Fighter is that, while stylized in unique clay graphics based on 2D sprites, the animations for all of the fighters are extremely choppy. Some are flat out missing move animations. One minute your standing there, waiting for a move to come out, and the next minute, you’re getting hit with a 15 hit combo that had no animation. This game truly leaves combos out completely.
6. Street Fighter The Movie: The Game
Publisher & Developer: Capcom
Having the same reputation as the movie, Street Fighter The Movie: The Game is Capcom’s most embarrassing installment into the Street Fighter series. Having digitized actors play out the roles of the fighters, same actors as the movie featured, making it the same style of a fighter as Mortal Kombat. This game features a broken combo and super system, sometimes allowing players to have an unlimited super meter and perform infinite combos while an opponent is in the corner. Plus, when developing this game, Capcom didn’t properly develop the home console version. Making it even worse than the arcade release.
5. Tattoo Assassins
Publisher & Developer Data East
One of many Mortal Kombat clones that came out in the ’90s, Tattoo Assassins can leave you speechless with how much of a rip off it is. Having the same style of graphics and gameplay as Mk, Tattoo Assassins goes as far as to copy the “Fatality”. Nothing original in this game except for the stiff movement options and poorly animated move-set for each character.
4. Rise of the Robots
Publisher: Time Warner/ Developer: Mirage Technologies
While this game has poor mechanics, that’s not what made it so horrible. What did make this game horrible was the atrocious advertising that Time Warner provided for this game. They advertised that this game featured full 3D movement capability and that the A.I. within the game would learn the players moves during the match. On both accounts did this publisher lie to their consumer audience. Instead of getting what was advertised, consumers got an unfinished title at full price.
3. Dragonball Z Kinect
Publisher: Bandai Namco/ Developer: Spike
Can this even be considered a fighting game? Well, for this list it’s close enough. Being a Kinect title, this game had all of the problems that came with being a Kinect game. Poor motion capturing, input reading, terrible A.I, and horrid camera angles. This game required you to do poses to use some of the super moves, but would never pick up on the player’s movements. So the fighting system went from being an in-depth experience like it was supposed to be, to just throwing punches in mid-air, while looking like an idiot.
2. Fighters Within
Publisher: Ubisoft/ Developer: Daoka
Here’s another Kinect fighting game. It features all of the same problems as the above-mentioned game, Dragonball Z Kinect, but it’s even worse. This game proves that the Kinect cannot capture fast and complicated movements. Fighters Within want players to perform complicated movements to succeed in performing the game’s combos; however, due to the Kinects inability to detect these movements, the gameplay experience will fall short for all players.
1. Cat Fight
Publisher: Atlantean Interactive Games/ Developer: Phantom Card
The number one worst fighting game of all time goes to Cat Fight. We’re just going to say it, this game is simply unfinished. The character names don’t appear on the screen when the fight starts. The frame rate is never locked into one specific frame rate so there is tons of delay and input lag; plus, the fact that this game was made with no “cap” as to how fast it can run, on modern PCs, there’s no telling how janky or unresponsive this game could be. A problem that goes with the frame rate issue is the character hitboxes, or “hurtboxes”, essentially these are the points on the character model where hit detection is noticed and the damage is received. One player can be behind the other player during the fight and all of the hits can still be detected. It should also be mentioned that the game’s AI is completely busted, meaning that it won’t do anything if you are manipulating it correctly. Which that is not difficult to do. Cat Fight is simply a terrible game and should not be attempted to be played.
These games are either unfinished or to janky to play correctly. For some of them, attempting to play them can feel like a chore; though, in their own way, these terrible games can bring some laughs to a group of friends. So either stay away from these games or just play them with a group of friends for some laughs, the choice is yours.