20 Years On: Your 5 Worst Atari Jaguar Games...

[NeoGeoNinja]

So, many of us old-timers/long-timers have had a good couple of decades to play (hopefully) the majority of what the Jaguar has had to offer us.

 

This past 3 or 4 years has seen me pick up games that I never had the chance to own back in the day, either through B&C, eBay or similar.

 

I have to say, there have been plenty of surprises along the way when it came to new content, games I never played back in the day; both pleasant and unpleasant (to be frank).

 

But, regardless of when you acquired or happened to play whichever Jaguar games, I'm interested in knowing what PPL consider to be their 5 worst, commercially released games for the system... today, in 2014.

 

I expect opinions on some games will have softened and, by contrast, hardened towards others.

 

Feel free to state why each game fits into this category for you. You don't have to arrange these in any particular order should you choose not too, however, if you'd prefer to organise them, feel free

 

-

 

**I will update my opening post with my 5 worst shortly. Just have things to do as of now**

[JaguarGod]

This is a hard one as the Jag has no bad games....... Right? Seriously though, this is one I would have to think about. Be assured Double Dragon IV will show up on my list somewhere though.

[+save2600]

Talking about all commercially released games? My least favorite would include:

 

Blackout

Madbodies

Frog Feast

Fight For Life

White Men Can't Jump

 

If you're talking about original releases from the 90's, list would go like this:

 

Attack of the Mutant Penguins

Bruce Lee

Double Dragon

Fight For Life

White Men Can't Jump

[NeoGeoNinja]

O...kay. Seems like you guys implement some sort of time restriction, whereby previous posts cannot be edited(!)? Thus, I'm unable to update my opening post, so will list my 5 worst here.

 

AND...

 

Just to clarify: this isn't a trolling thread or intended to be a flamebait thread or anything similar. It's not intended to cause any offense either (to those of a sensitive disposition re: Atari, Jaguar or videogames in general). I'm just interested in the opinions of this community, specifically

 

As always, I'm relying on personal subjectivity in the Atari community over the usual suspects (i.e. Kasumi Ninja... which I happen to like!).

 

-

 

For me, it's:

 

1. Fight For Life

2. Double Dragon V

3. Syndicate

4. Theme Park

5. Bubsy

 

NOW THEN...

 

Please bear in mind (before there's any outcries regarding mental stability or similar) THESE choices are deducted from both the Jaguar games I HAVE PLAYED and OWN/OWNED.

 

With that logic, I have no doubt that there are probably worse candidates, however, I have either chosen to deliberately avoid certain titles (i.e. Dino Dudes, Troy Aikman) simply because they don't interest me, or appeal to me AND I'm not a 'completionist' collector (I only buy/own what I like!). Therefore, I only have what I own or have played to go from.

 

I'd argue that, tbh, Syndicate and Theme Park aren't really bad games, per se. They were certainly critically acclaimed back in the day and saw releases across (pretty much) all formats capable of running them at the time, 16 thru 32 bit. However, they fit into the WORST category for me, simply because I find them boring and I extract no pleasure, whatsoever, from engaging with them. I'd pretty much rather play any other Jag game (even the top two, which I consider worse!).

 

Bubsy, again, isn't terrible. I'd imagine, for someone who has played every game on the system, Bubsy is simply average, but compared to the copies of Pitfall, Flashback, Rayman & Zool I own already, Bubsy really is at the bottom of the Jag pile for me (best of the worst).

 

Double Dragon V is just terrible. Simple. I've never played the SNES or MD counterparts, but I have been told that the Jag version is a (would you believe?!) shitty port of the 16-bit counterparts!!! It's not even on par; missing characters, voice samples and broken gameplay. However, I'd STILL choose to play this over...

 

Fight for Life. Easily the worst Jaguar game I own. I may well be reasonable to look at, visually. It may be exclusive and not a port, however, this is one of the games many downsides imo; the fact that it IS exclusive to the Jaguar. Because... it's a stain on the Jaguar tbh. It's games like this that give the uneducated the ammunition they seemingly want. As a NeoGeo fanatic and a fan of (almost) all things fighting game related - 2D or 3D, I have to say, as a Jag fan, I was left bitterly cold and disappointed by this one. Not only the worst title in my 'tight' collection, but the worst 3D fighting game I have ever played. And believe me, I've played MANY... many of which had that title before FFL (i.e. Criticom etc).

 

ANYWAY...

 

Like I said, I'm sure there are worse, but chances are I have deliberately avoided them (Dino Dudes, Zoop, Flip Out) or am not planning to get them for some reason (i.e. I don't like sports titles, in general, or puzzle titles, or strategy games etc). Just to give you some context

[sh3-rg]

Only ever owned a small subset of the Jaguar library, can't really think of anything I owned that I'd list as being the worst. Probably the only one I really didn't like on any level was Brutal Sports Football... but that was my own fault, I didn't and still don't enjoy sports games or even "good" games in a similar genre such as Speedball II, but I was very stuck for new games to buy at the time, there simply wasn't anything else to pick from. There were other games that I didn't really enjoy but appreciated for their looks or whatever (such as Iron Soldier), but nothing I'd call bad. Val d'Isere and Kasumi Ninja are sometimes thought of as bad, but we enjoyed them.

 

So here's my top five worst Jaguar games:

 

1. Brutal Sports Football

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.

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[+LS650]

Double Dragon.

Club Drive.

Dino Dudes.

Busby.

Attack of the Mutant Penguins (I know I will get disagreement on that, but I thought it sucked balls.)

Edited March 5, 2014 by ls650

[+save2600]

On my list too! AOTMP is way too repetitive and tedious to be much of a game IMO.

[Goochman]

Super Cross 3D

Super Cross 3D

Super Cross 3D

Double Dragon

Checkered Flag

[108 Stars]

1.Fight for Life

2.Supercross 3D

3.Club Drive

4.Checkered Flag

5.Highlander

 

Now these only take into account official releases, and I haven't nearly played all Jag games. But especially FFL is imo a hot candidate for the worst video game I ever played. Still want a cart of it badly.

[Marcus Losbjer]

1. Double Dragon V

2. Club Drive

3. Supercross 3D

4. Trevor McFur...

5. Checkered Flag

[Bill Loguidice]

Top of my head, "Supercross 3D" and "Highlander The Last of the Mcleods" spring to mind immediately. I was also incredibly disappointed with "Blue Lightning." Even "Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding" left me flat. I'd have to put more time into some of the other games to make sure what my fifth title is, but it's a close race between the obvious ones, and certainly they could bump both "Blue Lightning" and "Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding."

[Austin]

1. Double Dragon V

2. White Men Can't Jump

3. Checkered Flag

4. Fight For Life

5. Supercross 3D

 

Dishonorable Mentions:

 

Hoverstrike

Kasumi Ninja

Ruiner Pinball

Club Drive (kind of only half bad, thanks to the two player modes)

Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tails (**waits for Doc to show up**)

[NeoGeoNinja]

Dishonorable Mentions:

 

Hoverstrike

Kasumi Ninja

Ruiner Pinball

Club Drive (kind of only half bad, thanks to the two player modes)

Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tails (**waits for Doc to show up**)

 

Ruiner Pinball AND HoverStrike.

 

Wow...

[+save2600]

Between the horrible frame rate and choppy gameplay, Hoverstrike is nearly unplayable IMO and Ruiner is a huge letdown. Love pinball and want to like the game, but the overly colorful cartoonish play fields and fantasy gameplay aren't things I look for in a pinball game. Could forgive those two things if the game only played better.

[mitchd61]

Bubsy

Double Dragon V

Dino Dudes

Trevor McFur

Club Drive

Lots of people seem to dislike Fight For Life and Supercross 3D. I know I am definitely in the minority here when I say that they are a couple of my favorites.

[racerx]

I could easily make a Top Ten...

 

1. Double Dragon V
2. Club Drive
3. Supercross 3D
4. Trevor McFur...
5. Blue Lightning

[+Sauron]

Oh, come on guys. Hover Strike isn't nearly that bad. I managed to beat the cart version, and had fun doing so, which automatically rates it above much of the Jag library. Also can't agree with those who listed Brutal Sports Football and Bubsy. Not that any of them are great games by any stretch of the imagination, but there's fun to be had. However, the following list offers no such thing as "fun":

 

1. Double Dragon V

2. Checkered Flag (original, non-patched)

3. Blue Lightning

4. White Men Can't Jump

5. Fight For Life

[Austin]

Between the horrible frame rate and choppy gameplay, Hoverstrike is nearly unplayable IMO and Ruiner is a huge letdown. Love pinball and want to like the game, but the overly colorful cartoonish play fields and fantasy gameplay aren't things I look for in a pinball game. Could forgive those two things if the game only played better.

 

Yeah, the framerate is what kills Hoverstrike. Pretty much unplayable if you ask me. Fortunately there's the CD version, which is nicer to play.

 

Ruiner, I don't mind the style of the game (the "fantasy" take on pinball). It's the physics that kill it for me. Absolutely no way to control the flow of the game, the flipper physics are so poorly implemented.

 

@Sauron - I really dig Brutal Sports Football. It's not exactly impressive, but it's fun (especially when you get the sword and go around decapitating the entire opposing team).

[NeoGeoNinja]

 

Bubsy

Double Dragon V

Dino Dudes

Trevor McFur

Club Drive

Lots of people seem to dislike Fight For Life and Supercross 3D. I know I am definitely in the minority here when I say that they are a couple of my favorites.

 

 

Yeah. I think FFL is horrific. However, I don't mind Supercross 3D at all. Once you get to grips with the controls/framerate, it becomes playable (unlike CFlag) and... I get reasonable enjoyment from it.

 

Similarly, everyone rags on Trevor Mc Fur being in their 5 worst ever Jag games. Even though, it's actually a reasonable shoot em up. It's not R-Type or Gradius (obviously), but it's alright. Again, I always enjoy it when I play it and always aim to 1cc it (which, I usually do).

 

I can understand why Club Drive is in PPL's 5 worst, as it really doesn't offer much at all in the way of an 1P experience, racing experience, or otherwise. However, it was one of the earliest Jag games I got back in the 90's and I was at an age where you and a friend would sit down and hammer a game, no matter what it was! Club Drive in 2P - whether it be Race, Powerball or Tag... was one of those games. We had a lot of fun with it

[NeoGeoNinja]

Oh, come on guys. Hover Strike isn't nearly that bad. I managed to beat the cart version, and had fun doing so, which automatically rates it above much of the Jag library. Also can't agree with those who listed Brutal Sports Football and Bubsy. Not that any of them are great games by any stretch of the imagination, but there's fun to be had. However, the following list offers no such thing as "fun":

 

1. Double Dragon V

2. Checkered Flag (original, non-patched)

3. Blue Lightning

4. White Men Can't Jump

5. Fight For Life

 

Looks like a solid 5 right there. However, I've never had the pleasure of playing BLighting or WMCJ, although I've heard very little in terms of compliments toward the latter (I think Jagchris likes it?).

 

Checkered Flag... sigh. It's just, although it's horribly flawed, I STILL derive more enjoyment from it than I do playing any listed in 5 worst (i.e. Bubsy). I enjoyed Bubsy 1 when I had it on the SNES, but couldn't get along with the Jag one at all. Just thinking about the look of the level design/layout alone, just makes me ill! Never played BSFootball because 'Football' and 'Sports'. Just not my thing, brutal or not...

[Rick Dangerous]

Luckily, thanks to threads like these, I have been able to avoid many, many awful games. I also really like the video game critic's jaguar reviews:

 

http://videogamecritic.com/jaguar.htm

 

unfortunately my jaguar came with a few games which I found to be truly offensive

 

1. Bruce Lame

2. Dino Dorks

3. Trevor McSuck

 

If my local play n' trade wont give me some store credit for these...I am going to bury them next to the ET stockpile in the Arizona desert.

[+CyranoJ]

When I got my Jaguar devkit way back when, deep in the mists of time it came with:

 

1xDevelopment Jag

1xSNASM2 development system

1xJagpad

1xTempest 2000

 

So, my top 5 worst games would be:

 

1. Tempest 2000

2. Tempest 2000

3. Tempest 2000

4. Tempest 2000

5. Tempest 2000

 

Also, that list is shockingly similar to my (these days) top 5

[+Sauron]

Ahh yes, I almost forgot about Bruce Lee. That game deserves to be in the Top 5 worst games. Virtually unplayable.

[Paul Westphal]

It would seem people like Zoop.

[Austin]

It would seem people like Zoop.

 

I've always liked Zoop, regardless of platform. Funny enough, the Jag version is the best to have. It actually saves the high scores. Kind of a big deal on a game that revolves around arcade-style gameplay where the aim is to survive and get a high score.