Top 10 Worst DC Games
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VOICE OVER: Adrian Sousa
WRITTEN BY: Mark Sammut
Not even Superman could save these dreadful games! For this list, we'll be taking a look at some of the worst DC licensed games out there like Catwoman, Justice League Task Force, Batman Forever, Aquaman: Battle For Atlantis and of course the infamous Superman 64. Did you actually enjoy any of these games? Let us know in the comments!
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Top 10 Worst DC Games
When it comes to dreadful DC games, fans are spoiled for choice. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Worst DC Games.
For this list, we’re looking at the most laughably bad licensed games staring the Caped Crusader, the Man of Steel, or anyone else from DC's legendary lineup.
Prior to tasking players with saving the Kingdom of Khanduras or the continents of Azeroth, Blizzard Entertainment mixed the Man of Steel with "Streets of Rage." Based on the famous "The Death of Superman" comic book, Blizzard's beat 'em up sticks pretty closely to the events of the story and features five playable characters, including Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator. While the graphics were decent for the time, "The Death and Return of Superman" loses points due to an uninspiring soundtrack and a lack of variety in the enemy types and gameplay. Considering the developer behind the project, this should have been a lot better.
Nowadays, "Injustice" is the definitive superhero fighting game series, but it was hardly DC's first attempt at the genre. Published on the Super NES and Genesis, "Justice League Task Force" boasts six playable heroes and three villains in Cheetah, Despero, and Darkseid. Garnering middling reviews at the time, critics lambasted "Justice League Task Force" for simply not being fun to play. Besides the poor animation and restrictive attack patterns, the janky controls earned the brunt of the criticism, as there is nothing more annoying than playing an unresponsive fighting game.
Originating in the early 1970s, Swamp Thing is among DC's more fascinating antiheroes, but the anthropomorphic vegetation has had a tough time landing a hit outside of the comic book page. A side-scroller released on the NES and Game Boy, "Swamp Thing" is a challenging platformer that occasionally ramps up the difficulty by being straight-up cheap, which is particularly annoying due to the lack of a password system. The eponymous hero lumbers along at a gruelingly slow pace while defeating enemies which rely more on trial and error than quick reflexes. The visuals are nice enough, but "Swamp Thing" deserves better than a boring platformer.
To give credit where credit is due, EA's tie-in game is comfortably better than the movie. Nevertheless, "Catwoman" is a slog to play through. Prior to Rocksteady Studios' "Batman: Arkham City," the seductive antihero starred in a string of poor solo games (xref), with 2004's offering being arguably the worst. An action-platformer bogged down by a strange control scheme that sees attacks mapped to the right analog stick, "Catwoman" focuses heavily on "Prince of Persia" style stunts, but these obstacles are frustrating rather than free-flowing. In what is starting to become a trend, the graphics are solid, but the gameplay strives for mediocrity.
Taking a page from "X-Men Legends" and "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance," this action-adventure title allows fans to take charge of a group of heroes to grind through an array of exciting hallways littered with enemies. Filling in the five-year gap separating "Young Justice's" first and second season, "Legacy" is a disappointing squad-based RPG that features a painfully limited cast of heroes and a combat system that seems happy to just do the basics. Even if the brain-dead levels were not enough to bore players to tears, the ugly graphics and the subpar story hardly make up for it.
Back in the early 90s, beat 'em ups were the go-to genre for quick cash-ins based on popular action movies. The Caped Crusader has suffered through his fair share of terrible games, and "Batman Forever" was no exception. Besides kicking and punching your way to victory, Batman and Robin can pick three gadgets to take into each level, but the gameplay is so incredibly sluggish that none of the attacks feel satisfying to implement. Sort of like the movie, "Batman Forever" is a good-looking mess and among the Dark Knight's weaker adventures.
Seriously, another beat 'em up? Unlike "Batman Forever," "Return of the Joker" came out on the PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 in the year 2000, so this style of game was already considered ancient. Following the storyline of the phenomenal animated movie, Terry McGinnis' Batman punches through a never-ending stream of faceless enemies, but the stiff animation makes it seem like the Caped Crusader is continually fighting a losing battle with constipation. Repetitive and the perfect cure for insomnia, "Return of the Joker" is so bad that it almost feels like a prank coordinated by the titular villain.
Looking back over Bruce Wayne's résumé, it is a miracle the "Arkham" series ended up being anything other than dreadful. Amidst an extensive library of crappy licensed games, "Dark Tomorrow" stands as Batman's smelliest turd. With the exception of the cut-scenes, nothing in this train-wreck actually works well. Combat boils down to the same attacks and enemies need to be handcuffed after being knocked down, meaning players are forced to sit through the same clip every time a fight takes place. Rather than the Joker, "Dark Tomorrow's" camera is Batman's worst enemy, but the unresponsive controls and painful graphics also put up a noteworthy fight.
As the fish whisperer's exclusive solo video game, Aquaman hit such an irredeemable low that the hero may never truly recover. "Battle for Atlantis" has to sit among the shallowest releases ever put on shelves, as most of the 21 levels consist of Aquaman swimming to a cluster of enemies, delivering justice, and then scurrying along to find another group of identical baddies. At the very least, Aquaman controls decently enough, but the gameplay is so mind-numbingly boring that this abomination cannot even be recommended to die-hard fans.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.
“Superman Returns” (2006)
“Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters” (2011)
“Watchmen: The End Is Nigh” (2009)
More popularly known as "Superman 64," Titus Interactive's legendary adaptation of "Superman: The Animated Series" is so bad, it makes the Man of Steel's other lackluster ventures seem good in comparison. Do you enjoy flying through rings? Well, then "Superman 64" is the game for you. Panned by the majority of critics and going down as one of the worst titles of all time, there is pretty much nothing that can be praised about Superman's Nintendo 64 adventure. Be it the subpar graphics, the various glitches, or the boring gameplay, "The New Superman Adventures" cemented the negative reputation associated with licensed games.
When it comes to dreadful DC games, fans are spoiled for choice. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Worst DC Games.
For this list, we’re looking at the most laughably bad licensed games staring the Caped Crusader, the Man of Steel, or anyone else from DC's legendary lineup.
#10: “The Death and Return of Superman” (1994)
Prior to tasking players with saving the Kingdom of Khanduras or the continents of Azeroth, Blizzard Entertainment mixed the Man of Steel with "Streets of Rage." Based on the famous "The Death of Superman" comic book, Blizzard's beat 'em up sticks pretty closely to the events of the story and features five playable characters, including Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator. While the graphics were decent for the time, "The Death and Return of Superman" loses points due to an uninspiring soundtrack and a lack of variety in the enemy types and gameplay. Considering the developer behind the project, this should have been a lot better.
#9: “Justice League Task Force” (1995)
Nowadays, "Injustice" is the definitive superhero fighting game series, but it was hardly DC's first attempt at the genre. Published on the Super NES and Genesis, "Justice League Task Force" boasts six playable heroes and three villains in Cheetah, Despero, and Darkseid. Garnering middling reviews at the time, critics lambasted "Justice League Task Force" for simply not being fun to play. Besides the poor animation and restrictive attack patterns, the janky controls earned the brunt of the criticism, as there is nothing more annoying than playing an unresponsive fighting game.
#8: “Swamp Thing” (1992)
Originating in the early 1970s, Swamp Thing is among DC's more fascinating antiheroes, but the anthropomorphic vegetation has had a tough time landing a hit outside of the comic book page. A side-scroller released on the NES and Game Boy, "Swamp Thing" is a challenging platformer that occasionally ramps up the difficulty by being straight-up cheap, which is particularly annoying due to the lack of a password system. The eponymous hero lumbers along at a gruelingly slow pace while defeating enemies which rely more on trial and error than quick reflexes. The visuals are nice enough, but "Swamp Thing" deserves better than a boring platformer.
#7: “Catwoman” (2004)
To give credit where credit is due, EA's tie-in game is comfortably better than the movie. Nevertheless, "Catwoman" is a slog to play through. Prior to Rocksteady Studios' "Batman: Arkham City," the seductive antihero starred in a string of poor solo games (xref), with 2004's offering being arguably the worst. An action-platformer bogged down by a strange control scheme that sees attacks mapped to the right analog stick, "Catwoman" focuses heavily on "Prince of Persia" style stunts, but these obstacles are frustrating rather than free-flowing. In what is starting to become a trend, the graphics are solid, but the gameplay strives for mediocrity.
#6: “Young Justice: Legacy” (2013)
Taking a page from "X-Men Legends" and "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance," this action-adventure title allows fans to take charge of a group of heroes to grind through an array of exciting hallways littered with enemies. Filling in the five-year gap separating "Young Justice's" first and second season, "Legacy" is a disappointing squad-based RPG that features a painfully limited cast of heroes and a combat system that seems happy to just do the basics. Even if the brain-dead levels were not enough to bore players to tears, the ugly graphics and the subpar story hardly make up for it.
#5: “Batman Forever” (1995)
Back in the early 90s, beat 'em ups were the go-to genre for quick cash-ins based on popular action movies. The Caped Crusader has suffered through his fair share of terrible games, and "Batman Forever" was no exception. Besides kicking and punching your way to victory, Batman and Robin can pick three gadgets to take into each level, but the gameplay is so incredibly sluggish that none of the attacks feel satisfying to implement. Sort of like the movie, "Batman Forever" is a good-looking mess and among the Dark Knight's weaker adventures.
#4: “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” (2000)
Seriously, another beat 'em up? Unlike "Batman Forever," "Return of the Joker" came out on the PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 in the year 2000, so this style of game was already considered ancient. Following the storyline of the phenomenal animated movie, Terry McGinnis' Batman punches through a never-ending stream of faceless enemies, but the stiff animation makes it seem like the Caped Crusader is continually fighting a losing battle with constipation. Repetitive and the perfect cure for insomnia, "Return of the Joker" is so bad that it almost feels like a prank coordinated by the titular villain.
#3: “Batman: Dark Tomorrow” (2003)
Looking back over Bruce Wayne's résumé, it is a miracle the "Arkham" series ended up being anything other than dreadful. Amidst an extensive library of crappy licensed games, "Dark Tomorrow" stands as Batman's smelliest turd. With the exception of the cut-scenes, nothing in this train-wreck actually works well. Combat boils down to the same attacks and enemies need to be handcuffed after being knocked down, meaning players are forced to sit through the same clip every time a fight takes place. Rather than the Joker, "Dark Tomorrow's" camera is Batman's worst enemy, but the unresponsive controls and painful graphics also put up a noteworthy fight.
#2: “Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis” (2003)
As the fish whisperer's exclusive solo video game, Aquaman hit such an irredeemable low that the hero may never truly recover. "Battle for Atlantis" has to sit among the shallowest releases ever put on shelves, as most of the 21 levels consist of Aquaman swimming to a cluster of enemies, delivering justice, and then scurrying along to find another group of identical baddies. At the very least, Aquaman controls decently enough, but the gameplay is so mind-numbingly boring that this abomination cannot even be recommended to die-hard fans.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.
“Superman Returns” (2006)
“Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters” (2011)
“Watchmen: The End Is Nigh” (2009)
#1: “Superman” (1999)
More popularly known as "Superman 64," Titus Interactive's legendary adaptation of "Superman: The Animated Series" is so bad, it makes the Man of Steel's other lackluster ventures seem good in comparison. Do you enjoy flying through rings? Well, then "Superman 64" is the game for you. Panned by the majority of critics and going down as one of the worst titles of all time, there is pretty much nothing that can be praised about Superman's Nintendo 64 adventure. Be it the subpar graphics, the various glitches, or the boring gameplay, "The New Superman Adventures" cemented the negative reputation associated with licensed games.
