5 of the Worst SNES Games You Need to See To Believe 

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To think, I was at a Kay-bee toy store and had 3 games in my hands to choose from. In my hands I had F-Zero, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Pit-Fighter. I remember so vividly my dad telling me, "that fighting game looks cool". I never listened to my parents again. 🤦‍♂️🙇‍♂️🤷‍♂️

My brother saved up his allowance and went to the mall to buy us Street Fighter. They didn't have any copies so he bought Pit Fighter instead. Imagine my disappointment.

Race Drivin' is a perfect example of, "Just because you can port it, doesn't mean that you should."

John, this was a well put together list. I've seen Powerpoint presentations that have a faster framerate than the Race Drivin' game. That basketball game was so dark that I could not even make out what was happening. These games were your typical 16bit 'shovelware'.

I have a son he's a freshman in high school, and he's always asking me questions about how it was like growing up in the 90s and he tells me how lucky I was to grow up in that era of amazing video games and music. And he loves asking me questions like what game were you playing when you first started high School, or what music were you listening to in 7th grade. I love answering his questions and sharing all my experience with him. To be a kid when the SNES came out I was about 11 or 12 was just a magical time.

I remember some of these from my days at Software Etc. and Walden Software. I remember people flocking in to buy Pit Fighter only to return it the next day. Thanks for the video, John.

I played Race Drivin' in my cousin's snes. Never managed to even complete a half lap 🤣 This brought me memories!

Lol I got pit fighter for Christmas one year...we actually beat that garbage.

Race Drivin on the SNES was a stretch. Part of the problem is that the SNES hardware (Single 5A22 [65C816 Derivative] processor plus SPC700 Sound Chip) was no match when compared to the Race Drivin Arcade hardware. The Arcade Version of Race Drivin used 6 CPUs plus a Math ASIC. These included a TMS34010, a 68010, an ADSP-2101, a DSP32C, a 68000, and a TMS32010. I think a better SNES port of Race Drivin would have been to use the Super FX chip similar to what Star Fox used.

8:04 One of the worst arcade ports of all time. In other hand the génesis version was so well received that a sequel was planned but never released.

The Race Drivin' stunt track surely does bring memories... but of Stunts on DOS. One of the house's first computers had it.

I bought Race Drivin' on sale from a rental store not knowing how horrible it would end up being. I was aware of the arcade and the pictures on the box looked pretty faithful to me. It ended up being one of those situations where you make the best of it. I was pretty bummed, but my cousin got to laughing so hard at some of the ridiculous instant replays that we quickly realized the real fun in the game was trying to crash as spectacularly as possible. As crappy as that game is, I still have fond memories of it because of that.

I have to give Motown Games credit, they managed to make LJN look like freaking geniuses by comparison. I know it's not saying much, but there you have it.

I swear Pit Fighter changed my life. I was babysitting and saved up money to buy this game. I remember it cost me 90$ it was 1991. The disappointment of this game had made me see marketing as a scam. From that point on I never saw adds the same...my little mind yelled there all lies

Growing up I was extremely frustrated with THQ. They seemed to get all the good licenses but everything they made was hot garbage.

My worst SNES games was The Roadrunner’s Death Valley Rally. It had such nice graphics but boy were the game design and controls TERRIBLE!

I used to have Race Drivin' in my collection a few years ago. I was dead sure the cartridge was broken.

"and... OHH BOY!!!" 🤣 That's when I know it's gonna be real REAL bad!!

Rocketeer!...before rings in "Superman 64" you had to do laps in a plane in this mess...Okay, maybe it isn't that bad...it was an ugly awkward mess. Superman 64 reminded me of the Rocketeer when I played it.

It may well be easier to enter and win an underground fighting ring, than play Pit Fighter on Super Nintendo!

I like how the trolls heads turn 180 degrees when they are climbing a ladder.

The worst SNES game I owned was ULTRAMAN; a great example of how bad fighting games were before Street Fighter II.

Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball was really awful. I remember renting pit fight and bill laimbeer in 1992 and how awful they were.

Trolls looked aweful. The snes was very powerful and had so many amazing side scrollers.this looked like it had been ported from a terrible atari st game

The worst of the worst snes game for me has to be Populous. It may not technically be all that bad, but as a young preteen I made the huge mistake of trading in my nes and all my games. I had just enough money to get a snes and the cheapest game they had. Got home all excited only to cry at how lame the game was. Took me a month to get another game.

So glad to see Pit Fighter on this list, to know that me and my little brother weren't the only ones who suffered buying/playing it

I love your "bad games" series this is so cool ^^

Is one Spider man and X-men arcades revenge?

I remember playing Pit Fighter in the arcade and thinking it was a good game. Never got it for my SNES, and it looks like that was a good decision.

For me, the worst game on the SNES is last action hero. Haven't really played it for long, but it burned into my mind that when you power on the console your instantly on the title screen like we had on the NES, no publisher intro or anything, and the title screen itself was just a picture, no menu or anything. Pressing a button throws you right into the first level, where you basically have to punch through an enemy, having a punch and kick in your arsenal, that's it^^

Hard to believe Pit Fighter was released when quality games like Mortal Kombat were out. Keep up the great content 👍

Every time John says oh boy I laughed so hard 😂🤣😂🤣

These games look like examples of types where more resources were put into graphics and less resources were put into the actual gameplay or quality simply because they thought it wouldn't be important.

Race Drivin' was awesome in the arcade. And absolutely atrocious on SNES (which not even the SA-1 hack saves). I'd have to give an honorable mention to Road Riot 4WD, also an unplayable mess with its single-digit framerates. And most everything published by THQ in that era.

i like to watch videos with "worst games" in the title and then buy all the games featured because they're always great

I was expecting to see The Rocketeer, but yeah, none of those are anywhere near the concept of a good game. Pit Fighter was a rage inducing game.

Man that trolls game kills me. Their face always stares at u even when going dwn ladders. Creepy. Awesome episode Mr immortal

I remember playing Pit Fighter in the arcade. I thought the controls were a bit clunky but I was hoping it was the return of Atari and a challenger to Mortal Kombat. I always get a little pain in my stomach when I hear the SNES version sucks.

Bombuzal/Ka-Blooey should be on this list, because the game is atrocious. It is a puzzle game that uses an isometric perspective, but the controls are inverted so that it is difficult to tell where to go without falling off the surface. Add to that the fact that the level music never, ever changes, and this game becomes an awful experience. The Super Famicom version is a little more forgiving (but not by much) because it offers a 2D mode. Still, I am baffled as to why Bombuzal/Ka-Blooey was even included on Nintendo Switch Online. Once you play that game, you'll understand why.

you always seem so excited about these lists, that's always contagious.

Pit Fighter was an incomprehensible “miss” on the SNES. The Genesis version was 100% better.

That sign in the Bebe's Kid's background "bad vibes, bad bevis" threw me off, but great video, as usual!

I spent so much time trying to play Home Improvement when I was a kid. Finally many years later someone tells me it's a bad game, and no all my frustrate makes sense

The blue water drop enemy from the Troll game looks like a pissed off Slime from Dragon Quest

Yes Race Drivin. When I overshot my car it seems like it turned into popcorn. When I said that all my friends were die laughing. Since we were stuck with it we took turn making fun of it in the most goofy way . So famously bad between friends it's a classic for all the wrong reasons

This brings back when Nostalgia Critic reviewed the Bebe's Kids game during his feud with the Angry Video Game Nerd.

I just found you on my dashboard and I must say this. Brother, I am an avid classic gamer and love watching gaming history and critique. The very second you said you hated trolls and they're creepy I believe, I said sign me up! Nice work my man you got yourself a fan/subscriber. I'll navigate your page and view your other vids. 🙂😃

Pit Fighter was such bad port (of an already bad Arcade), but even Pit Fighter is not as bad as Shaq Fu, that one would be my pick for worst fighting game for the SNES. Another game game that I can't wrap my head around on how it turned out so bad was Alien VS Predator. It's ugly, clunky and the sound effects are some of the worst I've ever experienced in the SNES.

Going to check on the SA1 romhack for race drivin' but I was wondering if a superfx chip port would improve it...

This just solidifies the fact that collecting complete libraries for certain consoles is pointless IMO just because you would never play these terrible games. However I do understand the accomplishment you would get when you do achieve in completing a complete library for a system.

Ah Pitfighter.....yes, yes list is probably legit then.

I'm surprised Space Ace didn't make the list to be honest. I found a copy for sale at one of the local rental stores for about 5 bucks. I bought it thinking, "Hey I loved the original as a kid. How can they screw this up?". Five minutes, I took it home and oh boy... it was terrible! Yet, I still kept it around. Mostly I kept it to mess with my friends when we'd all hang out for the weekend and play video games. Just wait for the guys to get good and drunk, and then I'd be all, "Hey, check this game out..." Good times lol

lmao no joke these were the selections at the local blockbuster here back in the day oh boy!

I honestly can’t believe they didn’t put the music in the basketball game?! Lol 😂 Thanks for the great video!

Race Drivin' desperately needed a DSP chip for it to work on the Super NES. It didn't, so it doesn't. Someone recently hacked it to work with a co-processor, and it's much more playable that way. (Fun fact: Race Drivin' was programmed by John Van Ryzin of HERO fame! Apparently those talents didn't make the jump from Atari to Nintendo.)

5 of John's worst games just went up in price

To me the worst is Lester The Unlikely which is a googolplex tons of garbage!These games are awful too yo!I do agree with your list my broski!

You can't have a top 5 worst snes list without Bebe's Kids

The moving titles in the Trolls game immediately made me think of this being an Amiga port. Then the game played and reminded me of Mr Blobby in the UK on the Amiga and checked the gameplay and is clearly the same game with the main sprite changed. Not sure which came first.

I feel that a "Worst SNES Video Games" list is incomplete without Lester The Unlikely. That game is so bad, I actually get nauseated just thinking of it.🤢🤮

found out on my own with Bebe's Kids you have to use your strong attacks, tbh why is that even a thing when the SNES Controller has 8 buttons and the D-pad, did they really need to rely on button combinations? also you gotta jump and attack the glass stuff, since Robin is taller than you, you get into that and that stage is cake... moldy cake.

Great video! I love the intros to these videos! 🤣

I am surprised “Ranma 1/2” didn’t make the list! Almost unplayable 😂

Great video John! Tell me more about that NES mouse though... Don't tease me bro!!

I've played almost the entire SNES library, and after growing up with such great memories of the console, I was amazed to learn that only about 100 of the 700+ games are actually worth playing. That's 600 games that are anywhere from "meh" to garbage!

Omg! They didn't make a "back of the head" animation for the trolls. They climb the ladder, you see their back, they still stare right at you like a nightmare owl thing.

I played the basket ball one and pit fighter when they were released, They were probably both returned for another rental the same day.

I can't remember buying any Super Nintendo games that I thought were awful. I think I was more careful about what I bought after getting burned on bad Genesis games like Sword of Sodan. That turd gave me PTSD.

Keep up the awesome work, John!

I use to place that racing game at my buddies house! 🤣 It was so awful I use to purposely run over cows just to hear them moo!

What a trip John. I grew up in Redding. Went to Viking Skate Country many times.

I love how every crash in Race Drivin' had the same pattern of windshield crack. That is the best part of it

I don’t think I have played any of these titles, and a couple of them I had never heard of before. Another awful game I would add would be Super combat basketball. I hated that game!

crazy how Super Mario World wasn’t finished when it was released. i hope someone releases the complete game for free via homebrew. i’d like to play it.

You fired off quite a few "oh boy!!!"s in this video, now that's a real treat!

Have you played Race Drivin' with the Vitor Vilela SA-1 patch? The improvement is astounding!

Sorry to all the us snes owners but you got the short straw when it came to the design of your snes.

What?!?! They had a Bebe's Kids game? Haha. I NEED that in my collection!

Although the game is horrible, BeBes Kids is a legendary animated movie. Robin Harris(RIP) was a comedic genius that was taken away from us too soon

There are only two rules at Funland. No Vibes and definitely no Beavis.

I had Pit-Fighter when I was a kid on my Genesis. I loved that game so much. I recently picked up a SNES copy and holy cow did they butcher that game. I dont understand how its so much worse.

Horror story. My younger brother traded Chrono Trigger and came back home with that Trolls game. I was on life support for a week and had to enroll in psychotherapy to recover 😱

as a kid, i didn't have much access to snes games, maybe like 30 games tops, and most were amazing, but 3 games hit my shit list : 1- race driving, it was just fun seeing 3d polygons the first 5 minutes and that was it. 2- Bombuzal , it was just a good game that had no need to be on snes and it was a sad weekend renting it. 3- wings , ok, the mode 7 is cool, but the game was nothing, same missions, same feel, so boring, the manual even had a cheat code to make u get a radar so u can even know what u are doing. those were the worst games i ever played on snes, and thank god for that, they were not bad games, just tbe worst i played. but 1 game, most people call bad and i loved. XARDION, this game was something else, an insane good game that no one understood, amazing story, very dark and grim, one of the first game where i had to deal with a hero death and a bad ending that really made u think about it and wht did u do and who is the bad guy in all this....that ending music and cinematic was touching to the soul.

Oh good Lord. Pit fighter was among the first three games I bought for my SNES back in the day. What a disappointment that was. Thankfully I had a Link to the past and Super Mario world as well. 😂👍

that nes controller that looks like a mouse is interesting.

The pictures on the box for race drivin had the same frame rate as the game. One of the only times I ever returned a game as broken and got my money back with no questions asked.

The Rocketeer and Wayne's World almost ruined my childhood. Thank God I only rented them!

John, have you tried the SA-1 rom hack of Race Drivin'? It brings the speed and framerate where it needs to be.

Great vid. Will you have a new ranking by publisher for Genesis soon? Loved those!!

I had the tiger LCD version of pit fighter and loved it because I could beat the game easily over and over again lol.

Born in Redding myself too! Great videos John

"Mom i want to play Def Jam Vendetta" "We got Def Jam Vendetta at the house" Def Jam Vendetta at the house: 6:24

I got Super Trolls Island when I was a kid and played it a bunch back in the day because back then when you got a bad game you played it because you did not have money to buy another game.

Came after watchin u with metal jesus rockz 😊 i've already subscribed to u long time 😂

Thanks for the excellent content!

Years ago in high school some friends showed me their copy of Pit Fighter. We actually played it for a good while, but only to laugh at how bad it was. Is that a redeeming quality? For Pit Fighter, no, it is not lol.

Holy shit, that Trolls game looks 100% like low-end DOS shareware. The colour-changing, bouncing text, the weird disproportionate graphics, the wavy-warping background, the kinda janky sound-effects, the smooth but also not smooth animation of the character... I looked it up, and I am genuinely shocked it wasn't a port, and was a SNES original. What the hell? This is a game you'd see from someone who'd been making games in their basement since they were 10, and just turned 14, not a full-on release for a console. I can't wrap my head around it.

SNES had bad games?! First i've heard of it, such a great system and so many great games man :)

Back in the day some of us had a reasonable tolerance for slowdown and lower frame rates in certain situations (especially is PAL regions) but 3 frames a second on a commercially released game is taking the piss!