# Worst Video Games Of The '80s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882 "2004-10-06T17:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/1 "2004-10-06T17:38:44Z")
Since there’s a ‘best of’ thread going on this, why not a worst of? My three choices are… 1. Kangaroo 2. Burger Time 3. that one where you’re a caveman and you have to avoid the boulders, swing from a bunch of vies and jump over the natives with the spears. What was that one called? A really stoopid game. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/2 "2004-10-06T17:40:45Z")
**Xevious** **Q\*bert** **Mr. Do** ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/3 "2004-10-06T17:47:13Z")
The E.T. video game for the Atari 2600. No question. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/4 "2004-10-06T18:01:01Z")
GAH! Burger Time is a great game! So is Jungle King/Hunt, which is the unnamed game you’re speaking of. Yeah, Kangaroo sucked. Trust me, there are tons of bad games out there, especially from that time frame. Play Naughty Boy. Any of the Mr. Do’s. Kung-Fu Master. Ladybug. But not Burger Time. Not Xevious, Q-bert, Jungle King. No no no no no. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/5 "2004-10-06T18:03:15Z")
**Frogger** **Dig Dug** Stupid games. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/6 "2004-10-06T18:11:28Z")
> [@Ass For A Hat](#): > > 1. that one where you’re a caveman and you have to avoid the boulders, swing from a bunch of vies and jump over the natives with the spears. What was that one called? A really stoopid game. That was either **Jungle King** or **Jungle Hunt** , depending on the version you played. And it wasn’t a caveman…it was Tarzan! 🙂 Which explains why Taito, when faced with a C&D letter, decided to change Tarzan to a pith-helmet equipped explorer-type, and reissue the game under the name Jungle Hunt. I actually sort of liked it, truth be told. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/7 "2004-10-06T18:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=diku] GAH! Burger Time is a great game! So is Jungle King/Hunt, which is the unnamed game you’re speaking of. [QUOTE] Yes, yes…Jungle Hunt. I still think it was terrible. I’m with you on Xevious though. ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/8 "2004-10-06T18:12:17Z")
Anyone remember the Frogger song that came out? There was a very brief rash of video game related pop songs in the '80s. I’m fairly certain that there was a Pac Man one. The only thing I remember about the Frogger song was some schmuck wailing “Go, Froggy, Go!” While I played it quite a bit, **Asteroids** was pretty bad. The secret was to never move, just spin and shoot the asteroids. Dull, dull, dull. ---
**Author:** ![ozomatli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a6a055/32.png) [@ozomatli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozomatli)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/9 "2004-10-06T18:14:44Z")
Custer’s Revenge was one of the worst games ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/10 "2004-10-06T18:19:30Z")
Gah, the worst game ever was Dragons Lair. Perhaps I was too young, but I really tried to play this game, hundreds of times. I never made it more than 30 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/11 "2004-10-06T18:23:34Z")
I opened this thread just to say “E.T. for the 2600”, _knowing full well_ that someone had already said “E.T. for the Atari 2600”. That game traumatized me at the tender age of four. Terrible, terrible, terrible game. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/12 "2004-10-06T18:25:00Z")
Oh, forgot to mention something. **Clurican** , Dragon’s Lair is now available as a DVD playable in any standard DVD player. Maybe you might want to give it another shot? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/13 "2004-10-06T18:25:41Z")
Dragon’s Lair and the similar games from the 80’s all sucked ass. You didn’t really play them quite so much as you tried to figure out and memorize which senseless motions of the joystick would cause the cartoon to keep playing. One of my friends referred to them as “BF Skinner games.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/14 "2004-10-06T18:50:48Z")
Qbert? Frogger? Digdug? What were you guys smoking? There were lots of games worse than that! My personal nadir is [Space Zap](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=S&game_id=9692), a totally pointless button masher. You have a space fortress. It has four laser cannons that point up, down, left, and right. You have four buttons that pick which cannon is active. Hitting the fire button shoots a beam straight out of the active cannon – there’s no way to aim. Things come at you. You pound the buttons mindlessly. Then you die. Stunningly craptacular. I also remember [Gun Fight](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=G&game_id=8039) being pretty sub-par. Brain dead gameplay and really sluggish controls. Of course, it was made in 1975 so maybe it doesn’t count … . ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Sayid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jack\_Sayid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Sayid)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/15 "2004-10-06T18:50:52Z")
[Flower](http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?letter=F&game_id=7828) (1986) > [@](#): > > Eliminate attacking flowers and a variety of end-bosses. Shoot daisy-chains and comets for power-ups like speed, laser, missiles, and the cutter blade. :dubious: Tee-Hee-Heeeee! ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/16 "2004-10-06T19:02:10Z")
> [@ozomatli](#): > > Custer’s Revenge was one of the worst games ever made. Spoken like a man who can’t appreciate the finer points of masturbating to square 128byte boobs. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/17 "2004-10-06T19:05:56Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > The E.T. video game for the Atari 2600. No question. I had that game when I was a kid. I loved it because it was the only game I could win (which, of course, is because I was so bad at video games—still am). ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/18 "2004-10-06T19:11:27Z")
> [@mouthbreather](#): > > Spoken like a man who can’t appreciate the finer points of masturbating to square 128byte boobs. Baby, lines like that make me love you more and more each day. 🙂 > [@JerH](#): > > The E.T. video game for the Atari 2600. No question. I liked that game. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/19 "2004-10-06T19:34:55Z")
> [@Jack Sayid](#): > > Eliminate attacking flowers and a variety of end-bosses. Shoot daisy-chains and comets for power-ups like speed, laser, missiles, and the cutter blade. (1986) > > :dubious: > > Tee-Hee-Heeeee! Dude, you´re missing the whole point of this game. It´s not that you shoot flowers and endbosses with lasers and missles. It all happens… _in SPACE!!!_\*\* Some people just don´t understand art… ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882/20 "2004-10-06T19:49:02Z")
I just got a PS2 selection of games, and there are a couple that I never saw or heard of until now. One’s called Satan’s Hollow, really bad Space Invaders clone, some other one is called Bubbles, or Sink or something like that. You’re a bubble in a sink trying to clean stuff up? What’s up with that? Even though I’ve never seen them in an arcade, and I worked in one, those have to be the worst. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-video-games-of-the-80s/267882.md?page=2)