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Worst Rock-Star cameos of all time

Before Guitar Hero, real musicians and games hit a big fat brown note

Words: Chris Antista, GamesRadar US

MASCOT DUMP

Yes, we know - these games don’t really meet the criteria. But we thought they were worth including, if only to reduce the likelihood of comments such as “You didn’t mention Game X - article is FAIL.”

Crüe Ball - 1992

Critical Gush:With better use of its hair metal license, Crüe Ball could have found something to both address the overall poor presentation as well as add a certain level of infamy the Mötley Crüe name deserves.” – Sega-16

What was Motley Crüe up to in ‘92’? Not much, considering that they didn’t have a lead singer and the public’s growing disinterest in glam metal. Whatever the case, they couldn’t be bothered to appear in their very own pinball game, gifted to them by the historically generous Electronic Arts, and hosting duties were instead left to group spokesman, Alister Fiend.

However, even Alister’s appearance was scarce, although the game does feature skulls and combinations of words like “ROLL” and “ROCK” and “BANGER” and “HEAD” which we couldn’t even begin to decipher. Three of the Crüe’s least unlistenable songs are all you have to know the game was affiliated with the band, albeit run through a Genesis for that tinny, digitized sound the kids couldn’t get enough of back in the day.


Ed Hunter - 1999

Critical Shred:Ed Hunter's pathetically limited (not to mention mind-numbingly repetitive),” - PC Zone

Yet another instance of an inadequate mascot, but at least Iron Maiden’s poster dignitary, Eddie the Head, played an integral role to the actual game. Your goal in this dumbass on-rails shooter was to eventually rescue Ed from levels based on album art, including the depths of hell. The band opted not to appear alongside Ed - but who cares? Ed is easily the most iconic member of the group, and we wouldn’t recognize a living member of Iron Maiden if he was kicking us in the stomach while humming “Run to the Hills”.


Above: All that HUD and no number of the beast - what gives?

To its credit, Ed Hunter came as part of a three-disc set, two of which featured 20 “Best of” tracks, picked by Maiden fans, which were fully customizable within the game. Rock on, ya’ll.

Sept 11, 2008


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33 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
Cynwyddon  - 1 year 2 months ago 
10 PAGES!?!
CuddlyBomber  - 1 year 2 months ago 
First.
And to answer you're question Chris no i don't care.
CuddlyBomber  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Shit
mishmoigon  - 1 year 2 months ago 
*sigh* 10 more pages to go...
Tochy  - 1 year 2 months ago 
10 more to go -.-
Tochy  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Done
GamesRadarChrisAntista  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Atta Boy, Tochy!
slickmcwilly  - 1 year 2 months ago 
revolution x has the spiderman/playstation 3 font in the ad, that's pretty weird.
Defguru7777  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Terrible, just terrible...
1NVAD3R  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Ah Chris, another fantastic article, thanks for the laughs.
Solid_Gabriel  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Well, at least ED Hunter had the best soundtrack of all of those games...


UP THE IRONS!
Holy Diver  - 1 year 2 months ago 
How could you forget the Beatles: Escape From the Octopus's Garden?
MegaGamer1000  - 1 year 2 months ago 
it took me 3 hours but im done XD
Amnesiac  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Haha, “Master of Pontiacs”. I would have bought it just to blow up Lars.
Ravenbom  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Wow, all my fav games from all my fav bands in one article.
Johnny6Gun  - 1 year 2 months ago 
As bad as the SNES/Genesis ports were, the arcade version of Rev X wasn't that bad of a mid-90's arcade-styled shooter.
jayson_90210  - 1 year 2 months ago 
What about "Frankie goes to Hollywood" on the Spectrum? Although that was actually alright I suppose.

Plus, what the hell is wrong with Moonwalker, I loved that game. The car park level with beat it playing was great!
kreexz  - 1 year 2 months ago 
10 pages? T-E-N P-A-G-E-S? I have a life, you know.
ripcorder  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Moonwalker was hilarious!

Was it an accident by the developer that the kids were all on their knees when you found them and MJ could perform a crotch thrust in their innocent faces?!
Chiropteran  - 1 year 2 months ago 
Pages like this are good for us. Think about it. After you play some game which you find disappointing, you can come back to any "worst-of" and be grateful.
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