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Can't get no satisfaction
We dont expect games to give us a candy bar when we win, but we want something for putting hours into a release. But for all the examples of quality endgame content or touching cutscenes, some games never provide anything resembling closure. These titles cruelly play Keep Away with satisfaction like some schoolyard bully.
7. New Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. is one of the most beloved franchises in gaming, and the games normally reward that devotion by hiding secrets in seemingly every corner. Whether its Super Mario Worlds Star Road or the hyper-challenging final stage you can unlock in Super Mario 3D Land, Nintendo usually saves a little something something for players dedicated enough to find all the collectibles hidden in the Mushroom Kingdom. That tradition led us to believe that New Super Mario Bros. 2 would give us something--anything---for collecting one million gold coins. But since its on this list, you can probably guess it fell short.
6. Mischief Makers
Treasure has been earning the respect of its cult fanbase ever since Gunstar Heroes came to the Genesis in 1993. But a big reason the company is so esteemed is that it often challenges players skills with tough gameplay, sometimes withholding important plot points from gamers who only play the campaign once or on normal difficulty. Usually Treasure handles this pretty well, but its little-played N64 sidescroller Mischief Makers was a little too cruel.
5. Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
There are many great games that deserved sequels and never got them, but most of them didnt risk as much on an expected follow-up as Psi-Ops did. The Mindgate Conspiracy stars Nick Scryer, a hero suffering from a textbook case of video game amnesia. Throughout the game he slowly recalls that hes an undercover operative who infiltrated a terrorist organization, and that he has powerful psychic abilities that hes slowly relearning. If it werent so clichd it would be a clever way to gradually introduce players to a character and the games novel gameplay, but as any soap opera star will tell you, the important part about fictional amnesia is how you resolve it. Psi-Ops approach is to... save it for later.
4. Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ghosts n Goblins is one of the originators of cruelly unrewarding gaming (not that it's something to be too proud of). Beating GnG is a badge of honor that few players earned, mostly because the protagonist, a diminutive knight named Arthur, is surrounded by cheaply placed enemies thatll kill him in two or three hits. Most stages can be beaten through memorization, but there are enough randomly appearing monsters that luck is a huge factor too. Should you be skilled, fortunate, and tenacious enough, youll finally reach your reward at the end of the game: a trip back to the start.
3. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Osamu Tezuka is marginally known to comic fans outside Japan, but hes so respected in his home country that his work is still in the mainstream even decades after his death. Astro Boy is probably his most famous character, but Sega and Treasures Astro Boy beat em up for GBA embraced almost every major manga and anime of Tezukas. Unfortunately for fans seeking closure, the developers imitated Tezukas affinity for downer endings while also taking a page from Ghost n Goblins' playbook.
2. Batman Dark Tomorrow
Before Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Caped Crusader was nearly as synonymous with terrible games as his best pal Superman. While there were perfectly serviceable titles based on the animated series, most of the worst Batman titles came in the form of Dark Tomorrow. It has a laundry list of problems, but it was the games botched finale that made the dreadful campaign feel completely pointless.
1. Superman 64
Superman 64 is famously horrible. In fact, the game seems too ashamed of its terribleness to even put its name on the front of the box. Gamers had to control an incredibly fragile Superman through a virtual Metropolis created by Lex Luthor. The bald bad guy has trapped super-friends Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen inside this crappy computer world. To find them, Superman clumsily flies through rings and picks up bombs using the worst controls known to man. And should you somehow find a way to complete these practically unbeatable--unfinished?--levels, the game saved one insult for last.
Are you not entertained?
Oh did you think this was the end of the article? Nope, youre going to have to go back to the beginning to get the real last slide. And if you dont see it then, you should probably read through the article a third time just to be safe. But if youre a quitter, feel free to share your unrewarding game experiences in the comments.
