Hey, You Guys Like Bad Games, Right?

I certainly hope so, because Episode 30 is going to have 'em. We are talking the real stuff, like, Hokuto no Ken bad.

But first of all, I'd like to point out that Chrontendo commenter Ruben Kraken, has created a Chrontendo Episode guide! I was thinking at some point I should put some kind of index up of past episodes, but this is even better, as it has icons, notes on specific games, etc. It can be found here:

http://www.sylpher.com/chrontendo/

Fantastic job, RK.

On the other hand, sometimes game companies don't always do a fantastic job. Sometimes they do a very bad job. And by "they" I'm referring specifically to Bandai, SNK and Toho, the perpetrators behind Kamen Rider Black, Ikari Warriors II and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

















For folks outside of Japan, Kamen Rider Black is the least well known of these three. I was quite surprised to find out it was developed by Human*, since most of their previous work has been pretty competent. But, remember in the past I mentioned an interview from GDRI where it was revealed that the development of one particular Human game was done in about 4 weeks? I can only assume something of that nature occurred here, since Kamen Rider Black is one of the most minimalistic attempts at a video game I've seen so far. Barely the faintest hints of of level design, hit detection or even the slightest thought given to playability are to be found in this game.














They forgot to give this guy feet.

SNK and Micronics once again combine forces in order to bring you a substandard port of an arcade game. In the case of Ikari Warriors II, the results are just a wee bit below substandard. Impossible to deal with controls, laughably unintelligible speech samples, some really ugly graphics, and what appears to be loading time when switching to your inventory menu. How do you get loading times on a cartridge game? I sort of liked the NES Ikari, but this sequel is just... awful. Again, a certain minimalist touch is present, especially in regards to sound effects.













From screenshots alone, this game doesn't look that bad. Don't be fooled.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was the second Famicom game from film studio Toho -- the first being the Compile developed Touch -- has developed a reputation as one of the worst NES games made. Partly this is due to some high profile ranting from the Angry Video Game Nerd and Something Awful, but unlike, say, Deadly Towers, this one really is a terrible game. Naturally, Bandai picked it up for US release.

Don't worry, Episode 30's not all bad games. We've also got two (or three, depending on your disposition) really great games coming up. Not to mention more military strategy games based on Sengoku-era warlords.

*More accurately, Sonata, as they were called prior to morphing into Human.