The Worst of 1988.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to Georg Mack Plays the Classics. 1988 had some really great games padding off the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, not every game that comes out is worth playing. The worst games of 1988 are as follows.
SMS 5. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? – D+ (1.2)
This isn’t a terrible edutainment game. Its existence on this list shows a relatively strong catalog of games for 1988.
NES 5. City Connection – D (0.8)
Oh Jaleco… what were you thinking? This is an obvious arcade game, but that doesn’t make it something I want to play at home. Easily a bottom game of 1988.
SMS 4. Zaxxon 3-D – D+ (1.2)
You can’t tell if your shots are going to hit the enemies or not. Even when the aiming reticle turns color, you can’t be sure you’ll actually hit your target. Pass.
NES 4. Anticipation – D (0.8)
This video board game isn’t very good. The drawings are certainly novel, but you can’t tell me that you can tell what most of these things are supposed to be.
SMS 3. Blade Eagle 3-D – D (1.0)
Home consoles have always been a home for shoot ‘em ups, but for every R-Type or 1943, there are five Blade Eagle 3-Ds. The graphics make the game difficult to traverse and the different planes of movement don’t work like they should.
NES 3. Iron Tank: The Invasion of Normandy – D (0.8)
SNK thought, hey, let’s take the tank portion of Ikari Warriors, the only decent part of the game, and make it a whole game! Unfortunately, they made the tank portion even worse. What a disappointment…
SMS 2. Global Defense – D- (0.7)
Someone at Sega surely must have been fired for this one. The controls are terrible and make for an unplayable piece of trash.
NES 2. Xevious – D- (0.7)
What good is a shoot ‘em up without powerups? This was a frustrating mess and shows the kind of trash that earned a seal of quality.
SMS 1. Space Harrier 3-D – E (0.4)
What a terrible release. They took everything that made Space Harrier playable and stripped it away to add in the 3-D goggles gimmick. Not worth a moment of your time.
NES 1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – E (0.4)
At least Space Harrier was trying to utilize a gimmick. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was just dog crap you accidentally tracked into the house on your shoe. It’s unplayable, convoluted, and stupid.