For some reason, anime just doesn’t seem to translate to gaming very well. There are a select few games that have actually made it big time after having been inspired by an anime series or idea, and most of those are JRPGs. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some games out there with anime scenes or gameplay that have excelled, but they’re few and far in between. With the good always comes the bad and today, we’re focusing on the really bad list.
Included here, you’ll find anything from games that were based off an anime as well as JRPGs that aren’t necessarily “anime” by definition, but follow a similar 3D style. To take on an anime game is to take on a challenge in itself since anime was meant to be watched, not played. Game developers such as Atlas have figured out a way to perfect games such as these, however, the path to getting there was not always a smooth one. Many of these games were early attempts at anime before software and graphics were up to par with what we have today. Chances are, you’ve forgotten about these games for a good reason—they were terrible.
A list such as this will always fall prey to personal opinion, but these are the games that were voted the worst based on either gameplay, mechanics, or story. While some are worse than others and some weren’t really all that bad, none of them ever really received enough TLC.
25 Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment
As a huge SAO fan (the anime, that is), hearing the news that there would soon be a game—multiple games, in fact—based on the storyline, was awesome.
However, these games failed nearly every gamer who looked forward to Kirito’s awesome sword-wielding power.
The gameplay itself wasn’t that much fun and the story itself was slightly convoluted and took forever to actually reveal. While it was neat seeing each character in full game glory, this alone was not worthy enough to earn the title of a “good game.”
24 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
It’s rare that you’ll find a bigger Persona fan than someone such as I, but there is no debating that P4 needed some serious work to be considered a great game.
The issue seemed to be that Atlus had an idea for a superb story but didn’t have the technology or software to back that up.
This led to a muddy understanding of the game mechanics, turned battles into complete guesswork, and left somewhat of a lacking story. It was slightly torturous, with great characters but a boring storyline and unnecessarily difficult boss fights. Luckily, P5 perfected all of this.
23 Doki Doki Literature Club
This can’t be called so much of a “game” as it was an interactive story. Doki Doki Literature Club was super weird and also extremely creepy, as it was intended to be. However, there was an excess of story plot that the “gamer” needed to follow just to arrive at a strange, albeit clever, ending. It was a good way to pass time but other than that, this “game” is better watched on YouTube where you can fast-forward if need be… Or you can just take a pass altogether.
22 Sword Art Online: Lost Song
This was yet another SAO disappointment. Aside from the fact that the order of these games was slightly confusing and didn’t make complete sense, Lost Song suffered the same fate as all the others. It was the median of all the games as far as professional ratings go, however, none of them exceeded a six out of ten. It’s not the worst but it’s not great, either, and it’s definitely not something worth wasting your money on unless you absolutely need an SAO game in your life.
21 Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout
Oh, Dragon Ball. These games were hit or miss and this one received exceptionally low ratings from game critics, with both GameSpot and IGN rating it well below a four out of ten.
This game was created for PlayStation but just couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain, with GameSpot calling it, “a poor excuse for a fighting game.”
Although it followed the anime, it just couldn’t hit the expectations of fans of either gaming or anime. The game itself was a combination of muddy graphics and utterly boring gameplay sunk it pretty quickly.
20 Digimon World
Let’s clear one thing up right now: Does anyone really like Digimon enough to play a game based on it? For those who did, Digimon World came as a stellar disappointment. Yet another fail by Bandai, this game premiered for the PlayStation in 1999 and received deservingly critical reviews by professional critics as well as fans. While the graphics and gameplay for many PlayStation games were not perfected until later consoles, that makes it even more astonishing that a game such as this received such a bad critique.
19 Legacy Of Goku
You’ll notice several DBZ games on here but don’t worry—we’re not hating on the franchise as a whole, because plenty of the games are good. One that wasn’t, however, was Legacy of Goku. Yes, this list includes Game Boy games because this one tanked too badly to exclude. With a super rating of 53% (sarcasm) by Metacritic, this was one game that could have been avoided for the Game Boy Advance. It was a mixed bag of anime fans who enjoyed the game and gaming fans who hated the puzzle-like gameplay and frustration of battle sequences.
18 Attack On Titan: Humanity In Chains
Some anime shows should just remain on television screens and Attack on Titan was one of them. This game came out for 3DS in 2015, making it still relatively new, but it was not well-received by gamers or critics. Many critics gave this game harsh feedback, claiming it was exactly what you’d expect and a classic reason for why some anime just shouldn’t be introduced to the gaming world. Some even called it a gimmick, saying it was a way to make even more profit off a popular anime series.
17 Bleach: Dark Souls
Surprisingly, Bleach: Dark Souls did not receive horrible reviews from critics, maintaining roughly an eight out of ten from most of them.
The harshest feedback was from fans, who cited that this game was nothing special and they’d expected something more.
Simply put, it was a fun way for fans of the anime to experience an interactive version of the story but for some, that wasn’t enough. This game landed on our list due to its mediocre attributes, not because of the gameplay.
16 Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja
Unlike the previous game, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja received mixed reviews. It came out for the Xbox 360 and was developed by Ubisoft and it was never perfected as an RPG fighting game. While the game follows roughly the first 80 episodes of the actual anime, some fans were not overly impressed. IGN hailed it as the greatest Naruto game to date, but that opinion was not shared by everyone. It’s a slippery slope that game developers walk when creating a game based on an anime, and this carried with it some very mixed opinions.
15 Astro Boy: The Video Game
Oof, did this get a wallop by Metacritic. The low score of this game reflects its somewhat boring gameplay and the fact that it was essentially a glorified arcade game. Astro Boy: Omega Factor did much better while this game… Well, it was just poorly done. Fans said that it felt mediocre and lacked creativity, especially as far as gameplay goes. There were many who said that certain aspects of the game could have been carried out better and in a much more thoughtful way.
14 One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
The biggest critique of this game was that it was boring. This is understandable, due to the monotonous tasks the player is responsible for throughout the game. Additionally, the gameplay itself was unrefined and didn’t come through as anything special for gamers. Overall, the game was dubbed as adequate for fans of the Straw Hat Pirates but didn’t exceed anything past that point, unfortunately. The most common complaint was that the gamer spent time doing tedious tasks which severely stole from the story aspect of the game.
13 Akira
We’re throwing it back quite a bit to the days where NES reigned supreme. While it’s hard not to critique a game that came out in 1988 by today’s standards, the problem is that it didn’t receive great reviews back then, either. This game was only available in Japan and had an average rating of 3.5 out of four. While that’s not horrible, it’s not really great, either. The most prevalent critique was due to the sound system and the fact that it was awfully repetitive, to the point of being increasingly annoying.
12 Dragonball Evolution
The score of this game was almost laughable. While most Dragon Ball games excelled in their gameplay and story, this one just fell completely flat.
It was based on the Evolution movie and received nothing more than a two out of ten from IGN and a 28% from Metacritic.
Most all professional critics couldn’t give this game more than a one or two-star rating, making it one of the worst in the franchise. Everything about this game was rated poorly and some even said it wasn’t even worth playing… Ouch.
11 Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist Of The Roses
This is one game that probably should have just remained a card game and anime series. The Duelist of the Roses received roughly a 50% from most game critics after it came out for PlayStation 2 in 2003. As with most anime-based games, this game just couldn’t seem to exceed the expectations of Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. The most common critique was the gameplay, which was confusing and frustrating for most. Some claimed that it became clearer as the game went on, but was not easy to figure out.
10 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
For the most part, the Budokai series did very well. However, the third game was hit or miss for many gamers and wasn’t fully necessary to make the series feel complete. This game came out for PlayStation 2 and Bandai attempted to push it just slightly too far in this third and final addition. While the game was praised for its graphics, fighting style, and options, it was the controls where certain critics felt the game lacked a bit of simplicity.
9 Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
Bandai has its ups and downs and Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire was without a doubt one of those “downs.” This game received a lowly star and a half from Metacritic and for some fairly solid reasons.
It premiered for the PlayStation 3 in 2006 and with it came some serious flaws.
The game itself was lacking a tutorial, had a seriously challenging combat system, and a failed battle system as a whole. There was no circumstance in which this game was praised for anything other than being a useless dud in the gaming world, especially for Gundam fans.
8 Tales Of The Tempest
The Tales series has gotten plenty of feedback over the last decade and much of it has been good. However, Tales of the Tempest, which came out for DS, did not receive quite the same praise. The series as a whole has been overwhelmingly popular and successful as a JRPG, but this game fell quite short of what was expected. The gameplay was vague and mediocre while the actual game came as a disappointment to fans of the popular franchise.
7 Hyperdimension Neptunia
While the Neptunia games haven’t received any devastating reviews, this was yet another anime-inspired game that did not do great. It hailed a mostly mixed rating from both fans and critics alike, and in a surprising twist of fate, it was the story that was praised in this game rather than gameplay. The battle system was described as lacking some finesse, which didn’t make it as enjoyable to play as it was to hear its well-known humorous exchanges as the story played out.
6 Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice Of Arland
The Atelier series hasn’t done poorly and while not every game was a winner, The Apprentice of Arland definitely dipped a bit low on the rating scales. If you can get past the slightly overdone Kawaii themes of this game that add to its “cute” factor, then you’d recognize that this game had some flaws. The biggest critique made by IGN was that it still carried with it the same mistakes as previous games. This made for a mediocre game, however, fans were still putting up with flaws that should have been remedied before its release.
