People come up with some really bad ideas. Who is the genius that thought that basketball star Shaquille O'Neil needed his own 2D fighting game? And Boogerman ... who thinks this stuff up? These ideas are just a few of the hundreds of really stupid video game concepts that have driven the video game market. But what is the worst idea for a game ever? Is it something that Midway, Electronic Arts or Acclaim had the misfortune to green light? Or maybe, just maybe, the worst idea has yet to be thought up. Perhaps there's a video game concept out there that is so bad that you would be a fool not to try to turn it into a twenty hour third-person action game.
This is the thinking behind WORST GAME EVER, our monthly look at the worst video game concepts ever thought up. Every month we're going to allow you, the Defunct Games reader, a chance to come up with an idea so stupid that you can't believe Majesco hasn't already published it on three different consoles. That's my challenge to you: come up with a video game idea that is even worse than the one that came before it. If you manage to come up with the ultimate bad game idea then you may just win yourself one of the worst games ever made. Do you think you're up for the challenge?
But let me warn you, this is not going to be an easy contest. In order to win you're going to have to come up with an idea that is so bad that it is actually worse than what I have below. Think you can do it? Then I suggest you click the link below and send us your really terrible video game idea. Feel free to come up with bad power-ups, terrible scenarios from the game and maybe even a few bad level ideas. The more detail you give the better chance of winning one of our terrible prizes. Enter as many times as you want and check back every month to see if you have come up with the WORST GAME EVER!
Yoshi's Fart & Go (Nintendo)
[ Nintendo 64 - MSRP: $79.99 - 4 Players - 1997 ]
Back of the Box Description:
"Yoshi and his dinosaur friends are back pals are back in their first Nintendo 64 game, Yoshi's Fart & Go! Run, jump and fart your way through raging volcanoes, tropical islands, snowcapped peaks, and unimaginable challenges! Challenge friends to a four-player fart-off on specially designed levels, or play up to three friends in a ton of analog stick minigames. See why GamePro magazine called it "the greatest video game about farting ever made." Yoshi's Fart & Go will have the entire family farting along!"
Pre-Order Schwag:
Even back in the late 1990s, video game retailers were doing everything they could to get you to pre-order all of the upcoming games. Yoshi Fart & Go was no exception, featuring not one, but two store-exclusive toys for those who put five dollars down on this contemporary classic. Software Etc., for
The actual game is significantly less violent than this!
example, featured a scratch and sniff instruction manual that demonstrated all of the noxious gasses coming from Yoshi's asshole. Across the mall we had Electronic Boutique giving out official Nintendo brand whoopee cushions. In other words, you lost no matter which retailer you went to.
Sample Review:
"With a love it or hate it gimmick, Yoshi's Fart & Go takes a good idea and runs it so far into the ground I'm surprised I can still smell this putrid game. This biggest problem facing Nintendo's newest platformer is that it's so over the top that it ends up having nowhere to go. Not content to settle for only two or three levels of fart jokes, Nintendo has managed to stuff more than 150 fart-centric levels into this 20 hour action game. And
things go from smelly to unbearable when Conker shows up and helps Yoshi sing a twelve minute song about the different kinds of farts (silent, juicy, sticky, etc.). Toss in some horrible graphics, sluggish gameplay and awful multiplayer support and you have Yoshi's Fart & Go in a nutshell. Nintendo can only go up from here."
Fun Fact:
Did you know that Yoshi's Fart & Go is actually an homage to an old Sega Master System game? It's true, Saturo Iwata admitted in a recent interview that he and his team was inspired to develop this fart mechanic further because of a game called Who Farted? for the Sega Master System. Translated by Famitsu Iwata explained that, "somebody close brought [a Sega Master System] to the office and we couldn't get enough." The interview goes deeper with him talking about how he played it into the night then rushed home, woke up his family and made them experience what he called "the greatest fart simulator of all time." These days you can only find Who Farted? on eBay, and even there it's going for well over a hundred dollars. But don't worry, there's still hope that this smelly 8-bit game will show up on Nintendo's Virtual Console.
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