But every once in a great while, when the planets are aligned just right and the universe seems ready, you'll come across a game that is so hideous and utterly terrible in all the right ways that you can't help but be fascinated. One might use the expression "It's so bad it's funny!" If you've ever come across one you know the feeling. You want to call your friends, relatives, or really anybody that will listen and tell them just how bad it is. When your gaming buddies come over to play a few rounds of {Insert Favorite Party Game Here}, you first insist that they experience your great, awful find; the proverbial turd in the rough, if you will. This a thread about those games.
I submit for your approval what may be the most unique and awful football game of all time, Quarterback Attack (Saturn, also on 3D0):
- quarterback_attack.jpg (18.12 KiB) Viewed 2569 times
Example of gameplay
Promo Video
Where to begin? First off, Quarterback Attack's graphics are completely FMV, which is an immediate red-flag. The only exception to this is your character, the "Red Team's" QB. You read that correctly by the way, you can only play as the QB. If you call a running play, you simply sit there and watch a movie of that play. Same goes for a punt or field goal attempt. What you can do is choose a receiver to throw to or scramble out of the pocket (resulting in one of the funniest an oddest moments I have ever seen in gaming). And if your team (Go Fightin' Red Team!) is on defense it means that you're on the bench and the play calling has been taken out of your hands entirely. So, who is calling the plays? Why it's Mike Ditka in an ugly yellow sweater, of course. That's right, throughout your experience you will be yelled at, taunted by, and recieve important life lessons from none other than former da Bears coach himself. Other important characters of note include a stadium filled with mostly cardboard cutouts, Red Team's mascot (who I swear is Big Bird from Sesame Street), and the oldest referee in the world.
Beyond all that, the game is fundamentally flawed. Often you will throw a pass and be treated to a movie of your receiver making the catch and sprinting over 50 yards down the field. Great play, right? Think again. Many times the game will register that big gain as only few yards or, worse, negative yards. Also, on a number of occasions I have called a 70+ yard field goal attempt which manages to sail through the upright. To put that in perspective, the longest offical field goal in NFL history is 63 yards and is one of only seven to travel at least 60 yards. I could go on, but just watch the video links and see for yourself (not my vids, btw).
So, there you have it. Share the games that suck so bad they make you laugh. What makes it different than most bad games? How did it go that extra mile backwards from a bad and forgettable video game, to one that is quite simply tragic yet inescapable?
