Games, past or present, with the WORST controls

all GTs have "bad" controls until you a) get a proper wheel and use it b) learn how to drive a real race car with a wheel!

That's the winning combination if there is any real fun to be had with GT :nod:

PS: the last one I completed was 5 Prologue and I loved it but as I said, not with a standard controller. Forza 3 does a better job in the fun-controls department using a 360 controller.

 

Yeah, pretty much. But it was also simply unplayable in other ways, too. The best of all of the worst worlds.


I always say to myself, "I want to play Ikari Warriors." Then pop it in (NES) and then shut it off.


Lets see...
I've been trying to play Prinny (...) (PSP), and that has the lack of variable jumping distance. You either jump straight up, or if moving to the side, you will always jump the same distance (though he has a double-jump, so it's more of a complexity than a huge pain) (no, wait... it's a pain). A lot of the normal levels (I won't even get into the boss difficulty, as that's only partially difficult due to the controls) are just silly because you have to space yourself perfectly and really think overly hard about your jumps.

I hate how slow you are in Gradius without a speed-up. Just bypass that crap, please!

-Most 3D games on the PSP that require the use of the thumb"stick". (with the exception of Medal of Honor, I thought that felt pretty good).

Some bomberman game I spent a few bucks on for GCN. I'd rather drop a bag of wrenches on my foot over and over than move him around.

I always pull out Steep Slope Sliders (SAT) thinking I'll have a good time then realize I can't actually do any tricks. Maybe I'm totally inept, but also... wtf, Cave? I guess I can't get it through my head that it's more of a fighter control system and not anything like 1080 or Amped.

Hmm, I should check this out. I loved Tokyo Xtreme Racer back in the day, but perhaps I was just a young'n.

 

when it comes to bad controls in 16bit ages, almost every US game failed!

 

way of the warrior for 3do.

coming home with the box i was so excited i was about to play the be all, end all, of fighting games.

i was the most depressed 10 year old boy ever when i couldn't even pull off any of the special moves. upsets me to this day.

 

Bubsy 3D, back when they still couldn't seem to grasp how characters should control in 3D.

 

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned, but Shaq Fu. That game had the most god awful controls known to man.

 

NHL 10, Great game, good controls for the most part, but fuck the passing mechanism in that game. It absolutely refuses to pass to the guy you want it to pass to.

 

Are there any NES games that actually required the U-Force? (I think maybe there was one that was cancelled or something) If so, I think that's the winner.

 

Any game using the power glove!!!

 

Another one just came to mind, Donkey Kong Country. Is it just me, or does something about the jumping in that game just feel wrong?

 

Dreamcast the d-pad is terrible it also lacks a z and c button.

 

Earthworm Jim 3D for N64 was god awful. Half of the time the camera points at Jim's face and you have no idea what is going on in the game.

I agree that the camera angles in the early Resident Evil games added to the atmosphere. When it flicks forward to the next camera and savage dogs are running at you. Creepy!

Micro Machines games. I know the idea was to get so far in front that you left your opposition behind but it gave you less time as the leader to work out what turns and obstacles were ahead!

 

Never had a problem with Donkey Kong Country's controls personally..

 

worst controls in a fighting game have to be either pit fighter or street fighter: the movie

terrible....just terrible.

 

Tetris Party/Tetris DS
Recent Tetris versions have this broken gameplay mechanic that allows you to rotate the piece 40 times even if it has dropped.:banghead: Besides making the game piss easy (boring) it also breaks the game rhythm for veteran players. This has ruined Tetris forever for me.

Super Mario Galaxy
Although SMG is generally quite playable, most of it's "challenges" come from adapting to unexpected viewpoint shifts. Often the game refuses you to position the camera for no reason at all. It's one of those games were you die because you can't control the camera.

Mortal Kombat
Any fighter that uses a button to perform a blocking move feels wrong. Fighter design rule #1: blocking moves are performed by moving the directional controls in the opposite direction of your opponent.

 

back is also a "button". Having a block button is actually my choice of preference, as I tend to prefer "back" to be truly just "back"

 

OMG how could I have forgotten this one, ah wait I know :crying:

 

DAYTONA USA 2001... god why? T___T

 

Agreed, I wish they would just re-release the original Gameboy Tetris in HD or something.

And don't forget that the definition of "forward" changes as you walk around the corners of 3-D objects - that's nonsense. You can drastically change direction without changing the direction you're pushing on the stick or the camera angle, which seems like a real rookie mistake from the Mario team.
And as long as we're complaining about Mario controls, why is swimming so terrible in the newer 3D games? It was perfect in Mario 64, but near-unplayable in Sunshine and Galaxy. Come on.