2016 offered gamers plenty of great games to play, but it also had plenty of terrible releases. Check out Game Rant's look back at the worst games that 2016 had to offer.
2016 was a busy year for gaming, with a bevy of excellent games for players to enjoy, ranging from impeccable indie titles to awesome AAA releases. Of course, not every game released could be brilliant, and every year has its bad games. 2016 is no different, so here's Game Rant's look at the worst games of 2016.
9 Ghostbusters
With this year's film reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise came a new game set within an entirely new universe. While the game followed the general formula of a top-down shooter like previous, successful Ghostbusters games, the latest game iteration of the series didn't deliver.
Featuring a unique cast completely separate from either the original or reboot teams, Ghostbusters outfit the playable characters with traditional shooter weaponry, rather than having them solely wield the iconic Proton Packs. Despite a stronger emphasis on combat, the game didn't offer much of a challenge to players, instead offering monotonous, overly-long levels. It also had some major technical flaws that in some cases made it unplayable.
With a plethora of source material to draw upon from the original and reboot entries to the series, somehow Activision managed to produce a bland, uninspiring look at Ghostbusters.
8 Robinson: The Journey
The world of virtual reality gaming has a lot of potential, and it may have seemed to many like it would be hard to go wrong with a VR game that combines space travel, futuristic sci-fi technology, and dinosaurs. Somehow, Robinson: The Journey managed to take that formula and deliver a flop. While the game is gorgeous to look at, gamers found themselves frustrated by confusing puzzles and the developer's odd decision for motion controls.
Despite being a timed exclusive for the PlayStation VR, the game refrained from using the PlayStation Move motion controls, instead requiring gamers to use a traditional controller and D-pad to walk, and to twist their head from side to side to climb. These choices led to some gamers experiencing motion sickness, which is one of the key elements that doomed virtual reality games from becoming a major success years ago. Thankfully, other upcoming VR games look to avoid these problems, but it's too late for Robinson: The Journey.
7 Mighty No. 9
The promise of Mighty No. 9 thrilled plenty of gamers, as evidenced by its ability to raise $900,000 via Kickstarter in just two days. Unfortunately, after myriad delays, the game just didn't deliver.
The developers behind the game knew that platforming fans were the game's core audience, but Mighty No. 9 didn't pose a challenge to those who had been waiting so long for it. Some players reported making it through the entire game without ever switching weapons, and the core campaign could be cleared in just six hours. To make matters worse, the game didn't offer the same quality of story or charm to match what players had come to expect from Mega Man.
Mighty No. 9 had promise, but despite its numerous delays, it didn't offer the polish that gamers expected from the spiritual successor to Mega Man.
6 Pokemon GO
Pokemon GO took the world by storm, but that doesn't mean that everyone loved it. The game was riddled with bugs and server crashes, leaving many gamers unable to play it. In addition, the game completely lacked most of the main components of the original series, as gamers can't trade Pokemon, battle one another, or breed their Pokemon.
While Niantic has focused on rolling out the game to all territories, potential fans who jumped on the bandwagon early on have long since been discouraged and given up on the game. Niantic could still turn Pokemon GO around, but it may be too late to draw some players back in.
5 7 Days To Die
7 Days to Die has been in development on Steam for the PC for years, and PC gamers have purchased and played it with the understanding that it's an early access title. However, when Telltale Games announced that it would be publishing 7 Days To Die for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this year, console gamers expected a finished product.
Unfortunately, 7 Days to Die let those players down, earning terrible ratings from critics and gamers alike due to its numerous bugs, glitches, and poor combat gameplay. While 7 Days to Die on the PC may eventually become a finished game worth playing, the ship has already sailed for the console versions of the title.
4 Back In 1995
Back In 1995 was designed to recreate the experience of playing early PS1-era horror games, going so far as to emulate the appearance of playing a game on an old CRT television. While the look of the game is spot-on, gamers found the title to be extremely frustrating to play, even if they were fond of the genre it was based upon. Translation errors, broken gameplay mechanics, and poor enemy AI marred the nostalgia of the game, making the game more annoying to play than frightening. Back In 1995 certainly began as a unique concept, but it didn't come close to the classic horror experience that PS1 games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Parasite Eve had to offer back in the day.
3 Hyrule Warriors Legends
Hyrule Warriors Legends was intended to be a port of a game that had already been praised as a decently entertaining spin-off of The Legend of Zelda, with a few new features added in for good measure. While this seemed like a formula for success, the resulting product let down just about anyone who tried to play it on the system it was supposedly designed for.
Hyrule Warriors Legends was released for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system, but gamers quickly discovered that the handheld was barely capable of running the game. Playing it on the original 3DS resulted in a poor frame rate and massive lag spikes - problems that make it hard to play a high-speed action game. However, those who had already picked up the New Nintendo 3DS found that the newer system with its improved processing capabilities handled the title like a champ. Unfortunately, Nintendo didn't advertise the game as New Nintendo 3DS-exclusive, so many owners of the original 3DS were stuck with a game they could barely play.
2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants of Manhattan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan was developed by PlatinumGames, which had gamers hoping that the title would offer some of the same brilliant hack-and-slash mechanics of other titles by the developer, like Bayonetta. Unfortunately, the game was a far cry from that, offering a dumbed-down experience that didn't challenge players and offered few fun experiences.
Furthermore, part of the game's initial appeal was the idea of playing with friends, but the title failed to offer couch co-op. To make matters worse, gamers who played with friends over the Internet discovered that completing missions in multiplayer mode didn't clear them in single-player mode, so a full completion of the game would require replaying everything solo.
1 No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky was one of the most disappointing games of 2016. Regardless of gamers' anticipation, it's also arguable that it's one of the year's worst games.
Gamers found the experience of exploring multiple planets monotonous and dull, and while the game was repeatedly promoted as offering multiplayer, it didn't take players long to discover that they couldn't directly interact with one another, even if they visited the same planet at the same time. The hype surrounding No Man's Sky didn't last, with 90% of players abandoning the title, the ASA investigating promotional materials for the game, and retailers issuing refunds for No Man's Sky regardless of time spent playing the game.
While No Man's Sky is still receiving patches and updates that could potentially turn it around, for now, it's earned a spot on this list.
With 2016 coming to a close, the majority of gamers will look forward to putting the memory of these games behind them. Did the game you disliked the most this year make the list? Let us know what your worst games of the year were in the comments below.