There are games that are hideous to look at, but a blast to play. Sometimes, it is best to settle with a 5 than to risk it all to a 10, especially in times of great needs. Here are seven of the best vita games with the worst graphics.
Best PS vita games with the worst graphics
7. Coconut Dodge Revitalised
Coconut Dodge: Revitalised looks like a Flash-based browser game. Its flat-looking visuals, with fast food inspired colors, is not attractive. Yet, it is a good game. This endless collect-em-all game has minimalistic graphics and in core gameplay, but just stay by its side and you will discover a competent game that is actually addicting.
The core gameplay revolves around a simple premise: collect as much treasure as possible while avoiding falling coconuts. The gameplay involves moving Clawrence, the protagonist crab, back and forth along the bottom of the screen at three different speeds, with the goal of surviving without getting hit three times. The game’s repetitive nature means that if you die, you must restart from the beginning, with everything repeating in almost the exact same way each time.
Again, the visuals are mostly static background and simple animations for Clawrence and the falling coconuts and treasure. But anyone will just enter into trance while playing the game, honestly, it has that hook. Apart from the main game, there are a few minigames, though they are not as engaging. The difficulty starts off easy but ramps up significantly in later stages, requiring quick reflexes to dodge coconuts effectively. Despite its simplicity, the challenging later stages and leaderboards can provide motivation to keep playing.
6. Spy Hunter
Remakes or remasters must bring forth modern graphics to an otherwise old game to attract new players. Spy Hunter, the 2012 remake, did all the modern graphics without the attraction. True, the fans of the original game may even cause a riot due to the redone graphics, but boy, no gamer born in the 2000s would have touched this game.
Spy Hunter retains the core gameplay of blasting down roads, avoiding hazards, and destroying enemies, which has proven to be exciting across decades and consoles. Players control the prototype G-6155 Interceptor, a high-tech car packed with weapons like machine guns, missiles, and flamethrowers. One of the notable new features in this iteration is the UAV drone, which players can control to perform airstrikes and mortar attacks from a satellite view, adding a tactical layer to the game. The UAV and the deployable turret from the weapons truck provide novel ways to handle threats and break up the monotony of missions.
Spy Hunter maintains its appeal with ridiculous and over-the-top scenarios, such as evading a semi-truck crashing through obstacles or launching off an aircraft carrier to destroy a fighter jet. Unfortunately, the game’s low-budget presentation, with its lackluster cinematics, simplistic menus, and repetitive soundtrack, will repel onlookers. However, the strength of the gameplay ensures that fans of arcade-style action will still find plenty to enjoy, even as the game’s presentation serves as a reminder of missed opportunities.
5. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate successfully distills the essence of the Arkham series into a leaner, scrappier handheld game. The game excels with its well-paced adventure, smart touchscreen integration, and an appealing, well-designed world. The game begins with an exciting tutorial that introduces Batman’s dark world and abilities. Set a few months after the events of Arkham Origins, the plot follows Batman as he deals with the aftermath of his encounter with Catwoman and attempts to reclaim Blackgate prison from villains like Penguin, The Joker, and Black Mask.
The core gameplay of Blackgate mirrors the previous Arkham games, blending exploration, platforming, puzzle-solving, stealth, and combat. Players use Batman’s tools and “detective vision” to solve environmental puzzles and take down thugs. The game’s complex environments require thoughtful exploration, with huge, labyrinthine levels that open up as Batman’s arsenal grows. Each area offers worthy challenges and secret content, rewarding diligent players with new clues or upgrades.
Blackgate breathes new life into the Arkham formula with its fresh perspective, deliberate pace, and exploration focus, proving that Batman works well in a smaller package. Despite the not-so-great visuals and art direction, the core gameplay hard carries the entire game.
4. Resident Evil: Revelations 2
This game appears in almost every list involving the PS Vita. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is a great game. The graphics are significantly downgraded as compared to its console counterparts, affecting the game’s atmosphere and horror elements. Unless the horrible anti-aliasing and whack resolution scares you, then the shoddy visuals should not be a bother.
Revelations 2 retains the four episodic chapters and two bonus episodes, with a control scheme adapted for the handheld’s touch screen. Players can perform various tasks like healing and switching weapons by tapping the screen, which, while functional, does not replace the console experience. The pseudo-cooperative gameplay allows switching between characters to solve puzzles. The game’s story spans 8-10 hours, offering multiple difficulty levels.
The game is pretty ugly, but the Vita version of Revelations 2 does include the popular Raid mode, providing bite-sized missions ideal for portable play. While the game manages to bring the core experience to the Vita without major gameplay issues, the compromised graphics make it a less compelling choice unless but an indispensable Vita title for anyone who wants to play a good horror and / or action game.
3. Dragon Fantasy Book 1
Retrogaming has seen a resurgence, with games like New Super Mario Bros and Mega Man 9 leading the charge at that point in time. Dragon Fantasy taps into this trend, offering a three-part series modeled after RPGs from different gaming eras. The first installment, styled after NES classics like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, follows Ogden, a retired knight, on a quest to save his son from the Dark Knight. The game humorously nods to its inspirations, splitting the story into four chapters, each with a different protagonist and gameplay style reminiscent of classic RPGs.
The game is hilarious with its humorous take on traditional RPG elements and its retro aesthetic, hence it is consciously hideous for authenticity’s sake. Each chapter offers a distinct experience: Ogden’s solo journey, Anders’ parallel adventure with a party, Jerald’s money-earning quest, and a non-canon Minecraft-themed intermission. Poking fun at genre conventions with witty dialogue and unique enemy encounters was executed to perfection. The game also allows players to toggle between enhanced and 8-bit graphics and music, catering to nostalgic players and those seeking a modern touch.
2. God Wars: Future Past
God Wars: Future Past is a tactical role-playing game that tells the story of a shrine maiden whose mother sacrifices one of her daughters to appease an angry god. The game features an isometric view and turn-based combat, reminiscent of classic tactical-RPGs like Vandal Hearts. Players control both human and nonhuman characters, utilizing a variety of weapons, armor, magic, and items. A unique aspect of the game is the nonhuman character’s spear, which can attack in eight directions, including diagonally, adding a strategic layer to combat.
The game is pretty challenging, requiring players to manage and build up to three skills at a time while unlocking additional skills through earned points. This limitation adds to the difficulty as players need to choose wisely among several worthwhile skills. Additionally, enemy levels spike significantly from one map to another, encouraging players to repeatedly tackle optional maps available at shrines to level up before progressing in the story. This grind is an integral part of the game’s design, emphasizing the need for strategic planning and preparation.
As for the visuals, they may be 3D but they are hideous 3D. The characters look closer to the original Final Fantasy 7 than a game released in the 2010s. Still, it is a wonderful tactical RPG, the units could be merely three pixels and this game is still worth playing.
1. Halloween Forever
Halloween Forever is a sidescrolling platformer game where players face two bosses and various henchmen in each of the five stages, culminating in a final boss battle. The game features double jumps for character navigation and allows players to customize the difficulty by offering settings for 99 lives for an easier experience or a 1 HP setting for a more challenging gameplay. This customization is a unique feature that sets it apart from other platformers.
The game’s combat involves firing at an angle, akin to using a slingshot, with each character’s attacks having unique properties. For instance, one character’s close-range attacks fall off the screen, while a witch character attacks with cats that run across the screen before disappearing. There are no melee attacks, and players can choose from eight characters, two of which are default. The game rewards exploration by hiding stone tablets in each stage that unlock a better ending when collected, though they don’t power up the player’s weapon.
Halloween Forever evokes the 8-bit era with its level design, physics, sprite graphics, and music. This is somehow a downside because its retrofication is not that good. But it is average, and average will not cut it. Still the game is amazing gameplay-wise, and it is not that the graphics are hideous, they are just inadequate.