The 6 Biggest Flops in Nintendo’s History – When Even Mario Couldn’t Save the Day

Nintendo is a gaming powerhouse. Nobody can deny that. It gave us classics like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. However, this does not mean all Nintendo games are a hit. There are actually many that were disasters. 

Nintendo made questionable choices in the past. Broken mechanics, lackluster gameplay, and shocking design choices. Even the die-hard fans had no choice but to admit the games were horrible. As expected, these were games that flopped hard. 

We will look at the biggest Nintendo flops in history. These are the games you want to try just to see how horrible they are. They are not E.T. or Hong Kong 97 levels of bad, but they still hit the company hard. 

Urban Champion (1986)

This is the fighting game nobody wanted. The very first attempt Nintendo made to break into the genre. 

At its core, this game was supposed to be accessible and simple. A street brawler. What resulted was a completely mind-numbing, repetitive mess. The characters just threw the same 3 punches until one won. 

Street Fighter was just around the corner. Punch-Out became a cult classic. Both delivered excitement. Nintendo’s Urban Champion was so boring it would have been more entertaining to watch paint dry. There was no strategy, the gameplay mechanics were laughable, and there was no depth. 

Wii Music (2008)

Wii Sports was a HUGE hit for Nintendo. It was so big that the company thought Wii Music was also going to be one. The only thing that this game managed to do was to make people hate music. It was a critical and commercial disaster. 

In games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, rhythm and skill count. In Wii Music there is no failure system. you just move your controller and create offbeat, horrible noise. 

Most likely, Nintendo realized how bad the game was. So, it tried to pitch it as a family-friendly, fun experience. All culminated with a presentation at E3 that will forever be in history. A virtual band practically “performed”. Everything was off-key and what was delivered was noise. All fans mocked it. 

Just look at it:

How someone actually approved this at an E3 event is beyond my power of understanding. 

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)

This is a clear example that a risk can go very very wrong. The Legend of Zelda was a huge success for Nintendo. Then, for whatever reason, the choice was to flip the entire formula for part two of the franchise. The result was a confused fanbase, frustration, and confusion. 

Gamers loved the top-down exploration system in The Legend of Zelda. For Zelda II, Nintendo went for side-scrolling. To top things off, the result was an RPG hybrid. It was incredibly difficult, with unforgiving enemies, cryptic puzzles, and a very confusing leveling system. Right now, a hardcore gamer might like the challenge. Then, gamers just gave up. You are better off just trying ANY of the other Zelda games.

Star Fox Zero (2016)

A great example of using motion controls in a horrible way. 

Nintendo often revives franchises. Usually, the games are improved. Star Fox Zero just imploded and Star Fox was not brought back to its roots, as it was initially discussed. Forced motion controls were implemented and they made everything a mess. 

You no longer got to play a space shooter. You had to juggle two screens, deal with really frustrating mechanics, and tilt your controllers in very awkward ways. Gamers wanted the control scheme to be simpler. Nintendo did not oblige. The game could have been great but the series practically died with it. 

Mario’s Time Machine (1993)

Look! Mario did everything over the years. He was a doctor, tennis player, racer, and, of course, plumber. But did y ou know he was also practically a boring historian?

In Mario’s Time Machine, the player was supposed to go through an educational adventure. The result was a glorified quiz. 

If you wondered how a Mario game can be a flop, Nintendo found the recipe. You travel back in time, answer trivia questions, and then return the artifact. There is no adventure and no platforming. You just go through a learning experience. A poorly executed one at that. Not even children were fooled. 

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007)

Ok. Nintendo is really good at making things fun. Just thing about bongo drums and kart racing. Nintendo made them fun. But they couldn’t make Donkey Kong Barrel Blast fun. 

This game was supposed to be controlled by the bongo peripheral of the GameCube. Eventually, the idea was scrapped. The result was a very weird game you play with motion controls from the Wii. 

The game was a frustrating, sluggish racer. You had to waggle your remote in endless motions to move forward. This was enough to make many stop playing. Those who still tried it quickly got bored by a complete lack of engaging gameplay. You can be the biggest Donkey Kong fan in the world and you will still not play this one!

Final Thoughts

Nintendo takes risks. It is a well-known fact. It always tried to innovate so it should be no surprise that some games turned out to be huge flops. The games highlighted were even more than that. They were truly embarrassing failures. 

Fortunately, in most cases, Nintendo learned from its mistakes. But the next big flop is potentially right round the corner.