Top 10 Worst Video Game Cartoons

Bad video game cartoons are strangely fascinating. They take beloved games with thrilling stories, intense action, or quirky charm and somehow turn them into awkward, nonsensical shows that make you wonder what went wrong.

You might have seen a few and thought, this can't possibly get worse, only to be proven wrong in the next episode.

Here, it's all about calling out those adaptations that completely missed the point. The ones where the plot is laughable, the animation feels rushed, or the characters don't act like themselves at all.

The Top Ten

  1. Darkstalkers

    Among other things, they added this unnecessary character: a human kid wizard named Harry who wore glasses. No, not that one. He was still several years away at that point.

  2. Sonic X

    Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series created by TMS Entertainment. It is based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise published by Sega. The series originally aired in 2003 and features Sonic and his friends being transported to Earth where they battle Dr. Eggman and his robots.

  3. Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

    As a Mortal Kombat fan, I find this atrocious. It has a confusing plot that has nothing to do with the movie and the games. Also, why is there a Mortal Kombat cartoon for children? Seriously, Mortal Kombat is too violent to have this kind of stuff.

  4. Sonic Underground

    Sonic Underground is an animated television series that was co-produced by DIC Productions L.P. The show originally aired in 1999 and features Sonic the Hedgehog along with his siblings, Sonia and Manic. The storyline follows their quest to find their missing mother and restore peace to their kingdom... read more

    I can't believe my sister and I ever took interest in this cartoon when we were younger. Although I wished it had a more proper series finale, it was a pretty bad and overly cheesy Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.

  5. The Legend of Zelda

    This show was so cheap! I mean, come on! Link sounded horrible and didn't treat Zelda with respect. What was Nintendo thinking?

  6. Double Dragon

  7. Frogger

    Why the hell did they make Frogger a reporter?

  8. Wing Commander Academy

  9. Street Fighter

  10. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

    The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American television series that aired from September 4 to December 1, 1989. It was conceived by Andy Heyward and produced by DIC Animation City. The show was distributed by Viacom Enterprises in association with Nintendo.

    I feel sorry for the live-action actors. The creators made them look like idiots.

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

    Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (Japanese title Hoshi no Kirby) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Warpstar, Inc. The show adapts the beloved video game character Kirby into a whimsical, action‑adventure format. It originally aired in Japan from 2001 to 2003.

  12. ?

    Angry Birds Toons

    13. The Contenders

  13. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures

    Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, also known as Pac-World, is an American-Japanese-Canadian computer-animated comedy-adventure television series. It features Namco's classic video game character Pac-Man in a new storyline. The series originally aired in 2013 and was produced by 41 Entertainment and... read more

    I can't believe that this has a fanbase! It should be like the Pac-Man World trilogy, but instead, we get run-of-the-mill CGI, anti-feminist teen stereotypes, Nickelodeon's positive acceptance of this crap, butt-ugly character design, uncatchy theme songs, and a very childish demographic. ScrewAttack deserves to replace Saturday Supercade with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures on their list of "Top 10 Worst Cartoons Based on Video Games."

  14. Bubsy

    It didn't get past the pilot stage, and with good reason.

  15. Pole Position

  16. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

    The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, abbreviated AoStH, is an animated television series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise. It originally aired in 1993 and featured Sonic and his sidekick Tails as they battled the evil Dr. Robotnik. The show was known for its slapstick humor and fast-paced... read more

    I can recommend it as a "so bad it's good" show, maybe along with the Mario Super Show, The Legend of Zelda, and Captain N. It could also be great for a few cheap laughs. Even though I don't enjoy it as much as I used to (the enjoyment is reduced by how obnoxious the title character is), it occasionally cracks me up due to the weird animation.

    I have to say, the highlight of the show was always the villains. I would mainly recommend this show for its nostalgia value, as it was a pretty big part of the 6-8 segment of my childhood. I don't like to assume, but I am pretty sure that it was a part of some people's childhoods too.

    Can't believe I liked this. Sonic is such a brat who always wins, Tails is just stupid with an incredibly obnoxious voice, and Robotnik is nothing more than a one-note buffoon. The only tolerable characters were Scratch and Grounder.

  17. Battletoads

  18. Skylanders Academy

  19. Tak and the Power of Juju

    Tak and the Power of Juju is an American CGI animated television series that aired from August 31, 2007, to January 24, 2009. The show is based on the 2003 video game of the same name and was produced through a collaboration between THQ and Nickelodeon. Each half-hour episode features two eleven-minute... read more

  20. Captain N: The Game Master

    Despite what this show wants you to believe, the protagonist of "Kid Icarus" is named Pit, Mega Man is blue, and Simon Belmont is not some steampunk cowboy. Also, neither Pit nor Mega Man have the annoying "verbal tics" (ending everything with -icus and putting mega- in front of every word respectively) that this show gave them.

  21. Mega Man: Fully Charged

    How is this a cartoon?! It's a complete mess and isn't even true to Mega Man's character or anything! There are so many things wrong with this show like:

    1. The writing stinks.

    2. The animation looks like some cheap show on Nick Jr.

    3. The show randomly jumps into pixel art for no reason.

    4. The villains are so boring.

    5. The action is too slow.

    6. Mega Mini is the worst.

    7. Mega Man is now a middle school boy, which makes no sense.

    8. Every character and plot is so two-dimensional, like there's no creative thought put into anything.

    9. Everyone who made this show doesn't care about the Mega Man series.

    I want a proper Mega Man cartoon on Cartoon Network, not this stuff that looks like a Russian bootleg.

  22. Sonic Boom

    Sonic Boom is a computer-animated television series produced by Sega of America, Inc. and Technicolor Animation Productions. It was created in collaboration with Lagardère Thématiques and Jeunesse TV. The series aired on Cartoon Network in the United States, and on Canal J and Gulli in France.

  23. Pokémon

    Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title Pocket Monsters and currently marketed in English as Pokémon: The Series, is a Japanese anime television series adapted for international audiences. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997, and in the United States on September 8, 1998.... read more

    It was good at first, but you can only do so much with the same hero and the same villains. Even the games are aware of this, hence why each game has a different protagonist and a different set of villains.

  24. Super Mario World

    Super Mario World is an animated musical comedy television series based on the popular Super Nintendo video game of the same name. The show features characters such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Yoshi in various adventures. It blends musical numbers with lighthearted storylines aimed at a younger... read more

    Exchanging Toad for that annoying cave kid and making it seem more like a bad crossover between "Mario" and a copyright-friendly "Flintstones" were bad choices.

    Did we really need to see Yoshi join a motorcycle gang?

  25. Donkey Kong Country

    Donkey Kong Country is a Canadian/French computer-animated television series. It is based on the Nintendo franchise Donkey Kong as portrayed in the Donkey Kong Country video game series developed by Nintendo and Rare. The show originally aired from 1997 to 2000.

    This show is wrong on so many levels! The animation is horrible and hard to look at and doesn't resemble its game counterparts. I understand that this was made in the '90s, but Nintendo could have gone a better way into making this cartoon.

  26. Saturday Supercade

    They made Pauline Mario's niece. Do he and Luigi have another (presumably older) sibling we don't know about?

  27. Rabbids Invasion

    Rabbids Invasion (French: Les Lapins Crétins : Invasion) is a French-American animated television series that premiered on August 3, 2013, on Nickelodeon. The show began airing on Nicktoons during its second season in late 2015.... read more

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