Top 10 Worst Video Game Cartoons

Bad video game cartoons - there's something oddly fascinating about them. 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
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.

Sonic X Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series created by TMS Entertainment and based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series published by Sega.
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.

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?

Sonic Underground

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.

Double Dragon
Frogger

Why the hell did they make Frogger a reporter?

Wing Commander Academy
Street Fighter
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American television series, conceived by Andy Heyward, produced by DIC Animation City, and distributed by Viacom Enterprises in association with Nintendo, airing during 1989 from 4 September to 1 December.

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

The Newcomers

? 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.

? Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby, is a Japanese anime series created by Warpstar, Inc.
The Contenders
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 featuring Namco's classic video game character Pac-Man.

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."

Bubsy

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

Pole Position
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, usually abbreviated AoStH, is an animated series that was based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.

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.

Battletoads
Skylanders Academy
Tak and the Power of Juju Tak and the Power of Juju is an American CGI animated television series that aired for one season from August 31, 2007, to January 24, 2009. Loosely based on the 2003 video game of the same name, the show consists of two eleven-minute stories per half-hour episode. It was co-produced by THQ and Nickelodeon... read more
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.

Sonic Boom Sonic Boom is a computer-animated television series, produced by Sega of America, Inc. and Technicolor Animation Productions in collaboration with Lagardère Thématiques and Jeunesse TV, respectively for Cartoon Network, Canal J, and Gulli.
Pokémon Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters and currently advertised in English as Pokémon: The Series, is a Japanese anime television series, which has been adapted for the international television markets. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997, in the United States... 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.

Super Mario World Super Mario World is an American animated musical comedy television series loosely based on the Super NES video game of the same name.

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?

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 by Nintendo and Rare.

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.

Angry Birds Toons
Saturday Supercade

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

Rabbids Invasion Rabbids Invasion (French: Les Lapins Crétins : Invasion) is a French/American animated television series which premiered on August 3, 2013, on Nickelodeon. The series began airing on Nicktoons during its second season in late 2015. On June 23, 2017, the series finale ended during its third season... read more
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