1992 was a great year for video games. Between games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Street Fighter 2, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, players had plenty of awesome games to dive into. Outside of those big hitters, there were also quite a few lesser-known games that many would consider cult classics. These games might not have sold as well as the top games, but they did find an audience of dedicated fans. However, a few of those cult classics just aren’t as good as players of the time might think. Here are three classics from 1992 that haven’t stood the test of time.
Let me be clear, just because a game is on this list doesn’t mean it’s bad. Heck, Alone in the Dark is one of the most influential survival horror games of all time, introducing players to combat based more on puzzles and avoidance than gun fights and fisticuffs. That said, the first Alone in the Dark isn’t very fun to play, especially if you’re coming to it for the first time today.
The biggest problem working against Alone in the Dark is the wonky camera. That third-person perspective is going to get you killed in ways you can’t even imagine. Enemies attack from unseen angles, making navigation a chore. Even worse, there’s no in-game map, so the confusing perspective makes it hard to track the house’s layout. Toss in a disappointing end boss and a few puzzles that leave you wishing for a real challenge, and Alone in the Dark is clearly a relic of the time. It’s foundational for survival horror, but you can safely skip it.
Mark Cerny’s Kid Chameleon is definitely of the era. You’re playing as a youngster whose friends have been captured by the rogue AI of a VR game. Actually, that kind of sounds like a game that would be made today. Regardless, Kid Chameleon has to move through levels, using various masks he finds to shapeshift and take out his enemies. It’s a beast of a platformer, and did pretty well on the Sega Genesis.
However, Kid Chameleon is one of the most frustrating slogs of the ’90s. There are more than 100 levels to conquer, and no way to save progress. That includes level passwords that were very popular in the ’80s and ’90s. Sure, some teleporters let you skip several levels, but if you want to see everything Kid Chameleon has to offer, you’ll either need to pull an all-nighter or two, or leave your Genesis on and pray it doesn’t overheat. And, before I catch any flak in the comments, Cerny was only a programmer on Kid Chameleon. Graeme Bayless was the director.
This selection might be controversial, and not just because Night Trap‘s storyline features vampires attacking teenage women at a slumber party. Nope, the reason this pick might not go over with some is that most people agree Night Trap isn’t a very good video game. The FMV game has you jumping around a house using surveillance cameras to try and protect the house guests by activating traps when baddies get close to their prey. While most reviewers agreed that Night Trap‘s gameplay was mediocre at best, the game blew up thanks to its involvement in congressional hearings.
Simply put, Night Trap isn’t good enough (or risque enough) to warrant the attention it was given. The only thing working in Night Trap‘s favor was its technology. The FMV footage was genuinely impressive at the time, but the feature was overhyped, especially because it was paired with some of the most boring gameplay we’ve ever seen. Still, the hype was huge thanks to its notoriety, with Night Trap quickly becoming a sales success. Thankfully, we’ve almost all come to our senses in the years since, and Night Trap is mostly a novelty these days.
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