The Best of the Worst of Shovelware: Week 5

I really wanted to do Ghetto Golf for this one but no trailer has been released for it yet. Of course, there is no shortage of other bad games to cover.

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC)
There are some things games should not include and sex is one of them. Oh we all love the big jugs in games like Heavenly Sword and Soul Calibre, or that bikini fighting game. However, sex, or even implied sex in games is usually always laughable, uncomfortable, and cringe worthy. Remember the Atari Porn games? Box Office Bust has you playing as Larry’s nephew given that the original’s womanizing days are over. I guess his insurance plan doesn’t cover Cialis. The new Larry gives off such strong douch chills, a parka is a requirement for playing. He works as a gofer at a movie studio where you basically go around fetching things for other characters. That’s pretty much it. Of course their is the occasional womanizing scene complete with bad acting. The entire game just has a slapped together feel to it. It uses an art style similar to Telltale’s Sam & Max series; or more accurately it’s deformed bastard child. The sandbox missions are confusing and repetitive, and the dialogue is laughingly bad. This game is the vary definition of shovelware. What’s worse? It’s a full retail box version. $60 for this piece of garbage?

Let’s Tap (Wii)
Boy, that Wiimote is so hard to use. Wouldn’t it be great if I could just tap my fingers on a cardboard box to play the game? That would be so much easier. A lot of people on Gametrailers wondered if this game was even real. Yeah, it is. I think one of the Wii’s biggest weaknesses is the lack of games that truly take advantage of the hardware, and Let’s Tap demonstrates that perfectly. The Wii has gotten to the point vary gimmicky within it’s short life and games like this are to blame. Some argue it’s always been like that but I find it’s gotten worse in the last year or so. In all fairness though, the concept is nothing new. In 1986, Bandai released a NES accessory called the PowerPad, which had similar tap style gameplay except you used your feet instead of your fingers. The games themselves were also similar to Let’s Tap, including a hurdles title as is shown in the trailer. The idea didn’t work then and doesn’t work now. Leave the tapping to the iPhone and DS. Another big complaint for this title: it’s ALSO a retail box version! Why can’t this be Wiiware? Honestly.