10 Awful Video Games With AWESOME Mechanics

There are certain video games that are renowned for their cutting-edge mechanics. The Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2. The Nemesis system in Shadow of Mordor. Rolling everything into a ball in Katamari Damacy. (It's a very impressive ball.)

Now, it's extremely difficult to devise a unique gaming tool, which is why one-of-a-kind features like these tend to appear in top-tier titles. 

But every once in a while, a total dud will house a truly wondrous mechanic. The entries on this list are janky as hell, tedious, and rife with glitches. But for some reason, the developers decided to pull out all the stops in one specific aspect. 

What's worse is these mechanics are so imaginative, they're often used to promote the game in question. As a result, people bought these platformers, beat 'em ups, and shooters in droves, only to learn the heavily advertised tool or mode was the only good thing about it. 

Playing these titles was annoying as hell, since they could've been revolutionary if the creators put as much effort into every aspect of the gameplay as they did with these ingenious mechanics.

Despite being one of the most beloved superheroes, adapting Superman into video games has proven to be tricky. After all, where's the sense of urgency when your protagonist can be anywhere in a heartbeat and shatter a diamond with his eyelid? 

However, EA's Superman Returns had a sneaky way to get around this problem. Though the Last Son of Krypton is invulnerable for the most part, he still has a health bar. 

But the health bar doesn't represent Supes, but the city of Metropolis. Any time a crime is committed or a disaster occurs, Superman needs to save the day to avoid losing health. This a great way to present a constant state of danger and it incentivises the player to leap into action anytime there's trouble afoot. Also, it perfectly fits the Man of Steel's MO, since he'll never hesitate to rescue somebody..

Too bad this clever idea doesn't redeem an otherwise atrocious game. Due to the shoddy combat, weak variety in enemies, unrefined gameplay, and monotonous missions, Superman Returns is the second worst game revolving around the spit-curled Kryptonian. (Superman 64 remains the reigning champion.)

Also, there are times where Superman Returns doesn't represent the source material. Although there are iconic supervillains to fight like Mongul and Bizarro, the Man of Tomorrow spends most of his time squaring off against robots and dragons. (On top of that, the final boss is a freakin' tornado.)

A heath bar for the city was smart, but it's not enough to justify playing this mess.