10 Beautiful Looking Games (That Play Terribly)

Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat were considered the quintessential fighting franchises during the early 1990s. But when Rise of the Robots was advertised, it seemed like its competition's days were numbered.

It may be dated by today's standards but Rise of the Robots was revolutionary, at least aesthetically. Mirage's fighting title was heavily marketed prior to its release, with emphasis on the pre-rendered 3D graphics and the advanced AI opponents. The company seemed so confident in the project, they had Rise of the Robots released on eight consoles.

Sadly, it wasn't the showstopper that was promised. Despite looking remarkable, Rise of the Robots was a bitter disappointment, due to the ear-shredding music, unresponsive controls, and simplistic gameplay. It provided no challenge, since players could defeat opponents by spamming moves, even on the hardest difficulty setting. 

Only one character was playable in the single-player mode, which massively diminished replayability. The multiplayer allowed access to other characters, but their shallow move sets and poor animation didn’t add much.

As awful as Rise of the Robots was, it taught a whole generation of gamers never to judge a book by its cover.