10 Loveable Video Games That HATE You

7. Syobon Action

Crash 4
Chiku

What do you get if you take everything from Mario and turn him into a cute, loveable cat? Well, you'd get Syobon Action, a Mario clone made for those who are gluttons for punishment.

Syobon Action is basically what would happen to a Mario game if literally everything in the environment wanted to kill you. We're not talking just enemies here either; in Syobon Action, question mark blocks will move out of the way to avoid being hit by you, and grabbing a mushroom powerup turns your cutesy cat into a muscle-bound god who's so heavy it instantly smashes through the ground and dies.

It's ridiculously over-the-top stuff; it's also a completely blatant rip-off of the Mario series (complete with warp pipes, sprites and even Mario sound effects) but despite it being practically impossible to finish, we honestly can't help occasionally booting it up and coming back for more.

If you want to give it a go for yourself and see what all the madness is about, Syobon Action is completely freeware and playable via your browser. We apologise in advance for the impending frustration heading in your general direction.

Contributor
Contributor

Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.