10 Ridiculous Design Decisions In Video Games

8. Press Down To Jump - Conan: The Mysteries Of Time

Conan: The Mysteries of Time
Mindscape

Don't feel bad if you've never played the 1991 NES disasterpiece Conan: The Mysteries of Time, because it's quite probably one of the worst video games ever made.

And its most egregiously irritating feature? The baffling choice to assign the 45-degree jump manoeuver to the freaking Down button on the D-Pad, like a maniac.

This is obviously antithetical to the idea that all upward jumping moves should be executed by pressing the Up button - or better yet, a separate button away from the D-Pad - and that pressing Down is typically reserved for activities such as ducking.

But what truly makes this table-flippingly annoying is the fact that Down + A is also used to pick up items, and so in order to avoid accidentally jumping to your own death while collecting an object, you need to press A slightly before Down to successfully grab the item.

Seriously, what the hell?

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.