10 Worst Power-Ups In Gaming History
A coin in first place... what's the point?
The evolution of video game power-ups has come a long way. From mushrooms that slid along the floor and shiny floating orbs to items with a little more range. They might affect the wider game type, the environment we're interacting with or the things we're trying to kill.
In the traditional sense, we’re much more inclined to classify a power-up as a temporary, trivial effect, as opposed to something long-lasting. Call of Duty's Pack-A-Punch machine is a little long-winded to be classified as a power-up. The same could also be said for levelled abilities and weapon upgrades. Though, sometimes you'll find those on the floor.
We want to look at in-game entities that are as close to a traditional power-ups as possible, without confining ourselves to just the early days of gaming. The times where speed boosts and extra health were all the rage. It’s fair to say you won’t be going out of your way to pick up anything on our list, or would relegate it to that of a joke to p**s off your teammates. This list will showcase the top ten power-ups that turned out to be absolute garbage.
10. Light Amplification Visor - Doom
We’ll start with a classic, Doom.
Some power-ups don’t need immense detail to explain. They sit on the floor, sometimes they spin, sometimes they glisten. Walk into them, boom, you’ve got some health, armour, invincibility or increased ammo.
Doom,
alongside Mario, was a master at offering a variety of cool things, but as you can expect, they weren't all great.
Take the Light Amplification Visor. You could get resistance to irradiated sludge, a backpack or temporary invincibility while you rip and tear.
If you pick up the visor, though, you'll get... a pair of goggles... that brighten your screen.
The issue here is that Doom doesn’t really need full brightness. Sure, it’s not going to illuminate your bedroom during the dark hours of the night, but a pair of specs to light up the demons they're already more than visible just isn't a useful ability. Especially when compared to, I don't know, being invincible.