8 "Useless" Video Game Items That Were Secretly GAME-BREAKERS

On the face of things, EarthBound's Casey Bat just freakin' stinks.

Though it's actually the strongest of Ness' weapons, the fact that it generally has a hit-rate of just 25% - that's one-in-four times for those keeping count at home - makes it basically a non-starter in conventional combat.

However, the Casey Bat is incredibly useful during random battles, due to the game's slightly eccentric - if we're being kind - instant-win system.

Basically, when a random encounter is initiated, the game will award you an instant win if your stats are demonstrably higher than the enemy's, in turn saving you some of your precious time.

And because the primary stat EarthBound measures is attack power, the Casey Bat's enormous power potential effectively allows you to auto-win fights against enemies who, with any other weapon equipped, you absolutely wouldn't be able to.

While the Casey Bat doesn't serve much of a purpose in real fights, if you want to hoover up the instant-wins like a pro, there's no better choice.