Atari 2600

“This game is so bad it makes Superman 64 look like Doom.” — anonymous game reviewer

By Patrick S. Baker

Okay, boys and girls, please have a 55-gallon drum of hand sanitizer ready for this one. Today gentle readers I recount the story of not only one of the worst video games of all time but also one of the foulest and most atrocious video games of all time. And NO, I’m not exaggerating in any way about what a disgusting piece of work this game is.

Custer’s Revenge, also known as Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica: Custer’s Revenge was one of three ‘adult’ video games released November 1982 in a package of video games called Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica. The other two games in the set were Beat ‘Em & Eat ‘Em and Bachelor Party.

Many sources erroneously report that the games were produced by a game company named Mystique, but in fact is no game company named Mystique. Mystique was the brand name for the line of adult games produced by American Multiple Industries (AMI).

“Couldn’t you just do something like Pac-Man?” ~ Steven Spielberg

By Patrick S. Baker

On the multitude of lists of worst video games of all time Superman 64 and E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial are in a constant struggle to claim the top (or is it the bottom?) spot.

In retrospect, E.T. the game looked like a sure world-class video game. The game was based on one of the most critically acclaimed and highest-grossing movies of all time. It was developed by Howard Scott Warshaw, the developer of the highly praised and best-selling Yars’ Revenge and The Raiders of the Lost Ark games. Also, it was going to be released in time for the 1982 Christmas season, when video game and video system sales generally spiked.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial the Movie was released in June 1982 and within a month was so hugely successful that Steve Ross, CEO of Warner Communications, Atari’s parent company, started talks with Universal Studios, the film’s distributor, and Steven Spielberg, the film’s co-producer and director, to obtain the rights to create a video game based on the movie. By the end of July, the main parties had signed a deal that cost Warner Communications between $20 to $25 million dollars ($60 to $70 million adjusted for inflation). This was a ridiculously high amount for video game licensing at the time.