History TheProblemWithLicensedGames / LiveActionTV

%%** ''Series/DoctorWho'' has now had three trading card games; one released in 1996 which only made it to one set, and two kiddie-orientated new series tie-ins.

%%** ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has had two trading card games, the "Collectible Card Game" that was made in 2008 (using art from Rangers Strike) and the "Action Card Game" that started in 2012 as a tie in to ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' using card art from ''VideoGame/SuperSentaiBattleDiceO''.

%%** ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has had two trading card games, the more notable one by Decipher (which was itself split into two editions, where the 2nd edition barely resembled the first).
%%* In Japan, there's a ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' trading card game called "Rangers Strike", which eventually expanded out and added ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Series/MetalHeroes''.

* The popularity of ''Series/TheATeam'' in the 1980s naturally led to the production of several licensed games of varying quality. By far the worst is the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 version, a fixed-screen shooter more primitive than ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' in which you do nothing but shoot down monochromatic heads of A-Team members as they drift back and forth in a black void while shooting back. Even more bafflingly, the title screen has recognizable theme music, but it's from ''Franchise/StarWars''.

** The 1988 Famicom game is a generic, but forgettable side-scrolling shoot 'em up. It is prone to slow down when there are too many enemies on the screen, a cardinal sin for shoot 'em ups.
** The 1989 Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem game has terrible collision detection, particularly in the side-scrolling sections. It leads to the player taking cheap deaths because the helicopter's hitbox is much larger than it appears to be. You get three lives and no continues, in a game that has twenty missions.

* ''Series/{{ALF}}'' had a video game released for the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem in 1989. The plot of the game is that ALF is trying to repair his spaceship so he can head to Mars. What would otherwise be a short adventure game (20 minutes at most) can take well over an hour due to FakeDifficulty through convoluted controls, bad programming, and GoddamnedBats which become DemonicSpiders due to [[OneHitPointWonder ALF being able to take only one hit]]. The game consists almost entirely of TrialAndErrorGameplay, both by design and by mistake, as it features a lot of unfair traps, including shop items that make you too poor to buy the items you'll actually need and one, the ALF book, which restarts the game after triggering an InfoDump that ends by informing the player of such, the only time that it is so much as hinted at.[[note]]In-game, at least. The game's instruction manual subtly hints at this by telling you the ALF Book "Tells an interesting story that will really take you back to the beginning!"[[/note]] ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' reviewed this game as part of his "The Twelve Days of Shitsmas" marathon.

* ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel'' has two games that were released for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]] and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} and are ''Top Model'' InNameOnly. The Wii version in particular suffers from buggy controls, the occasional weird glitch (such as the model's head coming OFF in the final catwalk) and both unoriginal gameplay, flat voice acting and a very cliched, boring story. On top of that, once you "win" (quite easy to do), there's one last line you say (which isn't awe-inspiring or anything) and then a blank screen. That's it.

* ''Big Time Rush: Dance Party'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoWii, a rhythm game tie-in to the Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} TV series ''Series/BigTimeRush''. On one hand, it at least features actual songs from the show. On the other hand, it features [[ExcusePlot a super-basic premise with none of the wacky shenanigans from the show]], [[UnintentionalUncannyValley ugly graphics even for the Wii]], UI glitches, the same repetitive dance moves, stiff animation, and ridiculously easy gameplay. You're supposed to dance along to the song ala ''VideoGame/JustDance'', the problem is that this game can't detect whether or not you're actually doing the dance move correctly so there's nothing stopping you from shaking the Wii Remote to the timing of the song. There's a pointless career mode with NoEnding and [[DudeWheresMyReward no reward for finishing]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has two terrible portable games, a painfully shallow and repetitive BeatEmUp for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, and a generic and frustrating side scroller for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance. The show also had some X-Box and Play Station releases that largely avoided this trap, being mostly favorably reviewed, though they didn't fare too well financially.

** ''Doctor Who: Return to Earth'' by Asylum Entertainment on the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}. The gameplay consists, for 90% of the game, of shooting crystals at '''floating smiley faces''' with the Sonic Screwdriver (which, on top of being completely nonsensical for ''Doctor Who'', is even more bizarre than the OutOfCharacter UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} platformer ''Dalek Attack'') and shoddy stealth while dealing with an [[CameraScrew uncooperative camera]] and severe framerate lag on some occasions, the graphics look like they came from an upscaled UsefulNotes/PlayStation 1 game with special effects that make the classic series look like modern Summer blockbusters and a decent dosing of UnintentionalUncannyValley animations, the plot's an incoherent excuse to have Cybermen ''and'' Daleks in the same story, [[ArtificialStupidity reducing their in-game intelligences to herp-derping, walls-staring levels]] in the process, the level designs involve tedious backtracking to fill up on crystals and (in the endgame) messy masses of floating platforms with reckless disregard for in-universe sense and the mandatory ball maze minigames are frustating enough to make you want to toss your Wiimote. The only positives are the Murray Gold soundtrack and the Sonic Screwdriver Wiimote that was released alongside it. The kicker? Creator/{{Nintendo}} reportedly paid Creator/TheBBC £10,000,000 for exclusive ''Doctor Who'' games, and yet the '''free''' [[note]](if you live in the UK, that is)[[/note]] ''Adventure Games'' have far better production values. As the Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK [[http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/21460/reviews/doctor-who-wii-game-review-review/ put it]], Asylum are "people who hate games, sci-fi, and everything decent about humanity". Ouch.
%% ** The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS game ''Evacuation Earth'', released at the same time as ''Return to Earth'', wasn't nearly as badly received...although few considered it to be anything better than SoOkayItsAverage.

** ''[[http://www.somethingawful.com/rom-pit/gilligans-island/ The Adventures of Gilligans Island]]'', produced by [[Creator/BandaiNamco Bandai]] for the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} in 1989, is generally regarded as one of that console's worst titles, due to its unreliable controls and ''extremely'' hard to beat enemies.

* ''Series/HannahMontana: Music Jam'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS has some cool features, like the ability to make music videos and record your own songs, but there are only four pre-recorded songs, subpar graphics, the guitar in the game sounds more like a toy piano, a story mode that takes about an hour to complete, and random, unrelated mini-games.

* At the height of its popularity, ''Series/HomeImprovement'' got [[http://www.somethingawful.com/rom-pit/home-improvement/ a video game adaptation]] for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super NES]], entitled ''VideoGame/HomeImprovementPowerToolPursuit''[[note]]According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeefosCxDRU a trailer for the game]], a UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis version was planned, but never officially released.[[/note]] Since building stuff, grunting, and arguing with Jill over missing the playoffs wouldn't be very conductive to a platformer, Tim Taylor instead has adventures across several other television sets to recover his stolen tools. Said TV sets are huge, confusing, badly-designed labyrinths filled with numerous real death traps and deadly animatronics like sword-wielding knights and [[DinosaursAreDragons dinosaurs that breathe fire(!)]]. To add insult to the injury of frustrating, lackluster and repetitive gameplay, the game includes a booklet without any information in it aside from the repeated insistence that [[HintsAreForLosers "Real men don't need instructions."]] It seems more likely that an actual manual was left out because if they really wanted to be helpful to players, the only directions in it would be to remove the ''Home Improvement'' cartridge from the console and replace it with a better game.
* ''Series/IronChef America'' received a tie-in game called ''VideoGame/IronChefAmericaSupremeCuisine'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS in 2008. The show and its concept in and of itself sounds like it would lend itself fairly well to a video game, but in execution, the game just completely drops the ball. While the gameplay could be far worse, admittedly, (though it could also be a lot more interesting) near about everything else brings the game down. Gone is the elaborate ''Iron Chef'' set, replaced mostly by simple countertops and stovetops. Only three actual Iron Chefs (Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, and Cat Cora) are featured in the game, along with host Mark Dacascos and commentator Alton Brown, and their character models in the game look generic and bland at best, just outright bad at worst. There is also no judging shown in the game at all; once you finish your dish, you are thrown straight to the results screen, and [[AWinnerIsYou there is little reward for actually winning]]. On top of that, there is LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading and, at least in the Wii version, [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper non-stop commentary from Alton Brown]], using his [[UnintentionalUncannyValley horrendously botched character model that makes him look like a talking spiky-haired potato]]). In short, the game(s) provide a very watered-down and mediocre experience of the show and make the energetic and exciting show seem like a total snorefest.

** ''Series/KamenRiderBlack: Taiketsu Shadow Moon'' for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom Disk System]] is a side-scrolling action platformer with okay graphics, bland stage design, sluggish movement and atrociously bad controls.
** ''Film/KamenRiderZO'' had a game for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD. Just picture the movie given the SoBadItsGood [[HongKongDub Godzilla-style dub]], then make it playable ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' style.

* While the ''Series/KnightRider'' games have been of varying quality, the 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System video game is certainly the most notorious of the bunch. It is not only one of the most difficult NES games because of the game's {{Luck Based Mission}}s with traffic spawning and there are no checkpoints in any of the levels. KITT also gets no MercyInvincibility either, so several bullets will drain your shield meter quickly. Then once nighttime levels come into play, you cannot tell when bullets on the road can and cannot hit your sensors due to HitboxDissonance. You're only given three passwords the whole game, which feels like it's not enough due to the game's high difficulty. The SchizophrenicDifficulty also doesn't help things either, as one level could be much harder than another. The final level is also notorious for not only having a BossRush at the end, but it also has a strict mission timer. There's also a GameBreakingBug because of a [[BonusFeatureFailure bonus feature that is not worth the effort]]: completing the Drive mode twice eventually crashes the game because of there being no in-game check to skip the weapon screen when all upgrades are chosen.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}: The Video Game'' (known as ''Lost: Via Domus'' in certain territories) for UsefulNotes/Xbox360, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, and Windows. It's faithful to the show, and utilizes its flashback system. The high points are the story, the use of music from the show, and the very realistic environments. The gameplay is slightly reminiscent of 1990s {{Adventure Game}}s like ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' and ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'', only in full 3D. However, the game's overall quality is mediocre— you get a gun but only use it a few times throughout the entire game, and there's the recurring ([[ThatOneLevel and annoying]]) fuse-plugging minigame. The actors for Ben, Sun, Desmond, Mikhail, Tom, and Claire lent their voices for the game (mostly because they have only 4-5 quotes for the whole four hours of the game), but the rest of the characters were voiced by stand-ins. For this reason, they often sound a little different than from the show (this hit Locke the worst) and some characters (Jin, Desmond, Tom after he takes his beard off) look nothing like their actors. To top it all, the game is short, and the ending? [[spoiler:A GainaxEnding; you get onto a boat and ride off the island...only to see Oceanic 815 break up and crash onto the island, with you waking up on the beach as opposed to the jungle, and your love interest, who was killed shortly before your flight, having been restored to life, albeit bloodied.]] You can die randomly in the cave sections, which are all built like mazes.

** ''Creator/JimHenson's VideoGame/MuppetAdventureChaosAtTheCarnival'' is a minigame collection released for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] in 1990, though the minigames all seem like early 1980s knockoffs with their amateurish graphics and shallow, repetitive gameplay, often made worse by bad controls and hit detection. Versions of this game were released for the UsefulNotes/AppleII, UsefulNotes/Commodore64 and MS-DOS a year earlier, and they are even buggier than the NES version, with the MS-DOS version prone to random softlocking.
** ''Jim Henson's Franchise/TheMuppets'', released in 1999 for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, doesn't fare much better. The plot of the game is that Kermit and Animal are trying to rescue their friends, who have been taken to various time periods by Dr. Honeydew's time machine. The game suffers from clunky controls, sub-par graphics, horrible music, enemies that take way too many hits to kill[[note]]not helping matters is that you have to keep restocking your ammunition, which comes in the forms of paper planes or drumsticks[[/note]], and poor level design. Every level is a huge labyrinth, and Kermit and Animal take damage from falling from even the lowest of heights.

* The ''Series/NickelodeonGuts'' [[http://www.somethingawful.com/rom-pit/nickelodeon-guts/ game]] for the UsefulNotes/{{S|uperNintendoEntertainmentSystem}}NES suffers from repetitive gameplay (Basic Training and Tornado Run are one and the same, but obviously given different names), annoying music, and the fact that the Aggro Crag, the final event, is just a glorified Basic Training level. You have to get a certain amount of points in the first-player mode, there are more girls (6) than boys (2) when you choose your player, and ''there's no Creator/MikeOMalley!'' Moira "Mo" Quirk (Mike's co-host), on the other hand, is there.

** One notable crappy game is the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 version of ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue''. The cutscenes were done in a comic style, which might be good... if they weren't drawn really, really, crappily. The gameplay and graphics weren't anything special either - British magazine N64 compared it to "constipated puppet men jerking around LEGO cities". It also had the misfortune to be released at a time when the ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' franchise had [[PopularityPolynomial fallen out of favor]], which couldn't have helped.
** While the ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' games released for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo SNES]], [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]], and UsefulNotes/GameGear belong on [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames the other list]], the UsefulNotes/GameBoy adaptation is not so good. The UsefulNotes/GameBoy version suffers from poor graphics, poor use of the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy color palette (the main color is the color of your chosen Ranger), a [[https://youtu.be/hNFlEIp6L38 cheesy bleepy rendition]] of the iconic "Go Go Power Rangers" theme (and before you blame the system's 8-bit limitations, [[https://youtu.be/Bgqvdg_iISc here's]] the version for ''[[Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie Power Rangers: The Movie]]'' on the same system, and [[https://youtu.be/R5vwvks0zgo here's]] the Game Gear version), and the fact that using your weapon drains a bit of health. The fact that the game has only five levels doesn't help matters.
*** The UsefulNotes/SegaCD version doesn't fare much better. Though it uses video from actual episodes, the whole game is a sequence of quick-time events, where you press the indicated direction or button, but the scenes are the same whether you succeed or fail. It also has EasyModeMockery, where you have to play on hard to see all the levels (the first episode and the 5-part Green With Evil storyline), but hard mode doesn't show you what you need to press or when.
** The download-only ''[[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Mega Battle]]'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne could have easily been a decent side-scrolling BeatEmUp, but is ruined completely by its abysmal hit detection, unbalanced difficulty, lack of content (the game is only a few hours long, there is no online mode, and all the Rangers' combo lists are identical), and tedious level design with a severe case of CheckpointStarvation. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3VgMoVJ7s Angry Joe completely tears it apart here,]] and would later name it as the second worst game he played that year.

* ''Series/RobotWars: Metal Mayhem'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor is the first game based on the series, and generally considered the worst. The 8-bit handheld wasn't capable of doing the series justice, and it shows: several of the robots look and play nothing like their in-game counterparts, staple mechanics like flippers and srimechs are non-existent, and battles generally consist of either ramming into your opponent and holding down A to flail your weapon about, or taking advantage of their poor AI to lure them into an arena hazard. On top of this, the roster mostly consists of [[UnexpectedCharacter obscure robots that were knocked out in the heats]], including ''five'' that lost in their very first match (two of whom were beaten in a single hit), while fan favourites like Razer and Hypno-Disc are completely missing. The controls are terrible (trying to turn too quickly causes your robot to spin uncontrollably), and the Robot Workshop is so limited that it may as well have not been included.
* ''VideoGame/SabrinaTheTeenageWitchATwitchInTime'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, despite nailing the show's humor and writing and returning voice talent from the show, checks the boxes for every single issue of early 3D platform games; very average graphics, poor slippery controls and shoddy platform hitboxes that cause needless damage/unfair fall deaths, WelcomeToCorneria voiced dialogue (that is easily glitched into repeating by pausing), and an uncooperative camera with no aiming or strafing system that makes encountering and fighting enemies an ordeal.

* ''Series/{{Tweenies}}: Game Time'' was released for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]] in 2001 by [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Multimedia]]. The game is a MiniGameGame, but there are only four mini-games; "Jake's Dot World", "Milo's Space Race", "Bella's Fairytale Castle" and "Fizz's Disco". These mini-games can all be beaten within five minutes. The game's character models are ugly, Max's in particular looking nothing like his TV series counterpart, and the game has [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading tons of loading screens]], including one before the screen that asks you whether or not you want to play the same mini-game again. The game's [=FMVs=] run at a very low framerate, and sound design is horribly bit-crushed. The game also has [[GameBreakingBug two notable glitches]]; one that makes the game load forever, requiring you to reset it, and another that makes the game stuck on a repeating sound when you choose a mini-game before the Tweenie you play as finishes talking. WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2_oAMon4A&t has an entertaining review of the game]].

** The ''Series/UltramanTowardsTheFuture'' game for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo SNES]] is notorious for its poor graphics and unfair difficulty levels.

** The ''The Bike Race'' budget game is an absolutely broken racing game that disregards any physics. It also ignores the Riders' abilities by putting generic special bike powers.

* ''Series/VazelinaHjulkalender'' got a shoddy licensed [[MinigameGame mini-game collection]] consisting of basic games like a PopQuiz, a ShellGame, multiple rudimentary jigsaw puzzles, a strange memory game where you feed people fluids that are supposed to go into cars, and a poorly-made ''VideoGame/PacMan'' clone where the camera will abruptly jump to follow your movements because it can't display the whole maze at once. Bizarrely, while Music/VazelinaBilopphoggers had a comic based on it that could have served as inspiration, the game instead opts to slap photos of the members' faces (sometimes using photo series to "animate" them) on animated drawn bodies, creating a weird effect. Also, one of the mini-games uses an annoying nine-second loop as background music.

* ''Series/VazelinaHjulkalender'' got a shoddy licensed [[MinigameGame mini-game collection]] consisting of basic games like a PopQuiz, a ShellGame, multiple rudimentary jigsaw puzzles, a strange memory game where you feed people fluids that are supposed to go into cars, and a poorly-made ''VideoGame/PacMan'' clone where the camera will abruptly jump to follow your movements because it can't see the whole maze at once. Bizarrely, while Music/VazelinaBilopphoggers had a comic based on it that could have served as inspiration, the game instead opts to slap photos of the members' faces (sometimes using photo series to "animate" them) on animated drawn bodies, creating a weird effect. Also, one of the mini-games uses an annoying nine-second loop as background music.

* ''VideoGame/SabrinaTheTeenageWitchATwitchInTime'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, despite nailing the show's humor and writing and returning voice talent from the show failed to leave an impression due to very average graphics, poor slippery controls and shoddy platform hitboxes that cause needless damage/unfair fall deaths, WelcomeToCorneria voiced dialogue (that is easily glitched into repeating by pausing), and an uncooperative camera with no aiming or strafing system that makes encountering and fighting enemies an ordeal. Every single issue of early 3D platform games checks the boxes.

** The original game based in the series of the same name comes with horrible graphics, clunky minigames and physics. Crashing cars and objects is a requirement to win money which contradicts the show itself. The vehicles aren't licensed. Also, it is not possible to tune the car the player wants and must do so via rhythm game and failing to do so, the player must pay the full price of the part.
** ''Pimp My Ride: Street Racing'' has horrible graphics for a 2009 game which looked like a early [=PS2=] game, repetitive gameplay with challenges that are the same in every race such as the one that requires to beat the target time, collect all 20 scrilla coins scattered in the track and completing the first lap without damage. Also, like the former, the vehicles aren't licensed. Winning every Championship and Arcade races and unlocking all cars, parts and the trophies, the game [[AWinnerIsYou never ever shows an ending cutscene or any congratulation screen and the credits won't even roll]].

** ''Pimp My Ride: Street Racing'' has horrible graphics for a 2009 game which looked like a early [PS2=] game, repetitive gameplay with challenges that are the same in every race such as the one that requires to beat the target time, collect all 20 scrilla coins scattered in the track and completing the first lap without damage. Also, like the former, the vehicles aren't licensed. Winning every Championship and Arcade races and unlocking all cars, parts and the trophies, the game [[AWinnerIsYou never ever shows an ending cutscene or any congratulation screen and the credits won't even roll]].

** The original game based in the series of the same name comes with horrible graphics, clunky minigames and physics. Crashing cars and objects is a requirement to win money which contradicts the show itself. The vehicles aren't licensed.

&&* ''Series/MiamiVice'' received a little-known DOS game by Capstone ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxCvrLbIx0 reviewed here]]) that suffers from terrible controls, convoluted gameplay, and [[ObviousBeta ridiculous bugs]]. The game is like a puzzle/platformer hybrid controlled entirely by the mouse and spacebar. In the linked review, the reviewer could not figure out how to pass the second level because there's nothing to be anything to really indicate the goal of the level. He also encountered several strange, albeit unintentionally amusing glitches, such as Crockett and Tubbs's sprites becoming cloned and their inexplicable ability to walk across thin air where no platforms are indicated.