History TheProblemWithLicensedGames / WesternAnimation

** The 7th generation in particular saw a [[DorkAge deluge of forgettable SpongeBob tie-in games]] (the exception being ''Boating Bash'') that no doubt contributed to the temporary demise of [=SpongeBob=]'s video game career, were mostly based on specials, and coincided with a [[SeasonalRot decrease in quality of the show]]. In addition to the aforementioned Activision-era games and ''[=SquiglePants=]'' to an extent, offenders included ''Underpants Slam'', a repetitive 2.5D action collectathon platformer with not enough variety, ''Atlantis [=SquarePantis=]'', a mediocre minigames collection that follows the plot of the TV special of the same name, ''Truth or Square'', based the series's 10th anniversary special and a ContestedSequel to ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'' despite being made by the same studio (though it's at least regarded as better than the special it's based on), ''Beach Party Cook-Off'' which can be equated to a cheap Cooking Mama clone and was largely ignored (and itself is very loosely based off of "[=SpongeBob=] vs the Big One"), and ''[=SpongeBob's=] Surf & Skate Roadtrip'' (this time loosely based on ''[=SpongeBob's=] Runaway Roadtrip'', an anthology series of vacation-themed episodes) which is regarded as yet another barely functional Xbox Kinect shovelware title along the lines of ''Sonic Free Riders'' (even having the same style of slideshow cutscenes) and (though not a Kinect title) ''Tony Hawk: Ride'' and was the final [=SpongeBob=] game published by the original incarnation of THQ.

** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartsNightmare'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsVirtualBart'', both developed by Sculptured Software, boast decent graphics and sound, and some creative level concepts. Unfortunately, they're brought down by overly finicky controls, and difficulty that ranges from somewhat unfair to absurdly NintendoHard -- and that's without taking into account a couple of levels which fall into outright LuckBasedMission territory due to poor design. And the scariest thing about these particular nightmares? Even with all these flaws, they're ''still'' near-unanimously considered the best ''Simpsons'' console games prior to the [=PS2=] era.

** The 7th generation in particular saw a [[DorkAge deluge of forgettable SpongeBob tie-in games]] (the exception being ''Boating Bash'') that no doubt contributed to the temporary demise of [=SpongeBob=]'s video game career, were mostly based on specials, and coincided with a [[SeasonalRot decrease in quality of the show]]. In addition to the aforementioned Activision-era games and ''[=SquiglePants=]'' to an extent, offenders included ''Underpants Slam'', a repetitive 2.5D action collectathon platformer with not enough variety, ''Atlantis [=SquarePantis=]'', a mediocre minigames collection that follows the plot of the TV special of the same name, ''Truth or Square'', based the series's 10th anniversary special and a ContestedSequel to ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'' despite being made by the same studio (though it's at least regarded as better than the special it's based on), ''Beach Party Cook-Off'' which can be equated to a cheap Cooking Mama clone and was largely ignored (and itself is very loosely based off of "[=SpongeBob=] vs the Big One"), and ''[=SpongeBob's=] Surf & Skate Roadtrip'' (this time loosely based on ''[=SpongeBob's=] Runnaway Roadtrip'', an anthology series of vacation-themed episodes) which is regarded as yet another barely functional Xbox Kinect shovelware title along the lines of ''Sonic Free Riders'' (even having the same style of slideshow cutscenes) and (though not a Kinect title) ''Tony Hawk: Ride'' and was the final [=SpongeBob=] game published by the original incarnation of THQ.

** The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' game has shades of this. On one hand, the game's visuals and humor are perfectly in line with the show's, it's filled with many references to episodes, and it manages to avoid the most GuideDangIt aspects of many adventure games. On the other hand, it's a [[NintendoHard relentlessly difficult game]], due to EverythingTryingToKillYou, hardly effective ways of attacking[[note]]To elaborate: Butt-Head's standard attack is by [[{{Fartillery}} farting]], but he needs to be turned ''away'' from the enemies to hit them; plus the boys' rate of fire, either with their [[{{Gasshole}} body gas]] or with the plunger gun, is much slower than the enemies, which allows them to get more shots at you than you at them (Todd's oil spray at the front door of Burger World is an excellent example)[[/note]], an immediate Game Over [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou if either Beavis or Butt-Head's health runs out]], and the difficulty of actually regaining health. While the game has a password system, the passwords do not save your collected inventory...but ''do'' save your remaining health, which can even result in an UnwinnableByMistake situation if you don't have enough health just to ''get more health''.

** The 7th generation in particular saw a [[DorkAge deluge of forgettable SpongeBob tie-in games]] (the exception being ''Boating Bash''), mostly based on specials, and coincided with a [[SeasonalRot decrease in quality of the show]]. In addition to the aforementioned Activision-era games and ''[=SquiglePants=]'' to an extent, offenders included ''Underpants Slam'', a repetitive 2.5D action collectathon platformer with not enough variety, ''Atlantis [=SquarePantis=]'', a mediocre minigames collection that follows the plot of the TV special of the same name, ''Truth or Square'', based the series's 10th anniversary special and a ContestedSequel to ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'' despite being made by the same studio (though it's at least regarded as better than the special it's based on), ''Beach Party Cook-Off'' which can be equated to a cheap Cooking Mama clone and was largely ignored (and itself is very loosely based off of "[=SpongeBob=] vs the Big One"), and ''[=SpongeBob's=] Surf & Skate Roadtrip'' (this time loosely based on ''[=SpongeBob's=] Runnaway Roadtrip'' an anthology series of vacation-themed episodes) which is regarded as yet another barely functional Xbox Kinect shovelware title along the lines of ''Sonic Free Riders'' (even having the same style of slideshow cutscenes) and (though not a Kinect title) ''Tony Hawk: Ride'' and was the final [=SpongeBob=] game published by the original incarnation of THQ.

** ''[=SpongeBob SquigglePants=]'' for the Wii had the unfortunate gimmick of requiring an expensive, interactive tablet (THQ's ill-fated uDraw [=GameTablet=], a sort of precursor to the Wii U [=GamePad=] with no screen. Only just under a dozen games were produced for it, all from THQ) that has since been discontinued. It's a ripoff of the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, even directly stealing some microgames. ''[=SquigglePants=]'' also misses the point of what makes ''[=WarioWare=]'' fun, relying solely on DifficultyByAcceleration (no difficulty levels for the microgames, no boss battles, and no way to earn back lives). While the game's concept of using different art styles is interesting, most of it is modified stock art.

** ''[=SpongeBob SquigglePants=]'' for the Wii had the unfortunate gimmick of requiring an expensive, interactive tablet (THQ's ill-fated uDraw GameTablet, a sort of precursor to the Wii U GamePad with no screen. Only just under a dozen games were produced for it, all from THQ) that has since been discontinued. It's a ripoff of the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, even directly stealing some microgames. ''[=SquigglePants=]'' also misses the point of what makes ''[=WarioWare=]'' fun, relying solely on DifficultyByAcceleration (no difficulty levels for the microgames, no boss battles, and no way to earn back lives). While the game's concept of using different art styles is interesting, most of it is modified stock art.

** ''[[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsPlanktonsRoboticRevenge Plankton's Robotic Revenge]]'' could have been a good sequel to ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', but its flaws - simplistic gameplay and combat, limited enemy roster, and an uninspired story - are far too noticeable for even the most hardened fans of the show to squeeze out any enjoyment from the game.
** ''[=SpongeBob SquigglePants=]'' for the Wii had the unfortunate gimmick of requiring an expensive, interactive tablet that has since been discontinued. It's a ripoff of the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, even directly stealing some microgames. ''[=SquigglePants=]'' also misses the point of what makes ''[=WarioWare=]'' fun, relying solely on DifficultyByAcceleration (no difficulty levels for the microgames, no boss battles, and no way to earn back lives). While the game's concept of using different art styles is interesting, most of it is modified stock art.

* On the surface, Creator/{{MTV}}'s ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' sounds like something tailor-made for an addictive brawler. Annoying celebrities beating the snot out of each other until one of them finally lays down and dies, with a slathering of [[BloodyHilarious gratuitous violence and bloodshed]] on top? It made for an awesome show, so why shouldn't it work? Unfortunately, it came with an incredibly small roster, a short story mode that could be beaten in two hours or less, a create-a-character mode more shallow than the celebrities that it was skewering, and crappy controls, condemning it to the bargain bin.

** ''Plankton's Robotic Revenge'' could have been a good sequel to ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', but its flaws - simplistic gameplay and combat, limited enemy roster, and an uninspired story - are far too noticeable for even the most hardened fans of the show to squeeze out any enjoyment from the game.

* The 2007 version of ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', of all things, got a licensed game, ''The Search for the Secret'', on Wii, [=PS2=], and DS, with bland gameplay, unresponsive controls, and a low framerate. The Wii version in particular had [[{{Waggle}} bad motion controls]] that you needed to play the game.

** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartsNightmare'' boasts decent graphics and sound, and some creative level concepts. Unfortunately, it's brought down by overly finicky controls, and difficulty that ranges from somewhat unfair to absurdly NintendoHard -- and that's without taking into account a couple of levels which fall into outright LuckBasedMission territory due to poor design. And the scariest thing about this particular nightmare? Even with all these flaws, it's ''still'' near-unanimously considered the best ''Simpsons'' console game prior to the [=PS2=] era.

** ''The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk'', a UsefulNotesGameBoy platformer released in 1994, has almost nothing to do with ''The Simpsons'', featuring only Bart, Homer, Marge, and Mr. Burns as characters; even the iconic theme song is absent. The platforming physics are dicey, the levels aren't interesting or fun, and it isn't even the FracturedFairyTale you'd expect from ''The Simpsons''--it's a completely straight retelling. It does have a soundtrack that's leagues better above Imagineering's ''extremely'' hit-and-miss offerings for the same console, though it's still not much to write home about.
** ''[[BartSimpsonsEscapeFromCampDeadly Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly]]'' is similar to ''Bart and the Beanstalk'': a Game Boy game starring Bart that suffers from bad physics and severe ScreenCrunch. This one is at least slightly better because it has more ''Simpsons'' characters, and the food fight set piece is kind of fun, but it's still not something you would ever want to play for legitimate entertainment.

** Many ''Flintstones'' games between the Taito games and the Android game ''The Flintstones: Bring Back Bedrock'' -- which, despite being less spectacular than its predecessors, is seen as a return to form -- were disappointments, but ''The Flintstones: Big Trouble in Bedrock'', a joint effort from [=H2O=] and Conspiracy, really stands out. Released for the Game Boy Advance at the end of 2001, it suffers from shoddy graphics, wretchedly boring gameplay, extremely long and confusing levels, and a mediocre plot where Fred must save Barney from the game's antagonist, Dr. Sinister. The famous theme song is missing and the cut-scenes resemble poorly edited stills from the show. Wilma and Dino are present, but they just serve as spectators in the first two levels, leaving Gazoo as Fred's only major helper. Additionally, there is no ability to save, meaning if you want to complete the game, you have to do it all in one sitting. The Website/YouTube channel World of Longplays [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHpNTKIUgkg did a 100% run with every last Gazoo token and clam]], and even this "[[AWinnerIsYou gives you nothing as a reward.]]"

** ''Arthur's Absolutely Fun Day!'' for the Game Boy Color is a MinigameGame. The music is horrible and often emits high-pitched notes, the graphics are lazy and look badly drawn (you control ''a disembodied head of Arthur's in a circle'' in the map screen) and the games are boring and repetitive, if not downright frustrating. The main goal is to win 16 minigames, and there are only 10, so you will have to play them multiple times in a row.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' for the SNES is an uninspired platformer that's NintendoHard on even the easiest difficulty, largely in part due to [[FakeDifficulty a multitude of cheap shots and unavoidable enemies]], has gameplay that consists almost entirely of "go right and don't die", and the plot is stupid even by the show's standards. To add insult to injury, ''Beavis and Butt-Head in: Virtual Stupidity'' for the PC is, by and large, [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames the opposite of this trope]].
** The Sega Genesis ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' game has shades of this. On one hand, the game's visuals and humor are perfectly in line with the show's, it's filled with many references to episodes, and it manages to avoid the most GuideDangIt aspects of many adventure games. On the other hand, it's a [[NintendoHard relentlessly difficult game]], due to EverythingTryingToKillYou, hardly effective ways of attacking[[note]]To elaborate: Butt-Head's standard attack is by [[{{Fartillery}} farting]], but he needs to be turned ''away'' from the enemies to hit them; plus the boys' rate of fire, either with their [[{{Gasshole}} body gas]] or with the plunger gun, is much slower than the enemies, which allows them to get more shots at you than you at them (Todd's oil spray at the front door of Burger World is an excellent example)[[/note]], an immediate Game Over [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou if either Beavis or Butt-Head's health runs out]], and the difficulty of actually regaining health. While the game has a password system, the passwords do not save your collected inventory...but ''do'' save your remaining health, which can even result in an UnwinnableByMistake situation if you don't have enough health just to ''get more health''.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' was described by its developer in a [=PlayStation=] Blog interview advertising the game to be their favorite Cartoon Network show and somehow, Gumball ironically got the worst treatment of all the shows; every character, including Steven, is able to use attacks somewhat based on their respective series, as disrespectful as it came off in the final product. You think with a comedy cartoon so entrenched in reference/parody humor and being the developers' favorite show that Gumball would have something more interesting then one vacuum cleaner attack, his special ability being [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway cleaning up filth on the ground]], and his buddy move is just a reused clip from a season 2 episode. It's no surprise the game was critically panned by both Cartoon Network fans and critics and ended up on one [=YouTube=] top 10 list as the worst game of 2016.

** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartmanMeetsRadioactiveMan'' for the NES was filled with abysmal collision detection and barely-functional fighting controls. Bartman's punches were horribly slow and did next to nothing, even if he hit an enemy. Levels were long and insufferably boring with no variety in them whatsoever. The only thing people are willing to defend about the game is the music.

** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsWrestling'' was released for the [=PlayStation=] in 2001. It had unbalanced gameplay, ArtificialStupidity and shoddy cel-shaded graphics, even for a late-gen [=PS1=] game. You're unable to block your opponents' attacks, and the controls were also poor. Ned Flanders is an SNKBoss due to his attacks being overpowered and you have to pin him four times to win. The only good thing going for it is the surprisingly good music and the voice acting. Unfortunately, the characters tend to repeat their lines a lot.
** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsSkateboarding'' was released for the [=PlayStation 2=]. It was a ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' [[FollowTheLeader clone]] with terrible gameplay, odd blocky graphics, very limited moveset, and poor controls. It also has the oddity of a skating contest where the prize is a mere $99 and some annoyance in Kent Brockman's ''constant'' commentary. It is widely considered to be the worst ''Simpsons'' game ever.

** ''The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk'', a Game Boy platformer released in 1994, has almost nothing to do with ''The Simpsons'', featuring only Bart, Homer, Marge, and Mr. Burns as characters; even the iconic theme song is absent. The platforming physics are dicey, the levels aren't interesting or fun, and it isn't even the FracturedFairyTale you'd expect from ''The Simpsons''--it's a completely straight retelling. It does have a soundtrack that's leagues better above Imagineering's ''extremely'' hit-and-miss offerings for the same console, though it's still not much to write home about.
** ''Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly'' is similar to ''Bart and the Beanstalk'': a Game Boy game starring Bart that suffers from bad physics and severe ScreenCrunch. This one is at least slightly better because it has more ''Simpsons'' characters, and the food fight set piece is kind of fun, but it's still not something you would ever want to play for legitimate entertainment.

** While it's no ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab'' is a great game in its own right and has gained a cult following over the years. The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version has [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope decidedly not,]] and for a good reason. Once again, it was scaled down into a 2D platformer. However, for whatever reason, [=WayForward=] decided to force [[{{Waggle}} touch-screen controls on the game]], and it does not work at all. It's a puzzle platformer where you use the touch-screen to do ''everything'', including moving your character with no option to use the D-pad and face buttons instead. Unfortunately, the controls are slow and unresponsive, making for a frustrating experience.
*** The PC version, also known as ''Nighty Nightmare'', is considered even worse than the port of ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'', and with very good reason. While the PC port of ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'' was a letdown, this was the turning point for fans of the ''[=SpongeBob=]'' PC games and wound up being the last physical ''[=SpongeBob=]'' video game to be released on PC until ''[=SpongeBob SquarePants=]: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated''. The problems with this port include a watered-down plot that takes away all the charm and heart of the console and even GBA version, horrible graphics, cheaply done cutscenes that usually consist of shoddy 3D models or still images, an extremely short length, and generic gameplay with little variety (and what variety there is is usually boring or outright unpleasant).

* The ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' game for the [=PS2=] and Xbox (the DS version was [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames surprisingly decent]]). It suffers from boring and repetitious gameplay, mucky graphics, extremely short length, you cannot die at all, and Dojo doesn't even have [[TheOtherDarrin his original voice actor]]. As one reviewer said, you can beat a level just by standing in a corner and letting the AI players eliminate all the enemies for you. The only redeeming thing about the game was the Showdown mini-games, but even ''those'' were boring and lacking. This is pretty messed up considering the fact that Creator/{{Konami}}'s [[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventures Warner]] [[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBabsBigBreak Bros.]] [[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBusterBustsLoose adaptations]] [[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBustersHiddenTreasure from]] [[VideoGame/{{Animaniacs}} the]] [[VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobin 90's]] were generally well-received.

** Made worse by Hasbro C&D'ing the excellent fangame ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'' around that time. Some fans speculate that the reason is, it was making the official game look bad in comparison!

* The NES game based on ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleCrashDummies'', where your character's on a runaway unicycle for some reason, your only weapon does nothing but freeze enemies for a second, and it's possible to have your head knocked off thereby reversing all your controls, is usually regarded as one of the more frustrating licensed games on the system. The Game Boy one, which instead of being a action-platformer is made up of quirky minigames of the dummies working as stunt doubles or quality control at a munitions plant, tends to be regarded a bit more favorably.

** The original ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' game on the NES was considered by most an uber-example of NintendoHard, while the follow-up arcade games (especially the first one) and their console adaptations are considered classics of the BeatEmUp genre. Later adaptations of the various 2000 series' are a mixed bag at best.

** ''VideoGame/NickelodeonPartyBlast'' was one of the very first ones, and it was near unanimously considered a complete and utter joke. The graphics were very bland and ugly; looking about on par with a Nintendo 64 game (and this was a game released on the [=GameCube=] and the Xbox). The gameplay itself was lambasted for its terrible controls and just being boring, and the less said about the sound effects and music, the better. The icing on the cake was that the game was developed by Data Design Interactive, the same company that would later become infamous for their many crummy shovelware games for the Wii.

* ''[[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network Battle Crashers]]'' has a cool concept (characters from some of Creator/CartoonNetwork's more modern shows in a BeatEmUp) that's hampered by what appears to be a lack of care or effort put into anything. The characters look and move more like soulless robots with none of the personality that makes them who they are, there are no voice clips and only the most average, generic sound effects and music, backed off with some of the most boring gameplay of any beat-'em-up out there, which is not helped at all by the painfully obvious and egregious FakeLongevity that involves playing the same levels over and over again with no increase in difficulty in order to advance in the game. But the most damning thing about the game is the [[https://www.destructoid.com/review-cartoon-network-battle-crashers-399164.phtml sheer lack of care put into representing the series]]:
** ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has Steven attack by blowing bubbles (despite only using them for protection or transport in the show), a map to Beach City is required at one point (despite Steven living there and thus already knowing the layout), and the BossBattle of that world is against, of all things, Frybo, a possessed ''fast food mascot costume'' who appeared in one episode and was swiftly killed off, instead of any of the recurring and more threatening villains already present, giving off the impression that the developers only drew material from the first few episodes of the first season of the show.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' was described by its developer in a [=PlayStation=] Blog interview advertising the game to be their favorite Cartoon Network show and somehow, Gumball ironically got the worst treatment of all the shows; every character, including Steven, is able to use attacks somewhat based on their respective series, as disrespectful as it came off in the final product. You think with a comedy cartoon so entrenched in reference/parody humor and being the developers' favorite show that Gumball would be able to break the fourth wall and pull items from other gaming dimensions for attacks, but he only has one vacuum cleaner attack, his special ability is [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway cleaning up filth on the ground]], and his buddy move is just a reused clip from a season 2 episode. It's no surprise the game was critically panned by both Cartoon Network fans and critics and ended up on one [=YouTube=] top 10 list as the worst game of 2016.

** The Xbox Live Arcade games ''Let's Go Tower Defense Play!'' and ''Tenorman's Revenge''. The former was a dull tower defense game with a thin storyline, the latter was scorned for being a dull platformer with a story stretched too thin for a video game.

** The [=PS2=] version of ''[[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsRevengeOfTheFlyingDutchman Revenge of the Flying Dutchman]]'' had a serious GameBreakingBug that would freeze the game when attempting to load a new area, thus making it impossible to play. Fortunately, this was fixed in the [=GameCube=] release. Unfortunately, the game is still bogged down with poor graphics, boring gameplay, a disappointing ending, and one song that plays throughout the entire game until you switch costumes, a far cry from what the video game series would [[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom later]] [[VideoGame/TheSpongebobMovieGame put]] [[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab out.]] The game would serve as a CreatorKiller for developers [=BigSky=] Interactive, who've only developed this and the previously mentioned ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' video game.

** While it's no ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarepantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab'' is a great game in its own right and has gained a cult following over the years. The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version has [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope decidedly not,]] and for a good reason. Once again, it was scaled down into a 2D platformer. However, for whatever reason, [=WayForward=] decided to force [[{{Waggle}} touch-screen controls on the game]], and it does not work at all. It's a puzzle platformer where you use the touch-screen to do ''everything'', including moving your character with no option to use the D-pad and face buttons instead. Unfortunately, the controls are slow and unresponsive, making for a frustrating experience.

** ''The Simpsons: Escape from Camp Deadly'' is similar to ''Bart and the Beanstalk'': a Game Boy game starring Bart that suffers from bad physics and severe ScreenCrunch. This one is at least slightly better because it has more ''Simpsons'' characters, and the food fight set piece is kind of fun, but it's still not something you would ever want to play for legitimate entertainment.

** Crawfish Interactive and Acclaim planned a game for the Game Boy Color in 1998, but was cancelled due to Trey Parker and Matt Stone believing that a ''South Park'' game wouldn't fit a handheld mostly owned by kids. The game itself is a tedious puzzle-solving game, with "bosses" that can only be described as "reach the platform to defeat the boss".

** While it's no ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', ''VideoGame/SpongebobSquarepantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab'' is a great game in its own right and has gained a cult following over the years. The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version has [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope decidedly not,]] and for a good reason. Once again, it was scaled down into a 2D platformer. However, for whatever reason, [=WayForward=] decided to force [[{{Waggle}} touch-screen controls on the game]], and it does not work at all. It's a puzzle platformer where you use the touch-screen to do ''everything'', including moving your character with no option to use the D-pad and face buttons instead. Unfortunately, the controls are slow and unresponsive, making for a frustrating experience.

* The article ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20070620223400/https://www.gamespot.com/features/disillusioned/index.html Dis-Illusioned! How a Great License Killed a Small Developer]]'' lists the things that went wrong with developing licensed adventures at The Illusions Gaming Company, which expected to greatly cut development costs by using established characters, established designs and available teams of voice actors. As seen by developers.

** The making of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' game was delayed by a dispute with the voice actor Creator/JasonAlexander, who demanded an unreasonably high price (for the publisher), because the game had some three seasons worth of voice, and the strain of speaking like a duck risked damaging his throat. When Illusions ended up hiring his [[Creator/MichaelJGough voice-double]], the show got axed because of power struggles between Viacom top management. The game was allowed to be finished, but suffered great budget cuts.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheBrothersGrunt'' was expected to become the next ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' and the studio invested a lot in the game. The game was nice (or so the authors say), and the kids loved it, until they heard the title. After that, they would not touch anything called like that hated show.
** The making of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' game was delayed by a dispute with the voice actor Creator/JasonAlexander, who demanded an unreasonably high price (for the publisher), because the game had some three seasons worth of voice, and the strain of speaking like a duck risked damaging his throat. When Illusions ended up hiring his voice-double, the show got axed because of power struggles between Viacom top management. The game was allowed to be finished, but suffered great budget cuts.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead Do U'' was going to have some great puzzles (or so the authors say), which had to be cut, because "Beavis and Butthead are too stupid to think of that". Again, there was the problem of voice acting: the license demanded to hire the show's voice actor Creator/MikeJudge. With the same billing he got at the show's peak popularity. But the game budget would only allow maybe half of it. The publisher suggested a low-budget solution -- recycling the lines from the show's audio track and from the previous games. All Illusions staff spent a week and a half trying to piece together this jigsaw puzzle of scripts. They ended up replacing most jokes with just giggles. After that, the studio founders deemed their business model too unrewarding and shut down.

** ''The Simpsons Wrestling'' was released for the [=PlayStation=] in 2001. It had unbalanced gameplay, ArtificialStupidity and shoddy cel-shaded graphics, even for a late-gen [=PS1=] game. You're unable to block your opponents' attacks, and the controls were also poor. Ned Flanders is an SNKBoss due to his attacks being overpowered and you have to pin him four times to win. The only good thing going for it is the surprisingly good music and the voice acting. Unfortunately, the characters tend to repeat their lines a lot.

** ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead Do U'' was going to have some great puzzles (or so the authors say), which had to be cut, because "Beavis and Butthead are too stupid to think of that". Again, there was the problem of voice acting: the license demanded to hire the show's voice actor Creator/MikeJudge. With the same billing he got at the show's peak popularity. But the game budget would only allow maybe half of it. The publisher suggested a low-budget solution -- recycling the lines from the show's audio track and from the previous games. All Illusions staff spent a week and a half trying to piece together this jigsaw puzzle of scripts. They ended up replacing most jokes with just giggles. After that, the studio founders deemed their business model too unrewarding and shut down.

* ''[[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network Battle Crashers]]'' has a cool concept (characters from some of Creator/CartoonNetwork's more modern shows in a BeatEmUp) that's hampered by what appears to be a lack of care or effort put into anything. The characters look and move more like soulless robots with none of the personality that makes them who they are, there are no voice clips and only the most average, generic sound effects and music, backed off with some of the most boring gameplay of any beat-'em-up out there, which is not helped at all by the painfully obvious and egregious FakeLongevity that involves playing the same levels over and over again with no increase in difficulty in order to advance in the game. But the most damning thing about the game is the [[https://www.destructoid.com/review-cartoon-network-battle-crashers-399164.phtml sheer lack of care put into representing the series]]: ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has Steven attack by blowing bubbles (despite only using them for protection or transport in the show), a map to Beach City is required at one point (despite Steven living there and thus already knowing the layout), and the BossBattle of that world is against, of all things, Frybo, a possessed ''fast food mascot costume'' who appeared in one episode and was swiftly killed off, instead of any of the recurring and more threatening villains already present, giving off the impression that the developers only drew material from the first few episodes of the first season of the show. ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' was described by its developer in a PlayStation Blog interview advertising the game to be their favorite Cartoon Network show and somehow Gumball ironically got the worst treatment of all the shows. Every character including Steven were able to use attacks somewhat based on their respective series as disrespectful as it came of as in the final product. You think with a comedy cartoon so entrenched in reference/parody humor and being the developers' favorite show that Gumball would be able to break the 4th wall and pull items from other gaming dimensions for attacks like 16-bit baseball bats from VideoGame/StreetsOfRage2, have his ranged attack be an 8bit spread shot from VideoGame/Contra, and his special move is either a [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Final Smash]] or a ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' level ultra combo as an affectionate homage to the frequent parody content of the show. Gumball only has one vaccuum cleaner attack, his special ability is [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway cleaning up filth on the ground]], and his buddy move is just a reused clip from a Season 2 episode. It's no surprise the game was critically panned by both Cartoon Network fans and critics and ended up on one youtube top 10 list as the worst game of 2016.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheBrothersGrunt'' was expected to become the next ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' and the studio invested a lot in the game. The game was nice (or so the authours say), and the kids loved it, until they heard the title. After that they would not touch anything called like that hated show.

** ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead Do U'' was going to have some great puzzles (or so the authours say), which had to be cut, because "Beavis and Butthead are too stupid to think of that". Again, there was the problem of voice acting: the license demanded to hire the show's voice actor Creator/MikeJudge. With the same billing he got at the show's peak popularity. But the game budget would only allowe maybe half of it. The publisher suggested a low-budget solution -- recycling the lines from the show's audio track and fron the previous games. All Illusions staff spent a week and a half trying to piece together this jigsaw puzzle of scripts. They ended up replacing most jokes with just giggles. After that, the studio founders deemed their business model too unrewarding and shut down.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' game for the Sega Genesis could be a contender. Despite having a decent intro cinematic and the novel concept of three radically different gameplay styles, the rest of the game's graphics are well below standards for the Genesis. While bad graphics may be forgivable, the game's sloppy and sluggish controls are not, not to mention the lack of polish in each of the aforementioned gameplay styles. Also, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking only three of the Able Squad members are in the game]] in a series with a fairly wide cast.

* ''[[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network Battle Crashers]]'' has a cool concept (characters from some of Creator/CartoonNetwork's more modern shows in a BeatEmUp) that's hampered by what appears to be a lack of care or effort put into anything. The characters look and move more like soulless robots with none of the personality that makes them who they are, there are no voice clips and only the most average, generic sound effects and music, backed off with some of the most boring gameplay of any beat-'em-up out there, which is not helped at all by the painfully obvious and egregious FakeLongevity that involves playing the same levels over and over again with no increase in difficulty in order to advance in the game. But the most damning thing about the game is the [[https://www.destructoid.com/review-cartoon-network-battle-crashers-399164.phtml sheer lack of care put into representing the series]]: ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has Steven attack by blowing bubbles (despite only using them for protection or transport in the show), a map to Beach City is required at one point (despite Steven living there and thus already knowing the layout), and the BossBattle of that world is against, of all things, Frybo, a possessed ''fast food mascot costume'' who appeared in one episode and was swiftly killed off, instead of any of the recurring and more threatening villains already present, giving off the impression that the developers only drew material from the first few episodes of the first season of the show.

** ''Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal'' could've been a decent ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' clone if it wasn't marred by bland visuals, music that ranges from mediocre to nonexistent, save for a pleasant remix of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" (the memorable tune that usually played during the assembly line scenes in the old shorts) that plays during the penultimate level, characters that are all functionally identical, poorly-designed enemies including a massively disappointing and somewhat buggy FinalBoss, and an ExcusePlot with a less than satisfying ending.

** While it's no ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab'' is a great game in its own right and has gained a cult following over the years. The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version has [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope decidedly not,]] and for a good reason. Once again, it was scaled down into a 2D platformer. However, for whatever reason, [=WayForward=] decided to force [[{{Waggle}} touch-screen controls on the game]], and it does not work at all. It's a puzzle platformer where you use the touch-screen to do ''everything'', including move your character with no option to use the D-Pad and face buttons instead. Unfortunately, the controls are slow and unresponsive, making for a frustrating experience.

** ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'' is often cited as [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames a licensed game done right.]] The UsefulNotes/GameboyAdvance version? [[PortingDisaster Not so much.]] With the [=GBA=] being, well, portable, the game needed to be scaled down into a 2D platformer. That wouldn't be bad on its own if it weren't for the expansive, labyrinth-like levels that are easy to get lost in and take forever to complete, wonky physics, requiring the player to take leaps of faith to progress, and robot enemies that can't hurt you. Thankfully, Creator/WayForwardTechnologies would take the reigns from this point and the [=GBA=] games would get [[GrowingTheBeard much better.]]

** While it's no ''Battle for Bikini Bottom'', ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsCreatureFromTheKrustyKrab'' is a great game in its own right and has gained a cult following over the years. The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version has [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope decidedly not,]] and for a good reason. Once again, it was scaled down into a 2D platformer. However, for whatever reason, [=WayForward=] decided to force [[{{Waggle}} touch-screen controls on the game]], and it does not work at all. It's a puzzle platformer where you use the touch-screen to do ''everything'', including move your character with no option to use the D-Pad and face buttons instead. Unfortunately the controls are slow and unresponsive, making for a frustrating experience.

** The Xbox Live Arcade games ''Let's Go Tower Defense Play!'' and ''Tenorman's Revenge''. The former was a dull tower-defense game with a thin storyline, the latter was scorned for being a dull platformer with a story stretched too thin for a video game.