Death Crimson is a light gun first-person shooter for the Sega Saturn released on August 9, 1996 that is legendary for being one of the worst games ever made, and is frequently cited as one of the shining examples of the "Kusoge" (or "shitty game") genre.
The "plot", if you could call it that, is as such: Ten years ago, while Combat Echizen is in the Marumata Army, he, along with his friends Danny and Greg, find some ancient ruins, along with treasure and a mysterious gun called the Crimson. In the present day, 1996, Combat Echizen is now a doctor, and investigates the town of Salonika, where the citizens have become monsters due to a mysterious disease. Without thinking, he uses the Crimson and realizes that it's effective against these monsters. Gun in hand, Combat Echizen explores around the world to find the truth about this mysterious disease.
The flaws in this game are many, including horrible graphics and music, stiff camera movement, and poor hit detection. Despite this, it has gained a cult following precisely because of its "kusoge" reputation, to the point that a "Death Saturn" have been made that have the CD glued to the disc reader, the lid glued shut, and the gun controller glued to the console, so that the buyer can only play Death Crimson. One artist even made a fully functional, larger-than-life replica
sculpture of the Crimson gun that can actually be used to play Death Crimson!
It later receives a Surprisingly Improved Sequel in form of Death Crimson OX with graphics and gameplay almost up to par of modern rail shooters at the time while still retaining the weirdness and incomprehensibleness. It's also available in Europe when it was ported to PlayStation 2, called Guncom 2.
Amazingly, this game wasn't a Creator Killer - Ecole Software, the company that created it, would go on to assist the development of the arcade version (later ported to consoles and PC) of Melty Blood, the Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax series and co-produce Under Night In-Birth alongside Soft Circle French Bread (the original developers of Melty Blood).
Death Crimson contains the following tropes:
- Evolving Weapon: Killing enough enemies will result in the Crimson changing appearance. Though apparently it means nothing given all non-boss enemies die in one hit, but with hidden button combination, attacks that hit multiple enemies can be done.
- Hitbox Dissonance: It's deceptively easy to miss your targets.
- One-Hit Kill: The Crimson kills all non-boss enemies in one shot.
- Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: Combat Echizen is apparently being turned into a mindless beast by the time of the sequel, and the new protagonists are asked by his new friend to put him out of his misery.
