Every video game system has a defining game, an exclusive game like Mario 64 or Gran Turismo that shows off both what the console can do and what the manufacturer is about. This article is not about those classic games. This article is about the worst games for each system, the games that are so bad they leave the taste of sulfur in your mouth. These are the games that leave you numb enough to sit through an entire Britney Spears or Mariah Carey movie without complaining.

It’s easy to resent mediocre games on Xbox because they almost always look better than good games on other systems. Blood Wake, Microsoft’s attempt to spread the popular car kombat genre to boats, has some of the best-looking skies ever to appear in a game. It has the most convincing water ever to appear in a game. It has the most realistic islands, too. • Full coverage Reviews: • GameCube • PlayStation 2 • Xbox Interactive: • Choosing a console Set along an anonymous Asian coastline, Blood Wake was a good idea gone bad — players battle each other in hydrofoils, junks, and twin-hulled speedboats. Power-ups, boat repairs, and weapons would float along the surface of the water in wooden crates, and reefs and waves would add challenge to the game.