Like an artist who becomes famous for their work post-mortem, many games only achieve notoriety after the deadline for profit-making has passed. Classics, games that are considered paragons of their genre, can sometimes be cast off as garbage before becoming a cult hit.
Whether it stems from poor marketing or mediocre gameplay, many iconic franchises have had trouble selling their games because of this public distaste.
10 Prince Of Persia Lost Its Charm
The Prince of Persia games on the original Xbox were fantastic games that combined platforming, beat-'em-up combat, and puzzle-solving with a Middle-Eastern setting. Playing as Prince in Sands of Time is satisfying. The tight controls and acrobatic combat were a refreshing change from other Xbox games' often clunky movement. Paired with a great story, the Sands trilogy sold over 14 million copies. Its successors, which appeared on the PS3 on the other hand, failed miserably. The crystal clear graphics and atmospheric setting never made it to the newer games. Having lost its heart, the series never recovered.
9 F-Zero Just Never Caught On
Originally launched on the SNES, the F-Zero series became famous mainly through Captain Falcon's continuing appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series. Many who play as the Falcon-Punch wielding tights-clad captain would be surprised to learn that F-Zero is purely a racing game, and a good one at that. The various reboots and remakes the series got were solid titles, but never really achieved the acclaim of the first game nor the decades-long fame of the Smash series. Because of that, many of the games sold poorly, and the series hasn't seen a release since the Gamecube.
8 Kid Icarus Didn't Take Off
A cult classic for the NES, Kid Icarus stars Pit, an angel saving the heavens from imminent danger. Even after his inclusion in multiple Super Smash Bros. titles, Pit's games only sold decently, with the 3DS game Kid Icarus: Uprising hitting mediocre numbers and the GBA title barely selling at all.
The original game, which sold the best, was a simple 2D platformer with tight controls and addicting gameplay. The newest game departed from this style, with Uprising touting third-person shooter mechanics along with some mild platforming. Unfortunately, the 3DS game's controls were pretty awful, severely hampering an otherwise fun game and cutting its sales.
7 Resistance Faced Stiff Competition
A crazy fun take on zombie shooters, Resistance 3 sold poorly despite having nearly everything necessary for a multiplayer shooting game to succeed. Its 16-player multiplayer servers had practically no lag issues, its Chimera shooting survival mode mirrored Call of Duty's Nazi zombie mode with more variety, and its campaign was a fun time. The demographic Insomniac was gunning for just didn't pick up on the game though, and Resistance only sold around 180,000 copies during its release month. Compared with giants like Gears of War and Call of Duty, the third installment in the Resistance series was overshadowed and relegated to cult-classic status.
6 Beyond Good & Evil Diverted From The Mainstream
A major release in the early 2000s, Beyond Good & Evil was an unfortunate flop, selling only 500,000 copies across all consoles. For such a hyped-up game, anything under one million sales is considered quite bad. It's a pity because the game is absolutely fantastic. Instead of using the sci-fi world of Hillys to promote an action-packed combat style, Beyond Good & Evil asks the player to slow down, use stealth, solve puzzles, and capture photographs of unique wildlife, all while skirting danger. A game that anyone should play, the remastered edition on PC makes it easy to pick up the title and experience science fiction gaming in a new way.
5 Mother's Marketing Tanked Its US Sales
Although the fame of Ness and Lucas skyrocketed in the USA after their inclusion in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, the Mother franchise itself was a complete flop in the states. Mother 2 was the only game to be released in the US, debuting on the SNES under the title, Earthbound. However, due to poor marketing that failed to portray what made the game special, the game flopped hard.
In the US, it only sold 140,000 copies. Due to the limited sales, this cult classic is extremely expensive to buy in its original format, with prices starting around the $300 mark.
4 Story Of Seasons Lost To Animal Crossing
While the Harvest Moon games featured an immersive and unique farm-life experience, they were more of a predecessor to the farming simulator genre rather than a titan ushering it in. The games were mainly sold only in Japan, and the title that made it to the US wasn't picked up by the mainstream. Not a single game has sold more than 500,000 copies, and Harvest Moon, the best-selling NA release, shipped out only 150,000 copies. Instead, games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley took the United States by storm.
3 Asura's Wrath Lacked Captivating Combat
A mostly cinematic experience, Asura's Wrath's distinct lack of captivating gameplay as well as its lackluster marketing made for a title that was destined to flop. Selling only 180,000 copies total across all countries, it's a pity that the game didn't pick up more hype upon release. While the gameplay was comprised mainly of QTE's, the massive scope of the battles, the fantastic music, and the bright and intriguing graphics make this game a unique playthrough almost an interactive movie. Games like Dragon's Lair met with great success, so this style of game isn't by any means automatically bad. Maybe if fans of the series push for a remake, the game might see more love, but until then, audiences will have to settle with the PS3 version.
2 Conker's Bad Fur Day Had A Bad Launch Day
On a console marketed mainly towards kids, it's unsurprising that a game with as much mature content as Conker's Bad Fur Day was rejected by the community. Only the second N64 game to release with an M rating, the game also came out near the end of the N64's life span.
Ultimately, the game only sold about 55,000 copies in its first month, a laughably small amount. Later, it received attention for its clever parody and memorable characters, but when it first hit the shelves, Conker was really having a bad day.
1 Sonic The Hedgehog Became Infamous
Though the first few games sold amazingly well, the modern Sonic The Hedgehog games achieved infamy for horrible programming and gameplay that was boring at best. Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric sold less than 500,00 copies, and the few games before it sold equally poorly. The franchise made a recovery with the release of Sonic Mania, but the history of shoddy work and poor sales continues to haunt SEGA's most iconic franchise.