The Vita was a lovely little handheld, so its bad games stand out. Most of the real stinkers were ports that came from phones and PCs first, and those are left off here. That leaves three, and players do not hate all of them. Here are the 3 worst Vita games.
3. Futuridium EP Deluxe (2014)
Futuridium EP Deluxe is a shoot 'em up by the Italian studio MixedBag, made for the PS4 and the Vita and released in North America on September 30, 2014. Its design borrows from Uridium, a Commodore 64 game, and from Star Fox. It promises hard as hell action, set to a soundtrack 45 minutes long. Critics liked the Vita version less than the PS4 one: 65 out of 100 on the biggest review aggregator, against 74. It averages 52 out of 100.
Players who bring it up call it a great arcade game, and the music wins them over too. That makes it the odd one out on a worst list, with low scores and happy fans. If you like fast, short shooters, the number should not scare you off.
2. Dungeon Punks (2016)
Dungeon Punks is an old-school arcade beat 'em up from Hyper Awesome Entertainment, with tag-team fights and an RPG adventure on top. A typical move: freeze your enemies with a genie, then tag in your dwarf to finish them with bombs and napalm. The dwarf does not do subtle. It came out in July 2016 and averages 51 out of 100.
Not many people talk about it, but the few players who bring it up put it on their lists of Vita games they like. It is a goofy brawler that is best with a friend next to you, and a fine way to spend an evening if you miss the arcade.
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops - Declassified (2012)
Declassified is a first-person shooter by nStigate Games for the Vita alone, set between Black Ops and Black Ops II. Its campaign is a string of missions called Operations, and one reviewer said it was less than an hour long. Another found the multiplayer maps "so tiny that you'll literally spawn with an enemy in your crosshairs". There is no Zombies mode either: the studio said before launch that it wouldn't be included. Critics faulted its enemy AI and its glitches, and it is the lowest-rated game in the series on the biggest review aggregator. It averages 49 out of 100.
Players who bought it call it buggy and unfinished, and regret spending the money. Others still put it on their lists of Vita shooters worth owning. One player's verdict: "Zombies would've saved it, honestly."
Which one to play
There you have it, the whole list of the worst Vita games. Two of them are a lot better than their scores say, and one is exactly as bad as it sounds.
If you want something to enjoy, play Futuridium EP Deluxe. If you want a goofy brawler, try Dungeon Punks. If you want a Call of Duty on your Vita, skip Declassified entirely and buy a different shooter. Doodle Kingdom has the lowest score of any Vita game with enough ratings to count, and it isn't on this list, because it came out on phones first.
