Unapologetic violence, biting humour, murky moral choices: some games made provocation their signature. This Top 50 gathers the retro titles that disturbed — sometimes censored, often cult classics. RomWize breaks them down without taboo, each with its re-evaluated score, its versions, their rarity and their collector value.
"Under the pretext of climbing the criminal ladder, you borrow other people's cars, lose the police and settle every dispute with gunfire, all across open cities built for chaos. The game makes no secret of its irony, yet the thrill of total freedom makes you accept, without flinching, a daily routine of crimes chained together with a slightly guilty grin."
"Becoming the greatest trainer relies on a routine no one questions mid-game: bumping into wild creatures out in nature, wearing them down through fights, then sealing them in a ball to complete a collection. Sold as a grand friendly adventure, the pastime amounts to assembling a team of captured brawlers, which somehow never stops anyone from adoring it."
"A detective from the roaring years who cracks his cases by unleashing demons on his opponents has a decidedly expedient approach to policing. You capture these spirits, file them away in tubes and recall them to battle like simple tools, all in the name of public order. The retro elegance smooths over this forced taming of the supernatural without a hitch."
"At the close of a won fight, the game invites you to finish off your opponent with a “fatality,” a choreographed killing of almost virtuoso gory inventiveness. You execute the button combo with care, proud to land a spectacular dismemberment, without dwelling too much on the fact that you're mostly drilling the art of theatrical murder."
"Surviving an English boarding school sounds like a noble cause, but the method boils down to slingshot pellets, planted firecrackers and ruling the schoolyard through brawls. Framed as a bullied kid's comeback, the daily grind amounts to becoming the school's own little terror, something you pull off with a faintly guilty grin."
"The trade of contract killer is presented here as an art of discretion: disguises, poisons and piano wire, anything to eliminate the target without leaving a trace. You admire the elegance of the hit, and the game even rewards you for tidy work, which amounts to handing out nice grades for paid murders without ever sensing any wrongdoing."
"The stated dream fits in two words: become a Pokémon Master. In practice you trap wild animals inside little balls, hoard them by the dozen and send them to bash each other senseless to earn gym badges. The adventure is so warm-hearted that you happily overlook this knack for collecting battle-ready creatures, charmed rather than troubled."
"At the close of a won fight, the game invites you to finish off your opponent with a “fatality,” a choreographed killing of almost virtuoso gory inventiveness. You execute the button combo with care, proud to land a spectacular dismemberment, without dwelling too much on the fact that you're mostly drilling the art of theatrical murder."
"The vast playground invites you to do anything, and you fairly quickly opt to steal cars, run errands for criminals and turn traffic into chaos. The story dresses it all as a rise through the underworld, but the freedom on offer mostly works as an official permit to chain together offences, something you grant yourself with thoroughly pixelated delight."
"Mowing down Nazis by the dozen in an occupied America claims about the most defensible cause there is, which doesn't stop the orgy of violence from reaching dizzyingly jubilant heights. We blast the occupiers with gleeful relish, righteousness serving as an unlimited license for carnage. Watching a noble resistance tip into unabashed, euphoric butchery is deliciously over the top."
