When it comes to funny voice acting in games, they’re often not intended. There’s some great comedy games, for sure, but since voice acting had a big learning period during the late 90s to late 2000s, there’s a truckload of voice acting in games that’s a product of their time.
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These voice performances can make a game a heck of a lot more enjoyable, and the title just wouldn’t be the same without it. That’s weird to say because these are bad performances, but they’re so bad it’s good, or in some instances, give off such a cheesy, corny vibe that you can’t help but love.
8
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
“What Is A Man?”
- Released
-
October 2, 1997
- ESRB
-
T For Teen Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- How Long To Beat
-
9 Hours
One of the most iconic voice acting in games during the PS1 era had to be Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Its opening moments are legendary with Richter’s famous line, “Die monster, you don’t belong in this world!” which has such terrible audio mixing, and then Dracula’s ridiculous famous line hits: “What is a man?”
The performances in this opening scene alone are Hall of Fame worthy. The rest of the game doesn’t let up either in its funny VO, and, sadly, later versions of Symphony of the Night removed it with a whole new voice cast. Why? The original VO had so much charm that it added to the experience for this PS1 classic.
7
Dead Or Alive Xtreme 2
English VO That Thankfully Wasn’t Cut
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
- Released
-
November 13, 2006
- Publisher(s)
-
Tecmo
- Multiplayer
-
Local Multiplayer
- ESRB
-
M
Besides the PS2 version of Dead or Alive 2, the first DOA game to include English voice acting was Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. The English VO was actually going to get cut because Tomonobu Itagaki didn’t like it, but Andrew Szymanski pushed for it to stay in the game, and thank goodness it did. The voice acting here is trademark mid-2000s anime VO, where it’s so cheesy, corny, and expressive that it’s always entertaining.
Each voice actor nails their respective female characters, with Tina being the Texas American akin to Sandy Cheeks, Kokoro the girl with self-esteem issues that deserves a “big gold star,” Christie who’s the psychopath, and so on. The English voice acting is consistently entertaining and will have you laughing throughout your entire time playing.
6
NBA 2K15
Not The Brightest Idea To Have The Athlete’s Voice Acting
NBA 2K15
In line with other sports games, NBA 2K15 has actual NBA athletes as voices. WWE games have been doing this for a long time, but the difference here is that most, if not all, WWE wrestlers talk pretty smoothly due to a thing called a promo, a huge part of professional wrestling. That isn’t a thing in the NBA, so some athletes are notoriously bad here.
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The worst and funniest one has to be Markieff Morris, who straight-up mumbles his dialogue. It’s so bad the dialogue doesn’t even match up with the subtitles at points. It’s like the person doing the subtitles can’t even understand what he’s saying — or Morris maybe just read the line wrong.
5
Shenmue
Never Has The Choice Between Japanese And English VO Been Tougher
In Yu Suzuki’s seminal Dreamcast game Shenmue, there’s a huge difference between the Japanese and English voice acting. The English VO, right off the bat, has poorer audio quality, but the performances themselves are straight from Dingo Pictures.
The actors are either performing with too low or way too high energy, but on the plus side, it makes the game a lot more entertaining and funny. However, Shenmue has a serious tone, so for a pursuit, you may want to play with Japanese voices, at least on your first playthrough. The sequels continued the bad voice-acting tradition, and Shenmue’s not the only Sega series to do this.
4
Fugitive Hunter: War On Terror
A “So Bad It’s Good” Game All-Around
|
Release Year |
Platforms |
Developer |
Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2003 |
PlayStation 2, PC |
Black Ops Entertainment |
Encore Software |
Not only does Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror have laughable voice acting, but the entire game is so bad it’s good, from the map oversights to the music, and especially to the lead character, Jake Seaver. Jake is a true American hero in the most bootleg way.
His one-liners are pretty bad and delivered so corny that you just can’t help but love it. He even has lines during normal gameplay. If you keep missing shots, he’ll yell, “Oh my god,” in the most defeated way, which is hilarious.
3
Zelda: The Wand Of Gamelon And Link: The Faces Of Evil
The Games That Inspired An Entire Genre Of YouTube Videos
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
- Platform(s)
-
PC
, Philips CD-i - Released
-
October 10, 1993
- Developer
-
Animation Magic
- Publisher
-
Philips Media
- ESRB
-
e
- How Long To Beat
-
2 Hours
Most of the time, it’s much better to play games than watch them, but if there’s one set of games far better to watch, it’s the Zelda CDI titles. Specifically, the first two, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Link: The Faces of Evil. They’re just not fun to play, but watching the cutscenes is a total joy. The performances, the animation, the lines, and everything about them are legendary in gaming history.
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There’s no way you’re not going to be entertained by its corniness and dollar-store-level charm. Frankly, it’s better than the Zelda animated series back in the day in terms of likeability. The cutscenes alone played a heavy part in the creation of the YouTube Poop genre of videos that still exist today, making these titles culturally significant.
2
The House Of The Dead 2
Simply Unbelievable
The House of the Dead 2
- Released
-
September 9, 1999
- Developer
-
Wow Entertainment
- Multiplayer
-
Local Multiplayer
- ESRB
-
m
There are certain voice performances where it’s so bad that a person intentionally trying to act bad could not recapture the same performance. The House of the Dead 2 gives off that vibe. The game itself is incredible, and one of the best light gun shooters ever made, but the voice acting remains astoundingly poor.
You have the lead characters, James and Gary, who give off low-energy performances throughout the entire game, but nothing compares to the villain, Goldman. He sounds the closest to being a straight-up robot, but still clearly being a human. The actor’s delivery is that flat. To be frank, all of this adds to the game, making it much more enjoyable. The bad acting here is even better than the bad acting in the Uwe Boll movie.
1
Resident Evil Classic
The Best “So Bad It’s Good” Voice Acting In Gaming History
The best so bad it’s good performances have so many laughable moments besides the ones typically talked about. This is why the original Resident Evil from 1996 still has the best so bad it’s good voice acting in any game. You have the iconic lines like “master of unlocking” and “Jill sandwich,” but there’s so much more than that.
The entire game, both scenarios, have so many laugh-out-loud moments, like the part near the end of Jill’s campaign where Jill and Barry both shout, “You’re here too” to each other. Wesker has a lot of funny lines, and Enrico is great. You really have to play the whole game for yourself to witness the greatness on offer here.
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