I heard a really interesting thing about how they used to do English voiceovers for games back in the day. Apparently, the original Japanese director had the final say on everything! If they didn’t like how an English voice actor sounded, they’d make them redo the lines. Which, makes sense, but also… English and Japanese are so different in how they flow – the speed and how we emphasize things. So, what sounded natural to us probably sounded super strange to someone used to Japanese. That’s why a lot of older games have that awkward, robotic voice acting – it was all about pleasing the original director, even if it didn’t quite work for English speakers.
It’s hard to say for sure, but this could explain why many games from the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo 64 era didn’t run or sound very polished. The PlayStation 2, with its huge number of game developers, was especially known for games with noticeably amateur voice acting – like a child reading a script. However, as someone who enjoys delightfully bad games, I think these titles deserve recognition. They show us how much game voice acting has improved, and they’re fun to laugh at!
Just to be clear, we’re focusing solely on how good the voice acting is. The general quality of the games themselves isn’t being considered.
7. Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color
“I am the Doodle King!”
| Developer | Garakuta-Studio |
|---|---|
| Platforms | PS2 |
| Release Date | June 2003 |
I often describe a common acting mistake as “dull surprise.” This term, which comes from the show Mystery Science Theater 3000, refers to when actors react to big, important moments with a blank, unexpressive look. You hear it a lot in video game voice acting – a good example is the game Magic Pengel. Even without seeing the actor, you can tell they aren’t showing much emotion.
Magic Pengel is a game where you collect creatures you design yourself, then pit them against each other in battles. It’s a fun concept, but the game would be much better if Zoe, your companion character, showed a wider range of emotions – right now, she mostly just seems mildly surprised or yells a lot without really feeling anything.
Zoe isn’t the only one affected – almost all the characters in the game have the same flat delivery. The villains come closest to showing genuine emotion, but instead of surprise, they just come across as typically smug and unpleasant.
6. The Sniper 2
“He smells the same as I do.”
| Developer | Best Media |
|---|---|
| Platforms | PS2 |
| Release Date | November 2002 |
Not all video games aim to be masterpieces. Some are intentionally made as inexpensive titles, designed to be sold at a low price. In the early 2000s, a Japanese company called D3 Publisher focused on creating these kinds of games, and they branded them as the Simple 2000 series. One game from this series that’s particularly notable is The Sniper 2, a sequel that was only released in Europe, following a Japan-exclusive original game.
The Sniper 2 tries to feel like a high-quality TV show, like something you’d see on HBO, by presenting a story about a hitman fleeing the mob and using opening and closing credits for each level. However, the voice acting doesn’t live up to that standard. The characters sound disconnected, as if they’re reading lines from separate, unrelated scripts and aren’t responding to each other’s emotions or the overall tone of the scene.
This often creates funny scenes where Henry is in the middle of a thought or speech, only to be interrupted by Stanley enthusiastically talking about the chicken special at his favorite restaurant.
5. Eternal Ring
“I gotta be going, now.”
Before FromSoftware became famous with Demon’s Souls in 2009 and basically created the whole ‘Soulslike’ genre, they were all over the place with their games. They’d try serious stuff, then wacky stuff, sometimes with big budgets, and sometimes… well, not so much. One game that definitely didn’t have a huge budget was Eternal Ring – and just to be clear, it has absolutely nothing to do with Elden Ring!
Eternal Ring is a typical sword and sorcery RPG, but it has a cool feature: you can design your own magical rings. However, the voice acting is… unusual. It sounds like all the characters are voiced by the same few people, and everyone speaks with a strangely calm and uninterested tone, almost as if they don’t care what’s happening.
Even creatures like a huge, talking water dragon speak in a casual, almost bored tone – like your dad reading you a bedtime story without much effort. The only real contrast comes from a grumpy old man who sounds less like a father and more like an odd uncle.
4. Mega Man X7
“BURN BURN BURN TO THE- BURN TO THE GROUND!”
It’s surprising to see a popular franchise like Mega Man mentioned alongside poorly dubbed games, but early attempts at voice acting in the series weren’t very successful. The dub for Mega Man 8 is especially infamous, forever known for the line “Doctah Wahwee.” Even several games later, during the PlayStation 2 era, the voice acting quality remained inconsistent, as seen in Mega Man X7.
The English dub of Mega Man X7 is incredibly over-the-top, and the voice acting doesn’t quite match the characters. Take Zero, for instance – you’d expect a young, heroic voice, like Johnny Yong Bosch. But in this game, he sounds like a tired, older man, almost like he’s fifty years old!
The voice acting for the Mavericks isn’t great overall, but Flame Hyenard has the most memorable dub performance. He’s a hyena-like robot who’s constantly supposed to be in pain due to the Sigma Virus. His voice changes instantly, going from confused and bored to incredibly loud screaming, so much so that multiple lines of dialogue often overlap.
3. Michigan: Report from Hell
“PAMELAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Horror is a challenging genre to adapt for different cultures and languages because what people find scary varies greatly around the world. This often results in awkward English dubs in horror movies and video games, as voice actors struggle to convey the intended fear. A well-known example is the original Resident Evil, but the game Michigan: Report from Hell also suffers from this issue.
In this game, you play as the camera operator following a reporter and technician as they investigate a strange, supernatural occurrence in Chicago. While your character doesn’t speak much, your tech expert, Brisco, is quite talkative, constantly cracking jokes and making suggestive comments that clash with the serious atmosphere.
When Brisco’s first news reporter, Pamela, is killed by a monster, he lets out an incredibly dramatic and lengthy cry – it’s a truly over-the-top moment, comparable to the famous, drawn-out scream from the movie Troll 2. It’s not frightening, but it’s undeniably funny.
2. RAD: Robot Alchemic Drive
“It’s called Bread and Water Soup!”
Okay, so growing up playing PS2 games, the English dubs were all over the place, just like with anime. Some were great, but when they were bad, they were REALLY bad. It’s kinda funny, then, that a game like RAD: Robot Alchemic Drive, which was clearly trying to feel like those old anime shows, ended up with all the worst parts of both – the cheesy writing and the sometimes terrible voice acting. It’s like it perfectly captured the flaws of that era!
RAD draws inspiration from mecha anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion. You play as a young professional – either a student or someone working – unexpectedly thrust into the role of commanding Earth’s last line of defense against an alien attack. The voice acting is often loud and delivered with a strangely flat tone, and the game relies heavily on unexplained names and terms.
Nanao, a friend of the main character, stands out in the cast, but not always for the right reasons. While she’s meant to be a downtrodden character struggling after losing her family in a robot attack, her voice acting often sounds surprisingly cheerful, even in incredibly sad moments—like when her grandmother is killed. Additionally, the actress delivers her screams—intended to be a simple ‘kyaaaah!’—in a drawn-out, unusual way, saying ‘keeeeee-yaaaaaaah!’ instead.
1. Chaos Wars
“Wow! I really can’t move my body!”
As a fan of quirky games, I’ve always been fascinated by Idea Factory. They’re known in Japan for making what some call ‘kusoge’ – basically, games so bad they’re good! They often have really low budgets and aren’t exactly polished, but that’s part of the fun. And honestly, their library is full of these kinds of titles, but Chaos Wars might be the most notorious. What’s really surprising is that this one wasn’t entirely their fault, which is a story in itself!
Chaos Wars is a strategy RPG first released in Japan in 2006, and then in the US in 2008. The game’s translation and adaptation for the American market were overseen by O~3 Entertainment, led by CEO Chris Jelinek. Interestingly, Jelinek also directed the voice acting, and cast his family in the main voice roles – despite the fact that none of them had professional voice acting experience.
Okay, as a fan, I have to say the English dub of Chaos Wars is… rough. Seriously, it’s bad. The voice acting is so off-putting, it actually hurts to listen to! My immediate reaction when I first heard it was just, “Oh no!” I really think you need to check out some clips on YouTube yourself – words just can’t describe how truly awful it is. You really have to experience it to believe it.
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2026-02-18 22:41