http://hol.abime.net/?id=2789
THIS game has very poor graphics from an aesthetic point of view. The thing is that you fall in love with this game _in spite_ of the graphics, and after a while you think the powerups are cute and the barren landscapes make you feel like you're exploring a frontier and not just being presented something designed and polished and good looking that you can see was drawn for you. I can't explain it any better.
A grey ship with two colors. Caves with the same pattern on them, for 50 levels. Enemies that are always the same color and look like abstract cylinders with pins sticking out of them. Bullets are 1-pixel, white dots. Can it get any worse? Probably not. But it plays like an absolute dream.
In my opinion, Stephan Wenzler of Kingsoft is a genius for focusing on what's important to make a good game and totally ignore everything unimportant.
50 levels in perfect sequence to make a challenge, with powerups appearing on just the level where you need them. After a while you discover new game elements, like indestructible enemies and magnetic walls. He even made extra game modes, like split-screen racing and dogfights, which I had a lot of fun with together with my brother.
This game spawned a gazillion clones, and they all sucked. This is 2004 and I would gladly pay $50 for fifty new levels.