MGibster
Legend
By the time I got to it, in like, 1990, it felt really cheesy and old-hat, and it seemed like a lot of other games did post-apocalyptic stuff in a less ludicrous and over-the-top way. The fact that fans tended to focus on the most OTT/ludicrous/joke-y elements when I got online in the mid-90s only reinforced the "Old Person Joke Game" impression I've always had of it. Probably terribly unfair to see it that way, but people sure talked about it like it was a giant joke.
I can assure you, sir, that Gamma World was the most seriously grim and serious post apocalyptic game on the market back in the 1980s. Let me tell you about my character, a mutant scorpion named Fumbles....