Hard And Boring Games

[Delete]

Ever played a game that was just Impossible to beat? Heres where I will make a list of some of the hardest games ever made. Some Ive Beaten, some I havent.
Also, I know there are strategy guides but even they don't help with some of these games.


Game: Fur Fighters
Console; Dreamcast:
The Concept: You gotta save babies and shoot stuff.
Why Its so Hard:Okay, so this game starts off kinda simple but quickly gets hard. Your goal is to rescue babies and stop the evil Dr. Viggo. And thats why this game is so freaking hard. Getting babies are as annoying as trying to take a crap upside down. THey are in stupid areas too. I mean how the F did that babie get on top of a huge Clock tower? Anyway, if its not the babies, its the regular puzzles which can be even more frustrating. I made it near the end but got stuck on a tank puzzle which I could not figure out for the love of sheep. If anyone has beat this, please lemme know.



Game: MDK 2
Console;Dreamcast
The Concept: Omg this game sucks
Why Its so Hard: The first level in many games should be relatively easy right? Not for MDK. Regular enemies have huge health bars and take so much before they die. The first boss isn't exactly easy either. Use link and watch it on youtube if ya want.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iokgDQcmoIc&feature=related


This game gets riduculas around mission 5 or 6 I believe. I can't go on with this trash.



I'm doing one more. I'll add somemore if anyone cares lol. Feel free to make some to people.


Game:Black
Console: PS2
The Concept: Fake Red Faction
Why Its Boring: Wanna play a FPS with no real story and fight only 5 people through the whole game? Well thats Black for ya. The game looked Promising at first, bragging about it's destructible environments which are like 5 things in the game. And I wasn't kidding about 5 enemies in the game. What I did leave out was that 2 of em are rare to fight, (RPG and Sniper guys) which means it's more like 3. Now thats a recipe for.....Boring. The guns and graphics are okay, but the game itself sucks.


Well, I'm done. This is what happens when your bored.
Now off to comment other threads. :smile:

PS: I'm taking "newer games" part out. Lets face it, most hard/boring games were for the older systems.

[Rasputin]

FUR FIGHTERS? GET OUT!

[Delete]

LOl, I was young and it was cheap. :lol:
No job then either.

[Nitro Vordex]

I dunno about the boring games, but I love hard games. Gives me a reason to actually, ya know, try and beat the game.

Of which you just lost.

[Shadowpawn]

You hate Fur Fighter AND MDK2? That's it, you and I are done professionally. Can't say that I've ever run into a game that was TOO hard for me to beat. Dude, I grew up playing the Tomb Raider series (up to three, because then it just started to suck afterwards.) That's not easy, AT ALL.

[Volcompat321]

Yea, for me, Sonic 1 on SEGA was pretty hard. . . .JK..
You know what was hard on the SEGA...That damn X-men game...I'm not sure why, but I never beat it, and hated that it was so hard for me.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk115/Volcompat321/X-Men_GEN_ScreenShot1.gif

[Shadowpawn]

Did you get stuck on Mojo's stage? (hint: you have to reset the genesis after you beat him.)

[Kylie]

Dead Rising... yeah. Well, I guess it wasn't really hard, but I'm not a fan of escort missions, especially when the folks you're escorting are complete morons. The bosses were incredibly annoying too. Thank God for that awesome story line.

[Vanzazikon]

Did you get stuck on Mojo's stage? (hint: you have to reset the genesis after you beat him.)Oh yeah, I remember that part. When you hit reset, the screen would turn black then all these green code filled up the whole screen. I loved that game when I was a kid. :wacko:

[Volcompat321]

Nobody else find X-men hard? maybe i just suck at games.

[opaopajr]

hard AND boring? hmm, that's mostly old school stuff. especially on 8-bit and ancient PCs (pre-*86 CPUs). i could walk through memory lane, but i'm due for class in a few, so not tonight.

oh, OK, i'll give just one: Fantasia on the Genesis. controls were nowhere near as tight as Castle of Illusion and towards the higher levels it just became ridiculous. last level w/ Night on Bald Mountain is pretty as everything else in the game, but by then you are just running through the level burning off extra lives just to be done after what felt like hours of playing. also the music from the dinosaur level doesn't help things much (but it's where you get so many extra lives, so you gotta stay there for quite a bit).

[kurisu1974]

Nobody else find X-men hard? maybe i just suck at games.

I thought X-Men was hard too. I used to play it together with my brother, which made it even harder.

[Kard]

"Hard" games for newer systems...

Well, R-Type Final (PS2) and Soldner-X (PC, 2007) come to mind. Both old school-style shooters.

[Outrider]

Game:Black
Console: PS2
The Concept: Fake Red Faction
Why Its Boring: Wanna play a FPS with no real story and fight only 5 people through the whole game? Well thats Black for ya. The game looked Promising at first, bragging about it's destructible environments which are like 5 things in the game. And I wasn't kidding about 5 enemies in the game. What I did leave out was that 2 of em are rare to fight, (RPG and Sniper guys) which means it's more like 3. Now thats a recipe for.....Boring. The guns and graphics are okay, but the game itself sucks.

You and I played two entirely different games, it seems.

I played Black on Xbox and it was a relatively fun "gritty" FPS. (I don't really get the enemy type complaint - it's a modern day FPS - do you want space aliens?)

The graphics were good and it was pretty cool seeing everything getting wrecked as you played (but again, this was on the Xbox, so maybe the PS2 version wasn't doing the same graphical effects). Of course, I played somebody else's game, so I didn't have to pay for it.

Still, the game wasn't all that great. It DID have a story, albeit a juvenile and poorly-written one. Plus, the game was only about 4 hours, which even in today's world of short playtimes would be unacceptable.

But as dumb, flashy fun to play once and forget? I enjoyed it.

[Sekani]

Hard and boring? Hmm... Final Fantasy XI.

[amtalx]

The original MDK is one of my favorite old school games. MDK2 strayed from the formula with the Dr. Hawkins and Max levels, but the Kurt levels were awesome. It also wasn't hard. *shrug* I played it on PC though. Maybe the controls were better.

Black's story was horrible, but it was still fun. Its a shame no one has tried the cinematic environment destruction in a current gen game.

[KodiaX987]

Game: MDK 2
The Concept: Omg this game sucks
Why Its so Hard: The first level in many games should be relatively easy right? Not for MDK.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3003232946_68ed53b040_o.jpg

TOO MUCH FAIL FOR JUST ONE PALM

[Cracka_J]

mdk series was outstanding. you deserve two smacks to the face.

go back before nes and play some really hard games. like robotron. it doesn't let you win. ever. if you don't walk away from robotron wanting to boot puppies in the face, you aren't playing it right.

[Outrider]

Black's story was horrible, but it was still fun. Its a shame no one has tried the cinematic environment destruction in a current gen game.

Oh God, the story is terrible. I loved how Criterion kept claiming it was a controversial game that dealt with serious, real-world issues. No, it didn't. It was a downright-silly attempt at trying to tell a war crimes story.

The "cinematic environment destruction" (good phrase) won me over in some places though. I just remember playing this only a month or two before the Wii came out. I remember playing Red Steel and wishing it played/looked a lot more like Black.

[trypticon]

Game: Elevator Action
Concept: You're a secret agent assigned to go to what seems like every building in New York to search for rooms with red doors so you can go in and take a peachy folder..
Why it's so hard: You have limited moves, for sure. I actually don't hate the game, nor find it particularly boring, but I've got to admit that there isn't a whole lot going on in it. It used to be one of my favorite arcade games back in the early 80's. I was probably a lot better at it back then, too. Now that I've got it on the Virtual Console, I'm not able to get passed the third or fourth building, because, while I may have limited moves to attack and dodge enemy fire, the enemy agents increasingly begin using those same moves, too, which means I find myself in spots where I'm unable to dodge at all. The sad thing is, I think I'm not bad at the game, but I'm only able to survive the first three out of perhaps fifty to one hundred buildings (I think I've read it has fifty in it). I might be the only one here who would find the game remotely interesting when compared with video game standards today, but I also don't think I'll ever end up getting all the way through it.

[Niered]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3003232946_68ed53b040_o.jpg

TOO MUCH FAIL FOR JUST ONE PALM

This image is so perfect a fit for this retarded comment that I seriously believe Patrick Stewart posed for this still in preparation for the day this would be said on the intertubes.

And Fur fighters is amazing, plus your the first person Ive ever heard associate the word "boring" with it. That game was balls to the wall stupid awesome. It didnt just have awesome platforming and 3rd person shooter elements, it had an amazing sense of humor and some of the most ridiculous stages ever. I cite Valley of the god machines, because their are very few stages that have ever made me feel so small as a player. Plus that game had more replayability than you can shake a Mario at.

ITT if you really want to talk about hard games, go play Ikaruga on something other than Easy, and if you want to talk boring games, go play some MMO's or Rougelikes. Then realize your commentary here is sad.

[amtalx]

+10 for mentioning Ikaruga. Trying to perfect chain an entire chapter will put hair on your coconuts.

[Gentlemen]

I remember Super Metroid on the SNES destroyed me as a kid. I got so irritated on certain bosses and eventually got stuck on the space station ghost/eye/douche thing. I nabbed some emulator and ROM rig legitimate cartridge and redeemed myself, having learned to use the Screw Attack.

If you want another fantastically hard game try Out of This World.

[Kard]

Ikaruga's easy...at least if all you're trying to do is survive (which is how I play shmups). The end of chapter 4 is pretty tough, though.

[AC9breaker]

Time Commando: It was mostly hard because the game was shit.

[Kent]

Ikaruga's easy...at least if all you're trying to do is survive (which is how I play shmups). The end of chapter 4 is pretty tough, though.
The idea behind Treasure's games are that you first hone your abilities to just survive, and then you go back with that skill perfected, and go for the highest score or ballsiest method possible.

Just about everything Treasure has made goes on the "Absolutely Brutal, but Still Completely Freaking Awesome" list of games.

[Nitro Vordex]

So.

Who wants to play Contra with me?

[Apone]

Battletoads for NES (never beat)
and Rygar for NES (but I did beat that one)
Both were pretty hard but I had fun with them. Although Battletoads was just plain hard, Rygar on the other hand gave you one life to beat the game with and no password save or continues... ouch...

[Volcompat321]

What about- Yo! Noid?
Ghost's n Goblin's?
Bionic Commando?
Bomberman?
Just a few for NES

[Kard]

The idea behind Treasure's games are that you first hone your abilities to just survive, and then you go back with that skill perfected, and go for the highest score or ballsiest method possible.

Just about everything Treasure has made goes on the "Absolutely Brutal, but Still Completely Freaking Awesome" list of games.

I agree with all that. It's just that scoring is more an optional thing, and hi-scores are not needed to beat the game (or games in general). I rate a standard game's difficulty on what is required of you to beat it and see the ending. So if an optional aspect of the game is where most of the challenge lies, then the game isn't inherently hard - you make it so~ You could probably make most games "hard" by imposing whatever challenge or restriction on your gameplay.

Other games like MMOs, or those you can't exactly "beat" are a different story.

[Shadowpawn]

What about- Yo! Noid?
Ghost's n Goblin's?
Bionic Commando?
Bomberman?
Just a few for NES

Ghosts n Goblins was hard. It's sequel, Super Ghosts n Goblins, was also hard.

[Volcompat321]

Oh, I know! It pissed me off since I was like....I don't know maybe 7? lol I'm 20 now, so whenever that came out.....It was as hard as Zelda, and that was only hard cause I didn't think of the things I would now.

[Zarode]

So you were an uncreative young individual.

[Volcompat321]

Well, kinda. I was only 7-ish and had other things to do than play games. ( not saying that because gaming is bad ) saying that because I was in baseball, cubscouts and a lot of other activities.

Boyscouts, baseball, football, school, friends, family, birthdays, EVERYTHING..

[amtalx]

I agree with all that. It's just that scoring is more an optional thing, and hi-scores are not needed to beat the game (or games in general). I rate a standard game's difficulty on what is required of you to beat it and see the ending. So if an optional aspect of the game is where most of the challenge lies, then the game isn't inherently hard - you make it so~ You could probably make most games "hard" by imposing whatever challenge or restriction on your gameplay.

Other games like MMOs, or those you can't exactly "beat" are a different story.

That's true, but what's the fun in just slipping under the radar just to see the ending? By avoiding the chaining you missed the entire point of the game.

[Kard]

Wasn't this thread supposed to be about newer games? What's with the 8-16-bit mentions ?:3


That's true, but what's the fun in just slipping under the radar just to see the ending? By avoiding the chaining you missed the entire point of the game.
I'm not sure it's exactly the point of these games, as much as it's something some people (I guess the more skilled) like to focus on, and others, like me just happen to do sometimes in passing while trying to survive. The fun and the challenge for me with shmups has always been just getting through them. Obviously I'm not terribly good at them, but focusing on score only limits my experience.

[Delete]

This image is so perfect a fit for this retarded comment that I seriously believe Patrick Stewart posed for this still in preparation for the day this would be said on the intertubes.

And Fur fighters is amazing, plus your the first person Ive ever heard associate the word "boring" with it. That game was balls to the wall stupid awesome. It didnt just have awesome platforming and 3rd person shooter elements, it had an amazing sense of humor and some of the most ridiculous stages ever. I cite Valley of the god machines, because their are very few stages that have ever made me feel so small as a player. Plus that game had more replayability than you can shake a Mario at.

ITT if you really want to talk about hard games, go play Ikaruga on something other than Easy, and if you want to talk boring games, go play some MMO's or Rougelikes. Then realize your commentary here is sad.

No, I didnt say Fur fighters was boring, I said it was hard ^^
Each game falls under one category for me, not both.


Well since were on the old systems, heres some funny vids if you havent already seen them.
He's The angry video game nerd. Enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Angry_Video_Game_Nerd_episodes

Episodes I reccomend watching?
10,14,18,19, defitnely 27 and 32.

[Cracka_J]

I remember Super Metroid on the SNES destroyed me as a kid. I got so irritated on certain bosses and eventually got stuck on the space station ghost/eye/douche thing. I nabbed some emulator and ROM rig legitimate cartridge and redeemed myself, having learned to use the Screw Attack.

If you want another fantastically hard game try Out of This World.

You must have not played original metroid first. That game was 1000x more brutal then super metroid ever was. Super Metroid was still a blast though, one of my favorite all time games.

I'll give you out of this world also. That game tries to kill you every chance it gets. If you're not in puppy kicking mode after beating out of this world, play flashback. It's a prettier out of this world done by the same development team, and they added even more ways to kill you. It's super fun.

[Delete]

Game: Resident Evil 5 ( Professional mode )
Console: 360
Concept Its the hardest mode.
Why It's hard: I know this isn't like the full game hard or nothing, but it does deserve a mention for being hard. So you played normal mode and you were like, "this game was sweet". You go to Veteran and besides some minor problems, you beat that too. Now your all pumped for professional mode. With Infinite ammo for some of your weapons, you breeze past through some of the levels. The end boss of chapter 2 is pretty tough ( freaking rock never breaks half the time). But come on, whats the problem we all had? Jill. I told myself I'd beat it on my 3rd try, then my 4th, 5th................finally after my 43rd death, Me and my friend beat it. I'm not saying this game sucks, I love it personally. But dang Jill, ease up some will ya?

[amtalx]

I'm not sure it's exactly the point of these games, as much as it's something some people (I guess the more skilled) like to focus on, and others, like me just happen to do sometimes in passing while trying to survive. The fun and the challenge for me with shmups has always been just getting through them. Obviously I'm not terribly good at them, but focusing on score only limits my experience.

I think every decent game at least tries to bring something new and unique to the table, and you would be doing all of those games a great disservice if you don't at least explore it a little. I'm a huge shump fan and I'm aware of typical bullet curtain games where survival is the only aspect. Ikaruga brings a great deal more than just survival. I can't express how much you are missing by not at least trying to chain. Once you start, you realize that the polarity of every wave in the entire game is meticulously chosen for the sole purpose of chaining, not just so the colors would be pretty. You are missing the point in that regard.

Look at fighting games as another example. Sure, you can put SFIV it on easy and button mash through to the end, but your are missing everything about the mechanics.

EDIT: As far as the Jill fight on Professional, do NOT do it with another human player in co-op. Let the AI control Sheva. Jill basically ignores her and Sheva can grab from behind seemingly every 15 seconds.

[Volcompat321]

Wasn't this thread supposed to be about newer games? What's with the 8-16-bit mentions ?:3


I'm not sure it's exactly the point of these games, as much as it's something some people (I guess the more skilled) like to focus on, and others, like me just happen to do sometimes in passing while trying to survive. The fun and the challenge for me with shmups has always been just getting through them. Obviously I'm not terribly good at them, but focusing on score only limits my experience.

Did you not read Original Post?

Ever played a game that was just Impossible to beat? I know most games for say the Nintendo were down right stupidly hard, but what about the newer systems? Heres where I will make a list of some of the hardest games ever made. Some Ive Beaten, some I havent.
Also, I know there are strategy guides but even they don't help with some of these games.


Game: Fur Fighters
Console; Dreamcast:
The Concept: You gotta save babies and shoot stuff.
Why Its so Hard:Okay, so this game starts off kinda simple but quickly gets hard. Your goal is to rescue babies and stop the evil Dr. Viggo. And thats why this game is so freaking hard. Getting babies are as annoying as trying to take a crap upside down. THey are in stupid areas too. I mean how the F did that babie get on top of a huge Clock tower? Anyway, if its not the babies, its the regular puzzles which can be even more frustrating. I made it near the end but got stuck on a tank puzzle which I could not figure out for the love of sheep. If anyone has beat this, please lemme know.



Game: MDK 2
Console;Dreamcast
The Concept: Omg this game sucks
Why Its so Hard: The first level in many games should be relatively easy right? Not for MDK. Regular enemies have huge health bars and take so much before they die. The first boss isn't exactly easy either. Use link and watch it on youtube if ya want.




This game gets riduculas around mission 5 or 6 I believe. I can't go on with this trash.



I'm doing one more. I'll add somemore if anyone cares lol. Feel free to make some to people.


Game:Black
Console: PS2
The Concept: Fake Red Faction
Why Its Boring: Wanna play a FPS with no real story and fight only 5 people through the whole game? Well thats Black for ya. The game looked Promising at first, bragging about it's destructible environments which are like 5 things in the game. And I wasn't kidding about 5 enemies in the game. What I did leave out was that 2 of em are rare to fight, (RPG and Sniper guys) which means it's more like 3. Now thats a recipe for.....Boring. The guns and graphics are okay, but the game itself sucks.


Well, I'm done. This is what happens when your bored.
Now off to comment other threads. :smile:

[Niered]

No, I didnt say Fur fighters was boring, I said it was hard ^^




Ok well in that case your still wrong, because apart from the boss fights that game never presented me or my kid brother, who was 11 at the time we got it and I 13, with so much of a challenge that we didnt keep going on. Plus you do realize that the game didnt require you to collect anywhere near the total amount of babies and tokens to finish it right? It was very much like mario64 in that regard, you only had to have gotten a certain amount before you could go on to the next stage, allowing you to pick and choose.

I should know, I skipped almost the entire "The Bad Place" stage because its such a mindfuck, and still beat the final boss.

[Kard]

I think every decent game at least tries to bring something new and unique to the table, and you would be doing all of those games a great disservice if you don't at least explore it a little. I'm a huge shump fan and I'm aware of typical bullet curtain games where survival is the only aspect. Ikaruga brings a great deal more than just survival. I can't express how much you are missing by not at least trying to chain. Once you start, you realize that the polarity of every wave in the entire game is meticulously chosen for the sole purpose of chaining, not just so the colors would be pretty. You are missing the point in that regard.

Look at fighting games as another example. Sure, you can put SFIV it on easy and button mash through to the end, but your are missing everything about the mechanics.

No, I definitely DID chain in Ikaruga. I'm not sure you even CAN avoid it altogether. I never avoided chaining in itself, but I DID avoid playing only to score as high as possible. Sorry I gave the wrong impression earlier.

I am somewhat of a completionist when it comes to most games I play, and there are plenty of complex gameplay mechanics I'll explore and try to master. Typically I'll go through every mode, try to complete all mini-games and beat optional bosses or whathaveyou, until there's nothing left. After that, I usually see no reason to further hone my skills, or collect more gear to strengthen my character(s) since I've already beaten everything.

I do have my limits, however, as the more advanced you get with the techniques you use, you require more discipline, more analyzing, more structure (and therefore restriction) to your gameplay. This isn't always fun to me, and I'd rather play games for fun, than feel like I'm still at work. I'm a big fan of challenge in games, especially RPGs where I can get it, but I do have limits to how far I'll go to challenge myself, when the game stops challenging me. If that makes any sense.

As for fighting games, I know that the point of these games isn't just to beat them - that isn't the point of versus/pvp games in general. I'm usually content to simply be better than my local competition, and as my opponents have gotten better, so have I. I would even do pretty well for myself playing SFa2 and ST on GGPO last year, even though the competition on there often includes a couple well-known high-level players.

At the same time, the higher the level of play, I find it can become increasingly frustrating and boring for someone who isn't conditioned to the extreme play-to-win climate, since generally only top-tier characters get chosen, and the same repetitive tactics used for efficiency. It's effective, but it's also robotic, not fun to play for me, and oftentimes even boring to watch.

Went off on a bit of a tangent there! Felt like this was the rants section for a bit~ X3


@Volcompat321: I did read the OP, and he did specifically mention "newer systems".

[Pwincess]

Game: A boy and his blob.
I really struggled with that game... I think I was about 7 or so. If I were to play it now... I think I would have a better chance. It was confusing!

[Cracka_J]

Game: A boy and his blob.

I don't think this game was as hard/challenging as it was badly programmed. I remember trying to get that stupid blob to do shit and it would just sit there.

Irritating and unresponsive control are in an entire different league then something just being challenging. I hate games that try to seem challenging only to discover the gameplay/control are god aweful.

I think kard said something about this thread being about newer games, but to tell you the truth, I can't think of anything post ps2 era (exclude ikaruga...it was on dc first) that was challenging without bad gameplay/programming. Maybe the hard combo trials in street fighter 4? Took me a few weeks to get through those...but that's really just a side part of the game and not the game itself. That might be why a lot of people are reminiscing about past challenging games instead of new stuff. New stuff just really isn't that challenging...and the game companies make it that way to appeal to a wider audience. A lot of non-memorable fluff.

[Niered]

I think kard said something about this thread being about newer games, but to tell you the truth, I can't think of anything post ps2 era (exclude ikaruga...it was on dc first) that was challenging without bad gameplay/programming. Maybe the hard combo trials in street fighter 4? Took me a few weeks to get through those...but that's really just a side part of the game and not the game itself. That might be why a lot of people are reminiscing about past challenging games instead of new stuff. New stuff just really isn't that challenging...and the game companies make it that way to appeal to a wider audience. A lot of non-memorable fluff.

Ninja Gaiden definitely fits that bill, but yes, overall there simply are not as many "difficult" titles as there used to be, and I can tell you why.

Going back to games that are considered brutal in difficulty, these came right after the arcades. Ill use good ol' Ghosts N' Goblins for example. Its an incredibly difficult game that actually had an arcade port, but many games from that time period didnt have arcade versions but were still difficult (the original Mystical Ninja for example). The reason is simple, Arcade games make money by requiring the player to pop more and more quarters in. If the player could easily beat the game than the cabinet didnt make the arcade owner enough money.

Retail games originally followed a similar method, as their hadnt really been much experimentation outside of it until then. What developers quickly realized is that once a person has bought a game, they want to be able to play through it with a modicum of challenge, but not so much it makes them give up. Compare a game to a movie, how much would the average consumer enjoy buying a VHS or DVD that they couldnt finish because they couldnt "beat" a certain scene? People want to be able to experience the entire product in some way.

Im not saying its optimal for all games on all systems, but if you look at the console ports of games like Metal Slug and such, its easy to see why there is an unlimited credits button if you bear this in mind.

[Cracka_J]

yeah I know, I used to test for an arcade based company.
there are many, many evil things they write in the code to take your money.

just for instance (and I know this doesn't compare to something actually difficult or challenging at all), a shoot'em up this company made had a pre-programmed shoot timer built in, where if you survived on a life for over 3 minutes your probable rate of being shot (even if there were no on-screen people shooting you visible) went up to around 90%. meaning you will die, no matter how good you were (and you can't kill things that aren't visible >.>).

when I tested, I was probably the best in the country at the stupid game, and I had to test if cycling the machine (continuous play without inserting coins) was possible. on one game, I could cycle a stage about 2.5 times (around 12 minutes of gameplay on a credit), playing at my highest capabilities. then death by invisible gunfire :)

if you're serious about any arcade shooter/racer I'd highly advise looking deeply into the core game mechanics. there's likely shifty code laid all over the place designed with the sole purpose of taking your money. but like you said, there's a difference between console and arcade style games now, console is made much easier with the intent that players will complete their games and move onto purchasing the new one asap.

[Niered]

yeah I know, I used to test for an arcade based company.
there are many, many evil things they write in the code to take your money.

just for instance (and I know this doesn't compare to something actually difficult or challenging at all), a shoot'em up this company made had a pre-programmed shoot timer built in, where if you survived on a life for over 3 minutes your probable rate of being shot (even if there were no on-screen people shooting you visible) went up to around 90%. meaning you will die, no matter how good you were (and you can't kill things that aren't visible >.>).

when I tested, I was probably the best in the country at the stupid game, and I had to test if cycling the machine (continuous play without inserting coins) was possible. on one game, I could cycle a stage about 2.5 times (around 12 minutes of gameplay on a credit), playing at my highest capabilities. then death by invisible gunfire :)

if you're serious about any arcade shooter/racer I'd highly advise looking deeply into the core game mechanics. there's likely shifty code laid all over the place designed with the sole purpose of taking your money. but like you said, there's a difference between console and arcade style games now, console is made much easier with the intent that players will complete their games and move onto purchasing the new one asap.

That's messed up, but not entirely surprising.

Let me see if I can actually contribute to the thread with info regarding ACTUALLY hard/boring games.

Lets see...


Ooh! Wild Metal.

Its a Rockstar game made for PC and Dreamcast, the PC one wasnt apparently terrible, but the Dreamcast one sure was. The game wasnt difficult, it was boring. You had 4 tanks to choose from and you went on the same damn mission every level, and every level was bland as hell. All you did was grab these energy things and take them back to your base. Their was no upgrade system really, and the aiming system was ridiculously unintuitive. And did I mention the levels were bland? The same freaking ground texture used EVERYWHERE with mountains and hills and occasionally snow.

I might post more If I can think of any, but Ive actually made very few bad purchases of video games over the years, mainly due to my hardcore research of them before the buy, but I know theres more.

[Nitro Vordex]

Megaman Zero. All of them.

Now, originally, I was a Megaman X player, but playing Zero was a little different, and a LOT more of the learning curve. It's also hard to play on a PC controller.

Which leads into my other game.

Megaman X6. I hope you freeze in the lowest layers of hell, Gate.

[Randomness]

Truly hard games I've played...

Etrian Odyssey I/II. Quite nasty, which is both fun and mean. (Unfortunately, looking stuff up makes the difficulty plummet rapidly)

[Nitro Vordex]

yeah I know, I used to test for an arcade based company.
there are many, many evil things they write in the code to take your money.

just for instance (and I know this doesn't compare to something actually difficult or challenging at all), a shoot'em up this company made had a pre-programmed shoot timer built in, where if you survived on a life for over 3 minutes your probable rate of being shot (even if there were no on-screen people shooting you visible) went up to around 90%. meaning you will die, no matter how good you were (and you can't kill things that aren't visible >.>).

when I tested, I was probably the best in the country at the stupid game, and I had to test if cycling the machine (continuous play without inserting coins) was possible. on one game, I could cycle a stage about 2.5 times (around 12 minutes of gameplay on a credit), playing at my highest capabilities. then death by invisible gunfire :)

if you're serious about any arcade shooter/racer I'd highly advise looking deeply into the core game mechanics. there's likely shifty code laid all over the place designed with the sole purpose of taking your money. but like you said, there's a difference between console and arcade style games now, console is made much easier with the intent that players will complete their games and move onto purchasing the new one asap.
Heh, on the subject of arcade machines and printing money.

Fighting games. This is the cheapest move possibly ever. Why?

Not only is the game usually on the hardest difficutly, but think about the moves the characters do. Simply, they aren't limited by buttons. Meaning, if the wanna kickickickkickpunchpunchuppercutslashstompSUPARCOM BOFINISH without "pressing" a button, then they could. It's basically looking at the screen and winning.

[Powder Keg]

Anyone remember Fatal Labrynth for Genesis? Boring, and definitely not easy.

Battletoads and Double Dragon for SNES - not boring, but I found this game to be ridiculously hard. I once played this game with infinite lives and still lost. owned.

(People are going to shoot me for this) Phantasy Star II. Boring IMO, gameplay is very slow, and you're going to get wrecked unless you grind. I wouldn't have a problem with that if the gameplay wasn't so slow overall. If it were more fast-paced like IV it would be more tolerable. I tried playing through this and just lost interest.

Any Megaman X past X4. Since X5, Capcom suddenly decided they wanted to change the game until it doesn't feel like Megaman at all anymore. No shooting through walls, the most ridiculous boss names you've ever heard, and making every stage full of nothing but spikes and other things that can crush or kill you instantly. There's a fine line between a challenge and just tedious/boring.

[Split]

Gex...I never beat Gex, even though it's still sitting up in my romm to this day (the N64 one). Maybe someday though, if it still works.

[Volcompat321]

What about that Donkey Kong 64 game...It wasn't hard at all, but it sure was boring.

[Shadowpawn]

What about that Donkey Kong 64 game...It wasn't hard at all, but it sure was boring.

Diddy Kong with Jet Pack and Peanut Guns > your boredom.

[Volcompat321]

Well, he was cool. But the game didn't have toooo much to it. I played Perfect Dark around the same time I played DK, and Perfect Dark was better.

[Niered]

Any Megaman X past X4. Since X5, Capcom suddenly decided they wanted to change the game until it doesn't feel like Megaman at all anymore. No shooting through walls, the most ridiculous boss names you've ever heard, and making every stage full of nothing but spikes and other things that can crush or kill you instantly. There's a fine line between a challenge and just tedious/boring.

AWW C'MON! No love for DUFF MCWHALEN?!

But seriously, I really have to agree with you, the X series has just kinda gotten ridiculous.

[Sano]

Megaman 9, Toe Jam & Earl, Bubsy (I think thats what its called lol. Was a game about a cat-like creature... or something lol), Andretti Racing (PS1 lol), any old Air Plane game that is PS1 or older lol.

[Volcompat321]

Dude, I played Bubsy! I actuallyloved that game as a kid... I don't think I could bring myself to ever play it again though.

[Kard]

Ugh, Bubsy. That brings back the time I almost cried after I beat it on Genesis. The same happened with Mario is Missing. I beat both those games within a couple hours of purchasing them. As a kid, such a thing was heart-breaking to me. ; ;

...Actually, it still is. ; ;

[Volcompat321]

Side scrollers aren't really meant for numerous hours trying to beat em, are they?

[Kard]

I suppose not, but I never beat any classic Mario my first time through in just 2-3 hours. Nor a Sonic, for that matter. They offered challenge and fun over numerous days/weeks. :E

[Volcompat321]

Well, Sonic was beatable with 2-3 hours. Mario, not so fast. I love/d Mario games til the Wii one... I don't hate it, but there's other games I'd rather put my time into. I think the shortest I beat any Mario game was, maybe 2 days off and on...I don't think I ever sat down and tried beating it at one time.

[Nitro Vordex]

Well, Sonic was beatable with 2-3 hours.
Wow, you're slow. I usually finished in about 20-30 minutes.

[Delete]

Wow, you're slow. I usually finished in about 20-30 minutes.

I don't know about that, I'd say an 1hr and a half at least.

[Zarode]

Well, kinda. I was only 7-ish and had other things to do than play games. ( not saying that because gaming is bad ) saying that because I was in baseball, cubscouts and a lot of other activities.

Boyscouts, baseball, football, school, friends, family, birthdays, EVERYTHING..

What was the point of this post, exactly? You're trying to prove something to people who don't honestly care. Also, making excuses. A lot of us, when we were kids, didn't have a ton of time for games.

I know I didn't. I was forced to go outside (not a bad thing, but I tend to lose track of time easily when I'm engrossed in things), I played baseball as a kid, I annoyed my brother, family friends etc; when I had time for games, it was mother fucking on. Damn, now I wanna play some Mega Man X.

Also, why was birthdays such a big deal? Did you have a gigantic family and have a ton of friends? :E

tl;dr version: Yes, a lot of us had lives outside of video games. You just blew as a kid, here is your sign. :nono:

[Cracka_J]

Heh, on the subject of arcade machines and printing money.

Fighting games. This is the cheapest move possibly ever. Why?

Not only is the game usually on the hardest difficutly, but think about the moves the characters do. Simply, they aren't limited by buttons. Meaning, if the wanna kickickickkickpunchpunchuppercutslashstompSUPARCOM BOFINISH without "pressing" a button, then they could. It's basically looking at the screen and winning.

This is true to an extent. Yes, the old games like SFII were broken in that aspect. The cpu could preform whats known as "walking charges" with characters like bison, blanka, guile, etc. where the character (guile for instance) could just walk forward and flash kick you w/o the 2 second charge. It's not something relevant in today's coding though, the computer has been programmed to follow the rules of the game.

The thing that's bad about fighters (and I think this is what you were hinting on more) is input reading. It is necessary programming for all fighters cpu to have this, because if they didn't, fighting a cpu on any difficulty would be a cakewalk; it would just be doing random shit the whole time.

With input reading, the cpu takes in your button and command presses, and applies a necessary counter-measure. In most fighters, you will see the counter measure applied every time the instance is encountered. Sometimes you can even bait the computer to doing what you want, after you've seen the instance x amount of times, and know when and why it happens.

So to the average joe, it looks like the computer is incredible, when it's just applying a counter measure to everything you do. A computer cannot get better or worse, it runs the same program every time. It's how you respond to the program that may net you a win or loss.

And that in a nutshell is why playing the computer in fighters is 100% pointless. If there's not a friend to play or a training mode or online option for console fighters, it's usually best not to waste your time.

[Kard]

The cpu could preform whats known as "walking charges" with characters like bison, blanka, guile, etc. where the character (guile for instance) could just walk forward and flash kick you w/o the 2 second charge.

I remember that nonsense. No jumping at Guile when he sonic booms...instead of a legit anti-air he'll just flash kick afterwards as though it were a qcf or something.


With input reading, the cpu takes in your button and command presses, and applies a necessary counter-measure. In most fighters, you will see the counter measure applied every time the instance is encountered. Sometimes you can even bait the computer to doing what you want, after you've seen the instance x amount of times, and know when and why it happens.Heh, back in the day in SFa2 my friends and I used to spam a bunch of cr. shorts to get the "tougher" CPU characters to jump in, then uppercut/flash kick them. Especially 'Gief. He was always an ass. Good times~


And that in a nutshell is why playing the computer in fighters is 100% pointless. If there's not a friend to play or a training mode or online option for console fighters, it's usually best not to waste your time.I can safely say that I have learned some things from fighting the CPU a lot. A long time ago I actually thought that fighting the computer was "where it's at". My childhood reasoning was that a computer must be faster and more accurate than a human - so how could a human challenge me more? Actually, most of the time my friends actually were much easier for me to defeat than the computer, and they didn't play fighting games often either. These were pure scrub days. I also didn't know of any arcades in existence in my area, so most of my time playing SFII: The World Warrior for SNES, was spent against the CPU on the hardest level.

That game somehow became a staple time-waster for me throughout the years, as even after no one else played it, I found it fun to just give the old game a run and blast through it in 10-15 minutes or so every now and then. I used to "challenge" myself by trying to win without using specials for evey character, which eventually ended up teaching me how important pokes are, rather than just using moves all the time like I used to.

After SF2: Turbo, Championship Edition and Super/ST came out, I could still use these principles, and others that I'd learned to win against new opponents. All of that because of the stupid fun I used to have against a rather retarded CPU. Granted, I'm sure I would have learned more had I more competition against real people, but I did still learn some important stuff.


I also noticed years ago, that no matter how new a SF game is, there are always plenty of old-school principles you can apply to solidify your gameplay. Kinda makes me feel a little sorry for people who start with the new games, genuinely want to become stronger, but have no interest in playing the old games. They could learn so much from them, especially granddaddy ST.

Honorable thanks to CPU Shin Akuma in A3, through many long sessions on the hardest difficulty and highest speed setting, I was able to improve my reaction times to a lot of bs. Sadly, I don't think SF4's computer is worth much. :<

[/ramble]

[Volcompat321]

What was the point of this post, exactly? You're trying to prove something to people who don't honestly care. Also, making excuses. A lot of us, when we were kids, didn't have a ton of time for games.

I know I didn't. I was forced to go outside (not a bad thing, but I tend to lose track of time easily when I'm engrossed in things), I played baseball as a kid, I annoyed my brother, family friends etc; when I had time for games, it was mother fucking on. Damn, now I wanna play some Mega Man X.

Also, why was birthdays such a big deal? Did you have a gigantic family and have a ton of friends? :E

tl;dr version: Yes, a lot of us had lives outside of video games. You just blew as a kid, here is your sign. :nono:

I'm sorry I don't meet up to your kid expectations. Maybe one day I'll be able do it it over. Here's your sign
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk115/Volcompat321/super-retard.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

As for another hard/boring game...James Pond anyone?

[Niered]

Here's your sign


You...you didnt seriously...just say that.

[Volcompat321]

You...you didnt seriously...just say that.

Yes, I went there.

[Powder Keg]

Really....how did it get to this point? XD :-?

[Volcompat321]

Not sure, I just went with the flow, while staying on topic.
As for another hard/boring game...James Pond anyone?
see...lol

[Kent]

Well, Sonic was beatable with 2-3 hours. Mario, not so fast.
The speed record for the original Sonic the Hedgehog is currently sitting at 15:05 (http://speeddemosarchive.com/Sonic1.html)... Whereas the original Super Mario Bros. happens to be at exactly five minutes (http://speeddemosarchive.com/Mario1.html).

Of course, there's probably a bit of room for improvement... But it still should be said that the fastest time to beat a Sonic game (aforementioned Sonic 1) is still about four minutes slower than the slowest of the speed records shown here (http://speeddemosarchive.com/) for a Mario game up through the fourth generation of game consoles.

...I thought it was interesting. :wacko:

[Volcompat321]

Well, those werent beatable by me in those times. Maybe I do suck as a gamer.

[Shadowpawn]

As for another hard/boring game...James Pond anyone?

James Pond scared the crap out of me as a kid, to this day I have no clue why.

[Wyndham]

ah, James Pond. I didn't like it.

[Volcompat321]

I didn't either...but for some reason, it kept me intrigued. Maybe it was cause I couldn't beat it. Remember, I have been deemed a bad gamer. :(

[VanHalen]

I wouldn't say it was boring but Playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 in the arcades was hard as hell. Sometimes Frustrating. Then I downloaded a ROM of it and opened the Options menu and found out it was set on Hard 4 or something like that as the standard difficulty

[NGX]

Jet Moto on Professional, I was able to beat it but man was it frustrating.
Super Mario Bros. : Lost levels
The Ghosts & Ghouls/Goblins games are all pretty tough too.

[Delete]

Super Mario Bros. : Lost levels


Oh man, I forgot about that one. That was pretty hard.

[NGX]

You know what's funny, when I was in elementary I could pass the Megaman games with ease. Now when I play them I get so pissed off and end up just turning the system off. lol XD
As for boring games, Unlimited SaGa was soooo boring.