Hard games you've tried to beat many times but are yet to succeed?

[Prowler]

We all have that one, don't we?

For me it's the original NES TMNT game. I don't think I'll ever be able to beat that game.

I've beaten most of NES Mega Man games and also beat Contra. But tbh they are better games and have much more responsive controls than TMNT. Mega Man and Contra are very fun games. And they feel like a fair challenge.

I don't like NES TMNT to want to beat it anymore. I'm sure I'll try at least a couple more times but I doubt I'll manage to beat it.

What about you?

[MrPliggins]

Speaking in NES terms, I did manage to complete hard games like TMNT, Ninja Gaiden, and Punch Out. But I could never finish NES Ghostbusters or Battletoads.

I think I beat NES TMNT once or twice, but normally I'd lose interest in playing during stage 3.

Can you beat Contra without the Konami code? Now there's a challenge.

[Prowler]

No, I cannot. I adit I needed the 30 life code to beat Contra. I'm not good enough to beat a game by only taking 3 hits or so.

[neatoman]

The original Legend of Zelda.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by neatoman

The original Legend of Zelda.

Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot that one. Yeah, I haven't beaten it either.

[Leo656]

NES TMNT for me. I doubt I ever will, it's not even that good of a game. Although I might take advantage of "cheating" using Save states and Rewind on the new reissue coming out, just to finally play through the endgame scenario. I'll definitely never beat it "clean" and I've long since stopped caring about it. That game pretty much sucks ass after the first level. It never gets fun again after that, just annoying.

Here's one, I've "beaten" all the Genesis Sonic games but I don't think I've ever gotten all seven Chaos Emeralds for any of them to see the "real" ending, definitely not the first one. The games themselves are not so hard at all but the Bonus stages required to get the Emeralds can be pretty rough. I think the most I ever got on Sonic 1 was 5 or 6 Emeralds, and that was on a version with Save states.

NES Batman, I can get pretty far but haven't beaten it yet.

NES Dick Tracy, I did beat once but I think I used a Level Skip code.

I'm sure I'll think of more, mostly NES stuff. Although in recent years I've made it a point to beat a bunch of stuff I never could as a kid, but a few still frustrate me.

[Prowler]

Only Sonic game I've managed to catch all emeralds was the very first one. That one isn't too hard in terms of special stages. Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 are much worse in that aspect.

Anyway everyone has a different definition of hard. I always hear how damn hard Mega Man games are... well they the challenging, but I've beaten most of the NES Mega Man games and also X1 on the SNES. Some people can't beat a single one. I'd not consider any MM game I've played a top 5 hardest game of all time personally.

Then there's James Rolfe. Guy exaggerates how hard some bad games are and then managed to beat Ghosts n Goblins twice in a row, a game that's unanimously considered one of the hardest NES games of all time. So he can't be that lousy of a player.

[frank_one]

Solar striker for Game boy

[Icebot]

For me, Top Gun for NES and I still need to finish Octo Expansion in Splatoon 2. I beat the first quest in The Legend of Zelda but I don’t think I completed the second quest. I beat the original Zelda Ocarina of Time but not yet Master Quest and the original Zelda Breath of the Wild but not master mode.

I did beat TMNT 1 NES but only on game genie. I beat Sonic The Hedgehog 2 but not with all the chaos emeralds. I think it’s incredibly difficult to get all those chaos emeralds.

[Wildcat]

I’ve never gotten all the emeralds in any of the Genesis Sonic games either or CD. Just Heroes (Team Rose makes it easy), Sonic Rush (challenging but not too hard) and Mania (easier than you think).

In general I’m not into games known for being hard but I’ve tried some. I beat Castlevania Bloodlines without cheating. They’re known for being hard right? I thought so. It was more trial and error than hard.

Awhile back on the NES mini I played and beat Mega Man 2 without cheating. Then I found out that Normal difficulty is actually Easy mode in Japan and Hard IS normal. Didn’t go back. Not fun imo.

Also on NES Mini I finally played the original Zelda. I beat it without cheating but I looked up all the rooms and map. I don’t consider that cheating...just lessening the experience. I know figuring it out is part of the point but didn’t feel like putting that much time into it. Some things you’d never figure out alone.

That’s something I really hate. Even modern games still do this. There will be puzzles or sections you would never figure out on your own. How does anyone figure these things out in the first place? I seriously want to know.

I mentioned I just played Luigi’s Mansion 3. It has a puzzle so specific it’s ridiculous. It’s the only part you’ll need to look up.

What is the point of putting stuff like that in games? Stuff you’ll never figure out using logic, skill or anything within the game’s setup? It’s so stupid. Again how does anyone figure this stuff out to begin with? There has to be a first person to pass on the explanations. Unless developers put it out there for people to find because they know it’s basically impossible.

[neatoman]

Yeah, it's not so much that the Original TLoZ is hard, it has more to do with it being confusing and not even really having a plot. There's not even a real world map to help you navigate the game, just a weird grey rectangle to give you a rough idea. Much of the charm found in ALttP and the rest of the titles afterwards is there is a plot, interesting characters and it's always pretty clear what the game wants you to do.

If they were to remake the original, I would suggest the following changes.

1. A proper world map so I know where I am and how to move around.
2. Clear hints about what I need to do.
3. A couple of actual towns and characters.
4. A real plot.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Yeah, it's not so much that the Original TLoZ is hard, it has more to do with it being confusing and not even really having a plot. There's not even a real world map to help you navigate the game, just a weird grey triangle to give you a rough idea. Much of the charm found in ALttP and the rest of the titles afterwards is there is a plot, interesting characters and it's always pretty clear what the game wants you to do.

If they were to remake the original, I would suggest the following changes.

1. A proper world map so I know where I am and how to move around.
2. Clear hints about what I need to do.
3. A couple of actual towns and characters.
4. A real plot.

Yes the original Zelda can be too cryptic. There's things in there you wouldn't guess without looking up a guide.

[frank_one]

Wasn't there a printed map inside the original Zelda game box? Nowadays we always assume game manuals don't exist because of the fact we play old stuff through roms and emulators.

[Andrew NDB]

Majora's Mask. I've tried to get back into it a couple of times over the years but every time I quickly remember, "Oh yeah, this game sucks and I don't enjoy playing it."

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by frank_one

Wasn't there a printed map inside the original Zelda game box? Nowadays we always assume game manuals don't exist because of the fact we play old stuff through roms and emulators.

Perhaps there was? I don't know.

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Majora's Mask. I've tried to get back into it a couple of times over the years but every time I quickly remember, "Oh yeah, this game sucks and I don't enjoy playing it."

I don't think it sucks. But I'm not a huge fan of it either.

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Prowler

We all have that one, don't we?

For me it's the original NES TMNT game. I don't think I'll ever be able to beat that game.
I don't like NES TMNT to want to beat it anymore. I'm sure I'll try at least a couple more times but I doubt I'll manage to beat it.

What about you?

This 100% is me! I beat every other one I played though. Its the weakest entry of generation 1 and generation 2 combined for its difficulty, lack of interesting plot and enemies.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by MrPliggins

Battletoads.

Congratulations to anyone who can beat the Wind Tunnel.

[Prowler]

I have not beaten Battle Toads either. But I didn't grow up with it or spent any significant enough time with it for it to make my list. I must have spent less than an hour on it my whole life.

Can't say I have much interest in playing it again tbh. Even though it's a good game.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Majora's Mask. I've tried to get back into it a couple of times over the years but every time I quickly remember, "Oh yeah, this game sucks and I don't enjoy playing it."

Just slow down time, don't try to do too many side quests at once, equip the Bunny Hood as much as possible, skip ahead half a day whenever you are required to wait and reset the loop every time you are done with a boss or longer side quest. I also recommend getting the Bomber's notebook and crucial warp points before you try to keep up with the side-quests.

The game does of course have some legitimate oversights, such as needing to do the Anju/Kafei side quest twice in order to both get the postman's hat and the final bottle. Though most of these were fixed in the 3DS version. If the problems of the N64 version genuinely bother you, I recommend the 3DS version instead.

I for one love Majora's Mask. If I had to call any of the Zelda games bad, it would be the NES originals, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks and Triforce Heroes. I'm not terribly fond of the GameCube version of Wind Waker, but the Wii U version does fix the problems.

[Leo656]

I like Majora's Mask but I've only played through and finished it once. I feel like for that one you really do need a guide, or at the very least the Quest Journal within said guide, since you need to do so much backtracking and whatnot. I wasn't able to keep all of it straight without the book.

I've beaten Adventure of Link a few times but never without a guide. That game has a ton of cryptic sh*t and there's a huge maze near the end that can stop you dead if you don't know exactly where you're going. Even with a walkthrough that is one tough game,. That's why I don't especially regard using guides as "cheating"; you still gotta physically do the stuff.

Metroid was another one, I played a good chunk of it flying blind when I finally set my mind to finishing it a while back, but eventually I was like "Screw this" and pulled up a guide. It's just too cryptic and the map layout is insane with no in-game map to keep you on track.

Back in the day, with NES games like Metroid and Zelda, you were supposed to draw your own maps on graph paper as you went along and take your own notes, that was inherently part of the design and experience. The way I look at it with maps or guides, I'm just saving time by using the work someone else already put into doing those things. Even JUST having a full map for NES Zelda makes that game a ton easier. The last couple times I played it that's all the extra help I needed to beat it, just the map.

I was able to beat the first couple Mega Man games without help, BUT they were the Gamecube versions on the Mega Man Collection so they had Save states. Not sure if I could have had such an easy time when playing on the NES, I never had those games as a kid.

One game I THOUGHT I'd never beat back when I was a kid, and then ended up beating a few times, was Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. It's still hit or miss, if I can get through the second Bald Bull fight then I can beat the game, but sometimes I f*ck up the timing on his Bull Charge and if I lose I'm not in the mood to start over. But I've done it about five times, I think. Only ONE time I think I used the cheat code, and that was when I was with a bunch of friends and they were all talking about how "impossible" that game was, and I mentioned that I'd actually beaten it and they didn't believe me, so they put in the code to skip to Tyson and I managed to win, which blew them away. At least I'm pretty sure they used the cheat; this was in 1997 or so, so I really don't remember but I don't think I sat and played the entire game that time. I generally prefer NOT to use the cheat code because I need to get "warmed up" before I get to Tyson, if I jump right to him my timing is way off and I get hammered in seconds. If I play the whole game straight through, I'm in a good zone by the time I get to Tyson. I usually have to win on points but I've knocked him out at least once, which is admittedly very hard to do. If you can make it through the first round you're pretty well set, though.

NES games sure were annoying difficult at times. Oh, I almost forgot, Ghostbusters on NES is another one, even though it's only hard at the very end. You HAVE to cheat to get up the stairs, and that Gozer fight is straight-up ass. I got super close about two years ago but I doubt I'll ever finish it, I was like one hit away from winning but the stage layout just makes it almost impossible. Not sure if I'll ever crack that one. It's not a good game but I'd like to scratch it off the list if I can, at least.