What is the hardest game you ever played?

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

Y'all remember Ghosts n' Goblins? Nuff said.

I really want to get around to beating it at some point.

Oh man THAT game. Hardest platformer ever. I think I used a code once just to see the last level with the boss fight.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by frank_one

I have no problems with the original Super Mario Bros., I've beaten it many times. I consider it challenging but doable. The japanese sequel was meant to be played by people who had already mastered the first game, so it was more of the same but harder. The levels have lot of hard platforming and in some of them you need to find the right path to the end. Imagine the hardest levels of the first game and you will have an idea of what you can expect.

The final level of SMB can be tricky because it's basically a puzzle and it takes some trial and error to get the sequence right. But it's doable.

Some of the latter levels in the game are also rather challenging and you need some practice in order to beat them without losing a single life.

[Leo656]

Off the top of my head, maybe IronSword. You're just CONSTANTLY getting hit, getting killed, and being kicked back to the Password screen. You can push through it, but it stops being any fun long before then. It's barely even a "game", it's like "Take two steps, die, Password, two more steps forward, die again, repeat." Terrible. Last Boss fight is a f*cking joke. I beat it, but by the time I did it took everything I had not to chuck the cartridge through the window.

Lot of good ideas and I really like the art style, but that game is practically unplayable.

Super Mario Bros. isn't hard until 8-3. Even 8-4 is pretty easy once you know the maze. But that one stage with all the Hammer Bros. and no power-ups right before the final stage, yeah, that one always gets on my nerves.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Off the top of my head, maybe IronSword. You're just CONSTANTLY getting hit, getting killed, and being kicked back to the Password screen. You can push through it, but it stops being any fun long before then. It's barely even a "game", it's like "Take two steps, die, Password, two more steps forward, die again, repeat." Terrible. Last Boss fight is a f*cking joke. I beat it, but by the time I did it took everything I had not to chuck the cartridge through the window.

Lot of good ideas and I really like the art style, but that game is practically unplayable.

Super Mario Bros. isn't hard until 8-3. Even 8-4 is pretty easy once you know the maze. But that one stage with all the Hammer Bros. and no power-ups right before the final stage, yeah, that one always gets on my nerves.

Yes. That's the level I was thinking of.

Anyway, SMB was one of the first games a lot of us played in our lives. It's not that hard of a game, but when you're a little kid it's definitely a tough game in some parts. Bullet bills and hammer Bros. were nightmares for me when I was a kid.

[Leo656]

Oh, for sure. I remember the first time I actually made it to the end of 8-4 by myself, I was like 5 or 6 and I was so psyched out that I froze and couldn't actually do it. I just stood there staring at Bowser all paralyzed with fear like "What if I f*ck up?!" and eventually I broke down and made my older sister do it, since she'd beaten it a hundred times by then. She was pretty pissed off since she was doing something else at the time. I felt bad about it so I went ahead and did it on my own the day after that. But that first time was rough.

After that it became one of those "Eh, I got a half hour to kill, might as well beat Super Mario Bros." kinda games. Those early Mario games were like a master class in game design, "teaching" you how to play them in real-time without any need for a tutorial or even the manual. Such a revelation, especially in those days. Like, go back and try to play just about any Atari-era game without a manual besides like, Frogger, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders. Pretty much impossible; those games always had some pretty funky control schemes to make up for the one-button interface, but they were pretty decent otherwise assuming you HAD the manual, otherwise you were f*cked. But then a game like SMB comes along and it's so natural and intuitive you can play it blindfolded after a while.

Pretty much a great example of "difficulty" being related to challenging level design and not "Let's just try and f*ck the player", like most Sonic games ended up being. On the surface the two series are similar, but Sonic games are full of tons of what I call "F*ck-You Gameplay" and the Mario games have none of that sort of thing.

[Prowler]

I first played the Atari 2600 version of Frogger when I was around 21 years old and I got the hang of it quickly. The game was basically crossing the street without getting ran over. Didn't need any instructions.

But yes, the best Mario games have some of the most responsive controls in videogames history. Especially those jumping controls. Sonic's jumping controls always felt a bit off in comparison. Mario is definitely the king platformer.

You know, since Nintendo games came in card boxes for a long time, that meant a lot of people out there no longer have the instruction manuals of a lot of their NES, SNES and Game Boy games.

None of my older brother's NES games have their boxes or instructions anymore. And that was the case already when I first started playing those games around 1995. Maybe that's why some of those games such as Top Gun II and Zelda were so hard for me to figure out. I had no way of knowing what to do before the games started. Mega Man 2 was also confusing at first and I couldn't beat any stage back then. But the Super Mario Bros were always much more intuitive for the reasons you mention.

[D-ray]

Originally Posted by IMJ

My first, knee-jerk response is the God of War rising platform sub-game that you needed to complete to get the platinum on the PS3.

Once I completed it I swore off the God of War series forever. It wasn't even gratifying to nab that platinum by that point. I literally took the trophy and turned off the game. Done.

Ah yes, my Serious Sam experience.
Take the trophy, and throw the game out of the window.

[D-ray]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

D-Ray,

You need them to unlock sections. Actually at the moment I don’t remember if you can leave some behind. I don’t think you can because the problem is they need to be collected in 1 visit. If you leave or run out of lives they respawn. You can’t just go looking for the ones you missed.

Other than this and the horrible second boss it’s an underrated game imo. Plenty of different missions with a good sense of humor. It should get an HD remake. New graphics, fixed marbles system, balanced second boss. I know there’s a new EWJ being made for that Amico console.

I still need to play the original one. But I'm afraid of buying the Steam version.

[shredder orokusaki]

Ghostrunner. A game made for true ninja masters like me. You lose with only one hit so you must run and kill quick without taking a hit. No medkits no regenerate health or anything like that ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNHgUst0Zs8&t=9s

A must play for all ninjas and evryone who wants a very hard action game!

[D-ray]

Originally Posted by shredder orokusaki

Ghostrunner. A game made for true ninja masters like me. You lose with only one hit so you must run and kill quick without taking a hit. No medkits no regenerate health or anything like that ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNHgUst0Zs8&t=9s

A must play for all ninjas and evryone who wants a very hard action game!

That looks fun!

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

A game that has given me the most fits (as an adult) might be the original NES Battletoads.

I never made it past level 3 (Turbo Tunnel).

[turtle1237]

Never did beat Battle Toads.

[Iroh]

Ninja Gaiden 3 for the NES was the hardest I have played! This game was the glitchiest too!

[D-ray]

Originally Posted by Iroh

Ninja Gaiden 3 for the NES was the hardest I have played! This game was the glitchiest too!

I hated the first Ninja Gaiden for the NES.
I mean, it had pretty good mechanics, but it was stupidly frustrating because of the "one way" to finish a level.

Enemies spam attacks in ridiculous quantities; there is a horrible amount of illogical game choices; like 2 frames of invincibility, usually leading to a loop of damage; unfair bosses.

Is the only classic NES game I literally refused to finish, even worst than Serious Sam.
I don't know about the others, but I hope that they are better than that one.

[Andrew NDB]

Oh, all of the Tomb Raider games. The ones that I played, anyway... the earliest. Controlling Lara has all the joy of trying to drive and steer a semi-truck around a cave. It's like the Austin Powers skit in the hallway, except not funny. I imagine the newer Tomb Raiders got better about it but I'll never know.

Originally Posted by Iroh

Ninja Gaiden 3 for the NES was the hardest I have played! This game was the glitchiest too!

Originally Posted by D-ray

I hated the first Ninja Gaiden for the NES.
I mean, it had pretty good mechanics, but it was stupidly frustrating because of the "one way" to finish a level.

Enemies spam attacks in ridiculous quantities; there is a horrible amount of illogical game choices; like 2 frames of invincibility, usually leading to a loop of damage; unfair bosses.

Is the only classic NES game I literally refused to finish, even worst than Serious Sam.
I don't know about the others, but I hope that they are better than that one.

I seem to remember beating Ninja Gaiden 1-3 ages ago relatively OK.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I imagine the newer Tomb Raiders got better about it but I'll never know.

I never played any of the originals, but the reboot from a few years ago is one of the smoothest games I've ever played in my life. Really enjoyed that game.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I never played any of the originals, but the reboot from a few years ago is one of the smoothest games I've ever played in my life. Really enjoyed that game.

I take it back. I did play one maybe 7 years ago where the first thing you have to do is control Lara through some alleys around buildings and up some fire escapes/ladders... and it felt like exactly what I remembered. Didn't like it.

[Leo656]

I don't think that was the reboot.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by D-ray

I hated the first Ninja Gaiden for the NES.

I remember how I could never beat the Bloody Malth. It was impossible. And then one day I was playing it with a buddy and all he did was run up to him and spam attack. LMAO that was it. Malth would hit you and you just hold forward and spam attack. And then I was surprised that there was more game after that fight.

After finding that out, I beat Ninja Gaiden once. Love the game, but I don't pick it up again. I love Ninja Gaiden Arcade though.

[frank_one]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Oh, all of the Tomb Raider games. The ones that I played, anyway... the earliest. Controlling Lara has all the joy of trying to drive and steer a semi-truck around a cave. It's like the Austin Powers skit in the hallway, except not funny. I imagine the newer Tomb Raiders got better about it but I'll never know.

You should try Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007). Same feeling of the first game, 200% better controls.