Insanely difficult games..?

[boxhead]

Ninja Gaiden 2 - it's a shame that Team Ninja took a step backwards after Sigma. With Sigma it wasn't too difficult or too easy. With sigma, you could return to earlier levels and rooms within those levels in order to train or earn money orbs. None of that stuff with 2 tho

Games that are too difficult just put people off playing them and hurt review scores. Can't imagine publicity like that is what producers want.

agreed. It's a real shame that Ninja gaiden 2 was what it was. conceptually, its exactly what I wanted. Ninjas, a nice big quest, plenty of action and a decent challenge. The reality however was so far removed from what I expected. Maybe i just need to stop being such a fag and punish myself through it as I'm sure there is probably an excellent game in there.

[teddymeow]

SS2THDR. Even set to easy Akuma is impossible (for me) to beat. I haven't launched a controller in many a year but this actually had me chucking my pad around the room.

Naruto Broken Bond. Tournament mode was fine until the very last battle when the AI suddenly realises you might complete that part of the game and ramps thing up to the infinite-combo-followed-by-a-throw-and-then-another-combo school of fighting.

ARGGGGH!!!

I tend to play games now on "medium" (Resistance 1 I had to do on "easy" for crying out loud) as I play for the fun of it not to be able to walk around with a swagger saying "I'm so hardcore I finished "xxx" on super-turbo-bastard-hard difficulty.

[neoboy259]

Ninja Gaiden 2 - it's a shame that Team Ninja took a step backwards after Sigma. With Sigma it wasn't too difficult or too easy. With sigma, you could return to earlier levels and rooms within those levels in order to train or earn money orbs. None of that stuff with 2 tho

Games that are too difficult just put people off playing them and hurt review scores. Can't imagine publicity like that is what producers want.

I suck at games, but I didnt find NG2 (on the default difficulty) too difficult with a bit of perseverance.

Hardest games I can remember were Army Moves and Navy Moves on the Spectrum. Crap collision detection and one hit kills.......Arrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[MisterBubbles]

well theres a couple of really hard games about but i find Gradius V can be a pain in the A$$ and the original ghouls n ghosts had me throwing my controller at the TV
HAPPY GAMING !!!

[abigsmurf]

The problem I had with ghouls and ghosts was that there was a lot of pixel perfect jumping required which is just incredibly cheap. That said, seem to remember getting far on the MS version.

[Daragon]

Oh yeah, Robocop 3 on the SNES I should give mention too as well. That was the ONLY Robocop game that actually made you feel like you were playing as some clunky, metal twat of an ex-cop that had had his bollocks shot by a couple of gangstas'

Platforming sections really shouldn't appear in a game that has you CONTROLLING A CHARACTER THAT CANNOT JUMP FOR TOFFEE!!!!! (and before anyone starts with the "why did you play it" line, I was probably about 9 or 10 at the time and didn't know any better)

[Dunc]

Ninja Gaiden for the original Xbox had me inventing new swear words i found it so frustrating...

Also, am I just really lame, or does anyone else find DC Ikaruga ridiculously hard? I'm all for a little persistance (putting the time in to get Veteran achievements on COD 4 and 5 comes to mind), but i've spent hours trying that damned game and still never finished it!

[NemesiS]

Oh yeah, someone mentioned DMC3&4 - they absolutely don't belong in this thread unless you're only talking about DMD mode. The easier modes of DMC are a piece of cake... as long as you bother to learn the game!

IMO, they do belong here as sitting there for 2-3 hrs learning an attack pattern of a boss so you can beat him ala Ninja Gaiden is neither fun nor clever Theres no skill in that. Its just pure button pushing frustration which to me isn't the point of a game.

I always think a boss battle should be something that makes you think. That maybe beats you 2 or 3 times until you work out a strategy to beat it. Not punish you mercilessly for missing a button press like some f*cked up choreographed dance move. or maybe i'm just ****

Gradius 3 on the SNES i actually found a breeze. But i've always been pretty good at shooters. Once you have played through it, you know whats coming and the only section that can give you grief if i remember right, is the speedy section, and the section where you have to shoot through the pink walls, both of which are near the end

Any of Treasures shooters are difficult tho, due to the sheer amount that is usually on screen.

Good point about retro games being harder. I think they were. But you have to remember that developers were also limited to what they could do with games at the time. (i'm talking C64, Speccy, Amstrad etc). Almost all were 2D and mostly platformers, so they all mostly incorporated: Jump, Dodge, Duck, Fire. It was all dexterity then. Manic Miner and Hunchback anyone

Arcade games then were also harder due to what another poster said earlier, that they were just money earners and in most cases too hard or downright impossible to finish.

I think the release of the Megadrive and SNES made arcade designers sit up and take notice to what gamers preferred and started making their games easier or with at least an attainable end. Plus with hardware advancing at light speed meaning cabs and games becoming more elaborate and expensive mean't they couldn't really have an endless game.

There should be a thread actually about arcade games we have finished

[Brad]

Great topic and right at home on this board!

I probably have a fair bit to say so I'll just start writing and see what happens.

Firstly, I'm 39 now and my reactions aren't what they used to be.

I have two friends who gave up Ninja Gaiden after dying > 20 times on the first boss and took the game back whereas I don't find the game all that difficult. It is challenging yes but not to the point of chucking a controller. I did the first boss (ok he's not a real boss as we know) on 3rd go and by that point he didn't even land a single blow on me. However...

The Wheel on LittleBigPlanet was simply too much for me. 3 nights of trying. In the end a friend joined in and got me past it. I got stuck for two nights on one of the mid levels as well where you have to jump up a number of wheels (where only part of the wheel is grabbable).

So my point is that one man's nightmare is another man's piece of cake. I think.

[NemesiS]

Firstly, I'm 39 now and my reactions aren't what they used to be.

I'm with you there. I know exactly where your coming from Having said that, i don't think my reactions are too bad and i can still frequently top the scores on L4D or TF2 on PC, but i do struggle with games where you have to use all buttons on a pad. I don't have the dextrous fingers for the likes of GH3 on hard or games where you have to be constantly pressing different buttons for different actions etc, like MGS4.

Watching my mate though on a pad though is like watching a pianist on a paino. Unbelievable, but then he doesn't bloody work, lol.

So my point is that one man's nightmare is another man's piece of cake. I think.

Spot on..In a nutshell

[BeyondJumpFish]

I think prety much any shmup is imposible. I don't think they are ment to be completed. The only one i've ever finished is Mushihimesama.
Donpachi, do donpachi, progear, espgaluda, Ibara...all shmups, not possible to finish without loosing your rag!
Commandos 2 was a game i just gave up on in the 1st level.

[Darwock]

The Wheel on LittleBigPlanet was simply too much for me. 3 nights of trying. In the end a friend joined in and got me past it. I got stuck for two nights on one of the mid levels as well where you have to jump up a number of wheels (where only part of the wheel is grabbable).

Sensei's Lost Castle! I'm nostalgic about LBP already lol... ahhh.. those were the days!

[monel]

I've given up on RIdge Racer on the 360, it comes to a point where the computer Nitros to get ahead at any given opportunity.

There were loads of 8bit games that were impossible for me, I think I only finished a handful of Spectrum games (Bruce Lee being the first). Used pokes for some of them (haha remember pokes?).

Even Green Beret on the speccy I never finished, as someone mentioned Commando was crazy hard.

Oh yeah Hellfire on the Megadrive had me tearing my hair out.........

[DeathAdder]

Turok 2 on the Nintendo 64 must have been one of the most ball-breakingly difficult games of the 32/64 bit generation.

[Mayhem]

No. It all depends on whether you get the ring on your first playthrough and wear it against the final boss if i remember rightly. If you don't, you beat the final boss then have start again from the beginning. ARSE

You can't get the ring on the first time around, you have to go back regardless. Then you can get it while wearing the gold armour and fully powered up. Not an easy weapon to use sadly either, typical. I should know, I've beaten the SNES Ghouls 'n Ghosts on one credit!