2D shooters, the ultimate test of a gamer?

[Brats]

I know that shmups are not meant to be played with infinite continues, the point I was making was that with enough tries it can be possible to complete any shooter, whereas with an adventure game it is possible to reach a wall which can never be beaten, without some outside help.

Regarding recent hard games that aren't shooters, Super Monkey Ball, the Amped series and and The Curse of Monkey Island spring to mind. I found R-Type Final relatively easy, but I agree shmups to tend to verge on the more difficult side. Although is this because of what the niche audience demands, not because they are inherently more difficult then any other genre?

[Ady]

Id say 2D games in general are a good test of a gamers abilities.

You would. You're biased.

What about easy 2D games, though. There's plenty of those...

Although is this because of what the niche audience demands, not because they are inherently more difficult then any other genre?

Precisely.

It's easy to pick something you like or something you're good at and say it's a test of true skill. See my earlier music example. Great if you're a fret-wanker (sorry Dave...), but what if you're a pianist?

[Ex_mosquito]

2d Shooters and fighters are the only genres i play these days, everything else just bores me to death, 3d run-about adventure anyone:l I play 2D shooters mainly because they demand creative tactics and accurate execution to get anywhere and are hard as hell, but when you finally get that 1cc you know you've earned and also built up your gameplaying skills. Fighters i play because of the limitless skill level they can be played at, even after 10 years of playing SF im still learning new strategies and tricks, just brilliant :x Console games just do NOTHING for me these days what with the infinate number of ****e lisesced games and generic 3d adventure ploding through in a few hours with nothing the challenge you and one to the next one, they just piss me off so much.