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Great Gaming Failures


Mark E

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Since we're talking classic games, I'd like to hear what everybody's big game failures are. What were those games that you could never manage to finish but always wanted to? Any reason's valid. Did you get frustrated to hell with the gameplay or controls? Unreasonable difficulty? Little brother get too excited with that copy of Barbie and throw it into the wall with his free hand?

 

Most of mine involve NES titles. Particularly the Ultima games, which I always found damn, damn, damn hard for RPG titles (they were actually even worse on the computer).

 

Not being able to solve Battletoads was a pisser, but that game was hella-hard.

 

My real bitch of a game though, was Zelda 2: Adventures of Link. I'm one of those nuts who really enjoyed the heck out of this game, but I could never, ever, ever manage to finish it. Worst part was, I got right to the last palace, completely levelled up, and I could NOT find the last jar of magic. And, if you don't have all the magic jars, you have no chance of opening the final palace.

 

Worse still, I even checked GameFAQs and I STILL couldn't find it. Eventually I had to say 'hell with it' and move on to other things. Now I wanna know what stymied the rest of you eventually ;).

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Teenage effin' Mutant effin' Ninja effin' Turtles for the SNES (I think). I desparately wanted to beat the game, and got to the final level, but could never beat it.

 

That was one of the most frustrating gaming experiences of my life. The agony was unbearable.

 

Thanks for bringing up such a painful subject! :cry:

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What immediately comes to mind is Wizards and Warriors II: Ironsword. The boss character had five phases, one for each of the four elements and a fifth and final phase. I could get to the final phase, but never got past it.

 

I should also mentioned Out Of This World for SNES. I have no idea how far into the game it was, but there came a point where I would get trapped between two aliens with the wall-creating guns and they would nail me every time. Eventually I just got too frustrated and gave up.

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I should also mentioned Out Of This World for SNES.

 

Phew, that game is brutal, mostly for the insane amounts of slowdown that used to happen in practically every single friggin' scene. It's hard as hell though, and that point you mention with the two guards fencing you in is the worst part of the entire game.

 

I have beaten it, but I'll tell you now that the ending is not worth the time. That is probably the game I most regret buying for any system. Never really liked it.

 

Teenage effin' Mutant effin' Ninja effin' Turtles for the SNES (I think).

 

Easy way to tell here, were you able to switch amongst all four turtles at your leisure? If yes, it was the NES version, which was reputed to be really damn hard. The SNES title was Turtles In Time which is modestly difficult and a helluva lot of fun.

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Originally posted by Pharmboy@Aug 28 2003, 05:46 PM

Easy way to tell here, were you able to switch amongst all four turtles at your leisure? If yes, it was the NES version,

NES it was! Dang, I didn't think it was that long ago. I never touched the SNES version. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that that implies.

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Out of this world was nearly impossible! So was the semi-sequal...oh!!! I can't remember the title

 

Well, there was a direct sequel that came out for the Sega CD that came out with Out of this World called Heart of the Alien. There was also another game along that same type of theme called Flashback. All three games were tough to beat, but I was able to do so :)

 

I agree with the original TMNT game for the NES. That was nigh-impossible to beat. I also never did beat Ninja Gaiden for said NES. I'd get up to a certain point & die everytime - & then have to start like two levels back. God, I hated that game...

 

The other game I would say,on a personal note, is Intellivisions' Boxing. My younger brother just isn't that good at videogaming. He tries hard - but he just stinks. (He still tries to beat me at any football game - but he still can't do it). But,for whatever reason - I just couldn't beat him. I could beat anyone else I played - just not him.

 

And all he would ever do is mash buttons. UGH.

Oh well - I still have the last-minute interception on the final play of an NFL 2K3 game that put a dagger in his heart to beat him the only time he was ever close to putting me down :green:

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I still have Out of This World for SNES; proud to say I beat it, and yes the ending does suck. I think I got pretty far in Flashback, but I only rented it back in the day.

 

I'd have to say one of the hardest games I could never finish was Ninja Gaiden. I can remember getting farthest when I had a friend over and we could alternate playing. If we got far enough, I could feel my hands shaking because, well, this was NES and you couldnt save the game. Every life was crucial.

 

I could never beat Double Dragon either.

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Battletoads for NES: I played that game a TON and couldn't ever get past the last rat race.

 

Super Ghouls and Ghosts: One of the first SNES games I got and again, I played it a LOT. I could get through it the first time, then you have to get through a 2nd time. I could get to the final boss the 2nd time through, but could never beat that bastard.

 

Prince of Persia: I must have played through the first 3 levels a 1000 times, and I got furthur than that, but never finished.

 

There are lots of games I'd wished I'd finished, but those are 3 that I probably played enough hours to finish any of todays games, but never did.

 

Teenage effin' Mutant effin' Ninja effin' Turtles for the SNES (I think).

 

Anything after the first NES games was like the arcade games, which were challenging enough button mashers, but not impossible at all. The one on SNES, Turtles in Time was one of the easiest games I owned (although I wish I still had it).

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I was able to do so

 

Hey, I beat OotW and Flashback too Cal, I'm in the cool club :P.

 

Turtles In Time is one of the best arcade beat-em-ups and if you ever want to kill forty minutes with a friend it damn near can't be beat.

 

Battletoads for NES: I played that game a TON and couldn't ever get past the last rat race.

 

Exact same spot my cousin and I ended up getting stopped at. That last race is basically impossible. I don't care if people have beaten it, it's still impossible ;).

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Originally posted by Pharmboy:

Hey, I beat OotW and Flashback too Cal, I'm in the cool club :D.

 

You think you're cool? After reading this thread, I believe I'm even more hella cooler. I've beaten the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, Ninja Gaiden, and Battletoads. And with Battletoads, I've actually beaten the game without warping and using no continues. Try doing that sometime. I assure you, it takes at least 10+ years of practice (because that's how long it took me to accomplish this feat).

 

As for my own gaming failures, I've never beaten the original Castlevania (although I did beat the two NES sequels), nor did I ever win Ninja Gaiden III. I really should get going on that.

 

While we're on the subject, did anyone else here ever beat Blaster Master? :D

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I think my biggest regret was not finishing Parasite Eve for the PS1. I managed to make it to the final boss and gave it my best several times with no luck. The whole experience was quite frustrating.

 

Back when the Dreamcast first came out, my roommate and I played a season of NBA 2K. I was the Lakers, he the Pacers. After investing a whole season of gameplay (must've been 50 hours each) both of our teams made it to the finals and he trounced me 4 games to 1. I wish I could say they were even games, but he really did give me a sound beating. The only satisfaction I was able to gain from all those hours of play was when, a couple of months later, the Lakers actually beat the Pacers in the NBA Finals.

 

Pieter

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That's the one! Thanks, Calvin...my brain cells are few and far between.

Another great looking (rotoscoped?) game -but very difficult.

 

Yep, it is rotoscoped. They made such a big deal of that when the game came out. I really liked the story - that is what hooked me.

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I also never did beat Ninja Gaiden for said NES. I'd get up to a certain point & die everytime - & then have to start like two levels back. God, I hated that game...

 

Your classic gaming license should be revoked. The original Ninja is wonderful. Ninja Gaiden I, II and III all bow before my might. (That is to say I beat all three of them, in fact I just beat the first last week after finding it in a bargain bin w/instructions for 8 bucks.)

 

I agree with the original TMNT game for the NES. That was nigh-impossible to beat.

 

Another one that I never had much problem with. Beat it a long time ago. Though the swimming portion at the dam was a bitch to get through.

 

My gaming failures? Section Z (from Capcom) on the NES is one game I've never completed though I enjoyed it quite a bit. Later levels just got very confusing and in my younger years I just lost patience with it.

 

Axelay was a great SuperNES shooter that I never quite completed either. It got semi-daunting towards the end from what I can remember. These days though I probably can blow through it. I have it via emulator and I may give it a go soon.

 

Believe it or not I've never beaten the original NES Metroid. Again it comes down to a matter of just losing interest after awhile. Though I've beaten Super Metroid more times than I can count. Though that may be alleviated soon as I've been running through Metroid on the GC (the emulated version) slowly but surely.

 

Not particularly a failure but something that took me a great while was the original Legend of Zelda. Gannons last dungeon was just hell. I put the game down for almost 6 years before returning too it and finally beating that last dungeon. To this day my gold NES cart *STILL* has that saved game on it, along with two others.

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Did anyone do the deed with this one?

 

Multiple times. One of the best PS1 games out there. Loved it.

 

You want a crazy challenge? Give the game "ONE" on the PS1 a try. Its a Contra style shooter that is CRAZY difficult. A good number of controllers thrown and a few knots from bashing my head in before I beat that one.

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Your classic gaming license should be revoked.

 

You are critizing me for not beating Ninja Gaiden(which I never said I hated,if fact I still own it), but You never beat Metroid???

And you took over six years to beat The Legend of Zelda???? Me thinks you might be the one who needs their license revoked! ;)

 

We could always settle this with a good fun game of Intellivision's Sea Battle :twisted:

I was classic before you were born,sonny! :green: ;)

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We could always settle this with a good fun game of Intellivision's Sea Battle

 

There are two words in that sentence I have never seen used to describe Sea Battle before ;).

 

Damn that game annoyed the hell out of me. Doubly so since I could never ever win it :P.

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My top two were named right off the bat: Zelda 2 and TMNT.

 

I tried to beat TMNT a few years ago with a friend who was similarly stumped by it when it was new, and we still failed. (Although I'm not sure how long we tried.)

 

As I recall, that game has several moments where one has to jump from exactly the right pixel (practically) in order to live (or proceed).

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