The first game I ever hated was The Adventures of Bayou Billy. I bought that game, along with a copy of Sesame Street and an NES as a set, from a garage sale; it was one of the first games I ever had all to myself, for the first console I ever owned. I was a kid back then, and $25 USD wasn't easy for me to get my hands on, so I felt like I was making a real investment.
When I played Bayou Billy for the first time, I felt that something was wrong right off the bat; the controls were sluggish, the enemies were really annoying, and Billy drew punches to the face like a magnet attracts metal. But I kept playing it because I wanted to get my money's worth. And the more I played, the more frustrated I felt; and the more frustrated I became, the more my mind started to pour over what I could be doing wrong. Why was it so hard to get past the first level? Was I playing the game wrong? Was the cartridge damaged or dusty? Should I have even bought this game in the first place, or did I waste my money?
As I asked myself these questions, I felt a mixture of hatred and regret build up in the pit of my stomach; and that feeling grew alongside my frustration while I played until, at some point, I realized that I actually felt ill. So I put the controller down, shut off the console, put my copy of Bayou Billy in its case, tossed it in a shoebox and went to bed. I tried playing Sesame Street the next day, and although I only played it once, I enjoyed it far more that I did Bayou Billy; it was far below my grade level at the time, but I remember feeling underwhelmed rather than bored or angry.
Eventually, I bought some games I actually liked and I felt much better about buying the system. I never touched Bayou Billy again. It's still sitting in that box to this day, I think. All the other games I bought for my NES are stored away safely, but I honestly couldn't care less about what happens to that particular pile of tripe. I don't really hate games in general, but that one seriously messed me up. To this day, just thinking about it makes me stress out a bit.
