Iacobellis
Junior Member
I gave up on this game as a kid after I couldn't complete the fishing stage.
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Games you had no idea what to do in as a kid
- Thread starter Phediuk
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I gave up on this game as a kid after I couldn't complete the fishing stage.
TheDarkKnight774
Member
ET. The most confusing game ever
The swordquest games for the atari 2600 confused the heck out of me. Thats mostly because Woolco was selling a bunch of them out of a bargain bin that had no manuals. I wouldn't find out till about 25 to 30 years later the manuals were required to beat the games. I seen a documentary explaining the contests they had going on for the game back then. Crazy how they were actually giving away jewel encrusted swords and other expensive trinkets.
In Jet Force Gemini, I never knew that left-C and right-C allowed me to sidestep, and it never occurred to me to try. Well, the bosses in this game are unique in that you're on a thin platform and the only way to move is to sidestep. I just thought the bosses were pretty damn cheap and hard. Actually, I beat the first two bosses by just jumping and shooting their projectiles but I couldn't beat the double praying mantises. Had to revisit the game when I learned what sidestepping was.
Spring-Loaded
Member
It's meta. you now understand his confusion
on topic: The in-store demos for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and ICO.
PureYeti
Member
Sim Earth... what?
I loaded this game up and immediately I had tornado hazards every 3 seconds lol
Chrono Trigger - After 600 AD I had no clue what to do from there so I returned the game
Solstice - The nes cover was misleading. I thought I was going to be a muscular wizard slaying demons. All I got was some ordinary mage going rooms after rooms. I had no clue what was my objective.
Digital-Hero
Member
If I played this now it would be a different story I'm sure. This game lacked serious direction.
Bible Adventures (NES)
Bible Adventures (NES)
Lumpy Onion
Member
Haha I think Raiders for 2600 was my first videogame I ever played. It seemed like no matter how hard we tried we could never progress to the end of the game because of it being so obtuse. We did play it a lot because it had the best graphics we had seen for 2600. But stuff like Adventure and Berzerk won out in the end because those made sense.
Mac the KNife
Member
Ocarina of Time. My first game that wasn't linear level-based progression so it confused me.
Also, goes without saying:
It surprises me that people got so hung up on this part as Sonic is basically a one button game.
Super Pitfall on the NES.
I rented it at the age of 7 or so because it "looked like Mario". The game is so nonsensical and brutal it even ended up on Angry Nintendo Nerd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEXpsDB2XQ
I rented it at the age of 7 or so because it "looked like Mario". The game is so nonsensical and brutal it even ended up on Angry Nintendo Nerd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEXpsDB2XQ
Necromanti
Member
Jumping Flash
(I sort of remember the first battle in Final Fantasy Tactics being difficult to get past as well, for some reason. I'm not sure why, since it wasn't my first S-RPG.)
EDIT: Wait, no, I lied.
It was Alone in the Dark.
I had no clue what to do in the beginning, at least. It was my first PS1 game and I didn't know any English at all. It quickly clicked with me not long after, becoming one of my favorite PS1 games.
(I sort of remember the first battle in Final Fantasy Tactics being difficult to get past as well, for some reason. I'm not sure why, since it wasn't my first S-RPG.)
EDIT: Wait, no, I lied.
It was Alone in the Dark.
I believe I was around...4 (or not much younger than that), and had no clue how to play the game. I would just end up dancing around with the character (since I didn't seem to be able to just walk), and would end up getting killed by the beast that burst in through the window.
Cheesecakebobby
Banned
The puzzles in Little Big Adventure were too much for me, but I was able to use Internet guides, which were still in their infancy
mrmickfran
Member
The N64 Zelda games
In OoT, I had no idea what to do after I stepped onto Hyrule Field.
In MM, I had no idea what to do during the first countdown.
In Star Fox Adventures, I had no idea what to do when I landed on Dinosaur Planet.
In OoT, I had no idea what to do after I stepped onto Hyrule Field.
In MM, I had no idea what to do during the first countdown.
In Star Fox Adventures, I had no idea what to do when I landed on Dinosaur Planet.
I borrowed Populous from a friend of mine and played it for many hours, never actually knowing what the point of the game was.
I just terraformed the world and did random stuff.
I had no idea what the purpose of anything was, or what the goal was.
This.
Also Metal Gear for NES.
I would pick the pet and try to get as far as I could. I would get to that dragon and be all like "now what".
You are supposed to go back and forth picking different characters. I thought you couldn't go back to the character select screen,
I borrowed Populous from a friend of mine and played it for many hours, never actually knowing what the point of the game was.
I just terraformed the world and did random stuff.
I had no idea what the purpose of anything was, or what the goal was.
Came to post this. Was 7 or 8 when I got it. No idea what the fuck I was doing.
When I was a kid, the idea of reading text on my TV was completely foreign so I would often skip text or not pay attention. When playing Moonwalker on the Sega Genesis I got through most of the game until the end where it became some shooter, a gameplay style and perspective I had almost zero experience with at that point. So I'm shooting things but there's no indication that I'm making progress. I get bored so I decide to check out the HUD. Who's that guy down there? He's telling me to stay still, he's saying "no!" whenever I shoot. Maybe I should listen to him, so I decide it's a good idea to stop pressing buttons on the controller and see what happens. That didn't help me win either so I just gave up on the game at that point.
Tyrant Rave
Banned
Darkstalkers 3 was one of the first fighters I ever played as a kid and it was before I was really invested in the genre. Didn't know anything about chain combos, EX attacks, pushblock, pursuit attacks, etc.
Revisiting the game after years of playing other fighters was pretty mindblowing. Lots of love for the game.
Revisiting the game after years of playing other fighters was pretty mindblowing. Lots of love for the game.
Hydrargyrus
Member
GoodCoffeeJoey
Banned
G-Police. I remember flying around the city having no clue about what to do. Also in FFVII I kept getting stuck in the Wall Market.
B_Spooky13
Member
this game.. no clue as a kid.
just kept playing until I died
ChaosAngel
Member
When I was 4, I didn't think to attack the chains and would constantly attack bowser. It took me 2 years to get past that part.
Cloud Strife
Member
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This. I screwed around way too much in this game.
CitizenCope
Member
Came to post this. So many doors we could see but could never get to. So sad. We felt dumb. There was no YouTube for help back then.i THINK this game:
=
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I was 7 years old and I either got hopelessly lost or on the wrong end of a Wyvern attack. Or both. XD
Didn't beat it until I was 19. orz
BobbyRobby
Member
This is mine. I could best the spider at the end of the pet's quest but that's all. I would play for hours trying to make more progress.
Milon's secret Castle is another.
Sim Earth... what?
I remember this. Gave up after like 10 minutes.
SPACECADET
Member
i just ran around a lot.
Bogard
Member
I completely agree on Milon's Secret Castle. Anyone who has seen the AVGN episode knows exactly what those who played it went through.
RadioHeadAche
Member
That sounds like the intro. It's a scripted event and you're supposed to "die". You wake up immediately after in a diner.
Shin-Ra
Junior Member
Yep, Maniac Mansion (Amiga) really fucked me up.I had to look up a guide even now to get past the very first part of Zak Mckackren and the alien mindbenders, it's a wonder I got anywhere as a kid without the internet
...Scatter...
Banned
I borrowed Populous from a friend of mine and played it for many hours, never actually knowing what the point of the game was.
I just terraformed the world and did random stuff.
I had no idea what the purpose of anything was, or what the goal was.
Populous was AWESOME on SNES!
A game called the Adventures of Maddog Williams (I think) on the Amiga 500. I only ever got as far as watching a woman get sacrificed by guys in hooded robes.
I also had a Japanese copy of Atomic Robokid and doubt I got off the first level. There was some dinosaur type thing that was speaking to me but with it all being Japanese it meant nothing.
And a Ghostbusters game for the Spectrum too. Amazing the patience I had as a child, to consistently play the same levels over and over despite making no progress.
I also had a Japanese copy of Atomic Robokid and doubt I got off the first level. There was some dinosaur type thing that was speaking to me but with it all being Japanese it meant nothing.
And a Ghostbusters game for the Spectrum too. Amazing the patience I had as a child, to consistently play the same levels over and over despite making no progress.
Avid Reading Horse
Member
Swordquest
There were some interesting minigames to enter certain rooms, but apparently the idea of the game was to put combinations of items in various rooms in order to reveal page and panel numbers of the comic book that came with the game...then anagram letters hidden in those panels to win a contest. When you're 5, that kind of subtlety is lost on you. The first panel I found had someone saying something like "don't look down" or "just keep looking up" so I figured that I just had to keep moving upward. I never even bothered to look for a hidden letter.
I was around the same age when I got Swordquest games secondhand... Without the comics... yeah uhhh. Was very confused... but at least I could wander around and do some stuff even if it didn't make any sense and I couldn't figure out how to make any real progress.
Randomizer
Member
Super Metroid and Castlevania Sotn. I guess I wasn't used to the idea of non-linear games or the concept of needing specific upgrades to progress. Although I did play and beat Wonderboy III which had a slightly similar style of progression. Anyway I was really clueless, I would just wonder around for hours in those games. The one thing that stuck with me for both games was the unique atmosphere. I revisited them in my late teens and they are now two of my all time favourite games.