Metal Khaos
Member
Faxandu
so difficult-
Faxanadu was such a hard game as a young kid. It was a nightmare just trying to figure out where to go.
Also if I can add one to the list.. Wall Street Kid.
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Looking back NES Games were pretty difficult.
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Faxanadu was such a hard game as a young kid. It was a nightmare just trying to figure out where to go.
Also if I can add one to the list.. Wall Street Kid.
I started playing Rygar with my brother last week.
Fuck that game! It's not hard, you just have to fucking clue where to go!! It's like freaking Zelda ALL over again! Wandering around the damn map for all eternity until you figure out where the hell you are supposed to go. It's freaking ridiculous.
Stupid shit made to sell Nintendo Power, I tell ya! I'm too lazy to even GameFAQs the necessary maps for this piece of shit game.
I'll probably play more tomorrow
Once I learned that there was leveling up in the game, that plus a copy of the Official Nintendo Players Guide, meant I was able to beat the game in 3 hours. This was just last year... I love beating oldskool NES games after years of never being able to do it. And now I see Faxanadu above... being a huge Falcom fan that should be the next one I do!
SeventhSon
Member
Faxandu
so difficult-
Don't think negative thoughts...
Kagoshima_Luke
Gold Member
In my maturity, I can get to that Technodrome, but hell if I don't last five minutes after that.
With a combination of memorization, tenaciousness, skill and luck, I got to the Technodrome once as a kid. Despite not actually beating the game, it remains one of the great gaming accomplishments of my youth.
Other games that I got pretty far, but could never actually beat:
- Adventures of Bayou Billy
- Battletoads
- Golgo 13
- Milon's Secret Castle
- Rambo
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Another one I can add to my list. My cousins owned it so I never got the chance to play it much, but in my limited time, I couldn't get very far.Faxandu
so difficult-
That's another game I wish would hit the Wii U (or 3DS) Virtual Console so I could finally conquer it.
marthurstewart
Member
I beat this game when I was in 5th grade, which I consider an amazing personal accomplishment given how utterly crap the controls are in the game.
I feel like a lot of games were made more difficult because of crap control schemes, actually. Like Ikari Warriors.
In my maturity, I can get to that Technodrome, but hell if I don't last five minutes after that.
Ever since about 15 years ago, my circle of friends and I stick to the belief that nobody has legit beaten this. And I'm sure we could just go on youtube or something and find a video of someone beating it, but nope; in our world it's unbeatable and anyone who says they beat it is a liar.
cpp_is_king
Member
NES games were difficult because
a) There was no internet to find tips / tricks. I never got more than like 10 minutes into Super Pitfall because I could never figure out where the fuck to go or what to do. Watch AVGN about it and you'll see why.
b) They needed to make money from Nintendo Power and calls to their game hotline. I actually called that thing a few times.
c) There really was not a lot of content. You can beat most NES games in like 2 hours if you're an expert and you just blaze through. The same is not true of most modern games. They needed something in there to increase the time you spent with the game, because they knew that these games were for kids, and parents weren't going to be crazy about the idea of buying games for their kids every few weeks.
a) There was no internet to find tips / tricks. I never got more than like 10 minutes into Super Pitfall because I could never figure out where the fuck to go or what to do. Watch AVGN about it and you'll see why.
b) They needed to make money from Nintendo Power and calls to their game hotline. I actually called that thing a few times.
c) There really was not a lot of content. You can beat most NES games in like 2 hours if you're an expert and you just blaze through. The same is not true of most modern games. They needed something in there to increase the time you spent with the game, because they knew that these games were for kids, and parents weren't going to be crazy about the idea of buying games for their kids every few weeks.
WeAreStarStuff
Member
Now and days when I buy a game I expect to beat it. Back when I was a kid playing NES I expected the games to beat me.
Never forget
Never forget
disappeared
Banned
That Super Mario A+start trick is blowing my mind. Had I known that twenty-five years ago...
Kagoshima_Luke
Gold Member
That's Battletoads for me. No matter what proof I'm shown, I can't, I WON'T believe it can be beaten!
enigmatic_alex44
Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
uMMMMM NES games weren't that much harder than today's game tbh. The thing that made them so hard was most games used such godawful save systems, IF they had saves at all. Having to beat a game all in one sitting is not my definition of fun. I still cringe at how many times I had to start Final Fantasy 1 over as the file kept deleting itself
I bought it last year and loved it as soon as I started playing it. I managed to beat it but some of the levels took quite a few tries.
The cave level near the end took most of my lives, mostly because of these arseholes
My brother and I used to play the games together, and we eventually beat most of the games we bought (although living in a small town in the UK meant that the selection available at the local woolworths was pretty small). We got one each for Christmas and our birthdays, and picked up an extra one or two each a year through pooling the money from our paper round, so we had quite a decent collection after a couple of years.
Looking back, I think we had quite good taste, we played through Mario 1-3, Castlevania, Zelda (I've still got my graph paper map with all the secrets marked!) Megaman 1-3 and Metroid. Also Double Dragon 2, Duck Tales, Kid Icarus, Probotector (contra) and Gradius. I'm sure there's more but those are the ones I remember. I think Megaman I found to be really tough, and also Metroid (and working out where to go in Zelda) although only because we had never played anything like it.
We weren't really into TMNT, although I remember it always being featured in the magazines. The one turd we picked out was Bayou Billy. Man that game was hard, and also just not that much fun either, we didn't get anywhere with it. Most games we would play over and over again on weekends until we finished it, but Bayou Billy was the only one where neither of us had the inclination to do so. If Duck Hunt had an ending, I don't remember us seeing it either, although my mum would secretly play it when we were at school. We came home one day to find her playing it, and she had a ridiculously high score, claiming it was her first go. Yeah, right!
Looking back, I think we had quite good taste, we played through Mario 1-3, Castlevania, Zelda (I've still got my graph paper map with all the secrets marked!) Megaman 1-3 and Metroid. Also Double Dragon 2, Duck Tales, Kid Icarus, Probotector (contra) and Gradius. I'm sure there's more but those are the ones I remember. I think Megaman I found to be really tough, and also Metroid (and working out where to go in Zelda) although only because we had never played anything like it.
We weren't really into TMNT, although I remember it always being featured in the magazines. The one turd we picked out was Bayou Billy. Man that game was hard, and also just not that much fun either, we didn't get anywhere with it. Most games we would play over and over again on weekends until we finished it, but Bayou Billy was the only one where neither of us had the inclination to do so. If Duck Hunt had an ending, I don't remember us seeing it either, although my mum would secretly play it when we were at school. We came home one day to find her playing it, and she had a ridiculously high score, claiming it was her first go. Yeah, right!
Was going to post this. The secret to that game was to start a two player game and just let the second player use up all their lives on the first level. That way it's just you and when you die you just just respawn right there. If you just play the single player and you die that put you like at the mid point of the level.
Gumshoe was one for me. What a frustrating game. Could never beat the last boss.
I respectfully disagree. Nothing has ever crushed me as utterly as the falling block tower in Castlevania 3. And that's with a password system that brings me almost right to that section.
I'm a little surprised by this one too. I beat Wizards and Warriors a bunch as a kid. The sequel, on the other hand is terribly difficult.
theshape31
Member
I hardly ever made it through any of the games I bought when I was young playing NES. And I put in more hours than at any other point in my life. The idea of 'difficulty' has completely changed over the years.
Just the other day my brother was watching Clone Wars. I mentioned to him that whenever I hear the well-known Star Wars sound effects, it reminds me of Super Star Wars. And whenever I think of Super Star Wars, I'm reminded of how difficult games used to be. Honestly we played that game so much and who even knows if we got past any levels. He then mentioned the original Ninja Gaiden, another one that humbled us both.
Those were the days, though, of quarter-stealing arcade machines that had no other purpose than to defeat players quickly. All of that carried over to consoles at the time. Since arcades are essentially a thing of the past, the industry has evolved to become something else entirely. And 'difficulty' was one of the main components to change with it.
There are certain relaxing experiences in gaming that don't require a high difficulty. In fact there are many that are better being a breeze to finish. But there remains a significant portion of games that would really benefit from the old-school 'difficulty' mentality. There are too many games currently, in my experience, that are just too easy and don't require any sort of real effort, talent, or discipline to finish. And back in the day those were the things to be most proud of. I do often long to feel that old feeling of battling the AI without it feeling like anything unfair was happening. Only that a tiny microscopic mistake that I know I made was the cause of my demise.
Just the other day my brother was watching Clone Wars. I mentioned to him that whenever I hear the well-known Star Wars sound effects, it reminds me of Super Star Wars. And whenever I think of Super Star Wars, I'm reminded of how difficult games used to be. Honestly we played that game so much and who even knows if we got past any levels. He then mentioned the original Ninja Gaiden, another one that humbled us both.
Those were the days, though, of quarter-stealing arcade machines that had no other purpose than to defeat players quickly. All of that carried over to consoles at the time. Since arcades are essentially a thing of the past, the industry has evolved to become something else entirely. And 'difficulty' was one of the main components to change with it.
There are certain relaxing experiences in gaming that don't require a high difficulty. In fact there are many that are better being a breeze to finish. But there remains a significant portion of games that would really benefit from the old-school 'difficulty' mentality. There are too many games currently, in my experience, that are just too easy and don't require any sort of real effort, talent, or discipline to finish. And back in the day those were the things to be most proud of. I do often long to feel that old feeling of battling the AI without it feeling like anything unfair was happening. Only that a tiny microscopic mistake that I know I made was the cause of my demise.
Goldenroad
Member
They were at the time too. As much as I played a ton of NES games as a kid, I bet I can count on one hand all the NES games I actually beat....having said that, one of those was Super Contra w/o Konami Code, so maybe it was that we were better at video games back then.
Manmademan
Member
Oh it's this thread again. Yes, NES era games were a lot harder. less QA to check for ballbusting bugs, and games were much lower budget. If a game tanked it was unlikely to take the whole studio with it, as is the case today.
But if you're looking for hard games:
Have fun with these. we'll see you in a decade or two.
But if you're looking for hard games:
Have fun with these. we'll see you in a decade or two.
bronk
Banned
you beat this game as a 5th grader!? Shit I play it even now and cant beat the fucking mall! Your a beast.
I beat this game when I was in 5th grade, which I consider an amazing personal accomplishment given how utterly crap the controls are in the game.
I feel like a lot of games were made more difficult because of crap control schemes, actually. Like Ikari Warriors.
Edit: oh shit im a member now! Feels good.
Manmademan
Member
Business
Member
Whoa wasn't aware of this bug. As a kid I only thought the last boss was simply insanely difficult. Was throwing these toothpaste tubes all over the place and I had nowhere to go.
OT, I concur NES era games were difficult. Playing emulators or Nintendo's VC I find myself unable to complete stages I remember easily clearing as a kid.
Manmademan
Member
Probably some truth to this. Arcade games at that time largely couldn't be beaten or didn't have endings- they just ramped up to impossible difficulties until they killed you.
NES gamers were used to getting their teeth kicked in by a game and never actually finishing it, because that's what games did. If you got to the end of a game it was a legitimate accomplishment.
modern game design doesn't really do this. the arcade mentality is long dead.
Battletoads wasnt THAT diffucult , i used to beat it pretty often.
Ninja Gaiden 1 is gd impossible.(I can get to the last boss in ~ 1 life - cant beat the 2nd/3rd bosses) - The others im not sure.
Castlevania 1 i beat recently , but turns out the game doesnt really end...it just repeats on a harder mode which is insane , more enemies , more damage etc. (Starts immediately after the credits)
Cant really say for the rest.
Nintendo games were indeed difficult as hell.
Ninja Gaiden 1 is gd impossible.(I can get to the last boss in ~ 1 life - cant beat the 2nd/3rd bosses) - The others im not sure.
Castlevania 1 i beat recently , but turns out the game doesnt really end...it just repeats on a harder mode which is insane , more enemies , more damage etc. (Starts immediately after the credits)
Cant really say for the rest.
Nintendo games were indeed difficult as hell.
Manmademan
Member
That's generally considered "the end" of the game if it has credits etc. Super mario brothers also starts over with a slightly harder mode, iirc.
Castlevania 1 was supposed to have a save system that was removed for the US release. legitimately getting to the end of that in one sitting is a real feat- the game wasn't designed for that. 3 doesn't have that excuse though, it's just a ballbuster.
I never thought ninja gaiden 1 was that difficult though- outside of those irritating birds it was pretty easy to get to Jacquio. just don't lose to him or your ass goes WAY back.
The Japanese version is so much easier. If you pick up Sypha, then Dracula is a damn breeze with some of her spells. They really screwed the West sometimes, especially PAL territory.
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cascardian
Member
Ninja Gaiden, stage 6. Never forget. And the friggin' birds in general. Rage quits all the way. Those were my first acquaintance with a lifelong hatred of flying enemies.
Now and days when I buy a game I expect to beat it. Back when I was a kid playing NES I expected the games to beat me.
Never forget
I felt like a beat the game after finally getting past that part after the 1000th try
In my maturity, I can get to that Technodrome, but hell if I don't last five minutes after that.
I became so good at that game I beat it in a few hours at a friends house because he couldn't get past the damn lvl. I was a master back then lol. So much time to devote to a handful of games since I relied on parents to buy them.
One game I was forever stuck on was Journey to Silius.
I got to the very end of this game one day. My hands were dripping with sweat and I was tense as hell so I decided to take a little break. So I went to pause the game. But for some reason after I paused it, without thinking about it, I hit the reset button on my NES.
Always gave me fits. Climbing all the way up a tree and get knocked back down.
I'm pretty sure I fought back tears. I'm not sure I've played the game since.
Ive only beaten C3 once - as Sypha with the thunder bubble magic. It gives a little fairness back to the game, because otherwise Id have no clue how to beat the doppleganger, the staircase of bone pillars, not to mention they work great on Dracula.
Half the time I hit the wrong candle and wind up back with Fire or Ice magic, thats the end of the run.
(Ironically, the ice magic is easily the best in a much later game when you can play as
Yoko in Dawn of Sorrow
It's probably the hardest infinite-continues Famicom game, and I've played a lot.
I am Christina Aguilera
Member
Faxandu
so difficult-
Nello! I beat Faxanadu without a Game Genie a few years ago on the Wii Virtual Console. I had it on cartridge for a while, and I'd consider it among my favorite Virtual Console purchases. So atmospheric for a NES game. It should be noted that there's a bug with the pendant item that appears when you beat the boss in the Tower of Suffer that makes the second half of the game unnecessarily difficult if you aren't aware of it in advance to avoid it.
Funny enough, the game's coding accidentally starts you out at the beginning with the intended increased strength of owning the pendant, and picking up the pendant actually turns off the added strength. If you beat the boss, you can just never pick up the pendant that he drops and proceed with the rest of the game as usual at full strength.
Remember your mantra: "stay the fuck away from the pendant."
I bought it last year and loved it as soon as I started playing it. I managed to beat it but some of the levels took quite a few tries.
The cave level near the end took most of my lives, mostly because of these arseholes
Oh God, I hate these
SeventhSon
Member
neobiz
Member
I'm sorry to laugh at your pain but LOL.
I was a friends house and his a/c system kicked on and reset his NES for whatever reason while playing. He said 'that's never happened before' and I said 'fuck this shit, let's go outside'.
SystemUser
Member
This game was so much harder than I expected it to be.
entremet
Member
I would say the arcade game design roots--quarter munchers--look at Ghost and Goblins lol and also giving games artificial longevity since they were expensive and if kids just beat them in a few hours or so, it would hurt their appeal with parents.
Manmademan
Member
ugh...I'd rather not. Someone else used the phrase "maximum bullshit" and that game is a prime example. "oh, got all the way to the end, did you? Think again, bitch"
Different gamer/design philosophy back then. It was more about trial and error, and memorizing level designs and attack patterns. Nowadays it's almost like watching an interactive Hollywood film. Any break in the movie (i.e. death) is an annoyance.
Obviously there are modern games that harken back to the olden days, like Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden.
Obviously there are modern games that harken back to the olden days, like Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden.
Manmademan
Member
ctrl + f Solomon's Key. I am disappoint
this game was the bane of my youngster years. It gets bordeline impossible around level 50
I beat you to that one by a couple of hours, chief. Though Abadox is still the worst NES game I've ever played in terms of difficulty.
I love the souls games as much as the next guy (I've beaten demon's and dark, and working on dark II) but none of those games even come close to scratching the level of "hard" of some of the shit in this thread. Some of these games that are getting listed can't have been legitimately beaten by more than a handful of people. Just controller throwing, console breaking, game selling, fuck-you-I'm-done-with-gaming-hard.