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["God's Beard!"]

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What happened to the days when gamers could look forward to enemies that would kick our asses in the first level? When infinite continues and even save points were unheard of? What happened to the raw adrenaline rush of dodging impossible waves of lazer matrices, only to encounter a larger tower/space ship/tank controlled by hitler's robot cousin?

What happened to the time when we, as gamers, were bad enough dudes to save the president? Every time someone's grandma decides to play Exite Truck, games get a little bit easier. Oh sure, everybody's happy now, but what happens when Virtua Fighter becomes Mortal Kombat? What happens when the next Street Fighter 2 iteration is a kart racer? Or when Ninja Gaiden 3 is a minigame in DOA Xtreme 4? WHAT THEN? Nothing, that's what. Because by the time that happens, it'll be too late.

Still don't believe me? Well think about this one: What games were you playing as a kid, back on the Genesis and SNES? Now, what games are your kid neighbors playing on their fancy new Wii and PS2? I just blew your mind.

This is the Hardcore War.
Challenge
Appreciation
Thread

Know your friends, know your foe!

HARDCORE:

NOT HARDCORE:

THE ENEMY:

ITT: Discussion on the mainstream progression of videogames and the decline of "hardcore". Suggest alternatives to this movement in order to stay on track and sharpen the killer instinct. Also, share any and all of your favorite hardcore stories, including(but not limited to) broken controllers, 40 hit combos and no Contra Code victories.

I'll start us off: Warning Forever
Scroll down and download!

An excellent free cave shooter where you simply fight increasingly larger and more difficult bosses. You can modify the direction and spread of your laser to accomodate the type of boss(part) you're facing. hit everything at once, or aim for the joints to remove large sections. A definite challenge, worth picking up. I also reccomend Ray Hound(directly above Warning Forever), where you have to redirect your opponents lasers to attack.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Winner thread.

(Well, Yoshis Story is a great game but nothing can beat good ol' 1-hit-death oldschool action)

 

[mclem]

I once completed level 1 of Army Moves.

If that doesn't sound impressive... you've never played Army Moves.

I think Army Moves is an excellent way of making the point that hardcore gameplay does not necessarily equal good gameplay.

Also, on the subject of Wii Fit: That has the potential to be the hardest of the hardcore challenges if some suitably evil game designer were to get their grubby little mitts on it.

 

[Doodlebug]

I like this thread. I like it a lot.

What's the game from the second "Hardcore" image? It reminds me of R-type a little.

Edit: I like the free games you linked to. Thanks.

 

[leehom]

Guts Revenge, Dreamcast. Last stage was a PITA. Magician Lord on Neo Geo was pretty hard too. On the last stage you have to fight all the bosses continously w/o dieing. That was near impossible for me.

 

[donkey show]

The Legend of Kage. Can you even beat that game? I've only gone through one loop until the princess gets jacked again and I die due to the shitbox controls.

 

[Grayman]

I have WF installed already I think. It doesn't have the right mixture of hard to boring to keep me interested for a long time though.

 

[Virtua Ben]

CAT thread am good.

Though maybe not considered a "hardcore" game, Rockstar Table Tennis was the first game to claim the life of one of my controllers. Usually I treat all of my gaming things with care, but this game just got me too angry. I was trying to beat Jesper on whatever level is above hard and I almost won, but then somehow he came back and beat me. It was so cheap IMO and the anger boiled up. I just threw the controller on the ground and started bashing it with my foot. After I realized I broke it, I felt pretty stupid and really haven't played that game since.

Speaking of hardcore games, there's supposedly an extra-hard mode on Heavenly Sword that even the Sony testers can't beat yet. That'll be a challenge for all of us.

 

[Threi]

there was some stupid Rokateer game (based off some movie) on SNES i had that i could never beat.

Frustrating prize goes to Wu-Tang shaolin style though.

 

[Pharmacy]

I've never seen the point in paying £50 for something I can't play through

 

[dralla]

MDK2 on the Dreamcast. friggin rediculous

"This game is really hard. As contradictory as this may sound, this is a man's game. A chew you up and spit you out type of game. A "No, I won't hold your had in the parking lot" type of game. If Clint Eastwood and John Wayne held gaming challenges, they'd throw down in MDK2. Make no mistake about it, this game is tough."

http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/160/160954p1.html

 

[Brannon]

Guts Revenge, Dreamcast. Last stage was a PITA.

I conquered this game utterly and unlocked the cheats for, among other things, infinite Hand Cannon ammo. OH SHIT!

I have a request; lets avoid games that are just bullshit. 7th Saga is just bullshit. It's not hardcore, its BDSM levels of BULLSHIT.

 

["God's Beard!"]

I once completed level 1 of Army Moves.

If that doesn't sound impressive... you've never played Army Moves.

I think Army Moves is an excellent way of making the point that hardcore gameplay does not necessarily equal good gameplay.

Also, on the subject of Wii Fit: That has the potential to be the hardest of the hardcore challenges if some suitably evil game designer were to get their grubby little mitts on it.

Kinda like Nickelodeon Guts on the SNES. hardest game I've ever played. DAMN YOU, CRAG! WILL YOUR SUMMIT ELUDE ME YET AGAIN?

Guts Revenge, Dreamcast. Last stage was a PITA. Magician Lord on Neo Geo was pretty hard too. On the last stage you have to fight all the bosses continously w/o dieing. That was near impossible for me.

That game was tough. "hey, we got this huge guy with a ten foot sword, now let's have him fight in an alley!"

I like this thread. I like it a lot.

What's the second "Harcore" image? It reminded me of R-type.

Ikaruga, the quintessential hardcore shooter. white black black white black white black oh god!

I have WF installed already I think. It doesn't have the right mixture of hard to boring to keep me interested for a long time though.

I'm the same way with Geometry Wars, it just takes so long to ramp up from the early game.

I've never seen the point in paying £50 for something I can't play through

I made this thread for you.

 

[SabinFigaro]

I have beaten old-school Battletoads, cursed at Contra, and sliced through Shinobi, but there is only one game that I have ever broken a controller in frustration while playing. That game is Jet Force Gemini. Oh, I know, the main game is not that difficult. There's a frustrating boss here and there, but nothing worth getting angry over. To all my fellow Gaffers who have played this game through, you know of the Floyd Missions.

There are four (not including the fifth in Mizar's Palace) missions that require you to take control of the little robot Floyd; in these missions, you must collect a certain amount of items under a certain amount of time. When you have done this, you may be awarded a medal based on your skill. The ultimate challenge is to get the Expert Medals, and this is where the main frustration comes in. Hell, even getting a gold medal is hard. I spent weeks straight trying to get the medals to unlock that damn Cyborg Stag, and I once threw my N64 controller against the wall while playing the Goldwood level. I'm a pretty calm guy, and I was swearing and yelling when I smashed that controller. I've never faced a more frustrating challenge in videogames, and to this date, it's probably my proudest gaming accomplishment.

Fly free little buddy.

 

[Pharmacy]

I made this thread for you.

thank you

Spoiler

sorry i just realised that comment wasnt needed, im out

 

[ShinNL]

I nominate Monster Hunter Freedom, because the first Rathalos pretty much kills every newcomer who thinks he's any good by randomly pressing buttons. That being said, the first Rathalos is a quest given by the Elder, where the difficulty is pretty much 10 times easier than the real deal/game, guild hall quests.

20+ minute battles with a single monster is not uncommon in this game.

My videos that show the hardcoreness of Monster Hunter Freedom:

>Black Diablos totally owning me while I was wearing the strongest armor in the game:
Huge Black Diablos

>20 minute battling a Black Gravios with 4 players only just to fail the quest and wasted our time.
Black Gravios FAIL part 1/2
Black Gravios FAIL part 2/2

>The results of playing a lot and investing a lot of effort:
Ancient Weapon Compilation

 

["God's Beard!"]

I nominate Monster Hunter Freedom, because the first Rathalos pretty much kills every newcomer who thinks he's any good by randomly pressing buttons. That being said, the first Rathalos is a quest given by the Elder, where the difficulty is pretty much 10 times easier than the real deal/game, guild hall quests.

I had the PS2 version, probably my favorite online game of all time. I equipped bad luck armor and tried to kill a rathalos with the crappiest weapon I could find(cactus creamer). I would have won, but I ran out of time. By a lot.

I really liked fighting Lao. Dodging raptors while carrying cannonballs is awesome.

 

[Captain Glanton]

I like the tone of this thread.

I will say that it's hard for games to strike the balance between challenge and just being hard to be hard. God of War II was a great game on Hard Mode [and I found certain parts to be plenty of a challenge] but on Very Hard it was the same game, except it would take a lot longer because you had to hit each enemy three times as many times. For me, playing GoW II on Hard was a challenge but Very Hard would have been bit of a waste. Devil May Cry is another example--although I was interested in the gameplay, the dumb save system seemed to make it challenging by wasting my time replaying the whole level. So, I never played past the first level.

At any rate, my biggest fear is that as other publishing companies see the money Nintendo makes off of non-gamers [which to me is anyone not willing or interested in mastering a gameplay system], we'll see less money going to make the next Ninja Gaiden and more to make the next Prey, a game where you can't really die at all.


Pre-Edit: I'm not saying that Prey sold stacks of games or is the next huge IP, just that it's a good example of a game mechanic that allows anyone to plow through the game with no ill effects for the player for not playing well.

 

[FiRez]

Thank god there's still developers that make maniatic shooters

currently playing DoDonPachi Daioujou <3

 

[Tokubetsu]

**** Shinobi for PS2. Every now and then I put it and play it, and then some boss ****s me over and i fall into a pit or I dash at the wrong time and fall, so I turn it off. I'd love to play dodonpachi one of these days.

 

[Economan]

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

As a kid, I was never able to even make it past the first level.

 

[maus]

Playing DiRT right on pro difficulty. Pretty damn challenging trying to perfect some of these courses without destroying my car in the process. Control breakingly so on this latest stage i'm at, which features tons of hairpins in addition to the usual thousands of elevation changes and off-road hazards. Good challenge and good fun.

 

[saelz8]

UT2K4 Temple Of Trials

Dragon Blaze (Second round)

Hard - > Easy

I always pick the hardest difficulty in my games

 

[PetriP-TNT]

I was playing a single classic game just now, and it really screamed HARDCORE. That game was Super Mario Lost Levels from All-stars, also known as the real Super Mario Bros 2. Forgot everything you had learned from Mario 1, this game is just going to laugh at you.

It has it all: jumps that require the exact speed and timing, random enemies that are just made to annoy you, jumps that are halfway impossible and often need a special trick to get pass them, requiring multiple direction changes midair, random invisible boxes that just happen to be where you need to jump, Mushrooms that will kill you and most importantly: Warp zones that will make you go back few worlds just when you thought you have found a neat secret.

Those combined, its sure to make you smash your controllers against the wall. Super Mario Lost Levels is HARDCORE.

 

[Armada]

Ahh, Ikaruga... memories. *-* Beating it without using a continue was a nice feeling.

 

["God's Beard!"]

I was playing a single classic game just how, and it really screamed HARDCORE. That game was Super Mario Lost Levels from All-stars, also known as the real Super Mario Bros 2. Forgot everything you had learned from Mario 1, this game is just going to laugh at you.

It has it all: jumps that require the exact speed and timing, random enemies that are just made to annoy you, jumps that are halfway impossible and often need a special trick to get pass them, requiring multiple direction changes midair, random invisible boxes that just happen to be where you need to jump, Mushrooms that will kill you and most importantly: Warp zones that will make you go back few worlds just when you thought you have found a neat secret.

Those combined, its sure to make you smash your controllers against the wall. Super Mario Lost Levels is HARDCORE.

Reminds me of this game.

 

[Grayman]

**** Shinobi for PS2. Every now and then I put it and play it, and then some boss ****s me over and i fall into a pit or I dash at the wrong time and fall, so I turn it off. I'd love to play dodonpachi one of these days.

stupid dogs with swords :lol

 

[Avalon]

Two hours dungeon crawling session, hundreds of battles, a single mistake and it's all for nothing. So ****en awesome.

 

[PedroLumpy]

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

That jogs the memory. Probably on the short list of my hardcore achievements is getting to the second last boss with the goddess bracelet.

Spoiler

For those who don't know, after playing through the game once, you find out you need a special weapon. You must then replay the entire game and bring the goddess bracelet to the 'final' boss from the first run. That's where I got to. If you beat that boss with the bracelet you went on to fight the actual final boss. Never made it that far.

 

[Tokubetsu]

Warning Forever is still really fun. I used to play it during study hall in high school.

Edit: Is this just gonna become the official hardcore thread or something? and why is Ikaruga not on XBLA? =/ I remember hearing murmurs about that.

 

[Galactic Fork]

I would just like to add Etrian Odyssey. I wouldn't call it frustrating, but you need to really need to be prepared or you'll end up dead. FOE! FOE!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kbnu0NKs86Y

Here it is in english!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WM5MMqNgUzM

I'm also glad somebody brought up MHF. Nice having games that don't roll over and die for you.

 

[Guy Legend]

MDK2 on the Dreamcast. friggin rediculous

"This game is really hard. As contradictory as this may sound, this is a man's game. A chew you up and spit you out type of game. A "No, I won't hold your had in the parking lot" type of game. If Clint Eastwood and John Wayne held gaming challenges, they'd throw down in MDK2. Make no mistake about it, this game is tough."

http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/160/160954p1.html

I have the game but have yet to really play it. I may give it a whirl soon....that or Ecco (another claimed hard game).

 

[Littleberu]

I might just suck, but I had a ****ing hard time doing the Library in Halo 1.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Warning Forever is still really fun. I used to play it during study hall in high school.

Edit: Is this just gonna become the official hardcore thread or something? and why is Ikaruga not on XBLA? =/ I remember hearing murmurs about that.

Official by default.

Anyways, sometimes games are fun, but too easy to be hardcore, like RE4. In that case,you have to make them harder by doing crap like trying to beat professional with 7 special rockets in your inventory. Rifle or grenades? It's the oldest question known to man.

Or you could just screw with the game to prove you're better:

Yes, that's an embroidered dragon jacket and a pair of flaming red cargo pants with the word "worthless" written on the legs.

Not pictured is Leon's face(which I tinted yellow), which I added some knife scars to, as well as the Kanji for Pain. Also, his hair is also now emo black.

This is what being hardcore is all about. Building your ego on easy games, then destroying it playing hardcore ones.

 

[Stop It]

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

As a kid, I was never able to even make it past the first level.

Don't get me started on that, I had it when I was a kid, and couldn't get past level 2, ever, that game pissed me off, still haunts me to this day

Anyway, a game where the difficulty level was just wrong (f only once) was Super Monaco GP, once you got challenged by a new driver for Bullets after winning the World Championship, ( Bah! I cant fully remember whether it as a Senna or Prost lookylike), anyway, the Easy/Difficult balance was reversed, using 7speed (Supposedly the hard mode), made beating him easier, as you had that little bit of extra speed, meaning you can afford a few mistakes during the race, however, if you used Automatic, beating him was the hardest task in the history of racing games, ever, still to this day have I experienced such a complete bitch of a task, t'was awesome when I done it though, after many "controller flight issues".

 

[saelz8]

Conan, on ATARI (The one by Datasoft)

Game was as hard as sin!

 

[a Master Ninja]

I give this topic my highest endorsement. Also:

 

["God's Beard!"]

I give this topic my highest endorsement. Also:

I hope that means he decided to add another 3, MN was getting a bit stale.