Is it REALLY that hard?

[Garry Silljo]

After watching the AVGN review of Silver Surfer I decided to track down a copy and see if it was as tough as he made it look. It was.... at first, but after about a half hour of practice I started to get the hang of it, and on day 3 cleared the thing in one life.

I really enjoy being challenged, and often seek out to beat those games which people think are the toughest. It's really dissapointing though when you get a recommendation for a game that is "so hard" and it turns out that with even the smallest fraction of patience it can be cleared pretty easily.

I hear this about Contra all the time too. I could one life clear that back when I was eight and it's like riding a bike today. Still people claim it to be nearly impossible without the 30 lives code.

So the question is, what games are notoriously difficult, but you find to be a complete cakewalk. For me Silver Surfer and Contra or the first to come to mind.

[djsquarewave]

Thunder Force II and Jim Power are the two that come immediately to mind.

TF2 takes some getting used to for the overhead parts, and a bit of memorization on the side-scrolling parts, but I 1CC'd it on the hardest mode after about a week of daily practice.

Jim Power mostly just requires a bit of patience. ;)

[XxHennersXx]

i can ALMOST 1 life clear contra. I got to the hanger on 1 life. then i got the the alien base and ate up the rest of my lives and continues...

[bazariah]

for me i've allways heard that the mega man series, bart vs the space mutants, contra, ninja turtles and life force we difficult

but i can beat all of those pretty easily

but games i've allways found tough are double dragon 3, battle toads, ghost n goblins and dragons lair

[Garry Silljo]

for me i've allways heard that the mega man series, bart vs the space mutants, contra, ninja turtles and life force we difficult

but i can beat all of those pretty easily

but games i've allways found tough are double dragon 3, battle toads, ghost n goblins and dragons lair

We're very alike in skill. All the games you mentioned I also find relatively easy and undeserving of the "hard" label. Bart Vs. the Space Mutants is a little hard due to awful controls, but is still not all that tough.

I've never played Dragon's Lair on the NES but all three you mentioned as actually difficult I would agree with. DD3 and BT I was able to win but it took me a long time to get good enough and I can't repeat it anytime I choose. I've never had the patience to tackle GG. I got through it once after hours and hours of trying and saw that I had to win it twice and just shut it off.

[Gandhara]

1. Kid Kool: you WILL die plenty of times before you get anywhere!

2. Super Pitfall: took me ages to get anywhere because of the faulty coding.

3.
The most impossible game of all to me is the original Valis/Fantasm Soldier 1 on MSX. I wish it were playable but it's just not. The gameplay is too fast paced and you have no control over enemy collisions. The Famicom version is still hard but at least playable once you know what to do and where to go. I like that one but the MSX one is awful.

[Push Upstairs]

"Lifeforce" isn't hard. I don't even play shooter games like that and when I was younger I could get to all the bosses, even the final one, fully powered up and with all Options.

[bangtango]

Games which require fast, precision movements usually swallow up my lives. The type of games where the screen is usually scrolling, particularly shmup's. The fire stage in Life Force and the energy zone in Contra eat up a lot of extra men. Besides those two areas, though, I would wholeheartedly agree that neither of those games are as hard as people make them out to be. I still have to use the 30 lives code in Life Force, though. Not so much in Contra.

People all over the internet say that Zelda II and Goonies II are "difficult" but I have little trouble with either game.

[j_factor]

Battletoads. It's really not that hard IMO. I only had a hard time with a few levels (Terra Tubes, Rat Race, The Revolution). Everybody else seems to think it's ridiculously hard from level 3 on. I don't see how the speeder section is all that difficult -- it killed me the first time I played the game, but once you're familiar with it, it's very easy to remember/predict where the obstacles are, since they're in an easy pattern.

Contra Hard Corps is another one. I actually found it to be easier than Contra 3.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Sparkster]

If the Mega Man series are hard games, then those would count as easy ones for me.

I also remember somebody (on a non-gaming forum) saying that Super Mario 2 was hard... not the Lost Levels version, the Doki Doki Panic adaptation. That thing's a piece of cake. I have to invent challenges for myself to make it difficult.

Contra - done it on 3 lives (with the ones you gain along the way of course). Never on 1 life though. I wouldn't call it a cakewalk though.

Any of you guys play G.I. Joe (the Taxan one) for the NES? Perhaps that's a difficult one that I'm awesome at beating.

[Clong]

Yea Contra is supose to be one of those games that are insanely hard. But when I first started collecting around 2003, I was in college and one of my class-mates and I would play contra like 2 hours a day during out lunch and when we didnt have class. Eventually I beat it, and now I can almost always beat it (not with one life) without using a continue.

But games I think are insaely hard would be: Xmen 2: Clone wars, and Ghouls and Ghosts.

Just a few weeks ago I played Xmen 2: Clone Wars *Genesis* for 3 or 4 days straight and still havent beaten it. Does anyone else agree about Xmen 2?

[Clong]

Also another game I thought was really hard was Stuntman for Playstation 2, there were certain levels I played for 3 to 3.5 hours until I finally beat them. But that game is hard, but its all repetition, if you lose enough you will beat the level.

[j_factor]

But games I think are insaely hard would be: Xmen 2: Clone wars, and Ghouls and Ghosts.

Just a few weeks ago I played Xmen 2: Clone Wars *Genesis* for 3 or 4 days straight and still havent beaten it. Does anyone else agree about Xmen 2?

I definitely don't agree. Clone Wars was quite challenging, but I never found it to be impossible. I've beat it. The key is to figure out what the best character for each level is.

Actually, I think the first X-Men for Genesis was much harder. I hated that game.

[Garry Silljo]

Any of you guys play G.I. Joe (the Taxan one) for the NES? Perhaps that's a difficult one that I'm awesome at beating.

I've been looking to try that out. I think Taxan titles as a whole have a reputation for being difficult. I want to try many of them but usually can't find them as is the case with GI-Joe.

[Garry Silljo]

Battletoads. It's really not that hard IMO. I only had a hard time with a few levels (Terra Tubes, Rat Race, The Revolution). Everybody else seems to think it's ridiculously hard from level 3 on.


I havent played the game in ages since someone borrowed it from me and fell of the face of the Earth. I still need to get another copy. I don't know the names of the levels anymore but the one with the snakes you had to run on and climb on was tough for me. Rat Race was tough for a bit but I eventually fot the hang of it. The game is definately not impossible, I've beaten it, but I do think that unlike many others, it does deserve it's difficult reputation.

[Untamed]

I definitely don't agree. Clone Wars was quite challenging, but I never found it to be impossible. I've beat it. The key is to figure out what the best character for each level is.

Actually, I think the first X-Men for Genesis was much harder. I hated that game.


Woo, I was thinking that I suck too much for this thread, but I've beaten both of these a couple times without too much hassle. I think they're great games.

[GrandAmChandler]

Dash Galaxy & the Alien Asylum for NES. If you have beaten it without cheating or emulator, you are the true American Hero.

[Garry Silljo]

Dash Galaxy & the Alien Asylum for NES. If you have beaten it without cheating or emulator, you are the true American Hero.

I've never had an interest in this title before..... but damn do I love a challenge. If I see it for $5 or less, I may give it a shot.

[jajaja]

Silver Surfer isnt really that hard, but you "must" use a turbo controller (as AVGN also points out). AVGN just points out some of the annoying elements, but its fully doable. Its also easier if you power-up :)

[Greg2600]

I had the first X-Men on Genesis back in the day, too, and never liked it. It wasn't overly hard, but it was very picky and too frustrating to be enjoyable. I guess I just assumed it would have been like the Capcom arcade games, and it wasn't at all (made by Sega not Capcom). I never bothered playing enough to get to the last level, but apparently part of the task at the end involves the player needing to physically reset the console, which is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of.

My most hated game (I owned) of all time was Air Worf for NES, and I am waiting in earnest for the AVGN to review that one. It was so stupidly designed, I could never get past the 2nd level.

[XYXZYZ]

Man, the other day I played TMNT for NES. (The first game, that everyone hates) I got to the Technodrome stage without losing a life, and all of my turtles were at full health when I got there, it was an excellent game. But throughout the stage, I didn't know how to fight or avoid the kangaroo monsters, and I completely beefed and lost the game at the very last laser soldier, just before Shredder. I was so fsking mad, I can't stand it.

[Garry Silljo]

Silver Surfer isnt really that hard, but you "must" use a turbo controller (as AVGN also points out). AVGN just points out some of the annoying elements, but its fully doable. Its also easier if you power-up :)

I did it without turbo. I had to hold the controller with my left hand and rest the other part on my right knee whille I pounded away with my index and middle fingers, but it was indeed done. I don't think it would have been possible for me without powering up though. I spent about 90% of the game at full strength and had 8 bombs saved up by the end. I should have known his review was skewed to make it look harder than it was, but maybe he just sucks? He used turbo and couldn't beat a single level. That's sad.

[Garry Silljo]

Man, the other day I played TMNT for NES. (The first game, that everyone hates) I got to the Technodrome stage without losing a life, and all of my turtles were at full health when I got there, it was an excellent game. But throughout the stage, I didn't know how to fight or avoid the kangaroo monsters, and I completely beefed and lost the game at the very last laser soldier, just before Shredder. I was so fsking mad, I can't stand it.

The technodrome took me quite a few tries to conquer. I think the first turtles has it's difficulty just right. Not too much or too little. I really don't think it deserves all the hate it gets.

[Arasoi]

Low G Man was really difficult for me when I was 8, but I tried it again recently and beat it without too much trouble..

[jcheatle]

My most hated game (I owned) of all time was Air Worf for NES, and I am waiting in earnest for the AVGN to review that one. It was so stupidly designed, I could never get past the 2nd level.

Ah... Airwolf. You're completely right in saying that the controls were horrible, but the 11-year-old me played it enough to get to level 9 or 10, I think (which I'm pretty sure is no small feat). It was one of my originals, but I haven't played it in years.

As for Contra, another one of my originals that I've played through without dying many times, often just to prove it could be done to friends.

Other than that, I don't know. I suppose it was "hard" to put up the numbers I did in Tecmo Super Bowl, even if the game itself isn't considered all that difficult. :)

[bangtango]

Battletoads. It's really not that hard IMO. I only had a hard time with a few levels (Terra Tubes, Rat Race, The Revolution). Everybody else seems to think it's ridiculously hard from level 3 on. I don't see how the speeder section is all that difficult -- it killed me the first time I played the game, but once you're familiar with it, it's very easy to remember/predict where the obstacles are, since they're in an easy pattern.

The Speeder section is really no different than the ones you see in certain Disney games like one of the Aladdin games (the carpet ride where you dodge the rocks) or Lion King (dodging the obstacles). Just memorize the patterns.

Guess I suck at Contra compared to everyone else around here. Of course my preferred gun is the Laser which I like to have on hand for boss fights. It makes it a little harder getting through waves of enemies coming from all directions, though. Spread is only my third favorite since I also like the Machine Gun. Sometimes I use the F weapon (Fire Gun?) in the first two Contra's for NES or stick with the rifle for an added challenge in my gaming sessions.

I'm awfully good at Super C, though, and have beat that without dying. Just a much easier game than the first Contra. I always thought Operation C for Game Boy was a pretty tough in one of the later stages, I can't remember which one.

[crazyjackcsa]

Subterrania is one that I've always heard was really hard, but I was able to get good enough to beat it on difficult without dying. One of my favorite games on the genesis.

[j_factor]

I havent played the game in ages since someone borrowed it from me and fell of the face of the Earth. I still need to get another copy. I don't know the names of the levels anymore but the one with the snakes you had to run on and climb on was tough for me. Rat Race was tough for a bit but I eventually fot the hang of it. The game is definately not impossible, I've beaten it, but I do think that unlike many others, it does deserve it's difficult reputation.

You know, I just realised.... When almost everyone else talks about Battletoads, they're referring to the NES version. But I only own it on Genesis and haven't touched it on NES in years. So maybe the Genesis version is easier somehow?

The snakes level was tough for me at first, but once I got it down, I didn't have any trouble in later playthroughs.

[j_factor]

Subterrania is one that I've always heard was really hard, but I was able to get good enough to beat it on difficult without dying. One of my favorite games on the genesis.

Sub-Terrania just has really difficult, annoying controls. Most people were too frustrated to get past the controls, and gave up on the game quickly.

[Garry Silljo]

Sub-Terrania just has really difficult, annoying controls. Most people were too frustrated to get past the controls, and gave up on the game quickly.

That sounds like me and Solar Jetman. I think the game is great, but even though the control works great, it can be hard to master and frustrating. I would have won it ages ago, but I just get tired of it after too long. It doesn't help that I never use passwords though.

[Ruudos]

Boulderdash
Burai Fighter
Isolated Warrior

And try Track & Field II (without using turbo, of course).

[BHvrd]

Ninja Gaiden.

The nes versions, the new version.....doesn't matter. People always consider them hard, but i've always had a knack for them and haven't gotten nearly as frustrated as i've seen some others get.

May be cause I used to play the arcade version RELIGIOUSLY when I went to the arcades. I still consider that game the best side scrolling arcade fighter to date. When people were playing Double Dragon I was playing it, though Double Dragon in the arcade was bad azz as well and not to be put down. Very overlooked arcade game back in the day.