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View Full Version : Vestigial fear of video games



XYXZYZ
11-02-2007, 11:08 PM
Remember when you were a kid, trying every day to conquer the game you were working on? And that one stressful part would always slaughter you, GAME OVER. And in your daily efforts, after spending a couple hours fighting your way through the game from the beginning, you approach that one difficult part... your pulse went up, your palms sweat, you got that lump in your throat... fear. Sometimes you got whipped so bad, that to this day, whether you can defeat it or not, you still get that little tingle of nervousness when you approach that one ominous spot... the sight, the music, brings back the pain you suffered so many years ago...

I still have to pause the game and take a breath or two for-

Zelda II- The Birdknights in the Great Palace, they stung me pretty bad as a kid. That dreaded narrow corridor, and you know the Birdknight is on the other end... and if I managed to slip past him, and haul ass up the stairs, sometimes he would jump onto the scene and chase me, that scared the hell out of me! Today, I know a good strategy to destroy him every time. But the sight of that narrow corridor still gives me the creeps...

TMNT- that last corridor in the Technodrome, swarming with laser soldiers. I'd spend the whole evening after school fighting my way through the game, wrecklessly charging my way through the Technodrome at the end, only to have those damn laser soldiers murder me and end my game. It's so frustrating, because they randomly have one of two patterns: they'll fly in low, or high. If they fly in high, you can duck them and use some simple patterns to avoid them. When they fly in low, I have no idea how to get past them. Even today, I get nervous when I enter that last door.

Ninja Gaiden- As a kid, the room of fear was the next to last section of 6-2. The bridge, where that damn hawk flies in and ruins everything. If I tried to avoid him, all the nearby enemies respawned and mauled my ass and threw me off the bridge. But now I know that you simply duck the hawk, let him pass, and be on your way. However, I'm still afraid of Jaquio. That's such a damn hard fight to keep up that pattern, chipping his life down and if you lose your mojo and start getting hit, it's all over. And when you lose, you go all the way back to 6-1!

Goonies II- The bridge where those blasted metal skull things steal your boomerang. Trying to avoid them stresses me out.

TNMT- The blades closing in on the last part of stage 4. I can squeeze through now with little effort, but it sure bit me hard back in the day. I still get that little sinking feeling in my stomach when I see that room, nonetheless.


Double Dragon- Willy. I can get to willy in one life, and sometimes he just kills me three times right there. Other times I can defeat him, it seems to be based on luck with me.

Bionic Commando- The "no net" Tarzan jump in area 6. I can do it no problem now, but I still *gulp* when I attempt it.

Good times, good times! I've spilled my guts, now you spill yours!

dlopez9069
11-02-2007, 11:34 PM
Mario 64-Last bowser
i spent 3 whole months trying to beat him as a kid and never did. since then i've beat it countless times but still I just dont like that part

starchildskiss78
11-03-2007, 09:20 AM
The VGA remake of Police Quest on the PC did it for me. There was a mission where you had to respond to the bar behind the coffee shop you always go to to tell the bikers to move their bikes. The same thing would happen over and over and over...you were supposed to select your night stick with your mouse but if you were too slow....game over. If you shot the guy (which was quicker)....game over. I saw that skull on the game over screen countless times and my heart would skip a beat every time I got my ass handed to me by the bikers!

tom
11-03-2007, 11:35 AM
the flying bit in H.E.R.O. level 18 or 19 or so...where you have to fly totally straight through a tight spot. Underneath is the water level with the tentacle trying to grab you, above you got ceilings/walls which mustn't be touched. Awesome gameplay required, took me ages to master.

Phosphor Dot Fossils
11-03-2007, 11:37 AM
Waltzing toward the endgame of Ultima III, IV or V, even fully prepared and maxed out, still scares the bejeezus outta me. There, I admitted it.

RadiantSvgun
11-03-2007, 11:51 AM
Making jumps in Castlevania. Enough said.

Cryomancer
11-04-2007, 11:09 AM
I still really kinda don't like the Morgue in Illbleed, and I just palyed through the damn game twice on Halloween. Didn't bother me as much this time around, but I still just don't enjoy it there. I dread my playthrough of the Japanese version, as there is supposedly not even any music there, so it's just you, your footsteps, and thousands of corpses.

Oh, and the fucking jump rope. That's when the controller gets handed off to someone with better timing.


Oh, and somewhat ironically to what is posted above, I used to kick bowser's ass in Mario 64 no problem. Nowadays, I have trouble with the first one! My timing on the throws is just way off.