Approach wall. Beat head against wall. Repeat.

[o2william]

I'm going to rant about something that's been irritating me lately. I'll cite an example that happened to me this weekend while playing Mega Man 8 on PSX...

I had already beaten the eight robot bosses, making my way to Dr. Wily's castle. I started playing through the first castle stage, an annoying level that forces you to make precision jumps at high speed. It took a while, but I finally made it all the way to the end of the level and beat its boss, whereupon I was prompted to save the game. "Oh good," I thought, "it'll save my place and I won't have to play that irritating level again." Well, I was wrong. When you resume a game after powering off the console, you have to start from the very beginning of Dr. Wily's castle. It doesn't matter how far you've progressed in it or where you last saved.

This "feature" is common enough in Mega Man games, and I've played enough of them that I was half expecting it this time. So I played grudgingly played through the first stage again, then the next stages, then re-battled the eight robot bosses (another common trait in most MM games), and finally faced Dr. Wily. Wily beat me the first time I reached him, which isn't surprising. As I selected the option to Continue, I hoped to high heaven I wouldn't be forced to battle the eight bosses AGAIN, but no luck. By then I had already been playing for a good chunk of time and I had other things to do, so I rather optimistically saved the game and turned off the PSX. Just to check, I turned it back on and resumed the game, only to be placed once again at the beginning of the castle. So, to beat the game, I'll have to replay through multiple levels I've already beaten, defeat eight bosses I've already beaten twice before, THEN fight Wily. Even if I'm playing in perfect form, that'll take a while. Now, I don't have a problem with devoting big chunks of time to a game; I just don't want to be forced to do it! I also don't want to be forced to keep my PSX on forever just so I can continue from a point I've already reached. What's the point of having a save option if you can't use it?

When I used to have more free time, things like this bothered me less, although I think I've always been irritated when I had to replay large portions of a level. I dunno, maybe it's just part of a game's challenge and I'm just being unreasonable, but I HATE it when games rely on too much repetition as "punishment" for being killed. Anybody else feel like this? If so, what other games have you experienced that are annoying in this way?

[WiseSalesman]

Now, I don't have a problem with devoting big chunks of time to a game; I just don't want to be forced to do it! I also don't want to be forced to keep my PSX on forever just so I can continue from a point I've already reached. What's the point of having a save option if you can't use it?

Amen. These days, I can't spent a lot of time on games all in one chunk, so I have to split it up. I'm on the level in Viewtiful Joe where I have to fight four previous bosses, plus Fire Leo. Everytime I turn off my console, I have to fight all the previous bosses again.

[1bigmig]

In the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES, if you lose against the end boss you have to play through all of the last levels again :angry:
I hate when games are made artificially long or difficult.

[chadtower]

In the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES, if you lose against the end boss you have to play through all of the last levels again :angry:
I hate when games are made artificially long or difficult.

WHOA. Dude, when I read his post, this was the exact game that came to mind immediately. I just didn't bother to post it. @_@

[Drexel923]

Amen. These days, I can't spent a lot of time on games all in one chunk, so I have to split it up. I'm on the level in Viewtiful Joe where I have to fight four previous bosses, plus Fire Leo. Everytime I turn off my console, I have to fight all the previous bosses again.

That part actually made me stop playing VJ. I can't beat that f*cking lion! I know how to do it, but his hits take off soooo much damage.

I agree that it sucks when games do this. Unfortunately its usually a bad and lazy way at making a game longer. Definitely doesn't make the game better.

[NE146]

This my friend is one of the prime arguments for playing some of this shit in an emulator and using savestates.. I aint talking collecting. I'm talking about playing for leisure. Those save states can save you a world of frustration playing levels over and over again that you've already completed. .. Although savestates with a psx game that might be kind of hard.

Does the psx emulator on the xbox support savestates? :? Yknow, I think it does! :hmm: (not 100% sure though)

[Ed Oscuro]

Now, I don't have a problem with devoting big chunks of time to a game; I just don't want to be forced to do it! I also don't want to be forced to keep my PSX on forever just so I can continue from a point I've already reached. What's the point of having a save option if you can't use it?

Amen. These days, I can't spent a lot of time on games all in one chunk, so I have to split it up. I'm on the level in Viewtiful Joe where I have to fight four previous bosses, plus Fire Leo. Everytime I turn off my console, I have to fight all the previous bosses again.

Good example for me was Castlevania 64...you had two chunks of time where you first had Death (and potentially the old guy turned into a vampire), and after that you had Dracula's Servant, Dracula himself, and finally Dracula's Beastly Second Form in The Desert. Which felt more like Desert Storm more than anything.

...I never really did get annoyed at it, to be frank, but I had enough time back then to sit there and play for 2, 3 hours to try and beat the boss. Now some games wouldn't have impressed me enough to keep trying that long...but I never minded it in CV64, which has similar "gauntlets" to run throughout the game proper as well.

[Jorpho]

At times, I am suprised that the "no-die" style of Warioland II and III (for Game Boy) did not catch on. As I recall, the designers realized that forcing players to go through a stage over and over again after dying was a form of punishment, and so they removed dying. The game still remained entertaining and reasonably challenging.

I guess it's another one of those innovations that won't get much of a chance.

[Sotenga]

In the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES, if you lose against the end boss you have to play through all of the last levels again :angry:
I hate when games are made artificially long or difficult.

A big DITTO for that one! :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated:

Did you know that the NES translation of Ikari Warriors has absolutely no challenge at all? The game has been proven impossible to beat without cheating. :angry:

[rbudrick]

Just wanted to make two points:

1. I can beat Ninja Gaiden on one life. So you are all wussies (just kidding guys...just wanted to brag, lol :) ).

2. It's funny you mention Ikari Warriors in this thread Sotenga, because it fits PERFECTLY in this thread. I"ll tell you why: If you die on the last screen of any level, you are screwed, you can't continue. Back to the beginning of the game (hey, enter the 2nd player on these screens...just in case you die, he may still be alive...gives you an extra edge).. I'll never forget being on the last screen of the game when my brother came in the room (he was a little kid then) DEMANDING that I look at his new Ninja Turtle. Screaming and banging on the door, he was. I died at the last boss (that wussie-ass last boss). I was so mad, I cried. Sure I was 12 or 13, but it had taken me 3 years to get that far, and 4 hours alone that day (it's about 1 hour per level, right?). So, there is indeed a challenge, and you have to do it all over...so like I said, funny you mentioned it in this thread.

I bet someone on earth can beat it w/o cheating....

-Rob

[Oobgarm]

Attempt beating the Egyptian Temple of Goldeneye 007(N64) on 00 Agent level.

It's impossible, I tell you. I can barely get out of the first room.

I can't even count the number of times I've died and restarted that. :o

[Dangerboy]

That's sick...you can add me to the Ninja Gaiden goup. :D

However, I think I can honesltly say that the most annoying one of all time is Steel Battlion's "If you don't eject we destroy your save file."

Yes, they give you the chance to eject, but damn it man! For $130 I want the damn option to go for a do or die situation and not end up truly paying the price for taking a chance.

After losing my fourth stage progress for the 3rd time, I packed up the game and placed it on the collection shelf. Unless Microsoft allows Datel to do an Action Replay, I don't think it's ever come back down.

Interesting Subject...it's right up there with those Impossible games whose only reward for your hours is the word "CONGRATULATIONS".

F_ck'n Star Soldier!

[bangtango]

Read the title. This is the official HarveyWallBanger thread, eh?

Actually, a decent thread though.

Gradius was always one that got my goat, on the NES. Usually, I had a fully powered ship when I would get destroyed by some sort of alien menace. The game had a knack for sending you back half a level when you died. It used to get on my nerves. I would think "I can't get through that stretch of enemies with a fully loaded ship so I don't think it will be easy with just my standard gun."

[RadiantSvgun]

I got a guilty laugh off the title of the thread, cause I saw beating head against wall and games for autistic children right next to each other.

Anyway, I have a problem like this when I play Gradius games and Super Star soldier. I'm on a roll, die, and get stuck in a place with no powerups, die, and restart from a point with no powerups nearby.

[goemon]

Anyway, I have a problem like this when I play Gradius games and Super Star soldier. I'm on a roll, die, and get stuck in a place with no powerups, die, and restart from a point with no powerups nearby.

I second that -- it's one of the reasons why I prefer Salamander over Gradius (Salamander immediately respawns your ship, while Gradius puts you back at a checkpoint). I can rarely beat Level 2 in Gradius II because when you die at the boss you have to run a gauntlet of alien creatures without any powerups. Something similar happens in the crystal level (Is that 3? I rarely make it that far).

[MrSmiley381]

Haha, weird, I commented about Gradius II in the Robotron thread.

Yeah, power-up SHMUPS that respawn you in shitty locations piss me off. That's why I love Gradius V. Small hit box, you can respawn and GET YOUR OPTIONS BACK. Love it.

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah the first thing that came to mind when I read this thread was Maximo I gave up on that game, because I got tired of starting off at the same place over and over and over again.

[The Shawn]

I got so frustrated with the "Save" feature on Dead Rising that I traded it off without finishing it, after waiting a whole year just to play it.

[exit]

Renegade for NES has one annoying ass part, where if you go through the wrong door at the end, you start right back at level 1. Now if the game had better controls and hit detection, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal. But damn was this game pretty fucking horrible.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Renegade for NES has one annoying ass part, where if you go through the wrong door at the end, you start right back at level 1. Now if the game had better controls and hit detection, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal. But damn was this game pretty fucking horrible.

The original Japanese version is JUST LIKE THAT. Jesus Christ, I had to use an FAQ to get to the end!

I personally hate most kinds of "Virtua" or 3D fighting games. I can't stand the control schemes (I'm more of a Street Fighter / King of Fighters guy) but I can play well enough to get to the end, when the bosses demolish me. Damn Dural...

[RadiantSvgun]

Haha, weird, I commented about Gradius II in the Robotron thread.

Yeah, power-up SHMUPS that respawn you in shitty locations piss me off. That's why I love Gradius V. Small hit box, you can respawn and GET YOUR OPTIONS BACK. Love it.

It feels more like Salamander doesen't it?

Renegade for NES is one of my top 5 nes games. I love the part when you can jump kick people off the motorcycles.

[agbulls]

Yeah the first thing that came to mind when I read this thread was Maximo I gave up on that game, because I got tired of starting off at the same place over and over and over again.

Fucking Maximo. I play that game every Halloween and got smoked bigtime. I agree its suppose to be tough, but c'mon now--seriously.

I'm going to have to throw in Super Ghouls n Ghosts for head banging good times. I actually watched a close friend of mine go through the entire game (hes incredibly good) and lose on the final boss with no continues. It took all day to LOSE. ha

[Kitsune Sniper]

Fucking Maximo. I play that game every Halloween and got smoked bigtime. I agree its suppose to be tough, but c'mon now--seriously.

I'm going to have to throw in Super Ghouls n Ghosts for head banging good times. I actually watched a close friend of mine go through the entire game (hes incredibly good) and lose on the final boss with no continues. It took all day to LOSE. ha

First runthrough or second runthrough?

[RadiantSvgun]

Fucking Maximo. I play that game every Halloween and got smoked bigtime. I agree its suppose to be tough, but c'mon now--seriously.

I'm going to have to throw in Super Ghouls n Ghosts for head banging good times. I actually watched a close friend of mine go through the entire game (hes incredibly good) and lose on the final boss with no continues. It took all day to LOSE. ha

Ahh, I LOVED that game, and Ghouls n' Ghosts on Genesis. SNES version made me want to cry. That second playthrough? And the Raft stage?

[segarocks30]

Yeah I get pissed off in SSS when you immediatly have to go to the beginning of the stage, arghhh! Still a great game though.

[RadiantSvgun]

Yeah I get pissed off in SSS when you immediatly have to go to the beginning of the stage, arghhh! Still a great game though.

Ah, someone else feels my pain on that. How about that last stage? I kept dying at the Brain! I've done the last stage so much, the other stages seem foriegn to me.

[segarocks30]

Lol I'm not that good at it, I can only get to stage 2.

[kedawa]

Monster Lair won't let you continue on the last stage, regardless how many continues you used previously.
It basically requires you to kill yourself off and continue just before beating the second to last level in order to have a full credit's worth of lives for the last level.
It's stupid and just pisses me off.

The level 'Perfect Hatred' in Doom made me so mad I snapped a DualShock in half without even thinking, but the part that I kept getting killed at was at the beginning of the level. It was more a matter of dying over and over again quickly rather than losing a shitload of progress.1

Star Fox used to drive me crazy, because I could beat it on 1 life, but if I died at any point more than halfway through the game, I'd never get powered up enough to finish it. It was either beat it without dying once, or restart and try again from the beginning.

[Porksta]

This my friend is one of the prime arguments for playing some of this shit in an emulator and using savestates.. I aint talking collecting. I'm talking about playing for leisure. Those save states can save you a world of frustration playing levels over and over again that you've already completed. .. Although savestates with a psx game that might be kind of hard.

Does the psx emulator on the xbox support savestates? :? Yknow, I think it does! :hmm: (not 100% sure though)


Although you can never brag about beating the game.

[MrSmiley381]

Fucking Maximo. I play that game every Halloween and got smoked bigtime. I agree its suppose to be tough, but c'mon now--seriously.

I'm going to have to throw in Super Ghouls n Ghosts for head banging good times. I actually watched a close friend of mine go through the entire game (hes incredibly good) and lose on the final boss with no continues. It took all day to LOSE. ha

Allow me to state my general reaction to any of the Ghouls n Ghosts games.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT THE HELL. WHAT. THE HSHILGDHUGFDLFIGRBKYHDNFIGLKGNYVK RGZN KTRN VNLDNUKLR ELNK

FUCK YOU ARTHUR.

This continues for about six hours and ends in me crying in a corner.

[Push Upstairs]

I'm not even sure why I bothered to play "TMNT2: Battlenexus".

I played enough of it to unlock the arcade game and I was kinda underwhelmed by that (I used to love playing that game!).

I paid $5 for the game and I don't think it was even worth *THAT*.

[NE146]

Although you can never brag about beating the game.

Well the idea is you already beat the game... and are playing it again just for leisure :)

Then again.. I never beat the original Gameboy Contra and had to use an emulator for that :hmm:

[bangtango]

I'm not even sure why I bothered to play "TMNT2: Battlenexus".

I played enough of it to unlock the arcade game and I was kinda underwhelmed by that (I used to love playing that game!).

I paid $5 for the game and I don't think it was even worth *THAT*.

Which arcade game? The one that was ported over to the NES? Maybe it is just me but I liked that version a little better than the arcade game.

[Three-P]

For me, the most frustrating game I ever played, besides Hydlide, is Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. In this game, if you don't use the infinite lives cheat, you ain't getting past the second stage.

There are parts in the game (Roughly 85%) that require precision jumps. If you miss, even by the tiniest bit, you're done for. And trust me, you will miss. If not by awkward controls, then by cheap-as-hell enemies who'll blindside you while you're jumping off the ledge, knocking you all the way down to the ground, which, as far as we know, is 2 miles down.:frustrated:

And don't even get me started on the traps. Traps vs. awkward controls, traps always win. And that's a load of :bullshit: !

And as for the bosses, they made me want to pull out my hair! In conclusion, this is a game that deserves a pimp-slap!:pimp:

[Push Upstairs]

Which arcade game? The one that was ported over to the NES? Maybe it is just me but I liked that version a little better than the arcade game.

Yeah that one. I honestly thought the same thing myself while playing the arcade game. I think my exact thought was "I think I remember the NES version being better than this."

I hate the first Turtles game (NES) and i'd rather play that then Battlenexus again. I even cheated and made myself invincible and doubled my attack power in Battlenexus and it was still was annoying.

"Turtles in Time" still reigns king.