[General Discussion] Games You Can Never Beat But Keep Trying Anyway

Lately for me it's been Mega Man ZX Advent on the DS. Now before you say 'noob', it's on Expert Mode. I'm at the end of the game where you have to go through a tricky two-part final stage, split up by the "fight the 8 bosses over again" part typical to most Mega Man games, and then the final boss with its two forms. In Expert Mode...everybody is faster and more obnoxious with their tactics, you don't get any max life/energy upgrades, and only ONE Sub Tank (which is a pain to obtain, too). Not to mention that everything hurts more as well, so depending on what hits you, it only takes 3 or 4 hits to die. Even with the maximum 9 lives to start I still haven't pulled it off yet. Some of the bosses are always a real pain in the rear while some prove to be so on some tries where they were not previously. I put the game down for a while out of frustration and have only recently tried giving it a go again.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I can't believe I forgot Ikaruga. Anyone you see in Youtube videos playing through that game (like the one of the guy playing through it on two-player by himself) could pass for a brain surgeon with the amount of precision that game takes.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I thought of another one: Platoon on the NES. When I was little, all I ever did in that game was wander aimlessly around on the first stage unable to figure out where to go or what to do, and eventually lose because the Viet Cong would drop on my head one too many times. Now later on I could make it as far as the fourth stage, but it was more or less a repeat of the first stage in terms of lack of direction; the only difference was that the view was a bird's-eye instead of a side-scroller. I haven't tried the game in a long time so I don't know what the result would be now.

How ya doing, buddy?

Another one that took me a long time to do was the original Star Fox on the SNES, taking the "level 3" (the bottom) route. I think part of what made that game difficult, especially on the bottom route, is how your first try is probably your best bet because once you die (or are unlucky enough to get wing damage along the way), you're stuck with single blasters again and it could be a while before you get upgraded again. I have beaten it that way, but it took a lot of effort and even then I can't remember whether or not I used continues. I would guess that I did.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?