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

Originally Posted by Trace-S

most of these games you might haven't heard of.

Yeah, Rainbox Six, Sonic and Megaman are really obscure series.

Anyway, any Mortal Kombat game is practically unplayable in Normal difficulty and above. It doesn't matter how good you are, you can't beat the superhuman reactions of the AI without resorting to glitches/bugs exploitation.

If you're good at a fighting game, it's very likely that you can beat the CPU of said game even on the highest difficulty setting. Not with Mortal Kombat, sir. It will allow you to win one or two fights, then completely destroy you until your self-esteem is zero. Then you will take the difficulty to the lowest settings, where you will win so easily, it will not be any fun at all.

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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?

I don't understand why some people find Contra 1 difficult. I can defeat that and Contra 2 just fine (although it took a while before I didn't need the Konami code for a little boost!)

Here are the NES games I could never beat:

- Lost Word of Jenny : It's in fuckin' Japanese. Why my dad bought this, I never know.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Too difficult! TMNT2 and TMNT3 are cakewalks by comparison
- Gradius : I never saw what was past the third stage (Moai), Konami code notwithstanding. I only saw the ending after downloading the emulated speedruns of this game.
- Punch Out : My reflexes suck, and Mike Tyson is unfair. It's amazing how the emulated speedruns demolished him in just one round.

The NES was the only console I actually owned. For the rest, it's all emulated and thus, I could beat it using save states, cheats, and slowdowns. In these two games, I found myself using these facilities quite often:

- Gradius III : Close to impossible, moreso than Gradius 1. I marvel at the emulated speedrun which plows through all enemies while dancing around the arcade mode projectiles. I used slow-down quite often to beat it.
- Contra III : A lot of stage hazards and (sub)bosses that stab you suddenly. I used rewind liberally here.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Battletoads for NES has been an off/on project of mine for quite some time now (already mentioned, but i agree all the same). I've managed to push forward as far as the Rat Race, the 2nd from last level i believe. Anything less than a PERFECT run in the last section of that level is completely unforgiving...it's ridiculous.

Hudson's Adventure Island (the original for the NES) was waaaay harder than its SMS counterpart, and i doubt i'd ever be able to beat it (or have the patience, anyway) without the "infinite continues" cheat. One of the harder parts of any game i've ever come across is found in 6:02-6:10 of this video:

YouTube - Adventure Island NES speed run 39:41 (Part 5)

He uses the skateboard, so you might not be able to appreciate the difficulty as much, but it was damn near impossible to do on feet with the hatchet! I think i would've shattered my system if i jumped into the fire just before the goal...in fact i know i would've.

I know i've played some near-impossible Adventures of Lolo before, though i'm not sure which of the 3 was the difficult one. I know it wasn't the first in the series though, as i beat that not too long ago without too much struggle.


I see if i can come up with any more for other systems - kind of in a NES frame of mind right now..

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by goldsac

BattletoadsYouTube - Adventure Island NES speed run 39:41 (Part 5)

Tasty! I played Adventure Island on GB and doubt the difficulty is similar, in fact it seems like there were unlimited continues on that perhaps? But, after playing that the NES version definitely looks hard and that video is impressive.

FELIPE NO

I recently decided that I have to get my gaming shit together and finally beat some of the shmup classics that I never played/owned when I was younger. I couldn't have come up with a better way to fuck up my own head over this than by buying a used PS2 copy of Gradius III and IV. The version of Gradius III on that disc is the notorious arcade version which was reportedly so damned hard that Konami started pulling it from arcades after less than a few months of its release. The SNES version was purposely tweaked to be more manageable, even though that game is also pretty damned hard.

Another game that I have trouble with when I let myself get rusty is U.N. Squadron. The last two boards of that game always kick my balls in, especially the giant shielded tank that hangs from the ceiling in the cave level.

Hands down, the shooting genre (especially in terms of arcade games) presents the most challenges and requires the most practice and finesse of me when I'm looking to give myself mental anguish over games. The games I actually own are only the tip of the iceberg, as there are dozens of amazingly hard MAME emulated games which I promised myself I would try to beat with 1 credit's worth of lives, including some other hard-assed Japanese Konami games like Salamander II, Xexex, etc...

Contra for the NES is a cakewalk compared to most of these. To put it into perspective, I can blast through Contra without dying at all, ending with a load of extra guys, while with Gradius III arcade, I can't make it to the 2nd boss yet...and there're 10 fucking levels in that nightmare. Contra at least allows a few moments of respite.

In addition to the above games, there are tons of arcade games from the Capcom collections and the 2nd Taito Legends set for the PS2 that are equally addictive/menacingly-hard.

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Originally Posted by LeHah

And I thought I was the only person who played that sack of shit.

Crap game, yes, but when you're young, it's fun as hell to play. Me and my friends tried hard as hell to beat this game, but never did since none of us could ever stay alive long enough span four credits over the course of seven stages.

Once the N64 came out, I just gave up on it and moved on. I'll probably re-download the ROM sooner or later and just try and beat it by myself and hope the same area doesn't screw me over.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Trace-S

Megaman X 4 (couldnt beat last boss)

I'll give you that one. Final Sigma is a bitch. The head on the ground is nigh impossible to safely attack as Zero, as it's either throwing shit at you, or sucking you towards him, both of which are hard attacks to avoid anyway.

I was never able to beat Saiyuki: The Journey West. It's a forgettable Final Fantasy Tactics wannabe on the Playstation, you didn't miss anything. I insisted on slogging through because hey, Monkey King.

My issue was that the game clearly wanted me to be wasting time grinding levels, and I was having none of that. It worked out pretty well because I am mastar tactician, and cheerfully hacked my way through the game when I really shouldn't have been able to. Then I get to the last boss, and it's a straight up slugfest. No maneuvering, just a giant target that can hit you from anywhere on the map, and six sub targets that are too strong to practically destroy, who can also hit you anywhere on the map.

Essentially the game completely hosed me by forcing me to have a minimum attack and defense strength for the last fight. And of course, there was no way to undo my save and go back to a point where I could grind out levels. The ending probably would have sucked anyway.

How ya doing, buddy?

Mike Tyson's Punch Out! for the NES. I love that game to death, but when you get to the third round of fighting...it just turns into rape. Soda Popinski is cheap, Bald Bull is harder to read for me, Don Flamenco is a bit tougher, but the real challenge starts with The Sandman. Punch him in the face and then you have to punch him in the gut or else he'll block and counter.

Super Macho Man is worse, especially when he unleashes that hurricane punch of his. I can see it coming, but if my timing is off even by a little...Mac gets his ass pummeled to the ground.

The worst is when you finally get to Mike Tyson. I just can't read his movements no matter how much I try. It doesn't help that most of his punches take you down in one hit. I remember my brother only beating the game once before back when I was a kid and that was via the Game Genie. Even then, he barely won by lasting three rounds against Tyson and winning by split decision.

Seriously, awesome game...but I've never once claimed victory through the entire game.

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

Originally Posted by DarkMageOzzie

Battle Toads, any of them. I haven't played them in forever but no matter how many times I tried I could never get past the speedbike stages.

This. Right fucking there. That speedbike part was pure bullshit. The only other game with something similiar of content that was just about the same amount of bullshit was that jet bike part of Conker's Bad Fur Day.

My list: (I don't know if I'm doing this right, but here goes.)

1. Super Mario Bros. Yes. Call me a faggot or whatever you like, I don't care. I have still YET to beat the original SMB. Why? 8-3, that's fucking why. Hell I didn't beat Mario 2 until it came in that Mario All-Stars SNES compilation game.

2. Ecco the Dolphin. Is there a way out of that very first part of the game when you load it up. Srsly.

3. 7th Saga. once Deji (or whatever the fuck his name was) stole my wind rune that I used to teleport when I slept in an Inn and I was in an area that monsters kicked my ass. Damn game never got put back in the SNES again.

4. Kingdom Hearts II. That goddamn Orginization 13 asshole in Beast's Castle is just a pain in the ass. I'll go back every now and then to see if I can beat him, but sure enough. Fuck that shit. I'll just not beat the damn game.

5. Vanguarde Bandits. I have no idea why that game has to be as ridiculously hard as it is.

There are more, but for the most part it's not really the challenge of most games for me, it's the fact I get side-tracked so bad and I just never seem to keep focused to finishing them. :\

Originally Posted by SuperSonic

Mike Tyson's Punch Out! for the NES. I love that game to death, but when you get to the third round of fighting...it just turns into rape. Soda Popinski is cheap, Bald Bull is harder to read for me, Don Flamenco is a bit tougher, but the real challenge starts with The Sandman. Punch him in the face and then you have to punch him in the gut or else he'll block and counter.

Super Macho Man is worse, especially when he unleashes that hurricane punch of his. I can see it coming, but if my timing is off even by a little...Mac gets his ass pummeled to the ground.

The worst is when you finally get to Mike Tyson. I just can't read his movements no matter how much I try. It doesn't help that most of his punches take you down in one hit. I remember my brother only beating the game once before back when I was a kid and that was via the Game Genie. Even then, he barely won by lasting three rounds against Tyson and winning by split decision.

Seriously, awesome game...but I've never once claimed victory through the entire game.

God damn I forgot about that one. I've only made it to Super Macho Man once. Mr. Sandman was just an absolute piece of shit. However, I hated the second Bald Bull fight. Mainly because I was so used to people before then acting as if they were going to raise up at 9 only to fall back down. OH NO NOT BALD BULL. Plus you either had to knock him down from the Bull Charge or finish him off with an uppercut (couldn't just punch him down regularly, he'll still be up with no health left) which was just dumb.

Mike Tyson. I remember when my friend and I got to him. Went all 3 rounds with him and had something like 4990 points and he won by decision (I think 5000 was the amount you needed for your favor). Talk about pissed off...

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by dagget

1. Super Mario Bros. Yes. Call me a faggot or whatever you like, I don't care. I have still YET to beat the original SMB. Why? 8-3, that's fucking why. Hell I didn't beat Mario 2 until it came in that Mario All-Stars SNES compilation game.

Oh man, I feel your pain there. I had a lot of trouble with 8-2 mainly due to that long jump near the end. A small pipe and then two little pieces of ground with gaps in between to make the jump. I always tried to start at the edge of the pipe, run, and fell in between the pieces of ground many times. I never started at the ground pieces because I didn't think I'd get enough speed.

In 8-3, if you can get past those two sections with the hammer brothers, the ground, a level of brick, and then another level of bricks, then you got to what I believe is the hardest part. Hammer bros. on ground level and you have to run past them while timing it right and making sure you don't get hit by one of their hammers in the process. After you get past that, you can win. When I first played this, I couldn't get past it without having Fire Mario.

Originally Posted by dagget

4. Kingdom Hearts II. That goddamn Orginization 13 asshole in Beast's Castle is just a pain in the ass. I'll go back every now and then to see if I can beat him, but sure enough. Fuck that shit. I'll just not beat the damn game.

Ugh, Xaldin. Once again, I feel your pain. The triangle action helps but when he starts going crazy and getting a dragon going with his lances, I have to head for the corner and dodge it. It might sound like a pain, but try leveling up your master form so you can do the jump dodge. That'll help you out a bit.

I think the first time I beat him, I got lucky because I was resurrected three times by Mickey.

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I've beaten Punch Out - but this was back when the game was still available in stores. I really doubt I could pull it off again, but each guy had a set number of moves. Once you saw two moves, you could usually figure out if you could throw a punch.

Tyson was incredibly hard to beat because most of it is just dodging and survival.

FELIPE NO

I've played ever since i was a kid and i probably came across a lot back then that i never beat but i'd always pop it in and have a go at it like Zelda on NES, couldn't even tell me what the objective was back then i was too busy running back and forth through screens trying to get that damn thing spitting in the water, these are the only ones that come to mind:

Sin and Punishment - Only played it on the Wii Virtual Console though and it still seems pretty tough. I couldn't get past the 2nd or 3rd level with the mecha boss? Granted i only tried playing seriously once but it seemed ridiculously hard.

Pilotwings - For the most part, the stuff was hard for me but i kept trying and trying. I can't recall which obstacle but i think it was skydiving/parachuting through the rings and then to land on the target.

Top Gun - Back on the NES i couldn't land that fucking plane on the aircraft carrier at all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Are you kidding me? That water level alone got me frustrated i don't even remember if i got by it.. maybe once or twice but that totally shadows what i remember after it.

Final Fantasy VIII - This was my first time playing a Final Fantasy game and the system with building your weapons and junction stuff was pretty over my head. I enjoyed the hell out of it though but when it came to fighting Adel that had Riona hostage i had myself in a pickle and i ended up cheating =\ the bosses at the end i have no idea how i would've beating those if i couldn't even beat Adel on my own. Gotta replay it someday.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica - This goes for all Resident Evils not like they're hard but they creep the hell out of me and i usually run out of ammo a lot. I guess i'm not great at running past and conserving. Only one i got the furthest in was Code Veronica on Dreamcast and i ran out of ammo on the plane with that tyrant.. screw that.

I agree with any Battletoads, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and the Contras. Even Contra II co-op and the cheat i don't even think i've seen the ending.

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