Rage quit? More like angrily submit. - The games I've played...and why I won't ever finish them
On my 34 years on this planet, there are very few things I really,
really enjoy doing. The one thing that will stay with me for the
remainder of my life, even when I'm old and grey, will be my love for
video games. Yes, I love video games. I used to love them so much that
they were all I ever wanted to do with my free time. Currently, gaming
has become more of a hobby left for holidays, company, and sick days.
Lately, however, I've found myself remembering a lot of the games I've
encountered that, for lack of a better term, made my gaming experience,
not so fun.
When I was younger, I had the time, the patience (or lack thereof), and the drive to play, finish, and complete every game I received. First, it was just the general interest in the new and different games that came along. Then, it became about how many games I could own. And from there, it was if I could finish the games, and from there, complete them, 100% and answer every challenge. I became a completionist. Basically, it's a term in gaming for someone who plays games and tries to get every secret, every achievement, and possibly even every reward possible. That was my mission. That was my purpose. And...that was very consuming..mentally, emotionally, and at times, spiritually.
The amount of frustration and anger I had over playing some of these games is practically immeasurable. On one hand, I was angry and frustrated because I wanted to enjoy playing a game without having to deal with the tough parts of life, or just life in general. "If I couldn't escape into video games and hope for some respite, where could I go?", I thought. It didn't matter how difficult the game was. I wanted to play it and I wanted to win. That was my only means of having fun. Nowadays, I only play for fun. It's not about winning the whole thing or being a completionist. It's about having fun. I also make it a point to play games that have more than one player locally.
Now, even with this, there are a share of games I've played or even play at times, that have their own reasons attached to them as to why I will never finish them. In this blog, I'm pretty much going to let you know the vast amount of games from the vast amount of systems I have not finished nor plan to. While some may earn a long story behind them, others will have a short story. While some games will have been difficult for the right reasons, others will have been for the wrong reasons. Whatever the case, here are the games for the systems that I have played that have just about gotten my goat, so much so that I never, EVER, want to play them again.
The first actual system I played was the Atari 2600. However, since my playing time was relegated mostly to 2 player competitions with my brother, it doesn't quite count. What does count however is the Sega Master System, both the first and the second version. The second version was much sleeker, no longer played game cards, and had a built-in copy of Alex Kidd in Miracle world. That game would have made it to this list, but I had finished it a few years ago with the help of some tips online. It was challenging to be sure, but I did finish it. This actually coerced me to try and finish more games on the Sega systems.
There was the card game, My Hero. I had gone through stage 1 and 2 and beat the bosses at the end. I never made it to stage 3, sadly. For starters, it was pretty darn challenging, with difficult jumps, respawning enemies, and the like. The second reason goes towards the grim reality I came across: there is no end to the game because the game never ends. You just cycle through the same 4 stages over and over again until you get, "Game Over". Like some arcade games, you just kept on going until you lost all your lives. I've always been about seeing endings, so there was no real reason to continue playing this. Then, there was Quartet. It was a 4 player arcade game made by Sega about a team of hunters whose job is to prevent the tomb of a powerful alien from opening up after a long sleep. When ported to the Sega, they shortened the amount of players to two, left the difficulty as tough as it was via the arcade, and continues were very, very limited. I made it as far as level 5. That's as much as the game demo shows when it's on. Whatever the case, it made for a challenging experience. Especially since arcade games when ported don't come with, well, unlimited continues. So, never mind. This would be the same problem I had with Space Harrier for the Sega. I got as far as the first stage after the first bonus level. If there's one difference, I did get to finish this game...when it was a Sega Genesis classic collection title for the PS2. Surprisingly enough, it was the arcade version and I had unlimited continues. So, I finished the game and saw the ending. Now, for the big N.....
Once we had the Nintendo Entertainment System, a new set of games came forth to play. Surprisingly enough, the siblings and I borrowed much more games than we owned but that was mostly due to our sparse purchasing of games (Mom and Dad weren't quite made of money as I thought). Regardless, the games we had were just as challenging to last us a lifetime. First, we have Kung Fu. It was a Nintendo developed title that, acted as one of the earliest side-scrolling beat-em-ups. I actually traded my copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 to a troublemaker of a kid for this game. I didn't know then that it was an unfair deal. I definitely know better now. Anyhoo, this game sure was a challenge to me, as I got as far as stage 4 and had never bothered to continue. Ironically, I just found out it was based on a Jackie Chan film. Jackie Chan's first foray into gaming before his Action Kung Fu game on the NES was a Nintendo exclusive based on a popular movie, called Wheels on Meals. Another interesting title to add to the mix was Legacy of The Wizard. This was my first foray into RPGs for the home console. I never even passed level 1, let alone see level 2. It was a large game with multiple characters, paths, etc. And me without knowing my way through the game, this was going to be one difficult adventure. But that pales in comparison to the hardest game or games I have played for the NES...but on my SNES: Ninja Gaiden. Based on the arcade game, but changed dramatically for the NES, Ryu Hayabusa is traveling around the world to find the person who killed his father. Upon doing so, he comes across volatile bosses, nasty enemies, enigmatic individuals and an adventure you have to see to believe. And that's just the first game. I can't tell you about the following games because I never, to this day, finished the first one. The frustration of memorizing where certain power ups are for the sake of clearing the level and even making boss battles easier, and even the fact that there are 3 end bosses in the first game, all equally difficult in their own way. It was just too great. Looking back, I have no regrets in never finishing this or any other of the games in the original series. Games stopped being fun to me when the objective was to win at all costs, and at its most difficult. Now, let's move on the Super NES,
This is, without question, my favorite game console ever. To me, it is the pinnacle of video gaming at its most excellent. It was Nintendo's greatest system qualitatively, too. It's my favorite system of all time...and yet, in turn, it was rife with very, very difficult games. When I mentioned that Ninja Gaiden was the toughest game I played for the NES, I actually made a play for finishing it on the SNES, through Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. How was this possible? The game had a password function. YES! And I still didn't finish. Now, when it comes to original, non-compilation games on the SNES, there are quite a few. First off, the earliest titles for the SNES that I couldn't finished were F-Zero and Super Castlevania IV. F-Zero is arguably the toughest racing game ever created. It's fast. FAST fast. It's the fastest racing game series in history. If you aren't spot on with your controls and reflexes, you'll lose, every time. As for Castlevania, well, even though I did use the passwords to at least remain on the last stage I was at, which was the final stage, I still couldn't finish it. It was that challenging to me. When it came to games I either saw on t.v. that I wanted or rented, some I finished, others I never got around to. Legend of the Mystical Ninja comes to mind, along with Pocky and Rocky 2. I finished the first P&R, albeit rather cheaply, but it got done. I just never got around to finishing it, be it through life or just generally being too difficult at first to try and spend time finishing it. Thankfully, there were more than enough SNES games that I did finish.
Moving on, we have the Game Boy and the Sega Genesis. These are two systems that I didn't have a lot of games for, or even a lot of real interest in playing. Still, when the time came, I played them with great fervor. On the Game Boy side of things, there weren't many games that I didn't finish. They were difficult to be sure, but not unbeatable....save for about one or two games. Fist of the North Star comes to mind. I had to choose the biggest people to win matches because I could barely see smaller folks and they never really could hit people. I believe I finished it. The game I know I didn't finish is The Amazing Spider Man from LJN. They are a company notorious for making games that are almost impossible to play, making them practically impossible to beat. This was no exception. I know I didn't finish this sucker. Between Rhino being practically unstoppable, and the Dr. Octopus stage being as challenging as training a dog to write Shakespeare. As for the Genesis, every game that I owned I finished. Every game that I played....no. Let's talk about X-men by the Sega Genesis. I think I had struggled to the fullest just trying to get through stage 1 beating the Juggernaut and Zaladane. I realized that Wolverine was the best choice for clearing stages. Problem is, once dead, we have to find a way to revive him. And, once his mutant power drained, you couldn't use his claws. I'm not kidding.
When the N64 came about, I at first wasn't interested in getting in on the 3-D graphics and wanted to stay in my world of SNES and its awesomeness. After a few more months, some convincing from promotional material, and some much needed excitement and hope, the Nintendo 64 was in my family's possession. It was an instant hit for a great bevy of reasons. There were four controller ports, hence multiplayer was easy. There were a bunch of great games, ported or original. The graphics were tight, and well pronounced. As a system, it was one of Nintendo's very best. I'm glad I got to own it. What I was not glad about was the difficulty of some of the games I owned or played. Even Nintendo games had their difficulties. Super Mario 64 in my opinion is one of the most challenging Mario games ever made. You had to get stars by fulfilling goals per stage. The way to get these stars always ranged from pretty manageable to tough as a two-dollar steak. However, that was only the beginning. Some games were difficult for the sake of toughness, while others are just tough in certain areas, making the game almost unplayable to me. And some were just tough because, in all honesty, I had just about finished playing that system actively, what with the GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Not to mention, I moved out of my parents' house, where the system was residing at the time. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing's first and second game were doable mostly thanks to my little brother. However, the aspects that needed completion had to do with the single player. In part 1, it was about toughening up your character for customized boxing purposes, I believe. In part 2, the toughest claim to fame was unlocking characters after the initial 4 were unlocked. As it turned out, you had to do single player mode and finish it to unlock not one, not two, but three of the unique fighters in this game. Really didn't look forward to this. Castlevania 64 comes to mind when it comes to this list as it was a game I got very late in the game. Early or late, it was still a challenge to deal with. Bad game mechanics mixed with re-spawning enemies made my experience an exercise in difficulty. I didn't stay with this game at all. Moving on, we have Mischief Makers. Now, to be honest, there was nothing really wrong with this game. In fact, I had lots of fun playing it. The problem was that, like Castlevania, it came late in the game. With the challenges the game demands for, I just didn't have the time. The last game that fits this mold is Donkey Kong 64. Boy, did I get this late? And I got this when I moved out of my folks' house. It's challenging enough without having the travel issues and need to set boundaries or whatever. It's disheartening because these were a bunch of N64 games left on the table that I haven't finished..nor will I have the time to do so.
The next console generation brought about the Nintendo GameCube and the Sony Playstation 2, along with the Sega Dreamcast. This was a great gaming series to say the least. I got to meet a slew of friends playing these systems, I bonded deeply with my brothers with these systems, and many a great game was had with these systems. With great games comes difficult ones, to be sure. Let's start with the Dreamcast. I had bought this system in hopes to finally get in on all the gaming goodness I had enjoyed back at the start of my college days. So, I finally decided to buy this some 3 to 4 years ago, and stockpile a ton of games. Boy, oh boy, was I excited? As I got all the fighting games I could have wanted, among other games, there were those which were fun but tough, and those that were tough and ultimately, not very fun in the long run. Nothing against the games, they just weren't working out too well, for yours truly. Soul Reaver was a solid game. It had the action and story down to a tee. I decided to put it down unfortunately as I did not have the time to commit to playing it as it actually gave me motion sickness the first time out. With too many games to worry about at the time, I had to put it aside. The same went for Gauntlet Legends, which didn't give me motion sickness, but it was extremely challenging, especially since I was the only one playing it. I made it as far as the last stage, but got hammered by the enemies as I didn't have enough experience to get myself through. It would have taken me months to get a high enough level to survive alone. Lastly, we have JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Now, I love fighting games, as I have stated a few times prior, but boy, this was one game that made me almost break the CD in half. I had tried to complete this game the best I could. I even tried playing this before work, risking being late. I actually threw my first copy down the garbage chute. The second copy I got was playing just fine. Unfortunately, it started to stall and stop. In the trash it went. I never played it again.
The Gamecube had its fair share of great titles, but also challenging ones to boot. Firstly, there was DBZ: Budokai. Was it really that challenging? No. Just hard to complete. How does one go about completing it? Trying to get the capsules for each character in order to unlock all their moves and have them at the ready. All that requires is getting enough points to get Dragon Balls, and finding them as well...and then using them to unlock character capabilities, like what I mentioned. It was a pain to do, and you had to do it with everyone if you wanted them all to have their moves accessible. That's a bunch of characters, folks. But nothing compared to the difficulty of F-Zero GX. Like the original F-Zero, the game is fast, and I mean FAST. This series may very well be the fastest series in racing game history. This game was no different in any way. So, winning races was the key to finishing the game, unlocking secrets and the like. But, if you already have problems finishing this game due to its high speed, expect this to be one of the most annoying games to finish due to its toughness. I found that to be the case here and quickly gave up on playing the game. Though, it didn't stop my little brother, I didn't join in.
When I received the PS2 as a present from my ex, I tried to pile on as many games as possible, playing as many games as possible. If it was notable, fun, excellent or whatever, I decided to buy the game for that system. It was all about making up for lost time with me. I now had to stay in line with the "Joneses" that used to talk a great deal about the great games that were on this system and played these games a great deal as well. New system comes with new games....and new challenges. And boy, were there plenty? We have the compilation games like Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man X Collection. Now, Mega Man on its own is a difficult game and has been for years. But to get two games that collected every game in the 2-D side-scrolling series was a massive task to be sure. I only made it past Mega Man 1. There was no way I could suffer that much frustration with that many games. On the fighting game level, the vast majority of them were finished by me, save for the last one I picked up: Super Dragon Ball Z. I got as far as I could unlocking characters, outfits, etc. I just couldn't get over the difficult hump of trying to unlock everything else. Darn. As there were many other games that were a challenge, the two genres that brought the most challenge were open world games, and role-playing games. For the first, several games were picked up by suggestion including the two games from the True Crime series and Red Dead Revolver. Both series were rather fun to be sure, but both were rather lengthy as well. I found myself hitting a roadblock in the first True Crime game, and never truly moving forward. I did finish Red Dead Revolver though. Then we have the big series: Grand Theft Auto. At a gaming convention, I ended up finding the complete PSOne collection of GTA's earliest games (1, 2, and England missions). Since I was living with a fan of the series to the fullest, how fitting would it have been to get the rest for the PS2? I did. And I could barely get through the first game. At the time, and in general, I figured that I had to play them all in order, even though the games didn't call for any continuity. I just felt inclined to do so. I figured if I was going to have some chance of enjoying the full experience of the series, I'd play them in order and see the progression of the series firsthand. Sadly, that didn't take. Good thing, too. If it did, I'd be so backlogged with games, I'd never break free. Now for the second, I got into stockpiling RPGs after many a countless encounter with friends and Internet videos telling me that I should pick up "so and so" game. So, I did. Those games included Suikoden 3, and Shin Megami Tensei's Digital Devil Saga (1 and 2), Nocturne, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 4. The furthest I got in any game was Suikoden 3. The others, not nearly as close. The games were difficult, lengthy, and a bit unconventional. So much so that I had to dedicate time to getting to know them...which I didn't have.
We now come to the last console generation. For this list, it will more than likely be a light one simply because....well, there weren't that many games I didn't finish and/or there were that many games that I did or didn't need to since everything was there already. Let's start off with Nintendo's money-making machine, the Wii. Most of the games I have played on this system, I finished. This is due to the fact that this was the only game system I wanted to buy and play. No disrespect to PS3 and the 360, but they just didn't reach out to me. I promised myself I'd only own them if someone bought them for me or if I shared it with someone. Turns out the latter was true. Anyhoo, back to the Wii. The one game that stands out as a game I couldn't finish and never will was Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yea, I unlocked all the stages and characters...but I couldn't get all the trophies, which I wanted..and all the stickers...which I had to do to get the Stickers Trophy, and surprisingly, not all the CDs...so I don't have all the music. And then the challenges....almost impossible to do. Pretty disappointed by that. Not nearly as disappointed when dealing with Mario Strikers: Charged, however. I had bought this game....twice, both as a budget title. And I have to tell you, I've never been that frustrated with a game on the Wii, let alone a game in general...and I played Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Rayman: Legends, and most of, if not all of the console New Super Mario Bros games....alone. Anyhoo, this game, from Next Level Games tried my patience, and I happened to like the first game on the GameCube. This game was an early title for the Wii, and hence, utilized motion controls. That, albeit challenging, wasn't the main issue with the game for me. The main issue was the game's difficulty, even on its normal setting. The computer is relentless. I mean, RELENTLESS. I can't tell which is more taxing: trying to go through Challenge Mode or going through Championship mode. While one has growing amounts of difficulty, the other already starts off difficult. The computer knows game-breaking tricks that guarantee victory. It also plays like a pro, even if you're just starting. And if you fail at Championship mode, you start from the beginning of your Cup Challenge. Yay. The real challenge comes from unlocking things. See, you have to be able to do what is asked of you in the face of all that is difficult in order to unlock cheats, characters, stages, and the like. Now, me being the completionist and perfectionist at the time, I found myself wanting to literally wipe the game off the face of the planet at times. In fact, I stayed up all Friday night trying to beat challenges. Not good or wise. Once I realized I couldn't unlock the last thing, I gave up on the game (thank you, sanity) and when it came time to give the Wii to my little brother, I did, along with this ridiculous game. Next Level Games would haunt me even still with another entry: Punch Out Wii. Of all the Punch Out games made, this has to stand as the most challenging. While they all rely on some sort of puzzle solving, pattern mastering element, this one had the most to solve, and the most challenging. The standard "Dodge and Counter Punch" technique, which brought us all very far over the years, well, that took a backseat to much more challenging patterns like knowing when to block moves that seemed practically unblockable, or worse, countering moves to make sure they grant you a star. After all, a 3-star Uppercut guarantees a knockdown. But, you lose a star when you're hit. Yup, frustration. To add to the mix, the only things left to unlock at the end were the following: a head-guard if you get knocked out 100 times, sound bytes per character, and a much harder championship mode. Hmm....yea, not worth it. This is where I started to realize that the secrets worth unlocking were not worth the effort. So, I didn't bother. I mean, sound bytes? Really? No! This ended up being the same situation with Wario Land: Shake it! It was a fine game, but the challenges were very difficult. Like not taking damage or not breaking certain items. And all that just for music. No thank you! As for the PS3 and 360, well, to be honest, I didn't have or play them long enough to really see what the challenging games were. To be honest, the real challenge was just getting into them and playing them. At this time, I had so many games to finish that I didn't know what to do. When things took a dark turn in life, I ended up giving away and selling the majority of the stuff I had. This also went with the DS and 3DS games I had. Although, for the most part, I finished the 3DS and DS games in my library. So, whatever I sold, I didn't need anymore.
And that's my gaming history of angry submission, in a nutshell. My Wii U games have, for the most part, been finished. With a new system on the horizon in the Nintendo Switch, I don't see many difficult games to quit that are left on the Wii U that I haven't played already. In the end, I take pride in knowing that I didn't have to break my neck beating the games I did and didn't own. Anyone who said otherwise or says otherwise are so game savvy that nothing but the most difficult games can tickle their fancy. I'm not that type, never again, not anymore and never will be. I just want to have fun. If I can't do that taking part in the one pastime that is, was, and will always be my favorite, then I might as well hang up the controller forever. Funny thing is, I almost did....
When I was younger, I had the time, the patience (or lack thereof), and the drive to play, finish, and complete every game I received. First, it was just the general interest in the new and different games that came along. Then, it became about how many games I could own. And from there, it was if I could finish the games, and from there, complete them, 100% and answer every challenge. I became a completionist. Basically, it's a term in gaming for someone who plays games and tries to get every secret, every achievement, and possibly even every reward possible. That was my mission. That was my purpose. And...that was very consuming..mentally, emotionally, and at times, spiritually.
The amount of frustration and anger I had over playing some of these games is practically immeasurable. On one hand, I was angry and frustrated because I wanted to enjoy playing a game without having to deal with the tough parts of life, or just life in general. "If I couldn't escape into video games and hope for some respite, where could I go?", I thought. It didn't matter how difficult the game was. I wanted to play it and I wanted to win. That was my only means of having fun. Nowadays, I only play for fun. It's not about winning the whole thing or being a completionist. It's about having fun. I also make it a point to play games that have more than one player locally.
Now, even with this, there are a share of games I've played or even play at times, that have their own reasons attached to them as to why I will never finish them. In this blog, I'm pretty much going to let you know the vast amount of games from the vast amount of systems I have not finished nor plan to. While some may earn a long story behind them, others will have a short story. While some games will have been difficult for the right reasons, others will have been for the wrong reasons. Whatever the case, here are the games for the systems that I have played that have just about gotten my goat, so much so that I never, EVER, want to play them again.
The first actual system I played was the Atari 2600. However, since my playing time was relegated mostly to 2 player competitions with my brother, it doesn't quite count. What does count however is the Sega Master System, both the first and the second version. The second version was much sleeker, no longer played game cards, and had a built-in copy of Alex Kidd in Miracle world. That game would have made it to this list, but I had finished it a few years ago with the help of some tips online. It was challenging to be sure, but I did finish it. This actually coerced me to try and finish more games on the Sega systems.
There was the card game, My Hero. I had gone through stage 1 and 2 and beat the bosses at the end. I never made it to stage 3, sadly. For starters, it was pretty darn challenging, with difficult jumps, respawning enemies, and the like. The second reason goes towards the grim reality I came across: there is no end to the game because the game never ends. You just cycle through the same 4 stages over and over again until you get, "Game Over". Like some arcade games, you just kept on going until you lost all your lives. I've always been about seeing endings, so there was no real reason to continue playing this. Then, there was Quartet. It was a 4 player arcade game made by Sega about a team of hunters whose job is to prevent the tomb of a powerful alien from opening up after a long sleep. When ported to the Sega, they shortened the amount of players to two, left the difficulty as tough as it was via the arcade, and continues were very, very limited. I made it as far as level 5. That's as much as the game demo shows when it's on. Whatever the case, it made for a challenging experience. Especially since arcade games when ported don't come with, well, unlimited continues. So, never mind. This would be the same problem I had with Space Harrier for the Sega. I got as far as the first stage after the first bonus level. If there's one difference, I did get to finish this game...when it was a Sega Genesis classic collection title for the PS2. Surprisingly enough, it was the arcade version and I had unlimited continues. So, I finished the game and saw the ending. Now, for the big N.....
Once we had the Nintendo Entertainment System, a new set of games came forth to play. Surprisingly enough, the siblings and I borrowed much more games than we owned but that was mostly due to our sparse purchasing of games (Mom and Dad weren't quite made of money as I thought). Regardless, the games we had were just as challenging to last us a lifetime. First, we have Kung Fu. It was a Nintendo developed title that, acted as one of the earliest side-scrolling beat-em-ups. I actually traded my copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 to a troublemaker of a kid for this game. I didn't know then that it was an unfair deal. I definitely know better now. Anyhoo, this game sure was a challenge to me, as I got as far as stage 4 and had never bothered to continue. Ironically, I just found out it was based on a Jackie Chan film. Jackie Chan's first foray into gaming before his Action Kung Fu game on the NES was a Nintendo exclusive based on a popular movie, called Wheels on Meals. Another interesting title to add to the mix was Legacy of The Wizard. This was my first foray into RPGs for the home console. I never even passed level 1, let alone see level 2. It was a large game with multiple characters, paths, etc. And me without knowing my way through the game, this was going to be one difficult adventure. But that pales in comparison to the hardest game or games I have played for the NES...but on my SNES: Ninja Gaiden. Based on the arcade game, but changed dramatically for the NES, Ryu Hayabusa is traveling around the world to find the person who killed his father. Upon doing so, he comes across volatile bosses, nasty enemies, enigmatic individuals and an adventure you have to see to believe. And that's just the first game. I can't tell you about the following games because I never, to this day, finished the first one. The frustration of memorizing where certain power ups are for the sake of clearing the level and even making boss battles easier, and even the fact that there are 3 end bosses in the first game, all equally difficult in their own way. It was just too great. Looking back, I have no regrets in never finishing this or any other of the games in the original series. Games stopped being fun to me when the objective was to win at all costs, and at its most difficult. Now, let's move on the Super NES,
This is, without question, my favorite game console ever. To me, it is the pinnacle of video gaming at its most excellent. It was Nintendo's greatest system qualitatively, too. It's my favorite system of all time...and yet, in turn, it was rife with very, very difficult games. When I mentioned that Ninja Gaiden was the toughest game I played for the NES, I actually made a play for finishing it on the SNES, through Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. How was this possible? The game had a password function. YES! And I still didn't finish. Now, when it comes to original, non-compilation games on the SNES, there are quite a few. First off, the earliest titles for the SNES that I couldn't finished were F-Zero and Super Castlevania IV. F-Zero is arguably the toughest racing game ever created. It's fast. FAST fast. It's the fastest racing game series in history. If you aren't spot on with your controls and reflexes, you'll lose, every time. As for Castlevania, well, even though I did use the passwords to at least remain on the last stage I was at, which was the final stage, I still couldn't finish it. It was that challenging to me. When it came to games I either saw on t.v. that I wanted or rented, some I finished, others I never got around to. Legend of the Mystical Ninja comes to mind, along with Pocky and Rocky 2. I finished the first P&R, albeit rather cheaply, but it got done. I just never got around to finishing it, be it through life or just generally being too difficult at first to try and spend time finishing it. Thankfully, there were more than enough SNES games that I did finish.
Moving on, we have the Game Boy and the Sega Genesis. These are two systems that I didn't have a lot of games for, or even a lot of real interest in playing. Still, when the time came, I played them with great fervor. On the Game Boy side of things, there weren't many games that I didn't finish. They were difficult to be sure, but not unbeatable....save for about one or two games. Fist of the North Star comes to mind. I had to choose the biggest people to win matches because I could barely see smaller folks and they never really could hit people. I believe I finished it. The game I know I didn't finish is The Amazing Spider Man from LJN. They are a company notorious for making games that are almost impossible to play, making them practically impossible to beat. This was no exception. I know I didn't finish this sucker. Between Rhino being practically unstoppable, and the Dr. Octopus stage being as challenging as training a dog to write Shakespeare. As for the Genesis, every game that I owned I finished. Every game that I played....no. Let's talk about X-men by the Sega Genesis. I think I had struggled to the fullest just trying to get through stage 1 beating the Juggernaut and Zaladane. I realized that Wolverine was the best choice for clearing stages. Problem is, once dead, we have to find a way to revive him. And, once his mutant power drained, you couldn't use his claws. I'm not kidding.
When the N64 came about, I at first wasn't interested in getting in on the 3-D graphics and wanted to stay in my world of SNES and its awesomeness. After a few more months, some convincing from promotional material, and some much needed excitement and hope, the Nintendo 64 was in my family's possession. It was an instant hit for a great bevy of reasons. There were four controller ports, hence multiplayer was easy. There were a bunch of great games, ported or original. The graphics were tight, and well pronounced. As a system, it was one of Nintendo's very best. I'm glad I got to own it. What I was not glad about was the difficulty of some of the games I owned or played. Even Nintendo games had their difficulties. Super Mario 64 in my opinion is one of the most challenging Mario games ever made. You had to get stars by fulfilling goals per stage. The way to get these stars always ranged from pretty manageable to tough as a two-dollar steak. However, that was only the beginning. Some games were difficult for the sake of toughness, while others are just tough in certain areas, making the game almost unplayable to me. And some were just tough because, in all honesty, I had just about finished playing that system actively, what with the GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Not to mention, I moved out of my parents' house, where the system was residing at the time. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing's first and second game were doable mostly thanks to my little brother. However, the aspects that needed completion had to do with the single player. In part 1, it was about toughening up your character for customized boxing purposes, I believe. In part 2, the toughest claim to fame was unlocking characters after the initial 4 were unlocked. As it turned out, you had to do single player mode and finish it to unlock not one, not two, but three of the unique fighters in this game. Really didn't look forward to this. Castlevania 64 comes to mind when it comes to this list as it was a game I got very late in the game. Early or late, it was still a challenge to deal with. Bad game mechanics mixed with re-spawning enemies made my experience an exercise in difficulty. I didn't stay with this game at all. Moving on, we have Mischief Makers. Now, to be honest, there was nothing really wrong with this game. In fact, I had lots of fun playing it. The problem was that, like Castlevania, it came late in the game. With the challenges the game demands for, I just didn't have the time. The last game that fits this mold is Donkey Kong 64. Boy, did I get this late? And I got this when I moved out of my folks' house. It's challenging enough without having the travel issues and need to set boundaries or whatever. It's disheartening because these were a bunch of N64 games left on the table that I haven't finished..nor will I have the time to do so.
The next console generation brought about the Nintendo GameCube and the Sony Playstation 2, along with the Sega Dreamcast. This was a great gaming series to say the least. I got to meet a slew of friends playing these systems, I bonded deeply with my brothers with these systems, and many a great game was had with these systems. With great games comes difficult ones, to be sure. Let's start with the Dreamcast. I had bought this system in hopes to finally get in on all the gaming goodness I had enjoyed back at the start of my college days. So, I finally decided to buy this some 3 to 4 years ago, and stockpile a ton of games. Boy, oh boy, was I excited? As I got all the fighting games I could have wanted, among other games, there were those which were fun but tough, and those that were tough and ultimately, not very fun in the long run. Nothing against the games, they just weren't working out too well, for yours truly. Soul Reaver was a solid game. It had the action and story down to a tee. I decided to put it down unfortunately as I did not have the time to commit to playing it as it actually gave me motion sickness the first time out. With too many games to worry about at the time, I had to put it aside. The same went for Gauntlet Legends, which didn't give me motion sickness, but it was extremely challenging, especially since I was the only one playing it. I made it as far as the last stage, but got hammered by the enemies as I didn't have enough experience to get myself through. It would have taken me months to get a high enough level to survive alone. Lastly, we have JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Now, I love fighting games, as I have stated a few times prior, but boy, this was one game that made me almost break the CD in half. I had tried to complete this game the best I could. I even tried playing this before work, risking being late. I actually threw my first copy down the garbage chute. The second copy I got was playing just fine. Unfortunately, it started to stall and stop. In the trash it went. I never played it again.
The Gamecube had its fair share of great titles, but also challenging ones to boot. Firstly, there was DBZ: Budokai. Was it really that challenging? No. Just hard to complete. How does one go about completing it? Trying to get the capsules for each character in order to unlock all their moves and have them at the ready. All that requires is getting enough points to get Dragon Balls, and finding them as well...and then using them to unlock character capabilities, like what I mentioned. It was a pain to do, and you had to do it with everyone if you wanted them all to have their moves accessible. That's a bunch of characters, folks. But nothing compared to the difficulty of F-Zero GX. Like the original F-Zero, the game is fast, and I mean FAST. This series may very well be the fastest series in racing game history. This game was no different in any way. So, winning races was the key to finishing the game, unlocking secrets and the like. But, if you already have problems finishing this game due to its high speed, expect this to be one of the most annoying games to finish due to its toughness. I found that to be the case here and quickly gave up on playing the game. Though, it didn't stop my little brother, I didn't join in.
When I received the PS2 as a present from my ex, I tried to pile on as many games as possible, playing as many games as possible. If it was notable, fun, excellent or whatever, I decided to buy the game for that system. It was all about making up for lost time with me. I now had to stay in line with the "Joneses" that used to talk a great deal about the great games that were on this system and played these games a great deal as well. New system comes with new games....and new challenges. And boy, were there plenty? We have the compilation games like Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man X Collection. Now, Mega Man on its own is a difficult game and has been for years. But to get two games that collected every game in the 2-D side-scrolling series was a massive task to be sure. I only made it past Mega Man 1. There was no way I could suffer that much frustration with that many games. On the fighting game level, the vast majority of them were finished by me, save for the last one I picked up: Super Dragon Ball Z. I got as far as I could unlocking characters, outfits, etc. I just couldn't get over the difficult hump of trying to unlock everything else. Darn. As there were many other games that were a challenge, the two genres that brought the most challenge were open world games, and role-playing games. For the first, several games were picked up by suggestion including the two games from the True Crime series and Red Dead Revolver. Both series were rather fun to be sure, but both were rather lengthy as well. I found myself hitting a roadblock in the first True Crime game, and never truly moving forward. I did finish Red Dead Revolver though. Then we have the big series: Grand Theft Auto. At a gaming convention, I ended up finding the complete PSOne collection of GTA's earliest games (1, 2, and England missions). Since I was living with a fan of the series to the fullest, how fitting would it have been to get the rest for the PS2? I did. And I could barely get through the first game. At the time, and in general, I figured that I had to play them all in order, even though the games didn't call for any continuity. I just felt inclined to do so. I figured if I was going to have some chance of enjoying the full experience of the series, I'd play them in order and see the progression of the series firsthand. Sadly, that didn't take. Good thing, too. If it did, I'd be so backlogged with games, I'd never break free. Now for the second, I got into stockpiling RPGs after many a countless encounter with friends and Internet videos telling me that I should pick up "so and so" game. So, I did. Those games included Suikoden 3, and Shin Megami Tensei's Digital Devil Saga (1 and 2), Nocturne, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 4. The furthest I got in any game was Suikoden 3. The others, not nearly as close. The games were difficult, lengthy, and a bit unconventional. So much so that I had to dedicate time to getting to know them...which I didn't have.
We now come to the last console generation. For this list, it will more than likely be a light one simply because....well, there weren't that many games I didn't finish and/or there were that many games that I did or didn't need to since everything was there already. Let's start off with Nintendo's money-making machine, the Wii. Most of the games I have played on this system, I finished. This is due to the fact that this was the only game system I wanted to buy and play. No disrespect to PS3 and the 360, but they just didn't reach out to me. I promised myself I'd only own them if someone bought them for me or if I shared it with someone. Turns out the latter was true. Anyhoo, back to the Wii. The one game that stands out as a game I couldn't finish and never will was Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yea, I unlocked all the stages and characters...but I couldn't get all the trophies, which I wanted..and all the stickers...which I had to do to get the Stickers Trophy, and surprisingly, not all the CDs...so I don't have all the music. And then the challenges....almost impossible to do. Pretty disappointed by that. Not nearly as disappointed when dealing with Mario Strikers: Charged, however. I had bought this game....twice, both as a budget title. And I have to tell you, I've never been that frustrated with a game on the Wii, let alone a game in general...and I played Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Rayman: Legends, and most of, if not all of the console New Super Mario Bros games....alone. Anyhoo, this game, from Next Level Games tried my patience, and I happened to like the first game on the GameCube. This game was an early title for the Wii, and hence, utilized motion controls. That, albeit challenging, wasn't the main issue with the game for me. The main issue was the game's difficulty, even on its normal setting. The computer is relentless. I mean, RELENTLESS. I can't tell which is more taxing: trying to go through Challenge Mode or going through Championship mode. While one has growing amounts of difficulty, the other already starts off difficult. The computer knows game-breaking tricks that guarantee victory. It also plays like a pro, even if you're just starting. And if you fail at Championship mode, you start from the beginning of your Cup Challenge. Yay. The real challenge comes from unlocking things. See, you have to be able to do what is asked of you in the face of all that is difficult in order to unlock cheats, characters, stages, and the like. Now, me being the completionist and perfectionist at the time, I found myself wanting to literally wipe the game off the face of the planet at times. In fact, I stayed up all Friday night trying to beat challenges. Not good or wise. Once I realized I couldn't unlock the last thing, I gave up on the game (thank you, sanity) and when it came time to give the Wii to my little brother, I did, along with this ridiculous game. Next Level Games would haunt me even still with another entry: Punch Out Wii. Of all the Punch Out games made, this has to stand as the most challenging. While they all rely on some sort of puzzle solving, pattern mastering element, this one had the most to solve, and the most challenging. The standard "Dodge and Counter Punch" technique, which brought us all very far over the years, well, that took a backseat to much more challenging patterns like knowing when to block moves that seemed practically unblockable, or worse, countering moves to make sure they grant you a star. After all, a 3-star Uppercut guarantees a knockdown. But, you lose a star when you're hit. Yup, frustration. To add to the mix, the only things left to unlock at the end were the following: a head-guard if you get knocked out 100 times, sound bytes per character, and a much harder championship mode. Hmm....yea, not worth it. This is where I started to realize that the secrets worth unlocking were not worth the effort. So, I didn't bother. I mean, sound bytes? Really? No! This ended up being the same situation with Wario Land: Shake it! It was a fine game, but the challenges were very difficult. Like not taking damage or not breaking certain items. And all that just for music. No thank you! As for the PS3 and 360, well, to be honest, I didn't have or play them long enough to really see what the challenging games were. To be honest, the real challenge was just getting into them and playing them. At this time, I had so many games to finish that I didn't know what to do. When things took a dark turn in life, I ended up giving away and selling the majority of the stuff I had. This also went with the DS and 3DS games I had. Although, for the most part, I finished the 3DS and DS games in my library. So, whatever I sold, I didn't need anymore.
And that's my gaming history of angry submission, in a nutshell. My Wii U games have, for the most part, been finished. With a new system on the horizon in the Nintendo Switch, I don't see many difficult games to quit that are left on the Wii U that I haven't played already. In the end, I take pride in knowing that I didn't have to break my neck beating the games I did and didn't own. Anyone who said otherwise or says otherwise are so game savvy that nothing but the most difficult games can tickle their fancy. I'm not that type, never again, not anymore and never will be. I just want to have fun. If I can't do that taking part in the one pastime that is, was, and will always be my favorite, then I might as well hang up the controller forever. Funny thing is, I almost did....
Comments
Post a Comment