nelsed

I was just thinking about some games I never finished because of the difficulty or time constraints etc.... And I wondered how many other people are haunted by "I wonder how that game ended etc..."

Most of the games I'm thinking of are old school games, mostly because the new stuff doesn't really present that much of a challenge (usually). Our instant gratification society says you can't demand too much of me -- and some of the old take the red ruby, hold it, travel to the left most side of the cliff and hold down for 5 seconds until a whirlwind takes you away to the next level -- has been appropriately done away with!! (Anyone remember Simon's Quest???)

There are two games in particular that come to mind, they were both on the C64 -- (yeah.. I'm showing my age). Anyway.

The Goonies - an original game with two player cooperative play which made things quite fun. It only had 9 boards to solve. One person would run and pull a switch while the other went through whatever obsticle has just been disabled, then he'd have to do something on the other side to get his partner through etc... Fun game, but level 9 never made any sense to me... didn't get it ... never could. (I just figured it was the last level since there was a ship (like the movie) and the treasure... and the bad guys from the film. Anyone ever finish that?? and if so how???

Spell of Destruction - an old game by mindscape for the c64 that had a heavy puzzle element. It had incredible graphics for it's time... an isometric view and lots of rooms where you had to aquire different spells and use them on the items to open up paths to the next levels. I think I got stuck on level 4 or 5... (but each level was pretty big). But the game haunts me still and I can't find anything about it online.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone here has a similar experience or by chance know something about these games!!!

bigsoos

I'm not sure if I ever beat Kid Icaruss (sp?) on the Nintendo.

Stoolie

oh man, ghosts and goblins for NES. i never did finish. still bothers me today when i think of the other things i've accomplished in life. seriously though, i wish i had finished it. but damn it was hard. and frustrating.

stoolie

mytzplyx

The arcade version of the first contra. Damn. It was impossible.

speedyray

NES games, man it seems like I almost beat them every time then I had to do something. In particular I was on the last or next to last board of Mario 3 several times. Its not that is was super hard, I was just worn out by the time I got there.

PixyJunket

Adventure Island 1.. freaking insane game.

fujishig

You mean there was a Goonies 1? The only game I ever played was Goonies 2, which was a great game but I never would've gotten through it at that age if not for that big Nintendo hint book...

Bluebomber

Nah, I throw them in a cabinet, out of sight, out of mind.

xpac

I had the same problem with Goonies 2 on the NES, thank god for that hint book!

Josh H

Doesn't bother me at all. I play games to have fun, not to get frustrated and pissed off. If a game's too hard I just get rid of it.

Lastblade

Milon's Secret Castle on NES pisses me off to no end, it is damn hard.

KingSmoth

I've played countless RPG's, but the most time I've ever put into one is 4 hours or something in FFX. I'd like to play through them all to see what the fuss is about, but no RPG holds my interest...
I never finished any of the Castlevania games, but someday I will.
Maniac Mansion was one of my favorite NES games, and I never finished it either.
The latest game is Contra: Shattered Soldier. I'm not certain if I'll ever be able to unlock Level 7, because I don't think I can play through all of the other stages without dying once and getting 100% on each....I'm good at the game, but not that good.

jrutz

To this day, I feel the need to finish Xenogears and Grim Fandango. I think I put about 20 hours into Xenogears, about four into Grim Fandango, and it will be my goal when I'm old and grey to finish these two games. After that, I will be a happy man...

There have been countless games I've walked away from and never thought twice about finishing. So many I can't even come up with examples. But these two will be my demise...

...oh, and soon to be Splinter Cell...

Jeremy

PixyJunket

What a fine game. I've beaten it many times though, I don't remember it being frustratingly hard or anything. Nothing like Adventure Island.

Trigger

I approach video games like I approach most things in life - the harder it is, the more determined I am to complete it. I usually abandon easy games. I find that if you never challenge yourself in life, you aren't going to amount to much. I know it's just video games, but I mean who wants to be labeled a "quitter". Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade - you don't give up and go suck on a rock cuz it's easier. lol

Anyway - that said, I really don't get too bothered by games I don't finish - cuz like I said, it's usually cuz the game is dumb or not challenging enough to keep my interest.

Stoolie

I get you here, but part of the joy of videogames for me is completion. Hell, the endings to most NES games were a joke anyway. Usually it was just some text screen saying "You've won." or something like that. If a game frustrates me, I know it is because I lack the skills to beat it. So I try to get better. But I would never get rid of a game because it was too hard. That would make me keep the game and keep playing. For example, I'm still trying to finish the first Super Monkey Ball and all its tracks. Ugh. I've logged so many hours, but I still die. I suck. Must get better.

Trigger - I agree with you. If a game is hard, I'm much more likely to spend more time playing it. But I don't give up on the east games either. As long as its interesting, then even if its east I'll still finish.

stoolie

jessecrx

Double Dragon 3 NES - I would always make it to the end, and fight the last boss and she would just KILL ME! I would bust my ass trying to get to that part, and then I would just die.

Ninja Gaiden 3 - Only a limited amount of continues. I could never beat it.

Tenchu 2 - With the imintent release of Tenchu 3, I want to go back and finish part 2 before I jump into 3!!! I never go to sequels unless I finish the previous games.

Trigger

Well, if a game is easy that doesn't always mean it's not interesting... I'm just saying it's more likely to be uninteresting to me if it's easy. I play games for fun just like the next guy, but if a game doesn't really challenge me mentally or challenge my hand-to-eye coordination or whatever and the plot is stupid - I deem that game to be a monumental waste of time.

Ginwen

Only the ones that I almost finished bug me at all, so Phantasy Star 2 (I couldn't figure out the final boss--I should've just cheated, but no good internet back then) and Final Fantasy 2 (at least in the US it was 2)--some part in the last dungeon I never quite got past.

For a long time, I was stuck on Landstalker, and I picked it up again and it was absolutely no sweat getting through that particular part (just a couple of jumps).

All old games--newer games are either completely impossible for me (due to old-fartness) or I can get through them pretty easily.

Gideon68

Never finished Spiderman for the Genesis. Always ran out of webbing or energy. Energy took too long to replenish.

DVDHO

Batman for the Nes,I could get to Joker without dieing then he would hand me my a$$ everytime.

Hardest game IMO would be Battle Toads for Nes,could never beat the queen and just gave up,I beat G&G for Nes which was probably the hardest game I beat,and of coarse Contra:SS for PS2 is probably the hardest game to come out in a long time.

shizawn

most of the games I don't finish is because I lose interest, not because they're too hard. I seem to mostly play CRPGs these days, and if the story isn't engrossing, it's tough to get through it. Especially considering some of these games take hundreds of hours to complete. The Baldur's Gate games come to mind, but I will eventually get around to completing them.

I do remember getting stumped playing the Lemmings games. Some of those levels were impossible. I eventually gave up on them.

gondorspit

Never won Syphon Filter 2, it had one of those damn helicopter at the end thing that always pisses me off.

DARTH GAMER

Once you know how to beat that it's actually quite easy. If you haven't figured it out yet, (without giving it away) the helecopter plays a big part in finishing the game.

Josh H

I totally agree with that philosophy on life, I just don't really carry it over to video games. Video games aren't as much a part of my life as a lot of you guys either. I really bust my ass challenging myself in my scholarly work, and gaming is simply a few hours a week to relax and not challenge myself.

I'm not saying I like games that are a cake walk either, but I can't deal with something like Contra Shattered Soldier that is so tough that it takes hours of practice just to get through one level (after the first couple anyway).

My ideal difficulty would be something like Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime, Mario Sunshine etc. Basically games that have spots that are tough as hell and frustrate you, but not so hard to make me want to stop playing.

For me it's a fine line between too hard and too easy. I'm pretty much just picky as hell like that in life in general though.