Topic: Beating hard games like they owe you money

[Ladd Spencer]

Who here likes retro games for their fantastic difficulty levels? I do.

So last year I beat a few games, like Strider and Bionic Commando, which were very satisfying. More recently I've been hardpressed to either find games I can beat or beat the impossibly hard ones I've tried and tried to beat.

I recently beat Dracula X, though that game isn't really that hard. Mostly I managed to get the best ending by not falling to Stage 4', which always pissed me off to a great extent when I fell.

I haven't yet, but will someday, beat Ninja Gaiden 2, Castlevania, and Sonic 1 & 2. Those Sonic games are rough. I always wind up at Silver Sonic / Robotnik with a bunch of lives and continues, and bleed them all out fast as hell. I made it past when Jacquio revives in Ninja Gaiden 2. Every little bit helps polish my skills for next time. I made it to stage 5 in Castlevania, which is further than I'd ever made it (I just got it a few months ago), but the game froze up as I struck a red skeleton on my 3rd or 4th try at the stage (lol NES).

This is my Amazon games wishlist:
http://amzn.com/w/1I4QMT57G7GA0

Of highest interest to me are Ninja Gaiden 3, Castlevania 3, and Castlevania Bloodlines, as far as new territory is concerned. Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Zelda 2 are rebuys for me for stuff that skipped moves. Actraiser 1 & 2 are games I've never played that I'm waiting to own the physical cartridge so as to have an unmolested authentic experience.

I'm also very much interested in playing Hyperstone Heist. I've never played it, but it's kind of a different animal because it's a game I would never play without a partner.

Chrono Trigger, like the Actraisers, I'm really interested in playing. I want something slightly complex and a little RPG. I beat Chrono Trigger once, but on my friend's cartridge. I need my own copy lol.

Is there such a thing as a strategy guide for Battle Network 1? I can't seem to find one. But that's not exactly on-topic lol.

[Align]

Who here likes retro games for their fantastic difficulty levels?

Sometimes. It seems to be a certain kind of difficulty though... somehow.
I've played some difficult games that just make me go "yeah, no" and quit, while others make me ragequit, then after stewing and simmering for a bit I always come back with a new idea on how to get through.

But while I enjoy those games and loudly recommend them for their challenge, I don't often play them - after the first playthrough it feels kind of meaningless, and they're not that common.

If we're talking specific games, I particularly enjoyed Fortune Summoners, despite being the little girl.

[Da Dood]

Same here. I like retro games for many reasons, challenge being one of them.

As a general rule, my goal is to finish them with no continues used. It's not a rule for every single game, I mean... Ninja Gaiden can go [tornado fang] itself haha, I'm good with just watching the credits. Kid Chameleon took me FOREVER to get there, but now I'm much better at it... even finished with no lives lost once! Anyway, that sense of accomplishment is what I look for in these games. And most of them are pretty short, so I don't really get tired of revisiting them.

I've been playing Castlevania 3 non-stop lately. I was working on beating Sypha's route with no continues, and finally did it yesterday. I will attempt this with Grant and Alucard too in the future. Love the many different ways you can play through this game! I played CV3 so many times recently that today I went back to CV1 and got destroyed. I still finished the game, but the little timing differences of enemy attacks (like bone pillars) completely tricks you when you're so used to one of the games.

I have a list of NES games that caught my attention and I want to play them this year/next:

- Bionic Commando
- Bucky O'Hare
- Kirby's Adventure
- Little Nemo
- Shatterhand
- Street Fighter 2010 (I just liked the way it looked in vids)
- Vice Project Doom

[Ladd Spencer]

Fortune Summoners looks interesting. I hadn't heard of it; just checked it out on YouTube. I can't tell if it's sloppy in the way that you can't not take damage or if this guy just sucks. I'm also kind of afraid it uses leveling as too much of padding. I like upgrades and items more than I like numbers and HP. But it looks promising.

I do have to say there is a too hard for me. Like bullet hells, I respect them, but I don't really play them. But then again, that's a genre I'd never play alone. Well, I do play R-Type alone, but I never expect to beat it.

I have had a lot of moments where it was 3 AM, I was maybe a little too drunk for it, and I simply couldn't handle Ninja Gaiden 2 and put it down for the night.

I love replaying games, though. I much prefer a new experience, but I have enough games that I can cycle through them and it's not too repetitive to replay.

Thinking about upgrades and stuff made me think I need to get Demon's Crest, and thanks to Amazon's "other people who bought this also bought" function I was reminded Gargoyle's Quest 2 exists, and informed of Shatterhand and Power Blade, among others. All of those would be sweet to have. Gotta make me some money at my new job lol

It's never bothered me to be a girl in games. Supa supa kawaii and all that jazz.

Edit:
Haha, Shatterhand. Me too brah, me too. Bucky O'Hare is another one I gotta check out. I was looking at Vice Project Doom as well. That's not at the top of my list, though, because I'm not a huge Spy Hunter fan.

Now that you mentioned Street Fighter 2010 that's now on my list. But not higher than Shatterhand or Power Blade.

I really wanna play Castlevania 3. It looks so cool, and I never have. Little Nemo is the [parasitic bomb]. I was fortunate to have that since I was a little kid. I actually only saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago. How I put that off for so long is a mystery to me.

[Da Dood]

Yeah, Castlevania 3 is basically CV1, only bigger and much better. Definitely recommended.

I just beat Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 again. Pretty good examples for this topic... holy [parasitic bomb] they're hard.

[Ladd Spencer]

I misplaced my copy of Ninja Gaiden for the moment. I had had two, but I gave one away. The gift that keeps on giving.

[Hiryu]

Those Sonic games are rough. I always wind up at Silver Sonic / Robotnik with a bunch of lives and continues, and bleed them all out fast as hell.

I never really understood why they never gave the player any rings for the boss fights. Even one would be fine! The rest of the game is fine but that part can be really tough.

Of highest interest to me are Ninja Gaiden 3, Castlevania 3, and Castlevania Bloodlines, as far as new territory is concerned. Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Zelda 2 are rebuys for me for stuff that skipped moves. Actraiser 1 & 2 are games I've never played that I'm waiting to own the physical cartridge so as to have an unmolested authentic experience.

The original US version of Ninja Gaiden 3 was actually made a lot harder than the famicom version. I don't exactly remember why but I think it was because you don't have any continues, and enemies are stronger/hit for more. Fortunately, someone made a patch for it to revert the changes and even included a password system.

Actraiser is good. I didn't play much of the second one for whatever reason.

[Ladd Spencer]

I kind of have a lot of respect for Sonic not giving you rings for the final bosses. But it'd be better balanced with infinite continues.

Yea, Ninja Gaiden 3 has limited continues, and I think the number of them is arbitrary and not shown to you until it just flips you the bird with the Game Over.

I wanna pick up Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, but at some point in the future because of its hefty pricetag of about $120. I wonder if 3 on that is like the American one or the Japanese one.

Unfortunately patches don't do me any good, since I don't have the means to mint my own cartridges. I have a few custom cartridges, though, that I picked up at my now favorite convention in the world, Too Many Games. I have Super Back to the Future in English on an American cartridge, a Super Mario World hack, Mega Man The Wily Wars with functional battery, and some Sonic 2 hack with no ending, just 6 or so stages (still fun, albeit easier than the original game). I think that's all of them. Last time I went I was out of money on Saturday, came back Sunday, and what I'd had my eyes on had sold: A Link to the Past: Parallel Worlds. This year, in June, hopefully I can get that. The custom carts are my new favorite thing about the convention.

http://toomanygames.com

Random's gonna be there this year! I'm about to go make a thread for this elsewhere.

[VixyNyan]

Yea, Ninja Gaiden 3 has limited continues, and I think the number of them is arbitrary and not shown to you until it just flips you the bird with the Game Over.

I wanna pick up Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, but at some point in the future because of its hefty pricetag of about $120. I wonder if 3 on that is like the American one or the Japanese one.

It has unlimited continues, and on top of that, you get passwords for each stage you reached. It consist of 6 button inputs that you press on the controller, in the Continue section of the Trilogy's title screen.

Example:
- XLRBBA takes you to stage 2 of Ninja Gaiden 1.
- AXXRYA takes you to stage 2 of Ninja Gaiden 2.
- ARRYAL takes you to stage 2 of Ninja Gaiden 3.

[OBJECTION MAN]

I dare anyone to beat every level in my game with the Challenge Badge equipped.

It may look cute and happy but the Challenge Badge was designed for the NES generation. Don't underestimate it or it will kick your teeth in, especially in the Challenge Mode.

http://www.skylancestudio.com/hamsterdrop

[Phi]

Once it releases for Windows, I'd love to try.