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Questions for OLDER GAMERS


anne amère
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For the Legend of Zelda and several other popular NES games, there was a black strategy guide that EVERYONE had at the time. I can't remember the name of the book though. It was a bible that was well worn by the time I was done with it.

You mean this?

nintendoplayersguide.jpg

Poor photo quality courtesy of my blackberry in the dark.

I was born in '90 but my first console was an NES.. usually if I was stuck somewhere my brother would help me, or I'd just sit at it until I could figure out the challenges. ZOMG, figuring things out, what the hell is that? It seems like none of the new games have challenges anymore, or stuff that they don't tell you.

Even some old games are like this, too. I just finished FFIV through an emulator (SNES, making it FFIV easy-type/FFII) and my monitor doesn't have good contrast when looking at it from below. When I got through a bit of the game and saw that the paths through walls and stuff were clearly marked by lighter-shaded tiles, I was surprised. Where's the challenge in that? Especially toward the end (where I had never been before), the challenge of the game wasn't figuring out where I needed to go next, but how to survive while getting there. Grinding took up most of my time.

If those paths weren't clearly indicated, my priority would have been figuring out where to go to get myself to the end of the game. Walking around in the moon core would have given me enemies to kill and thus levels while still feeling like I'm doing something purposeful.

So this isn't a new phenomenon, but it sure has been disappointing. I've been playing games more for the story than anything, and just for the sake of seeing how the game ends rather than for the challenge the game (doesn't) bring(s).

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how the hell did you beat those old games on the NES

those games are so hard

battletoads is impossible without save states

the first zelda is impossible without a guide (the 2nd quest at least)

i can't imagine kids not GIVING UP for several of these games

HOW DID YOU DO IT

I didn't. I just played the first few levels over and over until I got bored and decided to play something else.

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It's funny you mention Battletoads. Now, I've never actually beaten the whole game, largely because I get kind of bored with it after a while. But as a kid, I remember that hover bike level was murder. I spent hours trying to get through it, and I usually used the warp in the middle rather than seeing it through to the end.

I found a copy of the game a few years ago. Popped it in without having played the game for... gosh, fifteen years, maybe? Anyway, I beat the entire hover bike stage with only one death -- and that was due to a premature jump rather than hitting a wall. I think to myself "Wait, what? That's it?"

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I remember the first time I finished Capcom's "Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" on the nes with my sister, it made me realized how awesome coop gaming can be. Playing the game alone seemed practically impossible; not to mention not as much fun.

Ha, I grew up with that game. Pretty damn hard, but nowhere near impossible.

battletoads is impossible without save states

Yeah, dead on. Shitty ending too (per all Battletoads games)

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Pretty much what's already been said: tons of practice. Legend of Zelda wasn't too bad; I did have to use a guide for the 2nd quest, though (too much trial-and-error).

A few of the tougher games I managed to beat:

- Kung Fu [NES] (2 times through*)

- Karate Kid II [NES] (AVGN overestimated how difficult this was)

- Metal Storm [NES]

- Bart vs the Space Mutants [NES]

- Paperboy [NES] (could get all houses on the block to subscribe, too)

- Star Fox [sNES] ("easiest" path only, which was still damn tough)

- Sewer Shark [sega CD]

* Kung Fu, like a lot of games then, had you go through the game once at 'normal' difficulty, then a second time at a harder difficulty. Zelda was like this, just more epic.

A lot of platform games (Mario 1-3, Super Mario World, Sonic 2-3, etc.) I don't consider as difficult, given just a bit of practice and all the continues/saves/warps you'd get. The ones on the list above, plus tons more that I never was able to beat, are on another level... the ones that really required a lot of practice to get good enough to beat. KF

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Without cheats or save states, Battletoads is impossibly IMO.

I would say that the only thing that allowed me to beat games like Mario 3 was having too much time on my hands. I'd take turns with a (girl)friend throughout the whole game, keeping lives and almost never dying.

Yes, there's muscle memory and there's also a strong photographic memory, which I would say is personal.

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I don't understand how people think Zelda 2 is difficult.

It's my favorite Zelda game, and I've been playing it since the day it came out.

To this day, I can sit down and beat it like it's nothing, and still find an extreme amount of fun in doing so.

The only thing that's "hard" is the final temple.

But wasn't the music for the Great Temple epic?

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I think I'm echoing a lot of what as already been said at this point.

It think it comes down to how much time we had on our hands. I beat a lot of these games (never played battletoads believe it or not),by virtue of the fact that i was a little kid and had nothing better to do with my time. I could sit there and work on them, get the muscle memory down, and memorize the patterns the games were built around. The last of those probably being the most important.

Now, I usually feel cheated by most games becasue they aren't challenging enough (with a number of notable exceptions).

though, to this day Spelunker continues to be the bane of my existance

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Pretty sure we've ALL done that x_x

Yeah well, that green bastard deserved it somehow... I'll justify it someday, 'cause if I don't I'll suffer from severe guilt for the rest of my days.

If anyone really wants to know difficult, forget Battletoads. There are some really insanely difficult (and obscure) games out there that just don't get any attention. Look up the game Amagon, for example - insanely difficult (not for any of the right reasons, either). That is a game that will haunt me for the rest of my days, as I know I will never, ever be able to beat it.

I shit you not, that game was insane. Seriously, what game gives you very limited bullets that don't reload at the end of a level or when you die? Messed up shit, right there...

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Look up the game Amagon, for example - insanely difficult (not for any of the right reasons, either). That is a game that will haunt me for the rest of my days, as I know I will never, ever be able to beat it.

I shit you not, that game was insane. Seriously, what game gives you very limited bullets that don't reload at the end of a level or when you die? Messed up shit, right there...

But, it let you use your gun as a club after you ran out of bullets! Though if it ever got to that point, you may as well reset the game.

I don't think I ever made it past the first level in that one. KF

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Pretty sure we've ALL done that x_x

For some odd reason that picture scared the hell out of me when I first saw it.

I can beat the level with or without Yoshi, and when I have him I don't need to sacrifice him. Well, I did the first time 'cuz I was scared.

Yeah well, that green bastard deserved it somehow... I'll justify it someday, 'cause if I don't I'll suffer from severe guilt for the rest of my days.

My excuse: "bitch wouldn't let me shoot my damn fireballs!" No, that's probably untrue. "Uh, he was too damned heavy!" Naw, not really. "Fucker can't eat Bonzai Bill! There we go.

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For some odd reason that picture scared the hell out of me when I first saw it.

I can beat the level with or without Yoshi, and when I have him I don't need to sacrifice him. Well, I did the first time 'cuz I was scared.

My excuse: "bitch wouldn't let me shoot my damn fireballs!" No, that's probably untrue. "Uh, he was too damned heavy!" Naw, not really. "Fucker can't eat Bonzai Bill! There we go.

I am sad to admit that it took me a few tries before I realized Yoshi could be used to make it ridiculously easy. Trying to do it without killing green bro was frustrating. XD

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But, it let you use your gun as a club after you ran out of bullets! Though if it ever got to that point, you may as well reset the game.
Oh yeah, you know what I'm talkin' about... My older brother actually got to the fourth level, back in the day, but after almost a year of investment he just said 'Fuck that shit!' and never touched the game again. I don't know if a legit run of that game is even humanly possible (I owned a strategy guide video tape - you all know what I'm talking about, right? - and it actually said the game was impossible without a slow motion controller... What the hell kind of strategy guide is that?!).
Anyone besides me beat battletoads WITHOUT cheating?
I'm currently working on beating Contra without cheating (got to level 7 yesterday, woot), but I can assure you Battle Toads is on my list somewhere - someday I'll be able to make that claim.
"bitch wouldn't let me shoot my damn fireballs!"

Thanks, I'll use that to alleviate my guilt.

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