The Frustration Factor

[Alienblue]

I was having a tough time on Roy's Castle on SMA2(Super Mario World) earlier. It is very difficult but I KNOW I can get by it 'cause I did it before. Other levels I had to play through 10-20 times before beating them. But it got me to thinking...(oh god, here we go again- AB's THINKING! Stop him before-damn too late!)

How many times will you play through a level you are stuck on before giving up the game completely?

With me, a current difficult game was New Super Mario Bros. I KNOW some consider it easy, and most of it was, but the last "lava" level got me. I got to the bridge and to the castle ONCE, but I played through the four levels over and over about 60-80 times before declaring it no longer worth the effort (It is on loan to a freind right now). I certainly got my moneys worth from NSMB, but I doubt I'll ever beat it. I figure if I can't "aquire" the skills needed to beat a game after replaying these levels around EIGHTY times, I never will. At that point a game becomes WORK, and monotonous, frustrating, this-is what-Sysiphus-must- feel-like torture. Better to move on to another game by then. Same thing with R*Type, I never liked that shooter cause it was so freakin' hard. I beat Raiden Trad after around 20 plays, same with G-Darius, but R*Type, never got past level three after more than 100 plays. Same thing with Zero Wing.

Ok, what is YOUR frustration factor? (and does it depend on the TYPE of game? RPG, puzzle, Adventure, shooter?)

[Leo Ames]

If you're having trouble there, just wait until you get the hard levels in the Special World.

[Crevalle]

Great topic. To this day, I don't know if NES games were inordinately difficult, or if I was just too young and wasn't ready for them. The reason I say this is because I really cannot recall any recent game purchases that I have not beaten--it's just sort of a bygone conclusion these days--buy the game, beat it, try multiplayer, etc. Many say that Ninja Gaiden for the xbox was egregiously difficult, but I beat it in a few days. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some game expert...not at all.

Now, the reason I bring that up is because I could count on both hands how many NES games I was able to beat as a kid. Of the games I had growing up, below is a list I could never beat:

Bionic Commando (got to Hitler, but couldn't make it out of the bldg fast enough)
Ninja Gaiden 1,2,3
Contra (no cheating)
Super Contra (no cheating)
Alpha Mission (not even close)
Legendary Wings (not even close)
Castlevania
Gunsmoke
Legend of Kage (not even close)
Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom
Amagon (not even close)
Fester's Quest (not even close--maybe two bosses that's it)
Strider (my friend actually convinced me the last boss was literally impossible to beat)

The list could keep going...

What do you think--were games more difficult back then, or am I dreaming?

[Adamant1]

I remember Tiny Toons 2: Montana's Movie Madness for the original Gameboy. It's a pretty simple platformer, not that hard (well, you will die a couple of times, but it's not too bad), but there is "the room". About halfway into the third level, Buster jumps into a small rocket and you have to jump over some pits while you automatically accelerate. It's not too bad at first, and the outdoor passage is easily passed, but then you enter... "the room". It's much like the outdoor passage, just indoor and, well, MUCH harder. You may compare it to the beginning of Squid Adler's level in Mega Man X5, except it's twice as long, twice as hard, it's halfway through the level, so if you lose all your lives you need to make your way back to the room, and oh yes, you have limited continues. I've passed the room ONCE in my life, and then proceeded to beat the rest of the game without much trouble. As I said, the game itself is easy enough, it's just that one room. It's evil. And it's the sole reason why I don't play the game much anymore - it's no fun to make it up to said room just to instantly lose all your lives, get back to the room, lose them again, and then repeat until you're out of continues.
I hate "the room".

[Gentlegamer1]

From the list given, I beat Castlevania, Contra, and Strider "back in the day." Definitely wasn't easy, though.

[Crevalle]

[QUOTE=Gentlegamer]From the list given, I beat Castlevania, Contra, and Strider "back in the day." Definitely wasn't easy, though. [/QUOTE]

What about Blaster Master--I forgot to add that to the list.

[voor]

hummm, I felt the same way about a level on NSMB also...the one with the lava pouring down from the sky.  I started feeling that way, and was like 'wait, this game is supposed to be easy'.  Used the mega mushroom, and that made it easy. 

 

Kinda like using the P Wing on SMB3 on some of the later levels that are ridiculous (or swimming underneath the boats on that level).

[Steerforth]

At least in old school games the frustration is in what you can't do. Most of the frustration in 3-d games is not knowing what to do next, or where to go.

 

We used to rent Bionic Commando back in the day when we were kids, but only got so far. I recently bought it and one of those faux NES and finally beat that game after 15  years. And what a sweet victory it was. Great game, perfect example of less is more in the story department. And the 3 frame animation of Adolph "Master D" Hitler face exploding was very satisfying.

[Dennis]

My story is the exact opposite of Crevalle.  Back in the NES days, I played every game until I beat it.  Except for Amagon, I beat every single game on Crevalle's list.  In fact, Amagon was one of only about three or four games I played that I couldn't finish.

 

But NOW, I beat about one game a year.  I just finished God of War today, and it's only the third game I've finished this year (behind NSMB and Metroid Zero Mission).  Granted I don't play many new games today, but I can think of a ton of games I've started this year, got frustrated and quit (to name a few: Resident Evil 4, Shinobi for PS2, Trauma Center, Katamari Damacy, etc.).  I play far more games than I finish nowadays.

[a1]

[QUOTE=Steerforth]

 

We used to rent Bionic Commando back in the day when we were kids, but only got so far. satisfying.

[/QUOTE]

Bionic Commando is actually one of the easier 2d platformers on the NES. Shocked? Yeah, I thought so. Just run into the tanks on the overworld and keep shooting the biggest enemies to get a continue medallion. You can get up to 9, and restock whenever you need to.