View Full Version : The Hardest Game ever?
RenegadeDog
07-04-2005, 02:26
What is the hardest game in the history of games?
Some nominations from the annals of gaming history from myself:
Manic Miner (Spectrum and various others). I still haven't completed the sodding thing even about 18 odd years since I first played it.
R Type 2. Still haven't got past level 2, at least on either the Amiga or arcade version (managed to complete it on the piss-easy Gameboy version though!). Near impossible by my reckoning.
Smash TV/Total Carnage. I played through the latter game on Mame yesterday, and must have used around 80 credits. I suspect it is virtually impossible to complete this game or its predecessor without some kind of cheat/infinite lives/credits facility
martinvaloz
07-04-2005, 02:28
Tetris. You can never win.
Ich bin ein Mod
07-04-2005, 10:54
Top Cat on the C64 was a right bugger, I could never get past the second screen your health deteriorates that quickly.
Phototropic
07-04-2005, 11:04
Hardest game I have played (in memory) is Commandos 2.
Oh and all the games pre the abilty to save.
Been playing for 18 hours?
On the last boss?
The final head honcho?
You lost all your three lives?
Oh well. Care to start again.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
Structaural
07-04-2005, 11:12
Defender - original. It got ridiculously hard after level 3.
Donna Ferentes
07-04-2005, 11:13
Go.Yup.
kropotkin
07-04-2005, 11:24
agreed re: go.
Wee Beastie
07-04-2005, 11:40
Go's not a computer game though, is it?
My vote is for Airwolf on the Speccy +.
elf-literate
07-04-2005, 12:15
Hardest game I have played (in memory) is Commandos 2.
I agree (and sorta disagree)
I got to the third level in this game.
In the expansion pack i never got past level one...
Kid_Eternity
07-04-2005, 12:36
Hardest game I have played (in memory) is Commandos 2.
Oh and all the games pre the abilty to save.
Been playing for 18 hours?
On the last boss?
The final head honcho?
You lost all your three lives?
Oh well. Care to start again.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
You've just described my gaming life aged 7-14!
Hardest game? Hmmmm I remember this shoot em up from (the now defunct) Pysgnosis (sp?) being quite tough...
Termite Man
07-04-2005, 12:47
You've just described my gaming life aged 7-14!
Hardest game? Hmmmm I remember this shoot em up from (the now defunct) Pysgnosis (sp?) being quite tough...
Was that called "Project X" or something . I had a demo of that and couldn't complete the demo so I never bothered with the full game !
Project X was by Team 17 but I did find this bit of information which could qualify it as the hardest game ever !
Developed by Team 17, it was regarded as one of the best games for that platform, both for its technical excellence in graphics and sounds, and for its difficult and interesting gameplay.
In classical scrolling shooter fashion, players controlled a spacecraft battling with hundreds of alien ships. Various power-ups, numerous in the first level but increasingly rare afterwards, permitted an exponential increase of the spacecraft's seven different weapons (Guns, Buildup, Side shots, Homing missiles, Plasma, Magma, Laserbeam).
The game was composed of five levels. Many players never completed the second one (which had a very difficult ending), and most of the rest never went past level three.
When Team 17 realized this, they released Project-X SE, a special edition with the difficulty toned down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go's not a computer game though, is it?
What's this, chopped liver?
http://www.demailly.com/~dl/go/go.gif
Next: my closely-argued thesis that Grand Theft Auto is in fact merely a computer version of the Iliad (and a Bowdlerised version at that).
hyper lode runner. generally agreed to be one of the hardest games of all time.
Kid_Eternity
07-04-2005, 13:36
Was that called "Project X" or something . I had a demo of that and couldn't complete the demo so I never bothered with the full game !
Project X was by Team 17 but I did find this bit of information which could qualify it as the hardest game ever !
Ahhh yeah that's the one! It was bastard hard, me and my mate got a cracked copy and couldn't get anywhere so in the end we just used the cheat codes! :D
fractionMan
07-04-2005, 15:16
Moria/angband/zangband
I've spent the last ten years of my life trying to complete it. By far the hardest game evar!
Here's a screenshot (moria-amiga) for those unfamilliar with the game:
http://amiga.emucamp.com/moria_2.gif
Ich bin ein Mod
07-04-2005, 16:36
Just remembered another
Queen: The Eye had a ridiculously difficult first level, so much so I never got past about three minutes into it. Horrible control system as well. Apparently after the first level it was quite a good game though.
Donna Ferentes
07-04-2005, 16:45
Next: my closely-argued thesis that Grand Theft Auto is in fact merely a computer version of the Iliad (and a Bowdlerised version at that).Odyssey surely? Unless you spend half the game sulking in your tent (or whatever the contemporary equivalent may be).
Odyssey surely?
Yah, but as I recall it there's more gory smiting and naughtiness in general in the Iliad. And I was thinking of Julian Jaynes' argument that the characters in the first part of the Iliad didn't have "selves" in the sense that we'd understand it - in fact that the gods were a sort of transcendental cheat BBS...
Though I suffered from a crap translation of the Odyssey... could you recommend one?
Unless you spend half the game sulking in your tert (or whatever the contemporary equivalent may be).
Er... staying in a darkened teenage bedroom playing games, shirley :)
Harold Shand
07-04-2005, 17:10
This translation is supposed to be good, Robert Fagles:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140448225/qid=1112893454/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/202-3349006-6863023
And available for 98p plus postage too. The commentator, Bernard Knox, is good as well.
Did you have the EV Rieu version? Nice but dated.
There is more smiting in the Iliad, that's true. Achilles is out of action for most of it (I think books 2-16), as Justin says, but there are plenty of others who aren't- including Odysseus, the two Ajaxes and Hector.
But the metaphor of a quest works better for The Odyssey than the Iliad, I think. Even if it isn't quite a quest, the hero searching to get home (when he can drag himself away from Circe) makes it almost one.
Nine Bob Note
07-04-2005, 17:17
180 for the spectrum. That Jammy Jim was a bastard ...
This translation is supposed to be good, Robert Fagles:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140448225/qid=1112893454/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/202-3349006-6863023
Ta...
But the metaphor of a quest works better for The Odyssey than the Iliad, I think. Even if it isn't quite a quest, the hero searching to get home (when he can drag himself away from Circe) makes it almost one.
But... but... my point was that the Iliad is more open-ended and episodic... more of the flavour of stoned shamanic persons telling tales around the fire, and the sense that the scenes could easily have been and probably often were visited in a different order - which makes it a better simile for what is in effect a platform game than the closed authorial voice of t'other one.
Only on U75... :D unless the Future Cultures mail list is still going?
Harold Shand
07-04-2005, 18:21
I wouldn't agree that the Iliad is episodic. I'd say, at least in the form we have it at least, that it was pretty tautly focussed on the Trojan War, and just one year of it at that. I would say the Odyssey is more episodic, and I expect that the adventures that befall Odysseus may have orginally befallen completely different characters. Within early English verse, we see the same thing happening with King Arthur, the character attracts other myths to himself.
But I do know what you mean about The Iliad having a rambling quality about it. This is a reflection that it was originally an "oral" poem, of which there would have been no standard version. Parts of it can go in a different order, and would have done depending on who was reciting it- there's no reason for example why the catalogue of ships goes where it does.
But this is even more true of the Odyssey, I'd say. All the teller has to do is get Odysseus to Penelope.
Have I understood you correctly?
kained&able
07-04-2005, 22:30
i agree with commandos two. that thing was virtully impossible after a while i think i managed to get to level 5 and just couldn't work it out.
dave
DexterTCN
07-04-2005, 22:45
Bubble Bobble.
Never did all 100 levels (and then backwards, they say). :(
da da da DA DA DA da da da da...da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
(sorry...flashback)
da da da da...da da da da
miniGMgoit
07-04-2005, 23:54
With out a doubt the most impossible game to finish would be Jet Set Willy which is impossible to finish.
Failing that Chucky Egg 2 was on the same wave length and also equally vast and impossible to compleat.
RenegadeDog
08-04-2005, 00:17
Go's not a computer game though, is it?
My vote is for Airwolf on the Speccy +.
I have a variant of it on my phone (which is also near impossible to beat) so I suppose it sort of counts...
RenegadeDog
08-04-2005, 00:19
Ahhh yeah that's the one! It was bastard hard, me and my mate got a cracked copy and couldn't get anywhere so in the end we just used the cheat codes! :D
Project X was a beautiful game though. By far the best-looking and sounding game that was released on the Amiga. Just a shame it was so darned impossible!
Another impossible game was Heimdall. I had it and couldn't even get past the very first bit.
Edited to say: I don't mean Heimdall, which was a tough but doable RPG type adventure game. I mean another game I've totally forgotten the name of, named after an old English warrior type figure, where you had to walk along and hit people. You died almost instantly. Damn it, what was its name...
RenegadeDog
08-04-2005, 00:26
And what about Shadow of the Beast 2? Even with the cheat most people found it near-impossible...
I agree that most games now are far easier, mostly because of the save function. Looking back, it was incredibly frustrating having to replay every level over and over again...
Wowbagger
08-04-2005, 01:04
That I've played... probably Thief II, but only because my computer refuses to show the visibility crystal.
Other than that: Dungeon of Doom and Strategic Conquest, on my ancient Mac. Also Ecco 2.
For GT4 players: The Polyphony championship. You, racing against 5 other bastard Polyphonys in 15 races, each over 70 laps. It's effing impossible!
martinvaloz
08-04-2005, 02:01
Loki, a friend of mine played GT4 for over 300 hours and gotten a fair amount of practice in the game, I can confirm, it's not impossible. Nor is achieving a 100% complete score.
He was stuck in hospital at the time and found GT4 the best way to pass the time.
Termite Man
08-04-2005, 09:28
With out a doubt the most impossible game to finish would be Jet Set Willy which is impossible to finish.
Failing that Chucky Egg 2 was on the same wave length and also equally vast and impossible to compleat.Chucky egg was made double hard because my computer didn't like seem to like it and the screen sort of scrolled quickly from top to bottom so I was visually impared while playing :eek:
Kid_Eternity
08-04-2005, 09:41
Project X was a beautiful game though. By far the best-looking and sounding game that was released on the Amiga. Just a shame it was so darned impossible!
You're right it was beautiful and well put together but the curve was idiotically hard...
ch750536
08-04-2005, 10:08
Hardest game I have played (in memory) is Commandos 2.
Agreed. This was one of those "Pixel perfect timing" games. Great game, too fucking hard tho.
on_the_fly
08-04-2005, 10:41
After completing Baldurs gate 1 & 2 I thought I would play Icewind Dale
BUT LIKEOMG thats the hardest game ive played EVER ! :rolleyes:
starfox for the snes on the harder level settings was fucking tough
Kid_Eternity
08-04-2005, 12:12
starfox for the snes on the harder level settings was fucking tough
It wasn't that hard, me and mate breezed it back in the day.
A view to a kill on the Spectrum48k+
Never caught the parachute after driving around Paris for hours, so never got to the fire in the town hall scene.
I had my doubts that the latter scene ever existed... :p
LostNotFound
08-04-2005, 19:50
Bubble Bobble.
Never did all 100 levels (and then backwards, they say). :(
da da da DA DA DA da da da da...da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
(sorry...flashback)
da da da da...da da da da
all 100 levels, no cheats.. it is doable!
we finally figured it out in first yr at uni in 1998, about 10 years after I first encountered the game :)
elite, when you started. shit laser and manual docking.
I did bubble bobble back in the day...took a lot of practice.
anyone remember captain blood?
you had to travel around a whole galaxy, and learn alien languages
you never died, it was just so ridiculously big. it was interesting, but didnt really make much sense, bet noone's ever completed that
thunderforce IV on the megadrive, i remember that was rock. loads of wicked weapons and about 5 bosses per level. they should start making them games again....
and those text adventures on the C64...
go north. you are in a cave. go north. you are dead. would you like to play again?
would i fuck
what is fuck?
etc etc
RenegadeDog
11-04-2005, 00:23
elite, when you started. shit laser and manual docking.
Yeah I was trying to play Elite recently, just couldn't get into it at all.
Kid_Eternity
11-04-2005, 08:43
elite, when you started. shit laser and manual docking.
Oh god, manual docking...some bad gameplay moments have just been remembered... :eek: :( :rolleyes:
mentalchik
11-04-2005, 09:51
a game called contact sam cruise on the spectrum.
amazingly hard.
Good Intentions
11-04-2005, 11:42
There's nothing like a few hours with Zork (without a walkthrough) to realise how smart our parents were. They did this for *fun*.
Unless of course you're part of the same generation as the insane MIT students that made that wonderful and hugely frustrating game and actually finished it. Then your really smart.
The hardest thing I've ever seen on a computer game was the Babel Fish puzzle in the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the one they made a t-shirt for the people who solved it ("I got the Babel Fish"). It's that top-of-room cleaning robot which gets you every time...
The Chaos Engine on the Amiga/Atari. (edited to say: in single player mode)
Failing that, Alien Breed: Tower Assault was also bastard hard.
It wasn't that hard, me and mate breezed it back in the day.
yeah but you could more or less complete the game on your first attempt on easy.
gaunlet 2 got very messy alittle way in
all 100 levels, no cheats.. it is doable!
we finally figured it out in first yr at uni in 1998, about 10 years after I first encountered the game :)
Used to know exactly where to stand to pick up the powerups in BB when they would appear. In two player, if you both stood there, you'd both get the powerup :) Cycled through the levels several times over - it got boring after a while.
The other fella went on to dizzying heights that included completing Killer Instinct on the SNES blindfold. With his toes.
Far Cry on realistic.
It's just no laughing matter.
I always found Deus Ex quite a tough ride myself.
But what do I know, being a PC gamer?
i_hate_beckham
17-08-2005, 00:20
i agree with commandos two. that thing was virtully impossible after a while i think i managed to get to level 5 and just couldn't work it out.
dave
You're all useless. My brother completed it without cheating.
i_hate_beckham
17-08-2005, 00:21
Prince of Persia 1 gets my vote.
chriswill
17-08-2005, 00:31
anyone remember captain blood?
you had to travel around a whole galaxy, and learn alien languages
you never died, it was just so ridiculously big. it was interesting, but didnt really make much sense, bet noone's ever completed that
thunderforce IV on the megadrive, i remember that was rock. loads of wicked weapons and about 5 bosses per level. they should start making them games again....
and those text adventures on the C64...
go north. you are in a cave. go north. you are dead. would you like to play again?
would i fuck
what is fuck?
etc etc
Anyone remember Fish on the ST.
I thought that was rock hard, although i was about 7 at the time.
grand prix came from the amiga yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrsssssssss ago, far too 'real'
miniGMgoit
23-08-2005, 11:31
Jet Set Willy is a right shit. I dont know anyone whos finished it.
Add to that the vast Chucky Egg 2 which is mind blowingly huge!!
For GT4 players: The Polyphony championship. You, racing against 5 other bastard Polyphonys in 15 races, each over 70 laps. It's effing impossible!
That's beatable :p
Prince of Persia 1 gets my vote.
That's also beatable.
This thread should have died when it was... dead.
Are we talking hard as in the user interface is crap so you've got f-all control over what's going on... or just plain old tough to finish but fun trying?
If the later, I'll vote for Hellfire on the Megadrive.
R.I.C.O.
23-08-2005, 11:48
"The Ninja" on the Master System.
http://re2.mm-c1.yimg.com/image/987648843
I have never seen a more frustrating game. Its a scrolling shoot-em-up but you have to collect all the scrolls before you reach the last level, and even if you beat the mega hard boss you have still failed the game. Its tear-your-hair-out terrific.....
The Doctor
23-08-2005, 11:59
Commandos on PC is a real bugger :mad:
Icewind Dale
BUT LIKEOMG thats the hardest game ive played EVER ! :rolleyes:
Icewind Dale? The hardest game ever?
OMFG dude!
No.
:p
Commando 2 was difficult to play
That Atari Postman on a Bike game was also very difficult (name?)
Quo Vardis was extremely tough (which comouter was it on? Com 64 or Spectrum???)
Truly Topcat
23-08-2005, 22:39
I think somebody mentioned those stupid text adventures (I think mine were on a Vic 20 :eek: ) that included getting mud to stop a chigger bite killing you etc etc. Absolute bitches of games but at the time couldn't be left alone for a second.
The MIght & Magic games on higher levels were impossible too simply because your enemies multiply so fast.
Ultimately I have got to agree with the others though and opt for Jet Set Willy.
Did anyone ever actually manage to catch that fucking boat?
FridgeMagnet
23-08-2005, 22:47
I'm learning how to write text adventures at the moment in the same format that Zork was written, and this involves a lot of playing various people's creations. It's fucking frustrating. EXAMINE <everything>, LOOK UNDER <everything>, what the fuck am I expected to do now? It's more like applied telepathy than gaming; what the fuck was the author thinking when they wrote this?
ChrisFilter
23-08-2005, 23:09
You're all useless. My brother completed it without cheating.
your brother also watches you wank ;)
In Bloom
24-08-2005, 01:15
Shadow of the Beast 2 seconded, what a fucking bastard of a game (anybody know where I can download a copy? :D)
Oh and Dizzy the egg on the ZX spectrum, that fucking dog :mad:
180 for the spectrum. That Jammy Jim was a bastard ...
That wasn't too bad, I could win on that easily after some practice.
And what about Shadow of the Beast 2? Even with the cheat most people found it near-impossible...
\.
Shodow of the beast was stupidly difficult. How the bloody hell were you supposed to get the password from, to get past the dragon? :mad:
I think i only ever saw about four screens of the game. :o
Shippou-Chan
24-08-2005, 03:36
i have an azumanga fighting game and i have yet to beat one charactor
Hardest game I ever played was a game called "Roller coaster" on the specturm, it was a side scrolling game where you had to negotiate different rides.
Could only get about four screens in one direction :( Can't find the bugger anywhere to download, wouldn't mine having another crack at that.
Treasure Island fucking Dizzy!!
Collect 100 coins to get off the island, oh shit there is only 99 in the game!
unless of course someone told me that to make me feel better.
I spent so many fucking weeks on that game.
far cry on realistic is fucking impossible!
The Doctor
24-08-2005, 15:23
Jet set Willy on the spectrum. I can still remember how annoying it was when you jumped into the next screen straight into something nasty and died - only to repeate it 20 times as your live go one at a time.
On another note does anyone remember the card you got with the game, the copy protection card with the coloured bars :D
Actually most spectrum games were dam tricky due to the fact they were so piss poorly writen.
PastorOfMuppets
24-08-2005, 15:31
I'm learning how to write text adventures at the moment in the same format that Zork was written, and this involves a lot of playing various people's creations. It's fucking frustrating. EXAMINE <everything>, LOOK UNDER <everything>, what the fuck am I expected to do now? It's more like applied telepathy than gaming; what the fuck was the author thinking when they wrote this?
:D
this is soooo true. Philosopher's Quest on the BBC Micro drove me to near madness. The game comprised a sequence of completely random commands like GIVE AQUALUNG TO OLD LADY, THROW SMELLY CHEESE AT OCTOPUS, etc, etc.
That Atari Postman on a Bike game was also very difficult (name?)
(which comouter was it on? Com 64 or Spectrum???)
Paperboy?
FridgeMagnet
24-08-2005, 16:06
:D
this is soooo true. Philosopher's Quest on the BBC Micro drove me to near madness. The game comprised a sequence of completely random commands like GIVE AQUALUNG TO OLD LADY, THROW SMELLY CHEESE AT OCTOPUS, etc, etc.
was reading this about Advent, the first proper text adventure
In some ports of `Advent' 1 point is awarded for each room visited for the first time,
and 1 for never having saved the game, a mean trick, plus the infamous ``Last Lousy
Point'', awarded without any clue for dropping a particular object in a particular place,
an irrelevant act achieving nothing. (People used to have to disassemble the mainframe
game to discover this.)
Bubble Bobble.
Never did all 100 levels (and then backwards, they say). :(
da da da DA DA DA da da da da...da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
(sorry...flashback)
da da da da...da da da da
Pffft. Me and a chum got so good at Bubble Bobble, we ended up being bored of how many times we could cycle through all the levels without using a continue. If you and player 2 stand on the same spot as where a powerup is about to appear, you both get it. We knew where to stand in every level :)
PastorOfMuppets
24-08-2005, 18:23
In some ports of `Advent' 1 point is awarded for each room visited for the first time,
and 1 for never having saved the game, a mean trick, plus the infamous ``Last Lousy
Point'', awarded without any clue for dropping a particular object in a particular place,
an irrelevant act achieving nothing. (People used to have to disassemble the mainframe
game to discover this.)
that's just plain evil!!
kids these days have it pretty easy really.... no disassembling required!
i_hate_beckham
25-08-2005, 01:13
your brother also watches you wank ;)
LOL. No he didnt know i was. :p
ch750536
25-08-2005, 11:16
Any 2 player game where I'm the other player.
:)
Any 2 player game where I'm the other player.
:)
lol - good answer.
Stigmata
25-08-2005, 12:20
SimCity 4 is proper difficult, much harder than the previous games.
the thing about jet set willy is that wen it was first released it was impossible to complete..
because of a coding error the last item to get was placed too high for lil willy too reach so no matter how hard u tryed u just fell to ur death!
Dead Cat Bounce
25-08-2005, 17:28
GT4 is doing my head in at the moment , stuck on 91%.
Two endurance races to go , just trying to find the time to do the two 24 hour La Sarthe races.
Apart from that it's the fecking hard rally's and 11-34 of the driving missions.
Taken me six months to get this far. :mad:
Playing Chelsea in Prem Manager 98. A huge wage roll, very limited on cash at the start (around 2M, I think) and given how fucking hard it is to sell players, I managed to get booted from the club in the demo. Also, Lawnmower Man. Gods and pretty much everything by Bitmap Brothers, Euro 2004 without a digital pad.
fishfingerer
25-08-2005, 19:40
The Dun Darach, Tir na nOg, Marsport trilogy of games on the spectrum. I don't think I got anywhere without tips from magazines.
The Dun Darach, Tir na nOg,
holy shit!!!!
i forgot aboot tir na nog!!!!!
that game was haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrddd
good tho!
oh and the game MOVIE!
fishfingerer
26-08-2005, 09:06
holy shit!!!!
i forgot aboot tir na nog!!!!!
that game was haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrddd
First game to feature a mulleted hero!
http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/t/tir_na_nog.png
on_the_fly
26-08-2005, 09:12
knightlore and Boffin on BBC B as you had to be pixel perfect.
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.