# Most freakishly difficult video game **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077 "2003-04-21T17:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/81 "2003-04-23T07:40:31Z")
Oh, another one. 007 Goldeneye for N64. This one took me several months. See, if you beat the whole game on the hardest level, it opened up an editor that let you change your HP, enemy HP, and several other things. I’m not kidding when I say I spent dozens of hours trying to beat _single levels_! The worst part, though, was the very last level. There was a room with several mounted machine guns and tiled floors. You couldn’t blow up the machine guns; they were invincible. The only way to get past them was to weave back and forth, stepping only on certain tiles. But there was no rhyme or reason to the correct order. I guess you were supposed to figure it out entirely by chance. I had to look it up on the Internet. Just for the hell of it, I looked it up on GameFAQs just now. Here’s what you had to do: • Strafe left to the leftmost wall • Go forward 2 tiles. • Strafe right 3 tiles. • Go forward 2 more tiles. • Go left 1 tile. • Go forward 1 tile • Left until you are next to a block • Go forward 2 tiles, then strafe right to get in front of the Gun Case so that the glass lowers. And you’re supposed to just _know_ that or play it 500 times before you figure it out? Give me a break! ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/82 "2003-04-23T07:49:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*Oh, another one. 007 Goldeneye for N64. This one took me several months. See, if you beat the whole game on the hardest level, it opened up an editor that let you change your HP, enemy HP, and several other things. > > I’m not kidding when I say I spent dozens of hours trying to beat _single levels_! The worst part, though, was the very last level. There was a room with several mounted machine guns and tiled floors. You couldn’t blow up the machine guns; they were invincible. The only way to get past them was to weave back and forth, stepping only on certain tiles. But there was no rhyme or reason to the correct order. I guess you were supposed to figure it out entirely by chance. I had to look it up on the Internet. Just for the hell of it, I looked it up on GameFAQs just now. Here’s what you had to do: > > • Strafe left to the leftmost wall > • Go forward 2 tiles. > • Strafe right 3 tiles. > • Go forward 2 more tiles. > • Go left 1 tile. > • Go forward 1 tile > • Left until you are next to a block > • Go forward 2 tiles, then strafe right to get in front of the Gun Case so that the glass lowers. > And you’re supposed to just _know_ that or play it 500 times before you figure it out? Give me a break! \*\* My memory is a bit rusty…is what you’re describing one of the “bonus” levels? The one where you have to find the golden gun? I thought “Goldeneye” was one of the best games I ever played, in my opinion. Then again, I never tried for any of the time-challenges on the harder setting…it was my friend’s game, and he did all that on his own time. Then I’d play his game and enjoy the weapons codes and extra levels immensely. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/83 "2003-04-23T07:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fusoya \* > \*\*Actually, Falcom – the same company behind the much easier but still fun Y’S series and Faxanadu – made this game. I have to agree though, some of those moving block puzzles in some of the rooms felt IMPOSSIBLE. I beat it once after a couple of years (and a lot of walkthrough consulting) and decided to never touch it again. \*\* Incidentially, Legacy of the Wizard is my favorite game, bar none, of all time. It took me quite awhile, but I have beaten the freaking thing, and loved every minute of it. My current project is comparing the NES version with the MSX version. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/84 "2003-04-23T07:56:10Z")
Incidentially, Falcom ALSO created the aforementioned Popful Mail. As well as some other hellish games. I still love them. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/85 "2003-04-23T08:16:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Keith Berry \* > \*\*My memory is a bit rusty…is what you’re describing one of the “bonus” levels? The one where you have to find the golden gun? \*\* Yeah, the Aztec Temple. IIRC, if you got to the end of the game on the 2nd hardest setting, it opened up the “last level.” If you beat that, you then had to go through all the levels again and beat the “last level” on the hardest setting. Then it opened up the Aztec Temple, the true final level. You had to beat the Temple to get the cheat codes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/86 "2003-04-23T08:17:37Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by kgriffey_ > And another vote for DOOM on Nightmare. Doom is weird, barely anybody played the actual game. EVERYBODY just put it on Ultra-Violence, and then promptly hit IDDQD and IDKFA. I actually played through it, but only on Hurt my plenty. I almost never used the cheat codes. Occasionally, I’d play it on the easiest difficulty level just for kicks, but the game just wasn’t any fun if I didn’t have to pay at least some attention to managing my health and ammo. And yes, I did beat Doom II on Ultra Violence, without cheating. And I did while listening to _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_. To this day, hearing “Mr. Kite” brings back memories of Cacodaemons vomiting flaming skulls. After a while, I did start using the clipping cheat to find all the Secrets I didn’t find the first few times through. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/87 "2003-04-23T08:19:24Z")
Or maybe what I’m referring to as the “last level,” was actually the first bonus level. Either way, you couldn’t play it until you beat the rest of the levels on the 2nd hardest setting, and you couldn’t play the temple until you got to the end on the hardest setting. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/88 "2003-04-23T08:21:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > **I almost never used the cheat codes. Occasionally, I’d play it on the easiest difficulty level just for kicks, but the game just wasn’t any fun if I didn’t have to pay at least some attention to managing my health and ammo. And yes, I did beat Doom II on Ultra Violence, without cheating. And I did while listening to _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_. To this day, hearing “Mr. Kite” brings back memories of Cacodaemons vomiting flaming skulls.** Nit-pick: Pain Elementals shoot Lost Souls (the flaming skulls), Cacodemons shoot fireballs. ---
**Author:** ![float\_flyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@float\_flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/float_flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/89 "2003-04-23T10:47:16Z")
I never really had a problem with the TG16 Ys series. I was not too bad, and II had a couple tough parts but I thoroughly enjoyed them. III was a totally different game and not deserving of the Ys title, plus it was easy. TG-16 had a couple really tough shooters, including R-Type and Raiden, neither of which I could beat without using the slo-mo. And yes, Sinistron is a bitch. However, I’m having one hell of a time making it through Chrono Cross for PSX. By the time I realize the information I just read was important, it is too late to get it again and I end up wandering around hoping that something will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/90 "2003-04-23T10:54:13Z")
Just to clear up: this ET game you’re talking about, is it [this one](http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/91 "2003-04-23T11:24:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*Just to clear up: this ET game you’re talking about, is it [this one](http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.htm)? \*\* > [@](#): > > steamrollers crushed and flattened the games, and a concrete slab was poured over the remains. _Dayam_. ---
**Author:** ![cankerist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@cankerist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cankerist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/92 "2003-04-23T12:00:34Z")
Anyone every finish Devil May Cry? If you did I’ll have to bow down before you in worship. Very pretty graphics and reasonable music, but what the f… was up with the penultimate boss?? The one that morphed from a rock-hard scaly lump to a pool of gelatinous oil and back again and again and again… I fought him once in a battle that lasted more than 2 hours and I still couldn’t kill him. That Devil made me cry. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/93 "2003-04-23T14:44:13Z")
I’d have to say that Alundra was the toughest game I ever played that I actually beat. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was incredibly tough to. Turok was just riduculous. Who ever heard of a FPS where you’ve got to jump? I couldn’t even beat the final boss using all the cheat codes! ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/94 "2003-04-23T15:45:14Z")
Yup, that was the E.T. game in question… wow. I rented Ys III once. It was stupidly easy. You could save at any time, and when you loaded the game, the enemies would be gone. Walk 6 inches, save, load, repeat. Tomb Raider 3 on Playstation should be mentioned. I LOVED TR1 and TR2 but TR3 is just crazy hard. A clear case of trying to push the graphics too far, at least on the first jungle board, which is as far as I’ve gotten. There’s so much detail, at such poor resolution that you can’t figure out where anything is. On top of that, there’s the stupid limited saves with the save crystals and insta-kill spikes around every corner. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/95 "2003-04-23T17:10:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cankerist \* > \*\*Anyone every finish Devil May Cry? If you did I’ll have to bow down before you in worship. Very pretty graphics and reasonable music, but what the f… was up with the penultimate boss?? The one that morphed from a rock-hard scaly lump to a pool of gelatinous oil and back again and again and again… I fought him once in a battle that lasted more than 2 hours and I still couldn’t kill him. That Devil made me cry. \*\* Really? I didn’t think he was all that tough. He went down on my first try and all I did was shoot and evade hsi attacks. NOthing fancy at all. Nowhere near as tough as some of the other bosses they had in that game. ---
**Author:** ![Wyld\_Stallyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Wyld\_Stallyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyld_Stallyn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/96 "2003-04-23T18:28:43Z")
The first TMNT game to come out for NES was asinine in its difficulty. I got that for Christmas and was all hyped up because i thought it was the arcade game, then broke into tears when the crapfest of the actual game began. Rolling Thunder was also hard and stupid, and I also got it for Christmas one year. So then I stopped letting my parents pick what NES games I would get for Christmas and just asked Santa for Lego’s. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/97 "2003-04-23T18:45:45Z")
I agree, TMNT was crazy hard. I actually enjoyed it, and got to the level of skill that I could regularly get inside the technodrome without dying. But once inside… man… There’s one hallway full of flying dudes with lazer guns that I never got through despite hours of trying. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/98 "2003-04-23T18:48:39Z")
**Infocom’s _Spellbreaker_** I have a hard time believing anyone ever solved that game on their own. It was almost ludicrously difficult. Particularly the “solve the stacks of cubes trick in four moves” travesty, and the “go back in time, hide your spellbook, and memorize just the right spells to carry you through the rest of the game, AND make sure the cell is absolutely exactly like it is when you find it centuries later” puzzle. That game was sadistic. ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/99 "2003-04-23T18:56:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Gran Turismo 3 (my god, have you SEEN some of the things you gotta do to get 100% completion??) Yeah, 100% is impossible. I never got more than 97.7%. I also never got golds on all the driving tests for any license. Some of the latter Formula 1 races were killers. Your oil is all burnt up, and the bastard that’s been in the number 2 spot all series long just becomes unbeatable. ---
**Author:** ![thirdshiftgrottoslack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@thirdshiftgrottoslack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdshiftgrottoslack)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077/100 "2003-04-23T18:59:36Z")
i had the tmnt game. i think i made it to the second level, where you drive the turtle-mobile, but couldn’t figure out what to do next. we thought ghostbusters for the c-64 was insanely hard at the time. maybe we just didn’t read the instructions. i had golgo 13 for nes. i liked it because it was sort of unique, but it had it’s flaws. there was a first person 3-d maze, but every wall looked the same and there was no way to establish any sense of direction. i never made it out of the maze, even after hours upon hours of wandering aimlessly. and those mega man games were tough. played an emulator version awhile back and relived all that pre-teen angst. damn, side-scrolling nes games were just so unforgiving. you just had to memorize patterns (duck, jump, shoot, jump…) and execute them exactly every time. i didn’t have an nes for the longest time so i was one of the guys on the couch cheering on the guy who was actually playing. and really, i was happy doing that. the games weren’t really that fun, anyway. but for some reason it was always exciting seeing that cheap-ass cut scene and the slightly different following level. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-freakishly-difficult-video-game/170077.md?page=6)