Games you're ashamed to have never played

[RIP-Felix]

So I Just beat Castlevania (NES). NO, I didn't really beat it legit. Yes, I used save states...but...it was still a fun game that I cannot believe I had never played before. Makeing it through some sections without dying or loosing patience and giving up must have been really hard. I guess you just have to accept that you are going to die and have to backtrack over and over again. Perhaps that rhythm, memorization, and repetition accentuates the accomplishment? IDK, I cheated. But I still enjoyed the game, which helped me get past the hardest parts. Even then, it was grueling at times. It's seriously difficult to learn enemy patterns and combinations of enemy's. Then knowing what special weapon to have for each boss. I got stuck hard on that ghost boss that materializes 4 boomerangs it throws around. Holy water is the correct answer. So backtracking ensued, despite save states. Now I know that Holy water is pretty much the answer to every boss.

I do have one problem with the game, besides it being unfriendly to beginners (which I don't actually have a problem with. It's old skool hard, and that's intentional). You have to get really good at the controls and be extra careful not to get hit over cliffs or floating platforms. The hit mechanics are unforgiving, sending you flying backwards without being able to recover mid air. That's my issue. I can learn enemy patterns and figure out bosses, but it's unfair getting thrown off a floating platform because I jumped and an enemy flew from off screen, out of nowhere, to nail me. At least it doesn't happen while you're climbing stairs, if it did the last level would be nearly impossible. Actually theres a patch (hack) that allows mid-air recovery. I'm gonna try that patch and perhaps that'll be the definitive version for me. IDK. I have mixed feelings about patches like this. On the one hand, it fixes a big gripe. On the other, it changes the difficulty and OG'ness. It's such a subtle quality of life change, that I don't think I have an issue with it. Kinda like fixing the flickering sprites in emulators or FPGA. The devs themselves would have done this if they could have.

 

So what games have you played recently that you had put off for too long?

[hansolo77]

Can I be ashamed of games I've never beaten?  Case in point...  I've never beaten a single Sonic game.  Specifically, let's just say Sonic 1 for the Sega Genesis.  EVEN THOUGH I have used the level select code and have beaten every stage and the final boss multiple times.  But on a console, with a good 3-4 hour play time, I typically run out of lives before I get to the final boss/stage.  So yeah, that's disappointing.  Also, I've never finished Sega Genesis X-Men.  Again, I've used the level select and have played every stage and beat the boss, but I have not been able to do it in a single play through.  My problem there is that the only way I've been able to beat Magneto at the end, I had to use the special hero call-on ability that blankets him with hits, but those are 1-use only moves and then you can't ever use them again for the entire game.  So when I'm playing in a normal play through, I end up needing to use them in earlier stages, and then have to go it alone with nobody left, which for me is impossible.  What really sucks, when I got the game for a birthday present, it included a special printout my dad made where he said he would give the first player (between my brother or me) $10 for defeating Magneto.  To this day, we have still not done that.  I tried to cheat and go right to him with that level select option, but he deemed that as a disqualification.  So.. yeah.  Honestly, of the 40 or so games I've owned in my life, I can say I've really only ever beaten Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3/ODST/Reach, Star Wars Force Unleashed/Force Unleashed II, and Doom 1.  Pretty lame.  Oh, and I beat Mortal Kombat 1 (Sega Genesis) on Very Easy once.