I beat TMNT for NES a few times as a kid. Went back recently to make a video about it actually made it to the Technodrome… but good god that final level is idiotically unfair. Same with the final stretch leading to the boss in Ninja Gaiden. I can’t believe I ever had the time, patience, and reflexes to navigate those gauntlets.
There is this sewer jump in level 3 that still gives me trouble. Watched a friend's brother beat it once after years of struggling and couldn't believe it was possible.
Do you think it might be that you forgot the "mentality" of the game? Because we expect games to work a lot differently now than before so maybe that adds to the difficulty?
TMNT was pretty unfair all around. It gets a lot easier on the driving part once you know right where to go and when to use the missiles. The devs are evil for putting in power ups that could never be reached.
As a kid we had all of the secret levels unlocked for Super Mario World. I don’t even remember how to unlock most without looking it up these days. But, somehow we guess and checked well enough to get them all. Helps when you’ve only got the one game to play.
I’ll go first. Startropics.
I remember as a kid fighting my way through the levels, and Level 3 being brutal but I barely beat it. And I felt so accomplished beating the game.
I tried again recently and Level 3 is a BRICK WALL FROM WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPE.
I will not be defeated so easily, but wow - I am shocked I was able to beat the damn thing with that dinky controller back then.
The final level is the true test of patience and endurance. Love that game to bits.
However, StarTropics 2: Zoda’s Revenge is even harder on the final stretch. Love that game too, but the final boss encounter(s) is a massive step beyond what is expected in the first game. Still haven’t been able to complete it to this day (not without save states).
The original Halo on Xbox on legendary. I used to be able to quite literally walk through the campaign on legendary without breaking a sweat, but these days I'm lucky if I can even beat the game on normal
I completed DKC2 over lockdown and my goodness the final boss is insanely difficult. I don't ever remember it being an issue as a kid but beating the last boss took me nearly as long as the rest of the game!
DKC1 always ends with snow barrel blast for me unfortunately, I just cannot get the timing right.
I’m impressed I was able to beat *any* NES and Genesis games. I was 4 playing NES and 7 playing Genesis.
Some I remember beating off the top of my head.
NES: Mario 1-3. G I Joe’s 2: Atlantis Factor. Home Alone 2. Captain Skyhawk. Jackal. TMNT 2 & 3 (only ever beat co-op with my brother, never solo)
Genesis: Vectorman 1 & 2. Sonic 2 & 3. Taz: Escape from Mars. X-Men.
Honestly, I think I’d give up before beating any of those on original hardware today. Except the three Mario games. I beat them so many times I have no issues with them. Still play them on my switch for a quick nostalgia hit.
Playing Metroid games now (Super, Fusion), I can’t believe I beat some of the bosses without a guide or much trouble. I can hear the buttons on my GBA straining when I get to the Nightmare fight and I think “I used to knock this game out in four hours!?”
Contra. First game I ever bought myself and finished it many times as a kid. I have tried a couple times in the last few months again and can't even get past the 1st level yet. What 35 or so years does!?😂
For me, the difficulty really ramped up on the prehistoric level. Those fucking jelly fish man. At least with the machine, you will eventually memorise the layout to make that perfect run. But the jellyfish, it's like slamming your head against a wall, continously. Ugh. Still love it.
Tomb Raider 1-3 remastered has been eye opening. Did I really beat these games back then, or did I make it up in my head? Do I just suck now. Is having a FT job, owning a house, and going out, ruining my video games skills? I have no idea, but damn, is TR 2 hard.
Tomb Raider 3 is the hardest game I’ve ever beaten. And I did it without a guide, stubbornly, back in PS1 days.
I’ve since beaten other “hard” modern games like Dark Souls, Sekiro, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, etc.
They got nothing on TR3. I never played 2 tho
From what I know, 3 might be the hardest in the series. I know I played it at some point, but I can’t really confirm if it’s harder than 2 at this moment.
Either way, I’m sure it’s going to give me a headache.
I hope you're right. I tried playing the new version a couple of years ago. I still remembered somethings by heart but I just couldn't muster the patience to finish it again. Maybe I should give it another try as it's such a great experience.
I didn’t win it, but I somehow managed to get really far in the text adventure version of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
There are a lot of Sierra adventure games too that I simply wouldn’t bother figuring out anymore, not when the internet provides free walkthroughs.
DinoPark Tycoon. It's an old DOS game. I found it again recently because I remember loving it as a kid... it's literally impossible. I have NO idea how I played it successfully as a kid. I couldn't progress past the first ten minutes or so of the game. It was a nice hit of nostalgic though 😂😭
The image reminded me when I was a kid, if I got stuck on a difficult part in a game, I'd make sure to go with my parents to the grocery store and hang out by the magazine rack. Then I'd find a walkthrough in one of the gaming mags and take notes on the note paper i had stuffed in my pocket.
Ninja Gaiden 1
As a kid, I remember getting all the way to the final level (6), and then having to leave the game on overnight and all through school the next day so that way I could try again to beat it. The whole day I was worried my NES would glitch out. As any kid in the 80s knew, the NES was not the most reliable system. But when I got home, it was still there waiting. F\*\*\* level 6-2. Seriously.
After a couple hours I got all the way to the boss only to lose to him. I spent a couple more hours and eventually managed to finally beat him... only to discover that he had a second form. A couple more hours and the second form was no more! I had won! I was so amped by my victory that I don't think I slept a wink that night.
I recently replayed Ninja Gaiden 1 and, after throwing myself at the wall that is level 6-2 for a half hour, I came to the conclusion that it was enough to have accomplished this task once in life.
It is an imaginary world to think we solved these games in a vacuum. Nintendo power was a regular magazine that someone you knew likely subscribed and back then lots of bulk guide books came out which had FAQ for loads of games.
Even then some of us would struggle to beat a game for 2-5 years and slowly chissle at it over that time. I have likely bombed every square in Zelda and burned every bush over time. I just accidently one day discovered you could blow a whistle to reveal secrets in the second quest.
Point is we underestimate how much time it took for these accomplishments and the fact that there was a literal game show bout video games that just randomly gave hints away along with 1-900 numbers run by developers to give you advice. Also everyone I knew had a ram hack device like game genie so infinite health and infinite lives to make practice easier was very common and not looked down on.
When I was a kid I sucked at video games. I loved them but I wasn't good. As a teenager I played them again and beat a lot of difficult NES games. Mike Tyson's Punch Out for one. I played it again as an adult. I can get to Mike Tyson but I can't beat him. I have no interest in sinking as much time into the game as I would need to do to actually beat him.
I think my reflexes are worse than when I was a teenager. I think I peaked at games then.
I was surprised when I kept seeing them on lists of tough games, went back and played them for the first time in decades and now I know why I spent so much time on them originally
Any of the NES hard games like Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man. I beat all those when I was younger. I think games have kept up my reflex tho. I'm middle aged but I'm still good at sweaty boomer shooters and decent at CoD still.
Honestly I never found those 3 too hard for 1 simple reason. They all had unlimited continues. Whenever I go and play some retro games I'm always gobsmacked when I run into limited continues. That's the only time I break out the save states.
RIVEN.
the sequel (sometimes prequel) to Myst. Some of those puzzles are mind-boggling today and I ended up filling graph paper with tiny maps just to solve some of the puzzles. If I played it today I would just Google it.
Super Mario Bros 2 (Japanese version\NA Lost Levels). I was four years old when I first beat it. It was the first video game I ever beat.
Many years later, I got it for 3DS virtual console and it took me WEEKS to try to beat it again, when as a four year old it only took me a few hours. That game is absolutely brutal
I have no clue how I beat Zelda 2 with nothing but trying over and over and making hand drawn maps.
When I got the game again on 3DS I thought I’d try it again. It was way tough and I gave up. I can’t believe what I was capable of when I was a kid.
The Bard's Tale. Done without any guides or hints. Hand drew every map on graph paper. You die soooo frequently when you start out. I tried the modern remaster and while it's a good game, I just can't connect with that style anymore.
Ocarina of Time is my big one.
At 13 i beat the game on a three-heart run. (Was not flawless, by any stretch of the word)
Recently i played again and struggled in Jabu Jabu's belly.
....i cant stress that enough...
*I was struggling in Jabu Jabu's Belly*.... i retired right there.
Not as much as then vs now - as much as "gamer entry barrier" being higher back then. Like brutally higher it seems.
Now it's just people who really hate games that "play" them because being a "gamer" is a cool thing to do. So a typical game today has no gameplay (e.g. Fortnite), or rather its "gameplay" is showing off new "skin" you bought for $25 to your bros on "social" media like Twitch.
So naturally when all games you play are all about adding your wallet and then subtracting money from it - encountering an unpredictable pipe is quite challenging, yes.
Midnight Club 3 - DUB Edition (PS2)
I beat it as a teenager. But as I tried it again 20 years later I just failed. You need split-second reaction to Beat this game.
Metroid II, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past.
Every game, really. Specially before PS3/XBOX360.
Of course, I missed a lot of stuff, looking at it now, like a not super mega powered Samus or fully loaded Link by the game's end, which I eventually got in later later playthroughs.
Now, I look at guides for games I beat before to see stuff I never saw.
Bart Simpson Game nes version.Its was my worst nightmare from my youth time because it was difficult to get to the last ending stage.Now i can kill the bastard and very proud to finish it.
I beat TMNT for NES a few times as a kid. Went back recently to make a video about it actually made it to the Technodrome… but good god that final level is idiotically unfair. Same with the final stretch leading to the boss in Ninja Gaiden. I can’t believe I ever had the time, patience, and reflexes to navigate those gauntlets.
The fact you where even able to beat that as a kid is damn impressive
It was 1989, so it was either master video games or go outside and play sports 🤮
😂 I remember getting to the techadrome once. I had one turtle left Raff(ugh lol) and I was beat to shit….I died
There is this sewer jump in level 3 that still gives me trouble. Watched a friend's brother beat it once after years of struggling and couldn't believe it was possible.
Do you think it might be that you forgot the "mentality" of the game? Because we expect games to work a lot differently now than before so maybe that adds to the difficulty?
TMNT was pretty unfair all around. It gets a lot easier on the driving part once you know right where to go and when to use the missiles. The devs are evil for putting in power ups that could never be reached.
I still think about that pizza behind the spike wall trap
It's just that last level with the space men shooting those lasers!!!
As someone who grew up playing point and click adventure games, the number of walls I've hit because of absolute insane logic is too high.
We just had some crazy patience back then!
Roberta Williams is the wicked witch who eats children we were warned about.
Lion King SNES. The second level is so busted.
Is that the monkeys that toss you around
Yap, were a lot of times even if you time it perfectly you still dont grab tail
Jesus I can’t believe I beat that game.
As a kid we had all of the secret levels unlocked for Super Mario World. I don’t even remember how to unlock most without looking it up these days. But, somehow we guess and checked well enough to get them all. Helps when you’ve only got the one game to play.
I’ll go first. Startropics. I remember as a kid fighting my way through the levels, and Level 3 being brutal but I barely beat it. And I felt so accomplished beating the game. I tried again recently and Level 3 is a BRICK WALL FROM WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPE. I will not be defeated so easily, but wow - I am shocked I was able to beat the damn thing with that dinky controller back then.
The final level is the true test of patience and endurance. Love that game to bits. However, StarTropics 2: Zoda’s Revenge is even harder on the final stretch. Love that game too, but the final boss encounter(s) is a massive step beyond what is expected in the first game. Still haven’t been able to complete it to this day (not without save states).
I guess it’s not called Startropics 2: Zoda’s Actually Kind of Sweet. I’ve never tried it myself but maybe this is the year
Good luck! Hope you enjoy an old fashioned boss rush to go along with your final boss encounter.
You also have the hyper psychic shock wave by then. Just need to keep your health up.
T&C Surf Design . I was unstoppable at wood water as a kid. Now I don't even understand how to do the surfing.
I tried that recently again. It's inexplicable! I just die every time I try to surf.
The original Halo on Xbox on legendary. I used to be able to quite literally walk through the campaign on legendary without breaking a sweat, but these days I'm lucky if I can even beat the game on normal
The internet back then was an older cousin or child of a parent’s friend who visited periodically.
I was really good at the slot machine game in Mario 3 too where is was an automatic free lives. Now I can’t do it if my life depended on it
I assume you mean Mario 2? I could get it like crazy but no longer can. Good to see I’m not alone
Well that one also lol I meant the one in Mario 3 where you have to match the picture spinning
The mario 2 one is much easier in all stars
Donkey Kong Country. Have played it a few times as an adult and have no idea how I beat some of the levels as teen. Stupid mine carts, lol
I completed DKC2 over lockdown and my goodness the final boss is insanely difficult. I don't ever remember it being an issue as a kid but beating the last boss took me nearly as long as the rest of the game! DKC1 always ends with snow barrel blast for me unfortunately, I just cannot get the timing right.
Yeah, the snow barre level was the other level I was thinking of!
I got the timing of snow barrel blast down just enough to get to the skip lol
I’m impressed I was able to beat *any* NES and Genesis games. I was 4 playing NES and 7 playing Genesis. Some I remember beating off the top of my head. NES: Mario 1-3. G I Joe’s 2: Atlantis Factor. Home Alone 2. Captain Skyhawk. Jackal. TMNT 2 & 3 (only ever beat co-op with my brother, never solo) Genesis: Vectorman 1 & 2. Sonic 2 & 3. Taz: Escape from Mars. X-Men. Honestly, I think I’d give up before beating any of those on original hardware today. Except the three Mario games. I beat them so many times I have no issues with them. Still play them on my switch for a quick nostalgia hit.
X-Men had a "restart the console" thing. I never got past that part as a kid. X-Men 2 was way more fun.
Batman for NES.
Playing Metroid games now (Super, Fusion), I can’t believe I beat some of the bosses without a guide or much trouble. I can hear the buttons on my GBA straining when I get to the Nightmare fight and I think “I used to knock this game out in four hours!?”
Contra. First game I ever bought myself and finished it many times as a kid. I have tried a couple times in the last few months again and can't even get past the 1st level yet. What 35 or so years does!?😂
I beat Ecco the Dolphin on original hardware. A practically impossible achievement to a modern gamer.
Ugh, that friggin' game...I can sum up the unfair difficulty with four simple words: "Welcome to the machine"
For me, the difficulty really ramped up on the prehistoric level. Those fucking jelly fish man. At least with the machine, you will eventually memorise the layout to make that perfect run. But the jellyfish, it's like slamming your head against a wall, continously. Ugh. Still love it.
Tomb Raider 1-3 remastered has been eye opening. Did I really beat these games back then, or did I make it up in my head? Do I just suck now. Is having a FT job, owning a house, and going out, ruining my video games skills? I have no idea, but damn, is TR 2 hard.
Tomb Raider 3 is the hardest game I’ve ever beaten. And I did it without a guide, stubbornly, back in PS1 days. I’ve since beaten other “hard” modern games like Dark Souls, Sekiro, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, etc. They got nothing on TR3. I never played 2 tho
From what I know, 3 might be the hardest in the series. I know I played it at some point, but I can’t really confirm if it’s harder than 2 at this moment. Either way, I’m sure it’s going to give me a headache.
I loaded up Ninja Gaiden on original hardware for the first time in decades and suddenly understood why I was an angry child.
Aladdin for Sega. I used to crush that game and now I am hopeless.
Crash Bandicoot. Today, it actually makes me rage quite hard.
Figured out the junction system in FF VIII for myself.
Another World
Ah you can still beat that. Its more trial and error than reflex.
I hope you're right. I tried playing the new version a couple of years ago. I still remembered somethings by heart but I just couldn't muster the patience to finish it again. Maybe I should give it another try as it's such a great experience.
I didn’t win it, but I somehow managed to get really far in the text adventure version of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There are a lot of Sierra adventure games too that I simply wouldn’t bother figuring out anymore, not when the internet provides free walkthroughs.
If you are DarkSydePhil, this meme is true.
Truth. I suck at video games as an adult. As a kid, I was acing shit way easier.
DinoPark Tycoon. It's an old DOS game. I found it again recently because I remember loving it as a kid... it's literally impossible. I have NO idea how I played it successfully as a kid. I couldn't progress past the first ten minutes or so of the game. It was a nice hit of nostalgic though 😂😭
The image reminded me when I was a kid, if I got stuck on a difficult part in a game, I'd make sure to go with my parents to the grocery store and hang out by the magazine rack. Then I'd find a walkthrough in one of the gaming mags and take notes on the note paper i had stuffed in my pocket.
TMNT I was able to beat with zero help.
As a kid I beat Master Of Orion 2 and X-Com Interceptor multiple times. I tried both of them as an adult and failed hard...
Ninja Gaiden 1 As a kid, I remember getting all the way to the final level (6), and then having to leave the game on overnight and all through school the next day so that way I could try again to beat it. The whole day I was worried my NES would glitch out. As any kid in the 80s knew, the NES was not the most reliable system. But when I got home, it was still there waiting. F\*\*\* level 6-2. Seriously. After a couple hours I got all the way to the boss only to lose to him. I spent a couple more hours and eventually managed to finally beat him... only to discover that he had a second form. A couple more hours and the second form was no more! I had won! I was so amped by my victory that I don't think I slept a wink that night. I recently replayed Ninja Gaiden 1 and, after throwing myself at the wall that is level 6-2 for a half hour, I came to the conclusion that it was enough to have accomplished this task once in life.
It is an imaginary world to think we solved these games in a vacuum. Nintendo power was a regular magazine that someone you knew likely subscribed and back then lots of bulk guide books came out which had FAQ for loads of games. Even then some of us would struggle to beat a game for 2-5 years and slowly chissle at it over that time. I have likely bombed every square in Zelda and burned every bush over time. I just accidently one day discovered you could blow a whistle to reveal secrets in the second quest. Point is we underestimate how much time it took for these accomplishments and the fact that there was a literal game show bout video games that just randomly gave hints away along with 1-900 numbers run by developers to give you advice. Also everyone I knew had a ram hack device like game genie so infinite health and infinite lives to make practice easier was very common and not looked down on.
As a kid I beat Vectorman every day, was my favorite game back then. This year I tried to play it on emulator and couldn't finish the second level.
I was looking up video game answers on my friends pc in 1992. How far back are we going here?
Dragon ball Z games lol I dont have the thumbs anymore for fighting games
When I was a kid I sucked at video games. I loved them but I wasn't good. As a teenager I played them again and beat a lot of difficult NES games. Mike Tyson's Punch Out for one. I played it again as an adult. I can get to Mike Tyson but I can't beat him. I have no interest in sinking as much time into the game as I would need to do to actually beat him. I think my reflexes are worse than when I was a teenager. I think I peaked at games then.
Eek the cat !
I remember beating the snes star wars games. They were tough
I was surprised when I kept seeing them on lists of tough games, went back and played them for the first time in decades and now I know why I spent so much time on them originally
Yeah those death star trench run sequences are brutal
Yeah those death star trench run sequences are brutal
I could do without all of the Mode 7 levels to be perfectly honest. I hate how the third one starts in a speeder
Are they still worth playing these days? Saw them in a YouTube video the other day and they looked really fun.
I started replaying the Empire Strikes Back and it is a lot of fun. You just have time mentally prepare for a challenge
Can’t beat my star Fox 64 high score. How the hell did I pull that off?
Any of the NES hard games like Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man. I beat all those when I was younger. I think games have kept up my reflex tho. I'm middle aged but I'm still good at sweaty boomer shooters and decent at CoD still.
Honestly I never found those 3 too hard for 1 simple reason. They all had unlimited continues. Whenever I go and play some retro games I'm always gobsmacked when I run into limited continues. That's the only time I break out the save states.
RIVEN. the sequel (sometimes prequel) to Myst. Some of those puzzles are mind-boggling today and I ended up filling graph paper with tiny maps just to solve some of the puzzles. If I played it today I would just Google it.
You do know they’re making a full remake and it’s almost done right? It’s gonna be glorious. No googlin of solutions!
I just gave up on a lot of games to be honest. I managed to beat Kirby's Pinball on GB which I'm pretty proud of.
Super Mario Bros 2 (Japanese version\NA Lost Levels). I was four years old when I first beat it. It was the first video game I ever beat. Many years later, I got it for 3DS virtual console and it took me WEEKS to try to beat it again, when as a four year old it only took me a few hours. That game is absolutely brutal
I have no clue how I beat Zelda 2 with nothing but trying over and over and making hand drawn maps. When I got the game again on 3DS I thought I’d try it again. It was way tough and I gave up. I can’t believe what I was capable of when I was a kid.
Snake rattle and roll on nes I was so good at this game as kid now I've got it on my anbernic I'm crap
I beat Super Mario Bros. Like hundreds of times. But now I can't find that one hidden block in 8-3 to make it to browsers castle!
Master Blaster and Bionic Commando.
The Bard's Tale. Done without any guides or hints. Hand drew every map on graph paper. You die soooo frequently when you start out. I tried the modern remaster and while it's a good game, I just can't connect with that style anymore.
Zelda 2. Like WTF!
Ocarina of Time is my big one. At 13 i beat the game on a three-heart run. (Was not flawless, by any stretch of the word) Recently i played again and struggled in Jabu Jabu's belly. ....i cant stress that enough... *I was struggling in Jabu Jabu's Belly*.... i retired right there.
Lion King. No way i would pass logs on the waterfall now.
Street Fighter II. Could do a flawless play through in the 90s but now have a hard time with the first few fights.
I beat Bionic Commando as a kid multiple times. I wouldn’t have a hope now
lol imagine getting past the first few stages of that monstrosity
The Legend of Zelda and Street Fighter 2010
All the Mega man games
Naw....retained the skills. Hard to tell I use emulator save slots
Infocom text adventures. I beat Planetfall years ago, then tried again a while back and was baffled.
Metroid
Does “sleeping properly during the night and have energy in the morning” count? (:
Sleep apnea? CPAPs are the ultimate cheat code my friend!
Not as much as then vs now - as much as "gamer entry barrier" being higher back then. Like brutally higher it seems. Now it's just people who really hate games that "play" them because being a "gamer" is a cool thing to do. So a typical game today has no gameplay (e.g. Fortnite), or rather its "gameplay" is showing off new "skin" you bought for $25 to your bros on "social" media like Twitch. So naturally when all games you play are all about adding your wallet and then subtracting money from it - encountering an unpredictable pipe is quite challenging, yes.
Midnight Club 3 - DUB Edition (PS2) I beat it as a teenager. But as I tried it again 20 years later I just failed. You need split-second reaction to Beat this game.
Metroid II, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past. Every game, really. Specially before PS3/XBOX360. Of course, I missed a lot of stuff, looking at it now, like a not super mega powered Samus or fully loaded Link by the game's end, which I eventually got in later later playthroughs. Now, I look at guides for games I beat before to see stuff I never saw.
Bart Simpson Game nes version.Its was my worst nightmare from my youth time because it was difficult to get to the last ending stage.Now i can kill the bastard and very proud to finish it.