rsaotome

January 22, 2012 at 9:39am

Hardest games beat with fair game challenge:

Battletoads *SINGLE PLAYER* (NES), Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES), Ghosts 'n Goblins (NES), Mega Man (NES), Ninja Gaiden 1-3 (NES), Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES)

Hardest games beat that were just horribly programmed/designed:

Battletoads *2 PLAYERS* (NES), Silver Surfer (NES), Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (NES)

I know there's more, but those are the ones that pop to mind as the most memorable.

zefrem7

January 20, 2012 at 3:15pm

Blazing Lasers - Turbografx 16. So hard, so awesome!

Cruzg10

January 20, 2012 at 2:18am

Did anyone ever pass the original "GHOSTS AND GOBLINS" on the NES?
i sure as hell couldnt.

JDorfler

January 19, 2012 at 8:42pm

Werewolf the Apocalypse from Data East. The ending is almost worth it for 8-Bit.

Ghok

January 19, 2012 at 8:49pm

Does 1999 refer to the year? (the year System Shock 2 came out) I don't really remember games being all that difficult in 1999. They certainly weren't "unforgiving". The examples you cite are from older games far as I can tell (when yeah, they were a lot more difficult). The things I miss about games from 1999 are quicksave/quickload, and controls designed for mouse/keyboard. At least (aside from those things) ports are done a lot better than they were in 1999.

smashingpumpin

January 19, 2012 at 4:38pm

Meatboy with Golden God achievement (I'm not hardcore enough to get the "without dying achievements" sniff) and Bit.trip Runner without the challenges achievement as of recent. Damn, they need to bring Dark Souls to Steam ASAP!

What's not to love, since it's called a "mode" it's entirely optional. Bring on the achievement for it!

I'm just hoping this game doesn't come with GFWL on Steam. I remember how much hassle it was to play Bioshock 2 Multiplayer (the games MP was so underrated IMO, funtimes)

Mobile.btech

January 19, 2012 at 2:57pm

Talking about old games that were hard, some of my favorites from the snes days is flashback and another world. Look up cinematic platformers on wiki for a short ticket on the wayback machine for some hard to beat, 1990's mode games!

TheMiddleman

January 19, 2012 at 2:53pm

Hey, just as long as 1999 Mode doesn't = All enemy AI is endowed with hyper-senses and bullshit insane sniper skills, I'm fine with it. What ticks me off is when games get "cheap" and call it "difficult." When AI enemies can snipe me through the grass from the other side of the map, breaking the laws of physics in the process, I call foul. All this talk is blah blah blah to me... I'll be impressed when game designers come out with an enemy that has to play by the exact same rules I do.

dwellman

January 19, 2012 at 2:38pm

""It's for the faint of heart," Irrational Games promises"

Should that have been: ""It's NOT for the faint of heart," Irrational Games promises"

jedisamurai

January 19, 2012 at 1:57pm

My favorite way to play games is first on easy, then on normal, then on hard, then as hard as the difficulty can go. It's hard to enjoy a game experience when you are constantly trying not to die as you figure out what you are supposed to be doing. But once you know...you can enjoy the satisfaction that comes from being awesome at the game on a high difficulty because you already know where to go and what to do. It's like reading a favorite book quickly....

jaypers

January 19, 2012 at 12:05pm

The most difficult game I ever played, and really wanted to win, was Shadow of the Beast by Psygnosis on my Amiga 500.
Man, that game was tough. When you died, no matter how far along in the game you were, you started back at the very beginning.

LatiosXT

January 19, 2012 at 10:56am

Meh. I feel that STALKER is more of a 1999 mode than how they describe this.

If they really wanted to make it old school, they'd strive for Battletoads difficulty.

Atomike

January 19, 2012 at 10:15am

I grew up with the Atari 2600. I'm pretty sure I DID beat Adventure on level 3.
And yet, the older I get, the less I see value in such difficulty. Older gamers who grew up with such challenges are ironically, also more likely to realize that their time does have value. That there are things more worthwhile that trying to beat a nearly impossible game.
It's these older gamers who are more likely to realize that "1999 mode" is really for people who do not value their time or their real lives.

kixofmyg0t

January 19, 2012 at 9:59am

Hey I grew up playing NES! Actually the games I play most nowadays are Sega Genesis and SNES classics.

I'm so sick and tired of today's "ONLY GRAFICKS!" games. Screw that. I spend more time playing games that are FUN. I don't care that your 6 way SLI whatever is better than [insert console name].