04-12-2017, 08:59 PM
Takeshi's Challenge, from what I've heard, was mainly created out of his pure hated for video games (among other forms of electronics that isn't tailored to filming). If you wait a while after beating the game, he berates you for "taking it seriously".
And while I haven't played the NES version of Ys (Because I only have the two PC remakes from Steam, which has diagonal controls that the second game practically insists you should abide by for a no damage run), I at least think it's ramming mechanics were a little more fleshed out than Hydlide's convoluted "Hold A for Massive Damage" mechanic.
In speaking about Ys II, it could have been a decent sequel (at least from my experience playing the remakes) had they not insisted on making the Fire Rod the only weapon that can hurt bosses, especially when dealing with that spider boss that loves to drop projectile spewing eggs every chance it got and has an absurd weak spot that makes the bird idols you pick up early on completely worthless.
As for games I've played that really annoy me, one of the most criminal is Castle Quest for the NES. It's easier to put yourself in an unwinnable state than it is trying to beat the game's almost unplayable difficulty, especially when necessary items are wasted on the wrong doors, pushed into the wrong areas, or respawn at the start of hazards that can't be crossed without it. Also, let it be a warning that playing a game that starts you with 45 lives is a pretty big give away that you're going to have a VERY miserable time fleshing out what to do to get to the next area (The conveyor belt of doom, anyone?).
And yes, there is an official cartridge, so if you're playing a physical copy, be prepared to get up, reset the NES, and do the entire game over again if you run yourself into a "happy" accident.
The second would probably have to be the unlicensed NES port of Chiller. Apparently someone at Epyx thought it would be a great idea to kiddify one of the most violent, disheartening gallery shooters to ever exist in an arcade by reversing the order of levels and "lightly" softening up what they consider to be "unavoidably" disturbing to their target audience (Apparently a man dragging a cart full of corpses is more disturbing than a room full of people strapped to torture devices, that you can manipulate by shooting, and being fed, alive, to crocodiles).
Aside from the fact you can easily access the last two levels in the game (which was actually the first two in the original arcade, btw) by spamming on an indestructible target until the required score for the level is met, the Zapper functions hardly respond, giving you no indication on what target can be destroyed, or if the Zapper even works on the game despite on-box advertisements stating otherwise and the screen flashing when you pull the trigger. Targeting with the NES controller does give you a crosshair (Once you press up, of course), but from my fading memories even acknowledging that I played it more than what most kids these days could have tolerated, it's rather loose with its precision, making it somewhat difficult to target any of the objects you need to destroy in order to uncover letters for the games "scavenger hunting" intermissions.
Tombs and Treasures would be a minor third mostly because it's leveling mechanics ruin the linearity it was attempting to encourage. Walk into the wrong dungeon and you're dead in one hit.
And while I haven't played the NES version of Ys (Because I only have the two PC remakes from Steam, which has diagonal controls that the second game practically insists you should abide by for a no damage run), I at least think it's ramming mechanics were a little more fleshed out than Hydlide's convoluted "Hold A for Massive Damage" mechanic.
In speaking about Ys II, it could have been a decent sequel (at least from my experience playing the remakes) had they not insisted on making the Fire Rod the only weapon that can hurt bosses, especially when dealing with that spider boss that loves to drop projectile spewing eggs every chance it got and has an absurd weak spot that makes the bird idols you pick up early on completely worthless.
As for games I've played that really annoy me, one of the most criminal is Castle Quest for the NES. It's easier to put yourself in an unwinnable state than it is trying to beat the game's almost unplayable difficulty, especially when necessary items are wasted on the wrong doors, pushed into the wrong areas, or respawn at the start of hazards that can't be crossed without it. Also, let it be a warning that playing a game that starts you with 45 lives is a pretty big give away that you're going to have a VERY miserable time fleshing out what to do to get to the next area (The conveyor belt of doom, anyone?).
And yes, there is an official cartridge, so if you're playing a physical copy, be prepared to get up, reset the NES, and do the entire game over again if you run yourself into a "happy" accident.
The second would probably have to be the unlicensed NES port of Chiller. Apparently someone at Epyx thought it would be a great idea to kiddify one of the most violent, disheartening gallery shooters to ever exist in an arcade by reversing the order of levels and "lightly" softening up what they consider to be "unavoidably" disturbing to their target audience (Apparently a man dragging a cart full of corpses is more disturbing than a room full of people strapped to torture devices, that you can manipulate by shooting, and being fed, alive, to crocodiles).
Aside from the fact you can easily access the last two levels in the game (which was actually the first two in the original arcade, btw) by spamming on an indestructible target until the required score for the level is met, the Zapper functions hardly respond, giving you no indication on what target can be destroyed, or if the Zapper even works on the game despite on-box advertisements stating otherwise and the screen flashing when you pull the trigger. Targeting with the NES controller does give you a crosshair (Once you press up, of course), but from my fading memories even acknowledging that I played it more than what most kids these days could have tolerated, it's rather loose with its precision, making it somewhat difficult to target any of the objects you need to destroy in order to uncover letters for the games "scavenger hunting" intermissions.
Tombs and Treasures would be a minor third mostly because it's leveling mechanics ruin the linearity it was attempting to encourage. Walk into the wrong dungeon and you're dead in one hit.