Post by trashcanman on Oct 23, 2010 0:41:45 GMT 2
You know I love games. You love them too. They're fun. Except when they are not. Okay, even then they can be really fun. The NES turns 25 this year and I thought I'd celebrate not with some lame list of my favorite games that everybody else loves too, but with the horrifically frustrating legend of the game known as Battletoads.
Look awesome, right? And it is. For one level. You see, these toads of battle only actually engage in the promised battle in the first level. And it was a wonderful first level. Problem is that after that point, every level is a different and increasingly aggravating gauntlet of memorization, platforming, and other things that made young me shout obscenities. This game is the reason Nintendo builds their controllers so heavy-duty. They were made to be thrown across the room. Bill O'Reilley was not amused and neither was I. Observe.
Battletoads is also known as the co-op game that ended friendships. You see, when playing with two players if EITHER player died, you BOTH got sent back to the start. in a game where getting through any level by yourself before running out of lives was a feat to be proud of, getting two players to the end concurrently was just about impossible. So two heads are not always better than one.
Having not learned my lesson, I invested in the SNES sequel, Battlemaniacs, hoping for more of the awesome combat that never manifested beyond the opening level of the first game, and got more of the same: A first level I loved to play again and again followed by an eclectic and brutal series of digital punishments and hours spent resenting and being resented by my friends because we were always holding each other back. Here's some video of the upgraded "Turbo Tunnel" level which was the point in both games where 90% of gamers gave the hell up. Here's why.
Keep in mind that you are not seeing how you have to restart every time you die and have only a handful of lives to make it through the entire game. Not just that one EARLY level. But I beat it. God almighty, I beat it. And what was waiting for me? More battle, perhaps?
Well, crap.
So anybody else have any unpleasant childhood gaming memories?
Look awesome, right? And it is. For one level. You see, these toads of battle only actually engage in the promised battle in the first level. And it was a wonderful first level. Problem is that after that point, every level is a different and increasingly aggravating gauntlet of memorization, platforming, and other things that made young me shout obscenities. This game is the reason Nintendo builds their controllers so heavy-duty. They were made to be thrown across the room. Bill O'Reilley was not amused and neither was I. Observe.
Battletoads is also known as the co-op game that ended friendships. You see, when playing with two players if EITHER player died, you BOTH got sent back to the start. in a game where getting through any level by yourself before running out of lives was a feat to be proud of, getting two players to the end concurrently was just about impossible. So two heads are not always better than one.
Having not learned my lesson, I invested in the SNES sequel, Battlemaniacs, hoping for more of the awesome combat that never manifested beyond the opening level of the first game, and got more of the same: A first level I loved to play again and again followed by an eclectic and brutal series of digital punishments and hours spent resenting and being resented by my friends because we were always holding each other back. Here's some video of the upgraded "Turbo Tunnel" level which was the point in both games where 90% of gamers gave the hell up. Here's why.
Keep in mind that you are not seeing how you have to restart every time you die and have only a handful of lives to make it through the entire game. Not just that one EARLY level. But I beat it. God almighty, I beat it. And what was waiting for me? More battle, perhaps?
Well, crap.
So anybody else have any unpleasant childhood gaming memories?
