Shit parts of classic games.

[Fry]

Errr, I realize this is kind of similar to Van Dammage's thread. This thread is meant to be about particularly bad/frustrating levels or sections rather than general gameplay.

Due to the fact that my shitty old laptop means I haven't been able to play any relatively new releases for a couple of years, my gaming has mainly been restricted to the 1990- 2005 era. Lately, I've decided to try to complete every single Mario game my laptop can run on an emulator. I've started with a classic, Super Mario Bros.

Now part of my challenge is the fact I have to finish the games completely vanilla. No save states or anything, I've being going through them as nature intended (no warp zones either). Two things that I think are extraordinarily shit are the final two Bowser levels. They are just stupid mazes which can only be figured out through trial and error, as far as I can see there's no hint on which way to go. You just have to keep repetitively attempted every possible route before you inevitably run out of time, or get twatted by some cunt turtle, or burned by a fucking twirling decorative poi stick and have to start from the world's beginning all over again.

I understand why they did it, cartridges could only hold so much game on them and so forth. They needed to pad it out or whatever. Still, in 2016 it's fairly wank.

Also the first 30 minutes of pretty much every Bethesda game. Fallout 3 being perhaps the worst offender, with that whole interminable "growing up" storyline that just drags on and on, it genuinely felt like a massive "fuck you" after I complained to my friends so much about the beginning of oblivion, where you have to drag that old bloke through the sewers. No ta cheers.

[Fry]

Talking of Oblivion, every single repetitive, dull oblivion gate definitely falls into this. With mods Oblivion would probably make it as my favourite Elder Scrolls game, if such a large part of it wasn't such a fuck to play.

[brat-sampson]

Any escort mission pre... 2005 maybe?

[biggytitbo]

Lucasarts successfully managed to ruin some of their classic adventure games by inserting shitty maze levels into them - most notably Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The second level of Flashback is a massive chore that drags on far too long and I bet killed the game for most people (if they can even get past the infamous first jump).

[Fry]

Any escort mission pre... 2005 maybe?

Even back then I remember how it was basically agreed  that escort missions  were extremely shit. How did they keep finding their way into games?

[Shay Chaise]

You appreciate the game more once the escort mission has finished? I'd say only Resi 4 had a good one, because it increased the tension in a new way by having you play as Ashley, but even that was the worst part of the game.

[mook]

the ending to red dead redemption.

[Shay Chaise]

That gets mixed opinions but I thought mostly positive. Dunce confession, I turned off the game and uninstalled it before the epilogue and now I don't have a PS3. It does sound really depressing but probably a rare instance of good writing from Rockstar. Circumstances outweigh intentions.

[marquis_de_sad]

This isn't a classic game, but the skateboard stage of Bart Vs The Juggernauts on the Game Boy was awful. So infuriating. Even the guy doing the let's play on youtube messes it up a few times, after acing the first event. To be honest the two first stages of this game were impossible for me, but the skateboard one seemed more arbitrary.

[Porter Dimi]

Some will inevitably disagree, but...

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The train mission.

[monolith]

Max Payne - Maze level (not to be confused with the fire level which I am in the minority for liking).

Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The opening where you are stuck on an empty base for about 4 fucking hours with nothing but robots, a smuggler and an old hag for company.

Half-Life - The Alien planet felt like a section from a different game.

Bioshock - The end boss.

[madhair60]

The mazes in the original Super Mario Bros, where you have to take a certain route or the level loops eternally. STUPID.

The stone in Armorog's cave in Fantasy World Dizzy, which if you overlook it (easy to do in some versions) before solving his puzzle by feeding him, renders the game unwinnable. BOLLOCKS.

The glitch in Jet Set Willy that locks you into a never-ending death loop so all you can do is watch your lives vanish one by one. MATE.

The driving test in Driver. IMPOSSIBLE.

[Fry]

The mazes in the original Super Mario Bros, where you have to take a certain route or the level loops eternally. STUPID.

If only some handsome young thread starter had mentioned those levels when he made a thread purely because of those fucking levels you absolute frogspawn.

[Bazooka]

Any escort mission pre... 2005 maybe?

I'm afraid not, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was released in 2002.

[Kelvin]

I understand why they did it, cartridges could only hold so much game on them and so forth. They needed to pad it out or whatever. Still, in 2016 it's fairly wank.

Another reason why many games of that era were particularly hard or obtuse was to encourage replay value. Generally speaking, people had much bigger gaps between getting new games back then, so unlike modern games, they were often designed so that players had to play through them over and over and over again, for weeks on end, getting better, learning levels, learning enemy patterns, ideal routes, etc.     

I agree it ages them in 2016, though. I play through loads of old games - including ones I never experienced at the time - on Wii U virtual console, but if it wasn't for save states, there's no way I'd complete most of them now. You're having a uniquely authentic experience.

[Kelvin]

The last third of Mario Galaxy. For the first two thirds, it's probably the single best game ever made - close to gaming perfection - then the last 40 stars are basically just races through levels you've already completed, one hit kill fights against bosses you've already fought, and the tedious collection of purple coins. I still play the game once every year, but never bother with the game post-final boss.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Some will inevitably disagree, but...

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The train mission.

And let's not forget the toy plane level.

[Kelvin]

Bioshock - The end boss.

I'd say everything post

Spoiler alert

the death of Andrew

[close]

Ryan is a drag.

[davetheschizophrenic]

There's a bit in Lucasart's Grim Fandango where you were in a lift and you had to stop it moving by ramming a forklift into the door at a very certain point as it ascended/descended. I did get past that part eventually, but I still haven't played the remastered version because I don't want to go through it again. Great game overall, though.

[Fry]

I feel like old adventure games like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango deserve a thread on this subject all of their own. I tried to play through Day of the Tentacle and I just couldn't do it. I have a rule for those sorts of games: if, when you consult a walkthrough to solve a puzzle, the answer doesn't make you say "Duh, of COURSE" or "Eh, clever!" but instead "Oh fuck off." It gets a strike. Three strikes and I stop bothering.


It's why I think Syberia I and II are the best adventure games.[nb]Except for maybe Grim Fandango, that was amazing too[/nb] (Well, that and a bunch of other reasons. I should start a thread about those games they are bloody beautiful).

[madhair60]

If only some handsome young thread starter had mentioned those levels when he made a thread purely because of those fucking levels you absolute frogspawn.

Jesus. I'm seconding it. I'm agreeing with you.

[Benjaminos]

Everything in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines after you get to the sewers. Goes from an open-ended and mature RPG in the vein of Deus Ex to a frustrating slog through various copy-pasted, unimaginative and boring environments. I've still never seen the ending.

[greenman]

Half-Life - The Alien planet felt like a section from a different game.

I remember the main problem was it went on for too long, should have just jumped right to the final boss or close to it and kept a bit more impact.

[brat-sampson]

I'd say everything post

Spoiler alert

the death of Andrew

[close]

Ryan is a drag.

Oh God, 100%. I was really enjoying the game up to there, then realised there was an *entire* other section to push through, not only that but one of the least interesting sections of the whole game, and that I was suddenly tired and bored of the whole thing. Raced through to the end, fought

Spoiler alert

shit boss

[close]

and never looked back.

[monolith]

I'd say everything post

Spoiler alert

the death of Andrew

[close]

Ryan is a drag.

Yeah, the game wouldn't have lost anything if it had ended right after that (without a shitty arcade style end boss). It's not like it was too short and they needed to pad it out.

[Captain Poodle Basher]

Talking of Oblivion, every single repetitive, dull oblivion gate definitely falls into this. With mods Oblivion would probably make it as my favourite Elder Scrolls game, if such a large part of it wasn't such a fuck to play.

Yup. God only knows how many times I played Oblivion but I only played the main quest through the first time and never again as I hated the "Identical Daedric tunnels that twist and turn until you're utterly lost" element to it.

Also the Civil War bits of Skyrim - two dull plotlines with identical scenarios for each side. I only played it once and that was enough.

Halo 1 & 2 - anything to do with The Flood - a tedious swarm only there to waste up your ammo and nothing else.

[Consignia]

There's a bit in Lucasart's Grim Fandango where you were in a lift and you had to stop it moving by ramming a forklift into the door at a very certain point as it ascended/descended. I did get past that part eventually, but I still haven't played the remastered version because I don't want to go through it again. Great game overall, though.

Oh hell yes. Grim Fandango is full of this shit because it tries to involve the player controlling the character rather than directing them with a mouse click. Just to justify the move to 3D.

I feel like old adventure games like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango deserve a thread on this subject all of their own. I tried to play through Day of the Tentacle and I just couldn't do it. I have a rule for those sorts of games: if, when you consult a walkthrough to solve a puzzle, the answer doesn't make you say "Duh, of COURSE" or "Eh, clever!" but instead "Oh fuck off." It gets a strike. Three strikes and I stop bothering.

This I can't agree with. Most LucasArts adventure games take place in a very limited number of screens, so it's difficult to have too many loose ends at any one time, and their puzzles are straight forward enough to not require walkthroughs.

[davetheschizophrenic]

Oh hell yes. Grim Fandango is full of this shit because it tries to involve the player controlling the character rather than directing them with a mouse click. Just to justify the move to 3D.

Also Monkey Island 4 with that weird replacement for insult sword fighting, where you had to strike various monkey poses to defeat the villain or something... I can't remember exactly and I don't want to look it up, it's a really depressing game. I blame the move to 3D partly, it just didn't work. Still, this Thimbleweed Park coming out soonish looks bloody good.

Donkey Kong games in general: any time you see a fucking mine cart.

[Consignia]

Also Monkey Island 4 with that weird replacement for insult sword fighting, where you had to strike various monkey poses to defeat the villain or something... I can't remember exactly and I don't want to look it up, it's a really depressing game. I blame the move to 3D partly, it just didn't work. Still, this Thimbleweed Park coming out soonish looks bloody good.

Monkey Kombat? Blimey that game was all over the place. And it was the final puzzle as well. IIRC it took place in a giant monkey robot or something.

[davetheschizophrenic]

Monkey Kombat? Blimey that game was all over the place. And it was the final puzzle as well. IIRC it took place in a giant monkey robot or something.

That was it! Horrible. I've bought Tales of Monkey Island but it seems just as clumsy really, got into the second part and nah, can't really be bothered.

Also, the copy of the original Alone in the Dark I played had a fault or something, because I completed everything you could possibly do in the house and I'd always open the doors and get eaten by that massive green thing. I always thought that was just how the game ended but a few decades later I finally saw the real ending on youtube. I guess that's more a shit part of a botched copy of a classic game though.