Back In The Day Show

Today we continue with Part 2 of the 10 Stupid-Hard NES Games series in which I look back on some of the hardest NES games I’ve ever played. Then, and for no other reason than I just like abuse, I play them again and see how I fare against them today. Here are the next 4:

Ninja Gaiden

< Back in the Day: Ninja Gaiden, literally translated as “Ninja Story”, is an OK title, but I think Diabolical Ninja Story from Hell would probably be more accurate. It was actually one of the coolest NES games I’d ever played, even despite it’s difficulty. It was well designed, had really good music, featured some cool weapons and even cutscenes, but most importantly, it had ninjas. What more could a kid ask for? How about making it past level 3? Fortunately, Ninja Gaiden was a lot of fun, because it was hard as hell. I don’t remember the bosses being all that bad, but the stages (or Acts) that you had to traverse to get to them were, in a word, evil. You had to wonder what fiendish pleasure the designers drew from victims’ players’ constant failures. Infinite continues kept the game from becoming as crazy as Ghosts ‘N Goblins–that and the fact that you could take more than two hits. But there were parts of Ninja Gaiden that seemed almost completely unfair at times. Many of the enemies exhibited erratic behavior, and sometimes when you got hit, you kept getting hit by other enemies only to then fall off a ledge. Oh, and remember that boxer dude? You first encountered him in Act I. He’d trot up to you until he got close enough, then launch a nasty punch. He was easy enough to take out for the most part, but if he landed a punch, he kept punching you just as you started to recover. Another example is that enemies often regenerated right after you beat them if you had backtracked or advanced the screen by only a few pixels. I don’t think I ever made it all the way through Act III, but it was ultimately a fun game with high production value, which is probably what lead me to try Ninja Gaiden 2–another stupid-hard, but fun game.

> Today: I loaded up this game just a few days ago, fully expecting another beat down. So I was astonished when I made it all the way to Act VI, the final stage of the game. Oh sure, I did receive a healthy beat down, but I made it further than I ever had. Act I was a joke with a pushover boss. Come to think of it, once you learn their patterns, all the bosses are fairly easy. So when you finally make it to a boss’ lair, you feel a bit relieved, having fought through the more difficult part of the level, assuming you don’t screw it up at the last minute. The only one I haven’t confronted is the final boss. Anyway, I made it through Act II without much effort, but Act III gave me a few problems. With persistence, however, I was eventually able to pass. Act IV tried my patience. At this point, I wanted to strangle the designers’ necks. It took several continues, but I finally emerged victorious with another level behind me. Act V made me want to break my machine, and I had to take a break. I paused the game and walked away to grab a drink and watch some Tivo. Yes, it was that frustrating. An episode of Star Trek: TNG later, I resumed my game with a clear mind while chanting a mantra: “It’s just a game. It’s just a game.” Several minutes and continues later, my frustration level was returning to its peak. After dying for the 1,000,000th time, I was furious. I clenched my jaw and, with determination, hit continue again. With the utmost concentration, I began to systematically work my way through the level. I knew the patterns–where to jump, when to slice with the katana, when to throw a ninja star. I got hit a couple times, but was undeterred. Jumping, slicing, bouncing off the walls, dodging trolls, birds, ninjas, robotic blasters, and dudes with machine guns, I flew through the level to finally face off against the boss. After some dialog, I sprang forward with rage and just kept hacking at him with my sword. I ignored his thunderbolt attacks, and kept pursuing my enemy until he lay before me, bleeding and dying on the ground. After the cutscene, I continued to Act VI, got my ass handed to me, and decided to call it a day. The final boss will have to wait until I can obtain adequate mental health insurance.

Shadowgate

< Back in the Day: This was one of the hardest and longest games I ever played. But despite the numerous hours I put into Shadowgate, I still never beat it. One of the few NES games that fit into the puzzle category, Shadowgate’s premise was straightforward enough: You’re a lone hero who must battle the evil Warlock Lord before he summons something out of hell and destroys the world. But the Warlock Lord’s lair is well hidden, so you must venture through Castle Shadowgate and solve a series of puzzles to reveal it. Overall, the game was incredibly difficult and could become quite laborious over time. There were lots of steps involved to solve the puzzles and continue progressing, and there were more ways to die than to live. To make matters worse, you had to keep a lit torch in your inventory at all times. Otherwise, you would lose light, stumble around and fall to your death. With a limited amount of torches in Castle Shadowgate, it imposed a time limit of sorts on an already difficult game. But Shadowgate was still enjoyable in a macabre sort of way. I definitely died a lot, but at least in Shadowgate, you could die in any number of extremely creative ways. In fact, some of the depictions of death were so descriptive, you almost looked forward to it. Let’s see, you could be burned alive by dragon fire, devoured by sharks, sucked into a void, beaten to death by a huge cyclops, dissolved by slime, impaled by a troll’s spear, ripped to shreds by a mutated dog, choked to death by a wyvern’s tail, and so many more, not including suicide and the various castle traps. Ultimately, the game became less about winning and more about discovering new and more gruesome ways to die, which suited us kids just fine.

> Today: I finally beat this game last year. I think all you need to beat it is a sharp mind and a lot of time. So how did I beat it? Simple. An emulator and a walkthrough guide. Yeah, so I cheated. But it was interesting going through the entire game and learning all the secrets to all the puzzles. Some of those puzzles could be quite maniacal. I still died on purpose a few times. It just never gets old.

Tag Team Wrestling

< Back in the Day: OK, this was probably the most stupid-hard game I played–emphasis on stupid. The game wasn’t all that great in 2-player mode; it completely sucked when you were playing against the computer in 1-player mode. This was mainly due to the completely unfair AI. The computer literally cheated. During a match, you could get in a few hits every now and then, but as soon as you maintained any kind of streak, the computer’s wrestler would turn red and become temporarily invincible. There was nothing you could do about it. As soon as the computer transformed into Satan incarnate, all you could do was brace for impact. The computer would repeat this until your strength was drained, then pin you. You just had to get use to the phrase, “Game Over.”

> Today: This was probably the most surprising replay out of the whole list. I loaded up the game and prepared myself for failure, but I prevailed… for a little while at least. I actually won a few matches before I got bored. I developed a strategy: get thrown out of the ring, the computer follows, then proceed to spam-punch the computer until just before the 20 count is up. Your timing has to be perfect because the computer will hop back into the ring quickly if you don’t keep taking him down. I remember trying this strategy to no avail when I was a kid. Maybe I’m faster on the buttons now. Another thing–the computer seems to lose the ability to turn invincible when outside the ring. I tried a variation of this strategy inside the ring, and it worked OK for a while, but I was never able to pin him. The computer tags out too fast if you’re not positioned just right. I was going to keep trying, but I had already defeated the computer a few times, so I had nothing else to prove. I think winning on a technicality is a fair enough strategy against an intermittently invincible opponent.

Castlevania

< Back in the Day: Ah, Castlevania. What a great game. One of Konomi’s best, I’d say. In my experience, this game was the one people played the most on those Player’s Choice 10 cabinets. It was pretty popular on the NES as well. I remember most of my friends owned this cartridge. It was challenging for sure–so much so that I never beat it. But I definitely had fun trying. Like Ninja Gaiden, there are only 6 levels, which doesn’t sound so daunting at first, but the problem is getting through those levels. After the first 2 levels, things can get frustrating fast. Fortunately, you get a limitless supply of continues, but you really had to possess an inhuman amount of coordination to navigate through the Count’s castle. Sometimes I would get stuck at a certain spot that seemed almost insurmountable. Trying to time each jump, each crack of the whip, each boomerang so precisely could get maddening after a while. But finally getting past a spot like that did seem to bring its own sense of accomplishment. You quickly learned why there were only 6 levels. I remember the game having top-notch graphics and sound for the time, but the play control wasn’t the best. Controlling the main character wasn’t as responsive as in other games. In other Konami NES games, such as Contra, you could change directions in mid-air when jumping. Not so in Castlevania. Once you jumped, you were committed. Also, you couldn’t swing your whip diagonally or up and down. They fixed this in the Super Nintendo hit, Castlevania IV. Another vexing aspect of the game was that you had limited sight distance and couldn’t be as proactive at maneuvering at times. This was especially annoying when facing some of the more erratic enemies, like the flying Medusa heads. Still, Castlevania was good fun, even if it did seem hellish at times. Then again, I guess fighting your way through Dracula’s castle against hordes of undead probably shouldn’t be all that easy.

> Today: Still just as fun as it was back then. The graphics, although undeniably dated, are still serviceable. The visual indicators are clear and concise, and each item, enemy, and platform are precisely contoured. The 8-bit music is equally rousing and creepy. I made it past levels 1 and 2 without breaking a sweat. Level 3 gave me a few problems, but I eventually made it. Level 4 was insane, and the Frankenstein monster and Igor are probably the hardest bosses besides Dracula. It took several tries to beat them, but I finally prevailed. After a lengthy, and I mean lengthy, romp through level 5, I finally made it to the Grim Reaper, but I could never beat him. After getting so close to total victory, I may try it again another time. This game still offers a good challenge, although I didn’t have to use as many continues this time around. Consequently, my frustration level remained at a minimum. Castlevania is still one of my all time favorites even after all these years and is well deserving of a replay.

That’s all for now. I’ll be posting Part 3 in a few days. Feel free to leave comments about some stupid-hard games you’ve played and even your experiences with them today.