Hardcore nonstop White Whale slaying.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I was gonna say, I just recently beat a White Whale of mine. I have never been into the NES library, as I was considered, "too young," to play it when it was new, even though I actively used an Apple IIgs with no supervision. I decided that I should start tackling some of the iconic games that I should beat. Games like Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Zelda 2, Star Tropics, Duck Tales, Batman and on and on and on.

I finally beat the other day on my stream Castlevania and man what a tough, but not unfair game....except for Death, because he can seriously suck it. I felt very vindicated and thrilled to beat it. Man I loved it. What a fun ass game. On to the next white whale, Duck Tales.

[MrPopo]

Zelda II and Metroid I finally finished about 15 months ago. But those were the GBA ports - I feel like I still have unfinished business with the NES originals.

I haven't tried Zelda II, but Metroid I on the GBA I'd call harder due to the changes in screen ratios.

[darsparx]

Oh boy....everyone knows the first one: final fantasy. Sorry but since i played other games(not to completion mind you) that were more advanced than the gameplay mechanics and story development this game just constantly bores me and i guess it's just because I've played through what should be maybe the first 30-60 minutes too much when I first attempted it...but I just don't know....

Golden Sun 1-2: I've beat a majority of the games(not completing the collection of the djinn because I'd need a guide to find them all.

Pokemon - I've attempted each one up to emerald in some form but never gave it the full time it deserved and was sidetracked...not to mention I lost yellow, and emerald(have since bought another copy of yellow and i'm attempting that one)

FFA - started this on gba lost the cart and ended up buying the original...attempting to beat now

DK64 - started countless times but ultimately sidetracked....when me and my dad would play it when i was younger we'd gotten so far as to have Fungi forest unlocked and attempted a few other things. He'd always beat them for me because I used to panic way too much when attempting to beat them...those bosses were freaking scary when I was little. Heck I ought to add the DKC series since I did have those carts but man were those levels in that one tough not to mention I think I lost 2 or 3

Spyro - Though more aimed at the gba titles I'll say the psx title too just because that's how I discovered the series back when my dad was visiting a friend or helping him out or something I never can recall since I was too busy playing spyro...

Legend of Zelda - Almost every game I own of this, I've beaten OoT but with a guide and ran the data out when I was younger when I finally sat down determined to beat it....

Mario - almost every mario counts here, 1 I did beat with the gbc remake on gcn and possibly 64 but I'm not sure...yoshi's island too lost that gba cart...

Yeah way too much bad luck with losing my gb carts....I'm haven't really lost one recently except to my own fault which I'm going to case them all up so they all have a home...just waiting on them to get here

[BoneSnapDeez]

Zelda II and Metroid I finally finished about 15 months ago. But those were the GBA ports - I feel like I still have unfinished business with the NES originals.

I haven't tried Zelda II, but Metroid I on the GBA I'd call harder due to the changes in screen ratios.

The thing about playing the GBA port is that I was able to play on my DS and put the console to sleep whenever I needed to stop playing. On an actual NES I'd have to record passwords. Not sure if this really makes the NES game "harder" but it's certainly more tedious.

I should just get the FDS version as it has saves.

[Cronozilla]

I don't have this exact problem, I think the only games this could apply to are NES games. I'd get pretty far in them and die, and would just stop trying. Ones off the top of my head from when I was a kid are SMB1, SMB3, Chip n Dale, and Nightmare on Elm Street. All of which I've beaten in the last year. So, hooray!

However. There are a lot of games I've played from the beginning over and over again, just because I'd get to a certain spot and wouldn't go back to the game. The reasons were always mixed, didn't want the game to end, the game felt frustrating, and other issues like that. I can talk about those a bit.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

When I was a kid, I rented the first Zelda on NES from the grocery store and ... absolutely hated it. I was an idiot. Because the issue was, I was very new to video games, and I didn't understand what Zelda was. The fact that it was top down was confusing, I didn't understand the open nature of the game, things like that. It's important to note, that no one showed me games when I first starting out. It was pure blind fire. And when I rented games, they didn't come with anything. It's just a cartridge and I had only played side-scrollers up to that point (and not very many) As a result, the name "The Legend of Zelda" got written off by me at an early stage. As a result, I never really tried to play the NES original, or the sequel ... or even A Link to the Past. Until Ocarina of Time came out.

I got the game the year it came out, mostly because no one would shut up about it. I figured, hey, I must have been wrong about this series, lets give it a go. And the game is wonderful and amazing and all that. I played the game up through the Water Temple, and the water temple itself I had no problems with. I got to the shadow temple and ... I don't know why, but I got very confused and one night I turned it off and didn't go back.

A few years ago, I slapped myself and said go play it again. I started over, and played up through where you get the gauntlets and have to go back as a kid. And then I turned it off and didn't go back to it again.

A year later, for the summer challenge thread, I said, hey, you have to finish this. So, I booted it up and finished the game ... finally ... after 15 years or something.

The main positive thing that happened from getting interested in Ocarina of Time around when it came out is it allowed me to take another look at the previous games. And I did buy them way back in high school. Still haven't finished them, but ... well it's an ongoing battle. Though, I will say I adore them greatly, I'm awful at finishing them.

Resident Evil

I've started this game 15 times. And I've never gotten out of the first part of the game. The furthest I've ever gotten is on the DS version, and the entire ground floor is clear of enemies (they don't respawn in the DS version) and I have almost no ammo and it looks like I'm SOL.

I really never liked this game, and it's stopped me from playing any of the others in the series. It feels like something I'll have to force myself to get through (which is usually the case, then I'll like it ... which is weird, I know) But to this day, I haven't finished any RE title. Which leads me to ...

Silent Hill

Everyone at my school psyched me out from playing this game at the time. I have played it, and I have gotten a decent way into it, but again the old done for the day, never came back problem. The furthest I got was The Hospital.

At the time, when Silent Hill came out, everyone played up how creepy the game is, and it really earwormed into my head. And I will say, objectively I think this is the most unsettling game I've played, even compared to things like Amnesia. This game sucks me in and it can freak me out. It gives just enough of an uneasy feeling that I don't feel like going back to the game.

In combination to that, when I bought it, I was very eager to play it and a friend I had at the time and I sat down and started going into it. And, this guy just ruined the whole experience. He was talking about how much everything sucks. We didn't even get to a transformed section of the game yet. This guy was really difficult to get into new games. You either played what he enjoyed, or he would be very difficult when trying something you liked. (The number of times I tried to get him to play Chrono Trigger was ridiculous. He was upset that it didn't have a jump button like Super Mario RPG. He would give games 15 minutes, maximum, before he started complaining about how much it sucked. Regardless of actual game quality.)

It's another game on my list, I actually quite like, that I haven't finished ... or gone back to.

Devil May Cry

Once I get to the witches, I just can't. The game becomes really frustrating for me.

Final Fantasy VII

This was another high school people hyped me up situation.
I finally got the game, I started playing it and I liked it OK. I got to some section in the mansion after Sephiroth flips out and during a random battle, the game freezes. I had enough for that day ... and apparently all days, because I've never booted it back up again.

Unlike a lot of the other titles I've talked about here ... this one just isn't very high on my "gotta go back and finish it" list. I really just don't care. I'd rather play 6 or 9.

Some other games that rest on the cusp of defeat, but are saved by the apathy in my bones:
Zack and Wiki

I'm on the final stage, I even know exactly what to do, but every time I have to pick up the bell again, the game doesn't do it and I die. I've done it 8 times.

Super Paper Mario

I played it to 100% at the time it came out, I'm very close to the end, I only have 1 or 2 Pixls remaining ... and I just never put it back in. I really need to finish this one.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I used to be an enormous Call of Duty fan. Until, that is, they released Call of Duty 4 and ruined almost everything that I enjoyed about the series. I'm aware that almost no one here will understand where I'm coming from on this one.

When Call of Duty came out, it was mind blowing. It completely revamped single player shooty shoot on PC. And it was in a string of revolutionary games, Half-Life, Medal of Honor: Allies Assault, and then Call of Duty. Of course this string did continue with Call of Duty 2, Half-Life 2, and even Doom 3 and Far Cry. Things just kept getting really interesting. Until Call of Duty 4 came out.

Call of Duty took what those guys did with Allied Assault and made it amazing. Beautifully strong level design. Incredible shooty shoot mechanics. Your guns acted like guns, instead of sling shots or something. And rolling through various parts of Europe and Africa was magnificent.

The level design in particular in Call of Duty 1 and 2 was extremely satisfying. They used some excellent design techniques making levels coil around themselves, or having branching paths that met back up in an arena. It was extremely well done. There were segments that weren't great and are definitely symptoms of the era the games came out in. The Pegasus bridge comes to mind. But overall, fantastic. The Dawnville section in Call of Duty 1 is some of the absolute best FPSing you'll ever play.

Then Call of Duty 4 came out. Not only was I somewhat perturbed that the "blow-em-away" enemy became Arabs (of whom is my heritage), but the level design I loved was just gone. In its place was hand held set piece moments where there was no choice in how you could tackle them. And, most of them were shown when the game was premiered, so if you bothered to pay any kind of attention the game was stale before you even played it the first time. Worse than that. They kept the arena defend gameplay. Which is the worst aspect of the original games.

CoD4 was an OK game. MW2, has some interesting plot elements. But what I experienced time and time again was, the game would present options, but they were false. There's a segment in the game where you get the ability to perform air strikes. You fought your way up through a town, and then have to fight your way back down. Except ............... you have to go a certain path, even though the other paths aren't blocked, because if you don't you will be almost instantly killed. How frustrating. Later in the game, you have to guard a house while everyone leaves for some reason, while defending computers. Oh goody gum drops. It's similar to the mission in CoD4 where you have to defend the carnival area while you wait for e-vac. You basically have to be cheap to get past these areas on PC. Maybe it's different on console, but the games I enjoyed are dead.

Last time I played Modern Warfare 2, I couldn't get past that cabin segment, I backed the game up and uninstalled it. Recently, I went back just to finish it up ... Steam Cloud deleted my save. So, the one game I didn't manually back up (it seriously is the one game I didn't back up the save file) and didn't enjoy playing up to that point, no longer has a save file.

Fuck. It.

There's others, I'm sure, but that's probably good for now. I apologize for any rambling. I put very little editing into this post.

[bmoc]

Jurassic Park 1 on the SNES

Nothing even needs to be said. Can anyone here confidently tell me that you beat this back in the day on the actual hardware? No password/save system. The game does not have infinite lives I believe and it's open world for the most part, with the first person maze sections getting more complex as they go, tons of trial and error triggers... seriously. Who's beaten this game?

My sister and I legitimately beat this back in the day with no guides or Internet. I think it took 3-4 hours on our successful attempt. We also mapped out a few of the FPS sections on graph paper. We never beat it again. Sometimes I play it again for nostalgia but I hardly make it past 30 minutes in.

[Markies]

Ninja Gaiden comes to mind.

Same here. That game....that game...

Thankfully, I've been able to destroy many White Whales in my collection recently. Castlevania I & II, Zelda II, Metroid, Earthbound, The World Is Not Enough, Final Fantasy VII & VIII...

However, some of them are still alive today. Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!!, Super Mario Brothers 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men 1 & 2,...

I've had them for way too long. I'll play them every now and then. Sometimes I'll make progress, sometimes I won't. They just refuse to die...

Someday they will be beaten...someday...

[Exhuminator]

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's responses.

I want to suggest picking a white whale and trying to beat it with the support of people in this thread.



As for myself, I slew one of my own last night. I beat Shadow Hearts. I'll review it in the Games Beaten thread later. Felt good man.

Other whales of mine...

Rygar (PS2) - Got to the last boss and couldn't beat it. (About four years ago.)

Zelda II - Got to shadow Link and couldn't beat 'em. (This was a longgg time ago.)

Metroid Prime 2 - Got to the Spider Ball boss and was frustrated with the bombing puzzle crap and just quite playing it. (About two years ago.)

[Ack]

Dude, congratulations on Shadow Hearts! I eagerly await your thoughts.

[Key-Glyph]

I love this!

I have to say, I've only put a concerted effort into beating a bunch of unfinished games twice in my life. The first was in high school, and it didn't go well. The second was this year's Summer Games Challenge, and that was freaking fantastic. The difference, besides my no longer living with my parents and therefore not feeling embarrassed about marathon sessions in my pajamas, was the fact that I had a community to report my struggles and successes to (and to hear about other people's adventures). It completely changed the ball game.

So now that I have a taste for it, this December I have my sights on at least one of the following:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES): I can get through the game and inside the Technodrome like it's my job, but the last time I made a serious attempt to beat this (my white whale hunt of '99) I was foiled by enemies that I didn't realize I could duck to avoid. (Arrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhh I will never stop groaning about this!) Mr. Popo's recent triumph has inspired me to tackle it.

WCW: World Championship Wrestling (NES): I love the crud out of this game, but as a kid thought it had to do with "timing" and not "mashing the button as fast as humanly possible." I mean, that's the only skill requirement, right? It's about mashing the button faster than the NES, so to speak? If so, I won't hold back this time, and I will Boston Crab my opponents into the next century.

Lemmings (GEN): I just got a box and manual for the cart I bought from FuncoLand back in the day, and if I'm reading the instructions right, there are input shortcuts in this game that I didn't know existed! For more than a decade I thought Lemmings was impossible without a mouse; now I'm positive that the ability to scroll through jobs and move the camera without using the cursor will change everything.

Wiz n' Liz (GEN): I love this game, but it really needs to be done in one sitting because you lose all of your extras and goodies if you restart and use a password. I should have realized this the last time I was playing, but I didn't, and just could not regain my momentum without my stuff post-password. I've been waiting until I finished some other titles before I made the commitment.

Shenmue (DC): Yes, Shemue. I got bogged down during the forklift section. Most people seem to love that part; I hate it. I was absolutely loving the game up until that point, so I should just bite the bullet and get it done. Especially with all the recent Shenmue hoopla going on!