Why are NES games so hard?!

[skullpoker]

I tried to play Mega-Man 1, which was a complete nightmare for me.. Also the TMNT game, Shadowgate and Nightshade were also frustrating
Mega Man..... I hated myself for playing it
This video
I kinda agree Most of the new games are easy

MegaMan has some extremely tricky parts but the boss fights can be made extremely easy with the bug(rapidly pause with Select so your Boss weapons hit multiple times). TMNT got hard AF at the last level, and I think the level before that had the boss in a random room within the level. Shadowgate, just never ever play that without a walkthrough. Finding Item X that is 2x2 pixels in a room on one end of the map to use in some absolutely obtuse fashion at the other end of the game... just no.

"however, (Nightshade) served as the basis for Beam Software's 1993 game Shadowrun." from Wikipedia, so I would expect that to be nearly as incomprehensible as Shadowgate. I remember at least 2 times in Shadowrun being exactly like I described above with Shadowgate.

[s0lidsnake]

MegaMan has some extremely tricky parts but the boss fights can be made extremely easy with the bug(rapidly pause with Select so your Boss weapons hit multiple times). TMNT got hard AF at the last level, and I think the level before that had the boss in a random room within the level. Shadowgate, just never ever play that without a walkthrough. Finding Item X that is 2x2 pixels in a room on one end of the map to use in some absolutely obtuse fashion at the other end of the game... just no.

"however, (Nightshade) served as the basis for Beam Software's 1993 game Shadowrun." from Wikipedia, so I would expect that to be nearly as incomprehensible as Shadowgate. I remember at least 2 times in Shadowrun being exactly like I described above with Shadowgate.

Nightshade was a disaster, a beat-em-up with no purpose at all. It even failed being a point-and-click adventure game.

Have you tried Deja-Vu by the way? It has the same engine as Shadowgate

[Warrior]

Nightshade was a disaster, a beat-em-up with no purpose at all. It even failed being a point-and-click adventure game.

Have you tried Deja-Vu by the way? It has the same engine as Shadowgate

I love the Adventure games from that company and when I saw Shadowgate was remade by the original creators for PC and DRM Free I had to get it when it was on sale.

I normally can't stand Adventure games but those are special.

[danielcampbell]

It's mostly due to the transition from arcades to home. Back in those days the only game design people knew to be successful was arcade game design. What were arcade games designed to do? Be hard as balls so you have to keep putting in quarters if you want to play.

[deadlegion]

It's mostly due to the transition from arcades to home. Back in those days the only game design people knew to be successful was arcade game design. What were arcade games designed to do? Be hard as balls so you have to keep putting in quarters if you want to play.

Dip switches in arcade machines can change difficulty setting. Yes many were set to hard (for the reason you stated) but that could be changed in the right circumstances.

[skullpoker]

hi, guys, have you ever played the 3ds games with sky3ds+ flashcart? I heard it's good to use and want to buy one.
Do you have some suggestions?

There's this fantastic thing called "starting your own thread". You may want to look in to that, preferably in the Everything Console>Nintendo Systems section.

[Elmdor Rizer]

I tried to play Mega-Man 1, which was a complete nightmare for me.. Also the TMNT game, Shadowgate and Nightshade were also frustrating

Mega Man..... I hated myself for playing it

This video

I kinda agree Most of the new games are easy

Beat Mega Man and Shadowgate when I was seven or eight. Last time I played Mega Man I beat the yellow devil thingie without getting hit. Hey! I thought it was cool...

Ahem, although it could be added that my brother-in-law told me about using the seemingly good-for-noting-potion to get by the bridge I had forgotten about 100 screens before.

Kids back then were more skilled, smarter, wittier and even more handsome.

Obviously.

MegaMan has some extremely tricky parts but the boss fights can be made extremely easy with the bug(rapidly pause with Select so your Boss weapons hit multiple times). TMNT got hard AF at the last level, and I think the level before that had the boss in a random room within the level. Shadowgate, just never ever play that without a walkthrough. Finding Item X that is 2x2 pixels in a room on one end of the map to use in some absolutely obtuse fashion at the other end of the game... just no.

"however, (Nightshade) served as the basis for Beam Software's 1993 game Shadowrun." from Wikipedia, so I would expect that to be nearly as incomprehensible as Shadowgate. I remember at least 2 times in Shadowrun being exactly like I described above with Shadowgate.

Shadowrun isn't difficult. Just slightly annoying at times, but luckily it makes up for it by being freaking grand all of the time.

[Dr. Prower]

Honestly, the reason games were hard back then falls on the fact that games had to last a while. If it was too easy they could be beaten in a short time in most cases, and then your money would feel wasted.

[TheScorpionX]

I really, really think it depends on the game, your skill at it... or sometimes just plain trial and error.

That's what I always thought about videogames.

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[Nick Naim]

It was said already that it was to prolong gameplay or poor design. So the good games that were hard were on purpose to prolong gameplay. The bad ones were just bad design.

[skullpoker]

Viagra. You know those old games need it.

[Gee_Crow]

You should play the 1985 arcade version of "Gauntlet" sometime. Not only was it HARD, it was ADDICTIVE. I tried it one time & I was HOOKED. I must have fed half a bazillion quarters into that game!

[RhoAlpha]

Because game developers didn't know how to make games easy.


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[TehMojopo]

Because game developers didn't know how to make games easy.

This.

Or at least, developers didn't know how to make games have a proper difficulty curve.

For a good example of a fantastic difficulty curve from this era, look at Gargoyle's Quest II. It may be a little too easy for the NES, but for the most part it takes you smoothly and enjoyably through the game. Easy enough for a kid, but hard enough for an adult. Classic Capcom quality.
And another thing is, it has no difficulty settings: It's just the game.

Classic NES games were only difficult because they weren't designed well.

[correa81]

cause this generation of people are pussys and easily offended