Toughest game you've ever played?

I thought of this one last night as I was playing Tomb Raider III. Yes, that's right the 3rd installment of Playstation's very own icon Lara Croft (how she manages to climb rocky hills, swing from trees and back flip over spikes with those every growing 'canon balls' I'll never know!), which was first released 14 years ago.

I've downloaded a few PSOne classics from the PS Store recently that I'd played when I was younger (Spyro series) and TR3 was one of them. I'm beginning to wonder how I ever finished the game in my younger years as it's incredibly difficult to get from one end of the level to the other without dying 1000 times. This is compounded on the console version by having game-saves restricted to the amount of blue crystals you can collect (max 4/5 per level), the game being extremely dark, the controls being non user-freindly and the path through the levels being, for the most part, effectively followed by chance rather than any skill.

I came to the conclusion that this is most definitely the most difficult game I have ever played. 'They just don't make 'em like that any more'.

Dark Souls on the PS3 is the hardest game I've played in years, but its so good that you keep coming back for more.

Hardest Game ever? - Going way back, the first two Mega Man games and Castlevania on the NES caused a lot of frustration to be taken out on the controller (they don't make them like they used to either, i'm on my fourth Playstation equivalent).

Games are generally a lot easier now.

The original Resident Evil on PS1 was probably the hardest, possibly the scariest I've played as well. Still remember playing it for the first time in the dark and coming face to face with the first Zombie.

Ha, agree with you there Hampo. And then the slimy creature that crawled down from the ceiling...I shat myself.

Another good one is Dead Space. That game scared the life out of me, and that's why it was so hard. It gets to the point you don't want to turn a corner incase there is something waiting.

A number of the Legend of Zelda games. Twilight Princess particularly. I should point out that I'm not a big gamer, so feel free to laugh at my feebleness...

Jim

Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars hands down. Glad to know they've just raised over $800k to make the fifth installment coming in April 13'

I'm looking forward to the next BS game but have felt the instalments past No2 have become significantly easier, though the same can be said of Tomb Raider.

If I had to pick the toughest point 'n' click adventure game I ever played then its without doubt Discworld. I've played nearly everything LucasArts chose to throw at me during the 90's along with those lovely guys/gals at Seirra. Monkey Island/Grim Fandango probably hold the honour of being my favourite games of the genre but neither hold a candle to Discworld in terms of the most difficult.

As for games across the board then Contra, Super Mario 2 (Lost Levels) or Battletoads probably hold that title for me. Though in recent times Demon/Dark Souls certainly belongs in the aforementioned group.

The last or second last level of driver on PS1, I got all the way there and just couldn't do it, hellish.

I think the last boss on Metroid Prime as well.

Dark Souls is on the shelf .....

The last level on Driver! Police cars used to be flying everywhere.

Silent Hill was also quite difficult. And scary.

I concur on the Discworld game, that was one that was crying out for the internet to be able to get through certain puzzles. You'd literally spend weeks searching everywhere for some random thing to then insert into some other random thing to let you get to the next stage.

Not much of a gamer either but I found urban reign absolutely crazily difficult in some places and ridiculously easy in others ps2 i think

Discworld Noir was a nightmare and I found Broken Sword 2 much harder than the first

Dicey Reilly wrote:I found Broken Sword 2 much harder than the first

Broken Sword 2 on that Ketch's island I think it was called. When that boar runs at you, i didn't realise you had to grab the branch and the boar opens us a new route or something along those lines. I was just walking around for like 3 months on that island completely lost, infuriating. The only time I had to cheat on that game and read it up. Think i'm going to have to buy BS4 in preparation for BS5 next year.

I'm toiling at the moment with a point and click called machinarium on PS3, I'm just not getting some of the puzzles.

It looks lovely as well

John wrote:

Dicey Reilly wrote:I found Broken Sword 2 much harder than the first

Broken Sword 2 on that Ketch's island I think it was called. When that boar runs at you, i didn't realise you had to grab the branch and the boar opens us a new route or something along those lines. I was just walking around for like 3 months on that island completely lost, infuriating. The only time I had to cheat on that game and read it up. Think i'm going to have to buy BS4 in preparation for BS5 next year.

Or the part with the 2 old women and you had to hit the cat so it would do something to something else etc etc, without the walkthrough at that point I would have given up, just to many random things to do.

The last one I played was Sleeping Dragon, which was excellent

Sleeping Dragon was the last one I played too. They had a few years break and then bought out BS4 on PC but I havent yet played that. I prefer them on console but I guess i'll probably buy BS4 seeing as BS5 is being developed now. There's quite some excitment about BS5 with the game being in HD and will return to the series' 2D roots, with 3D characters pre-rendered and saved in 2D frames

I prefer them on console as well, pity the new one wont be but hey it's another in the line of a great series, I might look around and see can I find 4 as well and pop it on the laptop

Dicey Reilly wrote:I might look around and see can I find 4 as well and pop it on the laptop

I hear you can get BS1 for like £3 at like Play.Com. Basically daylight robbery that is for an absolute classic lol! Reckon BS4 will probably be available for around £10 if you look around.

This Broken Sword discussion got me thinking and I went on the Kickstarter Broken Sword forum and apparently Revolution games are saying that Broken Sword 5 will be set after Broken Sword 2, which is very interesting. Alot of people say the first two were brilliant and then it slowly went downhill which I tend to agree to an extent, so maybe Revolution games have decided to just forget about 3 & 4 and just focus on continuing a story that carries on from 3. It would work seeing as there is a significant time gap between 2 and 3 where George & Nico have gone separate ways.

Intriguing stuff.

http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue/adventure/

Just type Broken Sword into the search box and you can get all the games (1-4) from there for $5.99 (£3.70) each.

Plus they will all be updated to work on Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Digimon Digital Card Battle for PS1. I remember playing it when I was a kid and it used to do my head in.

Airwolf on Amstrad cpc 464. After that one of the prince of persia games. just couldn't get past the first level

Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum took me 16 years to finish it and then only because I cheated and used a save system on an emulator!

I was absolutely rubbish at Manic Miner, I get cold sweats just thinking about it.

Wasn't Jet Set Willy meant to be impossible?

The Kirby games. Annoyed the crap out of me and caused many smashing of the joystick!!

i remember being stuck in the water temple on zelda ocarina of time for quite a while! didnt have the internet back then where i could simply check what i needed to do.

oh and goldeneye could be tough when you get on the highest level, the level where you had to keep natalya alive when there all shooting at you, those pesky exploding computers used to get her!

In recent times ninja gaiden sigma 2, in particular the online missions has to be the most difficult I've played. The first 2 ultimate ninja missions are ridiculous.

Demon's Souls is pretty difficult. It's one of the few games of it's kind where it's better to be a spellcaster than using melee (I think as I didn't use magic much but just heard about it being better for various reasons). It's also difficult to be lazy and try and just run through to get back to where you were before you died so you can get fed up easily.

I've also found from psn that sonic is way harder than mario ever was.

Donkey kong that effin mine level. Did my nut in, only ever passed it once

Ninja Gaiden 1 or 2 was seriously hard as you got to the latter stages! Also Indiana Jones on the original xbox was so frustrating having to repeat the puzzles over and over because of one failed impossible jump!

Of all the games that I have bought thought out my life, there where only 2 that I have never completed. And they where both for the Megadrive. One was Greendog and the other was Dynamite Heady. My bird bought me Sega Megadrive classics for the PS3 and that had Dynamite Heady on there, and am worst at it now then I was then, and am able to save the game now!! Still havent completed but I might have a blast when am off work next haha. And Greendog was that long ago I can't even remember how far I got.

John wrote:Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars hands down. Glad to know they've just raised over $800k to make the fifth installment coming in April 13'

Was that the one where the clown planted a bomb at the start?

I thought the Final Fanasties where a pain in the arse to play aswell and took a lot of playing hours to complete

Revenge of Shinobi on the Megadrive. Always got the level near the end that was like a maze. Could never find my way through. Use to infuriate me something chronic!

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:Of all the games that I have bought thought out my life, there where only 2 that I have never completed. And they where both for the Megadrive. One was Greendog and the other was Dynamite Heady. My bird bought me Sega Megadrive classics for the PS3 and that had Dynamite Heady on there, and am worst at it now then I was then, and am able to save the game now!! Still havent completed but I might have a blast when am off work next haha. And Greendog was that long ago I can't even remember how far I got.

John wrote:Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars hands down. Glad to know they've just raised over $800k to make the fifth installment coming in April 13'

Was that the one where the clown planted a bomb at the start?

I thought the Final Fanasties where a pain in the arse to play aswell and took a lot of playing hours to complete

Same here, as a kid I struggled to get too far on it because of the amount of time I was allowed on the mega-drive, but now as a grown up I still struggle, and it is more because I just can't get the timing nailed to open the head-jar-things, or to grab thos ebits that pull you up etc.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:Was that the one where the clown planted a bomb at the start?

Yes.

Quackshot on the MegaDrive. The level when the roof caves in. I could never get passed it.

Rick Dangerous?

Halo 1 on legendary considering I was 9 when I did it

Ninja for the Master System and the original R-Type were particulary hard

cherriesfan wrote:Halo 1 on legendary considering I was 9 when I did it

Halo 4 on legendary now!

Pr4wn wrote:

cherriesfan wrote:Halo 1 on legendary considering I was 9 when I did it

Halo 4 on legendary now!

That's my weekend

Pr4wn wrote:

cherriesfan wrote:Halo 1 on legendary considering I was 9 when I did it

Halo 4 on legendary now!

That's my weekend

Interceptor wrote:Ninja for the Master System and the original R-Type were particulary hard

R-Type was a beast of a game to beat. I remember accessing a cheat from a gaming phone line in the late 80's which gave me invincibility. Without that cheat I'd have had no chance!

liverbnz wrote:The last level on Driver! Police cars used to be flying everywhere.

Silent Hill was also quite difficult. And scary.

was that where you were in a limo?

Driver 2 was easy in comparison (in actual fact, I couldnt complete that level!)

FreekShow wrote:

Interceptor wrote:Ninja for the Master System and the original R-Type were particulary hard

R-Type was a beast of a game to beat. I remember accessing a cheat from a gaming phone line in the late 80's which gave me invincibility. Without that cheat I'd have had no chance!

Many a controller were thrown at the TV when I played R-Type in hissy fit rage.

I don't know about the last level of Driver, but I pulled my hair out getting out of the car park before the game even began proper!!

Ha! I remember that! The reverse 180!

ME1 on the hardest difficulty starting at level 1.

The Mercs were ****ing invulnerable.

Anyone play a game called XIII? On the hardest difficulty level it was pretty tough.

break_in_the_fifth wrote:Anyone play a game called XIII? On the hardest difficulty level it was pretty tough.

the old cartoony style shooter for XBOX?

i had it and found it hard

I loved XIII - I had it on the PS2.

One of the few games I quite happily went back to a few months later and played again. ACtually, I wouldnt mind playing it now! From memory, the game got panned but for me it was very reminiscent of the original Goldeneye.