Typical Frustrations
As a gamer growing up from the old school generation, games had their typical frustrations that many of us can relate to. I am sure that if you ever played any of the Nintendo consoles with cartridge games you have surely done the tricks we all used to use when all else fails.
There was nothing worse than being all excited to play and getting the game shoved into place only to have it freeze up... or that half start then half reset glitch occur. Of course, the standard operating procedure was to take the game out and blow on the contacts. Many of us probably did this until we almost passed out thinking we were the game doctor!
Myth Debunked: Blowing in your Nintendo games
never actually fixed anything - GeekWire article
Sometimes, for more precarious situations and on more used consoles there was a trick of putting the game in super rough and getting it jammed in there nice and forcefully. That worked on a rare occasion but was probably why the consoles were wearing out so quickly. Then there was the delicate touch approach where you try to get it in there with as little contact with anything as possible.
For a few NES consoles, i recall having to push it all the way in delicately and then try to angle it at the last contact push. Even pushing the game almost all the way in and flipping it down once you pushed down rather than in so it HAD to go into the the proper place in the slot.
All of these techniques were just the typical frustrations of trying to get your games to work when those cartridges and consoles were acting up. The expert game doctors knew that if you got a Q-tip and put some rubbing alcohol on there and swabbed the contacts worked best. For me, i always ended up with cotton on the contacts and thought i would start an electric fire! The good 'ol days!
Waiting Your Turn To Play
Unless you are a single child, and even then when around friends, we could all agree to wait our turn to play was the most typical frustration. I know many sibling rivalries were exacerbated from having to wait out a turn to play. Or, over a fight, having been told to turn the games off before we got our turns. Patience is a virtue and a hard-learned one at that from playing video games!
Let Downs
I think some of my worst memories in gaming had to do with expectations. Not even high expectations... just expectations in general. I grew up in a household that enjoyed Horror Movies. Anytime there was a video game based on a good movie... you would likely assume it would be playable.
Big Mistake
One of the first games that came to mind was Friday the 13th the video game. I remember getting it rented and being super excited that night to play or watch being played since it's one player. Aside from the music being the only good quality about this title... it wasn't enough to carry the game into ANY good memories. I can see why it's considered one of the worst and most difficult games in history.
Friday the 13th
Beyond lackluster is a gross understatement. You pretty much just walk around and try to figure the game out as you go. There are bats and wolves and zombies or something like that, which are in zero of the movies, and Jason just pops in a few times. It's pretty random when he does and you don't have much hope against him with your little rock.
You are in a hurry because he will kill the kids or something like that and you just wander around trying to figure the game out and get better stuff along the way. It would get dark and there were many cabins around. That's about all the connections to the movies that it had. Super Disappointed with this game.
I Finally Braved ‘Friday the 13th,' One of the Worst Nintendo Games Ever - Vice Article
Another game that had high hopes and aspirations of being Legendary that fell extremely short of it's amazing potential was JAWS.
This game can be summed up in the short review below. Essentially, you are just on a boat cruising around... a lot. The music picks up and you think something is going to happen... then it doesn't. You have to follow a crappy map to nowhere. You are a scuba diver harpooning jellyfish and a couple of sharks here and there mostly if, and i stress IF, any action ever happens.
Opening Title Scene (the best graphics you will see in the game)
If Jaws ever appeared he wasn't much bigger than the sharks you were already harpooning. I never made it so far but apparently you try to ram the boat into him at some point. For as much as i gave this one a go... i still don't have any good things to say about it! What a horrible game that i played a lot of.
Looks like i didn't miss out on much based on a quote from the article below, "But by the time you reach the final anti-climactic scene, you'll be so tired that you won't care if you kill Jaws or not. You'll just be glad the game's almost over."
The cover which inspired the title screen.
Another major disappointment was the Nightmare on Elm Street game. It could have had a different name and been more well-received, however... it had the expectations that came with the title.
A Nightmare on Elm Street video game
This was another video game that was carried by it's soundtrack and there was really only one portion of the music that was memorable closer to the end. I usually didn't get that far. You just collect bones and try not to fall asleep in the game (and real-life)... dodge typical type enemies for any game and there was nothing positive to say about this one.
This game was a nightmare... on any street that tried to play it hoping it would be any inkling of what was hoped for.
The Biggest Let Down EVER!
As a more than average nerd of my day, i had quite the affinity for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The franchise originally began as a more adult-oriented comic book. It was in black and white but even once they came out in color, the Turtles originally all had red bandanas, which you can see on the game's cover below.
It wasn't until years later that the cartoon came out and they decided to give each character their own defining color. You can read more about the comic book if you click on the cartoon logo below.
Cartoon Logo
I have a lot of great memories surrounding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... unfortunately, the original game didn't foster any one of them!
The original game was released more in line with the comic book content. It still fell very flat in that regard. The best characters were conspicuously missing. The graphics were pretty bad. The story was beyond horrendous. The gameplay was everything you never wanted in a game.
I couldn't have summed it up better myself than the quote from the NintendoLife article here, "Turtle mania was sweeping the world when this came out in 1989. That's probably why this game was so popular despite it being an unfair bag of dog's droppings!" You can check out the horrible overview for a great portion of the game as well as read the full article below.
NintendoLife.com Article
In an article by CBR.com, which you can read from the next image, ranks all 15 of the TMNT games from worst to best; 15 being the worst and number 1 being the best. This title ended up scoring number 11 on that list but should have been ranked in last place! They were more merciful than the game was and/or i would have been in my judgement.
15 TMNT Video Games Ranked From Worst To Best
Between the horrible overhead view, lack of real action, the squandering of opportunity in the story and lack of any real enemies it's hard to pinpoint which aspect of this game was more disappointing. I think not making this a two-player game was one of many fatal flaws.
You could be all of the turtles, just never more than one at the same time. You could switch which was cool but they all basically were not very good to use. Donatello with his staff was the best along with Leonardo and the swords because of the distance. Michaelangelo and Rafael were pretty much useless in the long run. It was sad to see this game turn out as it did.
I still played it but it never got any easier!
"Many gamers and TMNT fans will still shudder when remembering the underwater level with the electric grass. Even today it takes a skilled player immeasurable patience to get through that underwater ordeal." -CBR.com article
I think the absolute worst part of this game was the impossible difficulty. I rage quit this game more times than i can remember. The swimming part, which i figured turtles would be good at, was horrible.
They swam at some weird angle that pretty much assured you would run into everything you would or could ever try to avoid. There was this electric grass that would kill all of your turtles while you were under the pressure of making it through in a short amount of time. You can watch the playthrough in the video above. At around 1:18 in you can see the Death of My Childhood!
Try Playing TMNT yourself HERE at Retro Games
In the graphic above you can give the game a try for yourself. If you do: A.) Don't say i didn't warn you & B.) Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.
As a great part of my childhood, this game had no role to play. If anything, it taught me how disappointing life can be at times... especially when you get your hopes up too high.
Some Final (Fantasy) Thoughts
I mentioned Final Fantasy 6, or part 3 as it were here in the USA, in my last post ThrowBack Thursday - MY Best Video Game Memories 2. It was one of my favorite games on Super Nintendo to play for a time. It opened the door to RPG and turn-based action in games for me. With all of it's upside it had one of my worst memories ever in gaming associated with it.
At some point in the game, you get an airship you can use to navigate and travel in. It's a wonderful time saver and an awesome feature as far as using vehicles is concerned. However, for me, it was one of the worst things ever to be invented as far as my game experience was concerned.
"Piloting an airship for the first time is one of the biggest thrills of Final Fantasy VI"
I used to go around trying to fight the monsters that would pop up and gain experience so i would be more well equipped to fight the next section of the game more smoothly.
I think i got too baked one night and ended up skipping through the story to find out where i needed to go and what i needed to do next after beating a portion. By this point i did already have the airship. I ended up flying around for weeks exploring and trying to get back on track for the storyline of the game.
It killed me. I was too far ahead to quit... but my save point was right where i lost my way. There was nothing i could do to recall what i never knew and what little i could remember dissipated over the weeks. I eventually hung up my Final Fantasy 6 gloves in sadness and defeat.
Good Times Gone Bad
Ironically, it wasn't much later than i upgraded from Super Nintendo to PlayStation 1. The very first game i ever bough was Final Fantasy 7. I couldn't wait for this one and it definitely did not disappoint. I remember not being able to wait to get home from school or work so i could play. I have many great memories with this title.
Eventually, i got close to the end of the game. If i recall correctly it had 3 cd's. So, when i got to the third one i knew it was getting close. I eventually got to one boss that i absolutely could not beat. I tried for weeks which turned to months. I rage quit and cursed the game... until i put the controller down for good and the game away for a long long time.
Final Fantasy 7 Final Boss
As it turns out, that was the final boss. The rest of that account will be a story for another time. Needless to say, that was one of my worst memories ever because i hate to quit in or on anything. You know it was brutal if it made me walk away.
No, No i didn't Die....
Thank you for taking the time to read this. All in all, it wasn't so bad. I guess you gotta take to good with the bad even if it's ugly! If it made you laugh then my bad experiences were worth enduring then and sharing now.
Thanks For Stopping By
Congratulations @castleberry! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPDo not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
I remember that I fucked up my console by forcing the cartridge hard, as it was the only way it would work. Then, because of the force I was exerting, something broke inside, at least that's what I felt and that was the end of my console. I also had a bad experience cleaning the contacts of the cartridge with a swab. I remember dipping the swab in alcohol and running it over the contacts, it dripped and went into the cartridge. The cartridge worked perfectly, but the console ended up getting damaged because the alcohol entered the console from the cartridge when it was on. I remember crying a lot hahaha but these things happen. I really liked your post, as always, they are very good.
Thanks Perce! I am surprised a non-boomer could/would relate so well! Hahaha I used to know and use all them tricks on those cartridges. And just as i speculated... the force move was the most dangerous. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment browski! Check out that article link up top about the myth of blowing on the games! It was a funny read.
That Turtle game was awesome. lol. I actually liked it when I was younger, but it is because I was good at it. I do remember the water levels, but once you got the swimming down, it was easy. I liked driving the turtle machine around and blowing stuff up.
I thought Mario swam better than those turtles. I always hoped the game got better. I don't recall getting past that dam scene many times. If i did it was only by the skin of my teeth so i probably died almost immediately after. I wanted to cruise around in the Turtle wagon and blow stuff up too.... but i guess i never got as good at it as you. hahaha How dare you go against my narrative! The Arcade TMNT for NES was way better!
I don't know how we are still alive after blowing so many cartridges and mixing alcohol with electronics hahahaha
Me either! Hahahaha It probably helped our lung health though in the long run! hahahaha
Playing these games was crazy fun.
Blowing part is crazy. somehow you think it will work.
What about the controller burning out.
Got to open them and clean then and sometimes
put something to make the touches and direction to work.
What a time!
I was too scared to open any of the things... i knew i would make it go from bad to worse. I think the worst thing in the world was buttons that got stuck or that wouldn't work the way you needed at the right time! ahahaha
It usually meant you had been using them very often!
I hated final fantasy so much. That game was the ultimate clickbait of games.
I played it on PlayStation 1 and I remember having high hopes based on the graphics on the CD, only to see these tiny things on the screen taking turns to use dumb magic moves.
In my defence, I hadn't seen any of the animations at the time and I think I borrowed the CD from a friend.
Apparently, while reading up on this game for the post.... it was one of the first attempts at adding 3D to the mix. I did feel a little jipped when the scenes looked way better than the gameplay. I did cut my teeth on the FF 6 game which was a lot more like the lesser portions of the gameplay and graphics at all times. It seemed a bit kiddy... but the story wasn't.
I had a background in appreciating anime... so i didn't have too difficult of a time seperating my discontent with the graphics or style. Eventually, learning how to play as i went and valuing how much went into the story and the settings as far as interaction goes... it was a pretty immersive game and environment. Part 7 was a major upgrade in all aspects.
For me, both of those Final Fantasy titles had their ups and downs but overall were a great gaming experience for me. Other than the things i mentioned in the post which were my fault. High Hopes oftentimes lead to disappointment. Sorry you didn't get more joy from your time with Final Fantasy!
Yeah I only started the anime a bit later, so I didn't connect with the game at the time. I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I connected with the characters in the adventure.
I feel ya man! I liked the strategy aspects and the characters were ok. Unlocking the story was kind of fun too... waiting to see what the deal was. Eventually, i may go and revisit one of these old school classics and see how i feel about them now!
Hahahahaha, I knew your post would be great, I remember that we had to blow the nintendo cartridges too 😂, that or pass a pencil eraser on the contact, again and again and again.
And wow the final nintendo fantasy, more pixels than usual 😂, I did not touch these games the truth, but for the time this was the best of the best I guess.
I gotta agree with @castleberry here that turtle game did suck and i could never get past the water level either
That was one hell of a nostalgic read!
We're eye-to-eye on every game but Friday the 13th. Don't get me wrong, when I was a kid I absolutely hated that thing with ever fiber of my being. Worst rental ever.
But years later, when I was in college and remembering all the NES games that kicked my ass as a kid, I found that cart at a flea market, picked it up, took it home, and really messed around with it. And you know what? It's still, objectively speaking, a bad game. But it's a bad game because it fails to communicate to the player what his or her objectives are, and how to go about meeting them.
Once you know what you're doing, and you're playing it the way the developers intended for it to be played though? It's a ton of fun (not to mention a hell of a lot easier).
YouTuber Lord Kayoss did a fully-commentated playthrough of the game, explaining what the player needs to know in order to complete it. He finishes all three days, killing Jason all three times, while showing the path to victory. I love this video, and I still watch it at least once a year, normally around Halloween. Check it out, and see if it helps change your perception of the game at all. :)
Yeah, it's funny because on the link to the Friday the 13th cover... there is a Vice article there. Here is the link to save you scrolling, in case you are interested in checking it out. It essentially expressed what all you just said about the game. I was almost wondering if you had been the author?!? hahahah
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mvxxjq/i-finally-braved-friday-the-13th-one-of-the-worst-nintendo-games-ever-900
I won't bash any games too hard since i don't make games and for the time many of them were pushing the limits of the ability to push graphics and incorporate stories along with fun gameplay. Quite the challenge and my hat is off to all those that made these things possible... for better and for worse! I honestly think it came down to expectations and being too young to appreciate what was going on. The older i have gotten the more i enjoyed the challenging games where you have to figure it out as you go. I think when it came to horror, for my family, we had high hopes. This game was a lost cause back then if you wanted to have fun... but not all things stay lost forever. Glad you have had some good memories surrounding the game and i will check out that playthrough.
I am super happy that you felt the nostalgia in this post. I appreciate you taking the time to read it and comment. Hugs Bro..... Hugs
That Vice article is great! I wasn't the author, but man, I sure could have been!
Thanks for the reply. I've been delighted to see everyone else's "worst game experiences" in this contest, and it's been surprising. About half of them, I finish reading and I think, "Yup, right there with you."
The other half, though? I'm left with, "Did we even play the same game?" Makes me wonder if somewhere out there, there's someone preparing to downvote my piece about Redneck Rampage because it was the best FPS ever made. :)
Hugs back, bro. Keep up the excellent work!
Hahaha yeah, your post was really funny. I related to most of the experiences i've read so far except the games i didn't play or getting robbed. Aliens and Rednecks... how can you lose?!? And now you see why i thought you may as well been the author of that article! hahaha
I have not really played all of the games you have just mentioned from friday the 13th to Nightmare on Elm Street. All I know is that they were movies😂😂😂😂As I go through every games, it was released 10 years or more before I was born (2000) so maybe it has gone less popular when I got to 4 years old or more. Taking turns to play is really frustrating. We once had this DVD player(includes a controller) in which if you connect it to the tv, there is contra and super mario games and more that you can play with. I have two brothers and I was the youngest so I am the NOOBEST. We take turns if someone dies. They got to play for a long time because they are good while the 6 yr old me play for a lesser time. I felt so frustrated that time because fuck it is really unfair. They should consider my skills as a child but they were also hungry for playing, tf, foolish brothers😂😂I also remembered a time where I throw the controller when I died because I know I will wait for a long time. I somehow broke some part of that DVD(there was a part that I broke but not the whole device). So my mom was there and boom BUTT-SLAPPING TIME😂😂
Yeah, being a youngster... you missed out on some of the best of times/games and worst of times/games. Going back and playing some of these older titles just isn't the same if you didn't grow up with the limitations. At the time many of the games were cutting edge. So, even when they were bad... they only usually got worse... comparatively speaking, considering how fast and far the tech and graphics and gameplay leveled up.
I wrote about the waiting in my first memories post and expressed pretty much the same thing you mentioned about your frustrations. It's never fair when you finally get your turn and get wrecked early on. But of course, the addict in us all usually wants to hurry up and get to our next turn no matter the skill level.
Sorry you broke your game. I know many controllers that bit the dust due to a good emotional outburst or two. Be glad your mom whooped your ass instead of your siblings! hahahha Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read and comment over here browski!
Your sense of humor in this post was so damn good, @castleberry... Haha! Also, a well written post too!
A lot of "nice" gaming memories you have. It was really good to read them.
Thanks for your kind words! I am super glad you appreciated reading the memories and that you found the humor in the post. I feel like if i got a laugh out of the deal the post is a success! hahaha
TMNT was really hard. That swimming section caused lots of frustration for everyone.
Yup, Friday the 13th was the least intuitive game I have ever played. They should have just added Freddie C to the mix and called it a car show.
Games based off of movies are usually horrible. They get pushed through production and then a Marketing department suddenly appears and creates an advertising distraction that removes programers from doing things that create a solid game. This takes it's toll on the quality of the game. QA department gets less time to find issues... "as long as it doesn't crash" mentality takes over.
I've found lots of bugs in movie games. B level bugs that allow the user to jump off the map, enter the score screen, fight/character function during transition screens, weird stuff that only weird QA people can reproduce.
That's pretty trippy to consider and I agree, btw, You would think the games that have a movie associated with it would be better, not worse. Of course big money and small timetables always have to get in the way of opportunity and perfection!
I am glad the Ninja Turtles had the arcade version on Nintendo around the same time.... so it's a little consolation. It's all pretty interesting what you said and what goes into making a successful game or what doesn't go in contributing to it's unsuccess! Thanks for taking the time to read this and comment!
Yeah, they just want to milk the license and push the game out.
By the way, that gif in your comment is better than the entire Mortal Combat Movie.
The Ninja Turtle Arcade was lots of fun! (Simpsons and Marvel)
Yes, ironically i just watched the Mortal Kombat movie last night.... and wondered what i loved about it so much back in the day. hahahaha We should license the license! The Simpsons was a great arcade game and the console version wasn't bad either. We need to get the IBT band back together again! hahaha
Totally agree that game is dog excrement because ninja turtles and that game are nothing similar, there was a much better frog game although I am from the time of 2000 and I started being a gamer at 10 as such but that aberration happened me.
HAHAHAHA I saw that game in a video that is nothing to do with Friday the 13th, the opposite happened to me with Silent Hill 2 I preferred not to be scared and it traumatizes me a bit although it may be because of the content of the game and because at that time it was more fearful than the word xD.
: v shark games are bad none of them are good for anything>. <they are like saying hey buy me so you can catch me hate.
Yeah, i think you are talking about Battle-Toads! That game was super fun. Ninja Turtles arcade game and the part two of that were great. This one was just nothing that i was expecting. My problem was having any! They could have called it something else and it would have been probably better as a game. Yeah, Ecco the Dolphin was pretty good, even though i thought it was gonna suck. I think sharks were in it but that wasn't a selling point. Thanks for taking time to read and commant and i appreciate the reblog!
Well, I just loved this post! I'm not that old so the first console that gave me a lot of troubles was the N64, that epic battle with the cartridges to start was really awful, that forbidden technique of blowing the magnetic contact to see if it could make a better connection with the console and wait for a miracle was just legendary.
Then, when I had PS1, I remember those moments of tension when the CD doesn't start and you just stay there in front of the TV watching and waiting for the PS logo to appear and show you that it actually works!
If I can talk about a videogame I had a lot of frustration with games like Contra or Metal Slug because I was a child in that time (I'm 26 years old right now) so my cousins didn't let me play or I just played alone like a child pressing all the buttons and waiting for something cool haha
Great work!
Yeah, Nintendo 64 didn't have near the same amount of problems cartridge wise as did the og NES. I remember having the PS1 discs and taking them out and breathing on them to get that fog and then wiping them from the center out carefully. It was the equivalent of the blowing trick. It may have worked.... it probably didn't! Contra and Metal Slug were both difficult. I liked Metal Slug and it's sequels in the arcade. They were a great combo of animation and gameplay.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on this post! Glad you could identify with some of it's content!
There's just so much nostalgia here. Man the turtles game and its underwater level still haunts my nightmares lol awesome submission !tip
Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. I played that game recently on an emulator and still got stuck at the underwater spot! hahahaha Some things never change!
🎁 Hi @castleberry! You have received 0.1 HIVE tip from @johneyreacko!
@johneyreacko wrote lately about: A Lifetime Of Bad Gaming Experiences - A Snapshot Feel free to follow @johneyreacko if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
Congratulations @castleberry! You received a personal badge!
Wait until the end of Power Up Day to find out the size of your Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
Congratulations @castleberry! You received a personal badge!
Participate in the next Power Up Day and try to power-up more HIVE to get a bigger Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz: