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