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Author Topic: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?  (Read 6027 times)

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Grimoz

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In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« on: December 04, 2011, 10:13:24 pm »
Just wondering what you guys think is the hardest arcade game ever, this question came to me last night while playing choplifter, that is a hella tough game.

DaveMMR

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2011, 10:19:08 pm »
Easy - "Haunted Castle" (the arcade-only Castlevania entry).  Even with the settings in my favor I don't last more than a minute. Bats take half your life bar, you have one life, and limited continues (which doesn't even have generous restart points). Pretty stupid that they design an arcade game that discourages feeding in coins...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/HauntedCastle

And it's not challenging-but-fun hard, but rather infuriating-and-annoying hard.

Grimoz

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2011, 10:25:21 pm »
And it's not challenging-but-fun hard, but rather infuriating-and-annoying hard.

I hear that, like Dragons Lair on NES, that game was just stupid hard.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2011, 10:29:42 am »
Best challenging-but-fun arcade game: Renegade

Shinobi and Rastan are both games that start changing the rules towards the end.  I'd love to play through them, but they don't allow continues during the final, hardest stages.

Ghouls and Ghosts is challenging-but-fun, but when you get to the end the rules get really wonky, which makes the game fun-but-frustrating.  The game always makes me start over at the beginning because I didn't do something right the first time around.  Then I am fuzzy on whether or not I will make the same mistake again the second time around.

I think that Defender and Stargate are really freaking hard.  Robotron is freaking-awesome-but-hard.

None of these games qualify as "hardest games", though.  The really hard games I have played are not Arcade games.  Shadow of the Beast II is probably the hardest game I have ever really played, and back in the day it was a good enough game that I tried to stick it out.  Once I got to the final end boss and lost, but the whole process was so exhausting that I put the controller down and never put in the effort it took to make it that far again.

The Japanese Super Mario Brothers 2 is perhaps significantly tougher, I have not gotten far at all in the game despite repeated attempts.  Here is a description from Wikipedia:

"Nintendo of America disliked the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, which they found to be frustratingly difficult and otherwise little more than a modification of Super Mario Bros.. As they did not want to risk the franchise's popularity, they canceled its stateside release and eventually decided on reworking Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic into the Western Super Mario Bros. 2."

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2011, 10:31:44 am »
I hear that, like Dragons Lair on NES, that game was just stupid hard.

It was just stupid. The design made the game way too hard because it was just crap.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 10:38:37 am by Ginsu Victim »

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2011, 11:41:18 am »
Haunted Castle hands down

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2011, 01:45:41 pm »
The hardest I have played is Sinistar.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2011, 02:40:08 pm »
Maybe I just suck at it, but Outzone is pretty dang hard IMO.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2011, 02:40:39 pm »
I would say Pole Position, I had one fall out of a truck and it only broke in half.
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2011, 03:11:54 pm »
I see your Pole Position, but raise you an Operation Wolf. I had one (a water damaged one at that) fall, from standing upright, right onto my tailgate while I was going 75mph down the interstate. The mirror didn't even break inside. ;D

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2011, 03:16:59 pm »
Defender... I hate that game.  :badmood:

One of the few games that takes longer to "fumble in pocket for quarter, put quarter in slot, hit start" than play.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2011, 11:05:54 pm »
Haunted Castle hands down


So uh, next Hi Score Comp.....?   :laugh2:

Just tried it....difficult and not so much fun is my first impression

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2011, 11:14:30 pm »
I did not beat Tempest yet!  :-\

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2011, 04:17:08 am »
Another vote for Defender. I don't think I will ever be any good at that game. I have owned 2 of them, and I have the control layout for my MAME cab, but I just really suck at the game.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2011, 12:21:02 pm »
Yet another vote for Defender. I marvel at the fact that there are guys that can score millions of points in that game.  :dizzy:
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #15 on: December 06, 2011, 12:24:55 pm »
Ghosts'n Goblins...   god I love and hate that game at the same time.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #16 on: December 06, 2011, 12:25:17 pm »
Yet another vote for Defender. I marvel at the fact that there are guys that can score millions of points in that game.  :dizzy:

+1

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #17 on: December 06, 2011, 12:47:10 pm »
Smash TV with one quarter  :lol

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #18 on: December 06, 2011, 12:50:37 pm »
Alex Kid And The Lost Stars.  :timebomb:
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #19 on: December 08, 2011, 03:43:33 pm »
Gyruss - I rarely ever make it as far a Mars and haven't been able to beat my own high score in over 3 months now

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #20 on: December 08, 2011, 05:52:08 pm »
Haunted Castle hands down


So uh, next Hi Score Comp.....?   :laugh2:


+1 on this  ;D

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #21 on: December 08, 2011, 09:19:06 pm »
Ghosts'n Goblins...   god I love and hate that game at the same time.

+1 ditto...

I own a dedicated cab... its hard, yet you want to play it again and again for some crazy reason.
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #22 on: December 08, 2011, 10:22:00 pm »
Stargate is a harder version of Defender.  It came out because some had mastered Defender.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #23 on: December 08, 2011, 10:27:54 pm »
Defender... I hate that game.  :badmood:

One of the few games that takes longer to "fumble in pocket for quarter, put quarter in slot, hit start" than play.

I love Defender and Stargate.  But that is funny.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #24 on: December 09, 2011, 11:53:37 am »
Defender
or
Robotron


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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #25 on: December 09, 2011, 01:35:37 pm »
Frisky Tom, Heiankyo Alien, Crazy Balloon.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2011, 02:40:03 pm »
I think Battletoads is pretty damn hard, yet so much fun.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2011, 02:44:41 pm »
Polybius. (yes someone actually made it. http://www.sinnesloschen.com)

i suck at math so advancing levels is hard for me, and the flashing colors and static of the later levels makes my eyes bleed.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2011, 04:51:08 pm »
Just wondering what you guys think is the hardest arcade game ever, this question came to me last night while playing choplifter, that is a hella tough game.

Yeah, Choplifter in theory should be a simple game, but it gets crazy hard almost instantly.


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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2011, 06:49:59 pm »
Haunted Castle Longplay (not me)


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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #30 on: December 09, 2011, 08:52:51 pm »
 :applaud: if I didn't know just how freaking ridiculously hard that was and had never played that game I would think it was easy watching that person play.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #31 on: December 09, 2011, 09:25:23 pm »
Robotron  is freakin hard mainly because of the controls
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2011, 01:25:36 am »
I thought I read somewhere that "Super Zaxxon" was the hardest to play. I can't play regular Zaxxon for that matter. Tutankham is one of my faves that I get killed in waaaaaaaay too early.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #33 on: December 12, 2011, 08:49:28 am »
STARGATE gets my vote.

After all, how many controls can one guy operate at the same time (INVISO)?

Also, a FIREBOMBER SHOWDOWN every tenth wave is just plain brutal.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #34 on: December 12, 2011, 09:36:50 am »
Any beat-em-up game (TMNT, X-Men) only using one quarter.

I have to give a shout out to Robo Aleste on Sega CD. Was the hardest game I've ever played across all platforms.

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #35 on: December 13, 2011, 07:00:09 am »

Another vote here for both Ghosts and Goblins and Defender. Both hard as nails, but compelling


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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #36 on: December 13, 2011, 11:19:35 am »
Gridrunner for C64 gets my vote.
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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #37 on: December 13, 2011, 03:52:10 pm »
Robotron  is freakin hard mainly because of the controls

Ever played it on the n64? It has a mode where you use 2controllers, one in each hand. When the 2joysticks aren't connected your hands start to go in different directions like your doing some kind of weird meditation. Kind of like the trance state you need to be in to play  :laugh2:

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #38 on: December 13, 2011, 04:21:41 pm »
Robotron  is freakin hard mainly because of the controls

Ever played it on the n64? It has a mode where you use 2controllers, one in each hand. When the 2joysticks aren't connected your hands start to go in different directions like your doing some kind of weird meditation. Kind of like the trance state you need to be in to play  :laugh2:

That just sounds ridiculous!!!!

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Re: In Your Opinion What Is The Hardest Arcade Game?
« Reply #39 on: December 13, 2011, 05:21:16 pm »
Yet another vote for Defender. I marvel at the fact that there are guys that can score millions of points in that game.  :dizzy:

+1

+2