What's your Favorite Game you Suck At??

[j.fitzenr]

Hey guys... I love arcade games, planning out and about to start working on my first build, but... there's a lot that I'm not very good at. 

I was playing Rally X earlier, and I realized that there are a handful of games that I absolutely love, but just cannot, and have not ever, gotten good at.  Rally X is the worst; it's probably in my top 5 most played and loved arcade games, but I just absolutely, positively suck at it and I never feel like I get any better!

I was wondering if anybody had any other games like this that just messed with them.  I also am like, ludicrously horrible at Donkey Kong but I respond to that by just not playing it much in front of people. 

What's your arcade kryptonite?

[harveybirdman]

Macross Plus, Eight Forces, Outzone, both Truxtons, nearly all fighting games

[thomas_surles]

Donkey Kong jr. Can't get past stage 2

[j.fitzenr]

See, most of the 'modern' vert Shmups (by modern, I mean about late 80s plus) I'm not necessarily good at, but if I devote myself to one, I can always get pretty competent.  I do kinda suck at Macross Plus, but still.  I at least always feel like I'm learning and improving. 

Donkey Kong jr. Can't get past stage 2

Oh God.  I can't do ANYTHING in DKjr.  I'm just... barely better at it than I am at DK, and both are pathetic.  It's like my brain can't handle those game mechanics. 

[mgb]

I truly love video games, especially the classics but I suck at probably all of them.
There are very few times I can remember when I was as good or better than my friends when it came to games.
I think it's why I enjoy working on them instead.

[ChanceKJ]

All of them.

[BorgDog]

Robotron is definitely the one I suck at the most but still keep playing.  oh, and Defender. oh what the hell, i suck all of them

[j.fitzenr]

Let's be honest, anybody who doesn't suck at defender or robotron is a freak of nature

[horizon]

Life.

[jdbailey1206]

I have to say Splatterhouse.  It's such a damn easy game but I just seem to die.  A lot.

[mgb]

Let's be honest, anybody who doesn't suck at defender or robotron is a freak of nature

True,
I have a hard time getting past wave 4.
My 8 year old can get wave 6 after only playing a few times.

I have a customer who's real good. I'll do a repair on his dedicated robotron and then have him give it a try and its like wave 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8............... he just jams through them

[Malenko]

pinball count?

[Generic Eric]

I truly love video games, especially the classics but I suck at probably all of them.

^That

I usually give Pac Man, DK, Galaga 88 a go, if I'm not trying the competition.  Once I got my spinner, I started play qix regularly.  Then I rotated the monitor to vertical and it change my life.  All of those other games are so much better now.  I'm not, but they look better.

Then I hit a wall.  I had to nerf my player 2 controls to make room for the spinner.  Well, I haven't played much of anything since then.  But that has as much to do with winter, Elite: Dangerous & Real Life ^TM as anything else I suppose.

[BadMouth]

I suck at all shmups, but love the music and visuals.

I think  modern PC games are too easy.  Even the "hard" ones are just a matter of repeating a scene until getting past it while not necessarily improving skill.
(and skill improvement/shot accuracy isn't a matter of actually improving skill, but increasing a number of skill points)

Most new games I've tried feel like the old Dragon's Lair laserdisc game.  You're just making the right moves to keep the movie going.
Some make an attempt to be "immersive", but it comes off as a theme park ride kind of immersive where you know you're not really in control.
It all just feels very passive to me.

I like the olden console days when failing to make a jump would be so friggin' infuriating, but then after doing it successfully a few times it came easy.

[pbj]

Rogue Legacy for me right now.   

[zanna5910]

Love this topic.  Off the top of my head, most have been said, I suck at:

1. DKJr.  - Only made it back to the vine stage like 1 or 2 times
2. Robotron - Its a wipe
3. Defender - My neighbor kills it at defender like its nothing, me, few stages only.
4. Bagman - Not sure, but I am absolutely horrible at this.

[thatpurplestuff]

Rolling Thunder.  I can beat the first 2 levels but after that it ain't happening.  Luckily you can select stages when you start the game haha

[nitrogen_widget]

Golden Tee series.
Much like Real golf (which I love to play also) I can't shoot straight to save my life and always end up going back & forth over the green while trying to sink a put.

[ChanceKJ]

In all seriousness. I SUCK at D2K. Hard. I can barely get past the first bit of conveyer belts on the first level.  Which is sad to me because I'm starting to improve on my 60k score on DK.

[DietCoke]

I am pretty sure I suck at almost all of them.  But the fun for me is coming across games that I haven't seen in 25+ years, and in customizing the system to work how *I* want it to.  I would say Star Wars for me, followed by Assault, followed by '88 Games.

[pbj]

In all seriousness. I SUCK at D2K. Hard. I can barely get past the first bit of conveyer belts on the first level.  Which is sad to me because I'm starting to improve on my 60k score on DK.

Donkey Kong 2 is honestly a rather lousy game.  The idea is awesome and I applaud the effort but....

[johnrt]

I suck hard at Donkey Kong *. And every other game.

[Le Chuck]

I'm Sorry.  Love this game, I have never once cleared the third board.


(fixored (hopefully) the video link)

[j.fitzenr]

Rolling Thunder.  I can beat the first 2 levels but after that it ain't happening.  Luckily you can select stages when you start the game haha

This too... two reasons my brother pisses me off; in our youth, he could 1cc Rolling Thunder, and beat Contra for NES without dying.  I could at least hold my own in KI and Tekken 3 later though.

I don't even think I'd get past the first level of Rolling Thunder right now. 

I'm Sorry.  Love this game, I have never once cleared the third board.

Holy hell what is this game and why have I not played it?

[Le Chuck]

Holy hell what is this game and why have I not played it?

Ha!  It's a totally great game, especially since I can't beat Magic Mike in Punch Out at least I can beat him in this #holla!

[keilmillerjr]

I played halo online when it came out, and I'll never play an online game again. The meme I made pretty much sums up my experience.

[keilmillerjr]

pinball count?

My father was so good at pinball. He would drop a quarter at our local pizza joint, my mom would place an order and we would eat without him. When we were done, he would purposely drop a ball and leave the machine with extra balls for the next player. My favorite childhood memory of my father. I'm lucky if I last 5 minutes. It's a shame pinball machines cost so much money.

[nitrogen_widget]

I played halo online when it came out, and I'll never play an online game again. The meme I made pretty much sums up my experience.

haha!
The same when it comes to any PVP.
My only chance of survival for more than 5 mins. in those games is to stay at max distance & snipe people who have no idea i'm even there.

[BadMouth]

pinball count?

My father was so good at pinball. He would drop a quarter at our local pizza joint, my mom would place an order and we would eat without him. When we were done, he would purposely drop a ball and leave the machine with extra balls for the next player. My favorite childhood memory of my father. I'm lucky if I last 5 minutes. It's a shame pinball machines cost so much money.

My mother drops references about my father having a problem with gambling on pinball machines early in their marriage.
I have never seen my father play pinball.  I kept waiting to have an experience where he would just decide to play a game and turn out to be some kind of crazy pinball master.  It never happened.  I have still never seen my father play a pinball machine.

[keilmillerjr]

pinball count?

My father was so good at pinball. He would drop a quarter at our local pizza joint, my mom would place an order and we would eat without him. When we were done, he would purposely drop a ball and leave the machine with extra balls for the next player. My favorite childhood memory of my father. I'm lucky if I last 5 minutes. It's a shame pinball machines cost so much money.

My mother drops references about my father having a problem with gambling on pinball machines early in their marriage.
I have never seen my father play pinball.  I kept waiting to have an experience where he would just decide to play a game and turn out to be some kind of crazy pinball master.  It never happened.  I have still never seen my father play a pinball machine.

Haha! If he is still around, you should take him out for lunch where there is a pinball machine and just plop a quarter in front of him. 1 quarter, 1 time. I must see you play. Lol

[j.fitzenr]

pinball count?

My father was so good at pinball. He would drop a quarter at our local pizza joint, my mom would place an order and we would eat without him. When we were done, he would purposely drop a ball and leave the machine with extra balls for the next player. My favorite childhood memory of my father. I'm lucky if I last 5 minutes. It's a shame pinball machines cost so much money.

My mother drops references about my father having a problem with gambling on pinball machines early in their marriage.
I have never seen my father play pinball.  I kept waiting to have an experience where he would just decide to play a game and turn out to be some kind of crazy pinball master.  It never happened.  I have still never seen my father play a pinball machine.

That's gotta be crazy.  Come to think of it (and I honestly HAVEN'T thought of this in a long time!), I've got a similar weirdness with my father.  Some people from the Chicago area probably know of Star Worlds out in DeKalb... well, before I got interested in possibly building a cab, I had no idea Star Worlds even existed.  My Dad apparently used to work for Star Worlds at their original location back in the 80s, and when I was just a tiny lad I remember him talking about knowing some of the patterns for Pac Man and him being really upset when I rented Dig Dug 2 for NES, because he was apparently really good at Dig Dug and "this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- isn't anything like the real Dig Dug."  I even remember having a broken off shaft/balltop joystick from some game that he brought home for me back then. 

[fmzip]

Let's be honest, anybody who doesn't suck at defender or robotron is a freak of nature

When I was a kid I could turn Defender over and keep playing and playing. I had extra lives across the entire machine.

On a non-dedicated defender control panel via MAME, it's impossible to play! I'm in the middle of creating a dedicated control to have at it 35 years later! It's imperative to have the correct low profile joystick and the reverse button in perfect thumb distance!

[j.fitzenr]

Let's be honest, anybody who doesn't suck at defender or robotron is a freak of nature

When I was a kid I could turn Defender over and keep playing and playing. I had extra lives across the entire machine.

On a non-dedicated defender control panel via MAME, it's impossible to play! I'm in the middle of creating a dedicated control to have at it 35 years later! It's imperative to have the correct low profile joystick and the reverse button in perfect thumb distance!

I seriously, legitimately, do not get it.  Like, most games, I can imagine playing well.  If I play fifty games of Pac-Man, I tend to improve my score.  If I play Galaga over and over, I learn some patterns and get farther.  Hell if I play DKJr 50 times, I'll probably make it to level 2 a few times....

If I play fifty games of Defender, it just ends up being the most frustrating 4 minutes of my life.

[Richardgregory]

Mostly all games really, but DK in particular

[Saneless]

Tempest. So cool but I drool

[knightrdrx]

I'm having a rough time with Blueprint.  It's not the same as the 2600 version I grew up playing so many times...It's one of those I prefer on Atari.

[knightrdrx]

oh yeah..and Dragon's Lair..I don't know how to play!!!!  I keep dying on the bridge at the beginning and I push every damn button!

[mgb]

oh yeah..and Dragon's Lair..I don't know how to play!!!!  I keep dying on the bridge at the beginning and I push every damn button!

its a single button game 

[danny_galaga]

Another vote for Defender. I even set up my cocktail CP with a defender style button scheme to play it. Doesn't help me not suck at it though 

[AzureKnight]

Any Donkey Kong game....I love them...they hate me....

[Richardgregory]

So it seems like we all suck at most of the games, yet we all build cabinets to house them   Highly illogical captain (a tribute to Nimoy - RIP)

[abispac]

sinistar,robotron

[j.fitzenr]

Until the last few days... Wonder Boy in Monster Land fit this bill.  But I finally got to Round 7 on one cred! Not that that's particularly good, but dear God this game haunted me for years.

Apparently, nobody is good at Robotron.  That makes me feel slightly better.

oh yeah..and Dragon's Lair..I don't know how to play!!!!  I keep dying on the bridge at the beginning and I push every damn button!

I remember being a kid of about 8, and my mom gave me $5 to pop into the changer at the arcade.  I found Dragon's Lair 2.  10 attempts and approximately 2 minutes later, I was crying and begging for more money (seriously, didn't get past the first screen.. dat rolling pin tho)

[opt2not]

Apparently, nobody is good at Robotron.  That makes me feel slightly better.

There are a few of us here who are:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,95670.msg1044206.html#msg1044206 

[bfauska]

oh yeah..and Dragon's Lair..I don't know how to play!!!!  I keep dying on the bridge at the beginning and I push every damn button!

I remember being a kid of about 8, and my mom gave me $5 to pop into the changer at the arcade.  I found Dragon's Lair 2.  10 attempts and approximately 2 minutes later, I was crying and begging for more money (seriously, didn't get past the first screen.. dat rolling pin tho)

Luckily that scared me away from the game within a few dollars. I just couldn't figure out why anyone would want to play if after it was just a single button push at the perfect time (which I was convinced I was doing). I've not played it sense, though I sometimes think about emulating it so that I can figure out what was good about it (with unlimited tokens).

[eds1275]

I kept waiting to have an experience where he would just decide to play a game and turn out to be some kind of crazy pinball master.

That reminds me of the time when I was a teenager, in a band, and we were rocking out to Black Sabbath's Paranoid. My dad used to be quite the alcoholic, and he just sort of falls into the room, grabs a guitar, turns up an amp, and plays through the last 3/4 of the song. Then he says... "betcha didn't know I could do THAT!" puts it down and leaves. Blew my effing mind. Apparently he used to be in a bunch of bands in England before moving to Canada 30 years ago. As a side note, he looks a lot like Tony Iommi...

Back on topic, I heard or read somewhere that most people never even see the third level of Donkey Kong. I brought this up while drinking and playing arcade games with friends the other night, and everyone had a turn. No one got to level 3... and then I did on my first life. Then I got to level 4 and that was the end.

I really like The Outfoxies, but can't beat the last stage.

[Malenko]

Which one is the 3rd level? Stages cycle differently between regions. I cant get past the "cement factory". DK is fine in small doses but I dont think its that great of a game. I actually like DK jr better

[ChanceKJ]

I find in DK that if I get past the second barrel stage without losing a life I end up having an easy time for the next four or five boards. Then I just get obliterated.