Games that do stuff to annoy you

[MaximRecoil]

Double Dragon - The everlasting weapon on the ground that your character obligingly stoops over to pick up when you are standing near it trying to punch or elbow smash a bad guy. Your character typically gets throttled for his efforts at this point.

Accidental headbutts: sometimes these are helpful but usually they are just irritating. You are walking along; stop for whatever reason and then start to walk again but rather than walk, your character decides to headbutt the air.

Super Dodge Ball - When your little guys that you are not in control of at the moment run around like chickens with their heads cut off and get square in the way of an oncoming super throw from a burly guy on the opposing team and promptly give up the ghost.

Also, there doesn't seem to be a method to reliably throw a super ball of your own. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, even though you are doing the same thing with your joystick and buttons.

Ikari Warriors - The forced scrolling that happens when you start a new life after getting dusted, like someone pushing you out on stage, oftentimes into a hail of enemy machine gun fire.

[Super] Punch-Out - If the 3 minute timer for the round (Nintendo "minutes", not real minutes) runs out, you lose, period. It doesn't matter if you have knocked your oppenent down twice and only need 1 more hit to knock him down for the 3rd and final time, and he has not hit you even once, you still lose. Apparently the judges have been bribed, or something.

Also, the damage that the KO punch does is inconsistent. Sometimes a KO punch does less damage than a regular right punch would have.

Tetris - It is pretty obvious that they intentionally hold back that long skinny block when they can see you really need one.

Pole Position [II] - Any contact with anything, including rubbing tires or merely touching a road sign, even at the slowest of speeds = you go up like Three Mile Island. Why are all the cars rigged with explosives and delicate pressure sensitive detonators?

And, what are all those extra cars on the track all about? Are they guys who happened to be driving past the track in their personal Indy cars and figured they'd join in? You can start a race in the number one "pole position", leave the cars beside and behind you in the dust, and as soon as you pass the first corner, there is a slew of cars in front of you already ... and you certainly haven't had time to "lap" anyone yet.

[ChadTower]

Pins that taunt you when the ball drains.  Can't say how many times I've wanted to punch the crap out of a pin like Happy Gilmore.

[MaximRecoil]

I'm not very familiar with pinball machines. There was only one that I was ever good at, when I was about 9 years old in '84, and that was only because the Methodist minister in town used to rack up 10 credits on the machine and then leave, and I'd play the free games.

How does it taunt you? Anything like Punch-Out when the opponent gets real close to the screen and laughs, and the announcer says "Come on, stand up and fight!"?

[ChadTower]

Yes, they tend to verbally taunt you.

[jbox]

How does it taunt you?

BUSH WON!!! 

[TOK]

Too many to list, but my main peeve that kills any game for me is the "do-over". Games like Rolling Thunder where you screw up and they put you back to the beginning of the level regardless of how close you were to next stage. Only game I've ever been able to tolerate this in is Xevious.

Now that I'm getting old and my coordination is atrophying, I also don't like games that don't have a continue feature.

[MaximRecoil]

Too many to list, but my main peeve that kills any game for me is the "do-over". Games like Rolling Thunder where you screw up and they put you back to the beginning of the level regardless of how close you were to next stage. Only game I've ever been able to tolerate this in is Xevious.

I'd like to knows who's bright idea that was, and why it caught on enough that plenty of games ended up having that "feature". That's a good example of something that seems to have been done solely to annoy people; as I can't think of any other reason why anyone would design a game like that.

I can understand taking away powerups when you get dusted, but two things that should never be taken away in a game are linear progress and points.

[NightGod]

I can sum it up the reason why in one word.

Hell, not even a word, a single symbol:

$

[Kevin Mullins]

but two things that should never be taken away in a game are linear progress and points.

Yup... take away linear progress gives more oppurtunity to die = more $ because you're bound to try again.
Shinobi does the same thnig as Rolling Thunder.
I own it and still suck at it.

[MaximRecoil]

Yup... take away linear progress gives more oppurtunity to die = more $ because you're bound to try again.

On the other hand, having to do something over that you have just done increases the frustration level. Have you ever had a computer crash when working on a project and you haven't saved in the last hour or so? Assuming there is no official "deadline" to meet, are you more apt to say "to hell with it" and save starting the lost work over for another day or jump right back in with greater determination and resolve?

Also, from a money making point of view, assuming a progressive difficulty curve in the game, the farther you are along, the more likely you are to get dusted. If you are having trouble with a new, particularly difficult area of the game, say, near the end of a level, and they start you back at the beginning of the level when you die, you are very likely to be able to get back through that level to the point you died before (longer playing time for the money); as opposed to starting from the same spot you died in and immediately getting trounced again.

That "feature" really makes no sense from any angle that you look at it. Since the player has to immediately cover ground he has just covered; given the fact that he made it through that ground at least once, it is likely that he can do it again, which means longer (but irritating and frustrating) play time per quarter, which means less money in the coin bucket. That is, assuming the player doesn't just say "screw it" to the "generous offer" of redoing the level, and walk away, which also doesn't put quarters in the bucket.

This "feature" in certain games is either the result of flawed reasoning or an intentional effort on the part of the makers to irritate the customer, which seems a bit counter-productive to me.

Name one game with this "feature" that was considered to be a major "quarter sucker". The two biggest "quarter suckers" that I know of, Rampage and Double Dragon, certainly didn't work like that. A more current example of a major "quarter sucker" is the Metal Slug series of games, which also do not work that way.

[hypernova]

[Super] Punch-Out - ...Apparently the judges have been bribed, or something.

They tried to make it as realistic as possible?

That "feature" really makes no sense from any angle that you look at it. Since the player has to immediately cover ground he has just covered; given the fact that he made it through that ground at least once, it is likely that he can do it again, which means longer (but irritating and frustrating) play time per quarter, which means less money in the coin bucket. That is, assuming the player doesn't just say "screw it" to the "generous offer" of redoing the level, and walk away, which also doesn't put quarters in the bucket.

I think it's because you're just as likely too concerned about that one part you died at, you tend to not be cautious of where you are, then you end up making a mistake, and dying. 

Then you just get pissed off, and die fairly early again.

It could've been that the designers wanted you to get back into the "groove" of things before you got to the place you died at previously.

But this is all speculation.  Me getting older as well, I love save features in games or continuing near where I died.  Even better?  Save states on emulators.  Hail the people who make save states possible!

[Vigo]

My biggest pet peev with video games today is poorly written AI. Just think of how many games there are out there where they created AI to replace a human player, and the AI does crap that no human player could do.

I play a first person shooter (perfect dark comes to mind), and the freakin AI knows exactly where I am every time. Then they find me, and somehow gets a billion headshots on me when coming around a corner. I've played in goldeneye tournaments, and not human has ever done that to me.

Or I play like a strategy game,warcraft II comes to mind, and the AI makes knights and dragons and battleships even before I can get my freakin first grunt made.

Then, since the programmers made horribly godlike AI, they program the AI to do a few completely stupid things so human characters catch up. So the game turns into finding the programming defects in the AI rather than a well rounded game...


You know what else pisses me off...I don't know what Qbert is. Is he an alien? is he a muppet? and what is that tube thing coming out of him? his nose? his mouth? his part that should be covered by pants? @#$!@#$

[jbox]

Or I play like a strategy game,warcraft II comes to mind, and the AI makes knights and dragons and battleships even before I can get my freakin first grunt made.

Basically the AI has a 1,000,000 APM, while most casual players have something like < 30 APM (actions per minute). I don't have a problem with well designed AI, but I do wish there was a way for you to limit the APM of the AI to try and make it act a lot more like a fellow human would (instead of being able to have 20 different units all cast a spell at the exact same time). 

[Vigo]

Or I play like a strategy game,warcraft II comes to mind, and the AI makes knights and dragons and battleships even before I can get my freakin first grunt made.

Basically the AI has a 1,000,000 APM, while most casual players have something like < 30 APM (actions per minute). I don't have a problem with well designed AI, but I do wish there was a way for you to limit the APM of the AI to try and make it act a lot more like a fellow human would (instead of being able to have 20 different units all cast a spell at the exact same time). 

In AI's defence, I think I have an APM of 12.

[RayB]

Super Dodge Ball

Also, there doesn't seem to be a method to reliably throw a super ball of your own. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, even though you are doing the same thing with your joystick and buttons.

I'm going to argue against this one. There is definitely a consistent way to do the super-throw. You just have to get the timing right, and it takes practice. (Wouldn't be fair if even a noob could throw one every time).

[MaximRecoil]

Super Dodge Ball

Also, there doesn't seem to be a method to reliably throw a super ball of your own. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, even though you are doing the same thing with your joystick and buttons.

I'm going to argue against this one. There is definitely a consistent way to do the super-throw. You just have to get the timing right, and it takes practice. (Wouldn't be fair if even a noob could throw one every time).

The best I have ever done is maybe an average of 75% of the time, and I could marathon that game in the arcade. Sometimes I could throw like 6 in a row and then nothing, couldn't throw another one to save my life. Whatever the exact timing is I've never been able to pinpoint it.

Are you saying that you can throw the super ball every time?

[Vigo]

Super Dodge Ball

Also, there doesn't seem to be a method to reliably throw a super ball of your own. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, even though you are doing the same thing with your joystick and buttons.

I'm going to argue against this one. There is definitely a consistent way to do the super-throw. You just have to get the timing right, and it takes practice. (Wouldn't be fair if even a noob could throw one every time).

The best I have ever done is maybe an average of 75% of the time, and I could marathon that game in the arcade. Sometimes I could throw like 6 in a row and then nothing, couldn't throw another one to save my life. Whatever the exact timing is I've never been able to pinpoint it.

Are you saying that you can throw the super ball every time?

I haven't been able to...the fact does still remain that super dodge ball is very frustrating

[RayB]

Are you saying that you can throw the super ball every time?

I'd have to fire it up and play a few rounds before accurately answering that. Most likely, no, not every time. But it IS skill based. You have to initiate it at a very precise moment in the jump and the window to do it is very short. That's why people miss alot. Kind of like throwing basketballs at a hoop. You don't get it in every time, do you?

[SOAPboy]

.

Or I play like a strategy game,warcraft II comes to mind, and the AI makes knights and dragons and battleships even before I can get my freakin first grunt made.

Build faster. WC2 was all about speed. Play with some of the asians in ladder. its insane APM these guys have. >_<

[jbox]

Build faster. WC2 was all about speed. Play with some of the asians in ladder. its insane APM these guys have. >_<

See, I get that. I have no need to have the snot beaten out of me, and I will subsequently make no claim as to being the 3733t3 WC2 player. But to give casual players like me auto-cast in one round, and then take it away with Faerie Dragon in the next...     

[MaximRecoil]

Are you saying that you can throw the super ball every time?

I'd have to fire it up and play a few rounds before accurately answering that. Most likely, no, not every time. But it IS skill based. You have to initiate it at a very precise moment in the jump and the window to do it is very short. That's why people miss alot. Kind of like throwing basketballs at a hoop. You don't get it in every time, do you?

That's what's annoying about it, the window is too small. The super ball is kind of like an early version of a "special move" that would be popularized in later fighting games like Street Fighter II. Compare it to Ryu's "Hadoken" fireball move for example. Someone new to the game can not pull those off either, but once they learn how they can do it every time; well, I can anyway, and I suspect that most other people can as well. That is the way special moves should be designed. The smaller they make the window of opportunity, the greater the element of chance that gets introduced. I don't like the element of chance in a video game, at least not when it is in a fundamental aspect of the gameplay that can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Another thing that I forgot to mention about Super Dodge Ball is; like [Super] Punch-Out, if you run out of time you lose, even if you still have all your men and the opposing team only has one man on his last breath.

[AtomSmasher]

FEAR is one game where the AI pissed me off.  If an AI enemy is looking in your direction, they will see you no matter what, even if you are a mile away and hiding in the shadows.  I remember one spot where you come out of an air vent into a pitch black office room, with the enemy standing in the lights outside of the room.  As soon as they glanced my way they saw me and started shooting and throwing grenades, even though I'm crouching in a pitch black room, it really pissed me off.  It would have been better to just take the front door into the room instead of the "hidden" route since the main door offered much more room to maneuver.

[Glaine]

I hated the boardgame LIFE growing up because after that long game the winner was decided by spinning the disc and hoping you picked the right number.

And I agree with the guy above talking about making you restart the level like R-Type or Last Resort. Doesn't make me want to play more. Makes me find the nearest brick.

And the really picky timing on Punch-Out on the latter levels, I always lost when I got up to about Bald Bull, couldn't time the punch for when he rushes you.

[hypernova]

I play a first person shooter (perfect dark comes to mind), and the freakin AI knows exactly where I am every time. Then they find me, and somehow gets a billion headshots on me when coming around a corner. I've played in goldeneye tournaments, and not human has ever done that to me.

That's the only thing you were concerned about?  How about when you're chasing one of the harder sims, and they are able to run backwards through the level, while shooting you, and NEVER hitting an obstacle!

[Vigo]

I play a first person shooter (perfect dark comes to mind), and the freakin AI knows exactly where I am every time. Then they find me, and somehow gets a billion headshots on me when coming around a corner. I've played in goldeneye tournaments, and not human has ever done that to me.

That's the only thing you were concerned about?  How about when you're chasing one of the harder sims, and they are able to run backwards through the level, while shooting you, and NEVER hitting an obstacle!

Oh yeah, It's all coming back to me...I had to be a laptop gun monger to win against some of those sims.

on a side note, love the avatar. chrono trigger was a sweet game. I really can't believe that no other RPG ever tried to copy it's style. maybe grandia a little, but I really need something to fix my chrono trigger appetite.

[MaximRecoil]

My biggest pet peev with video games today is poorly written AI. Just think of how many games there are out there where they created AI to replace a human player, and the AI does crap that no human player could do.

Like Guile's standing flash kick, or sonic boom while walking forward, in SFII. Come to think of it, all the characters in SFII that have special moves that require a 2-second charge time can do the magical "no charge" versions, when CPU-controlled.

I know this is an old thread but I just got an SFII machine up and running and playing it a lot lately reminded me of this thread.

[BobbyG66]

Game I love to hate: Phoenix.
Love the graphics and sounds.
Great memories of playing this game.

The thing that is frustrating is the aliens reactions.
They are so erratic and schitzo.
They must have eaten like 100 pixy sticks and washed it down with Red Bull.

I hate it when they sit on the bottom level and box you into a corner.
Or jump off the side of the screen, you don't know where the are going to appear.

Side note: I hate the game Monopoly. It goes on for hours. I don't think I have ever finished the dame.
It usually ends up with a fight breaking out and parts flying everwhere.

Ok, thank you. I feel better know.

[shardian]

Side note: I hate the game Monopoly. It goes on for hours. I don't think I have ever finished the dame.
It usually ends up with a fight breaking out and parts flying everwhere.

Me and the wife have finished monopoly many times, and there isn't one of them that didn't end with one of us mad at the other.