HG101 2022 Game FAIL Challenge

[Apollo Chungus]

Welcome to the 2022 HG101 Game FAIL Challenge!

This is a companion piece to the HG101 Game Finish Challenge thread, in which people attempt to finish video games and post about whatever they've beaten. However, this thread will be dedicated to the games that people weren't able to beat on the terms established in that thread. Maybe you gave the game up, or had to beat it using cheats and save states, or you only played one of the scenarios before deciding that was all you really needed. Whatever the reason, this thread will be the place you can go to talk about those games.

There will be far fewer rules because of the nature of this thread (and also because it's still fairly new), but feel free to ask if you have any questions. Rules about certain game types or genres can be read on the corresponding Game Finish Challenge thread, in order to see what counts to complete a game or not.

Basic Guidelines

- A game can be discussed in this thread if:

- You abandoned the game before reaching the end.

- You beat the game using cheats, save states in emulators, or exploiting major glitches.

- Nothing is permanent. You can decide to revisit the game and beat it on its own terms at a later point, so don't worry about this meaning you have to give it up forever just because it's on this thread.

Post Formatting

- The name of the game must be in bold and optionally in red if you failed to beat the game, or orange if you beat the game with cheats, glitches and the like. The platform must also be included.
- Please use the game’s English name even if it is not officially available in English.
- If the game is for a computer platform, use the operating system name e.g. DOS, if the platform can generally be considered a PC. Older systems such as the C64 or Apple II may simply use that instead.
- If the game is part of an official emulated release, please include both the original platform and the platform of play.
- Include whether this was a first time completion or a replay.
- If including multiple games, please put them in alphabetical order. If you are also including some thoughts, this text may break up the listing.

General Rules

- A game must be able to be completed, for it to not be beaten. It must either have a win state such as an ending or a set of challenges such as scenarios. In most cases, getting to the credits is an obvious indication, but this is not always the case.
- A game may only be counted once per person. Multiple people may claim the same game.
- Any difficulty is acceptable.
- Posting a screenshot is encouraged but not required.

Ports/Remakes/Remasters

- Simple ports, remakes and remastered versions i.e. graphical updates do not count separately.
- Games with substantial changes over the original do count separately.

DLC and Expansions

- In order to count separately from the base game, DLC and expansions must be accessible either from the main menu or completely separately and not exclusively in-game.
- New content in rereleases, remakes and remasters may be counted separately if it fulfills the general requirements for DLC and expansions.

Hacks/Mods

- Bug fix and gameplay adding modifications are allowed, but please list any that are used.
- Simple mods do not count separately from the base game.
- Large scale modifications that function as a new game do count separately from the base game.

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This is merely a commiseration thread, to talk about games that we weren't able to beat on its own terms (whether that means giving it up or using cheats). It's called the Game Fail Challenge, but that doesn't mean you have failed. Sometimes these things don't work out as you want them to, and that's okay.

[Apollo Chungus]

Bollocks, I'm gonna have to be the first one to kick this off. It's especially frustrating in this case because they're games I bought on the recommendation of other HG101 users as indirect Xmas presents from them, but they just didn't gel with me at all.

Kero Blaster (Switch; First Time; Gave up at the fourth level because it's too tough for me and too long)

This was recommended to me by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 , and I was curious to give it a look after watching a video by Matthewmatosis. It's quite a good game that works well with its simplicity I like how the guns have different properties, and being able to hold the fire button while strafing is really helpful when you just wanna shoot in one direction. However, I stink pretty badly at action games where you have to shoot and dodge projectiles at a frantic pace. So I ended up losing all my lives by the end of the fourth level, and I've no interesting in replaying the whole stage over or grinding for coins to upgrade my stats. I read up on the game and it seems like it'll only get tougher from here.

MagiCat (Switch; First Time; Gave up around the third world because the game gradually became too overwhelming)

A recommendation by dsparil . This one initially started out pretty okay. Each level focuses on a gimmick in that "introduce-develop-utilize it in the boss" fashion that allows for a nice kind of structure. I rather dug that you could use the hammer upgrade to visit levels from later worlds much earlier if you wanted to, and the score giving you more lives is quite a nice touch. Unfortunately, things got way too much for me as time went on. While there is an instant respawn system that you can use whenever at the cost of some lives, I feel like levels become so devious that said system becomes a crutch. Also, the fact that the amount of lives spent increases exponentially the more you did is bullshit when you're dealing with bosses over bottomless pits. I have frequently fallen into a pit, respawned only to fall into a pit with little time for correction, and repeated the cycle. Also, the frequency with which bosses in particular throw enemies and projectiles at me became too much for me to handle.

I suffer from sensory overload pretty fecking badly with action-packed games that demand you constantly dodge what feels like millions of things while barely scraping by (it's the sole reason I avoid the shmup genre utterly), and MagiCat triggered the worst aspects of that too often that I had to give up. It's fine, but I was becoming miserable trying to scrape away at it and it's never worth playing something you hate.

I'm really sorry, dsparil and creamcheese.

[dsparil]

I didn't realize sensory overload could be a problem otherwise I would have suggested something else. Sorry about that! It's definitely a tough game although there is some good stuff in there. Later on you also gain the ability to make platforms on the overworld and can route around levels that way.

[dsparil]

After Burner II (TurboGrafx-16, Replay, Mostly just wanted to try it out)

I guess this isn't a failure strictly speaking since I have finished After Burner II before, but there isn't anything unique about this version. It's a competent port that's nicer in some ways than the Genesis version, but the throttle control is oddly mapped so I wouldn't pick this one over it given the choice.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Jan 6, 2022 14:53:14 GMT -5 Apollo Chungus said:

I'm really sorry, dsparil and creamcheese.

Hmmm...well...alright, I forgive you.

I don't remember Kero Blaster's stages being that long, but it has been a couple years for me. I was confident you'd beat at least the first mode. The other two modes are harder, but have a lot of cool surprises. If you're ever bored, it's worth looking up some gameplay I think. It's very much a kind of game where there's more to it than first impressions.

[spanky]

Wild Guns: Reloaded (PS4, Never Beaten)

This is just too hard, even on easy mode! I know they probably wanted to keep the gameplay authentic to the original SNES game but it really could benefit from some sort of dual stick setup, or even a button toggle. As it stands, you can move the cursor while shooting and standing still, but if you're moving it follows your character slowly. There's no way to strafe either. It makes it difficult to get to enemies on the other side of the playfield and makes the gimmick of shooting enemy bullets to increase your power bar too risky. These are all things that could be overcome with lots of practice I'm sure but I just don't have that level of patience anymore I'm afraid.

It's too bad because I love everything else about the game - the graphics, the setting, the fact that the timer rewards aggressive gameplay. There's a really great game here - maybe some modder one day will  give it a better control scheme.

[Apollo Chungus]

Trick Star (Game Boy Advance; First Time; Gave up at the fourth level because I couldn't get past the fourth stunt challenge)

I was looking for Europe-only GBA games and I stumbled across this pretty neat looking motorcycle racing game by Aussie dev Tantalus Media (recently known for their HD ports of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword). It's quite a good game, with a focus on performing stunts while racing to get enough points to access more race tracks and challenges. Unfortunately, said challenges are where I got stuck, because you have to perform a series of stunts within a short span of time or you'll have to do restart the challenge.

That already stinks when it barely gives you two seconds to look at the stunt glossary to see what buttons you have to press before the race starts proper, but trying to do consecutive stunts as part of a combo is impossible for me to figure out consistently. (Annoyingly, you can remap the inputs for stunts if you want to make it easier, but they reset to their default settings in these challenges only.) You have to complete each race/challenge in order before you unlock the next one, so that's basically me out in terms of checking out the rest of the game's tracks. Pants.

[dsparil]

Aldynes: The Mission Code For Rage Crisis (SuperGrafx, Impossible Final Boss)

This is one of the other SuperGrafx games although I wouldn't say it actually looks too great mainly due to poor art direction. The main feature seems to be your up to four option ships which have a toggle able homing mode. Hypothetically they have one as it only works erratically and not on every enemy. The big issue I had is that the final boss seems completely impossible. I have no idea how to even damage the boss, and watching videos did not help either. I also found out that it's a looping game so that drained the occasional stubbornness I have with "completing" a game.

[Apollo Chungus]

Santa Claus Jr Advance (GBA; First Time; beat using save states)

I mentioned playing through this game on last year's FAIL Challenge thread for a future HG101 article, but giving up at the final boss because I'd had enough. Well, I've been doing a bit of research for the article (which I've oddly procrastinating on actually writing it like crazy, along with the other articles I'm meant to be doing), and I found an old German interview with the game's project lead that alludes to some post-game bonuses. So for the sake of fairness, I went back and beat that boss, using save states every time I got a hit in because it's one of those "follow this convoluted strategy to open a brief window where you can hit the boss" kind of fights. It was fairly tedious, but I did manage it.

And for the record, the only bonuses you get - and that's only if you've given enough kids to deliver presents to - are some hidden timed levels that give you extra goodies and a sound test. By default, you get a level select so you can at least replay previous stages unlike the first game, so that's nice.

[alexmate]

Tomb Raider (2013 Version, Windows\Steam)

Loved the atmosphere and feel of it. Just can't get round the grinding or quicktime events.

[Apollo Chungus]

I've had the worst time trying to get into games recently. I must have played at least half a dozen within the span of a few days, and most of those ended up turning out fairly disastrous - either being too tough or irritating from the start, or pulling me into them a good bit before I came across an obstacle I just couldn't get around. I'm only including the games I put some vague amount of time into.

Ardy Lightfoot (SNES; First Time)

I grabbed this one because I've been thinking of covering some mascot games for the website after I get round to those articles I'm lagging behind on. This is actually pretty decent, though the controls are a bit weird with how you get a sudden boost of speed after moving for a few seconds (even in the air, which can throw off precise platforming a bit). Some sections were a pain in the butt, and I gave up at that section where you have to shimmy up and down a rope to dodge cannon balls, except getting hit causes you to fall off and you have to do the whole bit over again. BLECH. I do want to go back to this for the article, though I may have to use save states.

Ecks vs Sever (Game Boy Advance; First Time)

I've always been really curious about the surprisingly large batch of first-person shooters for the GBA, and this tie-in to the action film of the same name isn't too bad. You get two campaigns where you can play as either Ecks or Sever, and the level designs for each are fairly unique iirc. It's quite neat, but I had to give up at the seventh stage in Ecks' campaign because you don't get checkpoints and this level is really long with enemies blasting at you in close quarters. I get needing to amp up the challenge as time goes on, but this is kinda taking the mick.

Holy Umbrella: The Reckless Dondera! (SNES; First Time)

God, the fact that I had to give this up really bugs me because I quite like it. It's an action platformer that offers some neat overworld bits and new items/characters that expand your ability to explore the world and fight characters. Despite the fairly simple level design, I was really enjoying my time on this when I came up against the fox boss at the end of the northern tower. This is one of those boss battles where you have to go through this convoluted, tedious rigmarole to expose their weak spot and get a brief chance to deal some damage, and that's if you're really good at the game. If not, you're just stuck being pelted by attacks and stupid nonsense as you fail to do anything at all. Those kinds of boss battles are absolutely infuriating to me, and I gave up the game then and there. Pants.

Machinarium (Switch; First Time)

This was an indirect Christmas present I bought off the eShop on the recommendation of Aerro/Adrien Dalen from the World Animation Discord (an online friend who made a game I composed music for called Palpable: aerro.itch.io/palpable). I'd always heard this was quite a good adventure game, and I can definitely see why. It's got a unique art style with its grotty, but rounded mechanical world, and the way it gets across its mechanics purely through visual images is particularly cool. Unfortunately, I ran into a pair of puzzles that I had to complete where you essentially do the sliding block thing of "move these dots around in really limited ways to achieve this position, but it's really easy to screw up". I don't have much patience for those types of puzzles, and one of them randomizes the position of all the pieces every time you attempt it so I couldn't really use a walkthrough. I got deeply fed up with the whole thing, and chucked it.

[personman]

Jan 12, 2022 9:54:20 GMT -5 dsparil said:

Aldynes: The Mission Code For Rage Crisis (SuperGrafx, Impossible Final Boss)

This is one of the other SuperGrafx games although I wouldn't say it actually looks too great mainly due to poor art direction. The main feature seems to be your up to four option ships which have a toggle able homing mode. Hypothetically they have one as it only works erratically and not on every enemy. The big issue I had is that the final boss seems completely impossible. I have no idea how to even damage the boss, and watching videos did not help either. I also found out that it's a looping game so that drained the occasional stubbornness I have with "completing" a game.

I remember having the exact same issue myself. I put a lot of time into trying to get to the end of that one too so I sympathize with how frustrating that is. Only thing I could find is someone on on shumps.com mentioned you need the bouncing laser to get rid of the alien thing in front of the weakpoint. No idea how accurate that is, I have the game set up on my 3DS to try again some day, if I find anything out I'll let you know.

[spanky]

The Adventures of Batman and Robin (SNES, Never Beaten)

You know that Vince Mcmahon reacts to Gary Strydom meme? You could do that with me but it'd be like: A SNES game? By Konami? Based on a beloved animated series? Released in 1994?

Anyway, I've been watching some B:TAS lately and decided to give this a whirl. Let's just say I didn't make it very far - I think you might actually have to be Batman to beat this game...anyways, it does what it sets out to do very well - combining a large variety of gameplay elements though you do quite a bit of platforming and brawling. And while the sound and visuals cannot compare to the demoscene insanity of the Sega game, this one does capture the aesthetic of the show better. I liked it, it's just that it's too hard for me to really dedicate any time to at the moment.

[dsparil]

Jan 24, 2022 14:01:07 GMT -5 personman said:

Jan 12, 2022 9:54:20 GMT -5 dsparil said:

Aldynes: The Mission Code For Rage Crisis (SuperGrafx, Impossible Final Boss)

This is one of the other SuperGrafx games although I wouldn't say it actually looks too great mainly due to poor art direction. The main feature seems to be your up to four option ships which have a toggle able homing mode. Hypothetically they have one as it only works erratically and not on every enemy. The big issue I had is that the final boss seems completely impossible. I have no idea how to even damage the boss, and watching videos did not help either. I also found out that it's a looping game so that drained the occasional stubbornness I have with "completing" a game.

I remember having the exact same issue myself. I put a lot of time into trying to get to the end of that one too so I sympathize with how frustrating that is. Only thing I could find is someone on on shumps.com mentioned you need the bouncing laser to get rid of the alien thing in front of the weakpoint. No idea how accurate that is, I have the game set up on my 3DS to try again some day, if I find anything out I'll let you know.

Thanks! I watched a few more videos, and I'm more confused now.

[Apollo Chungus]

Wolfenstein 3D (SNES; First Time; Gave up at Mission 5-6)

Really got into the mood to play some Wolf 3D but I couldn't be arsed booting up the game on DOSbox and sorting out the Joy2Key inputs for the controller, so I went with playing the SNES port which my brother had downloaded onto the computer ninety million years ago. Although the framerate is a bit naff, I actually enjoyed playing this a good bit. Having an automap helps enormously with navigating the later stages, and the ability to strafe while moving helps to compensate for the slow turning arc and the damage enemies do up close. I feel Wolf 3D is a game designed in such a way that I totally understand how it can become really annoying, but really quite enthralling if you like those design choices, and this carries through to the port.

Unfortunately, things get really tough around Mission 5 with loads of enemies and scant ammo, which would be tough enough if it weren't for the fact that there aren't any mid-level checkpoints and you can't save. I tried to make it through 5-6, but I just couldn't manage it at all. I managed to get to the actual boss at the end, stuck in corridors so small I couldn't get around them before I got blasted with so much lead I could have supplied a school's stationery supply for an entire year. And since I was playing it on the easiest difficulty, I know that I've got no way of overcoming this wall. So I'll have to leave it at that. Ah well. At least I still enjoyed my time with it.