Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Hyrax Attack!
Jan 13, 2009

We demand to be taken seriously

Before YouTube or the internet if a game didn't come with an instruction manual or you didn't have the right Nintendo Power on hand, it could result in baffling experiences.

Some highlights from games I inherited from a cousin or bought cheap at a rental store:

-Fist of the North Star (NES): six year old me did not know about the movie and was confused why the hero went into a ballet pose for high jumps. Enemies flew off screen when kicked, or swelled up and exploded when punched. As I recall the levels were either straightforward walking, trial and error mazes, or a barrage of bosses to kill. Still finished somehow.

-Rygar (NES): Our hero hits enemies with a shield as he goes on a quest for... something. Pretty good combat and exploration, but punishing difficulty and instant death from falls. You could go into shrine rooms where gods on pedestals would offer cryptic advice, but if you tried to jump to them game over. One life with no saves, codes, or retries.

-Goonies II (NES): I'd never seen the movie but it would have explained nothing. Metroidvania exploration of a cabin that becomes a cave that becomes a giant underground forest. Would go into Shadowgate first person exploration with no clues about where to use items. When speaking to friendly NPCs you could beat them with hammers. Human enemies could be killed with molotovs. Good music.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Pablo Nergigante
Apr 16, 2002

I played Drakkhen on SNES when I was a kid and had no idea what the gently caress was going on. Quite frankly, I still don't

Phantasium
Dec 27, 2012

i knew what i was doing gameplay-wise when i was playing Xenogears, but i sure as poo poo had no idea what any of the story was about

Julius CSAR
Oct 3, 2007

by sebmojo
Definitely Red Storm Rising

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

I still don't understand what's happening in Unlimited SAGA. But I only ever played it for like 2 hours before failing a dungeon because I took too many steps.

LargeHadron
May 19, 2009

They say, "you mean it's just sounds?" thinking that for something to just be a sound is to be useless, whereas I love sounds just as they are, and I have no need for them to be anything more than what they are.
Rocket Ranger (NES). Not a game for a five-year-old. The only thing I understood was sometimes when I clicked the right thing I would get to shoot at a blimp and die every time.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




I never got past the first dungeon in Ys 3. I'm not even sure I was at the right dungeon. It's was so difficult.

Orcs and Ostriches
Aug 26, 2010


The Great Twist

Pablo Nergigante posted:

I played Drakkhen on SNES when I was a kid and had no idea what the gently caress was going on. Quite frankly, I still don't

I loved (and beat) that game but barely understood any of it. Why do giant panther heads shoot lasers at me when I bump a road sign? Why are the stars turning into monsters and attacking me? It's bizarre.


Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a weird game that I couldn't ever figure out as a kid. Maybe it needed the manual.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
I want to look down on all of you for not being able to understand Nintendo games, but the first game that came to mind for me is so stupid that I can hardly claim the high ground

Dragon Lord

From what I could gather, the gameplay consists of staring at a screen with a beautiful dragon's egg and hitting every keyboard key and mouse button and having nothing ever happen and then eventually quitting to DOS

Chrs
Sep 21, 2015

Pablo Nergigante posted:

I played Drakkhen on SNES when I was a kid and had no idea what the gently caress was going on. Quite frankly, I still don't

Orcs and Ostriches posted:

I loved (and beat) that game but barely understood any of it. Why do giant panther heads shoot lasers at me when I bump a road sign? Why are the stars turning into monsters and attacking me? It's bizarre.


I saw that in a second hand game store today and it caught my eye because I’d never heard of it before. It wasn’t expensive either I don’t think. Might pick it up tomorrow

Sivek
Nov 12, 2012

I have no idea why I picked out F-22 Interceptor for the genesis but it was a flight combat sim where 60% of the screen was taken up by your instrument panel and I had no clue how to play. Found out early on that hardcore sim games were not for me.

like how do you go from playing sonic and streets of rage to this?

Sivek fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Oct 22, 2019

Hyrax Attack!
Jan 13, 2009

We demand to be taken seriously

Orcs and Ostriches posted:

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a weird game that I couldn't ever figure out as a kid. Maybe it needed the manual.

Oh man that one was incomprehensible. Hey kid, find these four pieces of a will. Zero hints where they are. We never made any progress past having Bob Hoskins punch Roger and random civilians as hard as possible.

AngryRobotsInc
Aug 2, 2011

So, I had this game for DOS (it releases in like a bajillion formats).


Back in the day, a way some games saved on space was to put a lot of the plot text in the manual or a secondary book. This was one of them. Instead of printing it out in game, it'd just say "Read #43" or similar. Companies would often print a lot of stuff the game never uses, insane stuff (I remember one game told an entirely nonexistent side quest with space travel in its stuff), or false hints, and stuff was usually printed 'out of order' to keep you from cheating.

This wasn't the issue with this game.

...I lost the manual.

ETA: For retro fantasy art fans, yes, that is totally a digitized Boris Vallejo painting, by the way.

AngryRobotsInc fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Oct 22, 2019

Flying Zamboni
May 7, 2007

but, uh... well, there it is

Illusion of Gaia (SNES) was one of the first story-heavy games I ever played. I never owned it but I rented it a bunch. As a young kid I never quite followed what was happening in the plot and I was absolutely terrible at the game. I never got very far in it but something about the whole presentation from the sprite work and art direction to the music just captivated me and made me keep coming back to it.

Flying Zamboni fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Oct 22, 2019

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben
I was like 3 years old when I first played Missile Command, and I couldn't comprehend that you were controlling the cannons on the ground. As far as I could tell, it was a game where stuff fell from above, sometimes lines appeared, and nothing you pressed did anything. Definitely wasn't a fan.

I rented Ultima 3 for NES when I was 6, and I actually mostly understood stuff, but I didn't understand what "saving the game" meant, because I'd never played a game that saved your progress before and didn't know this was even possible. So I started the game over with a new party every time I turned it on. I was having fun and didn't really mind.

Julius CSAR
Oct 3, 2007

by sebmojo
Myst

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Rollersnake posted:

I rented Ultima 3 for NES when I was 6, and I actually mostly understood stuff, but I didn't understand what "saving the game" meant, because I'd never played a game that saved your progress before and didn't know this was even possible. So I started the game over with a new party every time I turned it on. I was having fun and didn't really mind.
Nice; I had the exact same experience with the exact same game, albeit on an Atari 800XL. It was my first RPG, so the idea that you could keep playing after shutting the game off had not occurred to me. I genuinely remember being really confused when I turned the game on one day and found my same characters from the previous session; I think talking Lord British saved your progress? Maybe? Anyway I had clearly never done whatever action it was previously. Mind-blowing. Love the idea of playing through Skyrim from the beginning each time you start the game

Looper
Mar 1, 2012
my parents used to go to blockbuster (rip) a couple times a month and while my selections were usually informed by nintendo power, sometimes i just didn't see anything that looked good and grabbed something at random.

monkey magic (ps1) wasn't too hard to figure out how to play, though it was one of those games that assumes you've got all four shoulder buttons covered at all times. but the story was from an anime that I'm learning today only aired on fuckin upn of all places

another rental treasure was darkened skye (gc), a licensed tie in game for skittles that really really wants you to just buckle up and pay attention to the epic fantasy tale of rising up against an evil empire and please ignore that the ancient artifacts and source of your magical powers are...skittles

Dell_Zincht
Nov 5, 2003



Dragon's Lair on the C64.

Between the lack of intro, horrendous controls and awful graphics, yeah, I died a LOT.

To this day I don't think I ever got past the bit with the descending platform and the clouds that blew you off the drat thing.

gently caress this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXWsyXRMCQI

Pablo Nergigante
Apr 16, 2002

Chrs posted:

I saw that in a second hand game store today and it caught my eye because I’d never heard of it before. It wasn’t expensive either I don’t think. Might pick it up tomorrow

It’s certainly unique if nothing else

DreamFish
Feb 22, 2011
I remember playing Spider-Man on the N64 and not understanding what “saving your game” meant. I was confused and frustrated that I kept having to start at the beginning of the game.

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

DreamFish posted:

I remember playing Spider-Man on the N64 and not understanding what “saving your game” meant. I was confused and frustrated that I kept having to start at the beginning of the game.

Lol

rujasu
Dec 19, 2013

AngryRobotsInc posted:

So, I had this game for DOS (it releases in like a bajillion formats).


Back in the day, a way some games saved on space was to put a lot of the plot text in the manual or a secondary book. This was one of them. Instead of printing it out in game, it'd just say "Read #43" or similar. Companies would often print a lot of stuff the game never uses, insane stuff (I remember one game told an entirely nonexistent side quest with space travel in its stuff), or false hints, and stuff was usually printed 'out of order' to keep you from cheating.

This wasn't the issue with this game.

...I lost the manual.

ETA: For retro fantasy art fans, yes, that is totally a digitized Boris Vallejo painting, by the way.

Dragon Wars! I'm, uh, slightly familiar with that game! :)

However, I had another game, Future Wars where I lost the manual and was totally hosed because you couldn't even start the game without passing the copy protection screen. When I did have the manual, I still couldn't get past the second screen of the game. It sure was something.

BRJurgis
Aug 15, 2007

Well I hear the thunder roll, I feel the cold winds blowing...
But you won't find me there, 'cause I won't go back again...
While you're on smoky roads, I'll be out in the sun...
Where the trees still grow, where they count by one...
Myst was fun at first and I thought I understood the concept, but never got a grasp on any of the puzzles beyond "try and hit everything in every combination and then - gently caress this".

For some reason I could never figure out Batman Forever (SNES) or Beavis and Butthead (Sega Genesis), but I didn't own either of them and only got to play at other people's houses. Still, I don't think I ever beat a level or even accomplished anything at all (especially in Beavis and Butthead).

Hyrax Attack!
Jan 13, 2009

We demand to be taken seriously

BRJohnson posted:

Myst was fun at first and I thought I understood the concept, but never got a grasp on any of the puzzles beyond "try and hit everything in every combination and then - gently caress this".

A friend and her dad played through together and carefully kept a paper journal of the puzzles and clues. I was so jealous.

Wise Fwom Yo Gwave
Jan 9, 2006

Popping up from out of nowhere...


Mikie, by Konami.

What in the actual gently caress

https://youtu.be/J5kmuBP4GYk

Freakazoid_
Jul 5, 2013


Buglord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30J2xs0_T9I

Some guy with an 80's sun visor helps the fairies rescue their princess who was captured by a mechanic. Enemies include generic aliens, robots, beetles that poo poo on you, and the occasional buddha statue. Every other level, you ride an animal themed ship and kill some gigeresque boss. Sometimes you rescue women in the bathtub from a flying robot head.

It's fun and I beat it like multiple times as a kid.

HJB
Feb 16, 2011

:swoon: I can't get enough of are Dan :swoon:
The Mansion of Hidden Souls for the Saturn. Bought it cheap, played it, beat it in a few hours, never touched it again. To this day I have no idea what was going on at any point.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




BRJohnson posted:

For some reason I could never figure out Batman Forever (SNES)

oh man, this was another one! It had a cool premise in that you had a ton of gadgets you could choose and each had a special input ala fighting games...but we lost the manual. More or less had to treat it as a bad brawler, but even then got stuck on a timed circus stage with a lot of vertical movement.

AGDQ 2018 I think had a coop run of the game if you want to check that out on youtube!

BexGu
Jan 9, 2004

This fucking day....
Blaster Master [NES] - I was 5 at the time so while I loved the tank and understood the concept of the little dude jumping out to go to the other levels could not put together having to upgrade the tank from boss to open up more areas of the map.

DEEP STATE PLOT
Aug 13, 2008

Yes...Ha ha ha...YES!



home alone for the snes, i had no fuckin idea how to play this game

this game is very high on my must-buy snes game list because I HAVE TO loving KNOW

also daggerfall, except i did figure that game out eventually, though that was after morrowind and frankly lmao @ anyone who would go back to daggerfall after playing morrowind

JethroMcB
Jan 23, 2004

We're normal now.
We love your family.

Hyrax Attack! posted:

-Rygar (NES): Our hero hits enemies with a shield as he goes on a quest for... something. Pretty good combat and exploration, but punishing difficulty and instant death from falls. You could go into shrine rooms where gods on pedestals would offer cryptic advice, but if you tried to jump to them game over. One life with no saves, codes, or retries.

Rygar's what I was going to come in here with; my friend rented it one time before we had a sleepover. I don't know that we got past the first screen

BRJohnson posted:

Batman Forever (SNES)

Shadow225 posted:

oh man, this was another one! It had a cool premise in that you had a ton of gadgets you could choose and each had a special input ala fighting games...but we lost the manual. More or less had to treat it as a bad brawler, but even then got stuck on a timed circus stage with a lot of vertical movement.

HOLD ON

I kinda liked Batman Forever, though that may have been Stockholm Syndrome. It was on incredible sale at some point and I somehow had enough money to afford it, so it joined my collection. It was developed by the same studio that handled most of the home ports of Mortal Kombat, so all the special moves used the weird and unintuitive controls that entailed. Like, I don't think you could do a traditional quarter-circle motion, you had to do down and forward as distinct inputs.

Dell_Zincht
Nov 5, 2003



Freakazoid_ posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30J2xs0_T9I

Some guy with an 80's sun visor helps the fairies rescue their princess who was captured by a mechanic. Enemies include generic aliens, robots, beetles that poo poo on you, and the occasional buddha statue. Every other level, you ride an animal themed ship and kill some gigeresque boss. Sometimes you rescue women in the bathtub from a flying robot head.

It's fun and I beat it like multiple times as a kid.

I'm sorry sir, this is the games where you had no clue what was going on thread.

Lacey
Jul 10, 2001

Guess where this lollipop's going?
There was an Atari up at the cottage with only a handful of games and one was ET. As far as I could ever tell, the game is just blocky ET falling in a hole and never getting out.

garfield hentai
Feb 29, 2004
I STILL have no loving clue what's going on in Jekyll and Hyde for NES.

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

One of the first two games I ever owned was Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road. Nothing about it makes sense. It's completely incoherent. The whole game is also AFAIK a single stage and a half hour long start to finish, and I remember beating it at some point and not understanding why I couldn't get to the next level.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Lacey posted:

There was an Atari up at the cottage
I have fond memories of playing the Intellivision at the lodge

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Came to say Goonies 2, but there it is in the OP.

So instead I'll say Animaniacs for the Genesis. The first level has a high jump that you can't make. I think you're supposed to change characters and push a box over or something, but I could never put that together as a kid. So I'd just get to the wall, be confused for a long while, then put S3&K back in.

wa27
Jan 15, 2007

I rented Blast Corps once and that game has one built-in save slot. To erase it and start over, you have to hold the start button on console power-up, but there was no way to know this without the manual. So when I played it, all the levels were beat already.

For those who don't know, the goal in each Blast Corps level is to blow up buildings that are blocking the path of a (slow) runaway vehicle. Once you do that, you are free to re-enter any level and clean up any remaining buildings and find the collectables. So the game I got to play was just a bunch of levels missing 90% of their buildings with no goals, objectives, or instruction ever presented.

I imagine this was a pretty common experience for people renting it. They should have just made a save slot option on the main menu.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Alxprit
Feb 7, 2015

<click> <click> What is it with this dancing?! Bouncing around like fools... I would have thought my own kind at least would understand the seriousness of our Adventurer's Guild!

Flying Zamboni posted:

Illusion of Gaia (SNES) was one of the first story-heavy games I ever played. I never owned it but I rented it a bunch. As a young kid I never quite followed what was happening in the plot and I was absolutely terrible at the game. I never got very far in it but something about the whole presentation from the sprite work and art direction to the music just captivated me and made me keep coming back to it.

Every game made by the company that made this game is surreal and fascinating to revisit, I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance to.

Quest 64 is probably a game I played and didn't really understand. I must have restarted it several times because I was never able to come up with a winning strategy. (Hint: It's to not play.)

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply