Bad games that you just had to beat

[Andi]

Thundercade (NES):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qfIyc5PDs

I hated it but had to beat it.

Thundercade on the NES seems really cool. It's like, "Oh, a motorcycle shmup. How novel!" But then all your guns are weak as hell and your hit box is huge and everything flickers and the power-ups are all hidden.

The arcade is better. Jason (my brother and co-developer) has beat both. The problem with hidden powerups is that some buildings cannot be destroyed, and some just take a really REALLY long time when you are not powered up (aka when you need to destroy them to get the powerups inside of them)!

I've only played the NES version. I imagine the arcade version might be better. Not to keep harping about this game, but another problem is the ridiculously underpowered bomb. It doesn't even hit everything on screen, and even a lot of non-boss enemies live through it.

[Xonatron]

Thundercade on the NES seems really cool. It's like, "Oh, a motorcycle shmup. How novel!" But then all your guns are weak as hell and your hit box is huge and everything flickers and the power-ups are all hidden.

The arcade is better. Jason (my brother and co-developer) has beat both. The problem with hidden powerups is that some buildings cannot be destroyed, and some just take a really REALLY long time when you are not powered up (aka when you need to destroy them to get the powerups inside of them)!

I've only played the NES version. I imagine the arcade version might be better. Not to keep harping about this game, but another problem is the ridiculously underpowered bomb. It doesn't even hit everything on screen, and even a lot of non-boss enemies live through it.

And I almost forgot the jumpy "scroll a tile at a time" bosses! lol

[Xonatron]

I finally voted "rule". Nothing like nostalgia.

[FRO]

Meh - Sol-Deace/Feace is okay, but very mediocre, and the first level has some really unfair spots where hits are hard to avoid that make it frustrating right away. I don't think I've ever got past the 3rd or 4th stage and I usually give up.

Inarguably? Arrow Flash and Sol-Deace are fairly mediocre, but by no means bad. If you think those are terrible, I don't think you've been exposed to really bad games yet. I recommend playing some XDR or Deep Blue to put things into perspective.

Mediocre is what I'm after. I don't think anyone has the willpower to beat, say, God Panic =)

Well, I plowed my way through Earth Defense/The Earth Defend, despite the game sucking beyond the telling of it. So I guess I have the stamina for something like that

Never played God Panic, though, so perhaps I'm speaking out of turn...

Perhaps you missed the appropriately placed and in my sentence?

The 1st level frustrations have nothing to do w/ it's inherent mediocrity. It's just not very memorable, has forgettable level design, and the graphics don't really grab you (other than the annoying foreground stuff that gets in your way). The music on the CD version is decent, but otherwise it doesn't really stand out. It isn't terribly fun to play either, and the weapon system, while mildly interested, has some fairly crappy weapons & just isn't implemented all that well. That is why I think it's mediocre, at best. I know there are a few rabid fanboys of this game who have made that perfectly clear on this forum over the last few years, but I'm not one of them. I own the Sega CD version for completeness' sake more than because I actually play it.

[spadgy]

I finally voted "rule". Nothing like nostalgia.

This

Project X and Agony!

[Riot Zone]

Final Blaster PCE Not that it is a bad game, it's just frustrating as hell if you loose your Firepower late in the game. Pretty much need to get full firepower in the first 2 stages and hope to keep it the rest of the game.

[Dale]

I 1cc'ed the Mega Drive game curse 4 times and I 1lc it once.

[doctorx0079]

You said games not shmups, so I'm going to have to say Deadly Towers and Demon Sword. I went through Sigma Star Saga several times until I got EVERYTHING in the game, and I won't play it ever again because I just can't stand it. Dragon Warrior I was rather dull. Raiden Trad was a shmup I beat that was mediocre at best. An insult to the Raiden name.

[Estebang]

Having no prior experience with the series, I really enjoyed Darius Twin (the first SNES one) as a kid.

I tried it again a couple of years ago and appreciated it considerably less, but still ended up playing it a lot.

[lgb]

in terms of music, Sol-Deace is crap compared to the other versions; wolf team music is TERRIBLE on Mega Drive, same goes for Undeadli(g)ne (what up g!)

I think CURSE on Sega's Mega Drive is one of those games for me; I'm trying to 1CC it - emulated - on my nintendo DS - lite - with the crappy D-pad. Arrrgh.

emulate handheld games on computer, not computer games on handheld

edit: nooo my joke is lost because of how bad sol-deace really is FUCK YOU TOO