Hello Chris!

You want to hear about frustrating games? I could tell you about the stupid Pro Challenges in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, also known as "stupid over-difficult but all too addictive TRIPE with abslolutely no connection to skating what-so-ever".

Or I could tell you about my experiences with Atari's Stuntman, the game that tells you that the stuntdriver must memorize the whole stunt in minute detail, but won't tell the player what you're supposed to do until you've already crashed into an indestructible table or turned the wrong way for the 1000th time. I still haven't completed those games, but I will! I won't let them defeat me! I will conquer them, humiliate them! Then I will sacrifice them both to the mighty benevolent gaming gods through fire, and pray that there will be no more mission based skating games or extremely hard car-wrecking games.

But I won't tell you about those evil games. Instead I'll write about Jak II. I love both Jak games. The first one was fun, cute and enjoyable throughout, even if collecting orbs got pretty old towards the end. I wanted more variation. The gods listened. They brought me Jak II, with a big city, lots of vehicles, and a big forest where you could have a blast with your new Jetboard Anyway - the game featured a couple of insanely hard missions and racing games.I have one special mission in mind.

Jak and Daxter are ambushed by the city guard. I have to get them to a certain point in the city before they die. The layout is this: you must walk across a portion of the city that's full of narrow bridges. All bridges intertwine. If you fall down into the water you get killed automatically. Because of the design, the never-ending stream of guards are shootin at you from positively every direction, all the time. You die after 5-6 hits. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the other side if you take the right way. No medipaks. You have NO way of seeing all guards at the same time. So it's up to lady luck whether you'll be able to avoid getting hit. If you move forward to fast, without killing guards, there are hoovering airplanes, that WILL hit you sooner or later, waiting for you.

I made a hole in the wall and punched two pillows to death before I finished that mission. Honest. I loved Jak II, will buy the sequel, but I HATED that mission. And the "protect character X" missions...

Sorry for dragging on for so long ; )
Now I'll go back to stuntman - only one movie left...

Keep up the good work, Chris!

Alf S.,
the Swedish rutabaga

Hello sir,

A couple of things come to mind for me. And just a couple. But I will right in anyway incase you don't get many letters or something.

First, the part in Enter the Matrix where you have to get away from those creepy albino-ish twin guys in the car. That is what I stopped on in that game, and I don't plan to ever advance past that unless new video games are no longer made.

Second, Deep Jungle in Kingdom Hearts was very frustrating. The only two people I know who played Kingdom Hearts and stopped without beating it (real life, not internet mind you) did so largely because of Deep Jungle. Boring story part, and some issues with camera and platform are mostly to blame.

Cameron, who is now obsessed with Men in Hats. http://meninhats.com

Chris,

In recent memory, the most frustrating game moment was definitely the Chocobo race in FFX. That thing was so dang cheap, that it made me want to throw my controller out the window. However, I know I can come up with something better than that.

One moment that always frustrated me was in Secret of Evermore, a wonderful little game that sounded so much like Secret of Mana, but wasn't nearly as good. There is one sequence in the first "dungeon" where you need to save a guy from a big bug, and you need to run up a long maze-like area where bridges sometimes fall if you don't get to them quick enough. This sequence ALWAYS took me several attempts. Sometimes so many bridges would fall that I'd have to leave the area and come back and start over. Then again, sometimes I'd get it the very first time, with no problems. There was seemingly no logic to the falling of the dang things, and they always managed to drop the last bridge just as I got there, where I can see the exit, but now have to start over completely and try again. I always remember that one pissing me off.

I also, as a rule, hate it when a game throws in a timed sequence when you haven't saved in a few hours, and you lose a ton of work just because you run out of time just before the exit.

-Inside-Out

Chris,

The last fruststrating gaming moment for for me was the chocobo baloon race in
FF X to get Tidus' ultimate weapon. It took me 3 hours one day and 2 hours the
next day to successfully complete the race. I told a co-worker I beat the race
and he couldn't belive it. He proceeded to give me his memory card so i could
beat it for him.

On his memory card i beat the chocobo balloon race on my third try...

Even more recently was my inability to complete the memory exercises on the
Thunder Plains in FF X-2. Due to college and life in general I've decided not
to attempt them again...

Charles Foster Kane

The first is just annoying: a required fetch quest about half way through "Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat" (a game I got only for the 2-player ship battles, something my brother and I have been waiting for even sence the original Pirates! game). You have to backtrack through about a dozen islands available to find five specific treasure chests all in rather obscure locations. There are other, more spread out fetch quests in the game, but all the others are optional and give some seriously overpowering items, a required one is just wrong.

The second is a jumping moment in the first person shooter "Red Faction". The setting is the top of a venelation shaft with a giant fan at the top. You have to somehow walk across the fan to the opposite side. One slip and it's game over in the bottomless pit. The annoying part is, when standing on the fan, you don't move with it, so if you stand still, you fall right off. The best I've ever been able to accomplish is getting half way across then making a diving leap of faith, ending with a hard landing for 70% health & armor damage. Thank goodness for the ability to save anywhere.

On an unrelated note:
You're not the only one to have odd dreams about gaming. A few nights ago I dreamt I was in my backyeard with a friend hacking up hordes upon hordes of skeletons preparing for a pvp tourney in a MMORPG. After a while, a bell sounded, she got on her horse all Chris Lightfellow like (Suikoden 3 for those who don't know) to charge into the front lines with me running along side. That's when I noticed the bell was my alarm clock. Strange thing is, I've never played an MMORPG.

- Joe Malo, who has friends currently addicted to Ragnarok Oline
(a free server), but only has 1/3 the required RAM to join in

Hey Chris.

In response to your dream, no way could an Xbox get lifted off by balloons. Those things must weigh about 20 pounds. Someone should make a gamer exercise program involving them.

Also, here's the damn composition I wrote.

-----
Dear Dad,

It has recently become a rather large desire of mine to own a video game system. (ex: Playstation, Gamecube) and I believe that you would have several qualms with this. Below is an argument for my case and several terms that would be set for the said video game console if you agreed to let me purchase one.

I believe that you have issues with a video game console in this house. One is that it would consume my time, and I would spend all of my time playing video games. I will always make sure from now on that I get some time outside or reading a book or some activity outside of the "screens". I will admit that there have been past lapses in my duties to the family (e.g. fuel, trash cans) I promise that I will do all my chores or make sure that they will be done before using the video game console.

I believe that you sometimes think I put my "screens" above my schoolwork. This is not true. I have always put my schoolwork above the "screens". Even so, I will always make sure that the homework or projects given in school will be completed before school the next day (or during a time before that period the next day).

Below is a list of rules for me to follow if I am allowed to purchase the video game. Please change them as you see fit.

1. Video game time is limited to an hour on weekdays.
2. Homework will be finished in time before the period it is due.
3. Chores will be finished before the video game is played.
4. Other activities, outdoorsy, bookwise, and such will be done as well as the video game.
5. I will not ask you for unearned money to purchase video game stuff.

Please change these as you see fit. I hope we can reach an agreement on this subject.
----

go ahead. mock my misfortune. I insist.

In response to your topic about irritating gaming moments, most've been from Prince of Persia for me. The wall to wall jumping was asininely difficult. Also, the directional control was ass backward sometimes. And damnit, the prince can run across freaking walls. Why can't he jump a little farther?

Also, one particular level in my Spiderman game is really awful and I'm stuck at it. The stealth one where you have to get those passwords. Spiderman is no Sam Fischer and can't run around guards like Solid Snake.

Speaking of which, it is reeeaally irritating in MGS to have to run all the way back to the armory to get a damn sniping rifle. Couldn't Snake just pick one up along the way to Sniper Wolf? That's my favorite part of a movie: when the hero runs a few miles back from the villain to get a gun. Also, the Ninja fight and Ocelot torture thing had me throwing my controller in frustration. Also, where's ther f****** PAL card? I don't know where to find it. I haaaaate backtracking.

your humble servant (not really) and Xbox critic,

THC

Sky Kid wasn't a bird man, he was the Red Baron. Most frustrating level in all my video game experience. Snake level on Battletoads. It's mad hard.

-DuneAdx

Hey Chris-

The one thing that immediately jumped to my mind was the freaking Babel Tower in Xenogears. I know the game already had some minor jumping puzzles up till that point, but putting not one, but two sadist strings of jumps in the middle of an RPG improves the game how? And then you slip once at the top and have to do it all over. I got into RPGs because I wanted to play games that don't take twitch skills, thank you very much. But Xenogears is still one of my top ten favorite games ever. Peace out folks.

Tyrith

Most frustrating game moments?

How about EVERY moment of ANY Beatmania IIDX title?
DDR's got nothing on that shit.

~J-san, who doesn't even want to know how Japanese kids can play with one hand.