Games that kick your ass but you still love.

[Desh]

What games historically kick your ass or games have you never completed but still love to play? 

Here are three of mine:
- Double Dragon on NES.  I can get to the final boss (if I'm lucky) but get my ass handed to me every time.  I have still never beaten this game. 
- Contra Hard Corps.  I have owned this game since new.  I always loved playing it but could never beat it.  This year I finally changed that and have seen every possible ending.  It only took me 20 years to do it.
- Raiden on Turbografx.  I only recently acquired this game a couple months ago.  I can make it to the final level (sometimes) but quickly get destroyed.  I love this game because it's hard (at least to me it is) but, also hate it for the same reason.

[Punch]

[lukester]

Samurai Shodown
R-Type
Sonic 2 (I am horrible at sonic games)

[SamIAm]

Battle Garegga

Assuming you're not a continue-spamming ninny, this is top-tier difficult shooter. The rank system means that you need to be constantly suiciding away your extra lives and teetering one death away from game-over. It also means that you need to score well, or you won't even get the lives you need to suicide. On top of that, the enemy patterns aren't really random, but they're not totally fixed, either, so you need to be very adaptable.

I love it so much.

When the arcade game came out, and later the Saturn port, the developer didn't have any kind of story written up for it - not even a one-paragraph blurb somewhere. There are no characters in the game, no real intro or ending sequences, nothing. Everything depends on the in-game graphics and sound having enough personality to make an impact, and they do. They have a detailed subtlety and colorful grit to them, making Battle Garegga stylistically one of my favorite games ever.

It's also a lot of fun to play. I don't mean to ignore that. But it is going to drive you insane half the time. I often find myself yelling at the TV "I just want to play you, you stupid game!" as I screw up yet another run in one of the first couple of stages.

In the years since, the developer did publish a long backstory for the game...but I don't even want to read it. The game is better without it.

[Black Tiger]

The only games that are really difficult for me are the ones I don't have an interest in and can't be motivated to play. So I can't think of any games that I care about that still kick my ass. I appreciate Night Creatures for what it is and although it can be erratic, I can still play through it with ease because I cared enough to beat it the first time just for the challenge if nothing else, because people said that it couldn't be done.

[Necromancer]

Most shewties.  I generally suck at 'em, but they're still fun to play and see how far I can get.

[jtucci31]

Tatsujin... I am getting a tattoo akin to the "Air Zonk World Champion" tat. This game kicks everyone's ass. Just ask jtucci31.

Get the tattoo now so that when I beat your score you'll look like even more of an idiot!!

[Gredler]

Most shewties.  I generally suck at 'em, but they're still fun to play and see how far I can get.

Same,  but specifically R-Type and the Gradius games.

[Groover]

Nearly every shooter. I am getting better. It is the genre that I had really missed the last 20 years.

[SignOfZeta]

Most shewties.  I generally suck at 'em, but they're still fun to play and see how far I can get.

Me too. I only ever beat like 1/4 of them, but I love them. Pulstar is still unbeaten in my house but I love that game so much.

[roflmao]

Most shewties.  I generally suck at 'em, but they're still fun to play and see how far I can get.

Me too. I only ever beat like 1/4 of them, but I love them. Pulstar is still unbeaten in my house but I love that game so much.

Yep, I'm in the same boat.

[Nameless5511]

I'm in the same boat on R-Type. I'm getting better at it though.

Honestly, the only Contra game I've beaten is the first one. Granted, I haven't played all of them but I still absolutely love the series, particularly Hard Corps.

[ginoscope]

For those of you that said shooters are you playing on a CRT?

When I first got back into some shooters I was like wow I really suck.  I used to beat L-Dis, Lords, and Gate of Thunder easily and now my reflexes are crap.  I was playing them on the LCD in RGB.  Since then I have tired on the CRT and they are much easier on there with no lag.

I would agree shooters tend to be my weakness....

[Desh]

For those of you that said shooters are you playing on a CRT?

When I first got back into some shooters I was like wow I really suck.  I used to beat L-Dis, Lords, and Gate of Thunder easily and now my reflexes are crap.  I was playing them on the LCD in RGB.  Since then I have tired on the CRT and they are much easier on there with no lag.

I would agree shooters tend to be my weakness....

All of my gaming is done on a CRT.  At one time I did have my stuff hooked up to an older 42" plasma and also had no issues.  However, one of my friends has some newer (but off brand) 60" LED and the input lag on old consoles is terrible.  I can't stand to play anything on it.  It all comes down to how your TV interprets the old fashioned input signals

[TheClash603]

Co-Op Zombies Ate My Neighbors with my girlfriend is my best example of this.  Playing with her is something of a handicap, because she is always a few steps behind and constantly complains about me taking all the items so there is a mental composure component to the challenge.  We always run out of survivors because she is screwing around on the opposite side of the stage for no reason.  But, this is one of the only games she plays with me, so we enjoy our time f*cking up together.