The lights are on
I admit it. I've been defeated. I'm out of gas, patience, and my thumb hurts. Other games are calling my name, wondering why I haven't started playing them instead of bashing my head against the wall until it's a bloody pulp.
No, I'm not talking about my efforts to overtake Fever Ray in Pinball FX2. That will come, in time. (Hint: I'm sneaking up on him in slow increments)
I'm talking about something else, something I'm almost ashamed to admit on this gaming forum, among all my gaming friends who have persevered beyond all levels of endurance in their own endeavours. Meanwhile, I'm taking the cowardly way out.
Yes, I have been defeated.
By a girl.
Not just a girl. A young teenager who sings snippets of bad 90s songs, wears a yellow bow, and likes to talk on the phone. She even does the Macarena in her spare time.
Yes, I'm talking about Ms. Splosion Man.
(Thanks to GameRevolution)
I loved the original Splosion Man. It was difficult, but not too bad. Sure, I never did any of the levels in time to earn a medal. But I did them all. Very occasionally, I used a hint guide to point me in the right direction. And yes, sometimes it took me a while to get the timing down.
But I eventually got it.
I bought Ms. Splosion Man with enthusiasm after I loved the first game. I had read the reviews. Everybody said it was a hard game. But I knew I could persevere and get through it.
Because
(Thanks to Kaboodle)
As the levels went on, many of them took longer and longer for me to do. Thirty minute levels were not unusual. I always knew what I had to do, but I just couldn't do it.
Until I did, finally, and moved on to the next level.
There are three stages, with 16 levels in each stage. Through much blood, sweat, and tears (ok, mainly tears, because it's actually been pretty cool up here in Vancouver, and blood? Get real.), I managed to struggle my way through level after level.
Until I reached level 3-10.
It's so simple! I know what I need to do. I would play 20-30 minutes at a time, trying the beginning of the level (I never even make it to the first checkpoint!) again and again and again. Always dying in different spots. After many nights, I checked out a hint guide, just to see if maybe I was missing something. Maybe there was a special spot to splode (ALLITERATION ALERT!!!!) that I just wasn't getting?
But no, there was nothing.
So I kept trying. For 20-30 minute spans, for another few nights.
I finally have to admit it.
Ms. Splosion Man?
You have beaten me. I fall at your knees and await your mercy.
But whatever you're going to do, hurry up.
I've got Bioshock 2 to finish.
Feel free to share your tales of woe with me, so I may feel that I'm not alone.
Or, you can tease me mercilessly.
I can take that too. It's what I deserve, you know.
Because I've been beaten by a girl.
Isn't that the most horrible thing out there in Gamerland?
(Note: Please turn on your sarcasm detector for at least some of this post. Intelligent readers will know which parts)
You Suck! I'm just kidding. but no, really.
Wait, is this the first game you've not been able to beat!?! NO WAY.
All kidding aside... I got stuck on punch out recently. That long stretch in like the third teir topped off by sandman's first appearance. I know you work the body, but it's slow going. Got to get my nerve together and get back on it.
{PS; working on platinuming Demon's Souls right now too. They're not even close in difficulty, but there's the rumor mill for you]
dont worry you're not the only one who got defeated by this girl:
www.youtube.com/watch
This should make you feel better. :)
And the video does contain its fair share of cuss words...
Either I've given up on games through boredom, or because I could not stand the thought of having to grind. For me the first that I can remember giving up on would be Final Fantasy XII, It was this flying dragon-like creature in some underground silo. I couldn't beat it the first or second time(after changing tactics), went back and fought random monsters for about an hour, went up a level or two(because after looking up it's health online I found out that I was short of killing it by just a few hundred, figured having a bit more health and attack would get me through), went back and still got my butt wooped.
The other two(both downloads) that are just staring me in the face, telling me to just finish them already are Suikoden, and Wild Arms 2( 2nd ignition if you want to be accurate....).
I would kinda like to play this, but I get this feeling I should avoid it. I get frustrated easily, and I'm already having trouble with some trophies on Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Those trophies are evil I'm telling you!
Ms. Splosion Man is on my backburner list of arcade titles. I just finished Basiton and From Dust, and will go on to Vampire Smile and a couple others. Good to know that it's difficult. Although, I hope you're not one of the gamers that complains when a game's too easy. The hypocrisy would be blinding :P
I say keep at it, but only after you take a break. I remember a certain level in Fox Adventures (the one with the dinosaurs) that took me many, many days of trying and failing. I moved on, and about a half a year later, came back to it, and beat it first try, easily.
Its okay Hist, I have been beaten by same girl, and I didn't even get as far as you. I got beat at the beginning of the second World, I need to go back and replay the level so I can beat it, but I lost so many times already.
If a game ceases to be fun, then why play it?
That's basically my motto. I mean, if it's your job, or if it's something you NEED to do in order to put food on your table or keep yourself in clean undies, that's one thing, but if it's something you are CHOOSING to do, then why force yourself through drudgery and tedium and hair pulling madness just so you can say "I...finished it!"?
I've done this with TV shows or books that got horrible to continue or simply "jumped the shark" and became ridiculous and boring. At first I found myself feeling guilty, but then I shook it off-I mean, really, it's entertainment we're talking about here-and now I basically go by the motto of never doing ANYTHING that I don't want to do if it's not essential to my family's or my own well being. And let me tell you, I think I'm a better person for it!
I really enjoyed your blog-it made me think a lot!
That's rough man... sorry to hear you were unable to best that game :/ But you're certainly not alone in that, as earlier posters have shared their experiences. Most recently Hunted: Demon's Forge kicked my tail down to the casual difficulty... can't think of the last time I've been forced to play at the lowest setting just to progress :/
Give up on Ms Explosion Man? Shame on you.
Um why are you being sexist? Haha I'm just foolin'. I am also playing this game and getting just as frustrated as you. There are so many little annoyances and the act that I'm color blind certainly doesn't help with all the similar colors and the way she blends into the background and I completely lose her sometimes. I especially get annoyed with the levels that require me to beat some raising water level or oil or whatever it may be. It really bothers me but it's still a fun game. Oh and by the way I love the alliteration alert!
Wow, sorry it took me so long to get back to this!!! What's the statute of limitations on these replies, anyway? I hope *somebody* comes back and reads...
Anyway, here we go!
@God of Irony: You wound me, man. You wound me.
@Fever Ray: What, no pinball comment? :P I'm under 200 away from you now...
Yeah, they do kind of stare you in the face, don't they? LOL On the other hand, since you can't get rid of them, just maybe you'll go back and try it again, just to see if you can finally do it.
@Sora3Ben: that new barrel *is* weird. I did have trouble getting used to it at first, but it just because another part in the sequence of perfectly timed splosions after a while.
You can go ahead and spoil it. It's not like I'm that concerned with the "story" even if I do decide to go back and try and finish. :) You've got me curious now (hope you come back)
@Romars202129: No, it's not the first game I've been unable to beat. It's just the one that prompted this post. Though I can only think of two more that I haven't been able to. There have been a few that I never finished because I got bored, but not because I couldn't beat them.
@The_Gamer: LOL glad to see I'm not alone. :)
@Jon Keyes: I think there's a difference between quitting from boredom and quitting in frustration. Sure, both *could* be prompted by the same event (not being able to get past some barrier), but with boredom, it's more "this game hasn't gripped me enough to make it worth it to keep trying." With frustration, it's more "I'm going to have a coronary if I continue..."
@Masterassassin: I recommend it for skilled platform fans. For those people, I'm sure it's difficult but not impossible. But it's not for the casual platform fan, that's for sure.
@Cru Hunter: No, I don't complain when a game's too easy. LOL
I may go back to it eventually. But there's too much other stuff coming out to really worry about it too much.
@Blaze6106: You feel my pain!! LOL Yeah, the levels have been hard, and I'm sure I had trouble with the level you're talking about (hell, I had trouble with all of them, so that's safe to say!) Good luck if you do go back to it.
@born4this: Yeah, Super Meat Boy is the other game that defeated me eventually. I think, for me, I find platformers fun, but not so fun that I want to struggle through monstrous difficulty. I did reach the 5th world/stage/whatever in Super Meat Boy before giving up, though.
@Oni no Tenshi: I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for the support. :)
@eyros2k: Wow, that *is* rough! Dragon Age 2 was the one I set down to the easiest toward the end, though that was more because I was getting kind of bored with it but wanted to know how it ended. I didn't have the interest to try and figure out exactly what I needed to do to win the boss fights.
That was fun. :)
@Round Dragon: You wound me, sir. You wound me. :P
@indiejones: I'm glad somebody commented on the alliteration! As soon as I typed it (it was unintentional), I knew I had to make a joke out of it.
Being colour-blind certainly can't help with this game. Yikes!!!! I'm usually ok with the rising acid/whatever levels, but there's one that requires such perfect timing that it took me ages to do.
Thanks, everybody!!!!!
200G, and worth every single swear word :)