Childhood difficulty?

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

You know how some games feel impossible when we are younger, then we revisit them as adults and just... breeze through them?

It happened to me twice, actually:

Once when I was replaying Army Men: World War -- Land, Sea, Air (PSX), a game that had taken me months to beat as a teen.

And the second time was when I played a bit of Lethal Enforcers II (Genesis) as a refresher for my review.

I beat both in one sitting, despite having such a hard time with them that I actually had to enlist help every time I felt like seeing more than a couple of screens after the first few.

What are those games for you?

 

[Kamako]

What are those games for you?

I usually find the opposite to be true, where I go back to games I played when I was younger and I have no clue how I managed to beat them. Games like Silent Bomber and Golden Axe are some examples.

Games I've legitimately gotten better at are mainly shooters like DOOM and survival horror games like Resi

 

[PSVitaForever]

I usually find the opposite to be true, where I go back to games I played when I was younger and I have no clue how I managed to beat them.

This, sometimes

 

[pHoeniX_WRIght]

I didn't understand english as a kid so definitely Ace Attorney

Other Capcom games like DMC, Resi4 and MvC2, I'm not particularly good at MvC but I can at least play, as for DMC and RE4 I can pretty much just breeze through them

Oh MGS games too, I had to ask other people how to beat the bosses lol

And I tried playing Tomb Raider 3 once way back when and I couldn't even figure the controls out

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

Used to have Star Trek Voyager Elite force on the PS2,
Spend months on & off completing it. 50% I was a dumb kid who didn't comprehend resource management and 50% It was a FPS by Raven. I was like 10 years old.

Get to around 22 years old, download the original PC Release, Play on hard.
Complete the whole game in one six hour sitting.

I can't even say it was down to map memorisation, because the last location, the Harvester station was basically a mystery lol my childhood memories dried up at the Borg cube.

 

[Dany28]

Yes, that's true. When you're younger, you play every game differently than when you get older. I used to have trouble playing racing games. Now that I'm older, strangely enough, I don't have any problems playing them anymore.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

I think for me it was Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. That game, considering it was obviously designed for kids, really has one of the most bizarre difficulty spikes in the final chapter. Considering I was like 7 or 8 when I first played it and I'd been enjoying my time with it throughout that years summer, I managed to slog my way to the second to last boss of the game but I hit a dead-end. A year or 2 later I managed to make it to the actual final boss, but again hit a dead-end with that. It genuinely wasn't until I replayed the game again when I was like 14 or 15 that I could beat it all the way from beginning to end with pretty much no trouble.

Did end up becoming one of my favorite games though, and a game I like to give myself challenges every time I replay it. Guess that shows how good I eventually got at it lol.

 

[shadowcat]

In grade school, I used to play the game Evolution Worlds on the Gamecube religiously, and I got to the main antagonist of the second act, named Yurka, and could never beat him as a 9 year old kid. I have since played the game multiple times and haven't had any problems against him, but little me wasn't ready for the big bad of that game yet.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

El Viento and the Splatterhouse series on Genesis/MegaDrive probably because when I was little twerp I really never give a crap about enemies’ movement paterns.

 

[Jayonnaise6105]

I'd say most of the early Yu-Gi-Oh! video games.
I loved the anime and collected the cards as a kid, but had no clue how to play the actual card game properly. Didn't help either that those earlier games were inconsistent as to whether they followed the rules of the legit card game, the anime, or made up their own rules altogether.
I understand enough nowadays to play most of the video games, but I still kinda struggle with the real-life card game. It's a bit more complicated than it needs to be hehe

 

[JustLooking123]

I have experienced it both way...
There has been a few games that has become much easier as i grown up... and a few that has become harder for me as i grown up!

I think we gain some core experiences as we grow, and that can help in playing all games...
While we might lose our specifically honed skills if we don't play a game for a long time...

 

[DjQuick2008]

Im better at risk as an adult than i was when i was younger risk takes you to engage your brain for strategy

 

[qw90700]

I gotta say Missile Command. Why I had a hard time was just because I was trying to do what is impossible: Perfect gameplay to save every city without losing any never. I often known to try to defy even laws of physics too for example. No wonder even when I was a baby I loved to escape from caretaker place!!!! lolol

After getting old and playing it again I realized it's ok to just sacrifice cities (child in me crying!!!). I gained awareness of which missiles in which order have to be defeated to survive. I guess back then my biologically immature brain didn't have enough RAM and CPU power to deal with the game lolol.

So child me was like a naive hero but current me is like a CEO. "2 billions of people had to die just to save 1 million because it was all I can do!!!" -- me lolol.

 

[JoystickV2]

I have a lot of stories, like how I thought that only the CPU could use the special moves on Street Fighter EX, or how I was so terrible at Atlantis for the PSX that I never finished that game, however I have better examples!

Crash Bandicoot: Warped: loved back then, still love it now, but I was REALLY bad at Crash when I was young, Jesus Christ. I didn't know how to slide jump, I got so nervous during the underwater levels that I took A LONG ASS TIME just to finish them, and N. Gin's boss fight was the stuff of nightmares, I got stuck on his fight for a whole week. Nowadays tho, I can play Crash 3 in such a casual way, I still struggle with some moments, but it's not on the same level, and I even defeated N. Gin on my SECOND try!

Kingdom Hearts II: this was the first RPG I ever played, and I didn't understood english... So... Yeah, I had a lot of problems during this game, BUT MY BIGGEST ENEMY IS DEMYX! When I got to Demyx's fight in Hollow Bastion, I kept losing to his freaking timer. Every. Single. Bloody. Time. I know I was a stupid kid that didn't understood english, but man, this fight was so annoying that I got stuck in it for a ENTIRE YEAR! I know that Demyx isn't a bad character, but his fight triggers my PTSD something fierce, I don't struggle with his timer and water clones anymore, but I will never forgive him e.e

Sonic 3 & Knuckles: I liked Sonic 3 & Knuckles enough when I was younger, but I was terrible at it and I thought it was overhyped a little bit. I didn't like the Special Stages at all (probably some leftover trauma from the Sonic Heroes' Special Stages), I didn't even try to get all Chaos Emeralds, and I don't think I got to reach Mushroom Hill? I remember playing that level in Sonic & Knuckles, but not on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, y'know? But nowadays... Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of my absolute favorite Sonic games ever, I played this game A LOT, got the Chaos Emeralds and the Super Emeralds multiple times.

Toy Story 2: this game was a lot harder during my childhood, because I was usually just playing through some levels once and maybe getting just another Pizza Planet Token at most, every time the game would say "You need more Pizza Planet Tokens to progress!", I was struggling to do the other objectives in the level. But now I can play this game without much trouble, and I still love it xD

 

[Jayonnaise6105]

I have a lot of stories, like how I thought that only the CPU could use the special moves on Street Fighter EX, or how I was so terrible at Atlantis for the PSX that I never finished that game, however I have better examples!

Crash Bandicoot: Warped: loved back then, still love it now, but I was REALLY bad at Crash when I was young, Jesus Christ. I didn't know how to slide jump, I got so nervous during the underwater levels that I took A LONG ASS TIME just to finish them, and N. Gin's boss fight was the stuff of nightmares, I got stuck on his fight for a whole week. Nowadays tho, I can play Crash 3 in such a casual way, I still struggle with some moments, but it's not on the same level, and I even defeated N. Gin on my SECOND try!

Kingdom Hearts II: this was the first RPG I ever played, and I didn't understood english... So... Yeah, I had a lot of problems during this game, BUT MY BIGGEST ENEMY IS DEMYX! When I got to Demyx's fight in Hollow Bastion, I kept losing to his freaking timer. Every. Single. Bloody. Time. I know I was a stupid kid that didn't understood english, but man, this fight was so annoying that I got stuck in it for a ENTIRE YEAR! I know that Demyx isn't a bad character, but his fight triggers my PTSD something fierce, I don't struggle with his timer and water clones anymore, but I will never forgive him e.e

Sonic 3 & Knuckles: I liked Sonic 3 & Knuckles enough when I was younger, but I was terrible at it and I thought it was overhyped a little bit. I didn't like the Special Stages at all (probably some leftover trauma from the Sonic Heroes' Special Stages), I didn't even try to get all Chaos Emeralds, and I don't think I got to reach Mushroom Hill? I remember playing that level in Sonic & Knuckles, but not on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, y'know? But nowadays... Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of my absolute favorite Sonic games ever, I played this game A LOT, got the Chaos Emeralds and the Super Emeralds multiple times.

Toy Story 2: this game was a lot harder during my childhood, because I was usually just playing through some levels once and maybe getting just another Pizza Planet Token at most, every time the game would say "You need more Pizza Planet Tokens to progress!", I was struggling to do the other objectives in the level. But now I can play this game without much trouble, and I still love it xD

I sucked at Kingdom Hearts 1 as a kid. I'd rent it every so often, but I'm pretty sure I never beat it until the PS3/PS4 remastered version

 

[nobitakun]

I usually find the opposite to be true, where I go back to games I played when I was younger and I have no clue how I managed to beat them. Games like Silent Bomber and Golden Axe are some examples.

Another THIS. I wouldn't date to play some of the games I played when childhood the same way as when I was in my childhood. If savestates weren't a reality, I simply couldn't finish games that were key when I was a little brat and I remember with joy.

 

[blindpr0phet]

When I was little, I couldn't beat the elite four in most Pokemon games. Except Emerald, for some reason.

 

[Idioms]

i didn't understand a lick of english when was a kid so i didnt know there were other worlds in Mario 64 beyond Bob-omb battlefield until i was like 6 where i accidentally bumped into a one of the doors i couldnt open before and it sent me to Jolly Roger Bay and I got scarred for life

Then in Paper Mario 64 i didnt know what to do after returning to the mushroom kingdom early on and thought that was all there is to the game. Then when i was 11y.o. i finally locked in and started reading and learned i have to talk to the fortune teller guy to shoo off the ninja turtles and i was finally able to play the rest of the game and its still one of my favorite video game to this day

 

[JoystickV2]

I sucked at Kingdom Hearts 1 as a kid. I'd rent it every so often, but I'm pretty sure I never beat it until the PS3/PS4 remastered version

In your defense, Kingdom Hearts 1 can be quite hard for a kid. I played through that game again this year, and I got destroyed by Ursula, Hook, Chernabog and Riku-Ansem çwç

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

Aladdin for the Snes . It was hard for me as a little kid and it took days till i beat it .
Now i beat it in an hour and dont lose a life.

Or i stuck in Dino crisis so many times that i needed a guide to get through . Now i can speedrun the game with ease .

Man ... did i suck at games back then .

 

[solnK!]

The mine cart levels on Donkey Kong Country, I still struggle with them.

 

[Jayonnaise6105]

In your defense, Kingdom Hearts 1 can be quite hard for a kid. I played through that game again this year, and I got destroyed by Ursula, Hook, Chernabog and Riku-Ansem çwç

You're not wrong there hehe I played through it again last year, and it was still quite challenging. Although I was also trying to do the no continues, under 15 hours and default Keyblade trophies in one playthrough.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight Cardboardtubeknight]

I usually find the opposite to be true, where I go back to games I played when I was younger and I have no clue how I managed to beat them. Games like Silent Bomber and Golden Axe are some examples.

100% this. I had no idea how badass I once was

 

[Scotty]

Sonic 1, 2 & 3 for the Genesis.

As a kid playing them through "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" on 360, I would typically get as far as either the 2nd or 3rd levels. Sonic 1 was "Spring Yard Zone" where I would usually die RIGHT BEFORE reaching the boss, Sonic 2 was "Chemical Plant" (Yes, the pink water lol) and Sonic 3 was "Marble Garden" where I didn't know where Eggman would spawn or I would get to the boss as the timer was about to hit "10:00".

Nowadays, I can effortlessly clear Sonic 1 with all 6 Chaos Emeralds. For some reason, I have the easiest time with those Special Stages compared to Sonic 3's Blue Spheres.

I can breeze through Sonic 2 in about an hour. I don't bother with the Special Stages though. Not only are they frustrating, but I prefer the normal ending with Sonic jumping off the Tornado instead of the Super Sonic ending.

Sonic 3. I'll be honest, I haven't memorized it quite as well as the first two games. But, I'm a lot better at it nowadays compared to when I was a kid.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Amusingly, I still suck at Diablo just as much.

Even The Butcher gives me a very hard time.