Hard Mode - Are Video Games too easy?
I was able to experience the wii’s virtual console games not so long ago, and as mentioned in a previous post, the games themselves are more or less 100% intact from ”back in the day.” Playing the original Super Mario Bros was full of nostalgia, it was like I was a kid again. As I continued to play, I soon realised something…
…this game is hard.
Perhaps I was simply rusty, however after thinking about it, when was the last time I really felt challenged from a video game? When was the last time I got so frustrated at a certain point that I simply did not want to play anymore. Obviously this feeling is not something a develop wants to achieve with the player, but I do think games are seriously lacking that something the classics have. Super Mario Bros itself is quite unforgiving…once your lives are gone, you’re back to world 1-1.
Many titles allow the player to choose how difficult the game is, but is it really difficult? Is difficulty defined as losing more health per shot? Having less ammo to deal with? Or is it defined as simply an outright challenge, that is generally hard in every sense, like getting past a certain jump that may or may not invole a tricky fire ball.
What do you define as a challenge? What games, young and old, are actually difficult?
Did you like this post?
