Are retro games harder than current-gen?

[shoryuken4u]

I ask this because I am getting my ass handed to me in Donkey Kong Country as well as a slew of other SNES games. My PS3 games have not been all that hard with the exception of the notoriously difficult Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Out of curiosity, what have been the most difficult retro games for you guys?

[htimreimer]

the reason why retro games are so difficult is because the lack of memory on the cartridge see what most game developers did back then is make 5 to 10 levels and pump up the difficulty to make it feel longer than it is now some developers did make games with more then 10 levels but it was very hard and expensive to do

Out of curiosity, what have been the most difficult retro games for you guys?

For me it a FPS from 1998 called nam and lets say that i died in 40 seconds of playing the first level on the easiest setting those virtual vietnamese people don't fu@k around

[matt]

Absolutely.

There are very few modern games that capture the difficultly of the classic games. Games back then were more skill based and really forced you to get better. A lot of the early games were ports of arcade titles which by their very nature were difficult since the goal was to hopefully force the user into pumping in more quarters.

Publishers also weren't so worried about competing against movies and other forms of entertainment. It seems that now the target market has shifted and so has the difficulty. Thus you'll see most games with a casual setting where the user can simply coast through the game in order to be entertained. The only games that buck this trend are from the indie market where they don't have to worry so much about sales figures and pleasing a publisher.

[tpugmire]

I wouldn't necessarily say that retro games are harder.  Sure, some retro games are hard as hell, but so are some newer games too.  The challenges are different, and what htimreimer said is right to a degree.  I find it hard to compare retro games and new games because they are so different.  Is Adventure for 2600 harder than Skyward Sword?  Some would say yes, I personally wouldn't even compare them.

[jcalder8]

If you look at a single level I think that modern games can be just as challenging as retro games. When you consider that retro games do not allow you to save or restart right from where you died I think the challenge is greater in retro games

[thecollector0o7]

I personaly believe in what was said before, its hard to compare retro and new gen because they are so diffrent in so many ways. If you look at some retro games they are as difficult as they come (Dragon treasure 2600 or even Donkey Kong Country) and there are very hard new gen games (Demon Souls) but these two games have to many diffrences to compare. For instance in Donkey Kong Country its a solid platformer (left or right) where as Demon Souls has depth and 360 degree rotation right there is a diffrent playing field. Even the free roam games of the time like (Zelda nes) have to many diffrences to the new gen games we have to day because once again zelda only has 4 ways of direction and that in a way makes it more simple but more hard if you think about it. I think that the gap between gens is to far to compare them in difficulty.

[turf]

Heck yeah they were harder!  Kids today are pansies.  Back in my day we walked 2 miles in the snow uphill, just to play some Super Mario Bros.!  We didn't have tutorial levels.  You just jumped in the game and mashed buttons until you didn't die.  Sure we had instruction manuals, but that was just for the pictures and a vague backstory. 

Kids today don't realize how good they have it.  You know what we called a buggy game back in my day?  Huh?  We called it hard and finished it anyway!  Now days if you get stuck on a part of a game, the game is broken. 

Games were hard as hell.  We didn't have these new fangled interwebs to look up cheats and walkthroughs.  What did we have?  A bi-monthly magizine called Nintendo Power!  The walkthrough we got was the bullshit the kids in the lunchroom at school were spouting.  Remember that kid that said you could shoot the dog in Duckhunt if you put in a code?  Or if you shot the tree enough it would fall over?

Have you ever played Castlevania II without a guide?  It's next to impossible.  Guess what.  I knew that Dracula looked like a dead WWI pilot years ago. What was on his head that looked like goggles anyway? 

So, in a short answer yes.  I am getting to be a crotchety old man.

[pacpix]

YES!  One of the big reasons I switched to retro games is because of the difficulty.  Most of my friends at school say that retro games are so easy and I should play real games like Halo.  I would like to see the looks on their face if they played something like Wizardry!  Of what I have played this is what I would consider to be the hardest and I am slowly making my way though it making my own maps. 

[kingrat101]

I agree that now games seem easier, but as someone pointed out before most games were arcade ports that which in general are just difficult to get more money. I think the market is just a lot different now. Playing video games was kind of a niche thing back then and the only people playing them wanted the arcade experience which in turn brought the difficulty along with it. Older games too were limited in space and another way to make the game feel longer is to add a difficulty in different ways such as memorization such is the case with DKC and Contra.
Me personally, this is one reason why I enjoy retro more than modern because I like quick action that takes really fast reflexes and memory as opposed to playing a game that can last into 80+ hours of play.
And to answer your other question, one of the most difficult retro games for me is actually DKC2 it took me forever to get past the last world and strangely enough one of the hardest fighting games I've ever played Samurai Shodown 3 on the Neo Geo,extremly difficult. And of course the Metal Slug games

[disgaeniac]

My PS3 games have not been all that hard with the exception of the notoriously difficult Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Like a few others have said - I think there were hard retro games (but, I didn't think Adventure (2600:)) was one of 'em...which, in all honesty, could have been due to the number of hours that I spent playing it

...And, I think that there are still hard games today.
Also (as others have already said), in many ways -comparing them is pretty much 'apples 'n' oranges'.

*HOWEVER* -

 - I *can* point you towards some "not-very-easy" games for your PS3

Since I know that we have similar tastes in RPG's; I'll give you 2 of my favorite (difficult *but* fair) PS3 RPG's.

First up is my all-time favorite PS3 RPG (hell - my favorite PS3 *Game*) ever (and yes, I'm aware that it's a 'controversial' pick in that it's a love-it-or-hate-it kind of game)...

**********CROSS-EDGE**********

It's a cross-over RPG w/ playable characters from the series:

Darkstalkers = Morrigan, Lilith, Felicia, Demitri, and Jedah
Atelier = Marie,
Disgaea = Etna & Prinny,
Mana Khemia (2) = Lily, Whim, Raize, & Reicher,
Blazing Souls = Meu & Zelos,
Ar-Tonelico = Shurelia, Miesha, Aurica, Lyner, Ayatane, and Bourd, and
~10 or so, original characters.

While it's not necessary to *have* to have played any of these other games - you'll obviously get more out of the character's behaviors, interactions, costumes/weapons/armor, etc. if you have.

IT IS NOT AN EASY GAME!

It *IS* a very rewarding & satisfying game to play/beat, though once you "get" how everything works (this will take a while).

Also, if going for the "True End"...you will *NEED* to print-out/have at your side a "true-end walkthrough/checklist" - you will *never* attain the true end w/o one...nobody ever would!

It has a *steep* learning-curve, but, I love the game so much (I absolutely *hated* it, btw, my 1st playthrough); that I've platinumed it twice (on 2 different PSN accounts), and have been through the whole thing 3 or 4 times...
...If you ever get/play it, don't hesitate to ask me for help (or, go to the (surprisingly) still active & helpful G*Faq's board for it:)

"It's so easy, that you can plat it one-handed; even" 

Wow, is this post getting loooong -so- I'll skimp on the description and simply recommend that you look into:

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls (in NA, unfortunately), it's download-only from the PSN store.
Just be aware that this is much more of a "dungeon-crawler" RPG than CE is...

Enjoy

[jobocan]

My PS3 games have not been all that hard with the exception of the notoriously difficult Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

I wouldn't exactly call these games "really hard" as a lot of people have been saying. Rather, they're punishing, but as a whole they're not too tough if you don't rush it... though they're still above and beyond most other modern games in regards to difficulty, I just feel people over-hype the games' difficulty.

That said, most modern games are definitely easier than a lot of older games, if only because modern developers always feel the need to hold your hand and constantly tell you what to do, with the constant tutorial text, objective markers and overall difficulty-destroying game mechanics like cover and regenerating health. It's pretty bad as a whole. There's no exploration (some games kill you if you even think about not following the set path), no experimenting, no learning as you go, just "do what we tell you and enjoy our badly-written contrived storylines and HD graphics!", and it's pretty shallow if you ask me. The first 10 seconds of Super Mario Bros has more challenge than most of the current industry. There are exceptions, but they're very few and very far between.

[kimimi]

I think it's more that gamer expectations have changed - gamers expect to be able to finish any game they purchase these days... and really, why wouldn't they? Gaming is increasingly seen as more adult than it used to be, and adults just don't have the free time that kids do. *I* don't have the time to invest in games like I want to, and pretty much all my free time is spent gaming.

I'd also argue that games are generally better designed these days. I don't mean better designed gameplay, but games (usually) no longer have enemies respawn if you move an inch to the left or expect you to play through 100 levels in a single sitting to complete a game.

[darko]

Dark Souls & Demon's Souls are arguably the most difficult games this generation IMO. They require plenty of memory work, trial and error, and exploration. The games absolutely do NOT hold your hand and are very similar in style to some of the more difficult NES/SNES era offerings.

One of my biggest complaints with current gen games is with the lack of difficulty. Personally, I don't enjoy a game unless I feel like I've accomplished something by playing it. Simply seeing an ending doesn't get me there. I've finished very few current gen titles due to the simple fact that I get bored. No challenge = boredom in my book.

Admittedly I am a little tweaked when it comes to playing video games. The tougher the game, the more I get frustrated. The more I get frustrated the more I concentrate. The more I concentrate the better I get. Essentially, if I get pissed off I play better

[scott]

Admittedly I am a little tweaked when it comes to playing video games. The tougher the game, the more I get frustrated. The more I get frustrated the more I concentrate. The more I concentrate the better I get. Essentially, if I get pissed off I play better

This is why my go to genre is shmups. Especially bullet-hell ones. And it's also the reason why I only play until I lose all of my lives and never continue. Sure it takes me forever to see the end of the game, but by the time I get there it provides a great sense of accomplishment. 

[blipcs76]

I can't think of a modern game I haven't able to beat on normal difficulty (the exception being niche games, for example bullet hell shooters like Ikaruga or Deathsmiles).  However, to this day I haven't beaten Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT or Ghosts N Goblins.

A big difference today is that you can quickly find a walkthrough of nearly every game ever made.  If you were stuck on a game in 1986, you had to figure it out yourself or give up.