My Crushing Defeats (Or Games that Got the Better of Me)

Hello again, readers, gamers, and all you other people. I thought since I was pretty inactive during half of November, I'd make up for a little lost time. So, here's another post, and once again, it's about games and the contest, but this time, it's not about my most recent win or the experience of playing. This time, I'm here to tell you now what I didn't win, yeah, yeah.

Okay, maybe I listen to a little too much Weird Al, although I did once lose on a Jeopardy game a long time ago.

I've beaten a log of games for this contest, some more impressive than others. But I've also done my fair share of losing too. Now, I'm sure any of you gamers have experienced that dreaded sight of seeing those two words, "Game Over" flash across your screen. I bet any of you have lost count of how many games you've lost. I know I have. But when a game gets the better of me, it means something a little more than running out of lives.

When a game gets the better of me, it means that I've just utterly given up. Now, I'm sure you've all experienced that.

Not fun is it?

I've lost plenty of games. I've run out of lives, had my parties get wiped out, had my health knocked clear down to zero, or what have you. Still, there was always a little ray of hope that the next time, I'd get there. Next time, I'd finally beat that final boss. Next time, I'd go all the way to the end. Most of the time, I actually managed to do it, too...even if I found myself so certain that a game was impossible. But there are others that forced me to switch off my console knowing that I just had to give up, for whatever reason. Now, that is a really crushing defeat.

First time I ever really had a game get to me was way before this contest. The game was Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I can tell you exactly what got to me in two words: Shadow Queen. Never had I faced a more challenging final boss. It didn't help that the game was a rental either. That was one defeat I'll really never forget. It was the last day of the rental period. I wasn't doing well, but I wasn't losing either. It was late, everyone else had gone to bed, and finally, I just knew there was no chance of me beating that one. So, I switched off.

I always wondered if I had a little more time if maybe I could have done it. I heard other people had done it, so obviously it's not an unbeatable game. I think it's the wondering that really got to me - wondering if I could have beaten that one. What can I say? I never like admitting that a game wound up beating me instead of the other way around.

I've experienced a share of crushing defeats for this contest too. Oh, they weren't as epic as my failure against the Shadow Queen, but they sure do stick out in my mind. If you don't mind, and if you've read this far, I'm betting you don't, here's a list of my contest losses - the ones that got away, so to speak.

• Punch-Out!! - No, this isn't the Wii game, although I've never played a Punch-Out!! game yet that was actually easy. This was the NES game that I downloaded off the Wii Shop Channel. Let me tell you, the other games were all doozies, but this one really took the cake on being unbeatable for me. I made it all the way to Mr. Dream, and on good days, I managed to survive for the first 1:30. Those days were mighty rare. If by some chance I did, I was usually beaten down by his punches. I never counted, but I think I went at least 15 rounds against him. By that time, I figured maybe this couldn't be done. Well, not by me at least.

•  Sonic Spinball - This one was pretty recent. I don't know what got into me, but I really thought I could do this one easily. Oh boy, was I ever wrong. I made it all the way to the end. Now, if you don't know how this game works, here's a brief lesson. In each level, you have to find either 3 or 5 Chaos Emeralds to open the boss room. Then you have to defeat the boss. Well, if that wasn't enough, you have to do it on a pinball table. Like I said, I made it right to the end, which took me into Dr. Robotnik's spaceship. I got in, but I could never stay in long enough to do some damage. And getting back in was a chore since, as with any pinball game, you can't get the ball to go just where you want it. Switch off.

• The Lost Vikings - I haven't counted this one as a total loss yet, but it's well on the road. Once again, I made it all the way to the end. I struggled with this game for years, and it looks like I'll be struggling for a few more years, the way that last stage was going. It sounds so easy on paper.  

• Bio-Hazard Battle - Another Wii Shop game I decided to try. This one is one of those old-time shooting games where the screen moves and you have to avoid all manner of obstacles to reach the end of a level. I made it to the final level (are you sensing a pattern here?) and I got blown away. I haven't even seen the final boss of this game, and I'm not expecting I will. I came to find I suck at shooting games. Yet, I still managed to do all right in Star Fox. Maybe it's because they actually give you more than 1 hit before you blow up.

So, that's the list of my most memorable defeats for this contest. Sonic Spinball, Vikings, and Battle were all lost within a few hours time of each other, so imagine how fun that was to have three different games beat me in the same day. But you learn to take your licks and move on. And who knows, maybe I'll actually get that stubborn streak of mine directed back towards these games. Well, I do hate to lose like that.

What have been some of your most memorable game defeats? You don't have to be a player in this contest to answer that. After all, it's not as hard to lose a game. haha

Play on, gamers, play on.