Throughout my life, gaming has been a large part of it. I've played a wide array of different games, and over time got myself sucked into the zone people call hardcore. By hardcore I don't mean the kids you have prestiged multiple times in call of duty, or the new Halo players that really care about what gears is on their spartan. I mean the group of players that value a game that will make them die fifty times until they get it right the fifty-first time, and build a skill set and strategic thinking. This attitude towards thinking has made me decide to play some truly masochistic games. Despite having been a clan Halo 3 player, and a clan level Battle Bad Company 2 player (the best kind of Battlefield), those aren't the kind of achievements I'm talking about. I'm talking about those singular moments where you resolutely complete a game or defeat something. And I've done the classic ones, like beat the elite four, etc, but these are the ones that aren't comparable, where completion was a matter of time and attrition. Here's my list of greatest achievement in video games (In no particular order): [b] 1. Beat Sebulba in Episode I Pod Racer for the Gameboy[/b] [spoiler][b]Worst Part:[/b] Hitting the wall and exploding [b]Best Part:[/b] Realizing Anakin's pod upgrades itself [b]Feeling:[/b] Incredulity at my triumph [b]Thing I Ignore:[/b] I was playing as Anakin Basically it was like this: [url]http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/t/24760-star-wars-episode-i-racer-game-boy-color-screenshot-tailing.jpeg[/url] A top down pod racing game for the gameboy. The game was apparently so powerful it needed this: [url]http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Star-Wars-Episode-I-Racer-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-1999-/00/s/NTc3WDEwMjQ=/$%28KGrHqR,!iYE6Z2WfKTqBOy1drQl%28!~~60_35.JPG[/url] A fat cartridge which took another precious AA battery required to play your gameboy color. The objective was simple, play as Anakin, going from world to world, beating aliens and collecting their pods which you could then race in order to win more pods. There had to be over 20 courses and pods, and each one was a battle to get. Being that it was top down, you could only see the what the screen was showing you in your limited vision. But at the speed you were going, you could possibly react in time, along with the fact that you drifted through your turns, and the turns were not forgiving. There would be complete right angles during which you could just take a hit or brake all the way through. The way the game compensated for this, is about a second before extreme turns, and arrow would pop up telling you the direction. Even with this you couldn't possibly make the turn unless you knew the course inside and out. Failing one turn on the later stages meant one thing, you would lose. The AI drove the pods through the courses at the fastest speed possible. You had to play flawlessly while actually bashing your pod against the computers in order to win. And every bash brought your already low starting health lower. Oh yeah, your health was also your fuel bar for maximum speed. This is the type of game that looks easy, and then you play it, and nothing can humanly be done. Suffice to say, Sebulba was the last race. He had a pod which threw the rules that were balancing the pods up until that point out of the window. Beating him meant my pod was forever in front of his after accelerating by him around one turn, forcing him behind me while breaking my all time record. Sounds dumb, super exciting.[/spoiler] [b]2. Beating Frankenstein In Castlevania Original for the NES[/b] [spoiler][b]Worst Part:[/b] Suiciding at the beginning of the level if I didn't reach the boss area with 3 lives [b]Best Part:[/b] None of it [b]Feeling:[/b] Complete Dread of having to do it again if I closed the game [b]Thing I Ignore:[/b] Never beat Death [url]http://cdn.wikimg.net/strategywiki/images/e/e1/Castlevania_Boss_Frankenstein.png[/url] Go watch a playthrough of castlevania, I dare you. This is a game that is easy to understand, and looks easier to play. Still one of the toughest games out there. Go play it, you'll understand. Watch every strategy guide, then go play it, it won't be any easier. Here, just watch some: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKi_avjC3kI]Actually god playing[/url] Watching it, it looks slow, it looks like enemies are slow, and watching good players, it looks like enemies die to the simplest tap of a whip. What is hard to understand, is every most you make in castlevania is a commitment, one that carries more weight their you mumbling after your girlfriend asks you what you think about marriage. But Frankenstein, it's incomprehensible what this boss wants from you. It walks around while Igor hops everywhere on the screen shooting fireballs. This is the boss which make people quit playing an already impossibly hard game. One needs to dodge fireballs coming from every direction, while staying cognizant of the damage you need to put onto Frankenstein in your limited time, since you are going to die, and you will do so quickly. I finally beat Frankenstein, with only a hit of pegs left, using nothing but the whip, and it left me with a feeling of such triumph and dread. I was dreading losing my data and having to ever play that again. I wish this could have been beating death. But I can't beat death.[/spoiler] Apparently this is also a thing: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAZ7Aayi9Z4]F***ing Holy Water[/url] [b]3. Beat Super Meat Boy Dark Levels, collect all bandaids on PC[/b] [spoiler][b]Worst Part:[/b] Random Lag [b]Best Part:[/b] Fly Wrench [b]Feeling:[/b] Objective awe of what my runs looked like [b]Thing I Ignore:[/b] Didn't beat all the warpzones [url]https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/433297487/meatysticker2.png[/url] This is a game which does in fact look hard to the naked untrained gamer mind. You fling meatboy around at a break neck pace, slowly mastering every iota of movement while you make increasingly impossible jumps. If nothing else, it's hard. And there is a deep satisfaction watching all your failed attempts toss themselves into buzz saws. This is the game which is why my two arrow keys, left and right, are cracked down the middle from intense wear and tear. And for those of you who don't know, dark levels were insane twists on the already increasingly absurdly hard meatboy levels. To understand, watch this montage, and understand that these are the easy levels. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snaionoxjos]Trailer[/url][/spoiler] [b]4. Beat Epic Battle Fantasy 1-3 On Epic on PC[/b] [spoiler][b]Worst Part:[/b] Epic Battle Fantasy 1's lack of save points [b]Best Part:[/b] Slime Bunny or Soul Eater Cleaver, can't decide [b]Feeling:[/b] Tactical superiority [b]Thing I Ignore:[/b] Still need to beat EBF4 I'll be able to also add EBF4 in a day or so with walkthrough for god cat. [url]http://ahkong.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/epic-battle-fantasy-2-02.jpg[/url] These games are flash parodies of final fantasy. That being said, they are some of the best turn based fighters on the planet, and perhaps my favorite series ever. Especially for their epic difficulty. To beat a boss on epic difficulty in this game, you need to use every single one of your turns perfectly, and still have luck on your side. On epic, this is the type of game, that even with infinite items which can revive and heal your entire party, you will game over, alot. Just for example, the second to last boss of Epic Battle Fantasy 2 consisted of a two headed undead dragon. both heads had a turn, and both could cast instant death magic during their turn which would kill one of your two parrty members. Meaning at full health, fully buffed, you could lose. To counter this, you needed to play with a specific behavior that right before that fight the game would give you the option to get a perk for one of your party members. Either that your tank had a chance to survive big hits with 1 hp out of 9999, or that your healer had some resistance to insta-death magic. This type of challenge was consistent throughout the entire series, and that example wouldn't even be the most extreme case. Yet it was always fair, always your fault, something wrong with your strategy, and the best part is that there are multiple different ways and builds to tackle each boss. I always used soul eater.[/spoiler]