DS Daily: And then the DS accidentally fell right under my shoe.

by JC Fletcher { Oct 20th 2007 at 10:30AM }

With Contra 4 about to give us a heart attack, and Ninja Gaiden also on the way to make us doubt our ability to do things, we thought we'd ask you about the difficulty of currently-available DS games. There are some brutally hard games out there, and we're sure you've run into one of them. Some are difficult for not-so-great reasons, like control issues, but some are just hard.

What's the most difficult game you've played on the DS? And did you enjoy it? Bonus points if the game isn't Trauma Center.

Tags: contra-4, difficulty, hard-games, trauma-center, traumacenter

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Centy @ Oct 20th 2007 1:09PM

Etrian Oddysey man more rock hard game Ive played damn Atlus.

chris.- @ Oct 20th 2007 11:03AM

oh man good question. i think that ff3 WAS a hard game,but etrian odyseey was a lot harder.

i enjoyed ff3 though, but etrian o was just too hard hehe.

Foodie_Monster @ Oct 20th 2007 11:31AM

I agree with Etrian Oddyssey. I remember reviewing it on my show (shameless plug, http://www.ultimatequest.net), and I couldn't get past the 2nd floor. It was excruciatingly painful. Of course there are other games that might be "painful", but they are annoying at times. Case in point, Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. While the game is easy, trying to figure out how much money to give EVERY SINGLE PERSON is really really frustrating. There's no hints, no logic. It's guessing. And considering rupees are also your life in that game, you can see how it can get very very frustrating.

And last, but not least, in the frustrating games we have Touch Detective, with puzzles that make no sense whatsoever - this coming from a guy that prays to St. Guybrush Threepwood and goes visit Manny Calavera on a certain mexican holiday, riding Ben's motorcycle. So if I'm saying some puzzles are just plain stupid, I really mean it.

Other than that, you can't really say the DS has "hard" games. After all, it's not in Nintendo's best interest to have too many games on their system that would not benefit their core audience: the non-gamer.

Bretticus86 @ Oct 20th 2007 11:33AM

Sorry. Definately Trauma Centre!

Russell @ Oct 20th 2007 12:25PM

most definitely the Klingon campaign in Star Trek: Tactical Assault, I can't get past the first few missions, took several tries on the first alone

neuralien @ Oct 20th 2007 11:57AM

Izuna, The Legend of the Unemployed Ninja. Now THERE'S a game that was unbelievably hard.

Archibold @ Oct 20th 2007 12:11PM

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with "Trauma Center." I still never beat it all. It's a shame, too, because I love the premise and the controls. It's just when I have to have reaction times of fractions of seconds, I'm not exactly the best.

Kool_Kid_Joe @ Oct 20th 2007 12:14PM

Elite Beat Agents, Hard ROCK!! mode. I swear, they did that just to annoy people. In all difficulties, Canned Heat seems to be intentionally misleading as well, following an obscure part of the music as opposed to the vocals or lead.

chris.- @ Oct 20th 2007 12:28PM

i agree completely with foodie monster : )

tingle's rosy rupeeland is a cool game, however, its frustrating as well. you need rupees to beat the whole game, but if you complete a quest for a certain person and you're beeing asked how much money you want, you only have about five chances to get your rupees. if you're too greedy, you get absolutely nothing. but if you're to kind, you get too little money to advance in the story. or you'll have to gather ingredients, mix some stuff and sell it. but that takes forever, trust me ; )

and yes, touch detective is not more logical at all : D
it took forever until i figured out that you need the spider web from the upper left corner of the hot dog shack to fix your net. and, how can you make people tired? of course, catch a beautiful butterfly with your net that was fixed with a spider web and show it to the people around you. THAT'S how you get people bleary-eyed. trust me : D

Alisha Karabinus @ Oct 20th 2007 12:42PM

Oh, that image. I lol'd.

Kristi @ Oct 20th 2007 2:13PM

For me it was Lost Magic, for control reasons. That is not normally a problem for me but I'm not kidding when I say I could not make it past the 2nd real battle. After trying for 30 minutes or so I decided it wasn't any fun and I might as well sell it back to the store, so I did.

Croove55 @ Oct 20th 2007 3:10PM

I actually sold trauma center because *mild spoilers* of the "diffuse the bomb" level. NO ES POSSIBLE!

Also, the last song on Elite Beat Agents is a complete pain on "Sweatin'" and "Hard ROCK" difficulties. I just unlocked the song for the latter after finally beating "The Anthem", and I am completely stuck.

Finally, any part of Resident Evil: Deadly Silence's classic control mode. I know fans of the original games are going to hate me for saying this, but the tank controls for those games are an abomination. I have not gotten more than 2 seconds past killing the first zombie in that game without putting it aside in disgust. Why can't they all be like RE4?

Jonman @ Oct 20th 2007 3:18PM

Phoenix Wright. Some of the leaps of logic you're required to make are obtuse to the point of obscurity.

But, hardest? Without a doubt, Planet Puzzle League online multiplayer. I felt like everyone else in the world knew something I didn't. They probably did.

CJC @ Oct 20th 2007 3:57PM

Etrian Odyssey is a very special kind of hell. Enough has been said about that.

Touch Detective is just ridiculous. The puzzles make very little sense and you get no clues from anyone. It's the first time in years I've had to use a walkthrough- not for difficulty, but bad game design.

Pizza Pasta @ Oct 20th 2007 4:57PM

I have to say Yoshi's Island. The difficulty of the game was almost perfect but then they had to make the babies sound so obnoxious. It totally ruined the game and as I've said before made it feel too much like work.

I'm excited for Contra 4 though, it seems like I'll finally own a DS game that won't be able to be completed in a few days.

nil @ Oct 20th 2007 5:24PM

I loved Etrian and found it challenging but not too difficult. Izuna was crazy difficult, but the award ultimately goes to Trauma Center. TC was hard and the stress of the game combined with my uncomfortably hunched posture while playing it earn the award.

tonedef @ Oct 20th 2007 7:47PM

i've beaten all of elite beat up to "jumpin' jack flash" on hard rock. canned heat was a blast- if you can get into the syncopation, it's a breeze. it's the only song on hard rock that i've gotten flawlessly!

as for the hardest game on the ds, how has nobody remembered advance wars?! that game kicks my ass everytime i turn it on, regardless of how much i train in free play mode and open up abilities.

maybe i shouldn't use colin all the time.

Hame @ Oct 20th 2007 8:49PM

Advance Wars DS - Why can I not get past about mission 7 on any single Advance Wars game? I'm not that into stategy games, but I am able to complete Fire Emblem. I just don't get it. How can you beat an enemy that doesn't die?!?! It seems absolutely impossible to me.

Trauma Center - For the same reasons others have given. Managed to get to the last level, but it is ridiculously hard. Nearly threw my DS out the window in frustration. Not an enjoyable experience.

Elite Beat Agents - The later difficulty levels are insanely hard. Though you amaze yourself at how you're managing to keep up.

Metroid Prime Hunters - Mainly the second time you visit the 'Alimbic Cluster'. The bit with all those different portals and doors. Unbelievably confusing. But I could write for hours about how much I hate that game.

Matdredalia @ Oct 20th 2007 10:20PM

Ha, apparently I'm not the one getting my face kicked by Lost Magic.

I'm with Kristi, all the way. For some reason, Lost Magic has just been really bloody hard from the get-go. There are points where I've done better than others, but for the most part, it is a very hard game.

I spent days grinding my way through it, loving it, and now, I just can't win. I'm stuck, and just can't get past the battles I need to. It's seriously making me crazy.

ojste @ Oct 21st 2007 8:07AM

trauma centre - got to the las level and just gave up haha. i stoppedplaying and there was no way i was getting back into it at that stage

FF3 wins the most fucking annoying game design award, with its stupid "its random who goes first" system so you either have to rely on luck or over leveling.

WedgeTalon @ Oct 21st 2007 10:06AM

"Phoenix Wright. Some of the leaps of logic you're required to make are obtuse to the point of obscurity." - Jonman

If you think that game has odd leaps of logic, you should play Sam & Max Hit the Road. You have to think in a very SPECIAL way to beat that game! >:)

The hardest game I've played has been Trama Center, but that is mostly due to my malfunctioning DS. The bottom-right hand of my screen incorrectly detects touches (it is slightly off to the right of where you touch, getting further off the closer you get to the righthand side). Made that game impossible. I gave up after beating *SPOILER* the bomb level. ;) (Sorry Croove)

Other than that, I just finally played Hotel Dusk and must admit I got stumped in a couple places.

Hostile @ Oct 21st 2007 10:48AM

Ouendan is the hardest game on the DS. I can rarely get any letter higher than a B score, those spins in the first game were made to piss you off.

David D. @ Oct 21st 2007 11:06AM

"I felt like everyone else in the world knew something I didn't. They probably did.

Posted at 3:18PM on Oct 20th 2007 by Jonman"

That's the story of almost every online game I've ever played. :P

mahmud @ Oct 21st 2007 2:43PM

whoever said canned heat on EBA, yup. they make you follow the hi-hats on the off beat right after following the vocals, pretty crazy leap right there.

Nik @ Oct 21st 2007 4:04PM

FF3, Advance Wars DS (some of the later missions tested my ability to NOT throw my DS into a wall extensively),EBA on Hard Rock.

peepshow @ Jan 31st 2008 6:31AM

Trauma Centre has left my hand cramped and twitching many times. I still haven't killed that damn spider.

For the bonus points, I have to say Nano Stray is nasty. One friend that I let play it got mad at me for pointing out how old he was and how his "monkey-twitch-reflexes" we woefully inadequate.

Tyler @ Oct 21st 2007 5:33PM

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!... Ready Steady Go kicked my butt so many times, but the thing is I did managed to scrape by on Jumpin' Jack Flash on EBA Hard Rock mode. I guess O!T!O was just too hard..?

Kitty @ Oct 24th 2007 5:00PM

Sorry, but I gotta say Trauma Center. I beat the game, and the first 2 X missions. I'd never felt so hardcore before.

Scott @ Oct 22nd 2007 9:39AM

Because I am a dork:

Voice calculations in Brain Training.... the stroop test is poor at times but once you know to put the emphasis on the lue of blue you are set but voice calc.. Six six sIx SiX then it records it as a seven.

Mario Basketball - for me the steepest learning curve of any game I have played.

Mark @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:53AM

Am I the only person who didn't have a whole lot of trouble with Trauma Center?? Although the last surgery was ridiculously tough, but once I figured out the trick with using Healing Touch twice and stopping time I was able to beat it.

Right now I am completely stuck in the Fire Cave in FF3 - I have honestly been trying for months to beat Salamander and I just can't pull it off.

Also, believe it or not, I got completely stuck, frustrated and fed up with New Super Mario Bros. I actually got so ticked off that I traded it in for Trace Memory, which I expected to be as long and involved as Hotel Dusk...I beat it in one day. Grumble.

Cameron DS @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:43AM

Lost Magic was crazy hard (I got stuck early on) and Trauma Center was also crazy hard (I never beat the X-missions)

Barclay @ Oct 26th 2007 6:45PM

Advance Wars DS did have a few INCREDIBLY challenging levels, but I went all the way through, and just a couple of months ago beat it again on Hard this time.
Trauma Center is very difficult indeed. And maybe I was doing something wrong, but I never could get the hang of Meteos, of all things. Ended up selling it.

Shine @ Oct 27th 2007 2:47AM

I've never had much problems with any of the games listed. Trauma Centre was tricky, but not difficult. FF3 just required grinding, EBA was painfully easy (even on Hard Rock), but probably because I'd already played Ouendan to death by that point. I've never played much of Etrian Oddessey, so I don't know about that one, although it seemed fairly entertaining.

I'm going to say... Puyo Pop Fever (not the new one, the old one) on the "Hard Mode campaign", forgot the name. It's a fun puzzler, but the AI frickin' cheats and pulls off Godly chains without blinking, killing you instantly.