You could not have heard of Haunted Fortress, but it surely’s truly a part of the long-running Castlevania franchise and even stars Simon Belmont. It additionally seems to be implausible for its time with large, well-animated sprites, and a soundtrack that also goes fairly onerous. In principle, this ought to be a basic recreation. So why isn’t it extra fondly remembered? Effectively, the excessive issue retains it from being very satisfying.
In some ways, Haunted Fortress exemplifies a number of the worst excesses of arcade recreation design. The controls are overly stiff and had been most likely made that approach on goal. Enemies are low cost and frequent, there are many tough jumps, after which every of the six levels culminates in a brutal boss battle. That is clearly a recreation extra involved in sucking quarters out of you than truly being enjoyable.
13. Smash TV
On the time of its launch, Smash TV was one thing of an anomaly. Whereas most arcade video games had been nonetheless making an attempt to enchantment to wider audiences, this was one of many first video games to lean into exaggerated violence and a dystopian setting impressed by motion pictures like Robocop. Whereas the gameplay was your pretty commonplace twin-stick shooter (nothing new, even on the time), the novel aesthetic shortly made Smash TV a favourite amongst arcade followers.
However man, is it a troublesome recreation. The enemies are simply relentless, and choosing up the flawed weapon can shortly finish a run. If getting trapped in a nook by a horde of enemies doesn’t do you in, one of many recreation’s bullet sponge bosses will most likely end the job. Including to the issue is the sport’s size. Even a great run will take you round an hour to see the credit. In case you’re not good on the recreation, you’re going to spend a small fortune attending to that time.
12. Robotron: 2084
Smash TV is troublesome, however what’s even tougher is the twin-stick shooter that popularized the style (and shares the identical designer, Eugene Jarvis). Robotron: 2084 is simply pure chaos from the very starting. There are simply so many various enemies coming at you from each path, and the display can shortly replenish with projectiles,
Add 40-year-old graphics that typically obscure the motion on-screen, and considerably finicky controls and you’ve got a recipe for a recreation that was troublesome at launch and rattling close to soul-crushing for any youthful players who dare to attempt to sort out it now. Oh, and that goes double for any ports or emulated variations that mess up the controls much more.
