Games That Make You Go Grr!

Gamasutra has a list of 20 Difficult Games. The writer, John Harris, looks what can be learnt about games design from these games, and why they are so hard and yet compelling. It starts with Defender and contains much that is, to me and quite possibly deservedly, obscure. Still, damn!, if it doesn't make me want to dig out Rogue and give it another go. Of Defender, Harris says:

When I read bloggers talk about bullet patterns and end bosses, I can only sympathize so much, because I know Defender was ultra hard in a completely organic and random way long before this new-fangled kind of shooter, and yet also required far more than memorization and reflexes. Defender and Stargate are a particularly awesome kind of hard, a fun-while-it-lasts hard, where most players aren't expected to survive long but can get better with practice. Anyone can make an arbitrarily hard game, but to make it so hard yet compelling enough to try again and again, only genius can create this.

And, you know, he's right.