The Jump'n Runs you DIDN'T beat - without cheats ;)

[dex]

Edit 2: Who's the other guy who says Stryx is completable? More hints please!!

If you don't mind me creating another nostalgia thread (I just couldn't fit this into the other topic) - here it goes

While I was looking up games some of you suggested in the other thread, I stumbled accross Fire&Ice and then fired up several other jump'n runs. I assume quite a lot of Amiga sidescrollers are near impossible to beat - or maybe I just didn't try hard enough I tried Mysterious Worlds, Leander, Stryx, Gods...

So which Jump'n Runs did you actually beat without using any cheats or secret passwords and which where impossible? I will collect the beatable ones in a just-for-fun list - if your statement is convincible of course Added some random comments from the posts as well.

Examples:

Perfectly Beatable (most users agreed):
Turrican
Turrican II
Turrican 3
Shadow of the Beast III (didn't really have the patience to the end, though) Edit: I just tried this again recently, this one has dead ends (you have to kill yourself to retry), only three lives and while the levels are short, the last 2 have some seriously weird crane puzzles - and everyone calls this one easy just because the enemies don't just wipe you like in the two prequels?! Seriously?!?)
Flashback (maybe not really a Jump'n Run/Shoot but still)
Superfrog
Lion King
Another World (but you do have to memorize a lot of stuff)
Brian the Lion
OneEscapee
Adams Family
Zool 2
Gianna Sisters
P.P. Hammer (wow...)
Chuck Rock 2
Lionheart (I beat it myself by now. with 4 credits left It's absolutely doable but finding most of the secrets/1ups is essential)
Gods (some extended training sessions needed in later levels, though - and thanks jotd, I did mixed the stuck parts of it up with Cadaver )
Dracula
Mysterious Worlds (according to Harry... it's doable but has some potential "breakers"...)
James Pond 3 (very hard and long - but not impossible)
Twinworld
Lethal Weapon
Ruff n Tumble (also read about it being beatable in another thread, in addition to Bamiga2002's post, so it's 2:1 that it's beatable )

Virtually Impossible (unless proven wrong - you can try ):
Stryx
Shadow of the Beast (Or did you...?) and it seems this game isn't the hardest on the list...?
Shadow of the Beast II (Ask for: "Ten Pints" ...)
The Seven Gates of Jambala
BC Kid
Parasol stars (from world 3)
Mr. Nutz (maybe it is beatable, but the game is just ANNOYING in later levels)
Rainbow Islands (bosses)
Jim Power (so unforgiving. The game without compromises)
Beyond the Ice Palace (same as Jim Power: just one touch and you die - Bamiga2002 claims to have completed it, though)
Mission Elevator ("...was impossible to beat!" it seems)
Wrath of the Demon (well, that one seems to be a tough beast)
Crazy Sue

Pending:
Fire & Ice (still unsure, some finished it it seems...)
Benefactor (also believe it's doable, but yeah the last section... well...)

...which others do you know?

Edit: Added some more games to the list

[clauddio]

I finished

turrican 3 = very easy
turrican 2
superfrog = very easy
second samurai = easy
dracula
pp hammer = hard but I did it
lionking
flashback
chuck rock 2
another world
yoi yoe = very easy
bckid
brian the lion = easy
lionheart
zool 2
adams family = easy but long
lethal weapon
onescapee
Aladdin = hard but beateable

-------------------------
I tried and I couldn't yet

fire and ice = hard
james pond 3 = very hard and long
soccer kid = I finished but I couldn't found all the targets
pinkie

[bLAZER]

I've never beat any Jump'n Run/Platform game in my life as far as I can remember. Oh yeah, Giana Sisters, think it was on C-64 though. And Moonstone... not that much jumping in that one though.

[dex]

@clauddio: You beat Lionheart? Amazing! Without a cheat or selecting the levels? Did you practice until you did it? I mean that must have taken ages, no? If you have a nice hint for that shoot'em up sequence on the dragon - feel free to tell

@Blazer: well Moonstone did have the fighting part in 2D in a side perspective at least But yeah it wouldn't really count as a jump'n run.

Edit: I updated the list

[Predseda]

Damn, I think MOST Amigans completed Gods without any cheats!

I have beaten a lot of jump n runs, but I add few examples of games, that I personally just cant complete:

Parasol stars - from world 3 just impossible for me
Mr. Nutz - maybe it is beatable, but the game is just ANNOYING in later levels
Fire and Ice, already mentioned
Rainbow islands - I have problem with bosses
Jim Power - so unforgiving. The game without compromises
Beyond the Ice palace - same as Jim Power: just one touch and you die
Ruff n Tumble - the game is perfectly ballanced, I love it... EXCEPT spikey level 4-4, which I simply hate!

[Retro-Nerd]

Originally Posted by dex

@clauddio: You beat Lionheart? Amazing! Without a cheat or selecting the levels? Did you practice until you did it? I mean that must have taken ages, no? If you have a nice hint for that shoot'em up sequence on the dragon - feel free to tell

Lionheart is easy enough. You get tons of extra lives/a bigger heart container, potions. Don't run straight through the game.

[dex]

@Retro-Nerd: Yes, I always reach the level with the dragon sequence but I never beat that. Regardless of the extra lives I collected - I loose them all after some time near the end (?) of the stage -_- Is there something to enhance the performance of the dragon as well?

@Predseda: As a huge fan of the Bitmaps I have to say that Chaos Engine is actually the most balanced (even easy at times) of their games and also perfectly beatable. Gods is ok until the very last world, I never ever was able to complete it - but judging by this longplay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgt7XkLxvQ I guess I just need to try harder I never finished Xenon 2, though, but that's a shmup anyway. I'll change this in the list.

I'd love to hear some more comments about Gods, too I remember there being situations where you could only do something once and in case of any mistake you couldn't complete the level. Which isn't exactly good game design - or is it and we are just becoming to weak while spoiled from today's games? Or am I wrong and every situation in the game is solvable withoug getting stuck...?

[DDNI]

Leander - IMHO it is the best Amiga platform game

[dex]

Would you say it's beatable then? Did you have any trouble playing through?

[Retro-Nerd]

Originally Posted by dex

@Retro-Nerd: Yes, I always reach the level with the dragon sequence but I never beat that. Regardless of the extra lives I collected - I loose them all after some time near the end (?) of the stage -_- Is there something to enhance the performance of the dragon as well?

Study this longplay. I'm sure you will complete Lionheart then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeBVhq1IEqA

[dex]

@Retro-Nerd: thanks, at least I can see now how long the dragon part actually is Edit + Possible Lionheart Spoiler: What? That sequence is so close to the end? However, the boss (which I have never seen before because I lost all my lives just a little earlier...) is rock hard, even the guy in the longplay dies there. Not to mention what comes next...

I added a poll but started it too early, and now it's not possible to edit it -_- So - the question is actually a bit misleading now... just select the game(s) you think are beatable and humanly possible with enough effort

[dlfrsilver]

Lionheart can be easily completed even in lionhard mode and Jim Power is way too easy.

I can finish the game with 12 or 13 lives, WTF ?

[dex]

Jim Power playthrough with 13 lives? You should do a longplay for sure I should have added Jim Power to the poll then... Anyone else who says that one's even "easy"?

[dlfrsilver]

I ALREADY done a long play available on youtube since a longtime now

[Visper]

I beat Jim Power and didn't find it hard at all.

[dex]

@dlfrsilver: nice! haha that's cool
@Visper: well, guess I have to update the list then I just tried it an hour ago and at first I thought "yeah, now I see..." and then WHAM! One-hit-death. I guess you can do it but that must be what puts people off

[Harry]

Mysterious Worlds has a level 2 end dragon where you must get very close to shoot it (and hope that it does not breathe fire in that time; the shot range is increased in the whdload version so you can stay outside his fire range and still hit it), and a level 3 end boss which can not be hit always due a bug in the scrolling (also fixed in the whdload version). As its only 4 levels, it can be completed with some effort in the whdload version, but it is very unforgiving - if you die with the super shot active in level 1-3, you can start a new game.

[dex]

Woah... well I would still consider this "virtually impossible" if it has "game breaking" stuck situations. Nice to hear some in-depth information about progress in the game though. I don't know I somehow really like that game (music obviously but also the graphics, so simple yet so nicely tiny ) I guess I will have to try this one again... do you remember games like this being in Amiga FUN, with that nice golden logo, when in one issue you had a real gem just to be let down by a crappy one in the next? There was Quik&Silva, Metal Law or Vyrus in that series, damn I miss that stuff...

[Gandalf]

It's been a long time since I've played Leander. Without trying it again, I would say TwinWorld would be one of the best Platform games. Haven't beaten it yet but really enjoy playing it.

[dex]

Oh yeah Twinworld is great, can't remember beating that one hmm... I just tried Leander again, though. I think it's not as difficult as I remembered it, it's actually quite possible to beat it. On the normal difficulty I could easily reach the third stage and you could even add continues in the options menu There was some kind of dragon on the way and I actually died a few times when it started to move into my direction. But if you played these parts once (and died once...) it's not that much of a problem

I guess no one really played Stryx, right? It has that nice box, nice intro and nice music - just like all the Psygnosis/Psyclapse games. Until you reach the first level of course... no sound, strange graphics, weird controls and no idea what to do Just like all the... you get the idea Still, I wonder if someone finished it at all...

[Predseda]

Originally Posted by dex

I'd love to hear some more comments about Gods, too I remember there being situations where you could only do something once and in case of any mistake you couldn't complete the level.

It NEVER happens in Gods. If you miss something and that prevents you from completing of the level by that way, there is always another solution available. There are many possibilities how to complete levels in Gods.

[Lord Aga]

Well, there's Benefactor. Pretty good learning curve, and getting harder just bit by bit. Untill I came to the Techno Threat. That was too much for me.

[CritAnime]

I always had issues with Premier. I still cant beat it.

[Retroplay]

Gods, Lionheart and Leander most definitely are completable without cheats.
Don't know about Stryx as I never really played it.

Turrican 1 is just as easy as 2 and 3 btw.

[dlfrsilver]

twinworld can be beaten if you do it right. It's difficult, but not impossible, and having really good options to soften the game overall

[bebek]

I finished Jim Power, Another World was more difficult for me ...

[wanderer]

Mission Elevator was impossible to beat!

[clauddio]

btw,

the game whizz is very easy and beateable once you know how to play
I recommend to play the floppy AGA version instead CD32 version or PSX or SNES versions
cause it have more available time and so it is more easy

[drHirudo]

Originally Posted by dex

Virtually Impossible (unless proven wrong - you can try ):
Shadow of the Beast (Or did you...?)
Shadow of the Beast II (Ask for: "Ten Pints" ...)
Stryx
The Seven Gates of Jambala
Fire & Ice (I fully agree clauddio)
James Pond 3 (very hard and long)
Lethal Weapon
BC Kid
Parasol stars (from world 3)
Mr. Nutz (maybe it is beatable, but the game is just ANNOYING in later levels)
Rainbow Islands (bosses)
Jim Power (so unforgiving. The game without compromises)
Beyond the Ice Palace (same as Jim Power: just one touch and you die)
Ruff n Tumble (spikey level 4-4)

From this list I completed:
Shadow of the Beast - on the Amiga only once by a lucky chance. On the Mega Drive several times, that kept me motivated to complete it on the Amiga as well.
Fire & Ice - Nice game with wonderful graphics. It's not hard to complete.
Lethal Weapon - loved the Black and White movie stills at the end. Requires pixel perfect jumps but with the keyboard it is complete beatable. Also with keyboard you can perform Jacko's famous moonwalking
James Pond 3 - not long if you have a spare weekend.
Rainbow Islands - every boss have a system.
Jim Power - Save your lives for later and you will beat it easily.
Ruff n Tumble - not that hard at all, requires practice.

Of course I beat all these games when I was 15-16 years younger than now. Probably I wouldn't be able to repeat the glory today.

[AmigaFriend]

Originally Posted by Predseda

It NEVER happens in Gods. If you miss something and that prevents you from completing of the level by that way, there is always another solution available. There are many possibilities how to complete levels in Gods.

Indeed i subscribe this. I finished it the other week. Sometimes i thought 'WTF?' then the solution is right there in front of your eyes.

[Harry]

On a second thought, I still have some games not mentioned before:

Completed:
First Samurai: Rather easy due the savegame feature
Metal Law: The perfect small casual game

Did not complete:
Killing Game Show: Never found the time and patience to write down the level solutions to be able to repeat the levels fast and with much energy
Onslaught: No idea how that can be played properly, also very repetitive
ACSYS demo in hard mode (normal was ok)

[wanderer]

Special mention has to go to games that reward the player with alternate endings, if he managed to complete it without save-games. Cinemaware and Sinbad spring to mind. Not sure if any developer other than Cinemaware did this.

[radon_22]

I sucked at jump 'n runs. Considering that was about 70%of the Amiga market, it's amazing I ever finished any games.

I did, however, beat Out of This World, Flashback, Hoi and Titus the Fox.

[wanderer]

Originally Posted by radon_22

I sucked at jump 'n runs. Considering that was about 70%of the Amiga market, it's amazing I ever finished any games. I did, however, beat Out of This World, Flashback, Hoi and Titus the Fox.

Wow, I do remember Hoi to be extremely unforgiving and annoying. Well done!

[jotd]

Originally Posted by Predseda

It NEVER happens in Gods. If you miss something and that prevents you from completing of the level by that way, there is always another solution available. There are many possibilities how to complete levels in Gods.

you can be stuck in gods, but you have to do it on purpose.

you must mix it up with cadaver, where you can corrupt all your savegames and notice that you lost a mandatory item right at the start of the level!!

[laffer]

There are tons of Amiga games of this type that I never finished without cheating.

I'll just list a few I have completed instead -

Shadow of the Beast 1 - 3 (I didn't finish these back in the day though - only much later, when emulators came along and allowed me to make savestates so I could easily practice any part I had trouble with)

Turrican 1-3

Colorado (not really a platformer but yeah... and even though I didn't cheat by using savestates or trainers or anything, I did cheat in that I had more than one look at a walkthrough)

Aladdin (Amiga and SNES versions, they're quite different)

Lion King

Rick Dangerous 1&2 (didn't finish either of these back in the day, not without cheating anyway... as with the Beast games, I first finished them the honest way after I had the chance to practice using savestates first)

Wrath of the Demon (haven't finished this one completely without cheating - every time I've played it, I've made a savestate at the start of the final castle bit... so I've finished it using only one savestate there but never without using savestates at all)

Lionheart (another one I didn't finish back in the day, even though this is one I think I could actually have finished back then... the thing is I simply didn't have it... I had never even seen it until I started emulating)

Superfrog

Giana Sisters (both on C64 and Amiga)

Another World (Amiga version)

Chuck Rock 1&2

First Samurai (another one I didn't even have back in the day so finished this one for the first time in WinUAE)

... those are all I can remember right now, might be a few more, I don't know.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by laffer

Wrath of the Demon (haven't finished this one completely without cheating - every time I've played it, I've made a savestate at the start of the final castle bit... so I've finished it using only one savestate there but never without using savestates at all)

You can save your game in WOTD after each section. Even with that I never completed it without cheating. Although I found it entertaining for a while, it becomes kind of repetitive in the castle.

[dex]

Hey there everyone, I'm finally back. What a nice thread, and even more people named some games I really really wish I had made that poll a little different, it's fun to see how you guys look at those games - great

I also had Onslaught and never completed it, I think it's rock hard but a friend of mine says he finished it. Is that one too hard? I guess I need to replay it. I will add some more to my neat and tiny list

And someone finished Stryx?!?! Well this will shatter my whole concept - I tried this one to death back in the day Please share your experiences with this game!

[laffer]

Originally Posted by Harry

You can save your game in WOTD after each section. Even with that I never completed it without cheating. Although I found it entertaining for a while, it becomes kind of repetitive in the castle.

That's interesting, I had no idea! I've just always started over whenever I felt I had been doing too poorly.

I should try again and take advantage of that then, and maybe finish it without savestates at all.

By the way, I think this game is much, much harder than any Shadow of the Beast game.

[Predseda]

Originally Posted by laffer

That's interesting, I had no idea! I've just always started over whenever I felt I had been doing too poorly.

I should try again and take advantage of that then, and maybe finish it without savestates at all.

By the way, I think this game is much, much harder than any Shadow of the Beast game.

Yes, it is written in manual only and the game itself doesnt tell this t you. So most people, who played Wrath of the demon pirated, never heard about this option.