mr dave

thing is contra 3 was easier than its predecessors. especially with the fact that you could carry and fire 2 special weapons and spawned with your 2ndary when you died. by removing the code konami also created a much more significant feeling of accomplishment when you beat one of the levels.

besides back in the NES days the point of playing a game was to play it. not to beat it on your 3rd sitting or without having to start over at the beginning. while the games were geared for kids they should have had some decent hand eye coordination by that point. but you're right about some of the bosses they were crazy tough.

if i remember correctly the inclusion of the konami code in the original was a mistake. it was a tool for the testers to make sure the game was beatable and it was left in the final product as an oversight.

i also get the impression you rely on emulators for a lot of your old school gaming. the master system was not obscure in its day and the commodore 64 was most definitely not obscure. then again i'm not retro i'm just old school. hehehe

not sure where it fits in your list but you should have 'being able to get to the last level of the original ninja gaiden without dying and NEVER BEING ABLE TO BEAT THE 2nd TO LAST BOSS.'

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