Everything old is new again: The Quest of Ki.

After defeating the SHIT out of Dragon Quest 3, I went on the hunt again. It's easy to get retro game fatigue when you have a whole library of games in front of you, as Lazario's excellent blog post illustrated.

I watch a lot of Game Center CX raws nowadays, so that assists in my search for worthy games through the chaff of the ages. I'll probably end up mentioning it in just about every blog post, seriously. It's a charming show, kind of like AVGN but without the scatological references and beer guzzling. Arino doesn't really get too upset, although sometimes you can tell he really wants to quit, he knows that a lot of people are expecting him to beat the game, or at least make a good show of it.

The Game Center CX Christmas special unearthed The Quest of Ki for me. I had never really heard of this game, even though it's a sequel to the Tower of Druaga, which is fairly famous for it's difficulty. The Christmas episode of Game Center CX had poor Arino stuck on the same level for around 8 hours. Terrible!

Ninja Gaiden needs to step over, because this is the hardest game I have ever completed. It is ridiculously picky and unfair, and the worst part about it was I knew I could do better, much like Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania or Devil May Cry. When you know the challenge is surmountable it makes it even more aggravating.

It took me most of a holiday weekend to get through this one, which for a NES era action game is kind of long. If you prepare yourself for the challenge make sure you have the time and the tenacity. At level 60 the ending of the game is revealed, but if you continue there are 40 even more difficult stages to get through!