Mine is hands down the green alien fart cloud in The Pandora Directive. For three simple reasons:

  1. I don’t like being chased.
  2. I don’t like being on a timer.
  3. It scares the crap out of me to this day.

I usually panic to the point where I forget everything I need to do, despite having played the game a million times, and I spam the everloving hell out of the hint system.

Runner-up, also from the Tex Murphy series: the GRS “eyeball droid” in Under a Killing Moon. For some reason Access just felt compelled to put one pants-crapping sequence into each of these games…

  • FurtiveFugitiveEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    I guess it’s been too long since I’ve played either of those Tex Murphy games! I don’t remember either section. However, in my defense, I don’t believe I’ve played through them since they came out.

    On topic, I replayed through Space Quest 4 last year for the first time in a lot of years and I had completely forgotten about having to make money working in the burger joint. Likewise, in Full Throttle, the bike fights sequence were not as interesting on my replay as I remember from being a teen.

    • SQHistorianOPMEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      There’s a way to cheese the burger minigame in SQ4. If the speed starts getting too fast, go up in the control panel and adjust the game’s speed slider. It’ll slow the conveyor belt down.

      Also, use the arrow keys. It’ll make your cursor snap to the ingredients, and hitting the Up arrow makes the cursor follow along with the burger.

      • GammaRaichu
        English
        3·
        1 year ago

        There’s a way to cheese the burger minigame

        I see what you did there.

      • FurtiveFugitiveEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Those are great tips. When we first got the game we played it on a “laptop”/portable computer my family had hooked up to a lot of music equipment. I believe because it was the only computer with access to a nice SoundBlaster card. Unfortunately, it had an orange monochrome display and a trackball mouse. I learned pretty quickly things were easier with a keyboard.

        Off topic, but that reminds me, the first time I got to play SQ4 on a real monitor instead of the laptop. I couldn’t believe the portal Roger falls through in the intro was so colorful!!

  • tangelo@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Mazes, particularly the kind with some randomized effect where cardinal directions don’t matter anymore. The bamboo thicket in LSL 3 was particularly egregious because you die if you run out of water (limited turn count). They suck in every game, yet every game that comes after somehow looks at what has come before and says, “Oh, we better put a maze in the game, that’s what everybody else did.” And it’s always idiotic. But the one that most stands out to me is Gabriel Knight 2, because the game is such a tour de force up to the end, and is FMV done right, then you get a pointless maze chase scene for the finisher.

    • SQHistorianOPM
      1·
      1 year ago

      Oh god, that thing at the end of GK2… I always use a walkthrough for that, because that sequence cam go to hell.

  • Kiwi_SlayerEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The second act of the Lord of the Rings video game on ps2. There’s a prolonged sequence where you have to flee from dark riders as Frodo, and it’s overly easy to get caught and get a game-over. Once that part is over the game is great though!