Adventure Game Aptitude Test

Over 800 gamers tried and utterly failed to beat a classic '80s game without a guide
Two passed ....

Omg Maniac Mansion! <3

Shoulda given em Battletoads

On second thought, thats probably unfair considering 99% of people couldnt beat that game back in the 90s.

Battletoads was a hard game, I think I finally beat it in college, but you didn't need to look anything up to beat it, you just had to be good.

Some other games were hard due to having unique levels that required different skills to get through vs. the normal ones those stupid speed bikes in battletoads did most people in, not too mention inferior play control etc..

I think Bayou Billy was like that too, many levels different (some used the gun!)

The difficulty of a lot of these games makes more sense in light of the fact that many of them were rented via store rentals and/or had paid help lines.

The former died with digital distribution, the latter died with the internet. I'm not entirely sure they were all made difficult to drive longer rentals and more phone calls, but I'd be surprised if at least some of them didn't factor it in

I don't think I knew anyone who rented games for extended periods, people would just spend $2 for a day or two to decide if it was worth $50. I remember renting Zelda II and told the guy how far I got and he said I did better than most (bought it shortly thereafter, my saves are still there 35 years later!)

I do know lots of people who spent lots of money on magazines to get better at games.