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I was thinking today about how excited I am for Sonic 4 to come out. The fact that developers are still willing to make games like Sonic 4, Bionic Commando Rearmed, or Mega Man 9 and 10 makes me pretty happy. I played the original games all the time as a kid, and sequels or remakes are right up my alley... but there is something weird about all this, something that I am actually a bit ashamed to admit. In some cases, I never actually beat the original games. For example, I bought Mega Man 9 and 10 right when they came out, but I didn't finish a main series Mega Man game until a few weeks ago. I love the Mega Man series, but even I can't believe I never finished one of them until now.

What are some popular games that you enjoy playing, or enjoyed playing when you were younger, that you never actually ended up finishing? I'll start with my list.

Super Mario Bros. - I played the hell out of this game, but never actually saved the Princess when I was younger. I eventually finished Mario 2, 3, and World, but never came back to the original.

Sonic the Hedgehog, 2, 3, and Knuckles - I have never finished a main series Sonic game... I beat the Gamegear game, the Neo Geo Pocket Color game, and Sonic Advance 1 and 2, but the main series remains unfinished. To be fair, I never owned a Genesis when I was younger, but I did play the Sonic games at friend's houses all the time.

Ninja Gaiden - I LOVED Ninja Gaiden when I was younger, but I just couldn't beat the damn thing. Because of that, I never tried the other games in the series. I went back to it last year and it still gave me trouble...

Bionic Commando - I LOVED Bionic Commando Rearmed, but never beat the original game.

Metroid - Same as Bionic Commando, I beat Zero Mission, but never finished the original. I always got stuck and would end up quitting when I was a kid.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - I never could beat Tyson's cheap ass. Made it to him a million times, but he always knocked me out. I DESTROYED Super Punch-Out!! on the SNES, and Punchout!! on the Wii was great, but the original is still unbeaten.

Final Fantasy III - I put so many hours into this game as a kid, but two erased save files stopped me from ever actually beating it. Sad too, cause its one of my favorite games of all time.

I'll add more as I think of them.

Ninja Gaiden III-I beat the first and second one. I remember making it very far in NG III but I don't think I actually beat it. I loved playing it though. The NES Ninja Gaiden games are some of the best action oriented platformers out there

Battletoads and Battletoads Arcade-The Battletoads games are loads of fun, but I've only finished Battletoads in Battlemaniacs on the SNES. I would like to finish the classic orginal on the NES and also Battletoads arcade since it's the best one in the series

Subterranea - The Sega Genesis game that a lot of people have never heard of. Great game, but tough as nails. I never could beat the final boss

Bangaio(Dreamcast version)-Last boss always kicked my ass

Luigi's Mansion-Never got past the fight against Bowser to end the game

Tomb Raider Last Revelation-Most people agree that after TR II, the Tomb Raider games on the original Playstation weren't all that great. Last Revelation wasn't bad though, but I didn't finish it

Guitaroo Man-Great game, I played the PSP version and never finished the last stage. It was very hard

Castlevania:Portrai of Ruin-I lost the damn cord to recharge the Nintendo DS's batteries, so the game has been put on hold indefinitely

God of War:Chains of Olympus-I got tired of rewatching that unskippable cutscene before the final boss fight and never finished the game

The original Sam and Max-I got stuck at the mystery spot part of the game. Having racked my brains beating other Lucasarts adventure games and solving all their puzzles with no outside help, I think my mind was fried when I got around to playing Sam and Max

Turok 2. One of my favorite games of all time and cont complete it.

a lot, still playing. need to finish mgs1 and 4. dq8, dmc 3 and 4

First thing to spring to mind when reading the topic title: Ar Tonelico. Bummed about that too but the last last last dungeon in the game is such a grind.

I actually have a problem with getting close to the end w/ games and then either giving up or just getting tired of playing them. I don't think I've beaten a single game in the Koudelka/Shadowhearts series. Ditto Vagrant Story (more b/c the final boss battle is a real bitch). I could never beat RE or RE2 with the female characters (it made me nervous going into RE3 since you only play as the female character, but I beat that one several times over).

Blazing Lazers - I've made it to the Boss Rush stage many times but have yet to beat it..
the problem could be that the music for that Area is just WAY TOO BADASS TO HANDLE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmP6yI5l8yM

Shining Force 3- I just don't want it to end. When the translation patches are released I'll probably quit life for a while.

Castlevania ReBirth - Haven't beaten Dracula yet. I've gotten to a point where I'm so close I'm like "I got this." but I've yet to seal the deal

NiGHTS into Dreams - Another case where I haven't beaten the last boss

I consider the Shin Megami Tensei games to be some of the finest ever RPGs ever created. Unfortunately, I found out about them in graduate school and they take FOREVER to beat! I've played through most of Persona 4, Nocturne, and Digital Devil Saga. I've played bits of Devil Summoner 1 & 2, I played through the first maybe 10-20 hours of Persona 3, and I haven't even opened my copy of Digital Devil Saga 2. I love these games, but damn they take some free time to get through.

Most games that I love but haven't beaten are just a matter of me not having the time to. A few examples of these are Shenmue 2, Devil May Cry 4, Prototype, Mega Man ZX/Advent, Sonic Rush, Earthworm Jim, Vectorman

The ones that I haven't beaten yet simply because I'm stuck or having trouble, or just taking a while are..The Half-Life 2 trilogy, Legend Of Oasis, and Nights Into Dreams

As far as games in the "holy shit, this is difficult" category..Ninja Gaiden 3 definitely. Hard as balls. same with Revenge of Shinobi and Shadow Dancer.

I love many RPGs.

I've finished very few of them. Honestly, the only ones I'm very certain that I've beaten are Chrono Trigger and Persona 3 (mainly because I've beaten them many, many times)... any other RPG I've played I very likely never finished.

Yes, this does mean I've never beaten a PlayStation1 RPG. Even Final Fantasy VII (I got to the end where you fight those little balls that give massive XP - but I got so caught up in maximizing my characters that I lost interest). Even Breath of Fire III, which I champion as one of my favorite RPGs (again, got to the very end, tried to maximize my characters, and ended up losing interest).

Despite this, I don't really blame myself for it. I played them until they weren't fun anymore. Any more than that, and I'd be defeating the purpose of 'gaming'. Any less than that, and I'd not be getting the fullest return on my investment.

considering how many games I've played and how many of them I love, I'll just throw in a couple of "known" games to the list:

Gothic series - I have a principle to go through these games 1->3 and although I've made it to the end of the first one, I've never beaten it

Morrowind - played so many hours that it's not even funny anymore, yet I've never gotten far on the main-story-line

Alien Breed series - the hours I've put into these games with friends in the summers as a kid; yet I've refused to use cheats and hence never made it through any of them

Sid Meiers - Pirates! - once again, months of joy, to no avail

Ultima VII-IX - played through Ultima IV-VI but never gotten into the later installments

Bard's Tale series - mainly stuck with Bard's Tale II and made it far, but not completed

Boulder Dash series (except for nr. 1) - once again countless hours of fun, but never made it through the later installments; then again considering the main series are not that many, but there are tons and tons of new levels that I'll never have the time to beat

GTA - San Andreas - I've made it through perhaps 80% of the game, but always restarted due to hd-crash or similar

Rags to Riches - as far as I know this cannot be beaten, yet I've tried... and tried...

Dark Cloud 1+2 - love these little gems, never been able to sit them through however

Final Fantasy VI - I fell in love with this game when I started playing it, but a couple of years ago... still waiiting...

Breath of Fire series - once again I want to play them through in order - made it almost to the end in the second installment, but due to a variety of fuck-ups, never made it to the end

Donkey Kong Country - I'm getting there... one of these days... one of these days..

Impossible Mission 1+2 - made it to the end on the DS version, had all the puzzle-pieces, couldn't be bothered figuring the rest out

Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening DX - not sure how to approach this one; every time I start playing it, I put it down after a while, thinking that there's other Zelda games that need be beaten first same goes for Oracle of Ages

Bionic Commando - Rearmed - loved the first installment completely amazed by the remake... never made it far, but it's on my list of things to do

Jet Set Radio - I'm getting there... I'm getting there....

Sam & Max - Hit the Road/Grim Fandango/Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - the only three LucasArts/LucasFilm games I've never seen through to the end... not counting Labyrinth

Fable 1 - made it up until the end, got bored put it aside, formatted the hd... and thus the story goes

Eye of the Beholder series - played the living daylights out of these, never saw any of them through 'til the end

Viewtiful Joe - on my list of things to do

Hexen/Hexen II/Heretic II - good old Heretic/Hexen series... long-ass games, too repetitive in the end

and probably about a hundred or so more games, that I've played 'til my fingers bled, yet never saw through to the end... time to update the backloggery I think...