Classic Video Game "Screw You"s: Difference between revisions

* Any variation of [[Turns Red|Pissy Boss Mode]] where the boss becomes invincible, or enemies who do the same, is a favorite FU.

* The ability of an enemy to [[One-Hit Kill]] you when the game itself doesn't make you a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]] is a well known FU.

** Deliberate use of [[Ratchet Scrolling]] that limits you from going back, causing you to miss pickups and giving less room to avoid attacks. Worse yet is Ratchet, [[Rise to the Challenge|Auto,]] or [[Flip Screen Scrolling|Flip Screen]] scrolling on a climbing vertical level, which each have their own way of illogically killing you with bottomless pits. <ref>Fixed vertical scrolling can be explained by [[Nothing Is Scarier]], but the other two make no sense at all and are just there for the challenge</ref>

* The [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|Ice Level]] is another classic FU, where your character, and ''only'' your character, [[Frictionless Ice|skids like crazy]], causing the [[Spikes of Doom]] and [[Goddamned Bats]] to be much more difficult to avoid.

* ''[[Mega Man and Bass]]'' is notable for having nearly every one of the listed above. [[Unstable Equilibrium|Ammo does not regenerate on death]], enemies have massive amounts of [[Mercy Invincibility|Recovery Time]], two consecutive [[Marathon Level|Marathon Levels]] with bosses who are willing to use nigh-unavoidable attacks at the drop of a hat... oh yeah. This is not a game for pansies.

* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' has one almost every screen, and this is what actually makes it fun. For example, one screen has a falling ceiling of spikes, and one spot in the floor that is lower than the rest. Upon finally managing to reach that spot, you discover that the spike just grows longer to kill you. Other examples include the Delicious Fruit which can ''fall up'' and the evil save point which chases and kills you. And spring-loaded background couches underneath spiked ceilings. And clouds that spontaneously drop lightning bolts. And spike pits of doom that chase you. And that clusterchucking moon.

* The ''[[Wizardry]]'' games at least up to V were more than happy to allow you to teleport into solid rock. This resulted in the '''[[Total Party Kill|total loss]]''' of your party, [[Final Death|no resurrection attempts allowed]]. Oh, and if you play the games the way they're intended, there's no "reload game" upon this happening. You can also emerge high above the city and crash to the ground, or drown in the castle moat, but these "merely" kill your party as opposed to your losing them forever; you have a shot at resurrecting them in the latter two instances. Basically, be '''''very''''' careful when teleporting in Wizardry.

** ''[[Might and Magic]]: World of Xeen'' similarly allowed you to accidentally teleport off the edge of the world -- potentially before you realized the world ''had'' an edge.

* When you die in ''[[Descent]]'', all of your equipment is scattered around the place. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for losing them all forever if you die between blowing the reactor and getting the hell out of Dodge. (Some levels, which involve things like ''invisible death mechs'' with insanely powerful cannons, are even more charming).

** Level 6 has a fairly memorable FU where [[Teleporting Keycard Squad|you pick up the red key and the walls open]] to reveal an ambush of ''six'' Class 1 Driller [[Demonic Spiders]] with instant-hit cannons. Most players, on their first try, will die before they even figure out what happened. In later levels [[It Gets Worse]].

** The whole first game becomes a big Fun Unit on Insane difficulty after level 7. Between the random "roaming" of the enemies, the brutal AI, and your weakness vs their strength, it's for all practical purposes impossible.

* ''[[Tetris|Bastet]]'' has the piece generator designed so that the worst possible block for your situation is the one you get every time. However, this is the entire point of the game.