Inspired by SNESDrunk’s “Unconventional Ways to Play Classic Super Nintendo Games” videos. (You should definitely check SNESDrunk out).
Finding alternate ways of playing a game, whether by doing a self-imposed challenge, or just playing a game differently than it was intended, are a good way of spicing up games you’ve played hundreds of times.
I’ll start with the 30 Melon Challenge in Yoshi’s Story, where you try to get all of the 30 Melons in each level, and NO OTHER FRUIT. It’s basically like Hard Mode for the game. Particular Mushroom has a video that goes into more detail.
Playing GTA by following all traffic laws. There are even mods for turn signals and realistic traffic flows for GTA 5
🎶 “Obeying all the traffic laws In Grand Theft Auto 5…” 🎶
I won’t call it pacifist mode exactly, but I prefer to play games like Tears of the Kingdom or even GTA by just walking around slowly and taking photos, observing the scenery. GTA San Andreas (the old ps2 version) is weirdly great for this because it has so many hazy colors and jaggy lines.
Here’s a fun one
Open up retroarch and apply the following as settings for a game:
- adjustment filter to mirror the screen, I think it’s in an image adjustment folder but can’t check which one at the moment
- swap left and right in the controls (in-game remap, not the menu controls)
Mirror mode! On any game! As long as you don’t care about text, it’s a fun way to add replay value. Great for platformers like Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario, etc.
If you really want a mindfuck, play a top down game like Zelda Link to the Past with the above but ALSO top down inverted too. I do that with the ALTTP randomizer sometimes.
Edit: hang on, I got Yoshi’s Story at launch and I 100% remember the ultimate aim of the game is to actually get all the melons. It’s not an alternative mode really, it’s the actual goal for 100%. At least, it’s how I played it in 1998.
To your edit, OP said ONLY the melons, no other fruit.
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Getting ONLY the green melons on each stage has always been the goal to get 100%. I remember vividly filling up the records screen and even sending a results photo in the post to N64 Magazine back in 1998.
I’ll try and dig up the issue that confirms the goal is to get the green melons. It’s hard mode yes, but it’s not exactly a hidden goal. Yoshi’s Story is very intentionally vague on providing any instructions or written goals to the player, but the instruction manual and guides do.
Edit: here we go. Instruction manual scan, page 18. Specifically tells you to collect all melons for the best score. It was always there and the game guides of the day made it very, very clear. https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_N64/Manual/formated/Yoshi-s_Story_-1998-_Nintendo.pdf
Edit edit: this is a sore point for me as there are a lot of traumatic memories being bought back now of getting to 29 melons then accidentally eating a banana and having to start over! Was a fucking pain in the arse and I remember spending hours and hours on it.
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Getting ONLY the green melons on each stage has always been the goal to get 100%. I remember vividly filling up the records screen and even posting a results photo to N64 Magazine.
trying to play lefty flip on guitar hero/rock band is such a mindfuck when youve only played right hand
It’s a minor thing, but whenever I get into a pokemon game, I deposit my starter ASAP. I don’t want to rely on the pokemon which is spoon fed to me from start, it feels a lot better to play the game with whatever I’m able to catch along the path.
My first time playing Pokémon Blue I did the opposite because I didn’t realize you could change the order of the pokemon so my Bulbasaur was in my #1 spot and even if I knew the other trainer was going to use a fire pokemon i’d end up starting the battle and wasting a turn switching pokemon. Needless to say he was super overpowered by the end of the game from all the forced XP
I did the same way back when playing pokémon red. My Blastoise was up in level 60-70 when I approached the last gym. Being a small kid, I didn’t understand tactics of effective types - only that my pokemon was an awesome heavy turtle with cannons on its back. I never really tried to use other pokemon or switch out during battle.
I tried to play Ultra Sun using only my starter Rowlet, and had to put it down when the game forced me into a double battle. I would have been okay with hatching a second Rowlet from an egg but it didn’t work.
I do the same!
I would love to hear people’s preferred early game alternate starters.
I usually go with the first non-Normal type Pokemon I encounter and build my team around it.
I try to stay open and switch out whatever seems logical to make a complete team with good coverage - both in types and atk/sp.atk distribution.
I love me an underrated Bug superstar. In Black I used a Leavanny as mine and it cleaned house. When I played Omega Ruby my Masquerain carried my team and took me totally by surprise.
Finding alternate ways of playing a game, whether by doing a self-imposed challenge, or just playing a game differently than it was intended, are a good way of spicing up games you’ve played hundreds of times.
Or in some cases, playing the game how it’s meant to be played. Like in a lot of RPGs, you’re not really supposed to grind.
I played Final Fantasy VIII without grinding cards, draws, items, or anything until end game content. It was relieving to not have to worry about any of it.
I had the opposite FF8 experience. I got lost like 3 times, and between over leveling and limit breaks, none of the bag guys ever got through their dialog trees during a fight. It was funny, but I don’t recommend it.
If you haven’t had the joy of perusing it-he.org I highly recommend it for the various “anti-walkthroughs” as the creator of the website has dubbed them. I’m always on the lookout for modern games that are broken in the kinds of ways that allow an anti-walkthrough but it seems quality control has generally improved for most of the gaming industry and it is difficult to achieve such a feat in many games without speed runner like tactics and abilities.
Such a cool site! Very nostalgic vibes
I love retroachievements for this sort of thing
If you like unintended ways to play games then check out all of the great OSRS youtubers like Settled who made an account in runescape where he locked himself to one region of the map and didn’t allow himself to use a bank. A lot of fun is had in self imposed challenges around those parts.
Relevant TVTropes link, Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played.
I am generally a video hater but this is very entertaining: a tutorial on beating Skyrim without ever using the left stick. The actual video title is misleading and just claims it’s beating it without ever walking.
ymfah is a mad genius, and everyone should check out his other videos.
I beat Tears of the Kingdom without doing any main quests at all after getting to the surface, which I didn’t realize going in would mean beating it without the paraglider. It changes everything about how you approach movement and even a lot of the combat when you don’t have that crutch to lean on.
I accidentally created a speedster pacifist in Oblivion, building the crap out of my speed and acrobatics and neglecting the archery and stealth I had planned to specialize in so I just had to rush through dungeons stealing all the treasure and weaving between an ever-growing web of enemy attacks. By far the best Oblivion character I ever made.
I did the speedster pacificst build in DnDOnline once, because I liked to kite most enemies while charming a few to fight for me.
It was wild how that character could solo some difficult dungeons, but then a solitary guard at the top of a ladder was nearly impassable.
beating it without the paraglider
Did you keep a tally of dishes and potions consumed? Because I’m guessing it was more than a few.
The lack of paraglider didn’t have much of an impact on that. It’s more common to either die or be unharmed by a fall than to take survivable damage.
I was thinking more about stamina than health, from having to climb your way to high places without usable overhangs.
I went more for tech-based solutions.
I like to play though GunStar Heroes (a terrific Contra style bullet hell) with a self inflicted “melee attacks only” rule.
The fact that it’s possible is one of the cool things about the game.
