As a child of the 90s with a preference for Nintendo games, I was raised on the SNES, N64, and Gamecube, with occasional bouts on the Playstation 1 and even a Sega GameGear (handheld game system) for a brief time. So it’s little surprising to learn that many of my memorable childhood gaming moments come from that period of gaming, when it seemed every game side-scrolled, and controllers were physically attached to the console.

However, not all those memories are the most pleasant; some are annoying, some are frustrating, and some are downright laughable. Without further ado, here’s a short, audiovisual trip down “Argh! Not AGAIN!” Memory Lane. 😛

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Tune the following video to about 1:25 and you’ll see why Baby Mario infuriated me (as well as many other gamers). With that insistent crying, Baby Mario could potentially qualify as a teen pregnancy deterrent. xD

I was primarily a “button-masher” on fighting games like Soul Calibur 2 for the Gamecube…which meant that the science of doing combos went over my head, completely. Oh, sure, I could press all the buttons in sequence, but it would be in slow motion. Occasionally I would get a lucky combo to trigger (unlike on Mortal Kombat, next video down), but more often than not I stuck to “A does this, B does that, and A and B together do this.”

I had the same problem on Mortal Kombat–I’m not sure I ever got a combo to trigger on that game, because I was always too slow. Either that, or the quarter-circle and half-circle Control Stick commands messed me up. (This is a beginner tutorial, but it illustrates most of the combos, and their difficulty.)

Just recently, I found out I never truly finished StarFox 64. Why? Because I quit trying to fly through all those silly arches on the Corneria level! (Tune the following video to 2:30 to see them in action.)

As an 11-year-old, I found it difficult to maneuver the ship on the first couple of passes, and when I advanced to the next level without flying through them, I figured “well, it was probably only a level decoration anyway.” Some level decoration, huh? LOL!

Bonus: Other Annoying Moments Not Captured on YouTube

• Getting almost to the end of a MarioKart 64 race in 1st place, only to be hit by a Spiny Shell in the last curve
• Getting all the way to the end of a stage and dying before you can save (any game)
• Making a series of epic jumps onto tiny platforms, only to get to the last jump and miss it, falling all the way back to the bottom (Super Mario World)
• Being left behind by the uncontrollable side-scrolling screen and dying (any side-scrolling game)
• Trying to get through an area quickly (without getting into any Pokemon battles)–and of course, that’s the moment you run into EVERY SINGLE TRAINER in the area. (any Pokemon game)
• Making Diddy Kong do a super-awesome chain of cartwheels…straight off a cliff edge. (Donkey Kong Country)

What are your most irritating gaming moments from childhood? Tell me in the comments, and share the LOL!