Here are six video games I never quite understood, though they are regarded as classics by many... Now be honest, did you completely 'get' these games?

1. SimEarth (DOS & SNES, 1990/1991)
I spent hunderd of hours playing Maxis' SimCity, SimCity 2000, SimTower and even SimFam - and I liked all of those games very much. I even spent some time with SimAnt, though I didn't 'get' that game as much as the previous mentioned titles. However, even SimAnt was still more clearer in its goals for me than SimEarth (subtitled The Living Planet), that was released in 1990 for DOS and in 1991 for the SNES. Really, I had no clue what to do in this "life simulation video game" and I still don't. You can adjust important things on Earth (atmosphere, temperature etc.) somehow and by that you're forming the Earth. I guess. In practice for me: 3 minutes of random button clicking and then giving up.


2. Minesweeper (Windows 3.1, 1992)
It has something to do with the numbers, that somehow indicate if mines are nearby. Or something. When seeing people playing this game really good and really rapidly, I feel really dumb. Sometimes I felt close to understanding the full concept of it, but then clicking on a mine again. Mostly played when bored: opening the desktop game, clicking randomly, hoping not to hit a mine (that sometimes even worked for a bit), closing up when a mine was hit. 2 minutes of random, pointless enjoyment.



3. Ecco the Dolphin (Sega Genesis/MegaDrive, 1992)
Ecco the Dolphin is regarded by many as a Genesis/MegaDrive classic, but I really have no clue why. I think it looks alright, but there are tons of Genesis/MegaDrive that look better. I'm not a big fan of the ambient music in this game either, but that's just personal. But really, I had no clue what to do or where to go in this game. I took me even some time to figure out you had to jump out of the ocean in the beginning to make the game actually start (it messes up the ocean somehow). And really, I haven't got much further in the game. I really didn't want to bother with all the vagueness. Or I was just too dumb.

4. Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 (DOS/Mac, 1989)
Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 was one of my late dad's favorite games. He would 'fly' for hours from one locations to another. (He would just leave his computer on, flying the plane on automatic pilot or something) and return a couple of hours later. (I noticed, because I wanted to use his computer to play Journeyman Project or go on the internet or something, but the stupid Flight Simulator was still on!) Really, maybe the Flight Simulator series are interesting if you're a retired pilot, or if you're really into professional airplanes, but I don't understand the appeal for the rest of the video game population. Of course, I didn't bother about learning deep aspects of this game, so when I tried to take off a plane it didn't always work out. And when, by luck, it did work, you were just boring flying in the air, with nothing else to do! (Except look at some 3D images outside of the plane). I guess I was too ignorant and missed much, or I was again just too dumb.


5. Shining in the Darkness (Sega Genesis/MegaDrive, 1991)
To be honest, the inclusion of this game in this list is not completely fair, because I'm not the target audience for this game. I never liked those old RPG's, where you run around in a maze with identical walls and you have to make your own map (I'm looking at you, Phantasy Star.) But in Shining in the Darkness I could even barely make it to a maze! You have to run around, chat in bars and buy stuff in shops (which of course I hadn't the money for, since I stinked at the game). When I finally found a dungeon in the not-so-great world overview map, I was immediately lost in the maze and killed by the first creature I encountered. I tried the game quite a couple of times, but every time I had to turn it off after about eight minutes, because I became too annoyed, confused and impatient to continue. Maybe a great game for buffs of the RPG dungeon 'identical wall' crawlers, but not for impatient and dumb players like me.


6. Sonic CD (Sega CD, 1993)
I actually didn't play the Sega CD version, since I never owned a Sega CD. But man, I wanted to played this game back in the days, since I adore Sonic 1/2/3/&Knuckles! I got finally a chance to play it when it was released in 2005 on the Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube. And... I didn't like it has much as I hoped.

You see, I can enjoy Sonic CD on a superficial level: I just play it as the original Sonic games, running to the end of the level, defeating bosses etc. It's okay in that aspect, but I don't think it's as great as the original games. However, I know there's a deeper level in the game involving time travel, breaking some stuff in past and present levels and so on. I never quite figured how that exactly worked. (I usually even try to avoid time travel, because switching stages takes me out of the flow of the gameplay). I think Sega also wasn't too keen on the time travel aspect, since it never returned in other Sonic games, despite many praising Sonic CD as 'the greatest Sonic game of all time'. For me, it's not. But then again, maybe I was too dumb for it. (Also, I thought the bonus stages were way too hard).

So what did you think of the mentioned games? Did you completely understand them, or were you more like me? Also, what other classic video games did you think were confusing, vague or incomprehensible? Let me know in the comments!