As a kid, what (non-horror) games terrified you?

[Sailent]

It's labeled as survival horror so it doesn't apply to the thread.

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Then I guess I could say... That maze level on Toy Story for the SNES, those "Helloooo!" were really something.




That sound the aliens made in the movie when they go "The claaaw, oooooaaah" sounded like something out of a poltergeist movie on the SNES.

Also the music was really stressful and the time was short.

 

[Akai]

When I played the game when I was like 10 and arrived to that moment I turned off the GBA and didn't play the game for like a year.

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I played the game, when I was 10, too, so I can totaly relate. What also didn't help was the sound mixing during that part, because it already had a "danger" vibe to it and the reveal of SA-X made it even scarier. Caught me off-guard and I was actually terrified.

Yeah those were very well done. I remember stopping the game for a month on Sector 2 escape (after you beat the spider) because it was too scary as a kid. Eventually I overcame it and now I completed Fusion over 50 times somehow :)

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An other great example of great usage of music. That shit was so intense and I also had to stop playing. I couldn't handle freezing the SA-X, laying bombs down, shooting those gates and finally escaping for quite a while.

Reference for others:



The person in the video has a pretty big amount of Energy (HP), which I didn't have in my 1st playthrough. Pretty sure I only found like 4 Energy upgrades at that point, which meant dying to the SA-X in 3-4 shots.

 

[Zombegoast]

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

the N64 Zelda games
Prior to that, Ecco the Dolphin

 

[NZerker12]

Monster Ock



Especially when he caught you:


I used to think he was tearing you apart

 

[Deleted member 35204]

i guess i was easily scared as a kid but only hearing this made me turn the console off

that's what i get for playing my brother's games i guess :P

 

[Tedmilk]

Another vote for Ecco the Dolphin. Nothing else comes close. I put the game down once I reached the final level, only plucking up the courage to finish it months later. This is why:

 

[Deleted member 7883]

One month the Xbox demo disc included a demo for Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb. I really don't remember much about it. To my 8/9 year old self it seemed competent enough. What I do remember though is the bigass invincible crocodile who chased you down for the better half of the demo. Seeing the crocodile didn't give me the spooks, but having to run away from an invincible monster without having a chance to breathe terrified me. Typing it all out now I guess it's safe to say it's the same kind of terror you may feel in an amnesia-esque game with that sort of enemy design.

 

[Tyaren]

Some parts in Ocarina of Time fore sure, like the creepy forest temple and definitely bottom of the well temple and its enemies.
That reminds me how amazing and thick the atmosphere was in those places. They hardly get that right any more.

 

[Deleted member 25140]

Amy's Story was honestly unplayable for me as a kid because I found Zero so scary, had to get other people to play it for me

Also Angry sun and the fire snakes from Desert Land in SMB3

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

Another vote for Ecco the Dolphin. Nothing else comes close. I put the game down once I reached the final level, only plucking up the courage to finish it months later. This is why:

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The music or how the xenomorph looking squid guys heads detatch from their bodies and come after you didn't help
Going from Sonic and Alex Kidd to Ecco was some whiplash

 

[Putosaure]

Was not really a kid anymore but I don't think I've ever been as stressed than the level when you're chased in Mirror's Edge. Playing with headphones and hearing running footsteps behind me made me super nervous.

 

[MonsterJail]

I remember footage of a game on TV when I was a kid, pretty sure it was Weird Dreams on the Amiga (I remember seeing it as part of some quiz show, and seems it's most likely this game as it was on a show called 'Motormouth' at the time)

The graphics were better than what I was used to at the time, and the main characters head expanding and screaming at the screen when they died really spooked me. It was pretty hard for the contestants to play so you would see it happen a lot

 

[ThreepQuest64]

Why are so many people ignoring "non-horror"?

I found Tomb Raider 1 and 2 terrifying in some levels; the isolation and dark ambient soundtrack was indeed scary at times.

Also Gothic 1 in some places like the mines or at night in the woods, especially at the beginning when almost any monster would kill you with one or two hits.

The Dark Eye 3/Realms of Arkania: Shadow over Riva, underneath Boron's graveyard... the soundtrack was so dark (and good) and it was creepy as fuck.

 

[Bazry]

My 5 year old is scared of this Wiggler mini game from Super Mario Party, he ran out of the room screaming when he 1st played it and now just won't play it if it comes on

 

[Vampirolol]

Ok I'll say it: some parts of Luigi's Mansion scared the shit out of me.

 

[Galava]

As a kid, XIII terrified me. I played the intro level and it was just so unsettling I couldn't play anymore, dropped that game as fast as I could.

3:25 onwards, the "ship level" is when I just couldn't handle it. Don't know why.

 

[Civilstrife]

 

[Nightfall]

Bioforge. I always thought the protagonist looked really creepy

 

[hechicero]

Silent Hill 2, I still get freaked out by the hotel level.

Click to shrink...

yea when pyramid head first apperared

 

[Evilcrane]

Some really good examples in the thread already, and forgive me if someone mentioned it already, but basically any game where you had to go into water and there was a danger of something attacking you. Actually, I still clench my teeth in these scenarios :)

 

[BlueRose]

Levels with swimming in the original Tomb Raider. I always felt a tremendous amount of fear and stress, not for drowning, but because I expected something to be in the water.

 

[Deleted member 37233]

It's a bit embarrasing, but as a teenager I was afraid of the Draugr in Skyrm...but not because of their design, rather because of the sudden sounds of them in the caves and dungeons.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

SubWar 2050. I don't do well with limited visibility, deep sea sounds and shit.

 

[Fastidioso]

Some music track of Super Mario on snes gave me anxiety at the time (the ghost mansion, the castle before the boss battle..)

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Terminator Dawn of Fate scared me for some reason. I can't really explain why.

 

[Suede]

I remember footage of a game on TV when I was a kid, pretty sure it was Weird Dreams on the Amiga (I remember seeing it as part of some quiz show, and seems it's most likely this game as it was on a show called 'Motormouth' at the time)

The graphics were better than what I was used to at the time, and the main characters head expanding and screaming at the screen when they died really spooked me. It was pretty hard for the contestants to play so you would see it happen a lot

Click to shrink...

This game is tripping me out.

 

[F4raday]

I had mild anxiety and problems with sleeping when I was something arround 10 after some long sessions in Diablo 1.

It didn't have any lasting effects (i guess) and I was smart enough to tone it down there and then (and quit Diablo for a while too), but after that I was really carefull not to overdo with gaming sessions, because the experience was so disturbing for me. That also made me very wary of claims that "games have no influence on children psyche".

I also remember some areas in Super Metroid 2 reeeeally freaking me out when I was even younger. That didn't have those effects that Diablo did, but man, I really had a hard time with some areas in that game.

 

[The Crystal Exarch]

Vagrant Story. When the first Zombie Knight appeared on the Wine Cellar I was like oh shit oh shit oh shit. Stopped playing for a little bit.

I was super afraid of zombies when I was a wee boy, and never expected to find them in a JRPG.

 

[Damn Silly]

Aside from pretty much every underwater level in a Sonic game, there was also one of the Onimusha games (for the life of me, I couldn't tell you which one). While at a friend's house, their older brother knew I was "smart" so they asked me to see if I could help solve a puzzle. Little did I know until I tried it that failure would result in one of the character drowning. I think I made like two attempts before having to give up and I legitimately had nightmares about drowning for months afterwards and haven't went anywhere near an Onimusha game since.

Basically, I hate drowning.

 

[MaitreWakou]

Wind Waker ! At the very beginning on your island, when you need to rescue Tetra in the forest. I was so scared to enter the forest !! It took me like 3 or 4 days to dare entering it.
I played Ocarina of Time for the first time instead during those days, since I had the edition with Ocarina of Time and Master Quest on a second disc lol
Which is funny because Ocarina is scarier than Wind Waker lol, when I finally entered the forest I felt so dumb, it's a beautiful forest with just 3 ennemies lmao.

Another one was Luigi's Mansion, don't know if it counts since it's actually a parody of horror games of the time such as Resident Evil (the structure of the manor, the cutscenes when opening a door for the first time...), so when I was a kid I was legit scared, I was only playing when my dad was here !

 

[Neil98]

Kingdom Hearts with the Dark Side battle. I never defeated him until 2 years after I bought the game lol

 

[FlintSpace]

Max Payne.

That game had genuine jump scares for me, just when any henchman jumps yells out of a corner.

And of course the baby corridor.

 

[Jintor]

it probably doesn't count because it was on the edge of horror, but I would reliably get stuck on Vampire: Bloodlines playthroughs because of that fucking haunted hotel in Santa Monica. V:TM intrigued and terrified me in roughly equal measure but that fucking hotel was always my ultimate roadblock.

 

[AxkilAvenger]

Speeder bike level in Battle Toads on nes. I still get anxious and jittery thinking about it

 

[qlypher]

The passage in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PC) in which you have to bring Norbert using the invisibility cloak on the tower and Filch is pursuing you.
I got hella scared as a kid.

I mean look at him.

 

[Jobbs]

Ecco the Dolphin!

 

[Flevance]

This dude in Herc's Advantures was a nightmare!

 

[StarErik]

Ocarina of Time with the ReDeads, Super Mario 64 with the gigantic eel. Never got to Big Boo's Haunt as a kid but that would have probably made me shit my pants as well. Same goes for OoT. I never got to the well nor the Shadow Temple.

Even as a 17 year old I found Arbiter's Grounds in Twilight Princess quite creepy.

 

[Treasure Silvergun]

I don't remember a game genuinely terrifying me, and as far as horror games go, the only ones that really unsettled me were Silent Hill 1, the Fatal Frame series, and The 7th Guest.

I remember some NES games making me uncomfortable for their matter-of-fact way of throwing stuff at you with little context or explanation, though.
Total Recall is a prime example. I hadn't watched the movie so I couldn't even understand the references. Stuff was bizarre enough, but what really unsettled me right off the bat were those thugs that would spring out of an alley and grab Quaid. When that happens the scene shifts to the alley where you have to fight said thugs before you can continue. It was just so abrupt and matter-of-fact.

Also Tusken Raiders in NES Star Wars. Before you learn that they can't chase you beyond the platform they're on, they're just the worst. They'll rush at you at incredible speed the second they see you or they're hit by your laser, and they can kill you with just a couple hits. Just terrifying.

 

[Worldshaker]

Friday the 13th game for NES. The first time Jason ran across the lake scared the hell out of me.

Click to shrink...

Yeeeep. Six year old me was terrified of this game.

 

[LossAversion]

The sewer level in Shadows of the Empire.

Actually, a lot of stuff in Shadows of the Empire. The wampas, the AT-ST's, IG-88...

 

[AYZON]

It wasnt the whole game, just the end of MGS1 when Grey Fox gets crushed by good ol Rexy.
Because of that I never finished the game myself, but Ive watched my brother play through the game a couple times

 

[Deleted member 29682]

Monster Ock



Especially when he caught you:


I used to think he was tearing you apart

Click to shrink...

Oh man I forgot about Monster Ock. That'd be my pick.

Actually, a lot of stuff in Shadows of the Empire. The wampas, the AT-ST's, IG-88...

Click to shrink...

IG-88 in particular scared the hell out of me. I'm still not sure why, maybe the concept of a killer robot that actively hunted you down just was too much for tiny me.

 

[Petruccis Biceps]

Wallmasters used to frighten me so much from the original Zelda as a kid. I had nightmares about disembodied hands coming through the walls and grabbing me.

Also, I used to get scared of the early parts of Star Tropics when you have to talk to that shaman lady. The music coupled with the old ass graphics and animation really scared me:

Also, pilot wings, 2nd instructor(girl with short brown hair), if you do a perfect run her eyes turn into + and - and that absolutely fucked me up so bad I ripped the cart out and threw it across the room.

BTW if you guys are posting actual horror games like silent hill and resident evil, you are missing the point of the thread.

 

[Flygon]

Playing Shining Force for the first time, I had gotten up to the Shade Abbey segment - the entire atmosphere of it, the music, the presentation, was absolutely terrifying for me as a kid.

Still quite eerie as an adult, really.

 

[GamingRobioto]

The final boss on World of Illusion

Frightening for a kids game, but I loved it. Listen to that music though!

 

[Soul Lab]

The fucking Piano in Super Mario 64.
That was not ok, Nintendo.

 

[eXistor]

Not so much terrified, but I found Wrath of Black Manta on NES to have a disturbing atmosphere. Looking at it now I'm not sure why I found it to be that way.

Also I just found out that game was a heavily modified version of the Japanese original called Ninja Cop Saizou, which has different cutscenes, way better music, an extra level and a completely different end-boss.

 

[Taruranto]

Sephiroth's mansion.

Also I thought the beginning of Medievil was scary, once I got past the crypt It passed since I understood it wasn't a horror game.