History Main / PerfectPlayAI

* Several of the {{bonus boss}}es in ''VideoGame/OneMustFall,'' especially Devan Shell. To make things worse, One Must Fall had block damage off by default (and you needed a cheat code to turn it on).
** All the arcade mode opponent on Ultimate difficulty probably count as Perfect Play AIs. Luckily they don't handle special move cancelling well.

** [[BonusBoss Valkyrie]] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia''. Not only is she an equal in close quarters to Reid, Farah, Ras, or Cless (the other BonusBoss), she can ''guard-break'' you as well, interrupting any combo you initiate and opening her own routine. With flawless timing of course. Without Rising Phoenix or Sonic Chaos, it's impossible to hurt her. Oh, and she has her own [[LimitBreak hi-ougi]] too, and it is ''mean''.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game Solved games]] allow for truly perfect play AI. For a game to be solved, it must have perfect information, a finite set of potential moves, and no random elements. More details on The Other Wiki, but consider Tic-Tac-Toe. The first player (because of the symmetrical play space) has three choices for their first mark; side, corner, or center. Depending on their play, the second player has a very small number of possible moves in response. As a result, a human with scratch paper can map the entire space of possible Tic-Tac-Toe games and write a perfect algorithm to play it flawlessly. Such an algorithm will always draw against perfect play and never loses. A clever grade-schooler can memorize how to play Tic-Tac-Toe flawlessly.

-->'''Lt. Commander Constrev''', ''[[Literature/StarTrekTheKobayashiMaru Star Trek: The Kobayashi Maru]]''

-->'''Lt. Commander Constrev''', ''Literature/StarTrekTheKobayashiMaru''

** Then again, the whole game was criticized for being way too hard, even on the easiest difficulty setting.

* The final boss of the puzzle game ''VideoGame/WindAndWaterPuzzleBattles'', Shinji, is a gigantic DifficultySpike is comparison to the previous boss due to this trope. He makes the most effective possible combinations and dozen-long chains with every move he makes, gaining over 10000 points per minute. Nothing the average player ever thinks up will ever put a scratch on this guy, so most people are left hoping for some fluke to happen -- twice in a row, since you have to win two rounds to beat him.

** Quite possibly the most hilariously broken instance of this came in the [[PortingDisaster less-than-stellar]] GBA port of MK3, Mortal Kombat Advanced. Due to how sloppily the game was programmed a lot of special attacks lack any sort of cooldown, which the computer abuses to the fullest extent. The two worst offenders are Scorpion and Jade who will stunlock characters to death with Spear and Teleport Punch bombardments and rapid-fire Shadow Kick juggles respectively on ANY difficulty level. Jade can sometimes get so hyper-aggressive that she [[https://youtu.be/CGn0b-CE-Eo?t=1159 executes specials and fatalities on top of each other,confusing the game and leading to a softlock.]]
* Any character from Kagemaru on in ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter 2''.

* Kasumi Todoh in most versions she is playable in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters''. Her fighting style is based on returning physical attacks with her counter stances. If controlled by a Expert level CPU, she will slowly approach the player while instantly countering moves that make physical contact and doing a reversal uppercut if the player tries to do a normal grab on her. She also has a unblockable move that works like a grab, so if you choose not to attack her when she reaches you, she'll use that. A nice addition is that if you try to stop her from advancing with projectiles she'll just stop, wait a while until you stop throwing fireballs, and taunt you.
* ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct.'' If you do any kind of move that has more than 5 frames and doesn't hit the opponent, the AI will rush in, do a special which goes straight through your attack, and then follow up with a flawless 8-hit combo. All at the exact moment you press the button. There's a reason we call NintendoHard "Nintendo Hard."
** Much less prevalent in ''Killer Instinct 2,'' where the game mechanics are much friendlier and give you many opportunities to counter the AI. The TacticalRockPaperScissors nature of how combo openers work in ''[=KI=]2'' is probably the easiest thing you can use to this effect, and combo breakers are ''much'' easier, so the AI popping off its perfect combos is no longer your death knell. In fact, if you don't have the reflexes to do the breaker correctly on purpose, you still have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it by guessing.
** The 2013 ''KI'' game has the "Kyle" difficulty level, which is full of input-reading and combo breaking. The game's TrueFinalBoss, Shadow Jago, will always be set to this difficulty.
* In ''VideoGame/DigimonRumbleArena'', Reapermon was capable of instantly winning with just one combo: Charging forward with Grim Slasher, a multi-hit special, followed by Bone Duster, another multi-hit special. His super meter will be full after this, allowing him to follow up with Burning Cyclone immediately. His opponent ''will'' be dazed after this, which Reapermon will exploit for another Grim Slasher -> Bone Duster combo. He'd probably use another finisher and keep repeating if the player's health wouldn't already be 0 at this point. His AI could pull this even in easy mode. And to top it all off, Reapermon becomes playable after just one playthrough.

* Several of the {{bonus boss}}es in ''VideoGame/OneMustFall,'' especially Devan Shell. To make things worse, One Must Fall had block damage off by default (and you needed a cheat code to turn it on).
** All the arcade mode opponent on Ultimate difficulty probably count as Perfect Play AIs. Luckily they don't handle special move cancelling well.

* Probably other {{SNK Boss}}es, but Geese Howard from ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' fits this trope best.
* [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The AI]] in ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur 3'' can sometimes do this when it's going all out. It can read your buttons, and (when it's at its best, like on Dancing Statues Hard) it can counter moves with its inhuman reflexes. Worse, it gets faster based on how much you press the button, even blocking. So if you block too long, the computer goes into a berserk rage, conveniently attacking in a way that gets around your block and is simply too fast to counter.
* It's back with a vengeance in ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur 5''. The AI has no problem executing just guards (which block practically any attack but require insane timing) at any time, can pull off Ivy's [[SomeDexterityRequired notoriously difficult]] Calamity Symphony throw at the drop of a hat, and can make grown men weep when controlling Alpha Patroklos (who is easily the hardest character to use, once again due to the ridiculous timing he requires, [[DifficultButAwesome but when mastered...]]).
* In the first ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' game, the A.I. may not play "completely" perfect in slot cat derby, but they can come pretty damn close. They never spin out when going around turns, despite how much their tires may smoke, so they manage to finish pretty fast, making it insanely difficult for a human player to beat them.
** In several of the button masher minigames in the early Mario Parties, you could only beat a computer if you were lucky. In games such as Skate Board Scamper, Abandon Ship and especially Mecha Marathon, the computer could sometimes out speed a good human button masher, even on easy (especially since the A.I. isn't actually pushing any real buttons, making it potentially as fast as a turbo controller). This also applies to minigames in the first game where you had to rotate the analog stick.
*** In some of the button mashing minigames, the AI could potentially "press buttons" faster than an N64 controller was capable of registering them.
* Vergil from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' is close to, but not a true PerfectPlayAI. He will parry and counter your attacks, but you can dodge and counter his attacks.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' has a number of examples:
** With some of his styles, Dante does the same as Vergil from before. The most effective way to beat him is walk to him while shooting, causing Dante [[ShootTheBullet to do the same]], then quickly attacking with Devil Buster once in range. You can also sit on top of the altar in the room: due to a GoodBadBug he'll repeatedly try to jump up to get to you, leaving himself wide open to the Devil Buster ''every single time without fail''.
** On [[HarderThanHard Dante Must Die]], Berial becomes like this. Going to face him head-on suicidal. The secret to beating him is to do these things: 1. Use your fully charged gun on him as much as possible. 2. Hit him with your sword immediately after he does a lunge attack. Go for the sides and hindquarters. 3. The moment his flames drop, go berserk with devil trigger, especially trigger-enhanced buster (Nero's demon arm).
** The Angelo Credo fight is a good example of this trope as well. Most of the time, he will advance steadily towards you or hurl spears at you. His sword attacks are a bitch to dodge (so quick you don't see them), and unless you nail the timing, attempts to grab him will either [[NoSell fail]], or do very little damage.
** Some {{mook}}s also do this, such as the Angelo enemies. [[BossInMookClothing Alto Angelo]] will block your hits a lot and often your attempts at grabbing them result in a NoSell.
** In the Special Edition, Vergil as a playable character is meant to be played like this. His Concentration meter fills by walking slowly towards the enemy and making no wasted moves.
* This can happen in tag-team matches in some games in the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Smackdown vs. Raw'' series. If a computer player decides that they want to tag out, then 90% of the time your every attack will be countered, dodged, or ignored until this is done. It usually does not occur in other modes, however.
** If the computer does not want to allow you to do a flying attack it will stop you, no matter what.
* ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} [=SmackDown=] vs. Raw 2010'' has one of these, curiously enough for a wrestling game - the final fight in Edge's Road to [=WrestleMania=] story against Mr. Kennedy ([[MemeticMutation KENNEDY!]]) sees Kennedy become an absolute perfect countering machine, who can recover from anything you throw at him in no time while being able to leave you lying with almost any grapple he uses.
** This also happens in Randy Orton's [=RtWM=], as part of an HopelessBossFight; the lights go out and suddenly the Undertaker is standing ''right behind you''. He is impossible to hurt, perfectly evading and reversing anything you attempt to do to him - and the objective changes from winning the match to escaping backstage.
** In Day of Reckoning series, WWE games for the Gamecube, if the computer decides it's time to tag a partner, knock out the referee or [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught go for a weapon]] don't expect to get any hits in. [[UnflinchingWalk It will slowly walk]] to its destination as if there is a sunset in the background and counter every move you do [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard even ones impossible to actually perform]] (e.g. countering a move while in the process of countering a move).
** [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Face it, the game will simply glitch if it has to]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' is an example that predates even the more infamous fighting (i.e. [=MK=]) examples: Dark Link aggressively advances toward the player and tries to attack whichever position (high or low) the player isn't currently guarding against; and when the player attacks, Dark Link merely counters with his shield in the appropriate position. He is remembered for having one flaw in his AI ("duck and stab") because he sometimes counters a low strike with a jump, which leaves his legs open to attack.
** Dark Link in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', being a ShoutOut to the original, mirrors Link's sword attacks (almost) perfectly, causing nothing more than clashing blades; Dark Link is also opposite-handed from normal Link, adding to the 'mirror' effect. He backflips to counter Link's charged spin attack, and if the player attempts to make a thrust attack, counters by '''''jumping on Link's sword''''' and striking back. For the first half of the battle he doesn't even attack at all, but merely stands back and counters Link's moves. But [[CripplingOverspecialization he actually doesn't counter much else]]; items such as Bombs, Deku Nuts, Din's Fire and especially the Megaton Hammer make dealing with Dark Link ''a lot'' easier.
** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': Some levels in Adventure Mode, "quiz" fights in particular, will pit you against characters who will guard against almost every attack you throw at them. You need to wait for the opportunity to break their weak point gauge or find the opportunity to interrupt their attacks.
* [[BonusBoss Valkyrie]] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia''. Not only is she an equal in close quarters to Reid, Farah, Ras, or Cless (the other BonusBoss), she can ''guard-break'' you as well, interrupting any combo you initiate and opening her own routine. With flawless timing of course. Without Rising Phoenix or Sonic Chaos, it's impossible to hurt her. Oh, and she has her own [[LimitBreak hi-ougi]] too, and it is ''mean''.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheTempest'': The one thing the boss AI does well is block. If you are doing melee damage, you can be sure they're going to block and reduce your attack to ScratchDamage.
* In the browsergame ''VideoGame/{{Estiah}}'', the [[ChestMonster Chest Mimic]] is a turn based variation of this. This monster either uses 'Close', which gives it enough defenses to easily shrug off multiple attacks, or a few offensive moves which, despite stripping it of all defense, all give in an extra action (And unlike the player, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard the mimic is immune to the four action limit]]). This means that after hitting you a few times, the boss will always leave a wall of defense that is impossible to brute force through. However, [[spoiler:its health is low enough that it's possible to use high penetration attacks to tick it to death, and Damage over Time moves will constantly hit during its undefended attack strings for massive damage]].
* In ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', final boss [[VisualNovel/{{AIR}} Kanna]] fits this trope quite well at the higher difficulties. Her AI will block practically every attack you throw at her, and her range, attack speed, and priority will rock you when she gets close. [[VisualNovel/{{Kanon}} Ayu]] also has some of this trait on the highest difficulty.
* Chin fights like this in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters '97''. However, it's fairly easy to work around it by jabbing at a distance and blocking his attack.
* As a boss character based on counter moves, ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'''s Hakumen rather sensibly fights this way. If you're not careful, he may well counter you into a [[OneHitKill Astral Finish.]] Depending on your character and playstyle, he can make the game's actual SNKBoss v-13 feel weak and anticlimactic in comparison.
** In Score Attack mode, ''everyone'' turns into Perfect Play AIs. Instant Blocking all your attacks and escaping your throws before launching you into a 20+ hit combo the instant you do something unsafe. And then you have to fight [[SNKBoss Unlimited Nu, Unlimited Rachel]] and [[TrueFinalBoss Unlimited Ragna]] in this mode. And if Unlimited Ragna hits you with the right counter, he will super drain over 2/3 your life and heal over half his already 3 times over health bar.
*** ''Extend'' ups the ante with "Unlimited Mars" mode. Everything above, and EVERYONE is in their unlimited mode. The unholy fusion of SNKBoss and PerfectPlayAI.
* In ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart 3'' in score attack mode Parace L Sia returns from the previous game, and combines this with SNKBoss into one of the most unholy fusions imaginable.
* The Sega Genesis ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'' had Karai as the last boss. If you tried to stand back, she would [[BeamSpam spam projectiles]] you couldn't jump over. If you tried to get close, she would knock you down, then throw you repeatedly with absolutely no window of opportunity to move or escape between throws. This was at difficulty setting ''1''. It went up to ''8''.
** Then again, the whole game was criticized for being way too hard, even on the easiest difficulty setting.
** She was much worse in the SNES edition. Air superiority in the form of a leaping multi-hit attack, similar to E. Honda's Hundred-Hand Slap, and she had the best jump in the whole game. She could easily clear most of the screen in one leap. And she "walked" rather fast. Trust me, she was bad, bad news.
* The highest-level AI's in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' are made of this trope; they will easily predict and block or dodge almost any attack, while attacking instantly and fatally as soon as you get anywhere near them. Your only real chance is to block at random times, hope they do something blockable to you, and attack them instantly while they reel back (a time span which is, naturally [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard much shorter than yours would be]]).
* The Level 9 CPU's in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' are also made of this trope. While they're not very good at actual ''tactics'' [[hottip:*:(They don't use advanced techniques, seldom use intermediate techs like edge-hogging or gimping, and can often be tricked into very stupid moves in response to certain player actions.)]], their reflexes on dodges, grabs, power-shields, and counter-attacks (for characters who have them) are impeccable. Dealing with the AI usually boils down to waiting for them to make a stupid move on their own and then capitalizing on it before they go on the defensive again.
** Thought Level 9 was hard? Try fighting a Level ''50'' amiibo. At this point, the AI will perfect-shield and punish any laggy attack or vulnerable recovery you make. In fact, its reaction time alone is enough to [[http://www.eventhubs.com/images/2014/nov/26/amiibo-fox-places-third-super-smash-bros-wii-u-tournament-highlight-01/ beat several professional players in a tournament]].
*** This is made less impressive by the fact that high-level amiibos are also [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard cheating bastards]], given they always do more damage than a human-controlled character does, for no particular reason.
** It's been found that the Level 9 [=CPUs=] are legitimately this trope; they're always reading inputs and always ready to react at a moment's notice, and by all technicality, the only reason the lower levels are easier is because a randomizer sometimes stops their inputs, with higher chances the lower you go to the point of seeming brain dead. In reality, they're calculating everything you do at 9 the entire time and were built as PerfectPlayAI to begin with as playing at the highest difficulty all but removes this random chance. Though there are some AIBreaker strategies and some characters they dip into ArtificialStupidity with.
** [[VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Kazuya Mishima]]'s Lv 9 AI is so good that it's been featured as an opponent [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNDOp1EgREE in actual tournaments]], even getting some wins over professional ''Smash'' players.

* The optional second boss fight against Darth Vader in ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''. He stops playing around with Force telekinesis to demonstrate his mastery of lightsaber combat.
** He's also kind of this in Starkiller's duel with him in the sequel. He's a MightyGlacier that takes very little damage from all of your attacks, blocks all of your Force moves (even going into Force Fury mode only damages him a small amount) and he has ''two health bars''.
** The prologue level of the first game inverts this by having you play ''as Darth Vader'' while he leisurely strolls through a Wookiee village and nonchalantly massacres everything in sight. It's every bit as brutally awesome as it sounds.
* Boss battles with Jeanne from ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' see her acting relatively sedate from far away, usually content to pepper you with gunfire or launch a super-attack or two your way. However, she's always closing distance between Bayonetta and herself or waiting for you to come to her, and once the gap is closed she begins busting out lengthy and hugely damaging combos with very little breathing room between her attacks. On the harder difficulties, she drops this tactic and just starts [[ThatOneBoss tearing you apart from across the room.]]
* Cyber-Akuma from ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'' is a abnormally fast PerfectPlayAI. His preferred method of attack is to launch a missile from a screen's distance, then dash in close as you block high, deliver a lightning-fast low kick and chain it into a super attack. When he air jumps, he unleashes 2 fireballs down at you. The only way to beat him is by piling on the projectiles but he readily throws his own to counter yours. If he closes the distance between you, it's pretty much over.
* Several bosses and some EliteMooks in the ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' series, fan remake included. Some foes will always back up out of your reach the minute you try to advance on them to attack (but will gladly advance on you the minute you turn and walk the other way), backing up off the screen where you can't hit them, but they can hit you. You also have enemies that will stop moving or sidestep your special attacks and will follow up with a counter. Then there are enemies that will knock you out of the air if you try to attack them with a jump attack. To top all of his off, most enemies in the later levels will combo you and team up on you where their attacks take priority over your own attacks.
* Used to awesome effect by [[spoiler:Albert Wesker]] in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. Walks forward menacingly, instantaneously [[FlashStep flashstepping]] bullets and knife attacks [[spoiler:unless he can't see them coming, either by attacking him from behind while he's unaware of you or by throwing a flashbang]]. Also inverted, if you decide to fight him rather than [[TimedMission time out]] the level; nearly all of his melee attacks can be brutally countered if you're fast enough (the partner combo attacks are a big part of this), and his attacks very briefly leave him vulnerable to gunfire.

* One "Boss" (all enemies operate the same way, but from the storyline some could be considered bosses) in ''VideoGame/{{DefJam|Series}}: Fight For New York'' starts out as this. You're supposed to avoid him until his ability wanes, but it is possible to [[HoistbyHisOwnPetard counter all of his attacks.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SuperCosplayWarUltra'', Shin-Z is particularly adept at this. Manage to knock him down? He'll block as soon as he gets up to prevent a follow-up attack. Try to attack him from a distance? He'll start spamming high-priority projectiles non-stop to pin you down while he slowly advances towards you. Manage to jump over the projectiles and air dash in his direction? Genocide Cutter to the face. Manage to get right up next to him somehow? Enjoy an unblockable grab attack, that he'll usually chain into a super grab attack. Sometimes it seems like the only way to hit him is when he tries to use his super when he doesn't have enough EX bars for it, stunning him for a brief second (then again, this is a flaw with all the bosses in the game.)
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', Null does this on harder difficulty modes. If you roll at him at just the right angle, though, he swipes at you with his sword, giving you a window in which you can pump a tranq dart into him.
* In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter'', a few puzzles feature an AI opponent, in cases in which you have to force the opponent to make the last move. The opponent will always make the ideal move under the circumstances, and you must make the right decisions to force it into a situation in which it has no choice but to be defeated.
* WordOfGod has stated that Twilight does so in ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic''.
* In ''VideoGame/GuitarHero III'', Lou misses no notes for the most part (but read on), and often times throws attacks at you during your own attack phrases. The first attack phrase is on his side of the chart only, so no matter how good you are, he can throw one at your first attack phrase. Averted when you do somehow manage to get an attack and throw it at him, as he [[ArtificialStupidity completely falls apart]], even if the affected section could reasonably still be hit by a human player.
* UnwinnableJokeGame ''[[http://www.pippinbarr.com/games/zorba/Zorba.html Zorba]]'', in which all you can ever hope to do is tie against your CPU opponent, as it never makes a single mistake. This was apparently deliberate, as the game was made as sort of a commentary that winning against a CPU opponent most of the time is only possible because it ''lets'' you win (especially in rhythm games.)
* ''VideoGame/FortuneSummoners'' has both the allied (there are 3 characters, the player control 1 and the AI the other 2, you can switch which you control at any point) and enemy AI do this with a few exceptions or flaws even on the lowest difficulty setting. Enemies dodge the instant an attack is made (even the lowliest of slimes), it is possible (for a lone character) to repeatedly attack them dozens of time and have them dodge every time perfectly, on perfect execution they will not have time to retaliate but neither will you ever hit them. The only way to actually hit an enemy is to use an attack type it cannot dodge, block and then retaliate (taking small amounts of damage and hoping they use a blockable attack) use the terrain to "confuse" them, attack from a range at which they cannot dodge (usually too close but some enemies can be made to dodge in a way that backfires with certain attacks) or to have multiple characters attack the same enemy at once. The AI can also see perfectly through the graphically fancy spell effects that block view and is not affected by the lag caused by such spells (which can introduce several seconds of delay into player commands). When casting spells X must be held down until a circle forms completely and then released to cast, premature release of the button disrupts the spell, the AI always takes exactly the minimum amount of time to cast a spell (minimizing chance of interruption) and never fails to fully form the spell circle. Furthermore the AI can instantly select any spell it knows unlike a human which has to spend time switching between books and desired spells until they reach the right one. The AI for Arche also never messes up a combo (which requires pressing multiple keys in order, with the right timing, and modified by position and situation).
* Many racing games feature computer opponents that can make perfect turns and almost never crash. Codemasters' ''Racedriver GRID'' attempted to correct this by having drivers who would sometimes spin out or plow into the barriers but it came across as looking extremely arbitrary instead of an actual miscalculation. "Rubberbanding" is the term used when the AI drivers will drive sloppily or slowly when they're ahead of you but then aggressively and faultlessly when they're trying to catch up.
* Is the perfect way to describe the AI of the opponent planes during a dogfight in CarrierAces, a SNES original plane simulation game. They evade away your attacks, follow you recklessly until you are right in the middle of their radar, alter their speed in such a way that you're perfectly in their orbit, then shoot at you without you being ever able to hit them afterwards thanks to the fact that you can't execute a turn. They are beatable but you have to take in consideration your speed, fuel and radar.
* Non-fighting game example: any game which has been [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game strongly solved]] has an algorithm out there that can make it utterly unbeatable because it has truly perfect play. This doesn't mean ''good'' play; it means truly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game#Perfect_play perfect play]] in the game theory sense of the term. For example, try playing the program [[http://dana.sourceforge.net/ Velena]] at Connect Four and give it the first turn. You will lose because "she" will literally play ''perfectly'' because Connect Four has been completely solved - and first player wins.
** While more complex games like chess are far from being completely solved (and likely never will be), there do exist 'tablebases' which are capable of playing perfectly in positions where there are only a small number of pieces on the board (the current limit is around 7).
** The game Tic-Tac-Toe can be played perfectly by humans. Perfect play results in a draw. To understand perfect play, you could literally work out all possible games of Tic-Tac-Toe on some scratch paper, and if you do so, you can build a decision tree. Once you do, you realize you have a very simple game where players who know what they're doing will always end up in a draw. To start, realize X only has three initial plays; corner, side, or center. All corners and sides, after all, are equivalent at the start of the game. ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' provides a diagram of optimal plays [[https://xkcd.com/832/ here]].
* Real Life example: In ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'', Creator/SunTzu recommends "safe" approaches such as these in the following quote.
->"... the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' series, CPU opponents on the highest settings are able to perfectly calculate bazooka shots to compensate for the wind, and can fire off grenades and related weapons such that they explode right as they hit the target worm. See that worm of yours that's on low health? Well, if the next "CPU: Good" AI opponent is able to make a trajectory to that worm with any of their weapons, ''and'' targets the hapless worm, that poor sap is already dead.
* The Miis in ''VideoGame/TomodachiLife'' have this in certain minigames, the most obvious case being vs Match, where they have nearly perfect memory as to where each picture was. Oftentimes, you'll only win vs Match because the AI basically let you win.
* In Sony's ''VideoGame/MLBTheShow'' baseball series, the computer pulls this stuff on both offense and defense.
** When it's batting, the computer will suddenly make contact with almost every pitch, either fouling the ball away or getting a hit. This serves the purpose of either tiring out your pitcher faster or reducing your total score, since anything that isn't a three-pitch strikeout detracts from it.
** When it's pitching, the computer will become amazingly accurate at hitting the strike zone once it's gotten two balls or more. The computer will also be able to sniff out a base-stealing attempt like a bloodhound.
* Inconsistent with ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' bots, particularly at intermediate level. An observable example is they evade Jinx's "Zap!" taser with perfect timing, even when fired while in stealth or otherwise out of sight. However, they stupidly run right into her "Flame Chomper" traps.
* The ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Generation'' AI can be quite strong, especially on harder campaign mode decks and weekly challenges, making incredible utilization of their decks.
* The old ''[[Manga/OnePiece One Piece: Grand Battle]]'' series of games on the Gamecube and UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, mostly the final one which was released only in America: ''Grand Adventure''. The opponent AI is actually pretty dumb on normal and hard difficulty, but ''hardest''? Hoo boy. You might as well be playing with a handicap against you; the AI no longer gets stunned when caught in a combo (so they can attack you between punches, meaning slow MightyGlacier characters are next to useless), they're programmed to ''immediately'' grab or use a guard breaker the second you press the block button, and the ones with counter attacks will use them perfectly without fail. What's worse is that, unlike most fighting games, they often will outright have double your health, strength, ''and'' defense even when it defies common sense. The only way to win is to spam aerial attacks, items, and super attacks and hope you don't die (though ''throwing'' items no longer works either, since they have perfect timing and will catch them no matter what position they're in and throw it back at you).
* ''VideoGame/{{QuakeI}}'' didn't implement the trope, but was one of the first games where developers created bots to simulate players. For example, the Reaper bot. While it can't read your input, it could hear you from anywhere on the map, had dead perfect aim (emphasis on "dead"), a reaction time measured in milliseconds, and could dodge anything non-hitscan that you threw at it. As developer experience generally increased, later shooters and bot developers deliberately nerfed their bots to be less inhuman (outside of higher difficulty levels).
* The FinalBoss of UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum darts sim ''180'' is Jammy Jim. You get first throw, and you'll need it because one blink and he'll 9-dart you. He misses his target about once in every fifty throws. It's quite telling that while you need to take two legs to beat everyone else, you can beat Jim with one.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'''s ''Phantasmagoria'' games the A.I. has two settings: play as an idiot or as a god. After spawning the A.I. will dodge absolutely everything you throw at it, and this is obvious from the way it moves (erratic, seemingly suicidal moves around bullets but always stopping short of getting hit). This is temporary only, after a while the A.I. will switch to idiot mode and get quickly murdered. This is what makes up the game's timer system, where each level's objective is to survive long enough for the A.I. to end up killing itself.
** The A.I. actually does have a flaw, but in this particular ''Touhou'' game you're unlikely to be able to exploit it before the opponent's invincibility period wears off (this is why people don't always realize there ''is'' an invincibility period, due to the aversion of TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort). It only calculates bullet trajectories in its immediate vicinity and can fail to spot an completely inescapable pattern coming until it's too late to avoid it, where a human player would head for the other side of the screen seconds before.
* The final boss of the puzzle game ''VideoGame/WindAndWaterPuzzleBattles'', Shinji, is a gigantic DifficultySpike is comparison to the previous boss due to this trope. He makes the most effective possible combinations and dozen-long chains with every move he makes, gaining over 10000 points per minute. Nothing the average player ever thinks up will ever put a scratch on this guy, so most people are left hoping for some fluke to happen -- twice in a row, since you have to win two rounds to beat him.
* Unlock the 'Z3' difficulty in ''VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokai'' and ''every'' enemy in the story becomes this.
* Similar to the ''Zorba'' example above, ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza 0}}'' has a disco dancing minigame where the player can engage in dance-offs with other dancers. One opponent for these is Miracle Johnson, an {{Expy}} of Music/MichaelJackson, and the dance-off is set to a song [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong suspiciously similar to "Bad".]] Needless to say, Miracle will always get the highest possible score and [[HopelessBossFight there's no way to beat him.]] Fortunately, the substory this dance battle happens in continues on even after you lose.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game Solved games]] allow for truly perfect play AI. For a game to be solved, it must have perfect information, a finite set of potential moves, and no random elements. More details on The Other Wiki, but consider Tic-Tac-Toe. The first player (because of the symmetrical play space) has three choices for their first mark; side, corner, or center. Depending on their play, the second player has a very small number of possible moves in response. As a result, a human with scratch paper can map the entire space of possible Tic-Tac-Toe games and write a perfect algorithm to play it flawlessly. Such an algorithm will always draw against perfect play and never loses. A clever grade-schooler can memorize how to play Tic-Tac-Toe flawlessly.
** Checkers and Connect 4 have been solved. The algorithms are far too complex for humans to memorize. If a perfect play AI plays it, Connect 4 comes down to a coin-flip; the first player wins. Checkers is always drawn with two perfect play AI's playing; any mistakes, and the other player wins. Checkers is one of the largest solved games, with over 5 * 10^20 possible search spaces. If you want to be beaten remorselessly by a heartless machine at Connect 4, [[https://connect4.gamesolver.org/ try it out here]].
** Chess and Go are not solved, but are solvable in principle by an computer orders of magnitude stronger than anything we've seen as of 2021. The search space for chess outstrips the number of particles in the known universe by multiple orders of magnitude, and Go dwarfs even that astronomical number.
** How about TabletopGameAI? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KABcmczPdg&list=FL5gmb8vYv2gxdstWOs7vmdg&index=644&ab_channel=Stand-upMaths Here we see]] a perfect GameOfNim played by a plastic analog machine where its clever construction allows it to always win.
** Even a game with a random element can have an optimal strategy mapped out.
*** Blackjack, for example, has a perfect play algorithm for a situation where a player has not counted cards and therefore can't know what's left in the shoe. It produces a small edge to the casino; less than half a percent. Exploiting this was part of the strategy used by card-counting teams; they keep their costs low by playing very tight blackjack until the deck favors them.
*** Guess Who has a perfect play algorithm which gives first player a significantly better chance to win, but because the game has a random element, it cannot always win. In the mirror-match, the perfect AI wins on first turn about 2/3 of the time. Against untrained humans, the perfect play AI wins almost all the games. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRlbNOno5VA&ab_channel=MarkRober Watch]], and the game will be spoiled.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' features the Dark Sims in multiplayer, who combine this with TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. The Dark Sims can teleport at will, fire (or punch) at a faster rate than a human, and have nearly instant reload times. On top of that, they seem to peak out of corners right when you're coming around them and blast you with just enough frames for them to get back into cover. To the game's credit, it tells you that the Dark Sims can do all of this before you pick them, so at least you were warned.
** That said, for all their invincibility and infallibility they have a single weakness...mines. That is they cannot detonate remote mines. They'll see you first and throw a remote mine right on/at you, but they cannot detonate them. This will allow you to kill them (there is a good chance the detonation will trigger the mines they threw on you, but you will at least be able to kill them).
* As you gain ranks in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' this will become self-evident, with the game starting to break out the ten-hit or infinite combos, reading controller inputs, using the classic ''Mortal Kombat'' slide along the ground, and begin preventing you from tagging out, specifically targeting your partner when low on health. Earlier in the series, the computer would resort to Secret A.I. Moves to simulate difficulty.
* The AI in ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' is infamously this, [[ArtificialStupidity to the point it actually works against it]]. The AI will follow the same perfect loop each lap, that is ''exactly'' the same unless hit by a projectile from another player, meaning if you plop an obstacle on that path they'll drive right into it even if they as a human driver would have spotted it a mile away. It's not even uncommon for AI drivers to drop an obstacle on the track that nobody hits, do a loop of the track, and gleefully drive into their own obstacle. A tried and true tactic to cheese the second boss Papu Papu is to just drop obstacles in the middle of the track during straightaways, as he [[AIBreaker drives down the dead center of the track whenever he isn't taking a turn]].
* The Tower of Infinity challengers in ''VideoGame/BladeAndSoul'' are very challenging to face as their move sets are based on competitive Korean players. Unlike other enemies and players who follow a skill rotation, they react to keypresses, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard their skill and gear cooldowns reset after a few seconds]], and can attack fast with no input lag. Players fast reflexes, high gear, a bit of luck, and/or a good internet connection just to have a chance to conquer the top floors.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': The Pokemon World Tournament, in spades. You face off against three out of seven gym leaders from their respective regional tournaments to claim the title of champion. Rules-wise it's simple. Gameplay-wise? not so much. Despite any combination of Pokemon you may bring (barring most legendaries), the game's AI will always match you up against opponents with Pokemon teams who have almost ''perfect'' type coverage and will absolutely stomp you if you are not prepared. Worse is that almost every opponent comes holding a berry that either heals them or weakens super-effective moves against them, or gems that strengthen their moves. Even worse than that [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard opposing Pokemon don’t stay asleep or confused for nearly as long (one or two turns at maximum) as yours do, and their less accurate moves hitting almost one hundred percent of the time]]. Expect to have fun, especially when attempting the (arguably hardest) Johto leaders’ tournament.
!!Non-game examples:
* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', this is essentially how [[DontThinkFeel Ultra Instinct]] works and why it's so dangerous. Unlike other power-ups, it doesn't make the user any stronger; it just allows them to perform perfect play in the real world, reacting with such speed that consciously thinking about their actions would just slow them down. When Goku demonstrates it during the Tournament of Power, he's able to take on [[TheJuggernaut Jiren]] and [[FusionDance Kefla]] by dodging every attack they throw at him and waiting for an opening to strike a devastating and perfectly-executed blow.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', a show where video game villains come to life, one of the villains, Parado, is a homage to Super Mario rather than a typical villain. He proves to be by far the most skillful fighter of anyone in the show, handily dominating opponents who are ten times his level. The only fights he ever loses are against one opponent who can stop time at will, and one who has perfect invincibility. Appropriately, his powers come from a 2-in-1 cartridge of a puzzle game and a fighting game, the easiest genres to program for perfect play.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2'': All characters at hardest setting, though not on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation port.

** Thought Level 9 was hard? Try fighting a Level ''[[UpToEleven 50]]'' amiibo. At this point, the AI will perfect-shield and punish any laggy attack or vulnerable recovery you make. In fact, its reaction time alone is enough to [[http://www.eventhubs.com/images/2014/nov/26/amiibo-fox-places-third-super-smash-bros-wii-u-tournament-highlight-01/ beat several professional players in a tournament]].

Compare and contrast the SNKBoss, a videogame AI whose difficulty arises primarily from the fact that it ''is'' a cheating bastard.

* Used to awesome effect by [[spoiler:Albert Wesker]] in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. Walks forward menacingly, instantaneously [[FlashStep flashstepping]] bullets and knife attacks [[spoiler:unless he can't see them coming]]. Also inverted, if you decide to fight him rather than [[TimedMission time out]] the level; nearly all of his attacks can be brutally countered if you're fast enough, and his attacks very briefly leave him vulnerable to gunfire.
* Agents from Film/TheMatrix can be thought of as Perfect Play AIs within that particular game. Any gun attacks are automatically dodged while they walk towards the humans, and generally their kung fu is so much better than yours that there's little chance surviving if you let them reach you. Supposedly, Neo could beat them because he could "read" the patterns in the code and counter the AI.

* UnwinnableJokeGame [[http://www.pippinbarr.com/games/zorba/Zorba.html Zorba]], in which all you can ever hope to do is tie against your CPU opponent, as it never makes a single mistake. This was apparently deliberate, as the game was made as sort of a commentary that winning against a CPU opponent most of the time is only possible because it ''lets'' you win (especially in rhythm games.)

* The Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Generation AI can be quite strong, especially on harder campaign mode decks and weekly challenges, making incredible utilization of their decks.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'''s Phantasmagoria games the A.I. has two settings: play as an idiot or as a god. After spawning the A.I. will dodge absolutely everything you throw at it, and this is obvious from the way it moves (erratic, seemingly suicidal moves around bullets but always stopping short of getting hit). This is temporary only, after a while the A.I. will switch to idiot mode and get quickly murdered. This is what makes up the game's timer system, where each level's objective is to survive long enough for the A.I. to end up killing itself.
** The A.I. actually does have a flaw, but in this particular Touhou game you're unlikely to be able to exploit it before the opponent's invincibility period wears off (this is why people don't always realize there ''is'' an invincibility period, due to the aversion of TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort). It only calculates bullet trajectories in its immediate vicinity and can fail to spot an completely inescapable pattern coming until it's too late to avoid it, where a human player would head for the other side of the screen seconds before.

* In ''Series/DragonBallSuper'', this is essentially how [[DontThinkFeel Ultra Instinct]] works and why it's so dangerous. Unlike other power-ups, it doesn't make the user any stronger; it just allows them to perform perfect play in the real world, reacting with such speed that consciously thinking about their actions would just slow them down. When Goku demonstrates it during the Tournament of Power, he's able to take on [[TheJuggernaut Jiren]] and [[FusionDance Kefla]] by dodging every attack they throw at him and waiting for an opening to strike a devastating and perfectly-executed blow.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' "Peak Performance": during their rematch Data used this strategy against the Strategema master Kolrami, making a perfect play for a ''draw''. This wore Kolrami out so much that he RageQuit, giving Data the victory.

** How about TabletopGameAI? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KABcmczPdg&list=FL5gmb8vYv2gxdstWOs7vmdg&index=644&ab_channel=Stand-upMaths Here we see]] a perfect game of Nim played by a plastic analog machine where its clever construction allows it to always win.

** Who needs an AI? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KABcmczPdg&list=FL5gmb8vYv2gxdstWOs7vmdg&index=644&ab_channel=Stand-upMaths Here we see]] a perfect game of Nim played by a plastic analog machine where its clever construction allows it to always win.

* In VideoGame/DigimonRumbleArena, Reapermon was capable of instantly winning with just one combo: Charging forward with Grim Slasher, a multi-hit special, followed by Bone Duster, another multi-hit special. His super meter will be full after this, allowing him to follow up with Burning Cyclone immediately. His opponent ''will'' be dazed after this, which Reapermon will exploit for another Grim Slasher -> Bone Duster combo. He'd probably use another finisher and keep repeating if the player's health wouldn't already be 0 at this point. His AI could pull this even in easy mode. And to top it all off, Reapermon becomes playable after just one playthrough.

* Creator/ArcSystemWorks has done it again. With their help on the console port of ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart 3'' in score attack mode, Parace L Sia returns, and combines this with SNKBoss into one of the most unholy fusions imaginable, making every unlimited character from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' seem like nothing in comparison.

* Many racing games feature computer opponents that can make perfect turns and almost never crash

* As you gain ranks in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' this will become self-evident, with the game starting to break out the ten-hit or infinite combos, reading controller inputs, using the classic ''Mortal Kombat'' slide along the ground, and begin preventing you from tagging out, specifically targeting your partner when low on health. Earlier in the series, the computer would resort to Secret A.I. Moves to simulate difficulty.

* Non-game example: in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' during their rematch Data used this strategy against the Strategema master Kolrami, making a perfect play for a ''draw''. This wore Kolrami out so much that he RageQuit, giving Data the victory.