History Main / TheComputerIsACheatingBastard

* ''VideoGame/SuperGodzilla'' for the Super Nintendo did this against, well, pretty much everyone. Your own fighting spirit (a measure of how strong your techniques are) rises pretty slowly, compared to the UFO which is nearly permanently at maximum, or Mechagodzilla, who can go from nothing to max in a heartbeat, and teleport-body-slam you in the process. He will then use eye lasers just to mess with you.

** ... can pop out from under your front spoiler when overtaking, but block the entire width of the road for you.

* ''MedalOfHonor'', especially the PC games. Nazis have [[ImprobableAimingSkills improbable accuracy]] with automatic weapons while yours suffer from ATeamFiring, can shoot through foliage and other transparent objects that you can't very well, don't suffer from aim disruption while supposedly flinching, will draw a bead on you the moment you enter their line of fire, especially the snipers in Snipertown, [[DoNotRunWithAGun run and gun with unlikely aiming skill]], and can even get perfect shots when blindfiring.

* VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}. ESPECIALLY on hard difficulty. Let's see, bullets that are flying everywhere? Check. A player that dies in two r three continuous shots? Check. Enemies that can shoot you with just your BIG TOE sticking out of cover? Check. Enemies that can SHOOT THROUGH ROCKS IN THE INDESTRUCTIBLE ENVIRONMENT? THAT'S A [[PrecisionFStrike BIG FUCKING CHECK!!!]]

* Most versions of electronic Monopoly will use this as a fake difficulty depending on what the ai difficulty is set at, most Monopoly games are meant to have smarter AI that makes better investment decisions when the AI is increased but most also increase the AIs luck when rolling and getting chance cards. As a result it's not uncommon for the AI to never get a negative card during the game and always skip past human players properties, but the harder the AI is set at the more likely it is that the computer will sabotage human dice rolls and make sure the human lands on tax or high value owned property turn after turn.

** Similarly on the Genesis and S-NES versions of ''FamilyFeud'', whenever an AI player gives an answer, expect it to be on the board. When the computer doesn't feel like giving an answer on the board, it will say [[ArtificialStupidity "I give up,"]] penalizing itself.

*** It's probably to counter the fact that the NPCs can't "pre-buff" (cast support spells shortly before a fight to avoid having to waste turns on them) like the player.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' {{licensed game}}s have this during story missions. For instance, some characters in later stages are programmed to ''automatically'' dodge most combo attacks (like throwing your enemy in the air and teleporting to hit them up there, more than one energy attack, etc.). This becomes a problem in levels where you can get a RingOut. Because the enemy will doubtless be able to break your guard and counterattack whenever he feels like, you'll be easily knocked out the ring by him, while he can simply decide not to be hurt by your attacks.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall Z Supersonic Warriors 2'', at the end of Mania mode, TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. Throughout the 20 match mode, the player will automatically lose any special attack BeamOWar animation. But for the last 10 machtes, the computer adds two or three of the below tricks. For three of the last six matches, it then pits the player's team against one opponent (Cell, then Broly, and in the final match SS Goku), who has access to about a half-dozen AI exclusive skills, including:

** ... leading to [[spoiler:Megabyte-]]Bob encouraging Matrix to break the game rules when caught in a game parody of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Manga/DragonBall and the user is clearly going to win. "You're a renegade! CHEAT!!!"

* ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'' had this badly. The game, to differentiate itself from ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', uses cards to move players around instead of dice. However, instead of pulling from a deck, everyone has seven cards and the computer, even on the easiest mode, knows who has all of the 5 cards, 6 cards and "S" cards. Predictably, they will take them at the first opportunity, thus depriving you of any chance to get far in the game. What makes this worse is when you try to pick a card on your own, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules you can't see the computer's cards]]. It becomes a crap shoot that may lead you into picking a 1 card or the Eggman card. This sort of setup works for an actual multiplayer set up, not when it's one against the computer.

* ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'' had this badly. The game, to differentiate itself from ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', uses cards to move players around instead of dice. However, instead of pulling from a deck, everyone has seven cards and the computer, even on the easiest mode, knows who has all of the 5 cards, 6 cards and "S" cards. Predictably, they will take them at the first opportunity, thus depriving you of any chance to get far in the game. What makes this worse is when you try to pick a card on your own, you can't see the computer's cards. It becomes a crap shoot that may lead you into picking a 1 card or the Eggman card. This sort of setup works for an actual multiplayer set up, not when it's one against the computer.

* ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'' had this badly. The game, to differentiate itself from ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', uses cards to move players around instead of dice. However, instead of pulling from a deck, everyone has seven cards and the computer, even on the easiest mode, knows who has all of the 5 cards, 6 cards and "S" cards. Predictably, they will take them at the first opportunity, thus depriving you of any chance to get far in the game. Even worse, you don't get the opportunity, as you must try to pick a card on your own. Worse still, you can't see the computer's cards, leading you to get either a 1 card or the Eggman card. This sort of setup works for an actual multiplayer set up. Not when it's one against the computer.

** On ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', if a computer player rings it will either give the right answer to a question or [[ArtificialStupidity type in nonsense]]. If you go too far ahead of an AI opponent, the game will sometimes make it impossible for you to buzz in first while the computer player(s) starts closing the gap.

** Similarly on the Genesis and S-NES versions of ''FamilyFeud'', whenever an AI player gives an answer, expect it to be on the board. When the computer doesn't feel like giving an answer on the board, it will say [[ArtificialStupidity "I give up,"]] penalize itself.

** On ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', if a computer player rings it will either give the right answer to a question or [[ArtificialStupidity type in nonsense]]. If you go too far ahead of a AI opponent, the game will sometimes make it impossible for you to buzz in first while the computer player(s) starts closing the gap.

* In old video games based on game shows such as ''Jeopardy'' and ''WheelOfFortune'', particularly the Gametek versions, the computer players are subject to this.
** On ''Jeopardy'', if a computer player rings it will either give the right answer to a question or [[ArtificialStupidity type in nonsense]]. If you go too far ahead of a AI opponent, the game will sometimes make it impossible for you to buzz in first while the computer player(s) starts closing the gap.

* Even old handheld toys based on game shows like ''WheelOfFortune'' and ''ThePriceIsRight'' had the computer cheat. If the game was based on luck, you would be screwed over quite often. If you went against a computer opponent, they would always know the answer to the questions very early in the rounds or simply be much luckier than you.

* ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'' had this badly. The game, to differentiate itself from ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', uses cards to move players around. However, instead of pulling from a deck, everyone has seven cards. And the computer knows where all of the 5 cards, 6 cards and "S" cards are and will take them at the first opportunity, thus depriving you of the chance to get far in the game. Even worse, you don't get the opportunity, as you must try to pick a card on your own, leading you to get either a 1 card or the Eggman card. This sort of setup works for an actual multiplayer set up. Not when it's one against the computer.

''Note: when adding examples here, please make sure whatever you're planning to claim is ''actually true'', meaning you have hard data saying there is cheating going on, not just some vague feeling that you ''always'' [[{{Franchise/Pokemon hurt yourself in confusion]] and the AI ''never'' does. The phenomenon making you feel that way is almost definitely confirmation bias, as any of the various people who have done actual testing with hundreds of data points can tell you.''

''Note: when adding examples here, please make sure whatever you're planning to claim is ''actually true'', meaning you have hard data saying there is cheating going on, not just some vague feeling that you ''[[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} always]]'' hurt yourself in confusion and the AI ''never'' does. The phenomenon making you feel that way is almost definitely confirmation bias, as any of the various people who have done actual testing with hundreds of data points can tell you.''

''Note: when adding examples here, please make sure whatever you're planning to claim is ''actually true'', meaning you have hard data saying there is cheating going on, not just some vague feeling that you ''[[VideoGame/Pokemon always]]'' hurt yourself in confusion and the AI ''never'' does. The phenomenon making you feel that way is almost definitely confirmation bias, as any of the various people who have done actual testing with hundreds of data points can tell you.''

''Note: when adding examples here, please make sure whatever you're planning to claim is ''actually true'', meaning you have hard data saying there is cheating going on, not just some vague feeling that you ''always'' hurt yourself in confusion and the AI ''never'' does. The phenomenon making you feel that way is almost definitely confirmation bias, as any of the various people who have done actual testing with hundreds of data points can tell you.''

*** What you're seeing here is a bug in the game due to a programmer who doesn't understand probability theory. The displayed battle odds are calculated by the naive method of multiplying each unit's hitpoints by the odds of winning a single round of combat, and using that ratio as the odds of winning the battle. The actual odds of winning, based on the battle mechanics, are much harder to calculate, and can deviate significantly from the displayed odds: your "95% victory" fight might actually be a "0.1% victory". Once you do them right, though, it becomes clear that the computer isn't cheating in battle, just lying through statistics.

* MarioKart 7 is the biggest offender yet (which is saying a lot, honestly). There was an exploit that has been discovered in the Maka Wuhu track that allows you to skip one section of the track. Pull it off, and the CPU pack is no less than 5 seconds behind you when you are ferried onto the upper section of the course, rendering the entire exploit moot in 1-player mode.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', the AI opponents didn't just have RubberBandAI, but had infinite stores of super-special weapons and items that in several cases the player was never able to use -- namely, the poisoned mushrooms, dinosaur eggs, and meandering fireballs. Then there's the Mario brothers, who could activate Stars at will, making them nigh-impossible to beat if they were in the lead. For the items the player ''could'' launch, the AI opponent also had the ability to dodge by ''jumping'' the kart its own height above the track. \\
They also out right clip through course obstacles like Thwomps and pipes while you need a Star to smash through the same things yourself. The only thing they they ''can'' bump into that slows them down are the walls, and that's if you push them hard enough into a wall. \\

** The character selection in Super Mariokart is arbitrary. The order of the racers is chosen by which racer you chose, it's the same every time. You can alter it but knocking them down a few places in the last lap, and then crossing the finish line before they catch up. If the screen fades to black before they overtake anyone, they are stuck in that position. It's a decent strategy when playing as bowser to knock either mario, or luigi down to 4th place or lower just before the finish line. Preferably both.

* In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, whichever AI racer has the most cup points at the time will get their special powerups more often. Luigi and Bowser will always start with "champion" level skills, but if you attack them and cause them to lose to other AI racers, the new points leader among AI will take up the "champion" mantle instead. If Yoshi or Mario get this points lead, they'll start to spam consecutive Super Stars from nowhere and finish races 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Conversely, since poor AI Wario always starts in the back of the pack, he's rarely seen using items at all and is doomed to finish last every race.

* Apparently, the computer player chosen to be the first-placer in Mario Kart DS always has a maxed-out speed stat, regardless of what the kart they're driving should have. This makes characters that drive karts with already high acceleration [[spoiler:(Dry Bones)]] nearly impossible to beat. This may be because the designated top 3 are given boosts in top speed with the first placer given the biggest boost. If it happens to be a kart with high acceleration, your only chance of winning is to snake, simply put. \\
[=CPUs=] in Mario Kart DS will also move back into place if another kart knocks them away in midair.
* ''Double Dash!!'s'' AI seems to entirely ignore the weight system and kart stats -- heavy karts (the only ones available to large characters such as Bowser) all have crappy acceleration but high top speeds. Go ahead, knock Bowser off the track. Invariably, he'll be right on your ass in no time flat -- despite the nice long stall that getting put back on the track gives you, and the fact that his crappy acceleration should leave him far behind a cart that's already running at top speed with no slowdowns. In fact, most of the karts in ''Double Dash!!'' can reach ridiculous speeds trying to keep up with a human player in first, which can give a second human player further down the pack an extremely hard time when it comes to clawing their way back to the front.
* Ditto Petey Piranha, often a thorn in the side in two-player GP races at 150cc due to his ''ludicrous'' bursts of speed and acceleration.
* In Mario Kart 64, computer players just used items at random rather than actually using the item boxes. This actually worked out well for the player (despite lack of realism, since they would never use certain items), since the distribution was fair. In DS and Wii, they actually use the item boxes, which means the last-place players are constantly getting the good stuff. So this is actually an instance where having the AI follow the rules actually made the game seem less fair (though technically it's ''more'' fair).

* In Mario Kart Wii, and possibly others, the AI racers don't have an item roulette. While you have to wait for a few seconds after hitting an item block to use your item, they're able to use them right away. Quite annoying when you're in the lead right off the bat and get hit by a red shell before you could possibly drop an item to block it.