History VideoGame / IWannaBeTheGuy

[[caption-width-right:239:Probably the most straight-forward area in ''I Wanna Be The Guy''.[[hottip:*:See the tiny thing on the right of the picture, on top of the brown platform? That's your character. Good luck...]]]]

There is a SpiritualSuccessor by the name of ''BattleKidFortressOfPeril'', endorsed by Kayin himself. Also, The Kid is an unlockable character in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]''[[hottip:*: Naturally, he is the hardest character to unlock]].

* CheckPointStarvation: Impossible mode has no {{Save Point}}s.[[hottip:*: Except for one that can be activated via a glitch.]]

* ClassicVideoGameScrewYous: Practically a thesaurus[[hottip:* :Why thesaurus? Because an encyclopedia is more in depth, and a dictionary is too short on each entry. [[RuleOfFunny And because it's funnier.]] of them.

Many, ''many'' {{fan|Sequel}}games of this game have been made due to an easy to use engine containing the basics of the original game. A list of some more prominent ones can be found [[IWBTGFangames here]]. In addition, an official sequel called I Wanna Be The Guy Gaiden has been announced. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h03RYt67woU Stay tuned for more details.]]

Many, ''many'' {{fan|Sequel}}games of this game have been made due to an easy to use engine containing the basics of the original game. A list of some more prominent ones can be found [[IWBTGFangames here]].

There is a SpiritualSuccessor by the name of ''BattleKidFortressOfPeril'', endorsed by Kayin himself. Also, The Kid is an unlockable character in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]''[[hottip:*: Naturally, he is the hardest character to unlock]].

Contrast with ''YouHaveToBurnTheRope'' and compare ''VideoGame/{{Jumper}}'' and ''{{N}}''.

'''A:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint They're more like giant APPLES]]...

* BulletHell: The game flirts with this a few times. Dracula has an attack where he shoots a spiral pattern of flaming Delicious Fruit; it's no ''{{Touhou}}'' pattern, though, as Kayin admits. Later on, the ''[[{{Gradius}} Vic Viper]]'' sequence shows Dracula how it's ''really'' done.

'''A:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint They're more like giant cherries]]...

* '''''[[NintendoHard NINTENDO NEAR FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE]]''''': Ironically, in order to make the game beatable, you have infinite lives and there are even save points. This is an almost unprecedented level of accommodation in the sidescrolling genre, but it's justified since, well, it really ''would'' be (almost) impossible without them (which is indeed exactly what Impossible mode does).

* SoftWater: At one point, you jump from a very high area, fall about 3 screens downwards, '''''catch on fire like a meteor''''', and '''if''' you manage to land in the "conveniently" placed pool of water, you live.

* FollowTheLeader: The game is actually based off a Japanese flash game called ''Jinsei Owata no Daibouken'', or ''The Life-Ending Adventure''. [[WordOfGod As Kayin himself says]] [[http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/faq.php on the faq]], "I played a 2chan flash game that was stupid hard and thought, '[[LetsSeeYouDoBetter Hm, I can do better.]]'" Amazingly, ''Owata'' was [[ObviousBeta unfinished]] when Kayin played it; when the game actually was completed (well after the release of IWBTG), its final section ''[[spoiler: [[RecursiveAdaptation is literally taken from I Wanna Be The Guy itself]], [[{{Crossover}} with the Kid as the]] FinalBoss!]]''

* An Impossible Mode that at least five people have been recorded as having beaten, at least one of whom recorded their entire run.

* ClassicVideoGameScrewYous: Practically a thesaurus[[hottip:* :Why thesaurus? Because an encyclopedia is more in depth, and a dictionary is too short on each entry. [[RuleOfFunny And because it's funnier.]]]] of them.

* HardLevelsEasyBosses: "Easy" bosses to an extent.

* '''''[[NintendoHard NINTENDO NEAR FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE]]''''': Ironically, in order to make the game beatable, you have infinite lives and there are even save points. This is an almost unprecedented level of accommodation in the sidescrolling genre, but it's justified since, well, it really ''would'' be impossible without them (which is indeed exactly what Impossible mode does).

* AIRoulette: Dracula takes this and turns it into something from the tenth circle of hell. His randomly picked attacks range from standard difficulty (i.e. hard) to beyond good and evil, and some combinations are pretty much unsurvivable. This makes him the potentially most difficult boss fight in the game (yes, he can be tougher than the ''final boss''!).

* CraniumRide: On 8-bit Link in one LegendOfZelda-themed room. [[spoiler:Link attempts to swipe at you in the process.]]

* {{Engrish}}: The scroll text near the end of the attract sequence, parodying the scroll text from the original ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]''.

* {{Homage}}: Pretty much everything in the game is a recreation of or reference to some old famous game, including ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}, Kirby's Dream Land, Ghosts 'n Goblins, VideoGame/MegaMan, {{Metroid}}, {{Castlevania}}, TheLegendOfZelda'', and more. Especially the hard'''''er''''' parts. Most of the bosses are actually taken from other games, though made much harder.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Really, it should be self-evident why this trope belongs here, but suffice to say it has a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Impossible Mode.]]
** An Impossible Mode that at least five people have been recorded as having beaten, at least one of whom recorded their entire run.

* CuteShotaroBoy: The Kid

* BossDissonance: Bosses are usually easier than the levels themselves.

** The Kid [[spoiler:falling onto a giant bed of spikes]] at the end. In this ''one'' instance, he walks out unharmed.

** One of the lefthand walls in the starting screen is fake and you can pass throught it, but the only in-game clue is that your bullets pass through it instead of disappearing. And considering this is your first experience with the game's many death traps, you're probably not going to notice the clue -- you're more likely to stumble on it by complete accident, or know about it already from watching playthroughs.

* [[NintendoHard Nintendo Near Bloody Impossible]]: Ironically, in order to make the game beatable, you have infinite lives and there are even save points. This is an almost unprecedented level of accommodation in the sidescrolling genre, but it's justified since, well, it really ''would'' be impossible without them (which is indeed exactly what Impossible mode does).

* SequentialBoss: The Koopa Clown Car. Unfortunately, the first two forms are so easy, it's basically just an unskippable 2 minute cutscene every time you want to fight the much harder final form.

* HarderThanHard: The difficulties start at "Medium" and go ''up''.

* BadassGrandpa: The Kid's grandfather used to be The Guy.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The FAQ calls it a [[GameMod romhack]] of ''{{Battletoads}}''. [[DontExplainTheJoke The joke being, of course, that]] [[NintendoHard no-one ever finished Battletoads]], so how could they disprove it?

* IGotBetter: Every level save Impossible.

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: Near the end, the Moon that has been plaguing you appears all huge, as if ready to engage in a final showdown, [[spoiler:and then gets smacked aside in about two seconds by the dragon from ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan Mega Man 2]]'']]. Especially misleading in that the Moon was high in the sky for the entire minecart ride beforehand, ''and'' the minecart section had "The Moon" from ''VideoGame/{{DuckTales}}'' playing as the background music.

** There's a level which certainly ''deserves'' the FanNickname "The Room of Huge Laser Beams That Come Out Of Absolutely Nowhere", based on Quick Man's infamously hard stage from ''Game/MegaMan 2''. And frankly, it might actually be easier than the original.

* {{Homage}}: Pretty much everything in the game is a recreation of or reference to some old famous game, including ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}, Kirby's Dream Land, Ghosts 'n Goblins, MegaMan, {{Metroid}}, {{Castlevania}}, TheLegendOfZelda'', and more. Especially the hard'''''er''''' parts. Most of the bosses are actually taken from other games, though made much harder.

* MusicalSpoiler: Subverted! The MinecartMadness segment has "The Moon" from the ''VideoGame/{{DuckTales}}'' game playing as the background music. That, combined with the full moon high in the sky, makes you think that the boss guarding the Guy Fortress will be the Moon that has plagued you so much. [[spoiler:When it does show up, however, [[BaitAndSwitchBoss it's swatted aside by the]] ''[[BaitAndSwitchBoss real]]'' [[BaitAndSwitchBoss boss]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan Devil Dragon]]]].

** Kayin, the creator of the game himself actually does this a few times in his own [=LP=]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T27w7LhiUkk&t=5m17s Here's his first one, after spending about fifteen minutes of game time attempting it from the last save point two screens away.]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBJH1MTmBsI&t=0m15s After saying in the second of his LP videos that he isn't going to get mad/frustrated because he's so good at it / immune to its frustrations by now]].

* ClusterFBomb: ...on the lips of many of those who have played.
** Some [=LPers=] have gone beyond F-bombing into [[{{Angrish}} incomprehensible fury and gibberish]] (case in point: [=JMan=], brain melted by constant death and explosion, can manage but 'hurdadurdledur'.)
---> '''[=JMan=]:''' [[TourettesGuy "Lemme tell you about a porcupine's balls: they're small and they don't give a shit!"]] [[[HaveANiceDeath SPLAT]]] "''LIKE THIS GAME!''"
** More than one [=LPer=] has been reduced to sobbing and/or screaming incoherently. Not to mention that one guy had also admitted to punching a hole in his wall out of frustration caused by this game.

* DeathByGenreSavviness: Just when you think you've got the game's traps and surprises all figured out, it'll do something completely unexpected and kill you when you're doing exactly the same thing that saved your life in the last screen.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: [[invoked]]Kayin's friends briefly joke about the philosophical meaning of the game in one of his LP vids. One of them suggests that the game is about learning [[DontFearTheReaper not to fear death]], among other things.

* OrphanedSeries: It seems that, sadly, ''I Wanna Save The Kids'' was canceled. Considering how hard this game is, that's probably a good thing.

* RageQuit: Many LP'ers have experienced this while playing this game.