/vr/ - Retro Games

>How do you guys play some of them? Save states?
Practice, practice, practice and practice again.
Unless you have a natural talent, you're not gonna get anywhere in life unless you practice on the things you want to become good at.
I for example do not think of myself as a skilled gamer but the other day I managed to beat Ninja Gaiden in my first sitting all because I kept at it no matter how often I game overed.
I also never use save-states unless I'm trying to learn an extremely hard part in a game (like for example the second-form of the final boss in Ninja Gaiden but after I learned how to beat him I killed myself so I could beat it fair).
Its mostly up to how dedicated you are at beating a game. When growing up my older brothers would ridicule me and say that I didn't beat the game fair if I ever used anything for assistance (cheat-codes, guides, hints and tips from magazines, you name it).
One day I was playing Gun.Smoke and decided to look up where all the wanted posters were and my brother saw me, looked me in the eyes and said: "What are you some kind of pussy, looking up help for the game, you might as well have someone else play it for you if you ain't gonna beat it fair and square."
Even to this day I feel wrong if I any outside assistance when beating a game.

TL;DR: If you suck at video games all you need is willingness and dedication and you'll be able to beat most games.