If you spent any time on the weird, wild West of the internet in the late 2000s, you probably saw a tiny 8-bit kid in a red cape getting absolutely obliterated by a falling cherry. Or a moon. Or a spike that decided to fly sideways for no reason. That kid is "The Kid," and the game is I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game. Developed by Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly and released in 2007, it wasn't just a hard game. It was a manifesto against the player.
Kayin created something that shouldn't have worked. It’s a "masocore" platformer, a genre designed specifically to frustrate, mock, and ultimately reward the kind of persistence that borderlines on clinical obsession. It’s unfair. It’s cruel. But somehow, it became a cornerstone of indie gaming history.
What is I Wanna Be The Guy exactly?
At its core, I Wanna Be The Guy is a fangame—or at least it started that way. It borrows assets from Mega Man, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Castlevania. You play as The Kid on a quest to become "The Guy." To do this, you have to navigate a world where the physics are technically sound but the level design is actively malicious.
Standard platformers teach you rules. If a floor looks solid, it is. In this game? That floor might fall. It might turn into spikes. It might disappear and leave you falling into a Giant Mike Tyson. You don't play this game with reflexes alone; you play it with a notebook and a lot of patience. You have to die to learn.
Honestly, the game is a giant middle finger to the concept of "fair" game design. Most developers try to guide the player. Kayin tried to murder them. He used our own gaming instincts against us. We see a save point and we feel safe. In this game, the save point might shoot you. That subversion of expectations is why the game blew up on early YouTube and platforms like Justin.tv (the precursor to Twitch).
The Brutal Mechanics of the Masocore Genre
Let's talk about the difficulty. It’s legendary. There are four difficulty settings: Medium, Hard, Very Hard, and Impossible.
On Medium, you get save points with "WUSS" written on them. On Impossible, there are no save points. If you die at the final boss, you start the entire game over. Most people don't even finish it on Medium. The game relies on "Gotcha!" moments.
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- Trial and Error: You cannot beat a screen on your first try unless you are psychic.
- The Physics: The Kid is floaty. He has a double jump that feels great but requires pixel-perfect precision.
- The Bosses: They are massive, screen-filling nightmares. Whether it's Mecha Birdo or a giant Ryu from Street Fighter, the patterns are dense.
Why would anyone play this? It’s the "Mount Everest" effect. Because it’s there. There is a specific kind of dopamine hit you get from overcoming a room that killed you 400 times. It's a badge of honor in the gaming community. If you can say you beat I Wanna Be The Guy, people know you have nerves of steel. Or maybe just a lot of free time and a high tolerance for pain.
The Impact on Indie Development
You can see the DNA of this game in almost every high-difficulty indie title that followed. Super Meat Boy is the most obvious descendant. Edmund McMillen, the creator of Meat Boy, actually included The Kid as an unlockable character.
The difference is that Super Meat Boy is fair. It’s hard, but it’s fair. Kayin’s masterpiece is deliberately unfair. It proved there was a massive market for "hard" games before Dark Souls made the concept mainstream. It showed that players were willing to endure punishment if the "vibe" was right and the victory felt earned.
The Weird Legal Gray Area
Because I Wanna Be The Guy uses music and sprites from Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami, it exists in a strange space. It’s a freeware game. Kayin never sold it. If he had, he would have been sued into oblivion within twenty minutes.
This "remix culture" was peak 2007. The game uses the Guilty Gear soundtrack, Mega Man sound effects, and Metroid backgrounds. It’s a love letter to the NES/SNES era, but a twisted, distorted one. It’s like a fever dream where all your childhood heroes have turned into serial killers.
Community and Fangames
The most incredible part of the legacy isn't the original game. It's the community. Because the original source code was eventually made available (or leaked/reconstructed), thousands of "I Wanna" fangames were born.
- I Wanna Be The Boshy: Created by Solgryn, this is perhaps even more famous (and harder) than the original.
- I Wanna Run The Marathon: A massive compilation for the speedrunning community.
- I Wanna Be The Tribute: A more polished take on the formula.
There is an entire engine now—the "GMS Engine"—specifically for making these kinds of games. It’s a subculture within a subculture. Speedrunners still play these at events like Games Done Quick (GDQ), often performing "blind" runs or "tas-bot" showcases that look like magic to the uninitiated.
Why You Should (Or Shouldn't) Play It Today
Is it still worth playing? Kinda.
If you want a history lesson in game design, yes. If you want to test your sanity, absolutely. But if you get frustrated easily, stay away. Far away.
The game hasn't aged perfectly. The controls can feel a bit clunky on modern systems, and you might need a fan-made patch or the "Remastered" version to get it running smoothly on Windows 11. But the spirit of the game is timeless. It represents a moment when the internet was small enough that a single guy in his bedroom could create a global phenomenon just by being a bit of a jerk with spike placement.
Honestly, the best way to experience I Wanna Be The Guy today might be watching a high-level speedrun. You get all the spectacle of the "impossible" jumps without the broken keyboard and the skyrocketing blood pressure.
Misconceptions and Rumors
People often think the game is bugged. It’s not. Well, it is, but usually, the "bugs" are features. If you get stuck in a wall, it’s because you missed a frame. If the music cuts out, it’s for dramatic effect (or because the MIDI file broke).
Another myth is that the game is impossible. It’s not. People have beaten it without dying. Some people have beaten it using a Guitar Hero controller. Humans are terrifyingly adaptable.
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How to Get Started with Masocore
If you're brave enough to dive in, don't start with "Impossible" mode. Start on Medium. Don't be ashamed of the "WUSS" sign. You're going to see it a lot anyway.
- Get a Controller: Playing this on a keyboard is a recipe for carpal tunnel. Use a d-pad.
- Expect the Unexpected: If a jump looks too easy, you're about to be hit by a hidden laser.
- Watch the Pros: If you're stuck, look up a walkthrough. There is no shame in it. Some of the triggers are literally impossible to guess.
- Embrace Death: You will die. Thousands of times. Treat death as a learning tool, not a failure.
I Wanna Be The Guy isn't just a game; it's a test of character. It asks the question: "How much are you willing to suffer for a joke?" For many of us, the answer was "A lot."
Actionable Steps for New Players
To actually experience this piece of gaming history, you need to follow a few specific steps to ensure the game actually runs on modern hardware and that you don't lose your mind in the process.
First, find the right version. The original 2007 release can be finicky on modern versions of Windows. Look for I Wanna Be The Guy: Remastered. It’s a community-driven project that fixes the screen tearing and adds better controller support while keeping the nightmare-inducing gameplay identical to the original. It’s still free, staying true to Kayin’s original intent.
Second, map your controls properly. This game requires frame-perfect jumps. If there is even a hint of input lag from a Bluetooth controller, you will die. Plug your controller in directly. Use a program like JoyToKey if the game doesn't recognize your gamepad natively.
Third, set a "Death Quota." Seriously. This is for your mental health. Tell yourself you’ll try a screen 50 times, and if you don't pass it, you walk away for an hour. The frustration leads to "heavy thumbs," where you press buttons too hard and lose the finesse needed for the double jump.
Finally, join the community. Sites like Delicious Fruit serve as the central hub for the "I Wanna" fangame universe. If the original game hooks you, there are over 10,000 fangames waiting for you there, ranging from "somewhat difficult" to "literally only a computer can do this." Start with the classics, learn the "save-teleport" tricks, and maybe, eventually, you'll actually become The Guy.