Most annoying backtrack in history

So, a lot of games have the infamous time wasting tool we all know as "Back tracking."

You know, where you have to go to the same old area once again to solve a puzzle. Or when you have to go half way through some monster infested area only to find out that you don't have the key to continue through the dungeon, but you had to go half way through for one reason or another before you could actually get the key.

I think the most annoying backtrack in the history of gaming is in Final Fantasy 1. You know, the earth cave, where you have to go half way through, 3 levels down, to fight the Vampire, get the Star Ruby, and then work your way back up those 3 levels to get the item that you needed to get to the fourth,andfifthfloors of the dungeon. All this is done before you're able to learn the exit spell so you can at least shave off going through those floors a third time.

It's totally lame.

What do you think the most annoying backtrack is?

The hunt for the sky keys in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.......it literally ruined the game for me and I didn't even bother finishing it.

This coming from someone who loved the original Metroid Prime and considered it one of the best games last gen.

Playing through the second half of Silent Hill 4 was pretty annoying, considering you go through each area in the game again, and to make things worse, you have to escort somebody through the remainder of the game.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes gets my vote as well. As Robnyc22 said, the Sky Temple keys nearly killed my motivation for finishing the game.

Resident Evil Zero. The original and Code:Veronica had backtracking, but Zero was completely shameless and unimaginitive. It took it to an extreme that almost makes the game unplayable (as if Zero didn't have enough aspects that did that already).

As a side note, I love Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Metroid is the only series where backtracking makes sense. Even though you are covering old ground, it always feels like you're progressing rather than falling back because of the new weapon or tool. How was the the key hunt in Metroid Prime 2 any more of a hassle than the artifact hunt at the end of Metroid Prime?

Shame on you guys, no one mentioned the triforce fetch quest in the Windwaker.

The key hunt in Metroid Prime 2 is also bad.

The last fetch quest in Zelda Wind Waker :(...i still love the game though

Same thing with Prime 2: Echoes

And Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

ZELDA :The Phantom hourglass is the cornerstone of backtracking

Doom 1 for the SNES.
everytime you die you start right at the very beginning again.
and also they are no save points at all in the game.

As a side note, I love Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Metroid is the only series where backtracking makes sense. Even though you are covering old ground, it always feels like you're progressing rather than falling back because of the new weapon or tool. How was the the key hunt in Metroid Prime 2 any more of a hassle than the artifact hunt at the end of Metroid Prime?

MicWazowski

Well, I didn't exactly like the artifact hunt in Prime either, but from my experience, I managed to grab around half along the way, making the fetch quest a little less irritating. You couldn't necessarily do that with the Sky Temple keys since a lot of them required your new suit to reach new areas. It simply felt like unecessary padding to the game's length when all I wanted to do was finish the game.

The artifact quest wore thin on my patience. The key hunt felt worse and I ended up shelving the game for several months because I lost interest.

I can't believe I didn't mention Windwaker... now that was pretty bad.