Same here.I get that. I've got a number of games I've been stuck on for ages, I come back to some of them occasionally trying to make some progress, sometimes I even manage a bit.
That's what i'd like it to be too, but sadly for older games things can be pretty obtuse, and vague with the details, without mentioning how unforgiving the gameplay/enemies etc. can get..The temptation is there to use a guide to get some of them out of the way, but it doesn't feel right.
Hell, i'd recommend using save states with almost every game.. It just saves you the headache/time of redoing things you've already done.Thanks for the advice, will see how I go