History Main / RubberbandAI

* In the arcade ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'', enemies started out taking a long time to shoot you, then gradually getting faster and faster until you'd need truly superhuman reflexes to get them in time, slowing down only after you took a hit. ''Lethal Enforcers II'' was even worse. This was removed from the SNES port, and the PSX port resolved the issue by fixing everyone at a ridiculously fast level.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' adds the 200cc engine class, in which the AI '''zooms''' at unbelievable speeds to prevent you from winning. To be honest, however, [[NintendoHard even the AI has a hard time playing on this engine class]].

* Averted in the original ''TOCA Touring Car Championship'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, in a way that was a revelation for driving games at the time. Sixteen cars on the grid at the start of the race, accurately modelled circuits with few walls and long grass runouts, pretty accurate physics meaning that if you put a couple of wheels on the grass at speed you were definitely going to spin out, and then when you do, the AI opponents give no quarter at all. Spin out at any point early in a race, and you'd do very well to even SEE the rest of the cars again, they'd be so far in front. Equally, on a short track, if you managed to nudge an opponent into a catastrophic spin, you'd have a reasonable chance of lapping him.

* In the original ''VideoGame/MicroMachines'' video game for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], a car that was behind you would be faster than if it was in front of you. It didn't matter how far ahead/behind they were, however, so if that wasn't enough, there was no further help coming. It also featured a rather hilarious, and unintentional, [[UnstableEquilibrium inversion]]: if you put the fastest drivers in the fastest cars, the speed boost from being behind would be more than the AI could handle, causing the cars to leave the track and fall even further behind.

* ''Beach Buggy Racing'', an otherwise fun kart racer for UsefulNotes/XBoxOne, is hampered by rubber band AI, especially in the later tournaments. You can never be ahead of the pack for very long, since the AI will suddenly get infinite boosts to catch up and will often hit you with weapons to knock you to last place. A lot of times in the later races, winning feels like complete luck, which isn't how it should be.

* {{Creator/SNK}} games were very deceptive about this, especially their fighting games. When you played an SNK arcade game, the screen would always show that the game's difficulty level was 4, which means normal. However, through dipswitch and debug screens, people later discovered that the game's level would shift between 4 and 8, the highest level, depending on the players actions, all while still having the Level 4 display at the bottom middle of the screen. During the final boss fights, the level stayed on 8. This combined with TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, and you understand where the SNKBoss trope comes from. Fortunately, the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo home console let you choose the difficulty settings for most games, and those settings never changed during gameplay.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Discord from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' operates like this since he's basically just toying with the ponies for his own amusement. His powers are essentially unlimited and he could easily abrakadabra their ''lungs'' away and win right then and there if he wanted to, but he continually just barely steps up his game to keep just on top of them because [[ItAmusedMe it's more fun]]. When they outdo his maze by flying or magic, he takes their wings and horns. When Fluttershy outdoes his brainwashing BreakingSpeech, he just brainwashes her by force. On the flip side when they lose his game, he tells them where the Elements actually ''are'' located, and when they've given up he basically leaves them to their own devices to enjoy the WorldGoneMad.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/FZero GP Legend'', opponents won't take [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] shortcuts unless they're following at the right distance to be marked by a "CHECK" marker, at which point they will.