Well that wasn't frustration, as the gamers back then wanted a challenge... All gamers today want are uber super-duper amazing graphics and very little story and low difficulty to cater for their short attention-span and their inability to comprehend the inner workings or even the manual of the game...
well it was kind of frustrating to fall down at the exact same spot in pop for the 100th time in a row (i hate it how they watered this amazing game down) or to be eaten by a grue 10 times in a row ... but in a very motivational way "god damnit i _can_ do this !"
much like the way being a few seconds off a benchmark/wr time can be both frustrating and motivating