What do you think about Seth's curated list? Are they any that should have made the top 20 that did not? Are any too easy that should NOT be on the list? Let me know! Check Seth's RETRO substack @retrostack.substack.com/
What I think is why so greedy with the ads every 5 mins?? There’s less ads on sports highlights how about that pal. I accept the need for ads but come on man this is ridiculous
I had friend who used to slump on a couch upside down while playing Punch Out. He could beat Mike Tyson while holding a conversation with normal eye contact. It was unreal.
I always think adventure island should be high up on these lists. They gave you the continue code in the back of the manual but I can only imagine most kids missed it. Otherwise it is brutally difficult as you progress
I remember beating that game in one sitting (bad idea) back in 2018. I started in the early hours of the morning, and I finished the game just before the afternoon. I spent a handful of hours in World 8, and I finished the playthrough tired and on edge. It is fucked up how screwed you are when you lose your Axe, since the later levels have no weapons to take care of the constant spamming enemies. Adventure Island 1 was my mum's favourite game when I was growing up, and we were not even aware of the egg that gave you unlimited continues at the time. If I remember correctly, I think the furthest my mum got with just the one continue was World 6. It is a shame that you had to find an egg and then press a button combination on the game over screen to get unlimited continues, since I think my mum would have beaten it back in the day if she was aware of the possibility.
It's nice to see someone pointing out the real problem with Battletoads. The Turbo Tunnel indeed wasn't the problem. The problem was that, starting with Turbo Tunnel, every stage required a lot of memorization, they were all different, and you couldn't just practice the stage you wanted to get good at. In that sense, Turbo Tunnel was actually pretty easy, because everything before it was simple and could be bypassed without really breaking a sweat, so getting back to try again was not such a chore. If you wanted to get good at the elevator shaft or Clinger Winger or the level with all the pipes, you had to get through all the earlier stages first, and you probably weren't in the proper groove by that point.
Airwolf, Holy Diver, Solomons Key are a couple of the hardest games I managed to beat, but I think The Last Starfighter takes the cake. You have to navigate thru 15 insane levels and there are no continues. That is incredibly hard considering that you die in 1 hit from bullets you didn't even see.
Sickest achievement of a human being i've ever seen was how the mexican runner did the turbo tunnel blindfolded. Absolutely nuts what some players can do in games.
Nice points there! Abadox was painfully difficult at times while Bucky O'Hare was a sneaky difficult game for sure. One of the toughest Konami games IMO!
Ian, I understand your point of view for Super Mario Bros - The Lost Levels, and if I'd play it today I'd probably see it the same way you do, but somehow when I played it as a kid I really enjoyed the grind to finish this game
Personally, I judge difficulty based on how it is with a blind playthrough on the first try and how long it takes to figure out strategies and timing. Many people say things like "that level/boss isn't hard at all. All you have to do is..." and then they bring up a bunch of knowledge that you can only get by playing the game many times or get help from a guide/internet forum/friend/etc.
@DoomPlague Well a game's difficulty towards gamers that have already played the game and is STILL tough, to me, is more of a testament to how difficult it truly is. I've beaten Castlevania 1 many times and it can still be really tough towards the ends despite any knowledge and strategies I may have from prior playthroughs.
So many cheated playthroughs online too and liars. All my playthroughs and tutorials are legit with details , time spent to beat, etc in the descriptions. These days you can practice much more efficiently with save states. I never use them to cheat or skip sections though, just for efficient practice, then put it all together.
@@BryanX64 Its definitely true that some games are difficult regardless of your knowledge and experience. Castlevania was the game I got along with the NES w/SMB and Duck Hunt. I never beat it until I decided to give it a go 30 years later.
Gimmick/Mr.Gimmick has got to be up there. Mastering the physics of the star shot alone is difficult then you actually have to apply it while platforming. I contend this game doesn't get cited more often only because it wasn't released in NA.
And it's also one of the rarest Famicom games. Man I've wanted to play that game for so long but I'm not buying a copy and I'm a stickler about using the original controller at least. Once I get a flashcart for my Famicom it'll definitely be one of the first games I download though.
I was the only one of my friends who could do the turbo tunnel. I can probably beat it blindfolded to this day without playing in years, using sound cues only. It was endlessly frustrating to have all of our 2 player mode runs end at the turbo tunnel.
Battletoads is the best game on the NES! It was my second video game I bought with my own money when it came out, and yes it was difficult, but being 10 years old at the time, I came home from school after finishing my homework, I would play it for hours on end till I mastered it. I've filmed the whole game and beat it without cutting anything out. Anyone that wants to see it all the way through, go check it out on my channel. Love the podcast guys, keep it going.
I will probably never beat it but having watched people complete it, it looks like such an awesome game. They should have just allowed infinite continues though like castlevania, it was already plenty hard enough lol.
The game I take the most pride in being able to beat is definitely Castlevania III, and it still takes me hours to get through, and even then I really mean Akumajou Densetsu since I vastly prefer it anyways and it's the version I own. I could definitely beat the US version I'm sure, but it would take me forever to get through.
I've beaten Castlevania III (the US version), though I don't think I ever beat the normal or long path. I always took the short path because I wanted Sypha.
Interesting difference is games that are too hard to enjoy or really get into versus games that, while too hard to ever finish, are not so hard early on that you notice the difficulty in a short session or when dipping in. RTS games like total annihilation is a great example of the latter - great fun and really enjoyable for the first 10 levels or so then gets sooo hard.
I’ve beaten Kid Icarus multiple times. The thing that drove me nuts was if the password resumes you on 1-1, it zeroed out everything, progress, score, strength, endurance. What’s the first thing I did after beating Medusa? After the game picked back up on 1-1, I killed myself to get the password and take a break. The password obviously had my progress, but when I entered it, all gone. This did lead me later to crack Kid Icarus’s password system, but by the time I did, I was no longer interested in playing for a high score.
To be clear, the password does save your progress, even when you wrap around to 1-1, it is encoded, but when you resume on 1-1, it always resets all progress. It doesn’t matter if it was saved to disk or SRAM, they’d be the same. It’s the resume code that wipes your progress if you resume from 1-1. I don’t know if the Japanese version suffers this bug or not. But I assume it was missed in play testing in the U.S. at least as progress is only saved when you finish a stage and the first play through of 1-1 wouldn’t have any progress- it’s why when you die on the first play though of 1-1, the password is always blank (except for the random byte and the checksum). They would have had to tested dying on 1-1 during the second (or subsequent) play though and writing down and entering the password to notice. The progress reset is almost certainly the same code that clears progress on a new game. You can get out of this bad state by chance the stage byte of the password to any other stage, such as 1-2, and then updating the checksum byte. However, that’s not something your average player is going to know how to do.
Difficulty is one of my favorite topics. Good shit. It really depends how you’re rating the difficulty. I beat Rygar recently and gameplay wise it was extremely easy and very forgiving but I could see it being very hard if you have no idea what you’re supposed to do since a lot of those games are cryptic. I used a guide. When I think of really hard games I think of games that are really hard because of the actual gameplay and execution. The way I see it is you can easily come across information from another source, but getting the skill or memorization neccesary can take much longer. The arcade Rygar and some of the home ports are much harder since they are pure twitchy action gameplay. Rygar for NES has tons of checkpoints and no sections are hard execution wise once you know the general movement and positioning. Its figuring out some of the cryptic bullshit that would prevent most players from winning, not the actual moment to moment gameplay. Ninja Gaiden 3 was tough. That was one I completed recently. The actual execution wasnt too bad for me, its all the memorization. I would actually practice most of the levels to warm up before doing my legit attempts, each time to keep my memory fresh. That helped save some time. Forgetting small details really punishes you with the limited continues. One of the harder NES games I completed out of the 200 or so I beat. NG 3 gave me the most trouble of the 3 games. NG1 initially gave me trouble until I practice that middle boss form (final trio). Once I had that part down I was able to get back there and finish the game off. NG 2 gave me the least trouble. Atleast those 2 games have infinite continues. The first one sends you way too far back though, if you fuck up on the final bosses. Its just a waste of time. The third game I found much harder with the limited continues. I could never be bothered to bring the spinning slash to the mid form in NG1 so I stubbornly practice with the regular sword strikes, no subweapons until I got it down. It took some practice to get it into my muscle memory. Its a tough pattern and I could still fuck it up, but eventually broke through. The hardest thing I did on NES was Metal Storm on Expert Mode. That was brutal memorization despite the unlimited continues and short checkpoints. It probably wouldnt be as bad for me now though. I beat it a while ago. Doesnt really count since its not a default difficulty. The base game is very moderate. When I beat Metal Storm expert there were no videos so I hit many brick walls trying to find those paths. Even with heavy save state practice. All playthroughs I do are legit though. Bayou Billy and Snake Rattle N Roll are two I want to complete eventually. I jump around between modern and old platforms when filling out the Kill Lists. Bayou Billy is a game I owned , but it is quite a sloppy feeling game. Battletoads does not interest me too much since I never liked how the game played. Real loose control and rigid memorization type of game. I can appreciate what it tried to do but dont enjoy the game. Mad City is the japanese version of Bayou Billy and I killed it off in 24 minutes. The US version I dont know if I ever beat stage 3. Mad City is alot more fun as a result but it went to the other extreme of being too easy. Good for players who want to enjoy the game though. Punchout is really only hard because of that last boss. Definately one of the hardest boss fights on a default difficulty in a game. The rest of the game is really not that bad. Ive heard 1943 mentioned as being harder than Battletoads, but for me it wasnt that bad to beat. Definately tough at points but when you really hate playing a game its 20 times harder. When I completed Jim Power for SNES it was even more brutal for me because I dreaded even playing the fucking game. Where as when I beat the harder Super Smash TV (super intense twitchy game as opposed to memorization) it was much more managable for me. I actually enjoyed playing that game (mostly). Perspective is huge when it comes to that too. Some players are also just more skilled at certain types of games or even specific sections of a game. It can really vary. Friday The 13th doesnt seem too bad if you know what the fuck is going on. I think thats the main issue. Even with a guide I have yet to put it together, ha ha. Very confusing. The actual gameplay doesnt seem tough execution wise. Castlevania gets mentioned alot but its really not THAT bad compared to some of the other NES games. The main sticking point for me was that fuckin reaper, like alot of players. Once you get past that its really not bad. It really has ONE hard part, to me atleast. Frankenstein usually fucks with me too, but not like the reaper. Castlevania 3 was much harder but even that I wouldnt rank in the top 20. I think players also forget the massive amount of games on the NES that play like complete shit and are brutally difficult for that reason alone, nevermind the good and great games that are very hard. Double Dragon 3 wasnt as bad as it initially seemed. The key is to unlock those other characters. After the first stage you have a few characters that serve as extra lives to fall back on. Practicing these games with save states is really useful to speed up the process, otherwise you get very inefficient practice. Efficient practice to me is never cheating. To master anything its always good to practice in segments. Back then we didnt have that option. With DD3 you need to really master the special attack (varies depending on character, but same move execution). If you can spam that move and learn some basic patterns the game goes down pretty easily. One trick is to set both B and A to turbo and hold them both down. This will spam the specials. Otherwise you have to be good at timing it right and the slowdown can throw that timing off. SMB Lost Levels was much easier on the SNES version, which was the version I beat years back in Super Mario All Stars. The main difference with the famicom disk version is having to start at the first section of each world when you continue. In the SNES port you start at the last section. That makes a huge difference. Still I think there are many shitty playing games that could easily fill out the first 20 games and more. Zelda 2 is definately challenging but no where near top 20 for me. There are some tough sections but the hardest NES games can be brutal. From what Ive seen of Cobra Triangle that might be up there. It gets tough to say when theres so many shitty games that are hard to even control properly or have other major issues. Contra I find WAY fuckin overrated difficulty wise. Its a moderately difficult NES game at most. Compared to the average NES game. With a little practice its really not that hard. One of the easier in the series along with Super C. You get plenty of 1 ups through the course of the game. The sections arent too hard to learn if your willing to practice each stage individually first. Mega Man series I put in the same category. Challenging but nothing extreme. I still dont have enough time in Battletoads but from what I played I could see it being up near the top. Its a combo of the trial and error heavy gameplay and the very loose control. I could never get into it. Love brutal challenges but some games dont click for me. Brutal games await on many other platforms though. NES is only a small slice. One of the most brutal old games I completed on the channel was Gun.Smoke for arcade. I made a tutorial here: ua-cam.com/video/2hkFjwXOVr0/v-deo.html If anyone read this far they may find it entertaining. I play through extreme modes in modern games as well. Really enjoy the variety.
@@benjaminyoung9694 Appreciate the feedback brother !! Just fuckin around. I enjoy the topic and had some time to kill. While I dont stream I have around 1000 playthroughs Ive completed on the channel since 2017 and over 100 tutorial/commentary playthroughs. Im not good with schedules so never got into streaming. I usually add the commentary after the playthroughs are completed and break everything down. Prior to 2017 I played through the same amount of games but no real ability to record. This channel is mainly about completing a high volume of games ranging from very easy to extreme from all time periods. Really like the variety. Feel free to check it out and let me know if theres any games youre interested in. Do you stream or post up playthroughs?
@@Fluoride_Jones Appreciate you taking the time to read !! Always enjoy discussing games, especially difficulty, so feel free to comment any time. If you enjoy difficult playthroughs theres quite a few on the channel currently and over 100 commentary tutorials.
@@theconsolekiller7113 I saw that, and thank you! I'll definitely be checking some out this weekend! I've never been good at video games, truth be told, but I've always like them. In fact, for my 43rd birthday last month, I went to a retro video game arcade in Roseville, MN. It was an absolute blast, and my brother-in-law and I played through "X-Men!" All the machines were set up fro free plays, it was just $15.00 a head, and we stayed for hours. I noticed, though, I had many of the games on this list, or at least rented them several times, along with a bunch of other games people in the comments section referred to as some of the most difficult NES games, so maybe I wasn't as bad as I thought!
Hey Pat - this is the no hit TMNT run: ua-cam.com/video/JGh1lTxmlXk/v-deo.html . The runner Slackanater is someone I follow on Twitch - he worked on this one for a while, I was thrilled to see him complete the run (finally)!
Yeah there are so many extremely difficult NES games. I haven't beat any that you mentioned. Maybe one day I'll try them with codes and see how far I can get.
Agree on Contra. I think it was so popular that a lot more fairweather gamers played it and remembered it being hard, but there's definitely harder, more obscure games. I've picked up Contra and Super C cold after not playing them for years and have beaten them without cheat codes or even a continue. I actually like that they are playable without memorization of the entire levels. Contrast this with Life Force, also by Konami but far less known, which was waaaaaaay harder and you basically have to die repeatedly to learn/dodge the various trolling... even then, wow is it hard.
Just the opposite. So many people remember this game being easier than it was because they’ve never played it without the Konami Code. Playing it with just the 3 lives is incredibly tough. I personally found Super C to be the easier game because the flame thrower was an actual good alternative to the spread gun.
Great discussion guys! I couldn't agree more with Battletoads claiming the #1 spot. It took me 10+ years to finally beat that sucker and I feel that it took part of my soul in the process! Funny enough I actually love playing that game today but only because I have enough experience to know what's coming (and how to handle the various challenges in the game). Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Blaster Master all belong here too. And Ghosts 'n Goblins...holy cow. I beat that game once and I will NEVER play it again. Satan himself programmed that one! As far as games not included in this list go, I'm surprised that Life Force wasn't mentioned. Beating that game without the 30 man code is a challenge for sure!
+tigmo55 Admittedly, I've never played "Life Force," but it's interestingthat it has a 30-man cheat code, like "Contra." I had "Gradius" as a kid, and it had a "Konami code," but all it did was start you off with all the power-ups. Needless to say, that didn't help me get too far into the game. I could never even come close the beating that sucker!
Battletoads is very difficult but it's also a great game. By the time you're good enough to consistently make it to the last few levels/beat the game, the turbo tunnel becomes a cake walk that you beat first try every time. While I get what Ian means by calling it "a mess" because of all the level variety, it's all done well especially by nes standards and other titles are praised for their level variety, graphics and music are great, this is a top 20 nes game easily for me. A true classic
As for Rygar, you Americans got it easy. The European version, caps exp at 1024 instead of 4096. Other than that, same game. I knew a guy who spent 20 years defeating his childhood cartridge.
Mega Man 1, Contra 1, Blaster Master, and Castlevania 1 should not be nowhere near that list. There are far more difficult games not mentioned that should take the place of these four games.
Can't speak on Blaster Master as I could never beat it but Mega Man 1 and Contra definitely don't belong here. Castlevania 1 maybe, but Castlevania 3 is far more difficult IMO.
I agree. But what about Fester's Quest and especially Rygar, the US version is a joke, while the EU version is brutal. Some games obviously show up on lists like this because of how well known they are and also that people who make the lists look at already existing lists and repeats a lot of it.
Mike Tyson's Punch Out is the one game that makes me wish (kinda) UA-cam existed in the late 80s early 90s. I had that game memorized to the point where I could get to King Hippo with the TV turned off. That was me as a kid. I tried it after like years of not playing it and got knocked out by Don Flamingo to my eternal shame. Honestly I found Super Macho Man way harder than Tyson. I usually had to use the code to go straight to Tyson because I only managed to beat Super Macho Man twice and both times it was a war of attrition where one more hit and I'd have lost. Probably the most underrated hardest boss in all of gaming because he's over shadowed by Mike Tyson.
Solomon’s Key period, bet on it. People sleep on this title and it’s their loss if they don’t want to look into it. Took me longer to beat Solomon’s key at 84(best score possible) than castlevania 1 2 and 3, ninja gaiden, Bucky o’hare, ghosts n goblins, batman, or megaman 1. Only close 2nd is the 1st and original ninja turtles. Random luck towards the end with finding the technodrome before you lose a turtle or two, or all of them. Then good luck, hope you have scrolls.
On one of the GDQs there's a dude who, from a stretch goal, played the Battletoads Turbo Tunnel blindfolded, and if I recall, beat it although he still lost several lives. I similarly only beat that level a handful of times as a kid, but never reliably, and I think I only managed to beat the subsequent level once or twice... and that's as far as I got. Still haven't beat the game even as an adult.
I’d be interested to see a top 20 hardest game when they were first released (and without guides). Zelda 2 is way harder when you’re just trying to figure out where the hell everything is.
@@OneArmedRetroGamer Doing that isn't always that simple. A tough random encounter in the wrong spot could drain most of your health or take one of your lives before you even get to the final level.
On Zelda 2 I found out is if you level your attack to 4 first then start leveling everything, then go to each castle only for the treasure room by time you get everything then go to each castle and when you defeat each boss it automatically levels you up once and by time your done you will be maxed out on all stats! Speeds up leveling progress a lot!
Adventure of Link is pretty fair in its difficulty and probably wouldn't make my top 50 in hardest NES games. Kid Icarus has a reverse difficulty curve. The beginning of the game is tough but it gets a lot easier in the later levels. A lot of other difficult games that didn't get a mention. Bill & Ted, Al Unser Jr, Street Fighter 2010, and Adventure Island.
The mechanic in Kid Icarus you need to learn is pressing up keeps Kid from floating to a stop, he just stops dead. So if you press up on a jump you hit the landing with no floating movement when you land.
I've beat some hard NES games myself. Here's my list of every NES game I defeated: Battletoads (With a warp and lots of research. They need to make level 3 a test for drivers. That would be hilarious, wouldn't it?) Adventures of Bayou Billy (Took me many tries but I finally did it.) Silver Surfer (Beat this 3 times. I don't call it bad. I call it decent because the controls are okay and one song is pretty good.) TMNT (Technodrome is the hardest level) Ninja Gaiden 1-3 (Third is the hardest because of limited continues. 1st game is tough but I can beat it easily thanks to some practice.) Street Fighter 2010 (Last level is insane.) Zelda 2 (With a guide) Contra, Super C and Contra Force Castlevania 1-3 Marble Madness (One chance is not easy.) Dick Tracy (With a guide mostly on the last mission) Mike Tyson's Punch Out (Tyson was merciless. I didn't quit. I had to take him down.) Yo Noid (One hit and you lose a life.) Adventure Island (With a continue code.) Fester's Quest (I used a turbo button.) Batman The Video Game (Not an easy one but I call it a favorite of mine.) Ghost's N Goblins (I admit I used a level skip to go back to the 2nd quest since I beat the 1st quest. Other than that, I beat that hell of level 6.)
@@DanielRivera-on5qh yea Contra Hard Corps is the same way but they just give you more health. Ninja Gaiden you take double damage unless you play 3 on the snes trilogy or the japanese version
I never like these lists because they're so surface level. THESE are actually hard NES games but no one talks about, Mutant Virus, Bump n' Jump, To The Earth, Race America, The Last Starfighter, Zanac, ADVENTURE ISLAND. Theres plenty more. Find me 10 people that beat Adventure Island.
Gun.Smoke is harder than all these. As well as Blaster Master. BM is my all-time favorite NES game and I've beaten it dozens of times but I STILL have trouble with the Lobster Boss and the final stage and bosses.
I agree with you that Gun.Smoke was hard game on Nes particularly stage 3 (Indians). However the stage music on this game Is wow! one of the best by Capcom.
Re: Castlevania, the Grim Reaper is tough especially if you're not using triple shot + either holy water or the Cross. But I wouldn't say he's tougher than first form Dracula, whose movement patterns are pretty (frustratingly) random and damaging him is far more timing-based. CV3 overall is more difficult than CV1 (although if you can master Sypha she's a one-person wrecking crew), but both the Grim Reaper and Drac are easier lol.
I'm surprised Adventure island is not on that list. I've beaten Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania and Mega man (without the exploit) on multiple occasions, but AI beats them by far. I think most people play through the first couple of worlds and think that the rest of the game will be as easy. Try going through world 8 without hammers. Had to quit after DAYS of tries.
People tend to forget Adventure Island because its cute and pretty easy in the beginning, but you're right. Ninja Gaiden, at least the first one, is many times easier to beat than Adventure Island.
I would also create a separate list between “hard” & “cheap”. Some NES games like Castlevania are hard, but if you’re willing to put the time in, it becomes manageable and incredibly fun. Then there are ridiculously cheap games like Battletoads that will make you wanna break your controller.
I don't remember how long ago it was, but I think it was around five years ago that I started really getting back into retro games from the early consoles/computers. I remember thinking: "Damn! Modern games have made me soft!". I was born in 1983, so I grew up playing tough games (though I didn't own a NES as a kid), but as time went on I mostly played contemporary games (occasionally I'd go back as far as games from the mid-late '90s at most). When I was a kid, I admittedly didn't finish many games. I played for instant gratification and when I got either bored or too frustrated, I'd stop playing and do something else. It's only in recent years I've gone in with the goal of beating games and it was an eye opener for me just how punishing some of them are. Of the games discussed here I've beat (without cheats/save states, on a MiSTer FPGA) Castlevania, Contra, Ninja Gaiden and Bionic Commando. I beat Mega Man a few years ago on an emulator, but I don't count it because I used save states. I also beat Ghosts 'n' Goblins, but on Amiga not NES. I've not played the NES version yet, so I don't know how it compares, but there's a trade-off between the Amiga version and the arcade (which I've not beat but probably will). The arcade version is faster but on the Amiga you can't turn and fire in the opposite direction when you jump which makes it really challenging when things get hectic in the later levels. The big issue I have with some older games (and the NES library has a few of these) is when they employ convoluted, obtuse BS that either hinders or outright prevents you from completing the game. Things like: Let you get to the end of a game and then inform you you've failed because you didn't get a particular thing or a certain amount of things. Making an enemy near impossible to beat unless you use a particular weapon when it's not logical that the weapon in question would be particularly effective against that enemy. Allowing you to choose which order you take on levels but making it near impossible if you don't do it in a particular order. Having screens that loop unless you choose the correct sequence of doors/exits (especially if it's late in the game when you're struggling just to stay alive). Expecting you to know to perform an action in a certain location (perhaps while having a certain item equipped) or interact with a random piece of scenery without having set a precedent throughout the game or giving sufficient clues. I used to have a strict no spoiler/guides/walkthrough policy, but I've had to abandon that while going through the NES library. I've spent too many hours figuratively bashing my head against a wall only to give in and look at a guide, see the solution and then internally scream "HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO FIGURE THAT OUT!?". It's a shame because I hate having to look at a guide to complete a game, but due to my past experience with NES games, I'm more likely to do it more quickly now. My concern is that I'll end up looking at guides for situations I could figure out on my own because I don't know if I'm wasting my time trying to do it without a guide.
Punchout on old CRT monitor is much easier than on modern monitors. Quicker response time. Super Machoman I found harder than Tyson because you have to get into right rythm to avoid the spin punching. With Tyson only quick reaction is needed. Two games I found very hard but eventually beat were Bart vs the Space Mutants and Days of Thunder.
Not counting Duck Hunt and Gyromite-- my first NES game was Ghosts and Goblins. I was surprised to see it so high on so many lists. I couldn't win both playthroughs. As a matter of fact I don't think I even tried. I was so pissed when Satan snatched my lady again.
Dang Pat!!!! After hearing what you said about this game I can tell you’re someone who has spent a lot of time playing Bayou Billy. And I don’t mean just because you did that episode with James on it(+Punisher). You know what you know about the game because you played it very much. Word.
I have Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on SNES. That version of Ninja Gaiden III has unlimited continues. I tried playing by the honor system (3 lives, 4 continues) until I made it to the final level. There was one jump which took me 16 tries to make. If I'd played with limited continues, I never would have beaten that game.
can i just tell ya im pretty sure im about to order a CERTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SNES Guide book………… that CERTAIN!!!!!!!! one !!! lol good vid btw loved the talk.
wow I can't believe battle toads was the number one spot that's crazy I thought it would have been Ghouls and Goblin as there's a stupid timer etc. Another hard game thanks to AVGN was the Street Fighter 2010 Nes You had to beat all boss on one life bar and race against the timer and cut scenes
Games on list I have or can beat: Kid Icarus, Castlevania, Double Dragon 3, Blaster Master, Castlevania 3 (but with HELP ME code and not in one sitting), Megaman, TMNT, Ninja Gaiden and as for Zelda 2, that game is a cakewalk for me and can usually beat it without dying once. Games on list I have not beaten: Ninja Gaiden 3, Fester's Quest, Punch-Out, Contra and Ghosts & Goblins. Anything else mentioned I have not played
Contra has a fun, fair and rewarding challenge. It’s definitely not one of the toughest games on the NES. It is one of the best though. I agree that the thirty life code skews perception by allowing people to run through it without getting better at it. I feel it would have been much better to be a 30 Continue code. That way you still have to learn the patterns and adjust game play to beat the game with more attempts before you get the hard game over screen.
I’ve beaten TMNT normally, but needed the code to beat Contra. Contra is hard, but it’s a “good hard”. The bullet hell is a bit much but you can learn it- I just didn’t bother to do it normally… I think. TMNT is a “punishing hard”. It can be done, but you need to grind at times and take it slow at times to beat. I used to know where many of the pizza, weapons, and turtle rescue points were. I didn’t always have scrolls, but I needed them for the final Technodrome hallway- the enemy gen is ridiculous and they are all hard enemies- if I lost them, I might as well start over. Before NES, there were “impossible hard” games and they were no fun. NES at least brought some quality control to games, even if they were still tweaking it.
Contra isn't hard and it's short. I beat it with the code a couple times and then had no problem beating it without the code. Just need to hold onto the spread shot and it's practically a cake walk
Can we get your opinions on 8-bit Christmas next week? I've watched it twice already and I think it's the new A Christmas Story. Definitely a must watch for any child of the 80s.
@@handfulofbits Enjoy... my only issues were with the film they used, it's a little cold and could use more color, the bully casting could have been better, and the dad casting is questionable but he did well in the important parts, not meaning NPH, he was fantastic.
8-Bit Christmas looks more up my alley than A Christmas Story, i watched that movie and i dont get what the hype is about, the damn kid was told that he was gonna shoot his eye out and guess what, he shot his eye out right away! had he not been wearing glasses he'd want an eyepatch for next christmas.
I would like to nominate Final Fantasy 1 to replace one of those games. Having the magic be a D&D level system where you can only cast a few spells per level until you rest, unlike the MP system that became the prominent system in video games, makes the dungeons insanely difficult as you can’t just not use magic users as you won’t be able to beat the bosses w/o access to magic. Any other version of FF 1 that isn’t the NES version is always what I recommend to someone asking how to play FF 1 for the first time.
I agree I am partial to the GBA remake of FF 1 and 2. You can use magic more liberally and not have to conserve every bit of magic, like the OG NES version. The NES version pretty much makes you use the peninsula of power to level up and get 1000 to 3000 gold to buy anything.
Another game that should be on this list is Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight. I did beat that one back in the day but that game is brutal! The Adventures of Bayou Billy should not be on any of these top hardest NES lists because that game is just plain unfair. The other games on this list are at least fair for the most part, but Bayou Billy should not be given recognition for anything because that game is the very definition of unfair. I beat Tyson several times back in the day. I think people are having trouble with that game these days because everyone is playing this on emulation of some kind and that is going to introduce some kind of input lag. To beat Tyson you have to be playing on authentic hardware because even the minimalist amount of input lag and you're done. ANY kind of emulation and it's impossible.
One of the reasons why some of these games are difficult is if you're playing them on original consoles with LCD tvs...there is a timing delay which can make or break your game
Friday the 13th isn't hard once you understand it. It becomes EASY. Used to speed run it. Jason only has two routes through the map...and if you figure that out, you don't have to EVER face Jason inside a cabin.
And if you get good, beating him in the cabin can become easier than people realize. Outside you have to take hits, inside you don't. You learn his speed and patterns down+left down+right to dodge it become trivial to beat him.
@joshuawidener8407 They are loaded with teaching elements that introduce an obstacle in a safe environment before challenging the player with it. Mega Man 1 and 2 are more trigger happy with artificial difficulty than the rest of the games.
@joshuawidener8407 Watch retrospective investigation: Are Mega Man games trial and error? I fully respect your opinion if you don't enjoy the games, and while there are a handful of cheap moments, I could easily give you 50 examples of teaching elements present in the games. As for the bosses, I can't think of any game where I haven't died to a boss at least once learning their pattern. That's the beauty of Mega Man's stage select system. You can choose to retry a stage once you get a game over or go to another stage and try again once you have another weapon. Players are offered much more freedom than any other games from the era, and the punishment for death is never too harsh since the stages are of a digestible length, you have unlimited continues, and a password save system from Mega Man 2 onward.
@@megamanmarchek8293 I love the MegaMan games but they are definitely trial and error. How are they not? Learning stages and boss patterns is exactly the point. Most nes games were trial and error lol
Level 11 is the tough level in Battletoads. I can breeze thru the first 10 levels, and the Tower in the 12th level isn’t particularly difficult with some practice. But I’ve never gotten even halfway thru level 11. The Orb you are racing is faster than you, and there are no checkpoints throughout the entire course. The only way to win is to hit the corner turns perfectly, which I never figured out how to do consistently.
They increased the difficulty on those games because they didn't want kids to beat it during a rental. Rentals were (don't know if they still are) illegal in Japan, so they didn't need to worry about it over there.
Speed runs are definitely not average play. It takes a lot of practice, knowledge of the game and skill, most people can't play on that level. Anyway, they said the list was compiled from reviews, videos, articles etc. It wasn't the opinion of whoever put the list together.
I feel like Ghostbusters 2 doesn't get the recognition it deserves for difficulty. It isn't a very fun game but the difficulty is there in the final levels. With limited continues and having to get all 4 Ghostbusters through the museum at the end it took me a long time to beat. Not as long as Battletoads but longer than Ninja Gaiden 3. Contra really shouldn't be on the list here either. I could beat that game without the code when I was a kid. One hit deaths make it hard but it is very fair in the patterns it throws at you.
Probably the NES game I am best at compared to other people. I played and beat it a lot. Kinda similar to Battletoads in the tough parts, even when you know the pattern it is still hard to make the jumps.
I remember as a kid playing ghostbusters on the nes at a friends house we could never get past the tower climb later I used a game genie to beat the game and said that’s it man was I pissed
Kid Icarus is a weird case where the game gets easier because the power ups. When you start, its unfair having no health. By the end, you're op with more health, better weapons, and the difficulty is about the same as when you started
That whole anti rental BS Konami pulled that probably killed sales, at least for me buying games when I rent a game if I had fun I would buy it but the ones that were frustrating difficult just to reduce rentals I would pass on them.
I beat the turbo tunnel as an adult, captured the footage and my friends called me a legend because of it. It seemed impossible as a 11-12 year old kid.
I've beaten three out of four games in the thumbnail. Battletoads is one I made it halfway through before giving up on. My cartridge stopped working so I'll have to replace it if ever I want a rematch.
I wish ppl discussed deeper into the library games on these kinda channels. No Seicross, no Kung Fu Heroes, no Life Force, No Stinger, no Bucky O'Hare, Cobra Triangle, Darkwing Duck, Clash At Demon head, New Ghostbusters 2, no Gunsmoke, no Little Nemo etc etc same ol' games talked to death
Some interesting inclusions on the list. Never thought contra was hard per se, just pattern memorization. Same with punch out, minus tyson/dream. I can make it to tyson/dream to this day pretty easily...but never could beat tyson/dream without save states or Game genie.
I beat tyson once on the download on the wii. Like 8 hours trying to get it down. Hard as hell. Snake ratttle and roll now on rare replay playing it legit. If you miss one hit tue boss regains full health and that last mountain climb right before the finap boss takes all your lives. I was watching what Mike Matei did but can't pull it off. Beat ghost and goblins legit both play throughs in a row, ninja gaiden 1,2, and 3, recca summer carnival 92 (31 hours to get good), double dragon 1 and 2 (the true final boss run with the boss turning invisible).
Yeah, I love contra because it's one of those games that are tough without sprinkling that little extra bit of NES BS on top. No beginners traps, no pointless timers, no leaps of faith, reasonable respawns, multiple lives and progress and skill is rewarded. So much of what makes the games of the NES library hard is annoying BS. Contra is one of the good ones.
I got through to level 109 I think it was on Gauntlet back in the day , before i realized it was just repeating itself . I never thought it even had an ending .
Gradius! Why hasn't Gradius ever been included to any hardest NES game party? Even with the Konami code that game still hands me my ass. Yet I've beaten Contra without the 30 lives code. And also Arkanoid. Can't even get half-way without using the infinite lives code.
I have beaten Ninja Gaiden and GnG (on 3DS VC, so I had display lag too!) Those games are super tough but I think NG's difficulty is a little bit overrated. The final boss thing is the real killer. But as someone who's beaten those games (yeah, GnG's second lap) I must say that these guys are definitely underrating Contra's difficulty. I beat that game before I even allowed myself to use the code, and I think you sort of experience the true difficulty of the game that way without being able to learn the levels with the code. That game is fucking tough man. That said I probably did have a bit of display lag there too.
What do you think about Seth's curated list? Are they any that should have made the top 20 that did not? Are any too easy that should NOT be on the list? Let me know!
Check Seth's RETRO substack @retrostack.substack.com/
Your stuck n a rut my dude. Your stuck in a routine that has plateaued long ago. Take a break, refresh and come back with new ideas. Take care bruv. 👍
Ian and Pat show
Dragon's Lair?
Randomly chosen at best. May of been chosen based on videos and not playing the games
What I think is why so greedy with the ads every 5 mins?? There’s less ads on sports highlights how about that pal. I accept the need for ads but come on man this is ridiculous
I had friend who used to slump on a couch upside down while playing Punch Out. He could beat Mike Tyson while holding a conversation with normal eye contact. It was unreal.
Anyone can; Sinister1 breaks it down quite well here:
ua-cam.com/video/CvzIb53Lcno/v-deo.html
It's beaten blind folded on UA-cam. Not hard to believe at all.
Pfft. Call me when he does all that on a laggy ass LCD. Lol
I beat Mike, while playing hookie.
I beat punch out blindfolded and my hands tied behind my back. It was truly unreal.
I always think adventure island should be high up on these lists. They gave you the continue code in the back of the manual but I can only imagine most kids missed it. Otherwise it is brutally difficult as you progress
Oh yes, Adventure Island, much harder than G&B and Battletoads, but only due the latter levels. Its surprising, but try beating it. I dare you.
@@Svankmajer g&b?
@@doburu4835 Ghost and goblins... um, I guess thats G&G then...
I completely agree :0
I remember beating that game in one sitting (bad idea) back in 2018. I started in the early hours of the morning, and I finished the game just before the afternoon. I spent a handful of hours in World 8, and I finished the playthrough tired and on edge. It is fucked up how screwed you are when you lose your Axe, since the later levels have no weapons to take care of the constant spamming enemies. Adventure Island 1 was my mum's favourite game when I was growing up, and we were not even aware of the egg that gave you unlimited continues at the time. If I remember correctly, I think the furthest my mum got with just the one continue was World 6. It is a shame that you had to find an egg and then press a button combination on the game over screen to get unlimited continues, since I think my mum would have beaten it back in the day if she was aware of the possibility.
It's nice to see someone pointing out the real problem with Battletoads.
The Turbo Tunnel indeed wasn't the problem. The problem was that, starting with Turbo Tunnel, every stage required a lot of memorization, they were all different, and you couldn't just practice the stage you wanted to get good at. In that sense, Turbo Tunnel was actually pretty easy, because everything before it was simple and could be bypassed without really breaking a sweat, so getting back to try again was not such a chore.
If you wanted to get good at the elevator shaft or Clinger Winger or the level with all the pipes, you had to get through all the earlier stages first, and you probably weren't in the proper groove by that point.
Airwolf, Holy Diver, Solomons Key are a couple of the hardest games I managed to beat, but I think The Last Starfighter takes the cake. You have to navigate thru 15 insane levels and there are no continues. That is incredibly hard considering that you die in 1 hit from bullets you didn't even see.
I beat holy diver legit on the switch. Yeah last like bit is brutal.
@@rezterralico4369 Yeah, the last stage is pretty brutal! For me stage 4 was the worst, specially with that rotating "tower-boss" at the end.
Gradius is harder than most of these games on this list, surprised it's not included
definetly hard, BUT FAIR, thank you for inspiration to do a hardest shmup list for my humble little channel
I never thought Gradius was particularly hard. Especially compared to later games in the series. Arcade Gradius 3 is straight up unfair.
I'm surprised that Life Force wasn't mentioned either.
@@tigmo55 life force actually didn't give me alot of trouble I recall beating that one fairly easily.
@@THENAMEISQUICKMAN took me 3 days to beat
Sickest achievement of a human being i've ever seen was how the mexican runner did the turbo tunnel blindfolded. Absolutely nuts what some players can do in games.
He is a known cheater so that probably didnt happen.
Pretty difficult games that didn't get mentioned: Star Wars, Abadox, Gradius, Bucky O'Hare.
Nice points there! Abadox was painfully difficult at times while Bucky O'Hare was a sneaky difficult game for sure. One of the toughest Konami games IMO!
There should be a split category. Harest games to beat and hardest to just get past the first level.
Ian, I understand your point of view for Super Mario Bros - The Lost Levels, and if I'd play it today I'd probably see it the same way you do, but somehow when I played it as a kid I really enjoyed the grind to finish this game
Lost Levels is actually very enjoyable
Personally, I judge difficulty based on how it is with a blind playthrough on the first try and how long it takes to figure out strategies and timing.
Many people say things like "that level/boss isn't hard at all. All you have to do is..." and then they bring up a bunch of knowledge that you can only get by playing the game many times or get help from a guide/internet forum/friend/etc.
@DoomPlague Well a game's difficulty towards gamers that have already played the game and is STILL tough, to me, is more of a testament to how difficult it truly is. I've beaten Castlevania 1 many times and it can still be really tough towards the ends despite any knowledge and strategies I may have from prior playthroughs.
So many cheated playthroughs online too and liars. All my playthroughs and tutorials are legit with details , time spent to beat, etc in the descriptions. These days you can practice much more efficiently with save states. I never use them to cheat or skip sections though, just for efficient practice, then put it all together.
@@BryanX64 Its definitely true that some games are difficult regardless of your knowledge and experience.
Castlevania was the game I got along with the NES w/SMB and Duck Hunt. I never beat it until I decided to give it a go 30 years later.
Gimmick/Mr.Gimmick has got to be up there. Mastering the physics of the star shot alone is difficult then you actually have to apply it while platforming. I contend this game doesn't get cited more often only because it wasn't released in NA.
And it's also one of the rarest Famicom games. Man I've wanted to play that game for so long but I'm not buying a copy and I'm a stickler about using the original controller at least. Once I get a flashcart for my Famicom it'll definitely be one of the first games I download though.
I played this game and I was expecting something like kirby from the aesthetic but I was wrong. Lmfao
I really like Bayou Billy and Battletoads. Nes Qbert took me two months two months to beat That game was so much fun despite the difficulty.
I was the only one of my friends who could do the turbo tunnel. I can probably beat it blindfolded to this day without playing in years, using sound cues only. It was endlessly frustrating to have all of our 2 player mode runs end at the turbo tunnel.
Completely agree. The Turbo Tunnel is the most overrated stage in terms of difficulty. I could breeze thru it blindfolded in my younger days.
Pat and Ian should make their own list, yes tier list content
Shredder in the first TMNT is actually one of the easiest bosses to beat on NES.
Get the high ground. He jumps up and you knock him back. Boom, he's dead.
The scrolls make it super easier
Adventure island 1 on NES will always be the bar none hardest fucking thing i've ever played, shocked it wasn't even mentioned lol
Unless I missed it I'm surprised Adventure Island was not mentioned at all.
Battletoads is the best game on the NES! It was my second video game I bought with my own money when it came out, and yes it was difficult, but being 10 years old at the time, I came home from school after finishing my homework, I would play it for hours on end till I mastered it. I've filmed the whole game and beat it without cutting anything out. Anyone that wants to see it all the way through, go check it out on my channel. Love the podcast guys, keep it going.
I will probably never beat it but having watched people complete it, it looks like such an awesome game. They should have just allowed infinite continues though like castlevania, it was already plenty hard enough lol.
As a 10 year dutch kid playing Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves spanish version. Why a dutch toystore would sell a Spanish version. No idea.
The game I take the most pride in being able to beat is definitely Castlevania III, and it still takes me hours to get through, and even then I really mean Akumajou Densetsu since I vastly prefer it anyways and it's the version I own. I could definitely beat the US version I'm sure, but it would take me forever to get through.
I've beaten Castlevania III (the US version), though I don't think I ever beat the normal or long path. I always took the short path because I wanted Sypha.
Interesting difference is games that are too hard to enjoy or really get into versus games that, while too hard to ever finish, are not so hard early on that you notice the difficulty in a short session or when dipping in.
RTS games like total annihilation is a great example of the latter - great fun and really enjoyable for the first 10 levels or so then gets sooo hard.
Silver Surfer gave me such a rage
I’ve beaten Kid Icarus multiple times. The thing that drove me nuts was if the password resumes you on 1-1, it zeroed out everything, progress, score, strength, endurance. What’s the first thing I did after beating Medusa? After the game picked back up on 1-1, I killed myself to get the password and take a break. The password obviously had my progress, but when I entered it, all gone.
This did lead me later to crack Kid Icarus’s password system, but by the time I did, I was no longer interested in playing for a high score.
wow, that blows, this is why Kid Icarus needs a S-ram hack.
@@UltimateGamerCC The Famicom Disk version has a save feature, but obviously that isn't really as accesible to most people.
To be clear, the password does save your progress, even when you wrap around to 1-1, it is encoded, but when you resume on 1-1, it always resets all progress. It doesn’t matter if it was saved to disk or SRAM, they’d be the same. It’s the resume code that wipes your progress if you resume from 1-1.
I don’t know if the Japanese version suffers this bug or not. But I assume it was missed in play testing in the U.S. at least as progress is only saved when you finish a stage and the first play through of 1-1 wouldn’t have any progress- it’s why when you die on the first play though of 1-1, the password is always blank (except for the random byte and the checksum). They would have had to tested dying on 1-1 during the second (or subsequent) play though and writing down and entering the password to notice. The progress reset is almost certainly the same code that clears progress on a new game.
You can get out of this bad state by chance the stage byte of the password to any other stage, such as 1-2, and then updating the checksum byte. However, that’s not something your average player is going to know how to do.
@@DavidRomigJr Oh interesting. I was gonna say it sounded like something that could be worked around with the password system.
Difficulty is one of my favorite topics. Good shit. It really depends how you’re rating the difficulty. I beat Rygar recently and gameplay wise it was extremely easy and very forgiving but I could see it being very hard if you have no idea what you’re supposed to do since a lot of those games are cryptic. I used a guide. When I think of really hard games I think of games that are really hard because of the actual gameplay and execution. The way I see it is you can easily come across information from another source, but getting the skill or memorization neccesary can take much longer. The arcade Rygar and some of the home ports are much harder since they are pure twitchy action gameplay. Rygar for NES has tons of checkpoints and no sections are hard execution wise once you know the general movement and positioning. Its figuring out some of the cryptic bullshit that would prevent most players from winning, not the actual moment to moment gameplay.
Ninja Gaiden 3 was tough. That was one I completed recently. The actual execution wasnt too bad for me, its all the memorization. I would actually practice most of the levels to warm up before doing my legit attempts, each time to keep my memory fresh. That helped save some time. Forgetting small details really punishes you with the limited continues. One of the harder NES games I completed out of the 200 or so I beat. NG 3 gave me the most trouble of the 3 games. NG1 initially gave me trouble until I practice that middle boss form (final trio). Once I had that part down I was able to get back there and finish the game off. NG 2 gave me the least trouble. Atleast those 2 games have infinite continues. The first one sends you way too far back though, if you fuck up on the final bosses. Its just a waste of time. The third game I found much harder with the limited continues. I could never be bothered to bring the spinning slash to the mid form in NG1 so I stubbornly practice with the regular sword strikes, no subweapons until I got it down. It took some practice to get it into my muscle memory. Its a tough pattern and I could still fuck it up, but eventually broke through.
The hardest thing I did on NES was Metal Storm on Expert Mode. That was brutal memorization despite the unlimited continues and short checkpoints. It probably wouldnt be as bad for me now though. I beat it a while ago. Doesnt really count since its not a default difficulty. The base game is very moderate. When I beat Metal Storm expert there were no videos so I hit many brick walls trying to find those paths. Even with heavy save state practice. All playthroughs I do are legit though.
Bayou Billy and Snake Rattle N Roll are two I want to complete eventually. I jump around between modern and old platforms when filling out the Kill Lists. Bayou Billy is a game I owned , but it is quite a sloppy feeling game. Battletoads does not interest me too much since I never liked how the game played. Real loose control and rigid memorization type of game. I can appreciate what it tried to do but dont enjoy the game. Mad City is the japanese version of Bayou Billy and I killed it off in 24 minutes. The US version I dont know if I ever beat stage 3. Mad City is alot more fun as a result but it went to the other extreme of being too easy. Good for players who want to enjoy the game though.
Punchout is really only hard because of that last boss. Definately one of the hardest boss fights on a default difficulty in a game. The rest of the game is really not that bad.
Ive heard 1943 mentioned as being harder than Battletoads, but for me it wasnt that bad to beat. Definately tough at points but when you really hate playing a game its 20 times harder. When I completed Jim Power for SNES it was even more brutal for me because I dreaded even playing the fucking game. Where as when I beat the harder Super Smash TV (super intense twitchy game as opposed to memorization) it was much more managable for me. I actually enjoyed playing that game (mostly). Perspective is huge when it comes to that too. Some players are also just more skilled at certain types of games or even specific sections of a game. It can really vary.
Friday The 13th doesnt seem too bad if you know what the fuck is going on. I think thats the main issue. Even with a guide I have yet to put it together, ha ha. Very confusing. The actual gameplay doesnt seem tough execution wise.
Castlevania gets mentioned alot but its really not THAT bad compared to some of the other NES games. The main sticking point for me was that fuckin reaper, like alot of players. Once you get past that its really not bad. It really has ONE hard part, to me atleast. Frankenstein usually fucks with me too, but not like the reaper. Castlevania 3 was much harder but even that I wouldnt rank in the top 20. I think players also forget the massive amount of games on the NES that play like complete shit and are brutally difficult for that reason alone, nevermind the good and great games that are very hard.
Double Dragon 3 wasnt as bad as it initially seemed. The key is to unlock those other characters. After the first stage you have a few characters that serve as extra lives to fall back on. Practicing these games with save states is really useful to speed up the process, otherwise you get very inefficient practice. Efficient practice to me is never cheating. To master anything its always good to practice in segments. Back then we didnt have that option. With DD3 you need to really master the special attack (varies depending on character, but same move execution). If you can spam that move and learn some basic patterns the game goes down pretty easily. One trick is to set both B and A to turbo and hold them both down. This will spam the specials. Otherwise you have to be good at timing it right and the slowdown can throw that timing off.
SMB Lost Levels was much easier on the SNES version, which was the version I beat years back in Super Mario All Stars. The main difference with the famicom disk version is having to start at the first section of each world when you continue. In the SNES port you start at the last section. That makes a huge difference. Still I think there are many shitty playing games that could easily fill out the first 20 games and more.
Zelda 2 is definately challenging but no where near top 20 for me. There are some tough sections but the hardest NES games can be brutal. From what Ive seen of Cobra Triangle that might be up there. It gets tough to say when theres so many shitty games that are hard to even control properly or have other major issues.
Contra I find WAY fuckin overrated difficulty wise. Its a moderately difficult NES game at most. Compared to the average NES game. With a little practice its really not that hard. One of the easier in the series along with Super C. You get plenty of 1 ups through the course of the game. The sections arent too hard to learn if your willing to practice each stage individually first. Mega Man series I put in the same category. Challenging but nothing extreme.
I still dont have enough time in Battletoads but from what I played I could see it being up near the top. Its a combo of the trial and error heavy gameplay and the very loose control. I could never get into it. Love brutal challenges but some games dont click for me.
Brutal games await on many other platforms though. NES is only a small slice. One of the most brutal old games I completed on the channel was Gun.Smoke for arcade. I made a tutorial here:
ua-cam.com/video/2hkFjwXOVr0/v-deo.html
If anyone read this far they may find it entertaining. I play through extreme modes in modern games as well. Really enjoy the variety.
Your passion was sadly wasted in the comments of this channel. This is just not a channel for discussing game play by any means. You got a stream?
@@benjaminyoung9694 Appreciate the feedback brother !! Just fuckin around. I enjoy the topic and had some time to kill. While I dont stream I have around 1000 playthroughs Ive completed on the channel since 2017 and over 100 tutorial/commentary playthroughs. Im not good with schedules so never got into streaming. I usually add the commentary after the playthroughs are completed and break everything down. Prior to 2017 I played through the same amount of games but no real ability to record. This channel is mainly about completing a high volume of games ranging from very easy to extreme from all time periods. Really like the variety. Feel free to check it out and let me know if theres any games youre interested in. Do you stream or post up playthroughs?
@@theconsolekiller7113 Just read through your comment, and you seem to really know what you're talking about! You have a new subscriber, sir.
@@Fluoride_Jones Appreciate you taking the time to read !! Always enjoy discussing games, especially difficulty, so feel free to comment any time. If you enjoy difficult playthroughs theres quite a few on the channel currently and over 100 commentary tutorials.
@@theconsolekiller7113 I saw that, and thank you! I'll definitely be checking some out this weekend! I've never been good at video games, truth be told, but I've always like them. In fact, for my 43rd birthday last month, I went to a retro video game arcade in Roseville, MN. It was an absolute blast, and my brother-in-law and I played through "X-Men!" All the machines were set up fro free plays, it was just $15.00 a head, and we stayed for hours.
I noticed, though, I had many of the games on this list, or at least rented them several times, along with a bunch of other games people in the comments section referred to as some of the most difficult NES games, so maybe I wasn't as bad as I thought!
Hey Pat - this is the no hit TMNT run: ua-cam.com/video/JGh1lTxmlXk/v-deo.html . The runner Slackanater is someone I follow on Twitch - he worked on this one for a while, I was thrilled to see him complete the run (finally)!
That one is up there with the Ninja Gaiden damageless run!
Yeah there are so many extremely difficult NES games. I haven't beat any that you mentioned. Maybe one day I'll try them with codes and see how far I can get.
They're pretty much alll very difficult to impossible
Double Dragon III is another that comes to mind.
One life like real life
Agree on Contra. I think it was so popular that a lot more fairweather gamers played it and remembered it being hard, but there's definitely harder, more obscure games.
I've picked up Contra and Super C cold after not playing them for years and have beaten them without cheat codes or even a continue. I actually like that they are playable without memorization of the entire levels.
Contrast this with Life Force, also by Konami but far less known, which was waaaaaaay harder and you basically have to die repeatedly to learn/dodge the various trolling... even then, wow is it hard.
Super C is definitely harder IMO
Just the opposite. So many people remember this game being easier than it was because they’ve never played it without the Konami Code. Playing it with just the 3 lives is incredibly tough.
I personally found Super C to be the easier game because the flame thrower was an actual good alternative to the spread gun.
Snk Athena needs to be mentioned... Honorable mentions: Super Pitfall, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ubisoft's Last Crusade
Great discussion guys! I couldn't agree more with Battletoads claiming the #1 spot. It took me 10+ years to finally beat that sucker and I feel that it took part of my soul in the process! Funny enough I actually love playing that game today but only because I have enough experience to know what's coming (and how to handle the various challenges in the game). Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Blaster Master all belong here too. And Ghosts 'n Goblins...holy cow. I beat that game once and I will NEVER play it again. Satan himself programmed that one! As far as games not included in this list go, I'm surprised that Life Force wasn't mentioned. Beating that game without the 30 man code is a challenge for sure!
+tigmo55
Admittedly, I've never played "Life Force," but it's interestingthat it has a 30-man cheat code, like "Contra." I had "Gradius" as a kid, and it had a "Konami code," but all it did was start you off with all the power-ups. Needless to say, that didn't help me get too far into the game. I could never even come close the beating that sucker!
Battletoads is awesome. It is the pinnacle of gaming. It's my favorite nes game. Some people love the challenge.
Battletoads is very difficult but it's also a great game. By the time you're good enough to consistently make it to the last few levels/beat the game, the turbo tunnel becomes a cake walk that you beat first try every time. While I get what Ian means by calling it "a mess" because of all the level variety, it's all done well especially by nes standards and other titles are praised for their level variety, graphics and music are great, this is a top 20 nes game easily for me. A true classic
Dragon's Lair is one of the hardest I've played, but only because of how broken it is.
only play the Arcade game, rest of the versions need only be destroyed.
As for Rygar, you Americans got it easy.
The European version, caps exp at 1024 instead of 4096. Other than that, same game. I knew a guy who spent 20 years defeating his childhood cartridge.
Yeah played it on switch in Canada and Rygar was not that hard.
Mega Man 1, Contra 1, Blaster Master, and Castlevania 1 should not be nowhere near that list. There are far more difficult games not mentioned that should take the place of these four games.
Can't speak on Blaster Master as I could never beat it but Mega Man 1 and Contra definitely don't belong here. Castlevania 1 maybe, but Castlevania 3 is far more difficult IMO.
I agree. But what about Fester's Quest and especially Rygar, the US version is a joke, while the EU version is brutal. Some games obviously show up on lists like this because of how well known they are and also that people who make the lists look at already existing lists and repeats a lot of it.
Gun.smoke is pretty tough without a turbo button. Great game
I always thought as a 9 year old kid that the stage 3 (Indians) was very! difficult in that game.
Mike Tyson's Punch Out is the one game that makes me wish (kinda) UA-cam existed in the late 80s early 90s. I had that game memorized to the point where I could get to King Hippo with the TV turned off. That was me as a kid. I tried it after like years of not playing it and got knocked out by Don Flamingo to my eternal shame. Honestly I found Super Macho Man way harder than Tyson. I usually had to use the code to go straight to Tyson because I only managed to beat Super Macho Man twice and both times it was a war of attrition where one more hit and I'd have lost. Probably the most underrated hardest boss in all of gaming because he's over shadowed by Mike Tyson.
Solomon’s Key period, bet on it. People sleep on this title and it’s their loss if they don’t want to look into it. Took me longer to beat Solomon’s key at 84(best score possible) than castlevania 1 2 and 3, ninja gaiden, Bucky o’hare, ghosts n goblins, batman, or megaman 1.
Only close 2nd is the 1st and original ninja turtles. Random luck towards the end with finding the technodrome before you lose a turtle or two, or all of them. Then good luck, hope you have scrolls.
Yeah, Solomon's Key would be on my top 10 too.
On one of the GDQs there's a dude who, from a stretch goal, played the Battletoads Turbo Tunnel blindfolded, and if I recall, beat it although he still lost several lives.
I similarly only beat that level a handful of times as a kid, but never reliably, and I think I only managed to beat the subsequent level once or twice... and that's as far as I got. Still haven't beat the game even as an adult.
I’d be interested to see a top 20 hardest game when they were first released (and without guides).
Zelda 2 is way harder when you’re just trying to figure out where the hell everything is.
I never thought death Mt was all that hard. And If you save your lives til the end it's much more manageable
@@OneArmedRetroGamer Doing that isn't always that simple. A tough random encounter in the wrong spot could drain most of your health or take one of your lives before you even get to the final level.
I almost guarantee Metroid would get on the list that way.
On Zelda 2 I found out is if you level your attack to 4 first then start leveling everything, then go to each castle only for the treasure room by time you get everything then go to each castle and when you defeat each boss it automatically levels you up once and by time your done you will be maxed out on all stats! Speeds up leveling progress a lot!
I like how Ian starts shaking after he started the list with the number one game 😂
Adventure of Link is pretty fair in its difficulty and probably wouldn't make my top 50 in hardest NES games.
Kid Icarus has a reverse difficulty curve. The beginning of the game is tough but it gets a lot easier in the later levels.
A lot of other difficult games that didn't get a mention. Bill & Ted, Al Unser Jr, Street Fighter 2010, and Adventure Island.
The mechanic in Kid Icarus you need to learn is pressing up keeps Kid from floating to a stop, he just stops dead. So if you press up on a jump you hit the landing with no floating movement when you land.
I've beat some hard NES games myself. Here's my list of every NES game I defeated:
Battletoads (With a warp and lots of research. They need to make level 3 a test for drivers. That would be hilarious, wouldn't it?)
Adventures of Bayou Billy (Took me many tries but I finally did it.)
Silver Surfer (Beat this 3 times. I don't call it bad. I call it decent because the controls are okay and one song is pretty good.)
TMNT (Technodrome is the hardest level)
Ninja Gaiden 1-3 (Third is the hardest because of limited continues. 1st game is tough but I can beat it easily thanks to some practice.)
Street Fighter 2010 (Last level is insane.)
Zelda 2 (With a guide)
Contra, Super C and Contra Force
Castlevania 1-3
Marble Madness (One chance is not easy.)
Dick Tracy (With a guide mostly on the last mission)
Mike Tyson's Punch Out (Tyson was merciless. I didn't quit. I had to take him down.)
Yo Noid (One hit and you lose a life.)
Adventure Island (With a continue code.)
Fester's Quest (I used a turbo button.)
Batman The Video Game (Not an easy one but I call it a favorite of mine.)
Ghost's N Goblins (I admit I used a level skip to go back to the 2nd quest since I beat the 1st quest. Other than that, I beat that hell of level 6.)
Ghosts n goblins in one sitting would be hell lol
You also take double damage in the US version of Ninja Gaiden 3. The famicom version is way easier
@@JBird401 reminds me of contra hard corps
@@DanielRivera-on5qh yea Contra Hard Corps is the same way but they just give you more health. Ninja Gaiden you take double damage unless you play 3 on the snes trilogy or the japanese version
The konomi code gives you continues in tmnt. And their is a way you change the code at the end it lets you level select
I never like these lists because they're so surface level. THESE are actually hard NES games but no one talks about, Mutant Virus, Bump n' Jump, To The Earth, Race America, The Last Starfighter, Zanac, ADVENTURE ISLAND. Theres plenty more. Find me 10 people that beat Adventure Island.
Thank you!! I agreed COMPLETELY about the first Adventure Island game. It's a Top 10 (or even a Top 5) hardest NES game in my book!
Are you talking Adventure Island with or without continues?
Gun.Smoke is harder than all these. As well as Blaster Master. BM is my all-time favorite NES game and I've beaten it dozens of times but I STILL have trouble with the Lobster Boss and the final stage and bosses.
I agree with you that Gun.Smoke was hard game on Nes particularly stage 3 (Indians).
However the stage music on this game Is wow! one of the best by Capcom.
Re: Castlevania, the Grim Reaper is tough especially if you're not using triple shot + either holy water or the Cross. But I wouldn't say he's tougher than first form Dracula, whose movement patterns are pretty (frustratingly) random and damaging him is far more timing-based.
CV3 overall is more difficult than CV1 (although if you can master Sypha she's a one-person wrecking crew), but both the Grim Reaper and Drac are easier lol.
I never beated Dracula in the first castlevania. Grimreaper is hard too but i can beat it
I was on the final boss on Castlevania 3 for a long time then I tried syphilis and found out the final boss was way easier with her!
gotta have the cross, it's mandatory.
I'm surprised Adventure island is not on that list. I've beaten Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania and Mega man (without the exploit) on multiple occasions, but AI beats them by far. I think most people play through the first couple of worlds and think that the rest of the game will be as easy. Try going through world 8 without hammers. Had to quit after DAYS of tries.
People tend to forget Adventure Island because its cute and pretty easy in the beginning, but you're right. Ninja Gaiden, at least the first one, is many times easier to beat than Adventure Island.
I would also create a separate list between “hard” & “cheap”. Some NES games like Castlevania are hard, but if you’re willing to put the time in, it becomes manageable and incredibly fun. Then there are ridiculously cheap games like Battletoads that will make you wanna break your controller.
I though Ian would appreciate SMB 2 J cuz it proved him right about the mushroom.
I don't remember how long ago it was, but I think it was around five years ago that I started really getting back into retro games from the early consoles/computers. I remember thinking: "Damn! Modern games have made me soft!". I was born in 1983, so I grew up playing tough games (though I didn't own a NES as a kid), but as time went on I mostly played contemporary games (occasionally I'd go back as far as games from the mid-late '90s at most).
When I was a kid, I admittedly didn't finish many games. I played for instant gratification and when I got either bored or too frustrated, I'd stop playing and do something else. It's only in recent years I've gone in with the goal of beating games and it was an eye opener for me just how punishing some of them are.
Of the games discussed here I've beat (without cheats/save states, on a MiSTer FPGA) Castlevania, Contra, Ninja Gaiden and Bionic Commando. I beat Mega Man a few years ago on an emulator, but I don't count it because I used save states. I also beat Ghosts 'n' Goblins, but on Amiga not NES. I've not played the NES version yet, so I don't know how it compares, but there's a trade-off between the Amiga version and the arcade (which I've not beat but probably will). The arcade version is faster but on the Amiga you can't turn and fire in the opposite direction when you jump which makes it really challenging when things get hectic in the later levels.
The big issue I have with some older games (and the NES library has a few of these) is when they employ convoluted, obtuse BS that either hinders or outright prevents you from completing the game. Things like: Let you get to the end of a game and then inform you you've failed because you didn't get a particular thing or a certain amount of things. Making an enemy near impossible to beat unless you use a particular weapon when it's not logical that the weapon in question would be particularly effective against that enemy. Allowing you to choose which order you take on levels but making it near impossible if you don't do it in a particular order. Having screens that loop unless you choose the correct sequence of doors/exits (especially if it's late in the game when you're struggling just to stay alive). Expecting you to know to perform an action in a certain location (perhaps while having a certain item equipped) or interact with a random piece of scenery without having set a precedent throughout the game or giving sufficient clues.
I used to have a strict no spoiler/guides/walkthrough policy, but I've had to abandon that while going through the NES library. I've spent too many hours figuratively bashing my head against a wall only to give in and look at a guide, see the solution and then internally scream "HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO FIGURE THAT OUT!?". It's a shame because I hate having to look at a guide to complete a game, but due to my past experience with NES games, I'm more likely to do it more quickly now. My concern is that I'll end up looking at guides for situations I could figure out on my own because I don't know if I'm wasting my time trying to do it without a guide.
Punchout on old CRT monitor is much easier than on modern monitors. Quicker response time. Super Machoman I found harder than Tyson because you have to get into right rythm to avoid the spin punching. With Tyson only quick reaction is needed. Two games I found very hard but eventually beat were Bart vs the Space Mutants and Days of Thunder.
Not counting Duck Hunt and Gyromite-- my first NES game was Ghosts and Goblins. I was surprised to see it so high on so many lists. I couldn't win both playthroughs. As a matter of fact I don't think I even tried. I was so pissed when Satan snatched my lady again.
Dang Pat!!!! After hearing what you said about this game I can tell you’re someone who has spent a lot of time playing Bayou Billy. And I don’t mean just because you did that episode with James on it(+Punisher). You know what you know about the game because you played it very much. Word.
I have Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on SNES. That version of Ninja Gaiden III has unlimited continues. I tried playing by the honor system (3 lives, 4 continues) until I made it to the final level. There was one jump which took me 16 tries to make. If I'd played with limited continues, I never would have beaten that game.
can i just tell ya im pretty sure im about to order a CERTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SNES Guide book………… that CERTAIN!!!!!!!! one !!! lol good vid btw loved the talk.
wow I can't believe battle toads was the number one spot that's crazy I thought it would have been Ghouls and Goblin as there's a stupid timer etc. Another hard game thanks to AVGN was the Street Fighter 2010 Nes You had to beat all boss on one life bar and race against the timer and cut scenes
Games on list I have or can beat: Kid Icarus, Castlevania, Double Dragon 3, Blaster Master, Castlevania 3 (but with HELP ME code and not in one sitting), Megaman, TMNT, Ninja Gaiden and as for Zelda 2, that game is a cakewalk for me and can usually beat it without dying once.
Games on list I have not beaten: Ninja Gaiden 3, Fester's Quest, Punch-Out, Contra and Ghosts & Goblins.
Anything else mentioned I have not played
Contra has a fun, fair and rewarding challenge. It’s definitely not one of the toughest games on the NES. It is one of the best though. I agree that the thirty life code skews perception by allowing people to run through it without getting better at it. I feel it would have been much better to be a 30 Continue code. That way you still have to learn the patterns and adjust game play to beat the game with more attempts before you get the hard game over screen.
I’ve beaten TMNT normally, but needed the code to beat Contra. Contra is hard, but it’s a “good hard”. The bullet hell is a bit much but you can learn it- I just didn’t bother to do it normally… I think.
TMNT is a “punishing hard”. It can be done, but you need to grind at times and take it slow at times to beat. I used to know where many of the pizza, weapons, and turtle rescue points were. I didn’t always have scrolls, but I needed them for the final Technodrome hallway- the enemy gen is ridiculous and they are all hard enemies- if I lost them, I might as well start over.
Before NES, there were “impossible hard” games and they were no fun. NES at least brought some quality control to games, even if they were still tweaking it.
Contra isn't hard and it's short. I beat it with the code a couple times and then had no problem beating it without the code. Just need to hold onto the spread shot and it's practically a cake walk
It was refueling the plane mid-flight that always got me in top gun
Rygar is hard on the PAL version because of the glitch that stops levelling you up.
Yea Pat and Ian probably don't know that
The one i beat that was hard for me was Street Fighter 2010. It took me a couple of times but i finally did it.
Can we get your opinions on 8-bit Christmas next week? I've watched it twice already and I think it's the new A Christmas Story. Definitely a must watch for any child of the 80s.
Thank you for this. I had no idea about this movie.
@@handfulofbits Enjoy... my only issues were with the film they used, it's a little cold and could use more color, the bully casting could have been better, and the dad casting is questionable but he did well in the important parts, not meaning NPH, he was fantastic.
I watched the trailer and I agree with all of the above. I'm excited to watch. Thank you again.
Yeah the bully was the worst part to me. I found him more annoying and out of place.
8-Bit Christmas looks more up my alley than A Christmas Story, i watched that movie and i dont get what the hype is about, the damn kid was told that he was gonna shoot his eye out and guess what, he shot his eye out right away! had he not been wearing glasses he'd want an eyepatch for next christmas.
I would like to nominate Final Fantasy 1 to replace one of those games. Having the magic be a D&D level system where you can only cast a few spells per level until you rest, unlike the MP system that became the prominent system in video games, makes the dungeons insanely difficult as you can’t just not use magic users as you won’t be able to beat the bosses w/o access to magic.
Any other version of FF 1 that isn’t the NES version is always what I recommend to someone asking how to play FF 1 for the first time.
I agree I am partial to the GBA remake of FF 1 and 2. You can use magic more liberally and not have to conserve every bit of magic, like the OG NES version.
The NES version pretty much makes you use the peninsula of power to level up and get 1000 to 3000 gold to buy anything.
Another game that should be on this list is Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight. I did beat that one back in the day but that game is brutal! The Adventures of Bayou Billy should not be on any of these top hardest NES lists because that game is just plain unfair. The other games on this list are at least fair for the most part, but Bayou Billy should not be given recognition for anything because that game is the very definition of unfair. I beat Tyson several times back in the day. I think people are having trouble with that game these days because everyone is playing this on emulation of some kind and that is going to introduce some kind of input lag. To beat Tyson you have to be playing on authentic hardware because even the minimalist amount of input lag and you're done. ANY kind of emulation and it's impossible.
One of the reasons why some of these games are difficult is if you're playing them on original consoles with LCD tvs...there is a timing delay which can make or break your game
Friday the 13th isn't hard once you understand it. It becomes EASY. Used to speed run it. Jason only has two routes through the map...and if you figure that out, you don't have to EVER face Jason inside a cabin.
And if you get good, beating him in the cabin can become easier than people realize. Outside you have to take hits, inside you don't. You learn his speed and patterns down+left down+right to dodge it become trivial to beat him.
@@GD-tt6hl on day 3 it can be tricky in the cabins, but I mostly agree with ya there. And the big trick, is getting the torch on day 1. 😉
Mega Man games are not trial and error.
Uhhh yeah, I guess if you just inch along. Sounds awesome
@joshuawidener8407 They are loaded with teaching elements that introduce an obstacle in a safe environment before challenging the player with it. Mega Man 1 and 2 are more trigger happy with artificial difficulty than the rest of the games.
@@megamanmarchek8293 there are several moments where you kinda gotta die lol. Plus bosses by definition are a learning curve
@joshuawidener8407 Watch retrospective investigation: Are Mega Man games trial and error? I fully respect your opinion if you don't enjoy the games, and while there are a handful of cheap moments, I could easily give you 50 examples of teaching elements present in the games.
As for the bosses, I can't think of any game where I haven't died to a boss at least once learning their pattern. That's the beauty of Mega Man's stage select system. You can choose to retry a stage once you get a game over or go to another stage and try again once you have another weapon. Players are offered much more freedom than any other games from the era, and the punishment for death is never too harsh since the stages are of a digestible length, you have unlimited continues, and a password save system from Mega Man 2 onward.
@@megamanmarchek8293 I love the MegaMan games but they are definitely trial and error. How are they not? Learning stages and boss patterns is exactly the point. Most nes games were trial and error lol
Battle roads ninja gaiden 1&3 and ghost and goblins are good hard games. All of which I have at least beat once. MegaDan29 is the greatest though.
Battle Roads sounds like an awesome game that never got made.
I prefer nes battletoads on genesis
Pat: I hate when you have to die to learn the game.
Not a Souls guy, I take it?
Man like all old games are "try and die"
I love hard games. Can't stand Dark Souls. Just not a type of hard for me. I've played and enjoyed much harder, but it's just not my thing.
I'd have Dr. Chaos in this list as well.
I still have not gotten past the Elevator level of Battletoads without cheating. Turbo Tunnel if I practice up it comes back to me.
Level 11 is the tough level in Battletoads.
I can breeze thru the first 10 levels, and the Tower in the 12th level isn’t particularly difficult with some practice.
But I’ve never gotten even halfway thru level 11. The Orb you are racing is faster than you, and there are no checkpoints throughout the entire course. The only way to win is to hit the corner turns perfectly, which I never figured out how to do consistently.
They increased the difficulty on those games because they didn't want kids to beat it during a rental. Rentals were (don't know if they still are) illegal in Japan, so they didn't need to worry about it over there.
The final level of castlevania 3 is the reason why it's much harder than the first game
GOLGO 13: TOP SECRET EPISODE IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT GAMES EVER FOR THE NES...51 continues and still super hard. Totally overlooked...
watching speed runs on these games kinda makes me think this difficult top 20 was just some random person trying for first time
Speed runs are definitely not average play. It takes a lot of practice, knowledge of the game and skill, most people can't play on that level.
Anyway, they said the list was compiled from reviews, videos, articles etc. It wasn't the opinion of whoever put the list together.
I feel like Ghostbusters 2 doesn't get the recognition it deserves for difficulty. It isn't a very fun game but the difficulty is there in the final levels. With limited continues and having to get all 4 Ghostbusters through the museum at the end it took me a long time to beat.
Not as long as Battletoads but longer than Ninja Gaiden 3.
Contra really shouldn't be on the list here either. I could beat that game without the code when I was a kid. One hit deaths make it hard but it is very fair in the patterns it throws at you.
Battletoads,Super Mario Lost Levels are tough games.
Sry, nes gauntlet is impossible to finish.
I would put Cobra Triangle in the top 20, I saw many great NES players really struggle to beat that one.
Probably the NES game I am best at compared to other people. I played and beat it a lot. Kinda similar to Battletoads in the tough parts, even when you know the pattern it is still hard to make the jumps.
I remember as a kid playing ghostbusters on the nes at a friends house we could never get past the tower climb later I used a game genie to beat the game and said that’s it man was I pissed
Kid Icarus is a weird case where the game gets easier because the power ups. When you start, its unfair having no health. By the end, you're op with more health, better weapons, and the difficulty is about the same as when you started
That whole anti rental BS Konami pulled that probably killed sales, at least for me buying games when I rent a game if I had fun I would buy it but the ones that were frustrating difficult just to reduce rentals I would pass on them.
I beat the turbo tunnel as an adult, captured the footage and my friends called me a legend because of it. It seemed impossible as a 11-12 year old kid.
For me hard games are the ones that if you play it again for the 100th time it still has the ability to fuck you up.
Damn that silver surfer game
"But what if I told you..."
Bionic Commando is a great game, and gets less hard when you play it more often
I've beaten three out of four games in the thumbnail. Battletoads is one I made it halfway through before giving up on. My cartridge stopped working so I'll have to replace it if ever I want a rematch.
I wish ppl discussed deeper into the library games on these kinda channels. No Seicross, no Kung Fu Heroes, no Life Force, No Stinger, no Bucky O'Hare, Cobra Triangle, Darkwing Duck, Clash At Demon head, New Ghostbusters 2, no Gunsmoke, no Little Nemo etc etc same ol' games talked to death
Why isn’t Gradius here? I’ve been trying to beat it and it’s probably the hardest game I’ve ever attempted to beat. It’s absolute insanity.
Some interesting inclusions on the list. Never thought contra was hard per se, just pattern memorization. Same with punch out, minus tyson/dream. I can make it to tyson/dream to this day pretty easily...but never could beat tyson/dream without save states or Game genie.
Yeah, Punch-Out is hard, but not top 20 hard 🙄
I beat tyson once on the download on the wii. Like 8 hours trying to get it down. Hard as hell. Snake ratttle and roll now on rare replay playing it legit. If you miss one hit tue boss regains full health and that last mountain climb right before the finap boss takes all your lives. I was watching what Mike Matei did but can't pull it off. Beat ghost and goblins legit both play throughs in a row, ninja gaiden 1,2, and 3, recca summer carnival 92 (31 hours to get good), double dragon 1 and 2 (the true final boss run with the boss turning invisible).
Yeah, I love contra because it's one of those games that are tough without sprinkling that little extra bit of NES BS on top. No beginners traps, no pointless timers, no leaps of faith, reasonable respawns, multiple lives and progress and skill is rewarded. So much of what makes the games of the NES library hard is annoying BS. Contra is one of the good ones.
My cousin and I would beat Contra multiple times in a row, it was a perfect difficulty
I think not being able to beat the final boss after 30+years qualifies as a hard game
I got through to level 109 I think it was on Gauntlet back in the day , before i realized it was just repeating itself . I never thought it even had an ending .
i didnt know about an ending either, that's pretty nuts, like Bubble Bobble nuts.
Gradius! Why hasn't Gradius ever been included to any hardest NES game party? Even with the Konami code that game still hands me my ass. Yet I've beaten Contra without the 30 lives code. And also Arkanoid. Can't even get half-way without using the infinite lives code.
Rush ‘N Attack. That was an impossible game for a rental
I have beaten Ninja Gaiden and GnG (on 3DS VC, so I had display lag too!) Those games are super tough but I think NG's difficulty is a little bit overrated. The final boss thing is the real killer. But as someone who's beaten those games (yeah, GnG's second lap) I must say that these guys are definitely underrating Contra's difficulty. I beat that game before I even allowed myself to use the code, and I think you sort of experience the true difficulty of the game that way without being able to learn the levels with the code. That game is fucking tough man. That said I probably did have a bit of display lag there too.
I'm really surprised Street Fighter 2010 isn't on this list.