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Top 10 Hardest NES Games

retrojunk.com — The following is a list of the Top 10 games on the NES that I believe are the hardest games in the NES library.

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  • DrGizmondo, on 02/01/2008, -2/+22ahh Battletoads and The Silver Surfer, I have no idea how much time i put into these games, but they didnt get the better of me. I wonder just how many people out there just gave up on then.
    • attractivetb, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4I played so much Battletoads as a kid and could make it to the last level pretty consistently. I played it again on an emulator....I totally stink now. It was a great game...but I don't think anyone would put up with that level of difficulty these days!
      • pixel4e, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Oh god the last level was horrible. I dreaded the snake level too. I beat that ***** several times though. Yep no life here.
    • doshindude, on 02/01/2008, -1/+56Silver Surfer...
      Touch the ceiling you die, touch the floor you die, too far to the left you die, too far to the right you die, you Die, you Die, Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die DIE!
    • quomen, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3None of you have obviously played Spelunker.. Hardest game ever.
      gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qluQqCthL44
    • mickrussom, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Abadox was hard as hell. Section Z was hard, Athena and Trojan were hard too. Xevious for the NES was really hard. Gauntlet, Immortal,
      Blaster Master without cheating, Ironsword and smashed-controller Batman. I used to be able to beat Mega Man on the bare NES trivially, but that was hard, but clever magnet beam use in the spiked areas made it easier - but I could beat Clayman and the rest of the Wiley stages/bosses without using elec-beam pause cheating, Game Genies or save states, the worst battle was Mega Man vs Mega Man without using bombman's weapon select to keep him from firing or the pause/damage trick. You want a super-challenge: Try beating elec-man stage FIRST. Next hardest; beat Iceman stage FIRST. The elecman first I was *never* able to do. I was only able to beat Tyson on Punch Out a few times, but I could toy with Super Macho Man, and I can to this day beat Contra to this day without dying - once I get Spread-Shot + rapid, I don't even need a turbo controller to lay Contra down. Ninja Gaiden's later bird-infested levels were hard, and without the spin attack tricks for the final boss, he was very very hard. I didn't find Bionic Commando difficult. I also did a Zelda II challenge once: beat the entire game in one sitting without dying once. I did it. Deadly Towers I was never able to beat, and I never could do CRAP in RC Pro AM, I was terrible at that, but had friends who could do well with it - I thought it was very hard. NES games were a lot of fun. Shadowgate and Goonies II were hard. I always liked Legendary Wings too, but without maintaining FireBird, that was super-hard. Ikari Warriors I also found to be very hard.

      That being all said, I wish Kid Icarus got a sequel - I really liked that game.

      You want more modern-hard? Getting the arrow upgrade by shooting 1500+ in the Gerudo horse-arrow-shooting challenge in Ocarina of Time was one of the nastiest gaming moments I remember, but that's N64.

      I think my favorite game of all time was Super Metriod, SNES.
      • mickrussom, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Almost forgot, that damn-hard cheating smashed controller spit on the screen PAPERBOY!
      • redbill, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I hear you on Athena. I'm convinced there was a bug near the end of the game that made it impossible to win...
    • Kloud, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I preferred the sequel, Combat Amphibians.
    • andregriffin, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Metal Storm is quite possibly the most frustratingly hard game ever...
    • themastersb, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Time to call my local Walmart and see if they have Battletoads in.
    • Spuy767, on 02/01/2008, -1/+5Buried for the description of Top Gun as a corny 80's movie. Sure, it's got a mediocre love story attached to it, but it's probably the first and last decent movie about jet age fighter pilots.
      • Spuy767, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1The digg comment editor is such an epic fail. Ghosts and goblins should probably be #1, and Where is ikari warriors on this list?
      • undy242, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Probably the movie with the most *****-innuendos too.
      • Spytap, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I dunno, I kind of liked Behind Enemy Lines.
    • buddamus, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I got past the last level on the master system version of Ghouls and Ghosts only to have to do all the levels again to fight the end boss, GRRRRRR
    • strafefire, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1KICKLE CUBICLE was so F'n hard.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1"From what I understand, there is not a single person in the world who beat this game, so the difficulty is indeed legendary!"

      While that is obviously extreme exaggeration, I remember watching a GamePro episode years ago where they mentioned a code you can enter that basically makes you invincible. Hard to believe nobody can beat the game even with that code.

      ... holy crap, I just checked, apparently there is also a code to somehow make the game HARDER...
    • NgrHader, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1They forgot to mention Metal Gear and Wrath of the Black Manta
  • bigsquirrely, on 02/01/2008, -3/+27I am glad to say I have beat six of these games but I could not tell you how many hours I spent on Battle Toads. That game made my soul bleed during the hover bike level
    • yohnstoppable, on 02/01/2008, -10/+2You are completely full of *****. If you actually beat battletoads you've played levels MUCH harder than that hoverbike stage.

      And no, I didn't beat the damn game either. Gave up on the level where you have to race the squirrel to defuse the bombs :(
      • capiCrimm, on 02/01/2008, -0/+9I think his point was that he *didn't* beat Battle Toads, but six other games.
    • dvsbastard, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I was never able to finish Battletoads on the NES, but was able to get to the dark tower (or whatever the last level was called)... I put so many hours into that game that even until this day I know every level like the back of my hand, and recently dusted off the NES and was still able to make it to the last level (but couldn't finish it)....

      But thanks to the help of emulators with Save States I did recently finish it... Sadly, that would be my greatest achievement in life... and I don't regret it one bit! :P
      • theclansman, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I have a pretty good battletoads story
        a friend of mine at school had a oldschool nes and battletoads, we use to spend literally hours every day playing that game. we were able to make it to the last level pretty consistantly but never could get past it. Finally one day we started a 2 person game, by the time we got to the dark tower he had to go for dinner with his girlfriend so I sat there and played it a bit more. somehow I got through the dark tower but I had only one life left for the dark queen! and I knew he had a continue left so I called him and made him leave dinner with his girlfriend and come over, join in and we killed the dark queen.
        it is still the best moment of my life
        • Puttzy, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1isn't saying "oldschol nes" redundant?
    • Ajajadude, on 02/01/2008, -1/+3Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who found landing on the carrier in Top Gun to be next to impossible!
    • Shambla, on 02/01/2008, -1/+9We will never speak of the hover bike level again...
    • dafragsta, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1The hover bike level is where I gave up. Holy *****. They didn't learn from that either. The Gameboy version which was also badass had a ***** annoying hover bike-esque level too.
    • ApokalypseNow, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1The hover bikes weren't so bad for me, I actually kinda enjoyed that part - it was the race against the rat that was my bane.
  • yohnstoppable, on 02/01/2008, -6/+44This list was pretty crappy, actually. Double Dragon 3 was difficult, but not as much as many others. Mega Man's 1-3 were much more difficult than 4. No Mission Impossible? No Ninja Gaiden? No Friday the 13th? Punch Out? Bionic Commando? Contra without the Konami code?
    • MasterOfSwords, on 02/01/2008, -0/+19It mentions Mega Man in 4th position not Mega Man 4 itself. You can see the screenshot is indeed from the original not 4.
    • cyranthus, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2i cant remember which one, but there was an early megaman... could of sworn it was 4 or 5. The last Wily boss is next to impossible to beat.
      DD3 is difficult but it takes a bit of technique to finally get good at it, once you do, its a really fun game.
      • InfiniteNothing, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Use your weakest weapon. It's a common theme.
        • cyranthus, on 02/04/2008, -0/+1its not even that... you have to move just at the right time, or you get hit.
    • skyshock1, on 02/01/2008, -0/+7Double Dragon 3? MY ASS. I'll give them Ghouls and Ghosts though.

      Ninja Gaiden was ***** IMPOSSIBLE. The original Metal Gear was pretty rough too.
      • manstein01, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I hated DD 3. It basically consisted of (in 1 player mode) walking up and down until the enemies were right next to you, then spin-kicking both of them. do this for three hours. The ability to play as the bosses was not a huge consolation, as they were largely useless.
    • pooper, on 02/01/2008, -0/+7Well, most of these games were just cheap and horribly designed. And although, they are console games, many games at the time were designed to steal as many quarters from you as possible. So, they give you few lives/energy, lots of instant death traps/obstacles, respawning enemies, and crippled controls.
    • Rhendal, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Man, nobody ever remembers Abadox. That ***** was impossible without a Game Genie.
    • MasterPlayer, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2The games you mentioned are very difficult but can be beaten with practice and skill. The ones in this article though are just ***** frustrating and sometimes impossible and can only be beaten with luck and trial and error. (not to mention an immense amount of patience.)
    • choppinbroccoli, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2What about Batman? That game was retardedly hard.
    • bobartig, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6Friday the 13 was intensely unfun to play. Repetitive, random, with brutally punishing game design, and often seemingly unavoidable damage. Even with the best weapon in the game, Jason seems unkillable a lot of the time. I have no idea how hard the game becomes later on, because there was just no reason to keep playing.
    • peestandingup, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Agreed. There are WAY harder games for NES than freakin' Mega Man 1, Top Gun & Karate Kid. Iron Tank anyone? I remember having a mini freak out over that game & how insanely difficult it was to finish. The music still gives me chills.

      I do agree with Ghosts n Goblins. That SOB is hard as *****.
    • mattes5, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I agree... Contra in my mind is the hardest NES game and its not even mentioned. The person that made this list is probably a emo kid born in the 90s.
    • potisreallygood, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Friday the 13th was the first one that popped in my head. That game sucked.
    • dafragsta, on 02/01/2008, -0/+8Ninja Gaiden was crazy ***** hard.
      • rynosauce, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I didnt' think it was all that bad.
    • Cloudime, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I thought Punchout was more a strategic-difficulty, a lot of people can say they've beaten it. I think this list consisted more of "impossible, throw your controller saying "nobody beats this, ever"" difficulty, rather than the "very-hard I know if I stay up one more hour I'll probably beat it difficulty".
    • lostjimmy, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1This is the second article I've seen about difficult NES games, and I always know there is going to be someone who mentions Contra.
      I honestly don't get it. Maybe it was because I grew up with it and probably played it every day, but I can finish that game without the code, and I finish with more than three lives. If you've played it enough, it's not very hard at all.
      • Vejadu, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Agreed. When I was a kid, I was able to routinely beat Contra with more lives than I started with. It's challenging, but not insanely hard. Silver Surfer is definitely the hardest NES game I've played (and I played it recently.) I am disappointed to see Ninja Gaiden missing from the list, but otherwise it's a good list.
    • undy242, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I beat Bionic Commando many times. Game was awesome though.
    • antiorblkflag9, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Megaman 1 was impossible as was 3, 2 wasn't bad
      • rynosauce, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I have mega man collectors addition for the game cube and ***** I have no idea how I passed 1-2 when I was 6 years old.
        • antiorblkflag9, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I can't beat 2 on Hard anymore, although I could when I was 8....
    • ninja0, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2YES, Ninjai gaiden for SURE. that is a hard ass game
  • midoritsuru, on 02/01/2008, -2/+13There's one game not on this list, probably because it's little known--Snake Rattle n Roll is one of the toughest NES games ever, far more difficult than it looks.
    • dayalsoap, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1HOW DID THEY LEAVE OFF CONTRA?!

      That game was impossible with out the cheat code for infinite lives!
      • MewtwoReturns, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Easily. I've seen multiple videos of people putting together zero-death runs/speedruns for it. Contra can be mastered with enough patience. I'm actually suprised that Yo Noid and The Karate Kid are on here. Karate Kid is nowhere NEAR as hard the Angry Video Game Nerd makes it out to be, and if you're doing the end-of-level contests in the Noid right, you're getting so many continues that there's no reason the average gamer should lose.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Oh God, I remember that. Even when GameGenie I could NOT beat that ice-foot last boss. And I tried fighting him for HOURS before I gave up.
  • FSUCHEEF, on 02/01/2008, -2/+35Finally glad to see Bart vs. Space Mutants on one of these list

    I could beat the first level but could never make the jump over the wet concrete at the beginning of level 2
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -1/+7seriously! Eff this game, even game genie couldnt help.
    • fadetoone, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Ha, I remember I could generally get to the dinosaur in the museum and never figured out how to jump over it. Some time later someone showed me there was like some hidden platform you could jump on.

      What a *****.
    • pursiavoria, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0I couldn't even beat the first level. I enjoy its catchy tunes though.
    • MisterNoMoniker, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I think this list really needs to make the distinction between 'hard' because the game was designed to be difficult, and 'hard' because the game was designed badly.
      The bart vs. the...... series were ***** games. There was level after level based on jumping and the jumping controls were terrible.
      • sancho, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Most of the games on here were hard due to being designed poorly. Mega Man and Ghouls and Ghosts weren't (they were just damned challenging.)

        Lots of people are whining about Contra not being on the list--and indeed, it was a hard game, but it was not hard due to poor design. It doesn't take that long to get good enough at the game to beat it, even without the Konami Code. If it's your first time through the levels, though, there are definitely some places where you're instakilled unless you just got lucky, which I guess aids the perception that it's a "too hard" game.
    • falkonv7l, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Dugg for TOP GUN, man that was one of my favorites! good times!
  • Phocion55, on 02/01/2008, -3/+36Dugg for Battletoads. Racing that rat down to the bomb made my blood pressure skyrocket when I was little.
    • spammishking, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Even with a game genie Battletoads was near impossible
    • Rakuseki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0It's not so hard if you use the pause trick
  • twoboxen, on 02/01/2008, -2/+12Cobra Triangle anyone??? that game was hard as hell.
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -2/+1buried. so easy, like rc pro am.
    • saranagati, on 02/01/2008, -2/+1Cobra Triangle wasn't too tuff but I dugg you up just for reminding me about that game, that was one of my favorite games.
    • thexder, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Some of the high speed levels in cobra triangle we nearly impossible because you couldn't see the upcoming course. But it gets easier after you memorize the tracks.
    • spyrochaete, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3The awesome soundtrack and cool boat design made it worth playing though.
    • jipn, on 02/01/2008, -1/+0I couldn't get past the waterfall level.
  • BorisT, on 02/01/2008, -4/+6Didn't we just have something like this on the front page?
  • Shawn4168, on 02/01/2008, -1/+61Most of these games have been covered by the Angry Video Game Nerd, but he talks about them in a much more entertaining and coherent way than this blog does.
    • vondrak, on 02/01/2008, -4/+28I'm a little disappointed to read this about top gun
      "It's based off of a corny 80's movie."
      That would be like saying Bart vs. the Space Mutants is based off some animated animated show.
      BTW you can be my wingman anytime!
      • DrCyclops, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2You're saying the description is inaccurate?

        Though I would have said "It's based off of a corny 80s movie with intense homoerotic undertones." Fortunately those undertones didn't make it into the game. Or unfortunately, as the case may be.
        • pradaaddict, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2facepalm.jpg

          no he is saying "corny 80s movie" is a redundant phrase.
    • rezonq3, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3No kidding. Was I the only one who began counting how many times that guy used the word 'hard' or some variation to describe the difficulty of these games?

      "Wow that game was hard, one of the hardest of the hard games I have ever played. And I have played some hard ones. But truly the harder game than the hardest was so hard I was hard while playing it...er wait..."
    • innocentsinner, on 02/01/2008, -4/+2I hate the AVGN, but I agree that he's still far more entertaining and coherent than this article. The typos/errors in it are bad enough -.-
    • Del129, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1I wonder where he got the idea from?(sarcasm) AVGN FTW!
    • booboolean, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Yeah, it's pretty half-assed. Any game on this list not covered by the Angry NES Nerd was probably covered by Seanbaby 8 years ago. And what's with the 14-point type? The design makes it look like a late-90's geocities page or something. Buried.
  • justice7, on 02/01/2008, -6/+5Hard games on my list:

    The Immortal
    Gauntlet
    Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels
    Blaster Master (without the pause cheat, its hard)
    Super C
    Wizards and Warriors 2: Ironsword
    • bakagaigin, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5I didn't know there was a second wizards and warriors game, but the first one was one of my favs! The music was pretty cool too...
      • rayefrenzy, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2There's a third Wizards and Warriors game too!!
      • Bilabrin, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Ultima: Avatar was a nightmare as well.
    • xsquirrel378x, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4not to brag, but super C was the only contra i nailed down to a science. i can beat super C without losing 1 life. i cannot beat any other contra without cheating
    • rccintra, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Yes Mario is missing!
      but cool list!
    • derjames, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Super C are you kidding?... that is pretty easy... I agree with the rest though...
    • Monkeywr3nch, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Blaster Master was awesome! I beat it playing almost 24 hours straight because there wasn't a password system or anything like it.
      Ahh those were the days that made me a real gamer! :)
    • smackafiyah, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Ironsword was insane, even the the level select cheat I can't make it pass beating those 4 elements.
    • thexder, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Blaster Master was so hard because I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. The original Metal Gear was nigh impossible. The Immortal was not that hard. Finding the blue ring in the 2nd quest of Zelda took me months. And of course there's always trying to beat Mike Tyson.
    • xdeliriumx, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5Has noone ever played Fester's Quest!?! Holy *****!
    • justice7, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1i had crazy trouble with Super C and i dont know why -- i could beat the Original no problem .. go figure that.

      Likely because i only rented SuperC as a kid and i owned Contra.
    • Bilabrin, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Am I crazy or shouldn't Metroid be on the list as well, I mean C'mon, if you'r gonna put Megaman on the list - A game I beat the hell out of. Metroid had secret passages which you couldn't beat the game without finding. I know that seems par for the course now but back in the day, that was a bitch!
  • GhostyBoy, on 02/01/2008, -2/+48Am I the only one who can't get enough of these old shcool nes and snes articles?
    • NeoNevermore, on 02/01/2008, -10/+1Yes.
    • Waxx, on 02/01/2008, -6/+0No.
    • InSectWar, on 02/01/2008, -1/+13Maybe?
    • qbelek2, on 02/01/2008, -0/+11Ask again later
    • xsquirrel378x, on 02/01/2008, -2/+4i was going to say the same thing. im surprised theres not more of them too, since digg is primarily made up of males in their 20s and 30s who played a ***** of games growing up
    • chancesarent, on 02/01/2008, -1/+8Outlook not so good
    • quomen, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4You can't see my answer because there are too many ***** bubbles obscuring the view.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Replyhazy, try again.
  • koach, on 02/01/2008, -2/+47No 'Chip N' Dale : Rescue Rangers'? I think I poured more time or my youth into that game than any other. Fat Cat was a cheating bastard! Dugg for TMNT, though. The underwater level where you had to defuse the bombs was a bitch.
    • basic0, on 02/01/2008, -1/+5I spent so many hours playing TMNT, and it didn't get any easier after the underwater level. I never made it past that part in the following level where you have to do this damn-near impossible ledge-to-ledge jump in a sewer. I always hated the Nintendo Power walkthrough because it described that part like it was the easiest thing in the world.
      • praxisseizure, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Last week I got into the technodrome and was awed. I'd made it through when I was young. I tried so hard for 2 nights and just couldn't do it.
    • AshamedAmerican, on 02/01/2008, -2/+4Actually, the underwater area was the easiest part of the game. The Technodrome was the nightmare of the game; with the flying laser soldier bastards I STILL can't get past. Annoying as hell.
      • Athelias, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2I was just about to say this exact same thing. The entire game wasn't THAT tough, up until the Technodrome that is.
      • techlyc, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I replied to an earlier thread on PITA NES games with this same comment ... dugg and dugg. I always wondered how they fit so many endless hallways inside of such a tiny Technodrome. It looks so tiny from the outside!
    • bryik, on 02/01/2008, -1/+6Ahhh, TMNT I remember the bomb level. When I first saw the all those bombs underwater, that was the first time I ever said "oh *****".
    • gimmeslack12, on 02/01/2008, -2/+7Chip N' Dales???? Are you kidding me? I beat that game with my eyes closed. TMNT I'll hand it to you. But Chip N' Dales??? Wow.....
      • j3one, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1try beating it in 2 player mode with a younger sibling who you have to keep alive...
    • OKoperator, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Gotta go with Gimmeslack, one of the easiest and fastest games i played back then
    • fadetoone, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I remember chip and dale being fairly easy. I know I beat it, and often. And if I could beat it, then it couldn't have possibly been too hard.
      • j3one, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1The coolest thing about chip n dale and battletoads was the multilayer aspect. Oh and you could kill each other in both.
    • Future2, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2The only thing frustrating about the water level is that infamous jump leading to the top of the dam. Don't worry though; the game gets MUCH harder. You have to enjoy pain to get through the airport and technodrome.
    • tgc1, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0How about TMNT 2 when you have to fight, not one but TWO shredders (and krang) at the end. I eventually beat it, I still don't know how. But it was insanely hard.
    • BryanQ, on 02/01/2008, -3/+1I'm with you koach, chip & dale: rescue rangers kicked my ass. It was a multi-renter if you will. Now, Battletoads, that game was a piece of cake. I don't remember it being difficult at all.
    • rezonq3, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I remember when I beat TMNT. I was at a buddies house. I was hailed as a god among men in that neighborhood. Damn we were dorks.

      Wait, I'm still a dork.
      /facepalm
    • brufleth, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I was never able to beat that water level. I think I got within one or two turtle lengths of the last bomb a few times but was never able to diffuse it on time. Oddly all the other TMNT games were cake.
    • smackafiyah, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2TMNT gave me nightmares at one point
    • falkonv7l, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I quit trying with TMNT, at such a young age I decided life was too short.
  • Waxx, on 02/01/2008, -3/+12I see a lot of people upset about the list and that there were other harder games for the NES. The fact of the matter is NES had tons of hard games, mostly due to their poor and hurried concept and design. Games these days are tailored with tutorial levels and hints throughout the early portions of the game. The NES had none of that. If you didn't have the instruction booklet, you were left to figure the game out on your own, without any forgiveness. Early gamers had to be extremely diligent in order to prevail through some of the world’s most difficult games.
    • yohnstoppable, on 02/01/2008, -1/+4I agree about a lot of them being difficult due to just being bad games. TMNT was just a ***** game. Same goes for Friday the 13th, and the Karate Kid
    • dvsbastard, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5I would say it had more to do with the short length of the games... The games had to be difficult (or provide a challenge) in order to be replayable. Now, when we get an 8 hr game, we complain that it is too short. If a game like Battletoads was easy enough to finish within the first few attempts, then you would be lucky to get 2 hours out of it. I think this had a lot more to do with hardware limitations than hurried design.

      Although some games did have terrible controls, and that just makes a hard game frustrating!
      • bobartig, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Keep in mind, a lot of games had horrible, save/continue schemes, so if the game was much longer than ~4 hours, you couldn't ever finish it, because you always had to start from the beginning. One of my favorite games, Rygar, was like 5-6 hours, with no save system, and limited continues. It was hard to finish in one sitting, so I'd have to leave my NES on over night paused.
  • darkstar07, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6Jackal had to be one of the hardest for me to beat, the boss at the end was just insane, bullets all over the screen.
    • funktimus, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2oh man... that game was so sweet.. totally forgot about it.
  • Manumit, on 02/01/2008, -5/+3The hardest game I've played (and still own), besides Battletoads, would be a lesser-known one: Kiwi Kraze. It's not that hard near the beginning, but it slowly gets harder and harder until you get to what seems like a nearly impossible level.

    A few other games of note:
    Astyanax
    Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine
    Gauntlet
    Simpsons: Bart vs. The World
  • mark1599, on 02/01/2008, -8/+5Where is Contra? I was shocked when I didn't see it in the list.
    • AndyStitzer, on 02/01/2008, -0/+9The code prevents contra from being on this list. Did anyone actually play contra without the code?
      • stranger, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I played it so much with a friend that we were able to beat it without the code. I could never do it alone, though. I could beat Contra 3 with one set of lives on hard. I played that game to death.
      • v0lrath, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6Yeah, it's all about practice, practice, practice. Eventually you just learn where the enemies will pop up and it becomes muscle memory.

        I beat it without the code, without using a continue one time. It was the greatest day of my life.
      • bobartig, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I could beat contra on one man. Not every time, but I've done it. After the first few play throughs, I stopped using the code. For me, that was the Gradius code, as I almost always used it for that game.
        I went back and played contra via emu a few months back. I couldn't get past the first level on my first play. It was sad.
    • catalytica, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1contra is easy once you've memorized the entire game. there's a youtube vid of contra straight thru without dying. less than 10 min. i think
    • rccintra, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Yeah Contra was pretty good too,.
    • steelystan, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Man I'm with you on that one. I've always thought Contra was up in the top 5 hardest, even with the code.
  • kidlax, on 02/01/2008, -2/+5I'd say The Legend of Zelda. Not because the game was overly hard, but the sheer amount of times I lost my progress because of the shady memory on the cartridge. That or 1942 - did that game even have an ending?
    • skyshock1, on 02/01/2008, -1/+8Shady memory? WTF you talking about? I just pulled out that cartridge about a year ago, and the game saves from 1988 I had on there were STILL there almost a decade later.
      • saranagati, on 02/01/2008, -0/+9Crap its 1998 again? I better go stock up on ammo again for Y2K
    • jololli, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3haha 1942... you really have no idea how many times I tried to beat all 30-some levels to see if anything actually happened. *****.
      • azimir, on 02/01/2008, -0/+130 levels? Try 99, counting down for some reason.
        The ending was..... disappointing.
    • kevro, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I actualy sat ALL day once and beat that game. many pause breaks hoping the system didn't get bumped. Fun game but very repetitive and it takes a long time to beat!! The ending....not so satisfying.

      http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/1942.htm
      • azimir, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3My first serious attempt to finish it was interrupted by dinner..... at level 10.

        I came down afterwards to see my sister watching TV.... with the Nintendo off.
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3beat zleda in 45 minutes in college on a speed run. It's easy when you have it memorized.
      Never beat zelda 2 to save my life.
      • praxisseizure, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Finally beat zelda 2, for the first time two days ago!
        That'd make it more than a decade trying
    • Binto, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3i beat 1942.
      I was, needless to say, very disappointed in the one-word encouragement.

      congradulation. :(
      • azimir, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2And your stats for the last level, can't forget that. Not even real credits.
    • Future2, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I'm actually trying to beat Zelda right now. I'm on the 9th level/dungeon. The game is tough, but I think some of the difficulty was created when the game was translated. I still have no idea what "10th enemy has the bomb" is referring to. Also, "elimination mode" isn't as fun as it sounds...
      • thexder, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Spectacle rock is an entrance to death.
    • lostjimmy, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0I beat the Zelda once without cheating. I found myself buying bombs, trying to blow up all the rocks in one screen, not finding a dungeon, then moving on to the next screen. Obviously there must've been some hint somewhere on how to find it. I think it was the 8th dungeon.
  • Sharpezor, on 02/01/2008, -1/+13Battletoads
  • linuxrocks2007, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4Silver Surfer was really difficult. Also its the best game based on Fantastic 4.
  • coheedcollapse, on 02/01/2008, -1/+4I still own a bunch of those games in physical form. I have the sudden urge to hook up my system to the flat screen and see just how hard they really were (and for the irony of it.)
    • sancho, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Do you even know the definition of the word 'irony'?
  • shyner, on 02/01/2008, -0/+21i'd have put Ninja Gaiden at number one. Still can't beat that damn game.
    • tempfd, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I didn't find Ninja Gaiden all that hard, but one part in that series made my blood boil. I forget which NG it was, but all I have to say is "that one wall jump in the mountain level" and, if you made it to that part, you should let out a long sigh and say, "yes, I remember that god damn bird."
      • MisterNoMoniker, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1YES! I remember that. That sucked.
        I couldn't beat that game even with Game Genie.
    • manstein01, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Gaiden was hard (very hard), but it cannot compete with Battletoads and Silver Surfer. Those games are on a different level. Ninja Gaiden just required and insane amount of gameplay time to master everything just the right way.
    • techlyc, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Ninja Gaiden 2. Took me near twelve hours to beat WITH game genie. That game MUST be impossible to completely finish without cheating. The story is like a Resident Evil game - just when you think its over, all four walls bust down and you don't know *****.
  • Oktoeatfish, on 02/01/2008, -0/+14Dugg for Mega Man. ***** that game. I mean I love it and the series, but that game...damn I'm getting mad thinking about Wily's castle.
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Mega Man 1 lacked the saves to make wiley's castle beat-able.
      MM2 was more do-able.
      MM3 was a cake-walk comparatively.
  • Mark4483, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3anyone ever try Ghostbusters? I'm pretty sure no human can beat that game without cheating.
    How about contra without the code?
    • Athelias, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Contra without the code is easy. Try Contra after playing Wipeout Fusion. Your reflexes are inhuman.
      • bobartig, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Only if you get *good* at Wipeout Fusion. Otherwise, you spend half the time on the railings swearing at the game.
  • Mikhail101, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2what about that super mario bros. spin off thing, i think it might be called the lost levels or something. But its like the same look as the first mario bros. 1 but the levels are harder and they included blue mushrooms that kill. Also you can choose to be luigi who is the same as mario in this one, since its old.
    • h4rdcor3, on 02/01/2008, -1/+3that is actually SMB 2. They just changed the sprites in a different game and made it MSB 2 for the states. They didn't release it state side because they thought it was too hard and that gamers wouldn't like it. They added it to the SMB collection for the snes because so many people wanted it
    • AndrewDB, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I own the SNES version of All Stars (the one with Super Mario World included), and I've beaten the Lost Levels (aka Mario 2, as H4rdcor3 said).
    • RanmaChan, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0I'm pretty sure the original did not allow you to save like the SNES version. So you had to beat it all in one go. Also, Luigi jumped higher, but was more affected by wind and had trouble stopping on the 1 wide pillars (which are all over the place). This was one of the hardest SNES games I played, I can't imagine playing it without save.
    • LeRenard, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I have that on the Wii, and played the old "lost levels" version on SNES. It's a great game in that it was difficult enough to follow on from the original as if it were were level 9, etc..
    • phazon88, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1On SNES it's not that hard (well I can't remember actually, but I did beat it I know) but on NES with no saves I thinking it would be pretty ***** hard..
  • INDOAZZ, on 02/01/2008, -0/+9"Ghosts n Goblins" TRULY RULED the 8bit era
    • vpshockwave, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4OMFG I never could get past the third or maybe the fourth section of that DAMN game. SO FREAKING HARD.
    • Namakemono, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I've broken many a controller over that game. I'm proud to say that I did beat it (you have to go through the whole ***** thing twice!). But it was painful. It's my biggest videogame accomplishment.
  • digitallysick, on 02/01/2008, -0/+15Shadowgate? (maybe i am the only one that had that game)
    • kenplaysviola, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Yeah, especially loved how you burn out all your torches and are immediately dead.
    • drpcken, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2LOVED Shadowgate!
    • kingraoul3, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6I called the Nintendo Power hotline once because I was stuck in ShadowGate :)
    • DrCyclops, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I loved Deja Vu. That was the first of those MacVenture ports I ever played. It was also the best if you ask me.
      • Scorcho28, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Hell yes, one of my favorite games of all time. Also really freaking hard. I refused to look at a walkthrough and finally beat it eight years after I started, and even then I had to look at a walkthrough.

        But since these games aren't reflex tests and mental tests they don't make hard game lists usually.
      • killachuck, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Damned good stuff.
    • catalytica, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3shadowgate was tough because so many times you instantly die with a cryptic explanation
    • Oktoeatfish, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Had it, loved it. I loved Deja Vu too. Univitied though, was dumb. How were you supposed to know that the ghost was afraid of spiders...
    • undy242, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1"Thats smarts!"
  • camino262, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5I spent hours trying to land that stupid F-14 in Top Gun. I think I only made it to stage 3 in the game using a regular controller. Don't even get me started on TMNT or any of the Mega-Man games.
    • azimir, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Nintendo should have sent out some kind of award for beating Top Gun. I would have had it tattooed to my forehead, I was that proud to have beaten that fracking game.
  • getjustin, on 02/01/2008, -2/+7Mega Man 3. You beat it then realize there's a whole other set of old characters to beat....WTF? NES games on the whole were much harder than more games today.
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+4one of the easiest MM games ever.
    • bobartig, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1Every MegaMan but the first one was a cake walk. In the sequels, you get so many weapons you can never die. Especially MM2, MetalMan being 1) An easy stage with no Rush powerups, 2) Relatively weak to the mega buster 3) The only boss in the history of the game to give you a weapon better than he has. 4) Weak to his own F'ing weapon! Plus, once you get metal blades, you just use them instead of the mega buster, except against the 3 bad guys it doesn't hurt.
    • flonglonger, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Megaman 3 was candy, Megaman 1 was a kick in the nards.
    • LeRenard, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1I have never been able to last more than a minute or two in any mega man game.. something about them and I don't click together.
      • bovilexia, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0same here. me and mega man have never gotten along. i get too frustrated with the games. i still to this day haven't beaten a mega man.
  • NinjaPirateDude, on 02/01/2008, -15/+2we get it!, nes was hard, get over it.
  • Hallucinogenic, on 02/01/2008, -7/+2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! much?
  • kavery, on 02/01/2008, -0/+27I got grounded when I was 10 and beat DuckTales as my mom walked into the room when I exclaimed 'That's ***** it?!'
    • kingraoul3, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2That was a great game though.
    • thuffner, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3I literally laughed out loud when I read this at work.

      Hilarious comment!
    • killachuck, on 02/01/2008, -1/+0Haha! My brother and I used ot get grounded all of the time for swearing and fighting while playing each other in sports games and arguing over whose turn it was to play. We still do it, but now with alcohol.
    • mtxrawkus, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Duck Tales was hard, but beatable... Poor ending though, I agree, haha.
  • noseeme, on 02/01/2008, -3/+1Is this battletoads?
  • cr4ft, on 02/01/2008, -1/+11What???? No Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde????
    Didn't anyone see the review by the Angry Nintendo Nerd? YOU JUST DIE FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M_4Yqk65f8
    • flonglonger, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Why can't "nerds" ever normalize their audio
  • digency, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2anyone got a mirror? sites down
  • cerealjynx, on 02/01/2008, -0/+5Links dead but I'm just gonna say NO DEADLY TOWERS!?
    Seriously, it was the first NES game I had. ***** that game.
    • sancho, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Deadly Towers was deadly stupid. The game gave you no direction, no idea of what to do. You just wandered around endless screens trying to kill and not be killed. seanbaby has a good review of it:
      http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/w20-01.htm
    • whickywhickyjim, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1deadly towers was tough, but i beat it. it took forever to get around to finding out what to do, but then it kind of snowballed at the end into easiness. I can still remember the continue code that I used at the end:
      .AZMDKYILB
      good lord, I can't believe I can actually remember that.
  • codo678, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Mirror???!!!!!!
  • ledguitar, on 02/01/2008, -1/+44Site is a bit slow so here is the list:
    #10 - Top Gun
    #9 - Bart vs. the Space Mutants
    #8 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    #7 - Yo! Noid
    #6 - The Karate Kid
    #5 - Double Dragon 3: The Sacred Stones
    #4 - Mega Man
    #3 - Ghosts n Goblins
    #2 - Battletoads
    #1 - Silver Surfer
    • thexder, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Of those I have beat Top Gun TMNT Yo Noid Double Dragon 3 Mega Man Ghosts and Goblins Never played the others except Battletoads which was impossible.
    • xdeliriumx, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Uh.. Fester's Quest? That game is seriously impossible.
    • Magee1205, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Where is Contra?! Without the code, it's impossible to beat.
  • kirbicle, on 02/01/2008, -6/+1That list is weak. What about CONTRA??!?? Mega Man nor TMNT were that hard.
    • fancyj, on 02/01/2008, -1/+0i could, and i'm sure along with a lot of others, beat contra in my sleep. i've actually gotten through about half the game without dying once.
    • smrekar, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2you dont know what you are talking about. I expect the list to be games I have never beaten. Contra was beaten all day long. We would have slumber parties and beat contra 5-6 times in a night.
    • voltagasm5000, on 02/01/2008, -0/+0Thanks for repeating what several people have already established. Way to contribute.
  • ohnnyj, on 02/01/2008, -0/+13Back to the Future should be on this list.

    I couldn't get past the Diner scene. Others have said they did but I am skeptical. I still think there is nothing beyond this point in the game.
    • intanet, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6I was waiting for someone to mention Back to the Future. So many wasted hours hurling milkshakes at jocks.
    • jpe81, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2that game was impossible.
    • LogicBomB, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2I always got brickwalled there.
    • eschito, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Actually I got pass the diner, unfortunately it the same thing dogging ***** on the streets until you get to the dance. Then you have to throw guitars instead of milkshakes :( This game should be on the list, I never heard of anybody actually beating it.
      • scim, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1The game was pretty lame, but one of the most difficult of the nes. I recently beat it, but only by having an emulator that would let me save the state and load it at any point. After the milkshake part, you had more streets and the same type of thing catching kisses at the school, more streets, then you had to catch notes on a guitar. That was freaking hard. After that, more streets, then you drive the car to 88 and catch the lightning. That last part was pretty easy.
  • antob, on 02/01/2008, -0/+124Someone take out the server, blow on it, and put it back on.
    • smackafiyah, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Q-tip and alcohol also work pretty well.
    • Enfenestrate, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Just jiggle it a bit, that works most of the time for me
  • ReyBrujo, on 02/01/2008, -1/+2Dang, so many memories I am shivering! The Simpsons required a lot of backtracking. I could never pass the first stage of Ghosts'n Goblins. Mega Man was passable if you chose the right order of bosses, but if you didn't, you were history. Turtles 1 was one of the most difficult games I finished, having to travel through the map always made me mad! And Battletoads! I was able to reach the stage where you hold some kind of circle in a labyrinth where a yellow circle followed you. Could never pass that stage. But the most difficult game is, undoubtedly, Impossible: Mission. For those who have never played it, you have 3 characters, one that could disguise for some time, another who could fire weapons, and a third one who could only open locks. And you needed to keep them all alive. If one died, he died for good. I never managed to pass the first stage, and reading a very old (1992 or so) Spanish magazine, Hobby Consolas, they posted a walkthrough but could only post pictures of the first three stages (which were HUGE) because they could never pass that one (I think it was one where the guys did jet-sky). It made me realize how hard that little jewel was!

    And people nowadays complain about difficulty!
  • atomicskip, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3Mirror (a bit slow):
    http://tinyurl.com/2bjtmo
  • suriyou, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2No Zanac? That games a bitch.
    • robotsongs, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1For reals. Not only that, but after an hour of playing, when you stand up the whole ground starts moving forward without you and you get sick. So many good memories of falling down after standing up again...
  • Namaha, on 02/01/2008, -0/+13Solomon's Key should be there.

    In fact why not just make the list twice as big. The NES era was so much harder than the easiness being spewed out of video game factories today.
    • funsac22, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2What an insanely great and challenging game :)
    • wimmers, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Indeed it was...Ive since played it on en emulator so you can save every 10 seconds or when you beat a level. I DID beat this game..>The last level would HAVE to be impossible without knowing a programmer of the game. I found some dude (years ago) on the internet who sent me the instructions on how to get the key. Honestly, it was so random - you had to hit some random block 3 times, jump twice, turn out, fart, then hit the block - then MAGICALLY, you could walk THROUGH the block (not even destroy it like the other 99 levels)!!! Great game though
    • dimebags, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1yes. i love this game too and yes it's a bitch.
      • Enfenestrate, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1This is the game that made me realize I'm getting old. I used to wreck that game when I was younger. Now I can't beat the second level :(
  • eh123, on 02/01/2008, -4/+2Any "hardest NES game" list that does not include Deadly Towers at #1 is a failure.
    • xsquirrel378x, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1hahaha ***** deadly T. we tried smashing the cartridge on a few seperate occasions with a baseball bat, throwing it off a roof, stomping on it, throwing it against the wall and maybe some other stuff and it always still ***** worked, that ***** game

      this video might come to help resolve some childhood trauma
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmyLkZT-zBk
      • Enfenestrate, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1Really because most cartridges would fail if you did anything to them, up to an including playing them
  • Culero, on 02/01/2008, -2/+14*saves state*
    *reloads state*

    *pets emulator*
    • unearth, on 02/01/2008, -0/+6With ZSNES you can just hit TAB to rewind about 10 seconds. Not the proper way to play, but I'd sooner slam my dick in a door than play Silver Surfer without being able to do it.
      • Culero, on 02/01/2008, -1/+1WHAT?! what is this "tab" you speak of!?...
        • smackafiyah, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1"Whoo, I need a TAB" *hits TAB button' "Now where's my TAB?"
  • bingobongony, on 02/01/2008, -1/+4Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but no RC Pro Am? Absolutely not. On ascale of 1 to 10 if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was "hard" and, say a 7, RC ProAm is a 7324. And RC Pro-Am was hard in the most annoying kind of way. Reasonable up to one level, and then ridiculous the very next. Not one that slowly got harder to the point of being too hard. It went from a great fun game to stupid in one level. (I think it was 32.)
  • monkeyboyhero, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2No Bionic Commando? That game was a *****! Mainly because you had to wrestle with the control system (where you couldn't jump!) whilst fighting off tons of baddies.

    I started playing on a NES emulator again recently to exorcise the TMNT demons. Damn that ***** game!
  • woofers07, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Top Gun, TMNT and Ghosts n Goblins were the first three games that popped into my head when I read the title. Eff those damn games, I just had flashbacks of that damn re-fueling plane on top gun.
  • Abominous, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Not once was I ever able to land the damn plane in Top Gun.

    Also to hell with that water level on TMNT!
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