Hardest game you've beaten?

[RH | 4,895]

This is a tough one.  I don't think I've tried to beat any really difficult games since I was a young kid and I think I've gotten better since then but in my younger days, there were a lot of games that felt impossible to me.  That said, here were the games I did beat that were the most difficult for the given system.  I admit, the list is lame in regards to difficulty when compared to many others.

• NES (Beaten) - Metroid
• NES (100%) - Probably nothing.  (I think I beat SMB3, but not every level, in order. I always used those whistles.  I do think I played through ever stage at least once though.  Just not in one setting.)
• Game Boy (Beaten) - Duck Tales
• Game Boy (100%) - Final Fantasy Adventure
• SNES (Beaten) - Super Metroid
• N64 (Beaten) - Ocarina of Time (Though I did get a lot of extra quest items, I didn't 100% this one.)
• N64 (100%) - Super Mario 64 (120 stars)
• PS1 (Beaten) - Tekken 3, Maybe
• PS1 (100%) - Final Fantasy VII (Beat it, got the Gold Chocobo, all top-tier weapons and defeated both Ultimate Weapons.)
• PS2 (100%) - Ridge Racer 5.  (Not hard, but quite a grind that I actually loved.)
• Switch - Axiom Verge

Edited September 5, 2022 by RH

[TDIRunner | 2,722]

The AVGN games were pretty difficult for me (playing on normal difficulty).  Those games track your deaths, and I died approximately 550 times between parts I and II.  

I'm having trouble coming up with other answers.  I'm the type of person who plays most games on easy because I don't want me games to be stressful.  However, there are a few games that I prefer hard mode.  For example, Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the Wild are two games that I prefer on hard and I've completed.  Not sure if either of those are considered difficult though.   

Edit:  I can 100% Crash Bandicoot 2 pretty easily and I was able to do it once with Crash 1 many years ago.  I've heard others refer to those games (particularly getting them to 100%) as pretty difficult.  

Edited September 1, 2022 by TDIRunner

[T-Pac | 7,513]

I’m terrible at most video games, but I managed to clear the bad ending of Kid Icarus [NES] a couple of times.

I also cleared the first loop of Metal Storm [NES] several years ago, which is something I haven’t been able to repeat since.

-CasualCart

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

7 hours ago, Brickman said:

Darkest Dungeon (this one was a little hard actually, damn mosquitoes killing all my good characters!)

I think the numbers back that up:

[Khromak | 768]

Hardest is a hard (HA!) thing to judge because it really depends on what kind of difficulty you're talking about. I think the hardest game I've ever beaten might be Enter the Gungeon, but that difficulty swings wildly depending how lucky you get with items etc. I've pulled off some pretty crazy stuff in that game sometimes though.

Easier to quantify: I think some of the NES and FDS games I beat were pretty brutal, in no particular order: Battletoads, Captain Planet, X-Men, Nazo no Murasame-jou, Otocky, Battle Kid, Battle Kid 2.

I think the hardest off that list would probably be Battletoads, at least for me it took the longest time to master. As @NESfiend said though, once you've beaten some of these games, especially Battletoads, it becomes kind of muscle memory. It took me weeks of practice to beat, but since then I've beaten it a half dozen times at least. Nazo no Mursame-jou was insane and I have no idea how I beat certain sections, but it only took a couple/few days of practice to get through. The Battle Kid games are crazy and I die hundreds of times every time I play through them

[Brickman | 3,980]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think the numbers back that up:

Haha wow that doesn’t surprise me. I had no will power or desire to 100% that game but huge respect to those who did.

Fantastic game though, it was crazy how time seemed to fly by playing that game. I remember playing it for 5 hours straight one session and not even realising I had been playing for that long.

I need to play the second one at some point.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

I enjoy a challenge and try to beat most of the newer "difficult" games. I don't think I can choose a single hardest game, but a few that crossed my mind:

• Super Meat Boy
• Celeste
• Cuphead
• Returnal
• Hollow Knight
• Trials HD series

Bonus Pick: Shinobi (PS2). This one is an under the radar, underrated gem, but is ridiculously difficult. It's been a long time since I played it, but it still lives rent free in my mind. Along with Rygar, this was one of the really cool 3D updates from the PS2 that seems to have been forgotten with time.

[Gloves | 11,760]

2 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I enjoy a challenge and try to beat most of the newer "difficult" games. I don't think I can choose a single hardest game, but a few that crossed my mind:

• Super Meat Boy
• Celeste
• Cuphead
• Returnal
• Hollow Knight
• Trials HD series

Bonus Pick: Shinobi (PS2). This one is an under the radar, underrated gem, but is ridiculously difficult. It's been a long time since I played it, but it still lives rent free in my mind. Along with Rygar, this was one of the really cool 3D updates from the PS2 that seems to have been forgotten with time.

Shinobi on PS2 is one of my favorite tough game shouts. Really really love that game, beating it was an incredible experience.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

Battletoads (NES)

Bump n Jump (NES) no continue code

All three Double Dragons (NES)

All three NES Ninja Gaidens 1CC

Cobra Triangle (NES)

Adventure Island (NES)

Super Ghouls n Ghosts (SNES)

 

[NESfiend | 1,514]

1 hour ago, mbd39 said:

Battletoads (NES)

Bump n Jump (NES) no continue code

All three Double Dragons (NES)

All three NES Ninja Gaidens 1CC

Cobra Triangle (NES)

Adventure Island (NES)

Super Ghouls n Ghosts (SNES)

 

This list is really impressive. Not that others arent, I just dont know any of the games that are non original releases and most lists contain one or all of those. 

DD1 has kicked my ass for years. Goddamn boss with an automatic firearm in an otherwise all ninja/gun free game. Ninja gaiden 3 is pretty inhuman and I need continues for ninja gaiden 1. Havent put enough effort into adventure island - because doing so seems trivial when its gets nails hard after only a few levels. And battletoads is battletoads- listed a lot in this thread for good reason. Pretty sick shit mbd

[mbd39 | 2,017]

34 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

This list is really impressive. Not that others arent, I just dont know any of the games that are non original releases and most lists contain one or all of those. 

DD1 has kicked my ass for years. Goddamn boss with an automatic firearm in an otherwise all ninja/gun free game. Ninja gaiden 3 is pretty inhuman and I need continues for ninja gaiden 1. Havent put enough effort into adventure island - because doing so seems trivial when its gets nails hard after only a few levels. And battletoads is battletoads- listed a lot in this thread for good reason. Pretty sick shit mbd

Thanks!

Of all the games I listed, Adventure Island might actually be the toughest. That and Super Ghouls n Ghosts are the only ones that I beat once and never again. AI is grueling with the last few levels being insanely hard.

 

[Ankos | 433]

2 hours ago, mbd39 said:

All three NES Ninja Gaidens 1CC

You like Ninja Gaiden games? Have you tried Haggleman 3 by Xseed? It looks kinda similar, and I think was inspired by Ninja Gaiden. It is pretty fun, but also pretty short

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

7 minutes ago, Ankos said:

You like Ninja Gaiden games? Have you tried Haggleman 3 by Xseed? It looks kinda similar, and I think was inspired by Ninja Gaiden. It is pretty fun, but also pretty short

Pretty sure mbd hasn't played a game newer than 1991 in quite awhile 

[mbd39 | 2,017]

2 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Pretty sure mbd hasn't played a game newer than 1991 in quite awhile 

Mostly true! But I did beat Cuphead and Cyber Shadow. Really liked both.

 

[Ankos | 433]

Oh. I mostly play newer stuff

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

Mega Man X6 probably takes top spot. Here are some others:

• Ninja Gaiden
• Ninja Gaiden II
• Ninja Gaiden III
• Dragon Warrior III

And the hardest part of any game I've ever beaten is by far Trial Of Fools in Hollow Knight.

[rdrunner | 422]

Love seeing everyone's picks on this thread!  Especially liked seeing Battle Kid show up.  I think my combined death count is in the 7000-8000 range, but I beat both of those games (will there ever be a third?).

Sticking with NES, here are some toughies I beat without any help, then wrote guides to help others:

• Deadly Towers
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Solomon's Key

Edited September 2, 2022 by rdrunner

[Sumez | 2,931]

2 hours ago, mbd39 said:

That and Super Ghouls n Ghosts are the only ones that I beat once and never again.

Surprised about Super GnG included here, as I'd say it's a much easier game than most of the others you listed, Battletoads, Adventure Island, and NG3 especially. It's also a super fun game that I see myself returning to many times throughout my life  

[twiztor | 847]

wow, there's some killer lists in this thread! not too much to add, and it pales to most of what was already posted, but these are the games i've beaten that caused me the most trouble:

NES: Castlevania 3. really should practice up so i can add Ninja Gaiden to the list.

SNES: Mega Man & Bass

[Floating Platforms | 713]

I tend to stay away from overly difficult games or ones where the difficulty is the point (like the Souls series), but in my goal to beat every Game Boy game, I've come across some nasty ones.

I think the hardest game that I've legitimately beaten is Wave Race.  The 800cc World Series Circuit took about 20 hours of practice and luck to finally conquer. Right now I think my recording on YouTube is the only documentation of it being done on there (at least that I could find).

The toughest game I have not legitimately beaten is Penguin Wars. It took over 40 hours to beat Stages 1-40 while using the stage select cheat code because the back half is that brutal and unfair.  Beating it in one run is my white whale goal.

Honorable mentions to Quarth, Hyper Lode Runner, and Incredible Crash Dummies. I know there may be other games that take the top spot away from Wave Race later (Championship Pool, Fighting Simulator 2-in-1, Dragon's Lair, Power Mission, Square Deal, World Bowling), but that's my pick for now.

[cj_robot | 540]

As much as I love them, I've never been great at NES games. The ones that I've actually beaten that gave me the hardest time were probably Castlevania, Talespin and Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy is not even really that tough, but you really have to take advantage of some stuff that you are left to figure out on your own, like which armor/weapon items can be used in battle to cast magic spells, which spells are actually worth purchasing, and which spells actually work in the game and aren't bugged to be completely useless. 

Maybe the toughest recent achievements have been beating Uncharted on Brutal difficulty. It's actually damn challenging, as enemies pretty much can one-hit kill you throughout the entire game.

Another one is the PS4 version of Red Faction, which is essentially an upscaled port of the PS2 game. I got it last year and damn if I forgot how tough the game is. The enemies have mostly perfect aim, even from ridiculous distances. On Normal (or Easy) difficulty, it's no real problem because you can absorb a lot of hits, but there is an Impossible difficulty which I completed, and it was absolutely brutal. That one remains the rarest PS trophy I've earned.

[NostalgicMachine | 227]

Battletoads Double Dragon NES is my most recent.

Friday the 13th NES is my party trick game.

I still can't beat Ninja Gaiden NES; I'm stuck on the final boss/level loop.

[Optomon | 65]

16 hours ago, rdrunner said:

 

• Solomon's Key

I've beaten maybe 150 nes games, this I'd say this game was easily the most difficult and gruelling one I've finished. 

[nesmaster14 | 432]

I'm a pretty casual gamer (I avoid looking up strategies, etc.), but here's a few that took me awhile to beat:

• Ninja Gaiden III (USA, NES) - One January we had a blizzard and were basically snowed in, so I finally attempted to beat the Ninja Gaiden series. I was able to knock down the the first two games over a few days, much to my surprise. Made it to NG3, and well, I finished it by December (yeah, 11 months later, lol). -- To be fair, I don't remember if I played much or forgot about it between then. Really enjoyed it though!  It might be my favorite in the series now.
• Super Star Soldier (TG16) - Another series I went through (played backwards starting with Soldier Blade).   The stages were a fair challenge, but I think I made attempts on the last stage for like a solid week haha.
• Castlevania III (USA, NES) - I wanted to beat the game by Halloween one year, so I had it in my NES much of October.  Was able to beat it the night before Halloween.  Definitely was rewarding and a cool journey.

Honorable Mentions: Gradius (NES), Mr. Gimmick (NES).

Almost: Recca (NES) - Ah, I got to the final boss with the s#*t-your-pants-music and frenetic movement.  I think I had just a few more hits on him... maybe one day.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:53 PM, Gloves said:

Shinobi on PS2 is one of my favorite tough game shouts. Really really love that game, beating it was an incredible experience.

I looked through at least a dozen articles and threads before writing my post and didn't see Shinobi mentioned in a single one. It's such a cool game and I wish more people would experience it. It's almost like the PS2 library is just too vast to reasonably explore. I suspect the Switch will be similar.