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The Nintendo/NES Hard list

Nintegageo

By Nintegageo
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Nintegageo

Nintegageo | 582

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Sorta considering trying to pass each of the NES Hard games. Other than the Famicom-only entries, are there any that you think should/shouldn't have listed? Which games have you done or would you want to do?

Cheers guys and Happy New Year as well.

According to Wikipedia, this is the list:

 

 

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Dr. Morbis
Dr. Morbis

The internet is pretty much dead wrong when it comes to lising "hard" NES games.  As soon as you see a popular game like Contra or Ninja Gaiden listed, you can just dismiss the list immediately.  The

T-Pac
T-Pac

As someone who didn't start playing NES games until I was a teenager, I can assure you that all NES games are hard and you guys are just too skilled to realize it. -CasualCart

RH
RH

This debate is missing the point.  Instead we need to start a new thread here, debate the top 20, let it season a year and then update the Wikipedia article referencing our "definitive" post as a sour

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Tanooki

Tanooki | 4,934

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16 minutes ago, twiztor said:

personally, i wouldn't have Mega Man 3 or Little Nemo on that list. both fun games tho.

my memory says Yo Noid isn't very difficult either, but i haven't played it since i was a kid.

I'd agree with you, but no Yo Noid is nasty, nastier than the JP game it was bastardized from, probably another US choice of rental punishment.  It is a one hit kill, but you restart the entire stage, no checkpoints including with a boss which makes the game a real bastard (and no continues either.)

MM3 and Nemo they're not hard, fair, middle range really, as they're no Ghosts n Goblins.

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Dr. Morbis

Dr. Morbis | 2,089

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The internet is pretty much dead wrong when it comes to lising "hard" NES games.  As soon as you see a popular game like Contra or Ninja Gaiden listed, you can just dismiss the list immediately.  The Mexican Runner made a list of his top hardest games and it's far more accurate.  A real list won't have click-bait titles that casual gamers will be drawn to.  Games like Miracle Piano, To The Earth, Arkanoid, stuff like that will be on a real list; of course, keep in mind that we all have different skill sets, but by and large anyone who spends more than a couple of hours with Contra is going to be able to 1CC it pretty easily without the Konami Code...

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DefaultGen

DefaultGen | 5,409

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I mean Wikipedia isn't wrong. Contra, Zelda II, and Karate Kid are what people describe as "NES hard" but they sure aren't very hard games. How TF is Final Fantasy on that list too, haha.

Check TMR's NESMania spreadsheet. He played all the games and rated them. There is a little bias towards games he's already good at. Darkwing Duck and 10 Yard Fight are both a "2" in difficulty. Anyone can probably beat 10 Yard Fight the first time they pick up a controller but TMR's a former world record holder in Darkwing Duck. He also doesn't like archaic RPGs because stuff like Ultima and Might and Magic are 10s, lol. But most top end stuff is high for a reason.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KDNGI76HoMNyYLL6RqWu4PqUbw-lI920tf7QTclnLLE/edit

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Reed Rothchild

Reed Rothchild | 9,545

Editorials Team · Posted
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There's always two answers to this question.  For NES and SNES.  And probably all other consoles.

There's the answer that includes games like Contra and Ninja Gaiden, which people like to talk about, which will generate interest and discussion.

Then there's the answer that includes games like Championship Pool.  Which no one cares about or wants to talk about.  Other than our small circle of fanatics.

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peg

peg | 372

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Where the fuck are Star Force and Last Starfighter?  As far as I can tell noboy has legit beat Last Starfighter, at least not with a real video.  And no, pausing over and over again to slow the game down does not count, sorry.

 

If you want to include obscure, borderline impossible games, add El Destructor into the list.

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cj_robot

cj_robot | 542

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On 1/2/2022 at 11:12 PM, Nintegageo said:

 

 

  • Mega Man (1987), described by USgamer as an "introduction" of Nintendo hard difficulty[4]
  •  

 

🤔

Like there weren't hard NES games before Mega Man? Ghosts 'n Goblins and Castlevania come to mind. 

And I wouldn't even call Mega Man hard. 95% of the game is honestly pretty easy if you're using the sub-weapons properly.

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guitarzombie

guitarzombie | 924

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1 hour ago, cj_robot said:

🤔

Like there weren't hard NES games before Mega Man? Ghosts 'n Goblins and Castlevania come to mind. 

And I wouldn't even call Mega Man hard. 95% of the game is honestly pretty easy if you're using the sub-weapons properly.

The ONLY major annoying things about Mega Man, if its a first time playthru is Yellow Devil, but most importantly, doing the order right.  For example, if you dont get the magnet subweapon in Elecmans stage, only till almost the VERY end of the game you realize you cant beat it.  You'd have to remember what you missed, where it was, how to get it, etc.  Thats pretty lame.

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mbd39

mbd39 | 2,024

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1 hour ago, cj_robot said:

🤔

Like there weren't hard NES games before Mega Man? Ghosts 'n Goblins and Castlevania come to mind. 

And I wouldn't even call Mega Man hard. 95% of the game is honestly pretty easy if you're using the sub-weapons properly.

Ghosts n Goblins was the original "Nintendo hard" game, yep.

Adventure Island also came out before Mega Man and is so much harder.

 

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Dr. Morbis

Dr. Morbis | 2,089

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Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, guitarzombie said:

The ONLY major annoying things about Mega Man, if its a first time playthru is Yellow Devil, but most importantly, doing the order right.  For example, if you dont get the magnet subweapon in Elecmans stage, only till almost the VERY end of the game you realize you cant beat it.  You'd have to remember what you missed, where it was, how to get it, etc.  Thats pretty lame.

Yeah, I agree.  The Yellow Devil takes a few tries to get it down, but the blocks always shoot across in the exact same order, so it's more just a nuisance having to wait so long for each reformation to get him to his brief moment of vulnerability.  Other than that, the game is either very easy or very hard, based entirely on the order in which you do the stages...

13 hours ago, mbd39 said:

Adventure Island also came out before Mega Man and is so much harder.

In Japan, yes, in North America, no: Mega Man was first; but I agree 100% that Adventure Island is orders of magnitude more difficult than Mega Man, especially 8-2, the last jump in 8-3, and all of 8-4 without the axe...

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GPX

GPX | 1,370

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I think if we want a definitive list, we need to first start by defining the meaning of “hard”. Once it’s properly defined, then it’d be much easier to know what to add on the list and what to delete. 

Also, it’d be good to hear of which is “hard due to poor game design” vs “hard but bloody fun”. 

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RH

RH | 4,908

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7 hours ago, GPX said:

I think if we want a definitive list, we need to first start by defining the meaning of “hard”. Once it’s properly defined, then it’d be much easier to know what to add on the list and what to delete. 

Also, it’d be good to hear of which is “hard due to poor game design” vs “hard but bloody fun”. 

Honestly, if we wanted to make a definitive list from a debated topic, it might be worth having categories, as well as regional info.  This would help legitimize the list for Wikipedia.

There could be a list of "Hard by Design" games and a list of "Hard games do too broken mechanics".  Expand the list with details of what makes each broken game hard and that'd be good details for the article.  Mark which regional games are hard and annotate it with details like "Specifically the Japanese release".

If we want to get the list right, expand it and show it's not as straightforward as people think.  This is semi-valuable for a site like Wikipedia.  For most, hearing "X game is tough as nails" and seeing it on list is fun, but others might come along the article and actually take an interest in trying the truly toughest games on the system.  "Hardest Games" is a bit subjective, so having the expertise of an aged gaming community that also discusses the complexity of the question would ultimately make a better wikipedia article.

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DoctorEncore

DoctorEncore | 3,691

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11 hours ago, GPX said:

I think if we want a definitive list, we need to first start by defining the meaning of “hard”. Once it’s properly defined, then it’d be much easier to know what to add on the list and what to delete. 

Also, it’d be good to hear of which is “hard due to poor game design” vs “hard but bloody fun”. 

I agree completely. Difficulty is tough to define, but there a few objective ways it could be measured. The most straightforward is, of course, completion percentage. This would require very specific wording and specific gameplay instructions to remove outliers. Additionally, those who participated in the activity would need to answer a poll regarding why the game was difficult (i.e. gameplay challenge, glitches, technical problems, poor controls, confusing instructions, etc).

Some ways to present the data:

  • 50% of people on VGS who made a concerted effort to beat this game were successful.
  • 50% of people on VGS who made a concerted effort to beat this game were able to do so within 10 hours.
  • The average player on VGS who played for 10 hours made it 50% of the way through the game.
  • This game was deemed difficult due to gameplay
  • This game was deemed difficult due to poor controls

It's a stats nerd's dream come true.

 

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