Top 10 Hardest Video Games of All Time

Top 10 Hardest Video Games of All Time

Written by Zeromage 100 Comments
Last Updated:: June 8, 2008

Remember the first time you played a game where you couldn’t get by the first level no matter how hard you tried? Remember thinking to yourself that you spent 3$ dollars borrowing a game that was so difficult you wanted to return it and ask for something more tolerable? The staff here at Old-Wizard remembers these games like we played them yesterday. We remember all the controllers crushed under the weight of our throwing power. We remember the broken windows from the throwing of the controller at them. It wasn’t until the invention of the Game Genie and emulator programs that we were able to make any headway into the places we wanted to in these video games. We didn’t think that all of the video games on this list were difficult because we couldn’t conquer the first level though. Some of the games on our list hit points where we just gives up because we knew that it would take a year of practice to conquer the part. On top of this, one would have to go back through the whole game to get to the part that takes a year of practice to conquer. This was vexing and when one had the chance for using cheats, they were used, knowing that they would get them to where they wanted to go regardless of the pride lost in the apparent lack of skill. These next games then are the definitive most difficult games of all time for us. No games more than these have ever been as smashed after playing them.
10. Gauntlet

Gauntlet was an extremely fun game with four players on any system. The first 30 levels or so were filled with the best medieval melee in all of videogamedom. It was past these levels though that Gauntlet started to become difficult even with four players playing at one time. Not only were the levels filled with enemies around every corner, but the levels seemed to never end. The daunting task of completing this game seemed like one of the most protracted video game adventures. Codes would be used often by the gamer who couldn’t bare going meticulously through each and every level. Gauntlet was a game that was to be enjoyed by players who wanted to have immediate fun with their friends trouncing bogeymen. When the game was played for over an hour though, the fun factor would give way to the never endinglessness of the game. In this sense, Gauntlet was never meant to be beaten, but to be enjoyed for only a certain amount of time. I’m pessimistic about the odds of me ever meeting anyone that has been through this entire game. Like other games on this list, people will say that a game is easy and could be beaten quickly, but we know deep down that this is mostly just talk. I’m sure this is the case with Gauntlet.

9. Blaster Master

Blaster Master had great music and a winning overall theme. The game was hard as fuck though. The most difficult part of the game was that there was no saves anywhere and no password system. To be able to go throughout this game with no save was a remarkable feat. The bosses were hard, the obstacles were hard, every part of this game was hard. One would have to convince himself that they were to spend the entire day working on conquering this game as one hint of lost attention would leave the adventure never to be beaten again. Some of the obstacles in Blaster Master were obfuscating and mind numbing. Parts where you had to fit the tank into a place that was about 5 times smaller than the tank proved to be disparaging. Parts where you had to walk around a bosses level with an inordinate amount of dead ends proved to be just as disparaging. The final bosses of the game seemed to take forever to destroy with not much energy to come by. Five continues and three lives per continue may seem much for any game, but the player would have to be prepared to use each and every one of their lives to accomplish this game. As the player grew accustomed to the difficulty level, they would become accustomed the fact that they needed the best weapons to make any headway in this game. Bosses would not be able to be extirpated with regular weapons. Like most great games though, Blaster Master could be beaten, showing a charm in making the player word hard for his achievement. It was not like some games on this list where it was basically impossible to beat even the first level. Blaster Master is heralded for its difficulty level then, even if it seems just a bit too hard at some points.

8. Bayou Billie

Bayou Billie had an absolutely ripping soundtrack. The main theme was as heavy on funk as a Parliament record. Bayou Billie was also absolutely difficult. The enemies that Billie came across in the game would not die. You would knock them down and they would just keep getting up. This wouldn’t be a problem if all the enemies were final bosses in levels, but every enemy was like fighting Abobo from Double Dragon. If one mastered the skills of fighting these sempiternal beasts, one would have to play even more difficult levels like the driving levels that would just not end. One quarter of the way through the level and you were overwhelming proud of yourself for making that far with all the insanely difficult turns and plethora of bombs coming from planes. Bayou Billie didn’t have it easy. Poor guy had to fight never ending levels with final bosses coming at him at every angle. Has anyone ever beat this game? I’ve put in about 100 hours in trying to get to the end of this game. I didn’t succeed. Bayou Billie had to go on the list for this reason.

7. Mike Tyson’s Punchout

Mike Tyson’s Punchout, unlike many games on this list, was actually moderately difficult to play through. Certainly, fighters such as Glass Joe and Don Flamingo were no challenge for little Mac. As one became good at this game, one could beat the likes of Mr. Sandman and Super Macho man easily and with a little practice. It was the last boss in Mike Tyson though that we witness one of the most difficult moments in video game history. One was amazed by how one small uppercut by Tyson could take Little Mac to the ground gasping for breath as Doc smiled on. Could a final boss really be this hard? Where was the gradual increase in difficulty level that could get you ready for this domination? Certainly, it wasn’t Super Macho Man regardless of how powerful his Tornado punches were. It wasn’t Don Flamenco part two who had the stamina of 10 men. Nothing could get you prepared for having to dodge oddly timed uppercuts by the Bronx basher. Timing down Tyson’s uppercuts was beyond challenging. The gamer had better hope he had a game genie where one punch to an opponent could knock them down, or infinite stamina so that Tyson’s punch no longer had any impact. Take away the cheats, and one had to time all the uppercuts perfectly which was unbearably difficult. Unlike Contra though, Tyson could be beat with hours and hours of practice. Still, Mike Tyson is one of the most noticeable signifiers for “Difficult Boss” in video game history. Every gamer is struck with fear in having to battle an opponent who could spell game over for you in 1 hit.

6. Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden was known for amazing game play, solid controlling and smooth cut scenes not seen in any other game up to that point. Ninja Gaiden was also know for its difficulty. The bosses after each area were always challenging, making the player try 10-20 times before they were able to master a boss’s moves. Some of the jumps that Ryu had to make while evading occidental birds were annoyingly difficult. The player had to earn their way through the game with each level getting increasingly more difficult to the point of having to stop the game and come back to it some time later. After the player made it through the difficult levels of 3 and 4, they had to face some of the most difficult gaming in level 6. Beyond the later levels of the game, Ryu had to fight 3 bosses at the end of the game, all subtly difficult in their own right. We also cant forget the fact that every time you lost to a boss, you had to start over from the beginning of the level making the player more cognizant of the energy he expended in the level before. This kind of mentality required many lonely nights in ones bedroom to conquer Ninja Gaiden…Everything was put on hold to defeat Jaquio. The later Ninja Gaiden games would all be known for their conspicuous difficulty level, but none would ever come close to the challenge that lied in Ninja Gaiden 1. Anyone who has ever played stage 6-2 and 6-3 in Ninja Gaiden will be able to affirm this claim. There have never been levels in video game history that require as much focus, prudence, and skill to be able to conquer. One felt proud of themselves after beating these levels.

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100 Comments

#1 fingerbang says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:14 am

contra – very fun but overrated on difficulty
battletoads – absolutely impossible

i have never beaten the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

also HOME ALONE is impossible. you have to survive for 20 minutes in the house without marv and harry catching you.

other fun and difficult games that no one seems to mention:
-terminator 2 (u gota knock t1000 into the lava)
-batman (u gota shoot the joker like 7825 times)

#2 Scrodo Baggage says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:18 pm

I actually beat HOME ALONE one fuckin time. And yeah Battletoads is the hardest game ever.

#3 Andre says:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

I have gotten to the final level of Battletoads, the spinning tower, I think it’s called The Revolution. I never beat it though

#4 Joe says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:48 pm

I beat Bayou Billy after playing it for 6 months straight. You have to do all of the practice games, then play the real game immediately after. When you get to a hard boss and your energy depletes, it will automatically replenish because you did the training games first. I haven’t played this in years but I think your bulletproof vest will replenish also.

#5 Jason says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:13 am

im always surprised to see that “Sky Shark” didn’t make any of these lists. also, i have beaten paperboy before.

#6 Luf says:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:10 pm

I played that version of Battletoads when I was a kid, and I gave up at the surfboard level. It was fucking frustrating. The only fun part of the whole game is the first level. I played the game again after a few years with snes9x, and it had the quick save/quick load function. I got to the final level and finally beat it. The higher level I got to, the more impossible the game became. I had to quick save every 5 or 7 seconds and reloaded like millions of times. I think there’s no way in hell a player can win if he plays normally.

#7 Freeloader says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:59 am

Double Dragon 3 was, and still is, utter bullshit. The fact I made it to the last level make me feel good.

Only game I disagree with, is Contra. Even without THE CODE, I can beat it. Should of put “Silver Surfer” for NES in its place. That, was probably the hardest game ever. Getting past like 5-6 enemies, is a feat. I don’t know if anyone, anywhere, has beaten that game without an emulator.

#8 Mindok says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:29 am

Lawnmower Man for snes # 1

#9 Michael says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:00 pm

Interesting article, although the entry on Contra is ridiculous. The author pretty much asserts that it is impossible to beat the game without the Konami code. Even more incredibly, he says that it takes two months of practice to get to the second level alive. While I do not want to be rude, I have to wonder if the article’s author has some kind of debilitating neurological condition because, quite frankly, all it takes to get through the first level of Contra unscathed is some basic memorization of enemy placement within the level. And it isn’t a long level. There are two basic enemy types in Contra: 1) Fixed-point enemies, and 2) Randomly-generated enemies. Fixed-point enemies all shoot, and most randomly-generated enemies just run toward you. All you have to do to kill most of the game’s random enemies is… run forward and mash the fire button. Or turn around and fire at the ones coming from behind. Once you memorize the placement of fixed-point enemies, you can avoid running into them. Their attack patterns are pretty predictable. You also have to jump over holes in the ground…

This is all pretty basic. If you want to keep on the top portion of the level early on there is some tricky timing with the exploding bridges, but those don’t kill you. Whatever difficulty there is to the stage’s end boss is wiped out if you find one of the level’s two (I believe) spread gun weapon enhancements. But even with a pea shooter all it takes is some patience to kill him. You want to adopt this strategy:
1) Jump up to the top platform and shoot the guys on top of the structure.
2) Keeping to the left-most side of the screen, shoot out the two guns near the middle of the structure
3) At this point, nothing can hurt you, so you’re free to destroy the remaining part.

THIS is what you spent two months training to conquer? With such a lack of ability (or mental competence, or both), I’d frankly be surprised if you could complete ANY game, or, hell, do any thing that required the slightest amount of memorization.

You also complained about the second level where enemies lob grenades at you. For one thing, they aren’t “countless.” Generally, per group of soldiers attacking you, only one throws grenades. The rest just shoot at you, and you can dodge their bullets by crouching.
PROTIP: When enemies throw grenades at the position where you’re crouching… move.
As to the electric shocks… you do realize you’re not supposed to run into those electrified wires, right? All you have to do to avoid electric shocks is to not press up on your joypad.

Contra isn’t an easy game, by any means. Once you get to the Waterfall stage, death can come quick and often. Nevertheless, it is very possible to beat the game without resorting to cheat codes. I’ve actually beaten the game on one life (that is, without dying at all). It wasn’t easy, but I did it. And hell, even then, I used power-ups. I’ve seen people beat the game on one life without ever using power-ups.
My purpose in saying this isn’t to gloat. Beating a video game is… well, beating a video game. Not a great accomplishment. If you have difficulties with the game, I can understand that. Some people just aren’t good at Contra. Myself, I can’t play music-rhythm games to save my life. I struggled to complete the last mission of Elite Beat Agents on the easiest mode. But it is insulting both to your intelligence and to mine to say that the game is too difficult to beat without cheating, and that you’re justified in cheating because ‘everyone else does it.’ No, everyone else does not do it.

#10 Locklin says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:51 am

I beat Double Dragon 3 as a kid with every character, including the plump one. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to kill something, though, before I managed it. Also beat TMNT 1 after months and months of practice. Those are my only “claims to fame, though – I never got past Level 3 in Battletoads and certainly never beat any of the others on this list. And these days, I’m a gamins wuss – no time to put into beating really challenging games.

#11 Rob says:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

yea – somebody said it but they are correct: Silver Surfer for NES is the hardest game ever. Definetly should have been on the list.

#12 Delta says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:54 pm

They say games have become easier, but that’s largely due to better design avoiding a lot of the frustrations of cheap deaths they used to have with the Old-School games.

Though getting used to better design has made it harder to play older games, and throw backs to older games, now. I used to be REALLY GOOD at STREET FIGHTER II, then when the Xbox LIVE Arcade game port for one of the iterations came-out, I wasn’t so good. Not even against the CPU.

#13 Dalton says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:58 pm

You know why you all cannot beat these games? Because you’re all noobs! Haha, just kidding. Contra is pretty difficult. Battletoads is just utterly annoying..

#14 anonymous says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:49 pm

A couple of things on your article.

Firstly, contra is definitely beatable without the code, as are all the later ones. My roommate and I could beat Contra, Super C, and Contra 3 with one life on the hardest challenge level. It took a ton of work, but definitely doable.

Second – on ghosts and goblins I believe you are mistaking the different games. You had a spear to start off with that went across the entire screen, no sword which wasn’t introduced until ghouls n’ ghosts, and it was actually pretty decent. Another thing, while you do have to beat the game twice in a row to actually beat it, it was also ghouls n’ ghosts that you had to pick up the power bracelet on your second run through to get access to the true final boss.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

#15 Fedricco Rabaya says:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:07 am

Well I finished Contra because my friend did something to the computer so that you can save the game wherever you want to. Have you heard of that before?

#16 jason says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:07 pm

what about Fester’s Quest?

#17 George says:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:12 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qor5Rn7glaU
battletoads all the way through

#18 :.FireStorm.: says:
March 17th, 2010 at 2:57 am

BattleToads was a fun game. I love the joke about people calling gamestop asking for it.

And every game you have on here is pretty much the hardest ones. Though Ghost Busters was like satans asshole.

I know AVGN already said enough about ghost busters. so I wont say anything, but that was my break feast of nails in the morning.

#19 damian says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:14 am

ECHO THE DOLPHIN…

#20 ultranoob says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:41 am

Have any of you ever played Milon’s secret castle? It deserves to go in the top 10, that game is seriously unbeatable. i’ve never got past level 3.
You should try it.

I predict you lots of fun.

#21 Terry says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:10 pm

Not a single game from the original megaman series on here? Strange. Megaman 3 is one of the hardest games i’ve ever played.

#22 cb says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

I agree with the person who said contra is overrated on difficulty. I’ve seen so many people say this, and I am not a great game player. I’ll never win a game tournament, for sure, or even qualify. But I got to the point where I never needed the 30 man code and never lost a life, no matter what. Of course, I was 13 at the time. Ask me to do that today and I’ll never make it.

#23 Sunnfi says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:21 pm

I have to disagree with Contra and Double Dragon III, because both are pretty easy games if you play them for a week or two.

#24 Josh D says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:26 pm

Has anyone even thought about Friday the 13th for nes? Easily top 5 for difficulty and overall fruitlessness.

#25 Jeff b says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:20 pm

How bout Rambo and platoon those games were annoying.

#26 Jacob says:
March 17th, 2010 at 9:35 am

Dragon’s lair. I can’t even beat it on an NES Emulator. Another is the NES Garfield (Difficult and the worst NES game of all time).

#27 Patrick says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:09 pm

Contra shouldn’t be on the list.

Fester’s quest was just outright impossible. Anyone bother to playtest that?

Runner-ups–Rambo was really hard, but I did beat it eventually. Platoon also is really hard, but beatable.

Now what about the original Castlevania? How in the @#$@ do you beat that game? On the NES, I couldn’t get past the grim reaper on the second to the last level. I know you can get through that guy, but he’s really hard. I’m glad I gave up. Because several years later, and with an emulator with “save state” feature — I tried beating dracula. It took me forever to beat him, even loading states… It’s riduculous.

Another game worth mentioning… Top Gun. Yes, you say…only five levels. But you get to the last two levels, you are usually on your last jet. By this point, You’ve crashlanded one on the aircraft carrier in level 2. Maybe lost another jet on refueling or the landing on level 3.

And the missiles are coming every which way. Throw your controller at the screen, because you’ve just got hit, and it’s game over.

#28 Yan says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:07 am

I remember buying Battletoads instead of Mega Man 3 when I was a kid and almost regretting it.

But after hours of game play, I managed to beat the game many times. Just the satisfaction of beating up the Dark Queen at the top of her tower in the last level is enough reward when you realise how tough that game is!!

But I’ll agree that Tradewest could have made that game a lot less difficult.

#29 Brandon says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:59 am

3. Commodore 64 Karateka
2. Atari E.T.
1. Commodore 64 Dragon’s Lair

#30 The Mountain says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:46 pm

What? No Kid Icarus? Epic Fail

#31 poop eater lisa 69 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:20 am

duck tales is pretty hard and it made me hot

#32 Ben says:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:26 am

I stumbled upon a “tournament” of the top 64 NES games here (www.whereisbenrivera.com) No Kid Icarus, though, is a complete shame.

I always found Castlevania and Top Gun to be nightmares. Ditto with the original Ninja Turtles.

#33 bfmv rule says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:25 pm

battletoads is easy lol
home alone: completed like 50 times (it was my only game for a while)
contra 4 pretty difficult but not as hard as you make it seem

#34 pipsqeak says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

U should add Silent Hill Origins

#35 tony says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:05 pm

No one really said much about Gauntlet on here.. Battle toads will always be impossible, Ghosts N Goblins pretty tough as well. Some mentioned Rambo, not that tough. Friday the 13th was awful but easy once you knew how to defeat Jason. TMNT fun and had its difficult times but was beatable. Bayou Billy was just a pain in the ass more than anything else and Home Alone, come on now!… Lol

#36 ELSE3573 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:44 pm

There was a game for Playstation I rented once called “Run” that was fucking IMPOSSIBLE. it wasn’t even fun it was so hard. Anyone ever play this? You start off in this glass hallway and your object is to run from bullets and bombs coming at you from every angle. I believe a helicopter was outside the glass, shooting at you through it, bombs dropped from the ceiling and came up from the floor, there was mounted machine guns, etc.

#37 ELSE3573 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:49 pm

Uh, Tyson was from Brooklyn, not the Bronx.

#38 OW FANBOY says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:02 am

Else…does anyone really care that much where Tyson is from?

#39 ELSE3573 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:09 am

Well, considering I used to live in the same town as him (Bernardsville NJ), he used to jog by me when I was out at the school bus stop every morning, I used to see him and Robin Givens all over, and I am a HUGE boxing fan that grew up watching Tyson fights, and because I thought it was pretty much common knowledge where Mike was from, I wanted to address the fact that whoever wrote this list said,”Nothing could get you prepared for having to dodge oddly timed uppercuts by the Bronx basher.”

#40 ELSE3573 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:10 am

Either way, I just posted a simple correction, never made a big deal out of it, so I’m not sure WHY it’s a big deal??

#41 OW FANBOY says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

The things nerds get angry about.

#42 OW FANBOY says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:30 pm

This isn’t a history lesson about Mike Tyson. Its a video game list.

#43 tony says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

Thought he was from Catskills? Or somethin like that? Come on anybody in here really know where Tysons from? Lol. Bein obnoxious by the way, don’t really care…

#44 Deuce says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:19 am

Back to the future three first level on the horse… as hard a level as ive ever played on anything, you had to have super ninja reflexes to dodge anything.. and i would also like to say Kid Chameleon was a tough cookie of a game

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