A common criticism of modern games is that they’re too easy and I guess that’s true to an extent. Games of the past had to be difficult, so people would keep playing them, as arcade games were made difficult specifically to get players to keep putting quarters. Modern games are made with the intention to appeal to as many people as possible and have it be enjoyable to people who wouldn’t normally play video games. Or instead of being too easy, modern games get padded out. For example, Grand Theft Auto IV and V are guilty of being too easy. They’re fun games with a compelling story, don’t get me wrong. But the GTA series tends to be pad itself with useless stuff. I guess it makes the world feel more alive, but who really wants to go bowling in a video game? These games are repetitive because the developers couldn’t think of enough content to fill up a whole g⛦ame. So they stretch it out.

Of course, there are outliers. The Dark Souls series takes its inspiration from old school games. Dark Souls doesn’t apologize for its difficulty and if a player can’t beat it, then too bad. Dark Souls was lauded for its difficulty as it reminded people of the games of the past. So, below what I have are the most difficult, if not impossiblꦫe to beat, Sega Genesis games. The thing about most of these games is they’re a ton of fun to play. They offer a good challenge to players in a good way, for the most part. However, some of the games below are difficult in the cheapest way: bad controls, confusing gameplay, or impossible difficulty.

15 Kid Chameleon

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Let’s start off with Kid Chameleon, a game that claimed it had 100 levels... which is only sort of true. A good chunk of those 100 levels are bonus levels and you don’t need to play every single level to beat the game. There are warp points that skip levels and entire worlds, but even then, the game takes a while to beat. The levels aren’t short and they're packed with a lot of content. All the levels are complex and have different power ups that change how the game is played. If all the levels are played, Kid Chameleon takes around four to six hours to complete. And there’s no save feature in the game, so you have to beat the game in one long sitting. But aft✨er a while, the game preys on boredom and its own monotony to beat players. Take a break while playing this game, cause you’re in it for the long ha🙈ul.

14 The Adventures of Batman and Robin

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Prior to Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Adventures of Batman and Robin was held up as one of the best Batman games ever made. It was also considered an instance where the Genesis version was superior to the SNES version. The Super Nintendo tended to have better versions of shared games since it was a more powerful machine and was able to do more. So, developers had to make do and, in a moment of art through adversity, Konami made a great game. The game has different play modes: a beat-em-up (where you throw batarangs like a mad man), a top-down driving segment like Spy Hunter, and a flying segment like R-Type. The game has an arcade style of difficulty, meaning there are going to be a lot of cheap 𝕴deaths and starting the game over, making this a tough one to complete. And get a turbo controller for this game, you’re gonna need it.

13 MUSHA: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor

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M.U.S.H.A. is a top down shooter kind of like Spyhunter, but way more intense. As your robot cruises through levels, flaming skulls charge at you and enemy ships zip around trying to get a shot in. Cannons send a steady stream of cannon fire at the M.U.S.H.A. and you can’t take a break. There’s always something flying at you and these games aren’t generous either. One shot and the robot explodes. And that’s just the first level. Other levels have giant robots that take forever to kill and oni heads flying at the speed of sound. You'll also need a turbo controller for this game, because your thumb is going to feel exhausted and like it’s about to fall off at the joint. Finding a copy of M.U.S.H.A. is a problem because they aren’t a lot of copies out there and copies are pricey. The game is also av🐽ailable on the WiiU virtual console, but at this point, I don’t think people are going back to the WiiU.

12 Streets of Rage 3

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There’s debate among the fans of the Street of Rage series on which entry in the trilogy is the best. I say Streets of Rage 2 is the best entry because it was the most balanced of the trilogy. The game play was response and smooth, the hit detection felt fair, and the difficulty was incremental. The difficulty never spiked and Streets of Rage 2 had a good learning curve. Streets of Rage 3, on the other hand, throws you into the furnace from the get go. Enemies rush from every ang💧le and team up to take you down. Even if you play the game with a buddy, the game can still take your ass down. Zan is the strongest, but he’s slow, so enemies overwhelm him easily. Weapons can break at the worst moments, leaving you surrounded by a gang of thugs. Rage is a fitting title.

11 The Revenge of Shinobi

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The Revenge of Shinobi is the oldest game on this list and one of the worst. What makes Revenge of Shinobi so difficult is the controls, which is the worst way to make a game difficult. It's one thing to make a game challenging through level designs or enemies, but when you do it through removing power from the player, that just sucks. Other elements of the game’s difficulty comes from enemies suddenly appearing from any angle and the background. But, the enemies jump in fast, so it’s hard to slash them without the enemies getting a shot in. Another issue comes with Shinobi being so slow. For a master ninja, Shinobi isn’t very agile and he feels like he’s made out of wood. Bosses are no easy task either. Sometimes they’re huge and have a big range of attack or require you to hit a small and specific spot. Admittedly, the Revenge of Shinobi is pretty fun, but frustrating.

10 Comix Zone

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I love and hate this game. On one hand, I love how fun and creative the game is. The combat is fun and responsive, and the art style looks great to this day. The graphics look cell-shaded before that was even a thing. Sketch Turner, the hero, is sucked into this own com𒊎ic book and has to survive to the end. The difficulty does spike, but nothing the player can’t handle without practice. Now the reasons where I hate this game are that you hurt yourself when you attack and you only get three lives total in this game. You start the game with one life and earn up to three lives total, but that’s it. But by the time you get three lives, at some point you would’ve died already and lost a life or two. It’s a pretty hardcore handicap to give players for a game this challenging. And, as we said earlier, punching a enemy drains your health. As a player, you have to decide whether or not this enemy is worth fighting or how you can defeat the enemy when the game offers no other options. It’s a love-hate relationship.

9 Robocop Versus The Terminator

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A fan fiction come to life, Robocop Versus the Terminator is a dream come true. Surprisingly, Robocop doesn’t move like he does in the movies, as he doesn’t lumber around like a tank. Robocop moves quickly, can shoot in 8 directions, and can climb ladders with ease. He’s actually a lot more mobile than Shinobi. Now, this may seem contrary to the character of Robocop, who’s a walking tank, but he really needs the mobility. Enemies come from everywhere and you have to react quickly to them. Robocop has to fight a bunch of different Terminators, ranging from the regular human T-800s to Terminator dogs. Levels have side missions, but you most likely won’t get to them because the levels are so damn𒉰 hard. The Terminators are bullet sponges with machine guns and grenades. The game has some awful boss fights and they go on forever. Good luck with this one.

8 Chakan: The Forever Man

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Okay, this game is pretty badass and it's truly a Genesis classic. So you play as Chakan, a man who became immortal after defeating The Grim Reaper in a sword fight. But he was cursed to become the Reaper’s servant and to fight monsters in order to cleanse the world of evil. When all the evil has been cleansed, only then is the curse lifted and Chakan can die. The producer of the game, Ed Annunziata, had the reputation of making games that were hard to beat because he didn’t want kids beating them in a weekend and never thinking about them again. He accomplished his mission with this one. It’s a well designed game with intuitive level design meant to challenge players, as Chakan gets a bunch of different weapons and powers to fight his way to the end. The game is set up like Mega Man with a hub where you can choose the level. It’s like the Dark Souls of its time and it's incredibly hard.

7 Contra: Hard Corps

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This game is as awesome as it's difficult. Here’s the first level: you choose your character and immediately start running down streets where robots are trying to slaughter you in a post apocalyptic world. The city’s been destroyed, everything’s in ruins and you’re the only hope for humanity. The moment you start the game, you’re immediately pressing the fire button. Weird Terminator bugs are coming at you, the ground is rising, and robots infest the streets. Once you get a breather, you face the mid-level boss, a giant robot. Once you kill that giant robot, you continue until the end where you fight another giant robot. From the get-go, Contra: Hard Corps is throwing everything at you. The sink, the tub, and the entire house; absolutely everything. And this game is super creative. I can’t even describe any of the bosses because of how bizarre they look. I can say with confidence they’re robots for sure, but they're really weird ass robots. The picture above is one of those bosses and I’m at a loss for words. Contra: Hard Corps is an insane game in difficulty and content.

6 Target Earth

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Target Earth is a cool game. It’s a platformer with some elements of horizontal shooters like R-Type and the game is only eight levels long. That may seem short, but Target Earth is a busy game. Enemy robots are always flying around you and the game never settles down. Controlling your own robot suit is difficult, as it lumbers, and there are enemies taking potshots at you. Each level has different goals within them. Some have you protect allies, some have you destroy a enemy ship, while others have you survive an onslaught of robots. And because of the different level goals, you have to utilize different wea💧pons and abilities to achieve them. It’s an intense experience and as difficult as it may be, it’s still a lot fun.