Summary
- Video games offer a sense of accomplishment by conquering difficult challenges.
- Historical difficulty in video games, like Super Punch-Out, appeals to many audiences.
- Modern and classic games like Demon's Souls and Ninja Gaiden 2 push the boundaries of difficulty.
One thing that sets apart video games from other forms of art i⛄s that you canꦦ actually accomplish something when engaging in it. You can get a speedrun world record, get a new high score, or be the number one player in the country.

The Hardest Platinum Trophie👍s On PlayStation
Don't say you have𓆏 any of these. We w🃏on't believe you.
The feeling of accomplishment comes into play when looking at video game difficulty. Historically, video games have always been difficult since the arcade days, as titles w😼anted to eat up as many quarters as possible. Difficult games still appeal to a lot of audiences, but certain titles come along tha꧅t push things to that extra mile.
Updated on March 15, 2025, by Dominic Allen: There have been so many hard games throughout the history of the medium that there's definitely more than ten. Hard games popular now, like Elden Ring, have nothing on the truly hardest titles out there. They can be from any decade, as each generation has its fair share of brutal titles. Some games you've probably never heard of before, while others are well-known and deserve their reputation.
13 🦂 Arcade Super Punch-Out!! 💖
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Ain't Got Nothing On This Game
Release Year |
Platforms |
Developer |
Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
1984 |
Arcade, Nintendo Switch |
Nintendo R&D3 |
Nintendo |
A common game listed as one of the hardest of all time would be Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Sure, Mike Tyson's incredibly tough, but he doesn't hold a candle to Super Macho Man three in Arcade Super 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Punch-Out. Ri🍌ght off the bat, this game's harder for two reasons.
One, the controls aren't as solid as the console games, as you must manually move between head and body shots, and second, the AI is brutally unfair. It's far more reactive and unpredictable than other installments. If you want to fully complete all the fights, even with save states, be prepared to spend days. Super Macho Man three can do his spin punch lightning fast and can do 13 spin pu🀅nches in a row after knockdown.
12 Ghosts 'N Goblins
The Savage 2D Platformer That Started It All
Today, Capcom's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ghosts 'n Goblins🍷 series is well known for its brutal d🦩ifficulty, and the hardest title would be the original because it introduced the series' infamous dirty trick. The game's already ridiculously hard even when you get to level two, but since it plays great, many at the time decided to stick with it.
Once you beat the final boss, you'll discover the game's not over yet, and you must beat a second loop to see the real ending. The funny thing is that, in the arcades, this was more of a reward for skilled, hᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚardened players, while on the home consoles, this couldn't have felt more like a massive middle finger. For many, this seemed like a cruel joke and is a surprise you can't say about the sequels.
11 ༺ Battletoads 💎
A One-Of-A-Kind Difficult Game

- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Entertainment System, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sega Genesis, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Game Ge🤪ar, Amiga CD32 ൩
- Publisher
- 💧 Tradewest, Masaya, Sega, Mindscape ও
Battletoads absolutely earns its reputation as one of the hardest titles ever, primarily due to one fac🧜tor: the game's constantly changing. Virtually every level has a new gimmick, and might as well be an entirely different game.
You'll have to be skilled at all these different gameplay elements, whether it's the turbo tunnel, dodging electric beams, riding snakes, or the obligatory water le🌞vel. Even when you get to the second to last stage, you'll have to play a wheel race against a glowing void. There are a few brief, easy spots, but for the most part, it's a hectic journey from start to finish, unlike any other NES game.
10 ဣ Contra: Hard Corps International Version
Just Too Hard, Even For A Contra Game

- Platform(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sega Genesis, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation 5, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation 4, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Xbox Series X, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Xbox Series S, Xbox One, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Switch, PC
- How Long To Beat
- 2 Hours
Back in the day, Japanese game publishers often made the USA and European versions of titles significantly harder, primaܫrily because they didn't want you beating it in a rental. Contra: Hard Corps for the Genesis is the best example of this. The title was designed with a health bar in mind, leading to Contra: Hard Corps being much more hectic than any other Contra game seen before.

168澳洲幸运🐬5开奖网: The 8 Best Sega Genesis Games Of All Time
From Ecco The Dolphin to Sonic The Hedgehog 2, h𒆙ere are t🌳he best Sega Genesis games of all time!
In the international versions of the game, however, you only have one hit again, and only five continues compared to unlimited in the o🌜riginal version. This makes the game way too hard, to the point where even Contra veterans will doubt if they can beat💖 it.
9 𓆉 Super Monkey Ball 1 𝓀
60 Expert Levels With Only Three Lives?

Your comment has not been saved
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Super Monkey Ball
- Released
- November 18, 2001
- ESRB
- E For Everyone due to Mild Violence ﷺ
- Developer(s)
- 🐻 Amusement Vision
- Publisher(s)
- Sega
- Multiplayer
- 🅷Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- ♑Super♌ Monkey Ball
- Platform(s)
- GameCube
Super Monkey Ball is notorious for its brutal difficulty, but nothing will ever top the challenge seen in the GameCube original. Beating Super Monkey Ball 1 to its conclusion in the Master stages is for the truly elite. Unlike Monkey Ball 2, you can't buy lives in this game, so you'r♎e stuck with three and how🐟ever many you earn through bananas.
This proves to be a major problem when getting to the Master stages because you'll have to beat 50 Expert levels and the ten extra levels without getting a game over. Some of the Expert s♊tages are the hardest in the series, and beating them all with so few lives is ludicrous.
8 🐻 Ninja Gaiden 2 𒐪
One Of The Hardest And Greatest Action Games Ever Made

Your comment has not been saved
Ninja Gaiden II
- Released
- June 3, 2008
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Team Ninja
- Publisher(s)
- ൩ Mi🎉crosoft Game Studios
- Engine
- DOA4
- Franchise
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ninja Gaiden
- Platform(s)
- Xbox 360
- Publisher
- Tecmo, Xbox Game Studios, KOEꦐI TECMO AMERICA Corporation
- How Long To Beat
- 30 hours
Time and time again, a Souls veteran will jump onto an action game forum, describe their interest in Ninja Gaiden, and subsequently get steamrolled. Ninja Gaiden 2, unlike a Souls game, is heavily reaction-focused and fast-paced. It's still, to this day, one of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:fastest action games ever🌄ꦡ, and on Master Ninja, you can die in a split second.
The Incendiary Shuriken Ninjas will force you to learn the high offensive, fast-paced nature because if you're slow, you'll have ten explosives in you before you know it. Despite how savage Master Ninja difficulty is, t🗹here are tactics to make it easier. You can chain Ultimate Techniques in most fights and overuse Ninpo, but even with these strats, it's st꧙ill one of the hardest and most demanding games ever.
This is🔴 for the 2008 Xbox 36🌜0 Ninja Gaiden 2. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 or Ninja Gaiden 2 Black are a joke in comparison.
7 Demon's Souls
The First Souls Game Was Also The Hardest

Your comment has not been saved
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Demon's Souls
- Top Critic Avg: 92/100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- November 12, 2020
- ESRB
- ♛ M for Mature: Blood and Gor♔e, Violence
- Developer(s)
- ꦏ 𓃲 Bluepoint Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- ꦅ Onlin🃏e Multiplayer
- Franchise
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dark Souls
- Number of Players
- 1-6
- Platform(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation 5
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- Metascore
- 92
- PS Plus Availability
- 𓂃 Extra & Premium
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
If you're a modern gamer, Souls is what you pr💎obably first think of when discussing hard games. In reality, most of the Souls titles aren't anywhere near an all-time hard level due to their RPG and slow nature. The first title, Demon's Souls, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

Demon's Souls PS5: 13 Best Armor Sets, Ranked
If you want to get through Demon's Souls ꦿon PS5, you'll need a good a𒆙rmor set to protect you. These are the best.
There are two big factors that make this game 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:harder than the rest. One is that your healing items are limited and aren't free refil💫ls onඣce you rest at a bonfire. In fact, there are no bonfires present in Demon's Souls. Every time you die in human form, it affects the World Tendency, making the game even harder. In Itagaki fashion, if you thought the game was too difficult, well, it gets even more difficult.
6 ♏ Touhou Seirensen - Undefined Fantaꦬstic Object
You Have No Chance
Release Year |
Platforms |
Developer |
Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
2009 |
PC |
Team Shanghai Alice |
Team Shanghai Alice |
You can't leave out the bullet hell genre when discussing the hardest games, and Touhou Seirensen - Undefine𝕴d Fantastic O🌸bject is the most infamous. Even in Easy mode, this game's brutal as all hell, but crank it up to Lunatic difficulty, and most will simply give up.
What really elevates UFO into legendary status is that a joke ransomware was created years later that forced u🅘sers to get 200 million points on Lunatic mode to decrypt their files. Even though you can technically do it, it's so unearthly difficult that most victims are supposed to be stuck with their files encrypted.
5 Vanquish
God Hard Is Not To Be Messed With

Your comment has not been saved
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Vanquish
- Top Critic Avg: 79/100 Critics Rec: 79%
- Released
- October 19, 2010
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Platinum Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sega
Vanquish is already a pretty challenging game, even on Normal. A ton of parts will give you trouble, but what makes Vanquish♒ an all-time hard game would be God Hard difficulty. The developers knew this mode was bad because there were no achievements tied to it whatsoever.
It really makes all t🐎he lower difficulties seem like Easy mode in comparison. First off, you'll die quicker, but your trusty and handy AR mode has got its timer cut down significantly. This puts you to the absolute test, and the weapon upgrading system's also gone. God Hard is for hardcore action game experts only.
4 Super Meat B꧒oy
A Tough As Nails 2D Platformer With Controls Like No Other

Your comment has not been saved
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Super Meat Boy
- Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 96%
- Released
- October 20, 2010
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, Crude Hu🐈mor, Language
- Developer(s)
- Team Meat
- Publisher(s)
- Team Meat
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- 🌺 Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Platform(s)
- PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Switch, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Wii U, PC
- How Long To Beat
- 10 Hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
One of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:most ac🌃claimed Xbox Live Arcade titles was Super Meat Boy. In this 2D retro-inspired pඣlatformer, where you play as a little clump of meat, you slip and slide through some of the hardest 2D platformer levels of the generation. What makes Super Meat Boy an all-time hard game is the controls.
When you look at Ninja Gaiden 2, anybody can pick up and play that game, but with Super Meat Boy, some will just not get the controls down. Movement is super slippery, on purpose, of course, but it's completely counterin▨tuitive to every other platformer you've played. The fact that many people won't click with the controls here makes the title significantly harder than a game like Bionic Commando, which is much easier to understand.
Your comment has not been saved