The first Battletoads for the NES was the toughest game I've ever played. First level was fun and was really only a quick run-through of the controls, but once you beat that level that honeymoon was over, boy. The levels seemed to last forever and the hoverbike levels are the single toughest gauntlet any gamer worth his or her salt can ever pinch through. Needless to say, I am one of the many who never beat it.

Ninja Gaiden was also a tough motherfucker to crack but at least that game was a bit more forgiving on the jumps.

Mischief Makers was a game that I actually thought was pretty difficult. See, how much of the ending you actually saw when you played through the game depended on how many gold gems you picked up in the game. I mean, sure you could plow through the entire game in a couple of sittings if you wanted to, but you'd just get a "here's a line of backstory, now go back and earn the full tale, you fuck" ending. Getting all the gems in the game was STUPID hard because some of the boss stages had them too and to earn them you had to beat the bosses without taking a single hit. I still haven't seen the complete ending for this game.

And, of course, Ikaruga. This game is harder than a Jessykins' nipples while walking blindfolded through a fish market. I've never seen the ending for this game either but I'm told that if I sink enough hours into the game I can opt for infinite continues, so this one may have hope yet.

Some games are just want you to check out the walkthroughs/hints. They could be torturous for those stubborn ones who insist on not using walkthroughs.

I feel the really tough games are those old-school 2D platformers, which no walkthrough or cheat can help you. Instant deaths (especially upon falling off a ledge / into water..I hate that!), very limited lives, having to repeat entire levels again and again, having to memorize every single encounter and behavioral pattern of the enemies..

I wonder why in those days they had to make games so punishing.
Not 'tough' as in 'challenging/exciting' but rather 'majorly painful & annoying'.

Insist on not using walkthroughs? Most of the time you didn't have that option. These games came out when nobody knew what the internet was, kids. There were no walkthroughs for games unless you waited for Nintendo Power to cover them.

People really need to stop listing this.

I've got more shmups than I've got fingers and toes I can list that make Ikaruga look like 1942: Joint Strike.

Fucking pansies.

I really didn't find Ikaruga exceedingly difficult with the exception of Chapter 4, when you're just constantly being raped from all sides by enemy fire AND enemy jets. That level is completely and utterly unforgiving, but the rest of it is pretty manageable with enough practice.

I'd go so far as to call it one of the most pristine examples of a fair but difficult challenge that was common with old school games. I don't know what people are talking about when people say old school games are inherently unfairly difficult. They aren't. If they're well-made, they're tough as nails but they're balanced, and with enough practice, the end is certainly attainable. Some of these newer old school revival titles are made too hard for their own good just so they can say "OMG OLD SCHOOL GAMING!" It's rare when a game actually nails the kind of fair difficulty that came with a well-made classic game, and Ikaruga is definitely one of them.

Einhänder was harder than this.

Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time. Eventually, you find out that there's ACTUALLY A GAME in there besides just clicking away at stuff and giggling. Probably the worst game ever for "what in the fuck am I supposed to do," even more so than some of the retarded hidden stars in Mario Sunshine that most people would never find without a walkthrough.

And let's not forget how fuck'n hard Chrono Trigger was. God, I don't think I know ANYBODY who has beaten this game. It's all just bosses and mini-bosses, and fights. So difficult. I hear that if you're good enough to beat the game TWICE there's SPECIAL SEKRIT ENDINGZ, CAN ANYONE CONFIRM?



I'm also the retard who has beaten E.T. for the Atari 2600. With all the switches turned all the way to the right!

Also, since I suck at schmups SO HARD I don't think I'll ever get past the first level of Ikaruga, so I don't know what the hell y'all are talking about "fair."

Paco's flaccid whiskey dick is harder than Ikaruga.

The one game that springs to mind for me is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Not so much because it's really all that hard, rather because it is quite frustrating to have to watch your units so vigilantly, lest one of them die from a critical hit and be gone forever.

I actually beat Einhänder. Twice. I've never been able to beat Ikaruga.

"I also 1cc'd Under Defeat but couldn't even power my way through Bio-Hazard Battle".

Paco, this is a pretty huge case of you're doing it wrong.

I can give you pro-tips if you'd like. Here's one for free. "White absorbs white".

Now you will die half as often! Aren't I the nicest?

I actually beat I Wanna Be the Guy. Twice. I've never been able to beat New Super Mario Bros.

Gee! Thanks a BUNCH, mister! I'm glad you're here to tell me these things! But I gotta get going now to shine shoes at the train station so dad won't beat me for not helping with the rent. Then I'm gonna hit the paper route so I can buy some Bazooka-zooka BUBBLEGUM! Life is so much better now!

Ninja Gaiden 3 for the NES. NG1 was tough, but I stuck with it and somehow made it through. NG2 was easier thanks to the shadow clones and is by far my favorite of the trilogy, but 3...goddamn 3 was just insane. Instead of Shadow Clones, your main weapon powerup is a longer slash with your sword. I think the furthest I made it to 3 was either the end of the 2nd level or the beginning of the 3rd level, but after losing all of my lives I started using save-states over and over until I finally beat the game.

Also, for those of you saying TMNT1...I had a players guide video that helped me out back in those days (tips for beating TMNT, Metal Gear, Skate or Die, and Defender of the Crown), so I didn't suffer as much as you guys. However, this game is a piece of cake to me now and I can pretty much beat it every time by using one or no continues. I can't say I can beat it without losing a turtle, I somehow manage to make a mistake around the fourth level with the damn fiery pit in stage 14 or 15.

Exactly my point: You can beat the harder, older game but still struggle with basic color comprehension.

I remember wasting forever beating the Lost Levels without using save states on my emulator. I think that was the game that made me give up on really hard 2D platformers.

Did anyone ever play RC Stunt Copter on the PlayStation? That was simultaneously one of the hardest and most boring games ever developed. Needless to say, my mate who bought it didn't keep it very long.

Back in the day I remember being able to cut a swath of destruction through Contra III on Hard too but, you know, I'm old now. Years of drug, alcohol and pussy abuse killed my reflexes. What's YOUR excuse for not beating it now?

You've clearly never played Carnage Heart. Single disc game that came in a double disc case because half of the case was reserved for the gargantuan instruction booklet that practically required a Ph.D. to understand and it was one of the most bland-looking and boring games ever released on the system. I sold it the week I bought it and bought Bushido Blade instead.

Around 2003, I got to the final boss on the hardest level (in a two player game) and died. However, my friend then beat it. Whats YOUR excuse?

Actually you're all wrong. The hardest game ever made was the original Jet Set Willy on the Spectrum. Limited lives, one hit deaths, pixel perfect jumps required and loads of glitches that made it physically impossible to actually finish half the time. I've never met anyone who beat it and if any of you say you have, I want to see a video.

Pretty much every screen in JSW was a death trap but for me the hardest of all was the Banyan Tree:

YouTube Video

Bearing in mind that at the time, you had to play this using the crappy rubber keys on a Spectrum keyboard and the whole game was just insanely hard. You kids with your new fangled 8 bit games have no idea what properly difficult games were all about...

Oh. So you mean Contra.

I had those videos

and they were worthless

Only several years earlier, with more glitches and with a worse input device. Maybe you should read what other people write before making stupid comments that serve only to highlight your own ignorance? Like I already said, you kids with your new-fangled 8 bit games know nothing about real difficulty in gaming.

Um....
Plus, your friend beat the final boss for you. I used to ream through it alone.

I had no friends in high school. :(

Nigga, I got a goddamn Intellivision. Don't be hate'n on me because I'm representin' 1978 with my hot-as-fuck fake wood racing stripe and dope as all hell voice synthesis action. My shit is vintage, who the hell are you?

People like you beat their wives and play Sears Super Video Arcade. Get outta here. I control the sky.

BURGERTIME. PETER PEPPER ALL UP IN YOUR FACE. DO SOMETHIN ABOUT IT. HOW YOU GONNA ACT NOW.