20 Classic NES Games That Are So Mind-Numbingly Difficult They're Practically Unbeatable

Ghosts 'n GoblinsGhosts 'n Goblins started as an arcade title in 1985 and became an instant hit. The game showed killer graphics and sound. A fun mechanic made your character lose armor when hit. You can only take two hits before dying. Then, the level resets. This isn't what makes it Nintendo Hard.

What Makes It So Hard: Ghosts 'n GoblinsThis platform game forces you through levels of zombies, demons, ogres, dragons, and undead monsters to rescue Princess Prin-Prin from Astaroth, king of Demon World. The game is hard. You need many replays to learn the moves. Finally, you beat it. You get to play the entire game again. Yes, that happens. You must replay it at a higher difficulty.Ghosts 'n Goblins' has higher difficulty.. This leads to the game's real final battle. Players need to beat it twice to claim victory. Beating it is not easy.

Battletoads Battletoads is a beat 'em up sidescrolling platformer from Rare. It stands as one of the hardest games on the NES library. Rare made this game after the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The two franchises share many similarities.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the two franchises share many similarities.

What Makes It So Hard: This game's difficulty suggests a sadist programmed it. Every level increases difficulty exponentially as you advance. Four players could play this game. However, friendly fire made it simple to kill your friends or get killed by them. Most obstacles demand exact timing and precision. A small error leads to death. People called this one of the hardest games.Battletoads are the hardest games.on the NESBattletoadsBattletoads won many awards and created a successful franchise. Many fans enjoyed playing it.

Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden is often seen as a hard game. That seems to be a common view. The game features Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja. He travels to America to get revenge for his father's death. There, he finds a plot hatched by "the Jaquio." The Jaquio plans to take over the world by releasing an ancient demon. Only Ryu can stop him. The player fights enemies across six acts of 20 levels.

What Makes It So Hard: Few gamers remember this game without flashbacks about howNinja Gaiden is incredibly difficult.The difficulty setting in Ninja Gaiden was insanely high and unforgiving. The game demanded perfect timing; any mistake meant many deaths. Stupid birds often swoop down without warning, knocking players into pits. Players barely dodge these enemies; they cannot plan for them. These actions make playing the game ridiculously hard. Reaching the end level is a gauntlet of nightmare fuel. It likely destroyed hundreds of controllers in the '80s.

The Silver Surfer is on the list of 20 Classic NES Games That Are So Mind-Numbingly Difficult They're Practically Unbeatable.Silver SurferThe NES game features an alternating side-scroller and overhead perspective. Each stage has sections. Players control the superhero as he fights enemies and pursues minibosses. The game follows a story and uses mechanics similar to other side-scroller shooters. This is not the best Marvel adaptation, but it might be the worst.

What Makes It So Hard:This game isbrutal.and hard to control. Players fly on a surfboard, firing silver balls at enemies. Unlike his comic book self, he is insanely weak. In the comics, the Surfer is one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe. In this game, he is one of the easiest things to kill, making him ridiculously underpowered. Players who want to beat the game must use a password system to make the Surfer invincible. Without it, most gamers cannot finish the game.it features characters in the Marvel Universe.But in this game, he is one of the easiest things to kill, making him ridiculously underpowered. Players who want to slog through the game can use a password system to make the Surfer invincible. Without it, most gamers have a real chance of failing.

In 1989, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a hot property. Seeing them on the NES was not surprising. The game was one of the first based on the 1987 animated series. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo go on a mission to get the Life Transformer Gun from Shredder. They meet allies and enemies before fighting Shredder at the Technodrome.

What Makes It So Hard:The friggin'water level.! Frankly, players explain the game's difficulty for over 30 years after playing about the water level. It made moving through all obstacles almost impossible. That was not the only hard part of playing TMNT on the NES. Some parts show the franchise well, but other parts torment gamers and make them hate the Turtles. The game is beatable, but you must repeat actions because you die often through most levels.

The firstPunch-Out!!game came from the arcade release, four years earlier. The NES port was originally called Punch-Out!!with Super Macho Man as the final boss, it later re-released as Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!Tyson was the World Heavyweight Champion and the game's final boss. The NES title featured a story, unlike arcade games, following Little Mac as he fights for the World Video Boxing Association title.

What Makes It So Hard: Punch-Out!!The game works predictably; players usually lose, learn, and try again. Each fighter uses set attack patterns. Memorizing these patterns helps players avoid hits, land strikes, and advance. Players can take damage and move on. However, the title fight ends with a one-hit/one-kill situation. The Champ dances; hitting you ends the game, forcing a restart. Players must play the entire game repeatedly.Players face dozens of times.Players need dozens of times to come close to winning; this makes the gameplay difficult and long.

Top GunThe game debuted in theaters in 1986. The next year, an NES game based on it appeared. The game lacks a strong story. It centers on the player as Maverick, who must finish four missions piloting the F-14 Tomcat. The game offered two endings, which was unusual for its release time. The ending shown depends on the score received; reaching 50,000 points shows the Top Gun plaque Iceman received in the movie.

What Makes It So Hard: Flying the Tomcat to shoot down enemies is not harder than most dogfighting games. The flying is not the issue; the landing is. Landing on an aircraft carrier is nearly impossible. You can follow all on-screen instructions yet still crash into the ocean or the ship's underside. It is Top Gun is technically possible. to do, but few players have honestly done it without cheating. Another impossible part involves mid-air refueling. Lining everything up correctly is nearly impossible.

InThe Adventures of Bayou Billy,Players control Billy West, a Crocodile Dundee-style survivalist. West is from New Orleans, not Australia's Outback. West was a Soldier, now a vigilante crimefighter facing the local crime boss, Godfather Gordon. Gordon kidnaps Billy's girlfriend, forcing Billy to fight Gordon's Goons across nine stages from the bayou to Bourbon Street.

What Makes It So Hard: On the surface, it looks like any other platformer from that era, but there is more to The Adventures of Bayou BillyThis game is a port of a computer game called Mad City.Graphics got an overhaul, and difficulty jumped to eleven. The game might have succeeded and launched a franchise, but the difficultywas too great for players to finish or ask for more. Try the original code if you want to play it that way.Mad City.Play Mad City on the Super Famicon; it is basically the same title.

Sunsoft released it in 1989.Fester's Quest.for the NES in 1989. The game uses the 1960s TV series, The Addams Family.Fester sees an alien invasion hit the city. He grabs his blunderbuss and enters town to fight the threat. He finds new gear along the way to fight the alien mothership and rescue his abducted family.

What Makes It So Hard:Fester's Quest.Fester's Quest is a Nintendo Hard game people like because it is ridiculously hard. The game is hard to play, making it easy to die from things you should avoid. Difficulty lacks balance; one area is easy, but the next is nightmare mode, followed by a hard area, not as tough as the first. This makes for a tough run, but starting over when Fester dies means many restarts.

Master Blaster.Master Blaster mixes many mechanics and gameplay styles. Players enter a tank, then switch from a 2D platformer to a top-down view. You pick up power-ups and gain power, but enemies get harder as you move, making power-ups very important.

What Makes It So Hard:This game demands long playtime. You must sit and play an intense, hard game for hours. There are few continues and no saves, so Master Blaster.takes a lot of time and energy. Players move back and forth through stages, with little guidance on what to do. Lots of trial and error without mistakes makes beating it somewhat possible, though you will die and restart many times.

CastlevaniaCastlevania launched on the NES in 1986. Innovative mechanics, a killer soundtrack, and tough enemies made it a huge console hit. Players become Simon Belmont, entering Castlevania to fight Count Dracula. Players fight tougher enemies on every level until they meet the Vampire king.

What Makes It So Hard: CastlevaniaThe game scales difficulty across every inch your character moves. You must commit 100% to every action; you cannot change your jump path or pull your whip back. Every move needs thought; a small error ends your life. Boss fights are evil. The final boss is at the Dark Soul difficulty, a level that did not exist when the game launched.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde hit the NES in 1988. It is a side-scrolling action game. Robert Louis Stevenson's novel inspires it. The game centers on Dr. Jekyll going to his wedding with Miss Millicent. Many call this one of the worst NES games. Its fame makes it popular with hardcore gamers; it offers a near-impossible challenge.

What Makes It So Hard: Playing this game demands more patience than most people have. Controls are poorly mapped, making simple play difficult. It operates on a one-hit/one-kill system; getting hit causes weird events. Dr. Jekyll dies in one hit, then reappears as Mr. Hyde. If you hit the same spot where he died, lightning strikes, and you die instantly. This game is awful and incredibly hard. Save yourself the pain and watch the Angry Video Game Nerd's review he posted in 2011.

The first game in the Mega Man franchise hit the NES in 1987. The game introduced new mechanics. The six-stage gameplay featured some of the best (and hardest) boss fights of the early NES era. Each level gave the player a unique weapon. Choosing the right stage order created an interesting strategy.

What Makes It So Hard: Gameplay uses rock, paper, scissors for unique weapons from beating six stages. Weapons hit some enemies, missed others. Weapons did not dominate each other; players needed strategy. Ignoring these factors almost always led to failure. You must play often to learn the best moves. Otherwise, this platformer has many enemies and traps, making death easy.Mega Man appears on the list '20 Classic NES Games That Are So Mind-Numbingly Difficult They're Practically Unbeatable'.. Nintendo Hard described this game for years; it earned that label immediately.

LJN chose to release this to capitalize on the movie's success.Friday the 13th is on the list '20 Classic NES Games That Are So Mind-Numbingly Difficult They're Practically Unbeatable'.The game hit the NES in 1989. Like most company games, there was little hype. Critics panned the game.players hated trying to survive Jason Voorhees and beat him three times. The game was notoriously impossible. This did not help anyone much, but like other Nintendo Hard games, modern emulator plays bring renewed interest., and players hated trying to survive Jason Voorhees and beat him three times. The game was notoriously impossible. This did not help anyone much, but like other Nintendo Hard games, modern emulator plays bring renewed interest.

What Makes It So Hard: Friday the 13th.Avoid this game if you already find a world with an unstoppable killer wiping out everyone at a camp too much. This is the basic setup. Terrible control mapping and weak moves make playing nearly impossible. You must beat Jason Voorhees three times! Aside from the difficulty, this is one of the worst games ever made. Playing it is masochism. People still play, but watching the A nerd reviews Friday the 13th.The review of Friday the 13th is from 2012.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is on the list '20 Classic NES Games That Are So Mind-Numbingly Difficult They're Practically Unbeatable'.This game followed the original The Legend of Zelda is listed., and it updated game mechanics. This changed gameplay from overhead style to platformer. The overhead look for the map stayed, but gameplay differed greatly from the original. Most players liked it. However, some gameplay aspects made it very hard.

What Makes It So Hard: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.The game changed from the original by limiting lives, a feature seen in this sequel but never before. This sequel was much harder than its predecessor; death became part of the game. Players needed to dodge attacks, requiring skill to succeed. Progressing through the game leveled up Link, helping balance gameplay and making the difficulty less of a problem early on.

Contra is on the list.Contra sold well on the NES. Few people from the '80s played it for hours.ContraIf you thought Contra was easy, you likely played it through to the end with the Konami Code.Konami CodeFor everyone else, entering Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A at boot-up started the game.ContraContra was nearly impossible. It has 19 stages, and each one beats the ones before it.

What Makes It So Hard: The game uses a one-hit, one-kill rule. Touching anything that kills you ends you. Normally, you get three hits before losing all lives and starting over. Even with the Konami Code, the game was very hard unless you played co-op with a friend.

In Bionic CommandoBionic Commando players act as Nathan "Rad" Spencer, a man with a bionic arm. He fights Mr. Badd and his group. The game first had an alternate timeline with Nazis after WWII, but that Nazi content was cut for the Western release. Arcades first released the game, and porting it to the NES made many players mash buttons in frustration.

What Makes It So Hard: Bionic CommandoBionic Commando changed the 2D platformer. It added a twist to set it apart from other titles. Jumping is a main action in these levels, but BC removed it. Players must shoot the bionic arm to jump, allowing them to climb or swing across the stage. This new mechanic added a big learning curve and made everything ten times harder.

Super Mario Bros.Super Mario Bros. was a huge NES hit. Thus, a sequel was expected, but the story for that sequel fills an entirearticleA sequel followed the original style but was nightmarishly difficult. Nintendo rebranded another game they worked on calledYume Kōjō: Doki Doki PanicThey swapped some characters for Mario ones and called itSuper Mario Bros. 2. The original game eventually came out asSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

What Makes It So Hard:Everything makes this game 1,000 times harder than its predecessor. The game progresses difficulty from the first title. Instead of starting at level one, it starts effectively at level nine in terms of difficulty, increasing only from there. Many people consider it the hardest game on the original Famicom Disk System, and West ports were just as tough. This game gave people ideas whenMario Makercame out, and the challenge became making levels harder than those inThe Lost Levels., but few games succeeded.

The first.Bubble Bobble.Bubble Bobble released on the NES in 1986. Despite its difficulty, it started a huge franchise. ModernBubble Bobble.Bubble Bobble games usually work as puzzle shooters. The original game was a platformer. It featured Bub and Bob, two dragons players controlled. Players rescued their girlfriends from the Cave of Monsters. They trapped enemies in popping bubbles to get bonus items. This ran for 100 levels. That was a lot for the NES generation.

What Makes It So Hard: Every level presents challenges. Each level is harder than the one before it. This game ran for 100 levels. That makes sense in a video game.Bubble Bobble.Bubble Bobble is challenging. Playing through the end is hard. But gameplay changes make it exciting every time you play. It was one of the most successful games of its type for the system. It was one of Taito's biggest commercial successes.Taito's biggest commercial successes.. To finish it, prepare for a long effort. You will need a lot of trial and error. You can technically beat it, but few people earn that achievement.

These days,Final Fantasy.Final Fantasy is a huge gaming franchise. It began with the first title released on the NES in 1987. This was the first game of its kind for the Western market. Unlike most other console games, Final Fantasy.Final Fantasy does not need intense button mashing. Players do not repeat actions. FF moves at the player's pace. The save function lets players take time.

What Makes It So Hard: Because this was the first game of its kind on the system, many modern conveniences were missing. Players committed to moves. If an enemy died before the attack landed, it counted as a miss. This left the player open to attacks they could block. This made progressing difficult. Players could only cast spells. a set number of times daily. Add to that the lack of the Internet. Players had no guidance in a world with harsh rules and much to explore, get lost in, and die.