What is the hardest game ever? [Archive]

horseboy

07-19-2007, 12:37 PM

Ghosts and Goblins, and Ninja Gaiden.

Also- I thought the first Maximo was a huge pain in the ass.

Another vote for Ghosts and Goblins. I don't know anyone personally that ever beat that game.

Faxanadu is really hard, but maybe that is because I never had the instructions.

And nobody ever anywhere beat Impossible Mission for the 7800 because, well, it is impossible.

Cinder6

07-19-2007, 12:50 PM

I'm thinking there has to be something harder than GnG. But for now, that's all I can think of.

exit

07-19-2007, 01:02 PM

I loathe Mega Man, I can never get bast the giant yellow thing, thus me never being able to finish the game.

Deadly Towers is another one, I tried playing it for awhile, but stopped when I died entering a room.

studvicious

07-19-2007, 01:18 PM

Treasure Master. I don't know if it's because I was 10 and couldn't figure this crappy game out or what but I could never get past the first level.

ryborg

07-19-2007, 01:29 PM

Deadly Towers is another one, I tried playing it for awhile, but stopped when I died entering a room.

Deadly Towers isn't hard. It just sucks.

It's hard for me to assess the difficulty of terrible games, since I usually stop playing them soon after I start.

I've never played it, but I bet this game is harder than Battletoads or GnG:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nscP9QpXoFM

Battymo

07-19-2007, 01:39 PM

The game of life of course!

Jorpho

07-19-2007, 01:41 PM

Haven't we done this thread many times over already?

At the very least, it is important to keep in mind that there are different kinds of "challenge". I like the way Mr. J_Factor put it (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101749&page=2):

1. "Direct" challenge, being challenged by enemies coming at you, pit traps, etc. I.E., stuff that causes you to die / lose life / lose the game. Pure action games and Tetris-style puzzle games use this kind of challenge.

2. "Indirect" challenge, like having to figure out where to go, what item to use, solving puzzles, etc. Adventure games rely on this. Lots and lots of games use both 1 and 2.

3. "Optional" challenge, unnecessary stuff that the player may feel compelled to do, but isn't required to beat the game or whatever. This is stuff like getting 100%, collecting all the trinkets, etc. I would also put beating an arcade game on one credit under this category, since arcade games with buy-in were designed with multi-credit play in mind. Although that's a bit of a grey area (since the arcade game would have to have #1 in it or else you would never need to continue).

4. "Time consumption" challenge, like in random-battle RPGs where bosses are only tough because the player doesn't want to spend too much time leveling up. This and #3 don't really count, IMO.

5. "Artifical" challenge is when a game is made more difficult by bugs, crippled controls, bad collision detection, etc. This isn't what I'm talking about, but the absolute hardest games all have some of this.

diskoboy

07-19-2007, 01:50 PM

Xbox Ninja Gaiden.

The very last boss is a total bitch and a half. But when you beat it, the sense of accomplishment is astounding. It's like getting 1000 achievement points, all at once.

MrRoboto19XX

07-19-2007, 01:55 PM

My vote goes to the oft-overlooked Wolverine: Adamantium Rage for the SNES. I'd place it even higher than G n' G any day.

Oh right, backing that up. The thing is, while G n' G has some good "Twitch" gameplay, where after a while you can just get in a groove (albeit a hard groove). Adamantium Rage has none of this, due to the slower pace of the game itself, making one hard mother shut your mouth of a game.

darkhades

07-19-2007, 02:01 PM

I'd say Festers Quest for the NES, I haven't played it in many many years, but I always remember having a hard time with it.

Sparkster

07-19-2007, 02:16 PM

I'd have to go with Dragon's Lair for the NES. Your character is super slow, many enemies come at you. Hell... even throwing a dagger consumes your energy.

Not only is it the hardest game I've tried, it's also tops my most hated list for the same reasons.

RCM

07-19-2007, 02:28 PM

All depends on how you play. If you hold yourself to "high standards" like J Factor mentioned with playing an arcade game with a single credit, titles can become super hard.

It's not about if you win, it's about how you get there. I'm still trying to beat Radiant Silvergun without using any continues.

As far as games that are super hard, I'd throw Alien Soldier in there. I like to drink coffee before I play so I'm on my toes.

Moo Cow

07-19-2007, 02:32 PM

Deadly Towers isn't hard. It just sucks.

It's hard for me to assess the difficulty of terrible games, since I usually stop playing them soon after I start.

I've never played it, but I bet this game is harder than Battletoads or GnG:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nscP9QpXoFM

Pfft. I'd beat that game blindfolded, handcuffed, drunk, coked up, with leeches sucking on my nipples.
I'd go with Cheetahmen 2. You can't get to the last two levels.

Vigilante

07-19-2007, 03:17 PM

[QUOTE=Moo Cow;1216433]Pfft. I'd beat that game blindfolded, handcuffed, drunk, coked up, with leeches sucking on my nipples.
QUOTE]

Sounds like you like to party!!! Woohoo!!

Moo Cow

07-19-2007, 03:20 PM

[QUOTE=Moo Cow;1216433]Pfft. I'd beat that game blindfolded, handcuffed, drunk, coked up, with leeches sucking on my nipples.
QUOTE]

Sounds like you like to party!!! Woohoo!!

you know it big boy;)

Daltone

07-19-2007, 04:31 PM

The Terminator on the Game Gear. No, really. Go emulate it if you don't have it.

blissfulnoise

07-19-2007, 04:37 PM

The correct answer is Sinistar.

hbkprm

07-19-2007, 04:42 PM

lunar dragon song

Gapporin

07-19-2007, 04:45 PM

Takeshi's Challenge (Famicom) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_no_Chousenjou). 'Nuff said.

j_factor

07-19-2007, 04:54 PM

The Game.com version of Fighters Megamix on hard mode. Seriously.

Trebuken

07-19-2007, 05:13 PM

Gauntlet, one quarter.

bangtango

07-19-2007, 09:26 PM

NES Hydlide. In the early part of the game, there is this room or area which drains your energy with each step. The other part that always frustrates me is that if you attack enemies from the wrong "side", it sucks the life right out of you and you're not able to damage them. That was how I remembered it.

I usually get killed off real early in Syphon Filter 2 but I doubt that is hard. I'm just not good at it.

smork

07-19-2007, 10:36 PM

The correct answer is Sinistar.

Indeed it is.

diskoboy

07-19-2007, 10:54 PM

I don't think Sinistar is that hard...

I'll admit, I'm not the greatest player, but I've played plenty of harder games than Sinistar.

exit

07-19-2007, 10:59 PM

Takeshi's Challenge (Famicom) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_no_Chousenjou). 'Nuff said.

That game looks horribly annoying, it also seems that nobody has ever beaten it.

k8track

07-19-2007, 11:00 PM

Ion Patrol.

blissfulnoise

07-20-2007, 12:07 AM

I don't think Sinistar is that hard...

I'll admit, I'm not the greatest player, but I've played plenty of harder games than Sinistar.

Crazy talk. I'm assuming you're playing it on the arcade with the original rom set.

Outside of stuff like Penn and Teller and Takeshi's Challenge that are designed to be impossible, it's gotta be the hardest game I've ever played by a long shot.

Kevincal

07-20-2007, 12:15 AM

Doom on Nightmare difficulty.

Cinder6

07-20-2007, 12:30 AM

Isn't IVAN (a roguelike) supposed to be extremely hard, to the point that the developers consider any possibility of beating it a "bug"? Then again, that falls into the "intentionally impossible" category :)

norkusa

07-20-2007, 12:36 AM

Dragon's Lair for the NES. I couldn't even get past the opening screen without a Game Genie. And even with the Game Genie, the farthest I've gotten was like the 3rd or 4th screen.

exit

07-20-2007, 02:19 AM

Dragon's Lair for the NES. I couldn't even get past the opening screen without a Game Genie. And even with the Game Genie, the farthest I've gotten was like the 3rd or 4th screen.

It wasn't that bad, I remember getting a little bit through it, it's just an annoying "remember where everything is" sidescroller.

DefaultGen

07-20-2007, 02:34 AM

.....

ProgrammingAce

07-20-2007, 03:13 AM

Kriss Kross: Make My Video

Bassgrabber

07-20-2007, 03:20 AM

I beat Faxanadu, and I beat Hydlide (I had them, I played them)

So I say Solstice... loved the 'shrivel n die' sound, tho lol

Gandhara

07-20-2007, 04:55 AM

Sword Master from Activision.

It's pretty brutal I think I've only gotten to the 3rd or 4th level with several tries.

CosmicMonkey

07-20-2007, 06:18 AM

1cc'ing any of the recent Cave shmups.

And Q*bert. I understand the game, and how to play it. But I can't ever do it and I'm shit at it.

Ed Oscuro

07-20-2007, 06:25 AM

Doom on Nightmare difficulty.
I can do the first two levels...

Also, wow, over 20,000 hits on Beat Takeshi's Challenge? I only thought it was 10,000. Jesus on a dancing stick.

koster

07-20-2007, 11:33 AM

Kevincal

07-20-2007, 11:36 AM

Silver Surfer NES seemed rather impossible. 1-hit death, oh joy... :/

bangtango

07-20-2007, 11:55 AM

Faxanadu is really hard, but maybe that is because I never had the instructions.

Faxanadu isn't that hard, unless you run out of magic and red potions. There is one shop near the beginning where you can buy both the second best shield and the second best magic in the game really early on. Right next to the shop are enemies that regenerate so you can leave the screen and come back to fight them over and over while building up gold. It takes forever to build up enough gold to get both of them but at least you have a really good shield and really good magic right from the start. It also helps to know that a lot of the enemies, including the bosses, follow simple patterns which can be used to beat them. A pretty fun game, though, I'd say it is in my top 10 or 15 for the NES. Wish I had another copy :)

Bassgrabber

07-20-2007, 12:09 PM

wow... flashback! Thanks! I remember leveling up (I hate doing that!) I'd have to say that Crystalis, Shadowgate, and Maniac Mansion were my faves.

Now I'm struggling with NiGHTS <sigh> I'm hoping that if I keep at it things will just "click"...

j_factor

07-21-2007, 12:52 AM

Appropriately titled, the U.S. release of Impossible Mission for the Atari 7800 was impossible to finish due to a bug (puzzle pieces placed underneath computer terminals which the player cannot search).

I'd say that makes it a candidate for the hardest game ever. :)

There are multiple games like that, though. Bubble Bobble Revolution, for one.

Also, lots of old games, by design, aren't meant to be finished -- they just repeat. While Pac-Man has been beaten, a number of cyclical games have never been conquered.

By this measure, the hardest game of all time is a hundreds-ways tie. :p

Volcanon

07-21-2007, 05:36 AM

Battletoads for NES.

leicamaster

07-21-2007, 07:41 AM

Ghosts and Goblins, and Ninja Gaiden.

Also- I thought the first Maximo was a huge pain in the ass.

Ninja Gaiden is not all that hard its just gets in your nerves. I beat Ninja Gaiden as a kid.

leicamaster

07-21-2007, 07:46 AM

Im going to throw in Dragon Spirit for the TG16. That game is like impossible I never got pass the 2nd level.

GaijinPunch

07-21-2007, 10:19 AM

1cc'ing any of the recent Cave shmups.

The recent Ikeda games (ESPGaluda I & II, Mushihime-sama, etc. ) are easier compared to their older games. Dodonpachi DOJ anyone? The Yagawa games (Ibara, Pink Sweets) have that ass-raping rank system which makes them obscenely difficult.

My biggest accomplishment is a 1st loop clear of Ketsui. Haven't even tried to make it to the 2nd loop.

While Ninja Gaiden Xbox requires skill, it will never be as hard as hundreds of arcade games. The whole sitting there continuing for days thing takes a lot of the challenge out.

vintagegamecrazy

07-21-2007, 11:35 AM

I'd go to say that Bayou Billy and Cobra Triangle are much harder than most any game mentioned, probably harder than Ghosts n Goblins as well. I can beat Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads and Mega Man with out cheating easily but the others. ACK!

PentiumMMX

07-21-2007, 11:44 AM

Hands down, it goes to Holy Diver (Famicom)

Ruudos

07-21-2007, 11:46 AM

Faxanadu isn't that hard, unless you run out of magic and red potions. There is one shop near the beginning where you can buy both the second best shield and the second best magic in the game really early on. Right next to the shop are enemies that regenerate so you can leave the screen and come back to fight them over and over while building up gold. It takes forever to build up enough gold to get both of them but at least you have a really good shield and really good magic right from the start. It also helps to know that a lot of the enemies, including the bosses, follow simple patterns which can be used to beat them. A pretty fun game, though, I'd say it is in my top 10 or 15 for the NES. Wish I had another copy :)

You don't really need them anyway in that part, plus the stuff there is really expensive.

norkusa

07-21-2007, 11:51 AM

Cobra Triangle are much harder than most any game mentioned, probably harder than Ghosts n Goblins as well.

Ugh! I forgot about Cobra Triangle. I broke 2 controllers and the cartridge lid off my NES because of that game. Getting past some of the stages in that game is simply pure luck and you can literally loose your entire stockpile of extra ships on one single stage (like the waterfall jump).

Farthest I've gotten in that game was Level 20 or 21. It's too painful to play again.

DarthKur

07-21-2007, 02:23 PM

....While Pac-Man has been beaten....

Forgive my ignorance but how exactly was that done? As far as I have ever known Pac-Man is a never ending game.

Jorpho

07-21-2007, 03:43 PM

Forgive my ignorance but how exactly was that done? As far as I have ever known Pac-Man is a never ending game.

A bug (or memory limitation, if you prefer) in the program causes the game to crash on the 256th level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_screen

Garry Silljo

07-21-2007, 05:57 PM

I'd go to say that Bayou Billy and Cobra Triangle are much harder than most any game mentioned, probably harder than Ghosts n Goblins as well.

Bayou Billy is a cakewalk compared to GnG.

Trebuken

07-21-2007, 06:17 PM

Ninja Gaiden is not all that hard its just gets in your nerves. I beat Ninja Gaiden as a kid.

I assumed he was talking about the newest Ninja Gaiden. Am I wrong?

DeputyMoniker

07-21-2007, 06:28 PM

Maze-A-Tron on INTV has always messed me up. I can make almost no progress at all.

DarthKur

07-21-2007, 08:39 PM

A bug (or memory limitation, if you prefer) in the program causes the game to crash on the 256th level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_screen

I'll be damned. It's funny, I believe that I have seen that garbled screen Pac-man pic in the link elsewhere but I never read anything that explained the reason for it.
Thanks for the info. Very fascinating.

bangtango

07-21-2007, 11:45 PM

A bug (or memory limitation, if you prefer) in the program causes the game to crash on the 256th level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_screen

How many screens before the 2600 version of Pac Man crashes or didn't we get that lucky? :angel:

Blitzwing256

07-22-2007, 02:23 AM

Barbarianoutkast85

07-22-2007, 04:00 AM

My vote goes for any of the following;
Ghosts and Goblins
Xmen 2: Clone Wars
Warlock
I dont know, those are just some games off the top of my head that drive me insane.

Kamisama

07-22-2007, 08:28 AM

Mushihimesama!

Chris

07-22-2007, 02:48 PM

I think Actraiser 2 is one of the hardest games, as is the arcade version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
There was also this Ren & Stimpy title that couldn't be finished cause of a bug.

Sparkster

07-22-2007, 03:12 PM

Actraiser 2 was definitely a difficult game, but once you got the hang of things, it can be done.

P.S. make good use out of your magic (the one where you hold up).

bangtango

07-23-2007, 09:00 PM

funny note about bayou billy, konami decided to "tweak" the dificulty for the us version, nearly making it unplayable. the original japanese version is much more fair and thusly far more enjoyable to play,

plus it has two differnt endings

I beleive it was called mad city for anyone interested.

I never beat Bayou Billy until I bought a Game Genie. Infinite lives and energy, or some code like that, finally did the trick. One of the fighting stages was particularly tough, one of the shooting stages was quite tough and all of the driving stages were a pain.

KingCobra

07-23-2007, 11:27 PM

I-K-A-R-U-G-A !!!

This game kicks 90% of the gamers to the curb, if you don't play it enough to open the free credits that shits traded up, and Super MonkeyBall games. There were stacks of that game traded up within a week of it's release :|

Shrooin

07-24-2007, 07:02 AM

Troddlers for the Super Nintendo. Does anyone know how to play it? It seems that you only get 1 or 2 seconds to finish the level and in that time all I can do is fall off a platform, lol!

50TBRD

07-24-2007, 08:08 AM

I have to think that the true classics are the toughest to beat. They weren't meant be beaten like most newer games. Either they get so fast that it's almost impossible to keep up or they just never end. Centiped, Millipede, Missile Command, Asteroids, Galaga, Galaxian, etc. The games on the Vectrex are the same way. Minestorm, Fortress of Narzod, WEB WARS, Scramble, Star Trek, Cosmic Chasm, Berzerk, Armor Attack. Every last one of them just gets faster and faster until you can't physically keep up.

rbudrick

07-24-2007, 10:14 AM

Ninja Gaiden only took me a week to beat, though I got to the last level in a day, lol. I used to be able to beat it on one life. Same with Mega Man.

Bayou Billy has an extremely difficult first level, but after that it's pretty smooth sailing, if you know the trick to beating the last bosses and ace the driving and shooting stages. It's really not that hard...only took me a couple of days, iirc.

Ghosts n Goblins is damn hard, but it's got nothing on Holy Diver. Holy Diver will make you KILL somebody, but it's such a good game. You will never beat Holy Diver. That game is almost impossible with save states.

Hydlide is also very easy. It's a very short RPG if you know what to do. It's like a shitty Ys with really bad graphics, but I like the game.

Takeshi's Challenge (Famicom) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_no_Chousenjou). 'Nuff said.

Holy crap! Is there a translation for this?
-Rob

bangtango

07-24-2007, 09:08 PM

Ninja Gaiden only took me a week to beat, though I got to the last level in a day, lol. I used to be able to beat it on one life.
-Rob

This may seem weird but Ninja Gaiden was a lot easier when I was just a kid growing up. I got to the point where I could breeze through the game, when I was gaming all day long during school vacations.

It never got harder until I went back to it after I got older. These days, I always read on message boards about how hard stage 6-2 is. I've been reading it so long that this "tidbit" is now in my head. Now when I play through Ninja Gaiden, I always feel this tremendous pressure when I start stage 6-2. Instead of being a little more laidback and not thinking so much, like I did in the past, I feel like I am about to fail (die) at any given moment.

Same with Mike Tyson in his version of Punch Out. I never had any trouble with him but all of my friends did growing up and they still do. I doubt I know a single person locally who ever beat him, to this day. At least among my friends and acquaintances. I hear about how hard Mike Tyson is so often from my friends who still own an NES that now I struggle to beat him sometimes when I used to paste him regularly.

Anyone else suffer from this type of thing? Where excessive word of mouth starts to put doubt in your mind and affect your performance in a game?

rbudrick

07-25-2007, 11:54 AM

Porksta

07-25-2007, 01:51 PM

One of IGN's recent Top 10 lists was the hardest games of all time, I am just too lazy to link to it, but it is easy to find.

Wasn't there some helicopter game that just kept running on a loop?

bangtango

07-25-2007, 09:16 PM

Hmmm, I'm not one to fall for the hype, Bangtango, especially when I already know the truth of something. By the way, I've got this bridge if you wanna buy it, lol. ;)

Maybe it's just harder because reflexes wane as you age. I dunno. Being older sucks sometimes. I often wonder where all the time I used to have for games went. I think that's the crappiest thing about aging...everyone's got a piece of your time, leaving you little time for games, hah!

-Rob

That could be it. I don't have the free time or reflexes that I once did.

I can still beat all of the same games I did when I was younger but I wouldn't put videos of some of these performances on YouTube. Do they have a category for "Washed Up 8-Bit Gamer" or "Washed Up 80's Gamer"? Maybe I'll post the video of me needing all three lives to struggle through the fourth palace in Zelda II this afternoon.