Top 50 hardest SNES games of all time!

[vintagegamecrazy]

Let's start a discussion to see what the hardest SNES games are of all time. List games of any genre and any region of the world, I want to make a list of 50.

Note I'm reusing an old thread and editing it to make it more specific.

So far the ones on the list in alphabetical order.

7th Saga
Actraiser 2
Addams Family Values
Adventures of Dr. Franken
Araiguma Rascal
Batman Forever
Battletoads Battlemaniacs
Battletoads Double Dragon
B.O.B.
Bubsy
Castlevania Dracula X
Demon's Crest
Dharma Doujou
Drakkhen
Doom
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim 2
GeGeGe no Kitarou
Gradius III
Home Improvement
Hyper Iria
Iron Commando
Jim Power in the 3rd Dimension
Keeper
Krusty's Super Fun House
Last Action Hero
Little Magic
Lode Runner Twin
Lost Vikings
Mortal Kombat II
Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror
Plok
Power Lode Runner
Power Soukoban
Puzzle'N Desu!
Rocketeer
Rocky Rodent
Sandra no Daibouken
Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare
Soldiers of Fortune
Space Ace
Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts
Super R-Type
Super Soukoban
Sutte Hakkun
Timeslip
Uniracers
Virtual Bart
Wizardry V
Zombies Ate My Neighbors

[NE146]

I think Actraiser 2 was ultra difficult.. which is why it was such a major dissapointment after the awesomeness of the first game :(

[D_N_G]

the only thing i could think of was actraiser 2, but you beat me to it :D

[kainemaxwell]

7th Saga and Megaman X3

[atomicthumbs]

MARIO IS MISSING! 100% pure difficulty.

[Jorpho]

I still think Donkey Kong Country is a really difficult platform game.
________
Make A Vaporizer (http://www.vaporshop.com)

[Oberfuhrer Hamm]

MARIO IS MISSING! 100% pure difficulty.

I liked that game, it was cool ;)

Then there was Mario's Time Machine. What makes it hard is the amount of history questions in it. Only after MANY tries (I never paid attention in my history classes) I managed to beat it.

How about Cool Spot? That one can be hard if you do not want to trade in the letters....

The Lost Vikings can be a pain in the ass too.

[ManekiNeko]

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. If you thought Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Genesis was hard, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
Of course, it's worth pointing out that just because the game is hard doesn't mean it's fun to play. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is much too unforgiving for its own good.

JR

[NE146]

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. If you thought Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Genesis was hard, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
Of course, it's worth pointing out that just because the game is hard doesn't mean it's fun to play. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is much too unforgiving for its own good.

JR

Really? It was challenging for sure, but I wouldn't call it hard and unforgiving. Actually I got to the point where I could beat it in one sitting (through several lives of course) but I could still beat it and it was enjoyable. However, I should probably note that prior to that I had mastered Ghouls and Ghosts on the Genesis so perhaps that skillset came into play.. (actually I'm pretty sure it did :P) The only thing that I missed was the inability to shoot up and down. Also the double jump ability took a bit of time to master as well.

However what IS too unfogiving and hard is GHOSTS AND GOBLINS (NES and Arcade).. now THAT game is hard.. too hard >:(

[Gamereviewgod]

Jim Power in the 3rd Dimension. My god, I have never seen enemies take this many hits in my life....and it's not even a decent game.

[hezeuschrist]

Earthworm Jim always had the ability to extensively kick my ass.

That and any of the Don Bluth games... I tried SO HARD to beat Space Ace and I just never could.

[Starcade]

The only time I praised a flaw in a game was Super Ghouls N Ghosts, the slowdown saved my life a few times. :)

[vintagegamecrazy]

I never thought of Super Ghouls and Ghosts. I never could finish that game. The other Unforgiving game was Phalanx. I had to use an emulator.

[Atari7800]

i don't know if i'd cal it the hardest, but Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts certainly pissed me off when that bitch at the "end" told me I had to go back all the way through the game.

Unicycles was a bitch to play

How about Super Star Wars or any of the Star Wars SNES games for that matter?

[Oberfuhrer Hamm]

Unicycles was a bitch to play

It took a while, but I beat that game. Only some of the stunt stages were insanely hard. And then there were the lastr stages (The very last ones that are unlocked after everything else is beat). *Shudder* I hated those... :beaten:

[den68]

I'll second the Star Wars games, I've got Empire and Jedi. tough! Maybe it's because I've had a Genesis much longer but ALL SNES games seems a bit tougher than the Genesis games.

[Qixmaster]

battletoads and double dragon gets my vote and i second earth worm jim, that is one tough mother.... also if you consider doom for SNES (although it is on every system, i'd say it's flippin hard as hell.

[Ruudos]

It took a while, but I beat that game. Only some of the stunt stages were insanely hard. And then there were the lastr stages (The very last ones that are unlocked after everything else is beat). *Shudder* I hated those...
Yes, the race levels aren't really a problem, but the stunts levels were (especially the one from the 'frog'). I've beaten it after a long time (thank you head bounce). he hidden levels were hard (that black uni is irritating), but the stunt level wasn't as hard as some of the others.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I'm going to bump this and I also edited my first post and added the games mentioned to the list, lets get a list of the top 50 hardest Snes games now. Anyone got anymore?

[j_factor]

I second Space Ace. The SNES version is bloody ridiculous.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Anyone wanna second Timeslip?

[Matt-El]

Earthworm Jim was more repetitive than difficult when i played it as a kid. I'm gonna say look at the shooters on the system. Some you can't even make it halfway through the first level. Of course this applies to all systems.

[j_factor]

I had a hell of a time with the SNES version of Doom, simply because the framerate was so bad it messed up the controls.

[badinsults]

Last Action Hero... I dare you to get past the fourth screen.


Also, Mario Is Missing? I beat it my first try in an hour.

[Rogmeister]

I always had a hard time with Contra III: The Alien Wars...

[Steven]

Anyone wanna second Timeslip?


I will. That game is IMPOSSIBLE to beat without the Game Genie. I swear, no one can do it. I'd bet $500 on that.

I nominate Realm. Likewise, that game is freakin' impossible.

Contra III is hard, but it's possible. Those aforementioned games are not.

[TonyTheTiger]

Castlevania: Dracula X is up there. I still consider it the hardest game in the entire series with the exception of maybe Haunted Castle. Imagine fighting Dracula on a bunch of uneven pillars rather than a solid floor. It took me forever to beat.

Though if we're talking games that are hard simply because they're stupid and have terrible controls and/or idiotic design, then there are a bunch. It wasn't until I watched the Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Batman Forever that I learned how to get out of the first damn room.

[Red Warrior]

I always had a hard time with Contra III: The Alien Wars...

On HARD mode, YES! Seconded.


Here are a few that have always given me fits:

The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare
Virtual Bart
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
The Super Star Wars Series (Take your pick.)

...and this coming from someone who can beat NES Battletoads.

[Steven]

Castlevania: Dracula X is up there. I still consider it the hardest game in the entire series with the exception of maybe Haunted Castle. Imagine fighting Dracula on a bunch of uneven pillars rather than a solid floor. It took me forever to beat.


Dracula is not too hard if one knows where to position themselves. I thought the game was hard, but VERY manageable once you played it enough. Top 50 hardest, sure. But it'd be in the bottom half IMO

[vintagegamecrazy]

I don't care if the games are multiplatform or not or hard becuase they are poorly made they just need to be hard to beat.

[Red Warrior]

Castlevania: Dracula X is up there. I still consider it the hardest game in the entire series with the exception of maybe Haunted Castle. Imagine fighting Dracula on a bunch of uneven pillars rather than a solid floor. It took me forever to beat.

Quoted for truth.

[rbudrick]

Hmmm, I never thought Dracula X was that hard. I beat it in a day or two, iirc. Wasn't harder than most platform CV games, I didn't think.

-Rob

[TonyTheTiger]

Dracula X just gave me the most trouble of the whole series. Again, with the exception of Haunted Castle which I have yet to beat.

With the knobs turned all the way up, Tetris Attack can be a real bitch. I'd also say The Lion King and Toy Story are surprisingly hard. And though this may just be my bad memory as I haven't played them in ages, Mickey Mania and Spider-Man/Venom: Separation Anxiety spring to mind.

Also, if the crappy A.I. decides to just go apeshit on you and perfectly counter your controller inputs, Mortal Kombat II and [Ultimate] Mortal Kombat 3 can rip you apart. Same goes for Killer Instinct and the A.I.'s amazing ability to combo breaker you all day on the higher difficulty settings.

[Natty Bumppo]

Here are some possible entries:

Equinox - without a turbo controller, some of the things you need to do are insanely difficult. Other than those though the game is not terribly difficult.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors - the upper levels are indeed challenging (at least they were for me). And the save system created lotsa problems.

Addams Family Values - some of the bosses were extremely difficult (mostly due to really limited healing itmes you could have at one time) - and the game was also difficult because it was obvious the programming wasn't quite finished when released - also the save system was very limiting (not to mention hard to read because the script was all but impossible to correctly read). (Too bad this could have been an outstanding game - still worth playing IMHO.

Krusty's super funhouse - not a very good game to begin with, without a turbo controller some sections were virtually undoable.

[DigitalSpace]

Batman Forever, mostly because of the controls and gameplay.

Drakkhen and Wizardry V are no 7th Saga, but they're up there.

[vintagegamecrazy]

OK I updated the list, only 27 games and a few of those don't seem too hard to finish at all. There are tons of hard games, think outside of the US for some more, there probably are tons more in the US that are darn near impossible to finish so keep 'em coming.

I will agree with Mortal Kombat II though, with the stock continues that game is truly unforgiving. I did it with the 30 kredit code and it was still brutal.

[Rob2600]

if we're talking games that are hard simply because they're stupid and have terrible controls and/or idiotic design, then there are a bunch. It wasn't until I watched the Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Batman Forever that I learned how to get out of the first damn room.

Yeah, Batman Forever is difficult because it's so horrible. Likewise for Pit-Fighter. The controls are almost non-existent and I've experienced glitches with the life meter. Good luck beating that game.

[megasdkirby]

I will agree with Mortal Kombat II though, with the stock continues that game is truly unforgiving. I did it with the 30 kredit code and it was still brutal.

I found Mortal Kombat III and Ultimate Mortal Kombat III purely hellish. Much worse than MKII, IMO.

First round was decent. But the second round and onwards...WTF!?

This was pretty much the same on all platforms.

What gives?

[darkhades]

7th Saga for sure! Damn friggin game....ARRRRRRRRRGGG!!!

[GrandAmChandler]

Musya: Classic Japanese Tale of Horror & Soldiers of Fortune.

EDIT: Bubsy as well.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Updated, still only 30 games.

I agree that 7th Saga is a pain and quite hard and needs to be on the list. I still finished it though.

[Steven]

Did anyone else find Tournament Fighters on Level 8 damn near impossible? Hell, many people say they can barely beat default level 4. The CPU is too damn smart/cheap.



OK I updated the list, only 27 games and a few of those don't seem too hard to finish at all. There are tons of hard games, think outside of the US for some more, there probably are tons more in the US that are darn near impossible to finish so keep 'em coming.


Oh, you want Japanese games too? I got some more for ya then:

-GeGeGe no Kitarou
-Hyper Iria
-Iron Commando
-Sandra no Daibouken

And some of those obscure SFC puzzle games can be damn tough, like:

-Sutte Hakkun
-Super Soukoban
-Power Soukoban
-Lode Runner Twin
-Power Lode Runner
-Araiguma Rascal
-Little Magic
-Puzzle'N Desu!
-Dharma Doujou
-Keeper

Your mileage will vary, but the later stages of these "thinking man's" games can be downright brutal.

OH YEAH, back to the US side, I got two side-scrolling platformers for you that deserve to be in the top 50:

-B.O.B.
-Rocky Rodent

RR is brutal. B.O.B. isn't IMPOSSIBLE (after repeated play) but it SEEMS damn near impossible initially. It would probably crush most average gamers. That last world is crazy difficult. I'm proud to say I've beaten the game fair and square though, but it took me many repeated plays.

[E Nice]

Castlevania Dracula X never felt that difficult to me. It wasn't like going through some of those levels in Castlevania 3. Dracula wasn't hard, just had to learn how to position yourself and always keep a proper backwards jump distance to avoid one of his attacks.

Contra 3 on the other hand I found rather difficult, harder than Contra Hard Corps IMO. The last level is too long.

[Letiumtide]

I'm not sure if anybody would agree with me... but Lost Vikings got pretty impossible during later levels. I remember trying to fly down some ridiculous area with Olaf a billion times before succeeding. Might just be me though.

[Steven]

I'm not sure if anybody would agree with me... but Lost Vikings got pretty impossible during later levels. I remember trying to fly down some ridiculous area with Olaf a billion times before succeeding. Might just be me though.


I haven't played that yet, but if it's anything like Norse by Norsewest (Lost Vikings 2 essentially) on the Saturn, I hear ya pal. That Saturn game was brutal on the later levels.


How can I forget -- HOME IMPROVEMENT. That game is criminally difficult. Its gameplay was never great or even good to begin with, but if it weren't so damn difficult, it might have been actually... playable and enjoyable, believe it or not. Too bad it's just so damn hard.

[Nirvana]

Dude, I totally teabagged that X-Men game. Seriously.

[j_factor]

Dude, I totally teabagged that X-Men game. Seriously.

Why would you teabag a videogame?

[TonyTheTiger]

What makes Mario Is Missing so hard if you can't really lose? It's more tedious than it is difficult having to go around finding those clues.

[E Nice]

Why would you teabag a videogame?

For that aroma of new game smell and the tasteful treat of plastic and misc.metals with each sip.

[DDCecil]

No mention of *shudders* The Rocketeer? The racing segments are next to impossible.

My brother is godlike at Bart's Nightmare. I can't beat any of the door segments (Well, maybe the first Itchy and Scratchy part), but he can beat them all and get an A+ every time he plays it.

[-dustburn-]

Super R-type is a bitch. Gradius III? Damn.
I nominate Earthworm Jim 2 and Demons Crest.
Also, If we are talking about 100% complete to "beat" the game, I think there would be more to the list. All Donkey Kong Country games would make the list for me. Super Metroid.

[kupomogli]

Castlevania Dracula X and X Men Mutant Apocalypse aren't hard. Great games though.

-andrew- -kupomogli-

[fairyland]

Faceball 2000 was always impossible for me as it becomes a cheap game very quickly.

Both Lost Vikings is impossible for me as I had no clue how to progress after about a dozen levels. Sure it's easy now as you have youtubes to show you what to do on the hard levels, but 15 years ago, there was no way I could figure the game out.

Super Buster Bros., I could NEVER beat until I got the PSP edition with the unlimited continues. I doubt many here can say they beat that game honestly on the SNES.

Pocky and Rocky 1 and 2 I could never do without game enhancers. If I remember right, #2 was one of those newer ones that would not work with a game genie and I never got to finish that. And the GBA one was so hard that I could never get by the first level!

Legend of the Mystical Ninja is another I could never do without a game enhancer which for some reason I think is hard, but then again it's been so long that it could not be as hard as I thought.

Really, I really suck at platformer games. I find Super Mario World and Super Metriod impossible to finish without game enhancers as well, but I know those does not belong on any hardest list.

Stupidest recommendation would be the Jeopardy games only because I suck even more at real life trivia. I always wished they would ask me nerdy knowledge like Sci Fi, TV, comic book or video game trivia, not politics, history or religion. I often wondered if people that actually knew these things would even bother playing video games. LOL They have a sports edition one that I always wanted even though I know only Baseball and Professional Wrestling, so I probably would do far worse on that.

[vintagegamecrazy]

OK I updated the list again, I removed X Men and Mario Is Missing since they that hard overall. I added the other games listed, there's an even 50 now, what else needs to be added or subtracted?

[Steven]

OK I updated the list again, I removed X Men and Mario Is Missing since they that hard overall. I added the other games listed, there's an even 50 now, what else needs to be added or subtracted?


Hmmm, Bubsy is kinda tough, but I dunno I'd say it's tougher than Tournament Fighters. On default difficulty (level 4) it is very tough. I consider myself a decent player of 1-on-1 fighters, but I can only beat level 4 using the shark with his anti-air attack. I have a very hard time beating the game with any other fighter. On levels 5, 6, 7, 8? Forget about it. It's SUPER brutal.

Personally, I'd replace Bubsy with TF. At least with Bubsy I can make decent progress late into the game. Just my personal opinion though.


*just looked over list again*


WAIT SCRATCH THAT! WHERE'S CONTRA III?!?

That game is harder than Bubsy and TF IMO.

Bubsy should be replaced with Contra III. On Normal it is very very difficult. 5 lives, 2 continues. Especially if you playing alone.

[frap]

Firepower 2000 Firepower 2000 Firepower 2000, Great and hard

[Nirvana]

Why would you teabag a videogame?

You're so funny. Ecks Dee.

In other words, I was incredibly good at that game, and beat it. It was difficult, but I did beat it. When I was little, too.

[kupomogli]

I think Contra 3 should be on the list too. It's one of the hardest SNES games out there.

Also, even though Ninja Gaiden Trilogy is a port of all three NES games I'd say most people wouldn't be able to beat the games without continuing or cheating(I can on 1 and 2, never put enough time into 3.) It depends if you'd put compilation ports up there.

Then finally you could say Run Saber. Game is fairly difficult. If you guys have never played the game then you should. It closely resembles the arcade and Genesis versions of Strider when it comes to how the game plays. Obviously not as good as Strider but does play just alike and still a very good game.

I'd say remove Mortal Kombat 2 because UMK3 and MK3 are harder when they string a combo on you because of one flaw instead of single hits.

[Steven]

I think Contra 3 should be on the list too. It's one of the hardest SNES games out there.

Also, even though Ninja Gaiden Trilogy is a port of all three NES games I'd say most people wouldn't be able to beat the games without continuing or cheating(I can on 1 and 2, never put enough time into 3.) It depends if you'd put compilation ports up there.

Then finally you could say Run Saber. Game is fairly difficult. If you guys have never played the game then you should. It closely resembles the arcade and Genesis versions of Strider when it comes to how the game plays. Obviously not as good as Strider but does play just alike and still a very good game.



Good call on NGT! Totally forgot about it, yes, it deserves a spot on the list for sure. BTW, I didn't think Run Saber was too hard myself, but I also found Demon's Crest easy which some other guy cited as deserving of the top 50. I ain't no gamer expert, but they weren't too difficult in my experience.

[Aussie2B]

Good call on the Soukoban. Any system that has a Soukoban title in its library needs to have said game on its hardest game list. :P

You can count me as another person that doesn't think Dracula X is all that hard, though.

[StakeRaiser]

Gradius III drove me nuts, I finally beat it and swore to never play it again.

I didn't find Demon's Crest that bad until the final boss, I've yet to beat it, I think I'm going to have to break out the Game Genie on it. Amazing game though, great atmosphere.

[Ro-J]

I'm agreeing with whoever said Firepower 2000. The game's awesome, but insanely difficult.

[j_factor]

Shadow of the Beast needs mentioning. The original game is notoriously difficult, but for some reason the SNES version is completely different... and even harder.

[Steven]

Shadow of the Beast needs mentioning. The original game is notoriously difficult, but for some reason the SNES version is completely different... and even harder.


??? ROM only? I know a US version was never released on SNES... and I don't recall seeing a JP or PAL version ever. Not that I know every single SNES title ever released, but I've done my homework and never recall seeing it during my travels.

[badinsults]

Super Shadow of the Beast is an incomplete prototype. It should not be on any list of hardest games.

[DKTheArcadeRat]

Definitely with joke implied....

Cho-Aniki for Super Famicom

...and thats all I have to say about that.

[c0ldb33r]

Drakkhen and Wizardry V are no 7th Saga, but they're up there.
I never found Drakkhen to be difficult, just takes a lot of patience. I loved that game when I was younger but for some really I always got very scared playing it - may have been the spooky music in the castles.

What about Super Turrican? That was a tough game :(