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Thread: masochism; the 20 hardest NES games according to GameFAQs users

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    Default masochism; the 20 hardest NES games according to GameFAQs users

    Title Rating / 5 Difficulty / 5 Length (Hours)
    1 Ghosts 'n Goblins 3.20 4.74 15.81
    2 Silver Surfer 2.48 4.67 9.62
    3 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1.13 4.67 9.25
    4 Battletoads 3.68 4.66 23.23
    5 Ninja Gaiden 3.96 4.56 12.90
    6 Action 52 0.97 4.45 29.13
    7 Deadly Towers 2.17 4.43 22.78
    8 Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom 3.80 4.40 11.89
    9 Ghostbusters 1.76 4.30 10.95
    10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.18 4.23 14.50
    11 Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos 4.05 4.21 11.42
    12 Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones 3.19 4.17 11.50
    13 The Adventures of Bayou Billy 2.67 4.15 8.39
    14 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 3.67 4.14 22.17
    15 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 4.10 4.13 12.03
    16 Dick Tracy 2.52 4.12 7.96
    17 Castlevania 3.89 4.10 9.32
    18 Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight 3.19 4.09 12.02
    19 8 Eyes 2.91 4.07 7.85
    20 Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos 3.46 4.07

    https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/...=0&min_votes=0

    Min. votes: 100

    The NES is notorious for having some of the hardest home console games ever released. What is interesting about this list is that most of them are well-known games. The data could be slightly skewed if most of the gamers polled had only rated the games they are familiar with so granted this list probably is only accurate when it comes to games that people have actually played. I have played games that were many times harder than Battletoads but they were fairly obscure and I couldnt even tell you what they were called. Ikari Warriors 3 is up there for me. Some games were hard because there was no indication of what you were supposed to do exactly.

    Also of note is the fact that all three Ninja Gaidens make an appearance. I feel the Mega Man games deserve a spot on the list with all their "leap of faith" moments and boss fights that can be downright brutal especially in the later stages.

    Metroid is a hard game to me. Having to farm health is very time consuming and some of the enemies move so fast they can be very hard to dodge at times. In some areas where the ceiling jumpers come at you, you cant even get out of the way and you cant kill them quickly enough. And unlike later entries in the series, the enemies can buzz right through open doors so even if you think you escaped their wrath and moved into the next screen to safety, they will come through and kill you as you are going through the door.

    Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese) almost doesnt even need mentioning as to how hard this game is. Mushrooms that can kill you, warp pipes that send you BACKWARDS. the game was so hard that Nintendo wouldnt even release it for North Americans until they included it with Mario All-Stars.

    I havent played Ghosts and Goblins for the NES but I know the arcade version is hard.

    Battletoads can be a hard game but at least you get a ton of continues. I could never get past the level 8 boss but it seems beatable at least. I am usually so beaten down at that point that I dont have enough time to memorize his movements before I get killed

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    I find GameFAQs difficult ratings (along with completion times) pretty screwy in general. I'm not surprised that list consists of well-known games, since obscure games probably didn't get 100 votes.

    That said, I've only beaten a couple games on that list.

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    which ones

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    Ghosts 'n Goblins is more of a bandwagon at this point.

    I, too, am a bit surprised to see no Mega Man entry here--particularly given how the list skews toward popular series (as mentioned). But hey, people just like to have fun talking about games. Polls abandon objectiveness from the get-go.

    As a kid, Dick Tracy was confusing.

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    I've beaten Zelda 2 and Castlevania. The rest I've either never played or never made any serious attempt at beating. Some I've played casually and got somewhat far. I've gotten about halfway through Battletoads (without warping).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    I find GameFAQs difficult ratings (along with completion times) pretty screwy in general. I'm not surprised that list consists of well-known games, since obscure games probably didn't get 100 votes.

    That said, I've only beaten a couple games on that list.
    I agree. I've beaten around half the games on the list, and some of the entries have no business being anywhere near a "hardest games on the NES" list. In particular, except for a nasty final boss fight, Double Dragon III is borderline easy if you have any experience with beat-'em-ups.

    Any "hardest on the NES" list is probably little more than a popularity contest in disguise if it doesn't have Ikari Warriors, To the Earth, Heavy Shreddin', Q*Bert, Arkanoid, The Last Starfighter, Mutant Virus, High Speed, etc. These are games where you can know exactly what to do, but still fail because they're so punishingly difficult.

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenband View Post
    some of the entries have no business being anywhere near a "hardest games on the NES" list.
    Reads like an AVGN episode guide.

    Action52, really? If we're including purposely unplayable crap I can name a lot of unlicensed tat that's much worse than Zelda 2 or Bayou Billy.

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenband View Post
    Ikari Warriors
    I've been meaning to take an adult-sized crack at this one. Given what I've been told (and who's been doing the telling), I fully expect a difficulty level greater than any of the games' in the list above.

    And now that I think about it, Contra beats at least a couple of them, too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon § View Post

    And now that I think about it, Contra beats at least a couple of them, too.
    I respectfully disagree with that.. Contra is pretty easy tbh

    Most of the games on the list really dont qualify as 'hardest' games.
    But yeah like Az said it looks like a list of AVGN episodes

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    You consider Zelda II and Castlevania more difficult than Contra?

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    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon § View Post
    You consider Zelda II and Castlevania more difficult than Contra?
    I would, with a little practice you can beat Contra multiple times without continuing

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    Quote Originally Posted by § Gideon § View Post
    You consider Zelda II and Castlevania more difficult than Contra?
    Castlevania is easy if you keep the holy water through the entire game.

    Contra is hard, but not as tough as people make it out to be. Playing through it without the code a few times forces you to be careful and learn the easiest way through an area, rather than just barreling through and dying a bunch of times. I was able to no-death-run it after a couple weeks of grinding.

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    I think limited continues vs. unlimited continues make for a big point of division here. Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden etc. are hard, but you can keep plugging away for as long as you like; Contra, TMNT, etc. don't allow that.

    That said some games are fiendishly tough even with unlimited continues, like Mutant Virus.

    BTW I agree that unlicensed jank doesn't belong on these lists. That said, "beating" every game on Action 52 -- getting to the game's loop point or crash point, if nothing else -- is a long-term ambition of mine, though completing Micro Mike is almost physically impossible (but not quite). I'm roughly halfway, and to be honest, it's sometimes kind of fun.

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    I managed to beat all three Ninja Gaiden games. For ne, the first one is the hardest, only because of Jaquio (floating). Part II was the easiest and part III was all about patterns.

    I remember beating them without loosing a life. Now, I'm sure I will suck horribly. ��
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    Quote Originally Posted by jperryss View Post
    Castlevania is easy if you keep the holy water through the entire game.

    Contra is hard, but not as tough as people make it out to be. Playing through it without the code a few times forces you to be careful and learn the easiest way through an area, rather than just barreling through and dying a bunch of times. I was able to no-death-run it after a couple weeks of grinding.
    With CastleVania, yeah the trick is having holy water in the Grim Reaper fight. I wouldnt consider it a difficult nes game but def more challenging that Contra.

    The hardest games on that list gotta be Silver Surfer and Battletoads

    Action 52 doesnt deserve to be on the list, its a compilation of games, many if not most with no end

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    Controversial opinion: Metroid is harder than Battletoads. this game is just unrelenting. I got to Kraid and just couldnt beat him. he is overpowered and it is too east to get knocked into the water. I am sure there is a trick to it but whatever.

    Battletoads isnt hard once you memorize the levels. you are vastly more powerful than your enemies in that game. in Metroid you are slower than your enemies and I cant stand going into a room and something starts jumping into me before I have a chance to even shoot

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    Metroid is the kind of game where you really need at least a little outside help. Some important stuff is hidden in the most stupidly obtuse places, so you either die of old age doing tedious trial and error to check literally everywhere, or you get some tips from schoolyard friends, magazines, etc. Once you've collected what you need, none of the enemies or terrain pose too much of a challenge.

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    There are two types of games from the NES era: games with unlimited continues and games without unlimited continues. Hard games with unlimited continues can be trying, but fair. Having to start a 10+ hour game from the beginning after getting 90% of the way through is just cruel.
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    I can't say I recall any NES game that would take 10+ hours for one playthrough that also has limited continues. Most NES games that would require you to start from the beginning after you run out of lives/continues can be beaten in an hour or two tops once you've gotten good at the game. That's precisely why they make you restart from the beginning. They didn't want people to beat the games they same day they bought them, so the play time mostly consists of practicing.

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    I know Ill get crap for this but if Im not able to proceed in a game because I missed something to me that is a sign of poor game design. Ive played many games where I thought "well how the hell was I supposed to figure THAT out?" games should be fun, they shouldnt torment you and make you wander aimlessly or bomb everuy square inch of the game to proceed in the main storyline. I could understand side quests of hidden things to find that arent necessary

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