masochism; the 20 hardest NES games according to GameFAQs users

[gbpxl]

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

[Aussie2B]

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.

[gbpxl]

which ones

[§ Gideon §]

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.

[Aussie2B]

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).

[goldenband]

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.

[§ Gideon §]

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.

[bb_hood]

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

[§ Gideon §]

You consider Zelda II and Castlevania more difficult than Contra?

[Az]

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.