The 20 Hardest NES Games

[@mojoplays]

What's the hardest NES game you've ever played? Let us know in the comments! Click here for more retro gaming videos: kzbin.info/aero/PLCXa2CCtHXq0Fl0JGh_MSDp6pF-MucT7_

[@5FtOfRage]

The Mega Man games,Battletoads & TMNT games

[@manueltapia1859]

Battletoads, Castlevania 1, Kid Icarus, Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (that infamus water level), Super Mario Bros 2, Punch Out

[@dark14life]

Golgo 13. That game had my 12 year old brain going nuts trying to figure it out. It was only in my early 20's on an emulator (don't worry, I still owned the cartridge so it was legal!) that I finally managed to beat it. Just a beast of a game with little to no instructions on how to complete the levels.

[@nicholastychek0813]

double dragon and super c

[@antoniousai1989]

Wizards and Warriors, I think

[@brutalplanet1708]

I TOTALLYYYYY forgot about Festers Quest until I saw this. You gave me back part of my childhood. Thank you for that!!!

[@ignacio633]

Used to loved Festers Quest. Has one of the best music ever in a video game

[@dslguy2008]

I owned or beat most of these games. Fester’s Quest is more tedious than difficult. You can map out the 3D levels with grid paper. The real trick, though, is to have a controller and ( this is part of the tedium) move back and forth in the first area until you have a fully upgraded gun. While learning the boss patterns can be rough, you can literally cheat them. Use the invisibility potion and hit them with your strongest weapon. When it wears off, use another. If you take hits, use a regular potion. Trust me, the bosses health will run out before the potions.

[@beavis4220]

Exactly 😅that game was brutal indeed 😊

[@mrmusickhimself]

My parents bought it for me back in 1989....and I didn't beat it until 1999. I always hated how pointless the continue option was, you may as well start a new run since it forces you back to the beginning.

[@sekaiishtal2508]

I didnt beat Fester's Quest until 2004, which was my junior year in high school. Haha... but it was mostly from deciding to go through an old backlog of old games and just not quitting until i see the ending credits or scene.

[@officialFredDurstfanclub]

Yeah Fester is a pain in the ass but there’s waaaaayyyy harder games for the console out there. If you ration your potions properly and grind for the best gun/whip, all the bosses become total jokes. The final boss just crumbles before you with no way to fight back. There’s no way it’s a harder game than Castlevania 3 of all things, that one is a real nut crusher

[@nathanrowe1697]

I have such PTSD from so many of these games I almost rage threw my phone in the yard hahaha! Great video !!

[@GeezieMac]

Attempting to land on the aircraft carrier in Top Gun was bad; refueling midair was worse!

[@rhannah7873]

💯

[@jlyt8383]

Yep

[@chadevans4922]

You failed to mention one little bit about Fester's Quest. If you die, you had to start the entire game all over again from the very beginning. By the way, if you thought Contra was hard, so did Konami. The instruction manual for Contra made it quite clear that the developers did not believe you could beat it.

[@yg2522]

funny enough, for contra once you learned the patterns it was really easy to beat without losing a life. i played that thing so much that i would challenge myself by either not using power ups or using the laser because those were the suckiest weapons in that game. i did the same thing for super contra also which i thought was actually harder.

[@KCUFyoufordoxingme]

​@@yg2522I feel you. I was beating contra 3 on hard mode before I was getting through contra easily though. I feel original contra to be more difficult.

[@mindcrome]

You keep your stuff, it just puts at the start

[@deandrenicholas2545]

I remember having a much easier time beating Contra than Fester's Quest... 😊

[@alkristopher]

Please, Contra is a baby game for babies. You want NES brutality, you play The Krion Conquest. You'll be begging for Contra before stage 2!

[@JPgene_]

I put ghosts and goblins at number 1. Simply because it's pretty fair with it's challenge. It's not about the game being broken or controlling badly

[@samuraipinguin8704]

I'd say the exact same thing about Battletoads

[@5FtOfRage]

I'm still disappointed we still haven't gotten a TMNT vs Battletoads video game.

[@oneaboveall1895]

tmnt was impossible lol the sewers lvl always stopped me

[@jeffb.6642]

@@oneaboveall1895 The sewers? you mean the dam? I think the sewers was the first area.

[@oneaboveall1895]

@@jeffb.6642 yes the first area lol

[@jeffb.6642]

@@oneaboveall1895 yeah even the first area was more diffcult than most games, the dam is not that bad once you get used to it, but the area after that is where I tapped out lol

[@Aragorn7884]

X-Men on NES was insanely hard because the game was broken...

[@5FtOfRage]

I agree that game was hard

[@JamesBelcher-o8i]

It was not

[@AngryCalvin]

@user-gs3nn4fx6p Yes it was.

[@KCUFyoufordoxingme]

The hold down buttons while resetting code that was written on the cartridge to advance after you got to the end room was weird to figure out.

[@dansmith1661]

I had to reset

[@Ruudos]

Ninja Gaiden III does not have respawning enemies unlike the first two games in the series.

[@senatorsparky]

Zelda II isn’t that hard, it’s perfectly doable unlike some other infamous games on this list. Guardian Legend and Double Dragon III, now THERE are some brutal games.

[@manadoria]

+1 for Guardian Legend. Great game though.

[@teneleven2818]

Zelda 2 actually kinda easy once you get the hang of it. Guardian Legend is hard but at least you can get stronger but even then some bosses are impossible at least for me

[@LarryB-ms1ci]

Yeah, was surprised to see that one on the list.

[@GangstaSpanksta]

A lot of the games on this list I wouldn't consider hard. Castlevania?

[@viktorvogel4106]

zelda 2 on the NES is barely harder than dark souls or other hard modern games. so its defiantly on the easier side as far as NES game goes. castlevania is not to hard either since you got unlimited continues the third one is kinda hard but doable for skilled gamers... Battletoads, turtles and ghost n goblins are pretty damn hard tho.

[@paulkendzulak-kx6kz]

Metroid was a difficult game

[@shyguykid7935]

In the words of the Angry Video Game Nerd, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?"

[@t45tt4tr]

Back when AVGN productions had charm.

[@spector3881]

Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well

[@mondruner]

​@@t45tt4trNo time to have charm now.

[@alvaromendes1099]

@@mondruner A truther here LMFAO

[@crazyjoe91682]

Solstice was a challenging game for me. It too was also a die on one hit game

[@LinguisticSugar]

That Battletoads music is giving me nightmares to this day.

[@854Z]

I beat silver at the age of 12. I played it the entire summer and beat it on my last life. I had only 3 games, Mario, mega man and silver surfer. Great memories

[@NoName-cn3cp]

Ok liar.

[@mrjeremyhorn]

Beating Silver Silver at age 12 sounds like a horrible memory 😂 But you can't argue with results, congratulations!

[@854Z]

@@mrjeremyhorn thanks it was more than 30 years ago but I remember playing it for like months a few times a day until I got very good at it. I wish I had the same determination. lol.

[@fredstahl8372]

Silver surfer you only get 1 life🤷

[@NoName-cn3cp]

@@fredstahl8372 yeah he's obviously lying

[@Thelodis]

Only once have I made it to the final level of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I had all four of my turtles but I had to leave the house for an hour, and my mother wouldn't let me keep the NES on because of the fire risk, even though I begged her. "That's what the vents are for, to keep it from overheating". Then I got a Game Genie, and twice I tried with the invincibility cheat. But both time I got stuck in a fire pit and the cheat prevented me from getting out, so it didn't help.

[@Huwann1986]

I just beat TMNT this year. Only took 38 years

[@craiganderson7986]

You can’t beat a game but you can’t beat Mom!

[@thorbartzi994]

Ahh, yes, Battletoads' friendly fire mechanic. Both the best and worst idea to put into a video game. Especially when you have a brother who insist they need to "hit you back to be even." That quickly becomes a slippery slope, resulting in hurt feelings and game over screens.

[@AdnanShabbir-w7q]

Commitment is what made all those game worth playing, and finishing them was a one lifetime experience in itself. They made you patient, skillful, resourceful, wise, tough and composed, just like the army did back in the day. Beating all does games and 1000s of others, gave me the felling that everything is just as easy in life. All it needs is to unlock your veteran gamer skill, lol Even Dark Soul was child's play ^-^ 80s kid, Bro!

[@alkristopher]

Okay, then play the Krion Conquest.

[@toptenguy1]

5:40: Actually, Ninja Gaiden 3's enemies DO NOT respawn. WHICH IS WHY it's my favorite!

[@renzokukenleneyoyo522]

My fav trilogy of them all... was only able to beat the first one once in my childhood... actually I think that I was only able to beat the second one once too... I did win ancient ship of doom a lot of times because I player it for years!

[@kenterminateddq5311]

7:31 Castlevania 1 is tough but I think Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is the most difficult of the series. The enemies give a lot of damage to Simon (Belmont). Plus, those regenerating mummies are ANNOYING AF! I think I'm the only one who didn't think Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse to be a masterpiece. Anyone else?

[@ThomasDrish]

I never did beat Castlevania 3, I made it all the way to the final boss, I made it to his last of three transformations…and that’s about it! I agree, this was incredibly difficult for the Castlevania series, but I have to admit, I had the most fun playing this one.

[@cliffjumper1984]

But in CVIII, you play as Trevor belmont

[@kenterminateddq5311]

@@ThomasDrish how did you deal with those god-dang mummies in Alucard's stage? THEY SUCK!

[@ThomasDrish]

@@kenterminateddq5311 Patience was the main key. With that, I needed the triple throw of weapons, that helped. Throwing holy water paralyzes them for a few seconds. Yeah, I remember exactly what you’re talking about. It’s a tough game to master.

[@AngryCalvin]

Castlevania 3 was the game I put the most hours into. I definitely can’t agree that it’s not a masterpiece. It’s at least a top 10 best NES game if not higher.

[@BrianGeers]

One more thing that Ikari Warriors had in common with Contra is that it was impossible to make any meaningful progress without using a cheat code (in this case “A, B, B, A” after you lost your third life to continue).

[@Ecksterordinary]

Super mario 2 lost levels never came out in the U.S. in the 80s.

[@manueltapia1859]

That's right, was until SNES era in Super Mario Bros All Stars!!!!

[@Callypso32]

Incorrect. I asked for MB1 for x-mas but there were no copies available and lost levels is what my dad could find and got me from the local video store and he got me that instead not knowing the difference. Yes, that was my first game with MB2 which i got quickly later. It was a smaller cardridge with a special attachment to make it fit in the NES. Some copies made it to this continent. I never met anyone else who had this game, yet, nobody was jealous...

[@Punchable-Face]

For me, R.C Pro am, Adventures of Bayou Billy. And Bomberman only because of that long ass password..lol 😂

[@desmien679]

With Ikari Warriors, if you thought the controls for it on the NES was bad, try playing the arcade version of it. The controller for that was a hybrid of a joystick and paddle for controlling the direction/aim of the players. So just moving towards a direction didn't mean you were going to aim in that direction, you had to turn the paddle of the controller until you were facing the desired direction you wanted to shoot.

[@robinolsson6152]

Castlevania is hard yes, But with unlimited lives makes it Easy to beat.

[@davidtharp2125]

I think that would make most games easy to beat…

[@Shinxyz123]

Even Ninja Gaiden gets pretty easy because of this

[@thestigsdutchcousin]

Top Gun was beatable, I think there was a trick on the landing bit (at least it seemed to work for me): as soon as you reach the final screen of the carrier, level your plane horizontally and 9 times out of 10 you would land. Also, while NG3 was difficult, the original NG was much harder.

[@SonicSlicer]

The Carrier Landings were just annoying, but that just meant practice was needed is all. As for Ninja Gaiden though, Gaiden 1 was WAY harder than Gaiden 3, not because of controls or anything like that. It was just less forgiving.

[@michaelsoule8070]

Abadox was insanely difficult. Especially the last level. I think I probably beat it once without losing a life. P.O.W. was another stupid hard game.

[@COMPFUNK2]

For Silver Surfer, you really should’ve mentioned that if you touch so much as even a wall, you lose a life.

[@wavyarmedman]

Little Nemo was ridiculously hard, especially towards the end. And I’m surprised to see Castlevainia 1 & 3 on here, but not 2, which I thought was the most difficult.

[@Dj.D25]

Ninja Gaiden 3's enemies actually don't respawn when defeated unlike Ninja Garden 1 and 2. It does make some areas easier. Though I don't get why the game put limited continues when 1 and 2 let you continue as much as you want. TMNT's Dam level isn't too bad to me. It's the Technodrome level where things get really ridiculous, especially the final corridor, where you have to take it slow with a certain respawning enemy or use scrolls to speed things up, Blaster Master's difficultly mostly comes from certain bosses. Several of them, you need to have your gun upgraded pretty well to stand a chance, especially against the 5th boss. Ghosts and Goblins I agree is a very difficult game overall, but it might not be as bad if it weren't for that red devil enemy, whose attack pattern seems very unpredictable. And it even chases you when you try to run away.

[@QuickStix26]

In TMNT, the Technodrome is as far as I ever got. Never could beat it.

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Add Double Dragon III to the list.

[@imbisoul]

Yeah, I would replace Contra with any of the Double Dragons.

[@SonicSlicer]

DD3 was more cheap than hard, I'd say

[@joelshimp]

@@imbisoulcontra is way easier than people say it is. Now Super C is a different story

[@timothylewis2527]

THIS!!!

[@alvaromendes1099]

Precisely, Not only Double Dragon III but there are a lot of harder games that were left out but instead we got a bunch of games that doesn't even qualify as being hard.

[@NerfHerder1]

Not sure if this is sad or impressive but one of greatest accomplishment in life was beating Contra without dying. I tried replicating the feat many times but never could.

[@ronnydzaster5279]

Hudson's Adventure Island

[@Yahtzee_09]

Don't forget about getting your player stuck behind a rock or wall in a 2-player game of Ikari Warriors. I used to absolutely lose my mind.

[@Leopez02]

We never had NES so I don't have any game experiences about NES games, but Super Mario Bros 3 and TMNT Turtles in Time are the BEST NES games that I know, but don't know what NES games are the hardest, but after this video I'll know and learn something interesting about Nintendo's history with NES! After this video would you make a video about of the 20 Hardest SNES games? Super Nintendo belongs to my childhood more than NES. 😊❤

[@kcvriess]

I'm pretty happy to have beat three games on this list. Contra, Zelda II and Bayou Billy.

[@danbee998]

Bayou Billy is the only honorable mention in your list, as "hardest" NES games. Is your list based on games someone at Mojo never completed? Give Back to the Future a try if you want to see a better representative as one of the hardest games for NES.

[@alvaromendes1099]

Dragon's Lair, Double Dragon III, Rattle n Roll, Snake's Revenge and many others.... There were so many others games that could fit here instead of this idiotic list.

[@SonicSlicer]

Blaster Master, first time I ever saw the ending, my cousin and I tag teamed the game by splitting the stages. I took on the odd numbered stages, he had the even numbered stages and if one died, the other took over. He raged because I figured out Plutoneum Boss' pattern and landed the final blow.

[@travisdonaldstanley6420]

I remember renting Ninja Gaiden 3 and being shocked at how the jumping mechanics were way different than 1 and 2. Never bought it. Great video!

[@RFP15]

8 Eyes for the NES was nearly impossible to beat.

[@timothylewis2527]

Not sure if it was easier with two players but me and my brother blasted through that game. We were looking for the next "Castlevania". He was the man and I always played as the bird. 🤣

[@VictorGoldfeld]

Ikari Warriors was one of my favorite NES games and like once or twice i made it to the last level, it was so relentlessly brutal, i could not figure out how to make the game end, i just hit the end of the level and that's it, no internet, no codes or guides... then i remember pausing the game to figure out what to do and my grandfather walked in at some point and turned it off not knowing the situation. It's funny i can remember the feeling of anger/giving up like 30 years later.

[@vunature5181]

I don't remember Blaster Master being too frustrating. It wasn't the easiest game I've played but it a lot of fun for me. Zelda II had some good RPG vibes going for me, I think the leveling system helped out somewhat although I haven't played it in over 30 years so I could be misremembering a few things. As for Fester's Quest, you can completely level up the gun by killing enemies in the opening stage, that gave me some breathing room.

[@alvaromendes1099]

Because Blaster Master is not hard. This list is non sense.

[@manueltapia1859]

Thanks for this video, ah the nostalgia the newer player don't have idea what a hard game is. Could you do one of SNES hardest games??? 🎉

[@josefkrenshaw179]

I conquered 6 of these legitimately and finished another three with asterisks. I did the Genesis version of "The Immortal", the SNES "Super Mario All Stars" version of "The Lost Levels" and used the Contra code for "Contra". I was born in 1980 so I grew up on this stuff. "Ghosts and Goblins" has infinite continues so I Ieft my NES for days on end and finished it. "Zelda II-Adventure of Link"'s difficulty is overrated. Some of the clues are cryptic but the combat is tame compared to the others.

[@slayerd357]

The Turbo Tunnel, The Dam level, The landing, Mike Tyson,....I noticed that a lot of NES games had ONE sequence that made them neigh impossible. I heard Battletoads gets harder after the Turbo Tunnel, but I've never heard anyone say whatever happens after the Turbo Tunnel made them quit. It was always that ONE freaking level. I'm glad you brought up Gauntlet. I've NEVER met ANYONE that beat it, yet it's NEVER mentioned.

[@jerottarot5216]

Cool video, but some of those I wouldn't put among the hardest. Wizards and Warriors, Doctor Chaos, Battle at Olympus, 8 Eyes etc. You hit the nail of the head with Top Gun and Friday the 13th haha!

[@davidgarner7948]

Lost levels didn't come out in the 80s in America. We got Mario 2 because the makers were afraid it was to hard for American players

[@electricape5476]

I would put Friday the 13th on the "it's hard because it's bad and confusing" list. Once you understand how the game works, you can grab the best weapons early and catch Jason while he's outdoors. Games like Ninja Gaiden 1, Lifeforce, Batman, Super C, and Street Fighter 2010 are hard while still being pretty good.

[@rulerofall015]

The reason they make it so hard is because the games are stupidly short plus they want you to feel like you accomplished something fr.

[@mickywrobleski951]

....test the limits of your rage. That line is GENIUS

[@PhuryousOne]

I swear I had half or more of the games on the list. These games were so damn hard to beat, it's no wonder I started smoking cigarettes when I was a kid.

[@slayerd357]

I love how he runs through the fire at 9:08 without taking damage. I don't know how many "NO HIT SPEED RUN" videos I've seen like this. Tell me you're cheating without telling me.

[@ThailandXpress]

Castlevania 3 was much harder than the previous entries. And never, ever talk to me about the most difficult NES game of all time unless you have experienced the never ending nightmare known as Deadly Towers.

[@tribelzen]

Seeing the turbo tunnel and then hearing testing the limits of your rage, had me chuckling for 10 mins. I remember 10 yr old me rage quitting countless time to that game.

[@mattiasolsson1523]

My experience with Zelda 2 was rough, i was giving help in KZbin were i was gonna do and go.

[@blutomindpretzel1735]

imagine playing games in a time when the internet didn't exist. Dark ages, man

[@nicholasmesa3588]

Friday the 13th, and Silver Surfer were two of the most challenging games I've ever played in my life . . . And I spent days on those games! 😅 Gotta love that difficulty that came naturally with the hardware of the times!

[@SomeGuyandanAmbulance]

I actually find Castlevania 1 harder than 3 for one simple reason: the janky controls and the fact that, at certain, tiny points in the hit box, enemies will simply not take damage from your whip. 3 fixed all of this and, while it is still quite difficult, I find that I tended to beat it a lot faster than 1 in my day.

[@countdread6467]

X-Men and Battle for Olympus was pretty tough. Some others too but great list as I agree with all.

[@daytimecloudsurfer]

One of the great things about the switch virtual console is the instant rewind -- even with that, the speeder bike level in battletoads is still one of the hardest things I've ever done in a video game lol

[@TheReaperofHades]

Where’s Dragon’s Lair? XD

[@dreamguardian8320]

Guess they can't squeeze in everything.

[@ariesgeronimo1141]

thats not NES its SNES

[@thatguytony2002]

Add Star Wars and the empire strikes back on NES to this list. I’m surprised nobody talks about how obnoxiously hard both those games are. Even the angry video game nerd talked about how frustrating and difficult they are. Those games definitely deserve to be on every hardest NES games list yet nobody ever mentions them. A lot of the levels in both those games are frustrating as hell and in the first one, I believe you get a limited number of continues before you have to start the whole game over again.

[@matthewprince9705]

Yes, I never beat Star Wars!

[@thatguytony2002]

@@matthewprince9705 me neither. Both Star Wars games on NES are atrociously difficult.

[@tdthib5530]

Played all of these. Complete nostalgic moments here.

[@user-2023CatNior]

Star Tropics is hard as well

[@nathanfisher3441]

I would say this was a fun nostalgia trip. But then I remember the amount if rage quitting these games will make you do.

[@c_low_da_wrk9121]

Man these games take me back.

[@kissedbypalefirex]

BATTLETOADS!!! THE TURBO TUNNEL! the 1st TMNT...i've never been able to get past the 3rd stage.Zelda II...it took me yrs to beat that game, i have been trying to beat ZII since i was 10, i finally beat when i was 33yrs old...i had trouble when you get the hammer in death mnt, the island & 3 rock palaces.Castlevania II simon's quest.

[@alexisramirez79]

I loved battletoads. It was challenging, but enjoyable. The one frustrated me the most was Total Recall. The taxi level was insanely hard and it was only the 3rd one.

[@taibalab]

I remember farming lives on Contra in the 3rd level boss. You simply stuck in the corner of the screen shooting at the minions spawned. Still had to earn those lives manually. But it was fun completing the game with an infinite lives glitch!

[@afireinside4722]

I've beat tmnt twice this week once you learn the spot of enemies and where the scrolls are and where the two respawn turtles are it's not that bad

[@boosk2127]

Finishing 6 of the games on this list back in the day on the original system just seems like a huge accomplishment in itself. Especially considering it would take hours just to get through them, all while hoping the game would not start to glitch out by getting the dreaded lines or game code plastered all over the screen to where you couldn't see a damn thing and then would have to shut it off and restart if you felt like burning another 4 or 5 hours on it.

[@LarryB-ms1ci]

I legit beat 4 (the two castlevania games, Zelda, and Gauntlet) beat Contra with the Konami code, and a couple adjacent options (Mega Man 2 and 3 and Ninja Gaiden 1) Funny how terrible at those I am now compared to 35 years ago, lol.

[@chincemagnet]

I’m proud to say I beat probably half of these games without cheating. Ghosts and Goblins was freaking ridiculous! Legacy of the Wizard belongs on this list imo. Thinking back to my childhood, few games vexed me as much as that one. There’s probably more, that one stands out.

[@TwiddleFingersDB]

Pretty sure AVGN did all of these. It was a relief to me to find out as an adult that other people found all these games unfair and tedious. As a kid playing NES, I just thought I sucked at video games...

[@CesandtheCity]

Bayou Billy was fun! I still think that Platoon and Fester’s Quest were the two hardest games to beat!

[@brianhatcher2799]

Yes it was!! I got all the way to the very end but couldn’t beat the very last boss. For me, the jeep sections gave me a tougher time than the street fighting levels.

[@seanhorgan6774]

Festers Quest broke my love of games for almost a decade

[@booch2912]

Top Gun carrier landing was one of my fav things ever for any game 😂

[@michaels.ramsey7803]

"Clash at Demonhead" had an internal memory battery. You could revisit all levels, but if you missed anything in the first pass of any level, the end boss would never show up. The only way to restart the game was buy a new cartridge, or disassemble your cartridge and disconnect the battery for a few seconds.

[@LoLifeIsForever-hl2nm]

I had Fester's Quest, it was frustratingly hard to navigate, but fun!

[@starchitin]

So many games on this list I wanted to like as a kid but could never get far enough in them to enjoy them. If only we'd had the ability to select a difficulty level back then.

[@Squishmallows24]

I remember as a kid playing games on my sega genesis and Super Nintendo and beating game after game multiple times. Now when I’ve gone back to play some of those games I can’t beat them! They feel so damn hard! lol

[@mattfabian3796]

Played most of these, but I think I’d separate the poorly designed games from the “hard” games. Top Gun has no business on this list. Always felt that one was super easy. Also don’t remember MegaMan being too bad (maybe because I read Nintendo Power). Surprised Double Dragon was overlooked. I rarely made it past the caves…

[@Ragesauce]

Half the games on this list are not hard. In fact they are very well balanced.

[@alvaromendes1099]

I would say only 2 of them are somewhat difficult. Battletoads and Ghost n Goblins.

[@Melvinvanharn]

I think many lists like these are not based on actual difficulty, but on popularity and recognizability. Almost everybody is familiar with Contra. Is Contra "actually" that hard? No. You do get 3 continues, and you're probably get some extra lives too. There are lots of games I would classify as harder. Given that difficulty is a subjective thing, it does make it hard to rate games. But Contra deserves its legendary status IMO, not for its difficulty, but for its tight game controls, awesome weapons, and big boss battles.

[@SuperRangerGuy1]

The only thing I agree with is the swimming level is the only part in my opinion; As a long time NES Fan; You should have included all 3 Ninja Guiden, Castlevania games;

[@jaredhamon3411]

Imagine playing these games with the Power Glove for an extra challenge

[@christopherlapp4553]

Or the U-Force

[@AleisterMeowley]

I love the power glove. It’s so bad.

[@NoChillsBill]

Fester's Quest mentioned! Oh wow that takes me back. They might as well have said. You WILL need a turbo controller to even have a chance at this game. Advantage or Max? I chose Max.

[@InTheZone85]

Never completed Mario 1, 3, TMNT, Gauntlet, Zelda 1 or hardly any NES or SNES game but I can say I completed Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Super Contra on SNES.

[@2l84me8]

TMNT, Bucky ‘O Hare, Ninja Gaiden, and CastleVania 3 were my personal hardest NES games I ever beat.

[@SuperEagle112]

I remember playing top gun for hours! Dozens and dozens and possibly hundreds of tries to land on the carrier and I swear we only landed it once and I’m fairly certain the uncle that pulled it off was several beers deep.

[@WreakinHavocOnU]

Bayou Billy was hard as hell. 😆

[@christopherlapp4553]

I always thought it was a shame because it’s a cool concept for a game

[@timothylewis2527]

One of the first games I ever bought! I read that it was a beat -em-up, driving, AND shooting game all in one, and I was sold.

[@WreakinHavocOnU]

@@timothylewis2527 It was honestly a great time even though I never made it past the 3rd or 4th stage.

[@benharrison5816]

It was a cool game but the difficulty was broken af. I had to use the Game Genie to beat it, and thought no way could anyone beat it, but apparently there are some peeps out there with infinite patience lol.

[@timothylewis2527]

@@benharrison5816 I got pretty good at it. Beat it several times and even had a "Bayou Billy" movie plotted in my head, complete with soundtrack 🤣 The key was beating all of the training levels first. They actually give you a full health refill, an extra life, and a bullet proof vest for the main game.

[@5FtOfRage]

Top of the top 10 hardest dot hack// boss fights.

[@zefgaidin1567]

I can't believe I had all but 1 of those games! Only missing Silver surfer for a whole set. I remember liking most of them too

[@74205gb]

Born in 1977, the games on this list were my childhood...good times :)

[@dondaileyii]

It took me and my friend forever to win Silver Surfer. If it wasn’t for my Nintendo Advantage controller (I think that was the name). I’m not sure if we won the Uncle Fester game but we loved it. So many NES games were brutally hard. When the SNES came out I thought games had gotten easier at that point. Some games that came from hard franchises could be won in a rental weekend.

[@lonewizard6018]

What! No “Time Lord”?

[@lordrandolf1]

Double Dragon, GoGo 13, and Bionic Commando, were no cake walks.

[@bcsdscar]

Definitely some tough games . I played the majority of these games and only ever beat 3 of them, Mega Man, Castlevania 1….and contra with the cheat code so I don’t really count it. I remember dying at Dracula endless times and finally thought I beat him not knowing he has a second form 🤦‍♂️, total gut punch. Finally took him out after several more attempts

[@Hunter_s_morrison]

That fester cover just took me back wow

[@LuisOrtizRosario]

Giving myself a pat in the back for finishing Blaster Master, LoZ II, and Friday the 13th in the 1980s.

[@fjcarmo0369]

#19 TMNT is an easy game just save Donatello for the boss fights, and use Leonardo for most of the rest of the game. I only use Raphael or Michaelangelo if I really need to. One game I must add to the list, though, is Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden is a game that defines the term "difficult as f*ck."

[@nikmidclayton5933]

Easy is just an incorrect descriptor for TMNT

[@fjcarmo0369]

@nikmidclayton5933 I guess it just depends on what you played as a kid. TMNT was one of the select rare few NES games I had when I was young, so I spent an insane amount of time playing it. The enemy patterns and locations of items are practically burned into my brain. Maybe that is why TMNT seems easy to me.