Take a moment to reminisce about those games that made you want to break the f&$@ing controller. I just spent two hours on level 6-d of Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse; screw you hunchbacks, axe knights, and those motherf$&@ing RAVENS!!! FYI: I still haven't beaten the level.
Tough question, there are a few different kinds of "hard". There's the old school 2D side scroller with enemy attacks that are seemingly impossible to block or dodge, the arcade racing game with the timer than inevitably ends partway through your second lap, the genre you just happen to suck at, thus making any game within it somewhat impossible... On the whole I'd say the hardest games are the older ones, but one recent frustration that stands out for me is ModNation Racers. Cunningly disguised as a kids game yet with rife with near-impossible challenges. Also the Call of Duty games on Veteran... some sections are just plain cheap with infinite enemy spawns inside buildings, endless grenade rain and so on.
Beating CoD2 and CoD: WaW on Veteran was awful but I forced myself to do it. I'd spend an hour on one damn checkpoint. Battletoads for SNES back in the day, especially the racing where you had to have ninja-like reflexes and memorize the course. The worst of all though for me was Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox on the hardest difficulty. It was painful to grind for 20 minutes just to die and start over.
Oh geeze, going to show my age here. There are a few that vie for that title. 1. NES -- This is easy. Ghost and Goblins. 2. Sega Genesis -- Just as easy, there was a game called Last Battle. IMPOSSIBLE 3. SNES -- Same as with number 1, Super ghouls and ghosts. The game was nigh invulnerable. 4. Arcade -- X-men 8 player stand up (recently released on iOS). I pumped quarter after quarter into this mess.
Super Meat Boy, though it's difficulty is one of it's main selling points. I still come back to it every once in a while. I don't get any further into the game, but it's still fun.
Plenty of NES games are virtually unbeatable. It's a long, long list. Iron Tank, Operation Wolf, Castlevania, Ghouls N Goblins, Double Dragon. Bottom line, these games were never meant to be beaten. They are short, but replayability factor comes from the fact that you'll likely never beat them. I remember playing NES games over and over again, even though I knew I would never beat them. I would never do that today. It was a different era back then. I could never beat Contra without cheat codes. I got pretty good at Mike Tyson's Punchout, but could never fully beat it. Could never beat Metroid. Perhaps I was too young to understand the puzzle elements. Could never beat either Zelda. Dragon Warrior didn't end well. Ducktales. Chip N Dale. Uncle Fester's Quest. Friday the 13th. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. TMNT (the original, pre-arcade version) at least two different side-scrolling Simpsons games, Clash at Demonhead. The list is endless. Got lost in a lot of these games. They were very vague and it was pre Internet/FAQ days.
And (hopefully) soon to be Dark Souls I really wanted to play Demon Souls but ps3 only so I cant wait for Dark Souls. And they say its actually a bit harder than before which is nuts.
Dumaz1000 spit it out absolutely 100% right about NES games. All of them were so damn tough it was ridiculous lol. So many nights enjoyed playing these treasures over and over. Lots of fun. But for NES I would say Demon's Crest. My god that game was hard (the final hidden boss). The whole game was fairly simple compared to that guy. Now a days, one game that sticks out like a sore thumb is the I-want-to-kill-myself dept, is indeed Demon's Souls. There are just too many to name right off the bat of the harder ones though.
I don't think they were tough so much as they required rote memorization and hundreds of deaths. Not much skill in that. I mean, most of them were, after all, designed to make you pay extra quarters at the arcade.
Sweet, I didn't know it was coming out on 360 too. I hope it's as good as Demons Souls because people deserve to play this thing. Even once you get past the hype of the infamous difficulty level it's one of the most chillingly atmospheric games I've ever played. Walking through the same level for the 30th time gives me the same sense of wonderment as it did the first. It's weird in that you get to know the levels so well you almost feel comfortable in them... yet at the same time you need to keep on your toes because it only takes one small mistake...
Halo Reach solo on Legendary difficulty is mind-numbingly hard Super Meat Boy is infuriating. Playing through Ocarnia of Time (for the first time on 3DS), some of the dungeons are downright devious. Then first time you play a Pokemon game and fight the Elite Four and Champion, it seems impossible. Just from personal experience.
