The Hardest NES Games

Paradoxically, the NES would end up being the console that saved the gaming industry in North America despite having some of the all-time hardest games. The phrase "Nintendo hard" has come to define an entire generation of titles that, taking influence from their arcade counterparts, forced players to complete entire gruelling challenges in a single sitting or required some serious pattern recognition and reflexes to even have a hope of making it to the credits screen. The hardest NES games have a legitimate claim to being some of the hardest games ever made, full stop, and the following 20 titles are arguably the most difficult in the console's almost 700-game library. Of course, just because a game is difficult doesn't mean it isn't fun, with some of the most challenging games on the NES also ranking as some of the console's best.

• Release Date — June 17, 1988
• Developer — Sunsoft
• Publisher — Sunsoft
• Genre — Action-Platformer, Run 'n Gun

Compared to some of the other developers with multiple games on the NES, Sunsoft's titles tend to be slightly more forgiving, but one of the studio's best games is also one of its most challenging: Blaster Master. The challenge of Blaster Master largely comes through the game's tricky platforming sequences and hard-to-find health recharges, making some stretches of the game's main story a true endurance gauntlet to see if you can make it from one location to the next. Plus, Blaster Master features not one, but two difficult gameplay modes, with the overhead on-foot sections just as challenging as the side-scrolling driving ones.

• Release Date — November 26, 1986
• Developer — SNK
• Publisher — Tradewest
• Genre — Run 'n Gun

Like a lot of other arcade titles that would make their way to the NES, Ikari Warriors does little to take away from the quarter-eating challenge of its coin-op counterpart. This top-down run 'n gun is essentially SNK's take on Capcom's Commando, but it's perhaps even harder than that classic arcade game thanks to some tricky enemy waves and a laughably low stock of player lives. Lots of players rightfully list Contra as one of the more difficult NES games, but at least Contra had the Konami Code to get 30 lives. Ikari Warriors has no such luck.

• Release Date — July 30, 1986
• Developer — Tecmo
• Publisher — Tecmo
• Genre — Puzzle

It might be surprising to see a puzzle title on the list of hardest NES games, but anyone who's played Solomon's Key knows just how dastardly some of its 64 levels are. To add insult to injury, one hit in Solomon's Key is all it takes to die and restart, requiring perfect execution of each of its puzzle platforming challenges in a single go. Considering how much trial and error are necessary to even learn the levels, it must've taken players an absurdly long time to actually clear this game back in its heyday. Still, Solomon's Key is one of the best and most unique puzzle games in the NES library, even with its intimidating challenge.

• Release Date — February 1, 1989
• Developer — Atlus
• Publisher — LJN
• Genre — Adventure

Those of us who grew up with the NES as our first gaming console were also of the age where, despite not actually being old enough to watch the Friday the 13th films, we knew Jason Voorhees as the definitive horror icon of the 1980s. So when LJN released a Friday the 13th game for the NES, that was our first chance to get to play something that had the promise of being as scary as the films we were so desperate to get to see, right? Wrong. Friday the 13th is scary, but not for the reasons you might imagine. The game is needlessly difficult while also featuring the absolute barest bones of gameplay, requiring a frustrating amount of trial and error to even encounter Jason, much less survive those often insta-kill scenarios.

• Release Date — June 21, 1991
• Developer — Tecmo
• Publisher — Tecmo
• Genre — Action-Platformer

All three of the NES Ninja Gaiden titles lay claim to being some of the hardest games on the console (hence their presence on this list), but the third game is at least slightly less challenging than the other two. That said, Ninja Gaiden III is still unmercifully difficult, proving that even the least challenging Ninja Gaiden game is more challenging than most NES titles on a good day. Ironically enough, it's not the boss encounters of Ninja Gaiden III that are hard as much as it's the game's uncharacteristically long stages and their countless platforming and combat challenges that Ryu has to cross before even getting to the big bads.

• Release Date — November 2, 1990
• Developer — Sandcastle
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Genre — Action-Adventure

Perhaps one of the more famously difficult games on the NES, The Immortal is almost a cruel joke that the developer seems to be playing on the player. A single wrong move in The Immortal can see the player hitting a Game Over screen, and the number of insta-death traps and encounters that players can encounter in The Immortal is almost laughable. Compared to The Immortal, famously challenging RPGs like Shadowgate are practically easy, solidifying the game's place as one of the most sadistically brutal titles on the NES.

• Release Date — April 25, 1986
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Scrolling Shooter

Believe it or not, when it comes to NES-era scrolling shooters, Gradius is actually one of the more manageable titles with some practice. But that surmountable challenge does little to take away from the fact that Konami's classic shmup is still one of the NES' hardest games, with a steep up-front challenge meant to separate the wheat from the chaff and quickly acclimate players to what the rest of the game will require of them. Gradius is a classic for a reason, and its NES port is surprisingly one of the best versions of the game, even if it's also one of the most difficult titles in the console's library.

• Release Date — November 21, 1987
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 3
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Sports, Fighting

Some gaming genres are more challenging for some while being easier for others, meaning that the concept of "difficult" games can be subjective. But one title that seems to almost universally be recognized as one of the hardest games on the NES is Punch-Out!!. The difficulty of Punch-Out!! comes from its deceptively simple control scheme and gameplay loop, which merely asks you to decipher each fighter's attack patterns before responding in kind. But the kicker for Punch-Out!! is that one false move or mistimed punch is all it takes to get pummeled into submission and meet the Game Over screen, presenting players with a razor-thin margin for error that requires mechanical precision and knowledge of each fighter's quirks.

• Release Date — December 18, 1987
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG

The importance of Final Fantasy in helping to popularize the JRPG can't be overstated, but there's no denying that the first game in the series is a little tedious in comparison to later entries. While not a traditionally "difficult" game in terms of requiring reflexes or pattern recognition, Final Fantasy is overly reliant on grinding encounters, which results in the game's encounter rate being sadistic in certain dungeons. Throw in the fact that players have limited restorative items and magic and can't effectively heal when inside a dungeon, and you have an incredibly challenging JRPG that holds players' feet to the fire unless they overlevel their party.

• Release Date — May 12, 1989
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Ultra Games
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Merely mentioning Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a conversation about difficult NES games is bound to give an entire generation of players PTSD from the game's Dam level, and that's just one of the earliest challenges the game throws at you. Thankfully, later TMNT games would adjust their challenge in a way befitting the source material, but that initial NES game is one of the hardest action-platformers of the era, both in terms of its regular stages and its obnoxiously difficult boss battles.

• Release Date — September 26, 1986
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Konami's Castlevania is one of the foundational action-platformers on the NES and one of the greatest games in the genre. It's also unwieldy, needlessly slow, and filled with opportunities for enemies to knock Simon Belmont into a pit that results in instant death. More than the actual "action" half of Castlevania's gameplay, the real challenge comes in the title's platforming, with the slow, plodding movements of Simon and his limited jump range making even seemingly easy platforming sections a gruelling challenge. And don't even get me started on the boss battle against Death.

• Release Date — August 12, 1988
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Beat 'em Up

Similar to Blaster Master, the difficulty of The Adventures of Bayou Billy largely comes through thanks to its multiple game modes that the title throws at you. The standard, side-scrolling beat 'em up stages are somewhat tough to begin with, with enemies taking a real beating before they go down and Bayou Billy having limited health pick-ups to rely on. But when things switch to the riverboat or jeep sections, it only gets tougher, and you've got to survive these change-ups with zero preparation for their gameplay differences, otherwise it's back to the beginning.

• Release Date — September 14, 1989
• Developer — Sunsoft
• Publisher — Sunsoft
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Run 'n Gun

A game based on The Adams Family is not exactly what you might expect for one of the NES' hardest games, but Fester's Quest isn't just any ordinary game. This top-down action-adventure/run 'n gun hybrid lets players take on the role of Fester as he tries to stop an alien invasion, and the controls are tuned in such a way that lining up shots and dodging incoming projectiles is way more difficult than it needs to be. Throw in the fact that it's often hard just to know where to go or what to do, and you have one of the most notoriously difficult games on the console.

• Release Date — December 9, 1988
• Developer — Tecmo
• Publisher — Tecmo
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Sitting squarely in the middle between the challenge of the easiest and hardest games in the trilogy is the original NES Ninja Gaiden. Don't get me wrong — Ninja Gaiden is still an absurdly difficult game with some of the most intense platforming and combat of any 8-bit title. But the layouts of the game's stages and the patterns of its different bosses are more telegraphed and easy to memorize, meaning all it takes is a little persistence and a lot of practice to eventually see Ryu Hayabusa through to the end of his journey.

• Release Date — December 17, 1987
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Compared to the other 5 Mega Man games on the NES, the first title in the series is substantially more challenging, strictly for the diabolical design of its 6 stages. But even once you get past the 6 robot masters, you still have to clear the ultimate gauntlet of Dr. Wily's fortress, and the iteration of that final gauntlet in the first Mega Man is perhaps the hardest in the entire series. Sure, there's a password function, and you can always come back for another attempt when you're ready (unlike a lot of other games on this list), but having to clear the game's hardest challenge in a single go with no breaks makes the first Mega Man one of the most challenging games in the NES library.

• Release Date — November 2, 1990
• Developer — Software Creations
• Publisher — Arcadia Systems
• Genre — Scrolling Shooter

Without a doubt, the hardest shooting game/shmup in the NES library is, strangely, the Silver Surfer game. While some of the title's difficulty can be attributed to legitimately challenging level design and enemy patterns, an even larger part of it comes from the game's wonky controls and hard-to-see projectiles. Shooting games are, by their nature, difficult experiences that push players to become better in a very short amount of time, but Silver Surfer is almost laughably hard, and it's also brutally unfair that much of its challenge comes from how difficult it is to maneuver the Surfer around the screen.

• Release Date — December 22, 1990
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Both Castlevania and Castlevania II are challenging games (albeit for different reasons), but neither of them stacks up to the degree of difficulty that Castlevania III presents. Between its branching pathways, multiple playable characters, and higher balance of combat and platforming, you might expect that Castlevania III would be easier than the other games in the trilogy, but the design of its stages and the devious bosses that players have to overcome throw any semblance of a more accessible experience out the window. But thanks to Simon's knockback being especially pronounced in Castlevania III, the worst offender of all is gravity.

• Release Date — June 13, 1986
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Like Ikari Warriors, Ghosts 'n Goblins was an already challenging arcade cabinet that became even more difficult in its NES port. Perhaps the hardest Capcom game in the studio's catalog, Ghosts 'n Goblins is one of the few games that could genuinely be described as "sadistic", giving no leeway to the player and requiring an almost unmanageable amount of coordination, precision, and pattern recognition to even make it to the end of the first stage.

• Release Date — April 6, 1990
• Developer — Tecmo
• Publisher — Tecmo
• Genre — Action-Platformer

Ask any fan of the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy which entry in the series is the "hardest", and they're all likely to provide a different answer. For my money, though, that honor has to go to Ninja Gaiden II. While Ninja Gaiden II is largely the same as its predecessor in terms of the core gameplay loop, there are some new wrinkles thrown in in both the regular stages and the boss battles that make some of its challenge the apex of a series known for it, especially in the ridiculously hard second stage where Ryu has to use wind currents to cross seemingly impossible platforming challenges only to be faced with one of the game's hardest bosses as a reward.

• Release Date — June 6, 1991
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Tradewest
• Genre — Action-Platformer, Beat 'em Up

Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles before it, even the mere mention of Battletoads is sure to conjure up anxiety for its most notorious challenge: the hoverbike stage. On the whole, Battletoads isn't all that difficult when we're just talking about the regular beat 'em up sections. Instead, it's the ridiculously challenging in-between parts like rappelling down a tree trunk or riding a hoverbike at top speed and having zero margin for error that saw players wipe out and never return to what's otherwise a fantastic game. For just the hoverbike stage alone, Battletoads has a strong claim to being the absolute hardest game on the NES.