The hardest video games of all time

[Thunderplex]

Tir Na Nog.  Would be still walking round without the guide from Crash!

[LCJ]

Turrican 2. Great game. Especially for the time but very difficult.

[Devon Malcolm]

19 minutes ago, LCJ said:

Turrican 2. Great game. Especially for the time but very difficult.

Which system did you play it on? I remember finishing it on the C64 and thinking it was brilliant but really easy.

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for me.

It is the only (main) game in the series that I have not completed, got about 3/4 of the way in and I just gave up, I have absolutely no intention of ever trying to playing it again

[RedTwoster]

27 minutes ago, Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz said:

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for me.

It is the only (main) game in the series that I have not completed, got about 3/4 of the way in and I just gave up, I have absolutely no intention of ever trying to playing it again

I’ve always hoped they’d give that style of Zelda game another go, I really liked it and I’ve also enjoyed a lot of indie games inspired by it. I’d be curious to see what a modern interpretation of that by Nintendo would be like - brilliant, I imagine.

I’ve only ever dipped in and out of it during the early(ish) portions though, I’ve never tried to complete it although it’s something I’ve considered doing more than once.

[SpiritOfTheForest]

8 hours ago, Carbomb said:

Deathtrap Dungeon is the first that comes to mind for me. First game I ever bought on Playstation back in 1999, and I still haven't completed it - got to Melkor, the final boss, but I made the mistake of not having enough charms and extras, and now I can't beat him at all.

Someone else had Deathtrap Dungeon! I had it when I was a kid and I'm not sure I even made it past the first level. I remember the booklet included with the game was called the "Bestiary" and it has to be the best booklet for a video game ever compiled. It gave details of all the monsters and their lore and it was such a great addition. Of course, it was all made redundant when 11 year old me couldn't progress far enough to encounter any of these creatures but it really captured the imagination of a small boy. Someone's uploaded it online here if anyone wants to check it out! https://www.mocagh.org/miscgame/deathtraple-bestiary.pdf 

On Crash Bandicoot 4, I'm one of those weirdos who has trophy hunting as hobby. When I start a new game, I'm always gunning for that Platinum. I got the plats in all 3 of the original trilogy - getting it in Crash 1 probably remains my crowning achievement in the hobby given how hard I found it. After an hour of playing Crash 4, I conceded that I wouldn't be getting that Platinum. Stupidly and completely unreasonably hard and the trophy list is quite ridiculous. Plenty of madmen still have it though! 

 

[SpiritOfTheForest]

Lost my first Aku Aku mask here...

Edited October 10, 2025 by SpiritOfTheForest

[SpiritOfTheForest]

Aaaaand....there goes the second. Sorry for the treble (!) post. 

Edited October 10, 2025 by SpiritOfTheForest

[LCJ]

12 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Which system did you play it on? I remember finishing it on the C64 and thinking it was brilliant but really easy.

Commodore Amiga. Guessing the 16-Bit version was more difficult. Same definitely applied for the likes of Ocean’s Batman (easier on the 8 bit systems than on the 16 bit ones).

[BigJag]

The 8-bit games definitely had their own charm. NARC on the Speccy was more fun than the Amiga version. I had similar experiences with the Dizzy games. The simpler technology clearly gave the games a different flavour.

[Merzbow]

The Amiga was so powerful that many devs seemed to put graphics first in the earlier days, I get it though as it was such a huge leap from the previous generation of computers. Still my favourite era of British gaming, even if it's an American made machine.

So many kids today won't know that it was seemingly more capable than PC's and for a few years at a fraction of the price at one point.

Back on topic, Shadow of The Beast 1 & 2.. both were shit and stupidly hard but looked amazing.

Edited October 11, 2025 by Merzbow

[Browser Brady]

Earthworm Jim 2 on the Snes defeated me as a child.

[The King Of Swing]

15 hours ago, Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz said:

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for me.

It is the only (main) game in the series that I have not completed, got about 3/4 of the way in and I just gave up, I have absolutely no intention of ever trying to playing it again

Didn't that one also have some really vague shit that you had to do, just to advance the game? 

Pretty sure a lot of games from that era were like that, especially RPG's. 

[Bruce85]

22 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

There were loads of platformers based on movies/TV shows on SNES and Mega Drive in the early-mid 90s and I remember almost all of them were insanely difficult for some reason. 

Apparently they were designed to be difficult so you couldn’t rent them from blockbusters for the weekend and complete it. You either had to keep borrowing it or buy it to finish the game. 

I’m not sure if this is true or urban legend but seems very plausible. 

I hated the monkey puzzle level on lion king! 

[Merzbow]

3 hours ago, Bruce85 said:

Apparently they were designed to be difficult so you couldn’t rent them from blockbusters for the weekend and complete it. You either had to keep borrowing it or buy it to finish the game. 

I’m not sure if this is true or urban legend but seems very plausible. 

I hated the monkey puzzle level on lion king! 

It's also why many Western versions were more difficult than their Japanese counterpart, supposedly.