Top 30 Most Difficult Video Games of All Time

Don't go into these games looking for an easy time. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the titles notorious for giving gamers the fight of their lives. Our countdown of the most difficult video games of all time includes “Dark Souls” (2011), “Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels” (1993), “Returnal” (2021), “Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening” (2005), and more! Which game’s difficulty haunts your dreams? Let us know in the comments.

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#Gaming #VideoGames #Games #Nintendo #PlayStation #Xbox #PC #Mario #DarkSouls

[WatchMojo]

Which game’s difficulty haunts your dreams? Let us know in the comments.

[EsmeAmelia]

"We have to declare Battletoads the hardest game of all time" - said with Battletoads in the #2 spot.

[hanshoward]

I thought Hollow Knight was going to make the list...honestly HK has a very steep learning curve.

[Handsome_Black]

Just waiting for the "most of these aren't even hard" guy

[emiebex]

Cuphead might be the only game in History people both want and don't want a sequel to.

[shigshug]

30. Geometry Dash (2013)
29. Nioh (2017)
28. XCOM 2 (2016)
27. FL: Faster Than Light (2012)
26. Shinobi (2002)
25. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)
24. Hades (2020)
23. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
22. Returnal (2021)
21. Ninja Gaiden (1988)
20. Gradius (1985)
19. (2010)
18. Ikaruga (2003)
17. Silver Surfer (1990)
16. F-Zero GX (2003)
15. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (2015)
14. Takeshi's Challenge (1986)
13. Mega Man 9 (2008)
12. Cuphead (2017)
11. Ghouls 'N Ghosts (1988)
10. Contra: Hard Corps (1994)
9. Super Meat Boy (2010)
8. Mike Tyson's Punch Out (1987)
7. Dark Souls (2011)
6. Castlevania (1986)
5. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (1993)
4. Celeste (2018)
3. I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game (2007)
2. Battletoads (1991)
1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)

[lucideirune]

Lion King should have been an honorable mention. That lava level had too many 1 hit unalivings and you only had so many lives and continues.

[starrythestar]

Based on what I played:

Overrated:
Cat Mario
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Cuphead

44. Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels
43.
42. Dark Souls
41. Resident Evil Remake
40. Devil May Cry 3 Dante’s Awakening
39. I am Bread
38. Mega Man X3
37. Geometry Dash
36. Celeste
35. Ninja Gaiden
34. I Wanna Be The Guy
33. Nioh
32. Contra: Hard Corps
31. Legend of Zelda Links Awakening(1993)

30. Doom (2016) Without the right items you won’t be able to beat certain stages.

29. Sonic 2: The traps are a 2.0 of Sonic 1. Going too fast or slow will have consequences. If you fail you restart from scratch. The chaos emeralds are harder to get.

28. The Adventures of Batman and Robin Genesis: This would be higher if the game wasn’t so short. If you lose a life, you literally have less weapons. If you get a game over you start with a basic weapon and have to go from scratch. Numerous attacks do heavy damage and most of the bosses or enemies don’t sit at one place. While shooting you can’t move. 6 continues. No saves.

27. Stick War 2: Fighting an army with an army. The game is meant to be played on Hard Mode. The first half is just another hard game but when you progress, you need to get cash as soon as possible in order to progress without your statue being destroyed. Worst of all, if you have the wrong units. You will land yourself in some hot water.

26. God Of War: Most enemies require a certain weapon to kill. If you don’t check on Atreus, you could find yourself in hot water.

25. Takeshi’s Challenge: This game is still hard but, only visually. You can’t die instantly.

24. Mortal Kombat 2: The enemy AI literally reads your mind

23. Castlevania Bloodlines: You can only reach so far and one wrong move will have a severe consequence. The time limit is awful. You have to memorize the passwords and even then the number of credits you have after a game over is the same.

22. Mother: An RPG where almost every attack has a consequence. You need a lot of money to do stuff. If you all die you lose half the money you have. Only not higher because of unlimited saves.

21.

20. Seikiro: Though a bit hard, you can camp in areas and cool down.

19. Left 4 Dead 2: You are constantly in danger and are trying to survive.

18. Super Star Wars: Too much platforming and enemies that die respawn instantly.

17. Golden Axe: A basic beat ‘em up. You still have some credits but move slowly.

16. Battletoads: Unorthodox attacks and traps but traps can be memorized and there is no other penalty if you lose a life than to go to a checkpoint. You have

15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Too much to worry about. Lives, Party members etc.

14. XCOM 2: Bad aim can easily make life hard.

13. Gradius: Unorthodox bullet hell you can’t account for.

12. Mike Tyson’s Punch Out: Short Ranged attacks. No camping.

11. Ecco the Dolphin: You can’t even stay on one platform and attacks are limited.

10. Monster Hunter World: Numerous resources are required. Weapons require a whetstone to sharpen which you need to find around the map. The time limit is severely low.

9. Silver Surfer: Bullet hell with a high chance of instant death. One wrong move and you are screwed.

8. Ikaruga: So little movement and you can’t even dodge. Most likely it’s kill or be killed.

7. Alien Soilder: Don’t die or you get punished. Can’t go back to a previous area whatsoever. Some weapons don’t even work on certain enemies. There is a restrained time limit. Let’s not forget that it eventually gets hard to see enemies and obstacles.

6. Super Meat Boy: Instant death traps and unorthodox gameplay.

5. Trap Adventure 2: You literally need to pay to have lives. The traps are crazy and sometimes you can’t even account for them.

4. F-Zero GX: You can’t account for anything and if you die, you are more likely to be in last place.

3. Returnal - One death and you restart from scratch. You can’t even account for enemies.

2. Ghosts and Goblins: 2 H.P., Rare health, unorthodox enemies and you need to beat Lucifer twice to get the true ending.

1. Dragon’s Lair NES: You can’t account for a thing. You instantly die. Game overs restart from scratch. Limited range attacks.

[emilski]

Well, if you count official community levels in Geometry Dash (they are given a rating by the game creator himself), it's probably one of, or the hardest game available, considering the best players sometimes spend years and hundreds/thousands of hours just to beat one level, which is funny when you realize you just need one button to beat it.

[donguevara]

19:26 Lucky for me I no longer have a Thyroid (Due to beating Thyroid Cancer 2 weeks ago🎉) so bring on Super Meat Boy!!

[Jygerthend]

I'll tell ya, I beat Cuphead with my girlfriend, and I love everything about its design and the music and the creativity, but I never wanna play it again because it's so hard. XD

[iiqqa]

Putting dark souls higher than nioh just shows that people who made this list have not played either.

[Yaojin]

Feeling proud that i 100% sekiro shadows die twice

[darkstardarin]

I knew Contra would make the list but seein' my favorite gave me the biggest grin

[josephwallace]

Ask Rick from Pawn Stars if he has a copy of Battle Toads. He promise he won’t absolutely lose his shit

[madm.d.e]

When I was a kid, there was an NES game called "Kage: Shadow of the Ninja (1990)" that was really hard. Even finishing the first level was a challenge. But I finally beat that game! I was so proud of myself for beating it.

[yinmayvingaming]

That tmnt game made me rage as a kid so much the dam level is hell

[gabetafoya]

I still have never beat Sekiro. The battle system just didn’t click for me and I found it ridiculously punishing. It just wasn’t fun for me. I tried to get through it on several occasions years apart and finally decided that it’s just not for me.

[jasonbarnett]

I always thought Zelda 2 was stupid hard

[Kenji-]

Halo 2 LASO deathless was so difficult it took a prizepool of (i think) 20000$ and almost 20 years for someone to actually beat it. Even without the "deathless" attempt its absolutely insane.