So I just saw a cartoon about how hard the most recent Ninja Gaiden was, and I remember roommates spending hours and hours grinding through the tutorial level of the video game adaptation of “The Thing”, to say nothing of the frustration that was “Ecco the Dolphin”, but I admit I’m a little behind on current video games.
So, what’s the hardest video game you’ve ever encountered, and why was it so difficult? Tell me!
Thankee big-big,
–CiaTH
I was going to mention I Wanna be the Guy.
But since that’s taken, I remember Battletoads for NES being unreasonably hard.
Edit: fixed spelling
Myth and Myth II - Soulblighter, I am convinced, are impossible on “Legendary” difficulty.
███** SIT NOMINE DIGNA **███
Friday the 13th
I know what I had to do in theory, but in execution I’d only catch Jason by accident. I’d promptly get slaughtered.
Ghouls and Goblins
I think I remembered that right. The one where after you get hit once you’re in your undies, get hit a second time and you’re dead.
Oh, and you had to do the game all in one try. That sucked multiple vermin testicles.
Games that are poorly designed shouldn’t count for the purposes of this thread.
Silver Surfer.
Watch this section from the Angry Video Gamer Nerd to understand.
Go to 5:32 in this clip, but do watch the whole thing later for laughs.
Or, go to 7:45 seconds and let is play to see how hard the enemy paths are in that game.
None of those games, except ET, and two player Battletoads, were poorly designed. Ghosts and Goblins was going to be my call, too. Beautiful game, but a stone cold bear.
Holy Crap…I Wanna Be The Guy is insane. I kinda want to try it, now.
Either Battletoads or Dead Rising. And the latter might not count, as per **Odesio[b/]'s rules, depending on your point of view. 
Actually there was a code that you could use for continuing. However there was something even worse in the game. Something that would make anyone break down and cry:
after you beat the game it loops back to the beginning and you have to beat it the second time with tougher enemies to get the ending.
I strongly recommend you check out the Gamecenter CX episode where the host tries to beat it.
I have to go with the NES Castlevania as the hardest game I’ve ever played. It’s shocking that decent games descended from something that rough.
I’d like to nominate Doomdark’s Revenge. Although I did win once, after Shareth the Heartstealer died off-screen in some random encounter early in the game.
Despite it’s limitations (once you had throughly explored the map and put together a recruiting strategy it was possible to mass enough armies together to be invincible), the original Lords of Midnight was a much more fun game.
What was hard and/or misdesigned about Dead Rising? That game was awesome, and not all that hard.
Well Otis is annoying to put up with. 
Really the only way that I can think of Dead Rising as really hard is if you’re going to the Saint achievement in which case you’ve got several points where you’re suddenly on a very tight time table and potentially have a large crowd of survivors you’re trying to herd. But all of that is optional in the game.
Absolutely the answer.
Joe