# The Hardest Video Game You've Ever Played **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254 "2009-11-12T01:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/21 "2009-11-12T14:48:51Z")
For Ghosts and Goblins > [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > 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. Not only that but the first time around you can kill the end baddie wit any weapon but after that you have to use the shield(some versions had a cross instead) which only had a range of about 2 inches. How do I know this? Well I was very good at that game. šŸ˜ƒ For me it was [Sinistar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinistar). That games was a bitch ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/22 "2009-11-12T14:52:55Z")
Nethack deserves some mention. No reflexes needed, but even with full spoilers there are SO MANY ways to die instantly and randomly, with no saves (unless you cheat) and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/23 "2009-11-12T15:04:47Z")
Tetris - the only way to win in not to play. Those blocks will keep falling, and falling, and falling, and youā€™ll never, ever get a line. No, youā€™ll get those stupid squiggly blocks that never fit anywhere. Screw those. I also remember Heroes of Might and Magic 3 could get tougher than nails on higher difs, and on maps where you faced an alliance of 3+ AIs - not only did they cheat their hearts out, but the AI itself was very, very good. Made you pay for every little mistake. For adventure games, Iā€™ll go with KGB. Not only can you die in a variety of creative ways (including on the _first screen_, in a discussion with your office buddy), but the game is timed - that is, some people show up at time X in zone Y, or people donā€™t expect their contact before time Z and will shoot you before that, etcā€¦, and the timing of actions to finish the game is pretty tight. No mistakes allowed. And of course, even if youā€™ve buggered yourself completely (say, by missing a conversation you were supposed to eavesdrop on), the game goes on, though itā€™s now unwinnable. Hope you saved earlier, in 80 different spots just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/24 "2009-11-12T15:09:16Z")
The original Nobinagaā€™s Ambition. Most of the time you started off with only 1 territory, and you could only do 1 thing per turn. If you built up your army, chances are one of your 4 opponents in the surrounding squares would outproduce you. If you invested the first turn chances are youā€™d be invaded. And even if you built up your army and were invaded anyway, and you managed to win (which, granted, wasnā€™t that hard,) youā€™d be so beat up that the next invasion would finish you off. And thatā€™s assuming you werenā€™t hit by a flood. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/25 "2009-11-12T15:34:15Z")
Defense of the Ancients. At any particular time, you need to watch 4 places at once and the number of ways all of the elements of the game can interact is insane. Itā€™d take months to start having a handle on whatā€™s going on. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/26 "2009-11-12T17:12:57Z")
Ah, Sinistar. God, I loved that game. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/27 "2009-11-12T17:20:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The original Nobinagaā€™s Ambition. Most of the time you started off with only 1 territory, and you could only do 1 thing per turn. If you built up your army, chances are one of your 4 opponents in the surrounding squares would outproduce you. If you invested the first turn chances are youā€™d be invaded. And even if you built up your army and were invaded anyway, and you managed to win (which, granted, wasnā€™t that hard,) youā€™d be so beat up that the next invasion would finish you off. > > And thatā€™s assuming you werenā€™t hit by a flood. Shingen the Ruler might have been worse. You were tiny Shingen Takeda, the weakest daimyo in all of Japan based on your skill. You were RIGHT NEXT TO Nobunaga Oda, the strongest daimyo in all of Japan. If he decided he didnā€™t like you for whatever reason, game over. There wasnā€™t a thing you could do to stop him. Iā€™ve tried building up to insane levels of troops to take him on, but no. His bullets and arrows go through you like theyā€™re coated with acid. ---
**Author:** ![HeadNinja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HeadNinja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadNinja)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/28 "2009-11-12T20:25:00Z")
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES. At some point it stopped being fun and turned into watchmaking. Just no room for error. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/29 "2009-11-12T20:43:04Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > For adventure games, Iā€™ll go with KGB. Not only can you die in a variety of creative ways (including on the _first screen_, in a discussion with your office buddy), but the game is timed - that is, some people show up at time X in zone Y, or people donā€™t expect their contact before time Z and will shoot you before that, etcā€¦, and the timing of actions to finish the game is pretty tight. I donā€™t know if it actually counts as PLAYING, because I followed the walk-through from the beginning, but [Varicella](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varicella_(computer_game)) is insanely tightly timed. I had to start over because I went west instead of east once, and that messed up the timing for all of the other parts. I canā€™t imagine the process that would have gone into actually playing the game start to finish, or how many save-games it would require. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/30 "2009-11-12T22:16:03Z")
Any Ikaruga masters here? That gameā€™s so insane, I canā€™t even get into it; it just knocks the crap out of me too fast. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/31 "2009-11-12T22:24:35Z")
> [@HeadNinja](#): > > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES. At some point it stopped being fun and turned into watchmaking. Just no room for error. Yep, this is the one I was coming to contribute. Still havenā€™t beaten that one. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/32 "2009-11-12T23:47:17Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > What was hard and/or misdesigned about Dead Rising? That game was awesome, and not all that hard. Oh, nothingā€™s hard or wrong about it. If you like strategy games that happen to require you to personally control your unit[del]s[/del]. And a save system designed by Torquemada. But in fairness, it _is_ an awesome game. When I could play it. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/33 "2009-11-13T00:06:44Z")
Iā€™m not sure if you guys are talking about Ghost ā€˜nā€™ Goblins (which I never really played) or Ghouls ā€˜nā€™ Ghostsā€¦ but Ghouls ā€˜nā€™ Ghosts is an unforgivingly difficult game. Iā€™ve played it enough that when I get into practice I can beat it on ā€œone quarterā€ 25 or 30 percent of the timeā€¦ but if I donā€™t play it for a year or so I sometimes wonā€™t get past the first level. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/34 "2009-11-13T02:31:51Z")
I see that Turtles is in here, I never got up to that level to even begin with. (We are talking about the underwater level, and the seaweed, right?) E.T. well, what can you say for a game that was more or less the poster child for the Video Game Crash of 83 ? Then again, Iā€™m not that good at games to begin with, and I wanted to start simple, with a NES game, so I could, in theory, work my way up with practice to current / next gen games. The game I chose to practice with? Mega Man. My regimen lasted that one night. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I hate Dead Rising simply because of the load screens. Didnā€™t know that it was a harder game. But thatā€™s ok, ā€“ my nearly month old 360 is getting a lot of play from another game: Mirrorā€™s Edge. Not the hardest I have played, but it is just enough of an uphill battle, to keep me playing, even if I have my hind quarters handed to me. Iā€™ve made it to Chapter 7 though, and I believe that most people have problem with Chapter 1. Tetris can be beaten. The Make 25 Lines level at least. Where does the original Myst fit in with this category? ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/35 "2009-11-13T04:00:28Z")
This summer I went with a friend to an arcade and spent almost all of my coins/tokens playing Mushihime-sama. Fun, but damn hard. [Hereā€™s a gameplay video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3NGDZRKN9Q) (note that this is on the hardest difficulty setting. But even on the easier oneā€™s itā€™s no walk in the park) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/36 "2009-11-13T04:17:33Z")
> [@Commander\_Keen](#): > > This summer I went with a friend to an arcade and spent almost all of my coins/tokens playing Mushihime-sama. Fun, but damn hard. [Hereā€™s a gameplay video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3NGDZRKN9Q) (note that this is on the hardest difficulty setting. But even on the easier oneā€™s itā€™s no walk in the park) Um - why is that game enjoyable? I guess I canā€™t tell whatā€™s going on - but seems to be a game where you get your ass handed to you for 12 seconds, you put another quarter in, and that pain continues. Is there a strategy or something Iā€™m missing? Because the screen is filled with ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/37 "2009-11-13T14:47:02Z")
> [@Cat\_In\_A\_Top\_Hat](#): > > Holy Crapā€¦I Wanna Be The Guy is insane. I kinda want to try it, now. I donā€™t think this should count, because it was specifically designed to be nothing but cheap and brutal. Itā€™s not a game that anyone is expected to ever _buy_. I mean, I could make a ā€œgameā€ thatā€™s theoretically playable but functionally unbeatable just making a square change color from red to green for 1/60th of a second and expecting the user to hit the spacebar during that time, but that shouldnā€™t qualify for this thread either. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/38 "2009-11-13T14:56:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Um - why is that game enjoyable? I guess I canā€™t tell whatā€™s going on - but seems to be a game where you get your ass handed to you for 12 seconds, you put another quarter in, and that pain continues. Is there a strategy or something Iā€™m missing? Because the screen is filled with ouch. ā€œBullet Hellā€ shooters are their own special little niche. Theyā€™re not really ā€œgamesā€ so much as they are pattern-recognition exercises. There is a correct and very precise way to maneuver through each situation, and in general, the situations donā€™t really change from playthrough to playthrough - enemies appear on screen (possibly in one of a couple fixed possible locations) and attack using the same pattern of bullet spam. Also, generally, the margin for error is slightly larger than it appears because usually your ship/flying person/butterfly/whatevertheheckyouhave can only be killed by a ā€œdirectā€ hit to the center, and bullets that contact your wings/broomstick/long flowing hair/whatever donā€™t do anything and continue on their merry way. Still not my cup of tea, but not, in fact, as insane as it appears if you think the person is playing strictly on reflexes. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/39 "2009-11-13T15:06:48Z")
Iā€™m surprised that _E.T._ is showing up here. Itā€™s such a simple game. The difficulty with the pits is vastly overrated. The design sucked, but the game isnā€™t hard at all. Iā€™d do it in a few minutes and post it if I could ever figure out how to do it. The hardest game I ever beat was _Super Return of the Jedi_ for the end scene where you have to escape from the exploding Death Star (it took me hours), but that was probably just me. Iā€™ve never played a game that I couldnā€™t beat given enough time, save one: [_Hacker_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_%28video_game%29) I still havenā€™t beaten it 24 years later, and I canā€™t find a walkthrough that has the correct path. Lots of people have claimed to have beaten it, but Iā€™ve never seen it done before. Again, itā€™s probably just me. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254/40 "2009-11-13T15:20:39Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > I donā€™t think this should count, because it was specifically designed to be nothing but cheap and brutal. > > Itā€™s not a game that anyone is expected to ever _buy_. > > I mean, I could make a ā€œgameā€ thatā€™s theoretically playable but functionally unbeatable just making a square change color from red to green for 1/60th of a second and expecting the user to hit the spacebar during that time, but that shouldnā€™t qualify for this thread either. I agree with the first (it was intended to be cheap and brutal), but I disagree with the second. The game designer most certainly did intend people to actually play and enjoy his game. It is cheap, yes, but it is also beatable. In fact, it is possible to beat it without dying once! A truly cheap game would have randomized deaths or superhuman segments, but IWBTG does not. And the creator specifically addressed this in his FAQ: > [@Kayin](#): > > You just make it hard as a substitute for good level design. > > A: Iā€™ve heard this on several occasions and this one pisses me off a little. Iā€™m not going to pretend to be a master level designer, but comments like this are ignorent to what is actually 'good level design. While games like Knytt (not to diss it, the games are fantastic) are hailed for excellent level design, the design is almost entirely graphical and have no significient impact on game play. A screen can be made in a matter of minutes if it doesnā€™t contain any unique entities. the majority of them also likely only take a few moments of testing. > > I on the other hand have to come up with something new and surprising on basically every screen. Half the screens have unique events and situations programmed expressly for them. Each level has to be play tested over and over again to find a balance in difficulty and avoid easy exploits. I must keep the game difficult, but balanced. I must keep the player on their toes and yet still have to surprise them when theyā€™re most alert. If I randomly kill the player to much he loses interest. If Iā€™m too kind he grows weak and loses his fearfulness. Iā€™d say I do a pretty damn good job of this and I work my ass off to make every screen interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hardest-video-game-youve-ever-played/517254.md?page=3)