Top 10 Most Frustrating Nintendo Games Ever 

What’s your pick for the most punishing Nintendo game? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. Head over to MojoPlays for more gaming videos -> wmojo.com/mojoplays-subscribe

Seeing Donkey Kong Country tropical freeze on the list brings back memories and seeing Battletoads on number 1 shows the amazing talent Rareware had in the day

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. - Baby Mario crying. That’s all you need to know.

Battle Toads made me learn what rage was as a kid

Super Mario Sunshine is by far one of Mario's Hardest Games. Especially The Levels when Fludd gets taken from you.

How is Mike Tyson’s punch out not on the list? Hands down the most frustrating final boss in Nintendo history

Mario 2 Lost Levels deserves to be in this fucking list

Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion had some easy levels, some tough levels, and some utterly brutal levels. Also, have fun trying to get 100%. Have backup controllers, cuz you’re gonna be throwing some around.

For me, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze's controls on Nintendo Switch are the real frustrating factor, it didn't work for me at all, it just feels wrong: terrible timing, odd button mapping, missing actions.. that alone made me give up on this game, even I loving the other factors of the same game, and the franchise itself.

Donkey Country Returns and DK Freeze made me want to hurt someone

Thanks for reminding me that I should get the Switch version DKC Tropical Freeze. I'm surprised Zelda 2 isn't on here.

How is there not a single mention of Contra?

Nice to see F-Zero GX on the list. Absolutely loved that game but man is it brutal. Had to practise some of the later tracks 30+ plus times before I could achieve a successful 1st lap without going off the track.

How did The Lost Levels not make it to number 1 let alone make it onto this list?

I knew Battletoads would be first without even starting the video 😂😂😂😂 great job again Deuces

I still enjoy Super Mario Sunshine, still one of my favorite Mario game one matter what everyone says.

Silver Surfer NES: "Am I a joke to you?"

I have play and tried jet force Gemini. I got so frustrated I put it aside for an couple months before I was able to defeat it lol

The most frustrating Nintendo game I ever played was Kirby’s Dream Course.

Donkey Kong VS Yoshi! The Better Spin-off!

The Donkey Kong country series brings back so many memories. I just love how DKCTF is one here 😂. That game really did top its own toughness.

Top Ten Most Satisfying Victories in Nintendo Games

I had F Zero GX and Super Mario Sunshine as a kid I may have forgotten that Super Mario Sunshine was frustrating.

just gonna say this: tropical freeze, while challenging, is definitely the easiest of the 5 DKC games and should not be on this list. SMB lost levels should've absolutely taken its spot.

I really enjoy the intonation of the narrator in this vid! ^^ You seem to have a knack for finding the right people for this job.

Super Mario Sunshine is my first thought.

If you think DKC Tropical Freeze and MARIO SUNSHINE are difficult Nintendo games, you probably haven't played many difficult Nintendo games.

The most brutal Nintendo game I played was the original Ninja Gaiden game on the NES, sure it starts out easy but during the later parts of the game that it gets harder, the hardest part is to go from 6-1 to 6-4 and if you die in any part of the final boss you go all the way back to 6-1

No Prince of Persia? To this day I still have a hard time with that game (1992 remake).

I'm surprised Zelda 2 isn't on here as I can imagine many of us fans still have scarred memories/scarred flashbacks of Death Mountain aka Mount Rage-Quit.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was a REALLY frustrating video game for me to complete. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Donkey Kong fan and I did happen to enjoy the game in the end. However, the game gave me one heck of a wake-up call as soon as I got to the second world. The SECOND WORLD! To say that I considered the following levels a pain would be an understatement! Every single stage from the second world onward resulted in my anger and frustration reaching heights that I never knew were achievable beforehand. In other words, I went from being pretty chill to practically having a hair-trigger temper within a short span of time. It got so bad to the point where I rage-quit about halfway through the game, and I never returned until a few years later. To sum it up, this was probably the maddest I ever was from playing a Nintendo game (or any video game in general, for that matter). The closest I had arguably ever gotten to being that angry and frustrated was in World of Light, largely because of some of the more difficult Legend-class Spirit Battles.

I’m surprised Superman 64 isn’t part of this list.

Hearing my boy The Black Hokage on a video made me smile hard as hell. Congratulations my guy

WatchMojo, you should do a list of the Top 20 NES Soundtracks. I have some examples of these soundtracks you guys should mention. Examples: Super Mario Bros. (1985) DuckTales (NES) (1989) Metroid (1986) The Legend of Zelda (1987) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988) Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) Mega Man (1987) Mega Man 2 (1989) Mega Man 3 (1990) Mega Man 4 (1991) Mega Man 5 (1992) Mega Man 6 (1994) Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (NES) (1990) Mike Tyson's Punch Out (1987)

And we thought Nintendo games was easy for us. But for those games, we change our mind.

Other frustrating Nintendo games: Splatoon octo expansion Splatoon 3 (Mostly Story mode) Mario odyssey (For finding some of the moons)

I have such fond memories of playing those games, including Battle Toad. Hard as they were though.

Tropical Freeze is easy to beat but hard to complete.

Jet Force Gemini - Not only did we beat it back in the day, we did it to 100%, no walkthrough book either (we were broke and couldn't afford the Prima Strategy Guide) F-Zero GX - I don't know how I did it, but I do remember beating the story. Nowadays I can barely keep up with that game! Got to replay it a few weeks ago and OOF, no, didn't stand a chance anymore

Yeah these games are hard at first but once you get the hang of them they're actually extremely fun to play

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was kinda frustrating, but very fun to play. Plus, I remember beating the game.😉

I think the most frustrating Nintendo game is F-ZERO X that game is hard

The most frustrating Nintendo game I played is Skyward Sword. Because of clunky controls, swinging the WII controller, the enemies and bosses deal huge damage to Link, and you have to face two of the bosses three times and they get increasingly difficult and frustrating each time you face them. I barely beat the Switch remastered due to it is button control and the right stick swings the sword.

Advance Wars (GBA), Super Hunchback (GB), Body Harvest (N64)

For me most frustrating Nintendo games are 1. Metroid (NES) 2. 1st The legend of Zelda (NES)

Battletoads is the most frustrating game on ANY Nintendo system. Enough said.

I love Mario Sunshine. I've mastered it so it's a breeze now.

"Rainbow Road" in Mario Kart brought out the worst in all of us

I knew Super Mario Sunshine was frustrating due to the fact that my wife beat and 100% every Mario game except that one. The only Mario game she dislikes.

When I played Mario Sunshine, I remember my palms sweating so much and my heart beating hard during those gauntlet levels. That was when I raged quit on the game.

No offense, but "released on a Nintendo console" doesn't make something a "Nintendo game," so to speak. Some of these games weren't actually developed by Nintendo.

Hats off to those who steered that dang boat inside the volcano of Sunshine... 😅😮‍💨

Zelda 2 was a pretty tough and unforgiving game, was very good though.

Metroid and Mario Lost Levels are a little tougher than Mario Sunshine.

For some reason, eleven-year-old me had no issues with Jet Force Gemini. Twenty years later and I struggle to make it to the third planet.

The story (or stories) in FE: Radiant Dawn lacked cohesion and felt choppy and rushed. But seeing units get promoted to Third Tier demons was a blast (especially Shinon and Ike). I feel like a revamp of the Tellius (Path of Radiance & Radiant Dawn) series would be lit, if done properly

FINALLY!!! Jet Force Gemini gets some top 10 appreciation! I use to play this game for countless hours as a kid….until we got the official guide that is lol

Super Mario the lost levels. 1986 should be on here

Battle Toads was fun to play, frustrating at first but it made you better as you went along through the stages to beat it.

Has anyone ever actually beaten BattleToads without a Game Genie?

I’ll say Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Dread, and NES Kid Icarus.

Great list ,I didn’t actually play many of these because I only started playing Nintendo games regularly with the DS (I had a Megadrive ) but it’s nice to see them on the list and they’re rightly known to be difficult.

So this is what Zee Wright is now doing after bad influence in the 90s. Voice work for Watch Mojo 😂

I'll never understand the hate for sunshine. One of my favourite games 🥰

Super Mario bros 2 lost levels and Definitely f zero x imo !

Castlevania was hard AF

I've been playing Tropical Freeze a lot lately, and while I can safely say it's one of my favorite 2D platformers that I've played, it definitely has its frustrating moments. The boss of World 2 is the worst offender of this in my opinion.

Frustrating Nintendo games? The story of my life.

This title is misleading. Not all games were developed by Nintendo. Granted that Rare developed exclusively for Nintendo until 2002 but Battletoads was released on Sega's Mega Drive and Game Gear 2 years later. Capcom also developed games for other consoles like Ghosts N' Goblins that also got released on the Sega Genesis. I was under the impression of getting a list of the mosty frustrating games directly developed by Nintendo, like the first Mario Bros. that was really hard.

I am proud to say I defeated all of the chapters on F-Zero GX on the hardest difficulty setting. It only took me 17 years lol

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and Super Mario Sunshine the most punishing Nintendo game or games on the switch

On my opinnion Super Mario World (SNES 1990) and Mario Kart (Wii 2006) are the most frustrating ones because the game controllers make them pretty difficult to play. :'v

The original 3 DKC games on Super Nintendo are all harder than Tropical Freeze for sure. Especially DKC2.

Glad to see F-Zero GX, the game is stellar. And the soundtrack is the embodiment of speed.

I love Super Mario Sunshine for Nintendo GameCube in 2002 and also in Super Mario 3D All-Stars especially Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy in 2017. But don't worry, I'll try every same world again to get the Shine if Mario loses the energy and life.

Just appearing on a Nintendo console doesn't make a game a Nintendo game. It has to be made by Nintendo. Nintendo doesn't get credit for games like ghosts n goblins, battletoads and jet force Gemini. They were made by other companies and licensed to play on Nintendo systems. Nintendo games are ONLY ONES EXPLICITLY MADE BY NINTENDO THEMSELVES!!

I did not think #4 was that hard. It took patience and some grinding, but i wasnt really unfair or frustrating to me.

Battletoads is the posterchild for the brutally difficult Nintendo games.

I’m surprised that Mario Kart or Mario Party isn’t on this list. Imagine getting hit by shells and blue shells over and over again. And Mario Party will ruin friendships no matter how the game goes.

This list is the truth. I swear I thought I got stuck in Mario Sunshine and Radiant Dawn because I sucked at games. I'm glad it's not just me.

Gamers: Time limits, water levels, and having to do the same thing over and over in a game are the absolute worst! Huh? What do you mean you hate "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask?" How can you hate "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask?!" Majora's Mask Haters: It's like you just said. Time limits, water levels, and doing the same thing over and over in a game ARE the absolute worst! How can you LIKE "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" after saying all that? It's all one time-limited game where you have to do the same thing over and over, reset, do it all again until you figure out a solution after thousands of tries! Not to mention the Water Temple is an absolute NIGHTMARE!!! It's worse than the one in "Ocarina of Time!" The only thing to respect about it is the gameplay and the fact that there are no major escort missions! Gamers: Escort missions? Tell me, how do you feel about "Resident Evil 4?" Majora's Mask Haters: Ah! Now there's a game! No major water level, there are a few occasional time limits but nothing major, and you don't have to do the same thing over and over again! One of the greatest games ever made! Gamers: Yeah, but a vast majority of it is guiding and protecting an annoying brat! It's one great big escort mission! Majora's Mask Haters: True, but it's balanced by moments where Leon fights alone. Not to mention if you play it enough times, you can unlock a suit of armor for Ashley to prevent monsters from picking her up and kidnapping her.

I only 100% Tropical Freeze and Sunshine. The Bird was way eaiser. However, the poison lake and the pachinko machine were the 2 hardest for me.

Ghouls 'n' Goblins VS Darkstalkers!

All Donkey Kong Country games becomes frustratingly hard when almost to the end game.

The top down Jurassic Park game for the SNES. There’s no save function for the game, so you have to beat the whole game in one sitting.

Surprised Zelda 2 didn’t at least get a dishonorable mention for the Great Palace and the gauntlet to get there.

I successfully beat "Tropical Freeze" (worth noting the final boss is a little bit tougher on the Switch port) and "Sunshine" (even 100% it...something I would NOT recommend anybody do if you want to continue liking the game even a little), but if you want to know what a CRAZY HARD Nintendo game is you should look at "Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition"...you'll NEVER laugh at the Koopalings again after facing them on THAT nightmare (assuming you can even REACH them that is)! Also "Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth" stands out as well for having straight-up ANNOYING dungeon layouts (hope you like getting trapped between an impossibly strong shadow and a dead end a lot, especially if you try to complete each map layout), tough to read super shadows known as F.O.E.'s that you literally HAVE to avoid facing if you want to live (at least until you've completed that dungeon and then return strong enough to stand a chance) not to mention the finale has an excessive amount of floors, the ACTUAL dreaded Reaper that every Persona player fears seeing as a mandatory F.O.E. that relentlessly stalks you on certain floors AND the final boss has a REQUIRED mechanic where you NEED revival items to delay a countdown clock on each of your teammates that when time runs out so does that ally's LIFE (that mechanic NEVER goes away either just so you know)...something that literally made me quit playing the game right at the end because I no longer have the yen to afford these items I had NO IDEA WERE MANDATORY TO WIN!!! Ugh, so unfair (thank goodness the sequel had a better thought process to everything...after you beat the obnoxiously over-powered first boss that is...)

SMS wasn't that bad once you get used to the controls (though what were they thinking with that Pachinko level?) DKC5 (Tropical Freeze) had its share of brutal levels that required a lot of repeat playthroughs to collect everything, but it also had some, really, really fun levels!!

There’s nothing wrong with Donkey Kong Country.

DKC tropical freeze and mario sunshine not so frustrating 🤣

A few points I’d like to share: 1) I personally found Donkey Kong Country Returns to be WAY worse than Tropical Freeze. Anyone else? 2) Apply #4 to the franchise, and not just the original game. Even the later games, which come with a selectable Easy Mode, get truly ridiculous the further in you get. Still one of my favorite franchises, nonetheless.

Tropical Freeze was pretty easy imo. Donkey Kong Country Returns was pretty tough, though. Maybe it was just the Wii's trash controls. I think Mario Galaxy 2 is easily the hardest 3D Mario game too

Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse should be an honorable mention. Oh and the 1st Kid Icarus.

I blew through tropical freeze plenty of times, without funky kong.

Love the announcer for the video

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion should of been on the list.

Okami. The brush mech was supposed to be fun but it was so badly programmed that the hit detection was terrible and was glitched horrendously. I had enough after 20 hours and I broke up with the "friend" who recommended it.

2:20 I actually played this game as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars pack and some of these missions frustrated the shit out of me

Half of these games are not even by or published by Nintendo. Megaman NT and Ghosts and Goblins is Capcom and Entrian Odyssey is Atlus,

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is Nintendo's answer to Dark Souls