Top 30 Most Difficult Video Games of All Time 

Which game’s difficulty haunts your dreams? Let us know in the comments. For more content like this, click here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zEEqrMRay84.html Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

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. VVVVVV (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)

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

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

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

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

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.

Based on what I played: Overrated: Cat Mario Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy Cuphead 44. Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels 43. VVVVVV 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 (1993) Without the right items you won’t be able to beat certain stages. 29. Wolfenstein 2: Nearly every weapon or choice has a consequence. If you carry a heavy weapon you move awkwardly and if you dual wield, you have bad aim. Let’s not forget in the first act you start in a wheelchair. 28. 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. 27. 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. 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 auto save. 21. Subnautica: Too many things you must account for. 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 some traps can be memorized and there is no other penalty if you lose a life than to go to a checkpoint. 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. 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. 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 access 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.

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

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!!

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

Feeling proud that i 100% sekiro shadows die twice

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

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

I always thought Zelda 2 was stupid hard

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.

Battletoads is so annoying to play!

13:08. "I CAN'T TOUCH THAT RED POT?!" - Angry Video Game Nerd 😂

Did I see a sign that said grilled Mormons?

I’ll take on any of the newer games over attempting those NES nightmares 😂

Ghost N Goblin: Just look at all this easy game

Fester's Quest you are allowed 2hp, no directions or clues on where to go or what to do, and you can accidently demote your only weapon with the wrong pickups.

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

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.

I'm surprised that either of the Darkest Dungeon games didn't make the list.

Good to see some love for "Returnal" - which I almost quit before even seeing the first boss. Then I had a breakthrough and managed to get through 3 bioms and two bosses in one go even though I fought those bosses the first time (Nemesis and Hyperion). Now I got the platinum. Also telling that the "Sekiro" segment only says something about stealth but nothing about parrying which makes me doubt WatchMojo even played it.🤔🤔

Nice that Shinobi gets some love, that game was tough.

no lion king? surprising.

I have beaten TMNT, Cuphead, Ghouls and Ghosts, Megaman 9, Castlevania and SMB: The Lost Levels from this list.

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.

0:15 ah yes my favourite Indie game, CUPPED

I'd give an honorable mention to Armored Core Last Raven.

Thank you for the update, WatchMojo..!! I think XCOM series is extra difficult, because the game could get stuck later for small things we might have missed. It's been like that since the first game back in the 90s.

Ok. So if you tell me that Sekiro is easier than Battletoads, played in 1995 on a Sega console, with cheap plastic controlers (that you usually had to "repair" every couple of weeks) that would gave you nightmares in the Ball Roll level, where you needed perfect timing so you won't lose speed and momentum, the game that had limited number of lives, without ANY save option at any time during the game, where basically each time you want to pass the above mention level or just wanted to beat the game you always had to start from level 1, you must be joking, sir! Nice list!

10 unskippable ads in one video....really watchmojo????

Cuphead above Ikaruga? That's a joke right there!

Dinosaurs for Hire made Contra Hard Corps look like a walk in the park.

Number 1 - Chess on hardest difficulty. Not only do you have to learn how to play chess but you also have to become good enough to win.

Darkest dungeon and resonance of fate says hi😂😅.haha.word up son

I haven't watched the vid yet, but did Xcom 2 get nerfed when ported to Xbox?

Bro puts Geometry Dash at number 30 but he shows the easiest levels in the entire game

Surprised Contra isn't on the list, though have beaten it without the code.

Veteran WAW and ps2 Siren had me raging (still two of my fav games though)

Chakan - The Forever Man should be on the list

Sekiro is hard, but no way is it harder than Cuphead, Battletoads, or TMNT.

Say it with me, "those aren't that hard, you just have GIT GUD" 😂

Here's a funny one for ya. I just bought Sekiro this month. I knew what I was getting myself into. As I am playing, I am having to rewind my thinking because their may be a better way to fight. Someone that I know who played it said "You are just dancing with you enemy with L and R".

Shocked that Superman 64 didn't make this list.

The Tyson fight was Fixed! He was playing on a Retron 5! Nobody can beat Iron Mike in Punchout due to the input lag!

I would put the first Phantasy Star on the list because of all the secret passages. I remember people spending months making maps of the secret passages. I beat Mike Tyson Punch Out when I was younger. Oddly I used to be very good at video games, I’m not near as good at them as I used to be. Prolly due to my lack of patience I have now

Never playing with those games again

Top 10 Celebrity Deathmatch fights

How in the world Sinistar not in this list. Then again it might consider an arcade game. Please do top 30 toughest arcade games.

Where is Ecco the dolphin at

Ikaruga really was hard as hell! I was determined to beat the game without getting hit.

Battletoads, yup. The Turbo Tunnel, however, isn't that tough. Used to have the exact spot for the warp on that stage memorized. Heck, I had an easy time with Surf City. I only started having real trouble at Karnath's Lair and onwards. Never made it past Intruder Excluder (Level 8) even with warps, though.

you did Geometry Dash dirty, and I don't mean putting it at #30. The levels you showed are easy, and tf I mean easy. I can beat those with my eyes closed and I'm at least 500× worse than the best player in the game.

ill never forget when i killed the archon king (one of the hardest bosses of xcom 2) in one single turn. One of the craziest things ive ever did in a game

Cuphead and Dark Souls and Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels haunts my dreams on the PS4 or on the PS3 or on the switch

No entry for the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Textadventure? The hardest game i know.

Sekiro was really hard. Once I learned the mechanics, it became the best game I have ever played

No mention of Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage?

The fact only one person has ever beaten Tetris you would think that it would of made the list if not be #1

Played Super Mario the Lost Level as an add on to Super Mario Gameboy Color and it was baptism by fire. After that could get most of the hardest stars on other Mario games and just beat Cuphead and it’s DLC. Main point is you will die but learn from your death and come back for more.

The original DMC 3 had a trick to it. You could keep going back and replaying the first two levels as many times as you wanted, farm red orbs, and upgrade your weapons before proceeding with the game. It was much easier that way.

my summer car wasn't on the list.

Surprised "Getting over it" wasnt on this list

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was only REALLY hard before learning as a kid that you can switch Turtles at any time. as for Zelda II, that has slowly grown into a cult classic, one that has had a ton of Rom Hacks for it, almost as many as the Original Zelda.

The fact the alterd beast is not on this list is insane

Armored Core: Last Raven be like “Bend over, ima make you squawk like the Raven you you are”

I would put the touhou project games as an honorable mention.

Wish they’d give earthworm Jim some love

I like how the presentation of each game shows different areas of each, except Returnal, they only showed the first level. Doesn't really show the hell you can expect in that game

I'm surprised Super Metroid or Donkey Kong Country 2 wasn't part of the list

I died like 5 times in the intro of Sekiro, damn I suck so bad

Beating Ninja Gaiden 1 is still my biggest claim to fame and I'm ok with that! What a brutal game though lol.

If Aeterna Noctis isn't on this list it's wrong. I still have nightmares about that final boss.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Geometry Dash Players: RISE UP!

Are you guys experimenting with multiple narrators per video or is this another disguised compilation?

0:17 “cupped” the game 😂

"Grilled Mormons" 🤣🤣

getting over it has to be an honoruable mention

If Mega Man 9 is on this list for optional achievements then Fire Emblem Three Houses should be on the list because (and I will never do it) completing any route on Maddening Mode with Classic Mode without DLC characters or New Game Plus is near impossible.

what about the AVGN video game?

Castlevania, love the music, the game play, I think Dracula designed it himself just to tease us humans. Damn you Dracula, Damn you to, nevermind, he's probably already been there.

wait a second you just added 10 extra games to the 20 hardest game video 😠

I don't think I've ever cussed out a game more than The Lost Levels.

I've watched people play "Geometry Dash" and "Celeste" for a little bit. They seem like great games! I've also heard about "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" from 1989. I didn't know all the games on this list were hard. There are some I've never even heard of.

Can't believe Sekiro is 5 years now!💯🙏😎😭💖

There is an aggregeous ammount of ads on this video

Just like Dark Souls!!!! Anyone else remember that meme😂

AHH the good ol' Demon O' Hatred. Love that guy!

Flappy Bird laughs at this list.

So many side scroller games 🙃

ninja gaiden on xbox shouldve been on that list. love that game

hey how about you do top 20 best nerf guns that no one can beat

Didn’t you guys already do this? Lol. Definitely remember most difficult

The video used for Gradius is from the arcade version. I prefer the NES version. The graphics and sound is actually better on the NES vs the arcade version.

where can i play #3?