Top 20 Hardest Games I've beaten legitimately.
This is part 1 of 2, including the first 10 games.
This means beating the games on real hardware (no save-states), not using strategy guides or walkthroughs, no Game Genies/GameShark/Pro Action Replay, no codes or cheats of any sort. Not using Easy mode. Simply beating the games legitimately on at least Normal difficulty via personal grit alone.
Air Diver (Genesis) 1990
This is a terrifically difficult jet fighting sim. There are a lot of missions. Each mission works the same way. You fly through a bunch of enemy jets shooting missiles at you. Then you dog fight a mid-boss shooting missiles at you. Then you fly up into space and fight a UFO, which shoots all kinds of things at you. The first mission is hard. From there each successive mission gets harder and harder. Until finally you cannot believe a human could beat this game. But you can with enough practice. And let me tell you, I put a LOT of practice in to do it.
Demon's Souls (PS3) 2009
I have also beaten Dark Souls: Remastered (PS4), but I consider PS3 DeS (can't speak to the PS5 remake) harder. They say your first Souls is your hardest, maybe so. I just know that DeS' levels were tougher, combat rougher, basic enemies meaner, and some of its bosses were truly nightmares compared to DS. Specifically the Maneaters and Flamelurker are just pure evil in pixel form. However, if one were to play this game as a ranged magic user, the difficulty is considerably less. But I did not, I used zero magic and zero artificial aid.
Desert Strike (Genesis) 1992
This is a real time tactical flight simulator, that masquerades as an isometric shooter. If you attempt to play
Desert Strike as an isometric shooter, you fail miserably to make progress. Strategy, strategy, strategy and patience are required to beat this game. But don't take too long or your Apache will run out of gas and crash.
Desert Strike saddles the line of realism/arcade-ism perfectly, hence why I stuck with it. I honestly don't know if I'd have the patience for it today though.
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (3DS) 2013
The EO series is generally known for its difficulty. And yet many EO veterans consider the first Untold to be THE most difficult. That is, if you play the game on Expert difficulty. Which is what I (foolishly) did. I also used no walkthroughs or strategy guides. And keep in mind, this was my first EO game. That's basically like deciding you want to start mountain climbing, and then going after K2 first. Some people will tell you that Untold isn't hard. Those people played this game on Picnic difficulty, used a walkthrough and strategy guides, and also utilized an in-game glitch to exploit their grimoires. In other words, they "beat" the game like a cheating chump. I did none of that. I beat Untold on Expert with nothing but my own grit and indomitable pride to push through. I'll be the first to NOT recommend doing that, it's not worth it. Play this one on Standard difficulty, but leave the walkthroughs/guides alone. Those are for wimps, not for you.
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (PC) 2001
Hyper realistic warfare simulator with zero hand holding. On foot missions, vehicle missions, squad and solo missions. You will do it all and you will die, die, and die. This is a one shot one kill game, meaning if you get shot, you are dead. Also you only get one checkpoint per mission, cruelly the game lets you decide where that checkpoint is... leading to absurd anxiety about when to save. I would say this is the hardest military FPS I've played and beaten, but it's only the second hardest. I'll mention the hardest in my next post.
Prince of Persia SNES 1992
The original PoP for PC was already legendary for its challenge. When remaking the game (yes it's a remake, not a port) for SNES, Arsys Software Inc. decided the original was for wussies. So they made the SNES version have TWICE as many levels as before. Granted, the player now has two hours (of real time) to finish the game instead of one hour, but that's actually worse. It's worse because if you somehow survive long enough to reach the last few levels, but don't have enough time left to complete them, you end up losing double your time investment. This game is so hard, it literally sends you to hell, then makes you fight your way out. And
then the kid gloves come off. As a high school kid I beat this one out of spite, yet still I consider it one of the very best 2D platformers ever made. I consider the SNES version the best of all the original 2D PoP versions. And yes, I've beaten the DOS original too.
The Immortal (Genesis) 1993
If you want to know the closest thing to Dark Souls in 16-bit, I say this is it. Incredibly difficult levels, that are full of deadly traps and brutal enemies, obtuse puzzles, cryptic lore, somber atmosphere... it's all there. It's really the puzzles that gave me a hard time as a kid. Maybe as an adult they wouldn't be so tough... but you've still got the traps and monsters to deal with. This game has incredible animation and crazy gore, that's what kept me going as a kid.
Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS) 2005
I love the TC games and have beaten all of them except for this game's remake on Wii (and I intend to beat it eventually). All of these TC games are above average difficulty, but Under the Knife goes to an extreme. Specifically for its final mission, against what is basically a final boss. What makes this game, and that boss so hard, is the incredible stylus dexterity needed to keep up with its pace. You have to be a DS stylus flinging ninja extraordinaire to have a chance. You have to be able to keep up with incredible pressure. It felt amazing to beat this game.
Urban Reign (PlayStation 2) 2005
This is a 3D beat 'em up that hates you. It hates your mother, whatever you ate for breakfast, and especially it hates your gamer pride. How hard is Urban Reign? Hard enough that I ended up buying forearm compression wraps to wear while playing it, because my forearms and wrists were on fire playing this. And that was just Normal mode. Despite being absurdly difficult, turns out Urban Reign is actually a really good beat 'em up, that's why I stuck with it. But do not take this game lightly. If you think God Hand is hard (and yes I beat that one too) you've experienced nothing yet.
I like the Japanese cover much more than the USA cover.
Zillion (Master System) 1987
This is a non-linear exploratory platformer, but really it's a maze full of locked rooms. Locked rooms filled with deadly traps and aggressive enemies. To escape a locked room you have to memorize a code. And every room has its own code. So your memory is tested the entire time (there's no in-game map) in remembering the labyrinthine layout and endless codes. And when you beat the final boss there's a brutal time escape sequence to leave the enemy facility, you know just for laughs. When I was young I beat
Metroid and my friends would say "how did you do that it's so hard", then I'd say, "let me tell you about a game called
Zillion".