# Challenging games: name your favorites



## Naruto (Jul 10, 2013)

I'm going to politely assume Demon's/Dark Souls is in everyone's list, so post something else :smb

Also, if possible, include at least one choice NOT from the 8-bit era.

I'm not home right now so I'll share my favorites later.


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## Deathbringerpt (Jul 10, 2013)

Your emoticon there is a good start.


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## Jon Snow (Jul 10, 2013)

Current gen?

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is up there. Especially the co-op missions
God damn Eliz?bet is annoying


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## thinkingaboutlife (Jul 10, 2013)

Donkey Kong Country Return, Sin and Punishment Star Successor, Catherine.


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## Overwatch (Jul 10, 2013)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown


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## Naruto (Jul 10, 2013)

Overwatch said:


> XCOM: Enemy Unknown



On the default settings I thought the game was fairly average in difficulty.

Anyway my picks are Super Meat Boy (duh), Prinny/Prinny 2, Contra 4 and Ghosts 'n Goblins.

Super Meat Boy is the best of the bunch, hands down. Contra and GnG are , the kind of unfair difficulty that doesn't give a darn about telegraphing attacks, throwing enemies at you faster than the screen scrolls at odd angles and so on and so forth. The Prinny games are great, but the jumping is too stiff. Before Meat Boy, Prinny was my favorite platformer. After playing Meat Boy though, I could never go back to it.

Super Meat Boy is like Mario on steroids. The controls are incredibly responsive, the character handles well even in mid-air. The game is brutal in difficulty, but not in a cheap way. There is a precise timing to the traps and enemy placement, the levels are short - thus eliminating the need for checkpoints - and the respawn is fast and it doesn't interrupt the flow of the level. The music is sublime and it goes on and on even when you die. This is seriously important to keep the frustration levels down.

There's a number of other games I've had a hard time with (DMC3, Ninja Gaiden, etc), but these are the ones I've thoroughly enjoyed despite, or perhaps because of their challenging nature.

Oh and of course, the Souls games :smb


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## Gnome (Jul 11, 2013)

Most recently Rogue Legacy. It's kind of sort of a spiritual successor to Ghouls and Ghosts, but with some cool twists.


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## Platinum (Jul 11, 2013)

Good ol Fire Emblem on hard mode.


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## Furious George (Jul 11, 2013)

Gnome said:


> Most recently Rogue Legacy. It's kind of sort of a spiritual successor to Ghouls and Ghosts, but with some cool twists.



I heard good things about this.

If I only had a PC suitable for gaming....


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## Patchouli (Jul 11, 2013)

*Zelda 2*: I dare you to try a "no game over" challenge.
*Ghosts n Goblins*: Fun as hell. But extremely difficult. I'll beat this one day.
*Dark Souls*: Going by what people say here, I've never played this. But given my almost masochistic attitude with playing impossible games, I really need to give this a go.
*Battletoads*: Fuck this game.
*Touhou*: On lunatic mode, any of these games are hell.
*Shinobi*: I've beat this. I cried many times, but I beat it.
*Kingdom Hearts 2 FM*: ONLY if you're doing a level 1 critical mode challenge though. If you are, prepare for fun.
*Super Meat Boy*: Very tight controls. Extremely fun. Not into the theme, but the gameplay is great.
*I Wanna Be The Guy*: Everything kills you.
*Oregon Trail*: I'm convinced nobody has ever beat this game.
*Mike Tyson's Punch Out*: I shouldn't need to explain this.


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## Violent by Design (Jul 11, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> *Zelda 2*: I dare you to try a "no game over" challenge.
> *Ghosts n Goblins*: Fun as hell. But extremely difficult. I'll beat this one day.
> *Dark Souls*: Going by what people say here, I've never played this. But given my almost masochistic attitude with playing impossible games, I really need to give this a go.
> *Battletoads*: Fuck this game.
> ...



Darksouls, Oregon Trail, KH Hearts and Mike Tyson's Punchout shouldn't be mentioned with the rest of these games. Those other guys you mentioned are a lot more difficult to the point where it is impressive if you beat them (maybe not Meat Boy because you get unlimited tries, though the fashion in which you beat it really dictates if youre impressive or not).


I've beaten Oregon Trail when I was like 6 lol. I could never do it with other people surviving though.


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## Naruto (Jul 11, 2013)

Gnome said:


> Most recently Rogue Legacy. It's kind of sort of a spiritual successor to Ghouls and Ghosts, but with some cool twists.



No joke: this is the only game left on my steam wishlist :smb


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## Violent by Design (Jul 11, 2013)

A lot of Shoot em ups are hard. Haven't played many, but I haven't even gotten close to beating Ikaruga.


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## Patchouli (Jul 11, 2013)

Violent By Design said:


> Darksouls, Oregon Trail, KH Hearts and Mike Tyson's Punchout shouldn't be mentioned with the rest of these games. Those other guys you mentioned are a lot more difficult to the point where it is impressive if you beat them (maybe not Meat Boy because you get unlimited tries, though the fashion in which you beat it really dictates if youre impressive or not).
> 
> 
> I've beaten Oregon Trail when I was like 6 lol. I could never do it with other people surviving though.



I had to include modern games though. 

But the point is for everyone to survive. 



Naruto said:


> No joke: this is the only game left on my steam wishlist :smb



Same here, in case any of you generous, beautiful people are looking to send out gifts.


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## Violence (Jul 12, 2013)

Metal Gear Rising, Tomb Raider, Lollipop Chainsaw, Assassins Creed III, Catherine, Bioshock Infinite, Alice Madness Return, Killer is Dead and Deadpool


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## Naruto (Jul 12, 2013)

Patchouli said:


> Same here, in case any of you generous, beautiful people are looking to send out gifts.



A very generous person just gifted me the game.

Fucking hell, I'm a lucky guy.


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## Mael (Jul 12, 2013)

Seems only Violent is the other one beside myself that knows of the absolute mindfuck that was Ikaruga.


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## Patchouli (Jul 12, 2013)

Those that know it dare not speak its name.


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## Juub (Jul 12, 2013)

Violent By Design said:


> Darksouls, Oregon Trail, KH Hearts and Mike Tyson's Punchout shouldn't be mentioned with the rest of these games. Those other guys you mentioned are a lot more difficult to the point where it is impressive if you beat them (maybe not Meat Boy because you get unlimited tries, though the fashion in which you beat it really dictates if youre impressive or not).
> 
> 
> I've beaten Oregon Trail when I was like 6 lol. I could never do it with other people surviving though.


Back in the 8-bit era, the access to the internet was limited so most clues you had for beating a game were word-of-mouth advice. It made games far more challenging as you could only rely on yourself, your siblings and some friends who all had a super cousin who beat all the games.

If you try to beat Dark Souls without online guides, you'll have a VERY VERY hard time. This game basically tells you nothing about what to do and unlike old-school beat'em up's, you can go everywhere so it's easy to just go in some areas while being underleveled and get butchered(New Londo Ruins). If you play the game with very little help from the outside, then it is definitely up there as one of the most challenging games ever. If not, then it is pretty easy.


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## Gaawa-chan (Jul 12, 2013)

Off the top of my head:
Final Fantasy IV DS.
Bayonetta.
Adventure of Link.
Metal Gear Solid (maybe it's just me, but this game kicks my butt.  Scratch that; the series kicks my butt.  I'm not very good at stealth games, I think. )
Various tough Castlevania games such as CV3.
Various tough Mega Man games.


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## Naruto (Jul 12, 2013)

Gaawa-chan said:


> Metal Gear Solid (maybe it's just me, but this game kicks my butt.  Scratch that; the series kicks my butt.  I'm not very good at stealth games, I think. )



It's not just you, I've played stealth games all my life and I still find MGS hard.


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## Gaawa-chan (Jul 12, 2013)

Naruto said:


> It's not just you, I've played stealth games all my life and I still find MGS hard.



Oh, good.  I swear, every time I suck at a game my already miniscule ego shrinks to the point where I feel like I don't deserve to call myself a gamer.


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Jul 12, 2013)

Megami Tensei


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## Violence (Jul 12, 2013)

The last of Us, Dark Souls, Just Dance 2,3 and 4, Devil May Cry (the latest one), Halo 4 and Bayonetta pek


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## Buskuv (Jul 12, 2013)

Naruto said:


> On the default settings I thought the game was fairly average in difficulty.



Play the original X-Com (or, UFO: Enemy Unknown).

It makes the new X-Com cry bitch tears.


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## Xiammes (Jul 13, 2013)

Castlevania games, only non metroidvania game I have beaten is Super Castlevania 4.

Sengoku Rance, while not incredible challenging the game kicked my ass the first time I played it and the star challenges can real challenging if you don't savescum.

VVVVV, I have never been good at platformers, but this shit is ridiculous

[youtube]stW_vav8Dc0[/youtube]


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## Xiammes (Jul 13, 2013)

Naruto said:


> It's not just you, I've played stealth games all my life and I still find MGS hard.





Gaawa-chan said:


> Oh, good.  I swear, every time I suck at a game my already miniscule ego shrinks to the point where I feel like I don't deserve to call myself a gamer.


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## Gaawa-chan (Jul 14, 2013)

*Sits in corner*

...


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## sadino (Sep 18, 2013)

Castlevania I,III,Super IV.(The metroidvanias aren't challeging at all,still great though).
Megaman 1,2, X (Didn't play 3 to 6-9-10, mega 7, 8 and R&F were easy,X and Zero series are easy,except X6 but that one isn't  that great)

Rogue Legacy (a new favorite bought yesterday and been playing like crazy,going for new game ++ atm)

Can't think of anything post Playstation 2 era that's really hard at all.(DIdn't play any modern up shoots,maybe that's the reason) and i find Meatboy really annoying.


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## Death Certificate (Sep 19, 2013)

Shinobi PS2
Viewtiul Joe 
Ninja Gaiden sigma 1&2 
Devil May Cry 1&3
Hard Corps Uprising
Alot more I'm lazy to list


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