3. Super Ghouls and Ghosts
We’re now well and truly into the games that are so hard they have almost become legends. Super G and G isn’t just hard, it’s humiliating as hell. All the G and G games are tough but, being the only one I really sank any time into, the SNES iteration is the one to make the list. It doesn’t sound too hard, but not being able to control your jumps once initiated is a real pain in the ass. You also had to complete the game twice to see the true ending, a feat I doubt anyone has ever accomplished without a guide or cheats. Being broken down from a gold armour-clad knight to a skinny guy in underwear never gets any easier.
2. Silver Surfer
This is one of the few games that is just pure evil. You have a world where there are more things that kill you than things that don’t, where the visuals are so poor you can’t tell the difference between scenery and a death trap and a world where your character sprite is so stupidly large that he can’t help but collide with every dangerous object in the level. The real clincher is that once you go through your meagre three continues, you must start the game over from the very beginning. If this game was a person, he would be a massive prick.
1. Contra
When a game franchise spawns the most memorable cheat code in history, you know it must have been a real trial to get through. Anyone who owned a copy of Contra in their youth will have the Konami code locked into the deepest recesses of their memory. Much like riding a bike, you never truly forget it. With one hit deaths, enemies by the bucket load and an infinite amount of projectiles on screen at any one time, Contra defines hard.
Any really tough retro games you want to share with us? Let us know your thoughts below.
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