What's the hardest retro game you've ever completed?

[lestagio]

What's the hardest retro game you've ever legitimately completed (AKA no save states, rewind features, or cheats)?

For me, it probably goes to a Ninja Gaiden clear without a single continue. Other contenders include Zelda 2, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, and the Castlevania Trilogy plus Bloodlines. Contra 3 was also hard as hell, I think I've only ever completed it on easy.

I never managed to complete Contra without the code. I've gotten close, but I think I lost in stage 7. Never got past the snake stage in Battletoads, and I don't think I ever finished Ninja Gaiden 3 due to the limited continues making it hard to learn, and I also just felt it was the worst in the trilogy.

 

[shaggi]

I completed it once on original hardware, but never on emulator.

 

[Anim8rDude Anim8rDude]

I'd really have to think about it, but what did really stress me out as kid was doing the 15 minute challenge in Smash Melee.

But more recently within the last 10 years I'd say the Demi-fiend fight in SMT Digital Devil Saga was pretty stressful. 30 minute to an hour fight minimum with barely any cheese & fair amount of RNG.

All the mission modes in the 3D Ninja Gaidens have some pretty nerve-wracking tests of endurances too. Notice how all the hard stuff are tests of endurances?

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

Without save states, probably Shadow of the Beast (U.S version) for Mega Drive/Genesis.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I think Commandos on PC.

 

[GoodWall_533]

The original PC version to be exact. Never again.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

GTA III PS2.
The destructions made my thumbs hurt

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

The NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy is something I never ever want to go through again with the amount of pain and stress they took to beat lol. I posted about it on here not too long ago but Castlevania 3 gave me a lot of trouble, especially as I wasn't using save states or anything like that.

 

[sijaab]

pursuit force

the us version
(eu is plain unfair)

 

[Bloodshed]

For me it where: Plok and Lion King on the SNES, Blast Corps. on the N64and Vagrant Story on the PS1

 

[Vreeves]

Rocket Knight Adventures on Crazy Hard dificulty

 

[Viviana Santos]

I finished Megami Tensei II and Shin Megami Tensei I, II, and If without save states or even fast-forwarding, and boy..... It was something alright.

---

Domain of Sloth and Domain of Envy in SMT If are some of the worst dungeons I've ever seen in a dungeon crawler; they made me want to pull my hair out, I hated them more than Sector Horologium in SMT SJ and Ice Castle in P1

 

[random0nonsense]

Zelda II on old school hardware with no save states.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

I beat Super Star Wars on real hardware forever & ever ago..

 

[Disgaean]

Fight'n Rage 1CC on normal mode, so far anyway

 

[JustLooking123]

I don't know if it counts, but i suppose it would be Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game (MegaDrive)

Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game (USA) SEGA Genesis – The Repo

Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game (USA) SEGA Genesis. A Puzzle game released on 1990 by Dreamworks Games, NCS, Thinking Rabbit Inc.

retrogametalk.com

It's a Sokoban game, and i completed it multiple times on real console!

 

[NoMention]

I managed to beat Ghouls and Ghosts on the NES when I was younger. And yes, both loops. I ended up pausing it and leaving it on overnight because I simply couldn't do it back to back. That game broke me. I used to like it and thought that it was just a challenge. After completing it I realized it was severely flawed and the original developers either hated their players or they wrote the game without refinement to make the game more playable. I've gone back to it and typically give up after the 2nd or 3rd stage because I just don't find it very enjoyable any longer. Not having saves in some of these old games (even with unlimited continues) amplifies the difficulty. Games with Passwords or had save batteries could eventually be beaten through will.

One that I wish I could win in one play-through is Castlevania 1. I have beaten it with save states, where I create a save at the start of each level, but I can't do it on the original cart in one sit down. The NES certainly had some tough ones!

 

[jon2]

Contra (NES): no 30 lives code but nearly exhausted the continues yet managed to finish the final boss, Alien Heart

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (SNES): for me, harder than FF3/FFVI, FFVII, FF Tactics. Monster Hunter series players talk about the old generation games' "jank" or "clunkyness", in terms of JRPG this game has it

It's not just a grind, it's a SLOW grind. Literally

This game will literally suck your attention span, patience and energy levels to their lowest limits. That, while playing with no walkthroughs, maps or any external help, will feel like slow torture

If not for my love for the protag Maxim and the desire to know the fate of his bloodline (I first played the game's sequel, Lufia 2 which featured the prequel of the story of this game), I wouldn't expose myself to the equivalent of first driving a '90s sedan then limiting oneself to driving a pre-WW1 clunker...