Top 20 Hardest SNES Games

Two things happened in 1992. My older brother was born, and Super Mario Kart was released... I don’t know which was worse for my mental health. Mario Kart multiplayer difficulty is always dependent on how good your friends are, but for this entry we’re talking about the solo campaign. Progressing through each level with all characters at increasing speeds is a formidable challenge, but the effort is rewarded by unlocking exclusive content for dedicated players. If you want to play that Special Cup with friends, you better be willing to have some soul crushing solo races.

Here’s a game that often sits comfortably on “Greatest SNES Games of All Time” lists, which it deserves as an innovative title on the console, but it also presents a significant challenge, the challenge being: Can I beat this game without snapping the cartridge? Probably not. The game presents a challenging difficulty that increases as you progress through the levels. During the side-scrolling sections, you'll encounter typical elements like jumps, pitfalls, and pesky enemies. The boss battles at the end of each level are quite challenging, IF you manage to even reach them, which you probably won’t. ActRaiser MAY be the first game that actually caused my brow to become sweaty during gameplay. RED. HOT. RAGE.

Why are games based on popular IP’s always so goddamn hard? I just want to have fun in the shoes of my favorite cartoon bad boy, why do I also need to age 10 years while playing? Bart’s Nightmare is essentially a series of "minigame" levels, each requiring you to quickly learn new rules and scenarios. This can be frustrating, but what makes the game stand out is the unique challenge each level presents, both mechanically and conceptually. Some of these mini-games rival bosses in Dark Souls, and some rival defusing a real-life bomb with zero training.

A sentence you’ll rarely hear is “Oh I love that game and/or movie, but they really hit their stride with the 7th entry”. For Mega Man, this could be true, if their stride was aneurysm-inducing anger. Mega Man 7 deviates slightly from the usual formula by initially giving players only four bosses to choose from. Eventually, four more bosses become available, but you'll also encounter numerous sub-bosses throughout this demanding platformer. By the time you reach Dr. Wily at the end, you'll be at a significant disadvantage. You'll have to battle Bass (again) and every previously defeated boss before facing the final showdown, resulting in an intense button-mashing experience that will leave your thumbs sore for days.

As one of the most beloved classic series of all time, people often forget that alongside the fun world and dope gameplay was a difficult learning curve that rivals Souls games made today. As a platformer, the game demands exceptionally quick reflexes at numerous points. The intensity is high, with challenging jumps, lightning-fast enemies, and precise controls resulting in frequent deaths, leaving you feeling sorry for the character. Earthworm Jim was the beginning of my anger management issues, because I was experiencing this at just 5 years old.

Often forgotten as it was released DEEP into the SNES lifespan coming out 2 years AFTER Final Fantasy VII on the PS1, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 stands out as one of the toughest games in its series. The game can be relentlessly challenging, yet it maintains a sense of fairness in its difficulty, which sets it apart from games that are hard because of bad design. It's a demanding game in a rewarding way, unlike many other SNES titles on this list.

Turn based games have the potential to be crushingly difficult, or disgustingly easy, often due to their formula being easy to control. 7th Saga’s formula however is NOT easy to cheese. The primary complaint gamers have with The 7th Saga is the speed of its escalating difficulty. As players advance, enemies become excessively tough, with large health pools that make battles drag on. The only way to overcome this is grind, grind, and grind. If you aren’t willing to grind, get ready to fall behind.

Although these games are known for their high difficulty, calling this one anything other than "bullet hell" would be inaccurate. The game falls apart because of its difficulty, rather than the difficulty informing the gameplay. The game bombards you with enemies, lasers, bullets, plasma blasts, and every other conceivable threat, all in a one-hit, one-kill scenario. You must constantly monitor the entire screen and strategically plan your moves. This was my strategy: Turn it off, and play Kirby’s Funpak. If that joke doesn’t land, Kirby’s Funpak had a different name outside of Australia, so it’s not my fault.

F-Zero was notoriously difficult due to its high-speed gameplay and precise controls, which required players to master sharp turns and avoid numerous obstacles on futuristic race tracks. The AI opponents were highly competitive, often leaving little room for error, the cause of MOST of the game’s difficulty. Additionally, the limited number of lives and the need to maintain high speeds to avoid elimination added to the pressure. Don’t play F-Zero unless you’re willing to take on some WILDLY difficult levels.

The much loved PS2 series offers players the chance to use The Sands of Time in order to reverse mistakes, allowing a trial and error that makes gameplay super enjoyable. We WISH we had this feature in the original, because you’re going to die a LOT. The gameplay demands precise timing, where even a slight miscalculation can lead to instant failure. Every jump, step, dash, and combat action must be executed with exact precision, or it’s game over. However, the most challenging aspect is the game’s "overall timer," which gives you only 120 minutes to complete it. I’ll tell you what I CAN do in under 120 minutes. Throw the game through a window.

When LucasArts set out to make this game challenging, they went all in. Players will face relentless waves of enemies that continuously spawn in certain areas, creating a frustrating experience. Once you manage to get past these hordes, you’ll encounter a boss fight that, surprisingly, is often easier than the mobs you fought to reach it. This is because boss battles have predictable attack patterns, while the numerous enemies you face are like Tasmanian tigers stuck in a cupboard... Except you’re also in the cupboard.

I remember the Donkey Kong Country games fondly, but it wasn’t until a recent playthrough that I realized JUST how difficult these games truly are, and it was only through years of brutal repetition that I can now beat them with relative ease. It's quite literally like riding a bike. As with any platformer, mastering the timing of your moves is crucial to avoid frequent falls and deaths. Deaths that made me scream like a gorilla.

Chances are that even if you’d played all the entries we’ve discussed, you PROBABLY didn’t play this game. It is incredibly rare, with cartridges often going for upwards of $500 on EBay. even with relatively low quality. As you advance in the game, its complexity increases, which can become frustrating due to the relentless enemies. Players must maintain complete focus on everything occurring on the screen, with perfectly timed moves, or their progress will come to a standstill. It’s the deadly recipe still alive today: as you die, your focus shakes, causing you to die more, a snowballing process that often results in loads of swearing, and smashing.

Do you want to hear a 16-bit instrumental of the first 20 seconds of “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” again, and again, and again? Well boy do I have the game for you. One major issue players faced with The Lion King game was its precise controls and mechanics, which often left them unclear about what they were supposed to do, like in the “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” level. The game's difficulty increases sharply as you progress, with the second level being particularly notorious among games on the console, despite it being designed for children. Take a wild guess at what the second level is.

Despite what you might expect, the game doesn't constantly bombard players with dinosaurs. It does however bombard you with jurassic: Jura-sick to my stomach, that is! Comedy. It features a distinctive puzzle and ammo system that restricts certain types of ammunition for specific dinosaurs. This requires players to stay vigilant about their ammo, or they risk finding themselves defenseless. Additionally, the lack of a guidance system means players must navigate the park by wandering aimlessly, which often results in an early death, and a justifiable anger.

Although the game is slightly easier than its predecessor, which was a high entry on our hardest NES games list, it remains more challenging than you’d ever want a game to be. The developers provided players with a longer health bar and added bonus stages to offer extra lives, but overall, it remains a punishing button-masher that has led many players to push the buttons through the back of the controller. And yes, there's a "speed bike" level, so be ready for a particularly tough experience similar to the third level of the original.

Remember how the Konami Code saved our playthrough in the original game? WELL, the Konami Code isn't included in this one! Without the 30-life bonus, players had to complete the game with just the traditional three lives, and keeping them intact is much tougher than losing them. The difficulty increases exponentially as you advance, making each level twice as hard as the previous one. While Contra III: The Alien Wars is indeed beatable, expect to need numerous playthroughs before you finally conquer it.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is packed with so many enemies that even the slightest misstep can lead to your demise. You'll constantly face swarms of foes while also navigating traps, jumping over obstacles, and avoiding pits, all while fighting for survival. True to its predecessor, finishing the game simply sends you back to the start, where you must replay it on a higher difficulty, punishing you in a vein similar to Demon’s Souls and turning it into a grueling test of endurance. Endurance I am now lacking.

Who would have thought a game with such a ridiculous cheesy premise would be one of the best SNES games ever created? Playing Zombies Ate My Neighbors is definitely enjoyable, but completing the entire game is like stabbing yourself in the face with the SNES controller, repeatedly, and hard. With 48 levels to navigate, it’s a substantial task. You'll need to rescue as many neighbors as you can, and since ammunition is limited, you'll have to use it sparingly. Although the game has a cute appearance, it can become stressful, often leading players to frustration as they're swarmed by brain-eating monsters. Think Cuphead meets… Actually, just think Cuphead.

If you’re familiar with Castlevania games, you know they’re not easy, but Castlevania: Dracula X stands out as one of the more ball-busting entries of the series, arguably the MOST ball-busting... Either way, loads of busted balls. The difficulty largely stems from its platformer nature, where you’ll be overwhelmed by enemies that frequently knock you into bottomless pits. Success requires precise timing, targeting the right enemies at the right moments, and perfect execution to ultimately defeat Dracula at the end of the game. The stinky garlic prick.