Nintendo hard
"Nintendo hard" is extreme difficulty in video games with trial-and-error gameplay and limited or nonexistent saving of progress. The enduring term originated with Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games from the mid-1980s to early 1990s, such as Ghosts 'n Goblins (1986), Contra (1988), Ninja Gaiden (1988), and Battletoads (1991).
History
The Nintendo hard difficulty of many games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was influenced by the popularity of arcade games in the mid-1980s, a period where players put countless coins in machines trying to beat a game that was brutally hard yet very enjoyable.[1] The difficulty of many games released in the 1980s and 1990s has also been attributed to the hardware limitations affecting gameplay.[2][3] Former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said in an interview regarding how NES games were made: "Everyone involved in the production would spend all night playing it, and because they made games, they became good at them. So these expert gamers make the games, saying 'This is too easy'".[4] Also, Damiano Gerli of Ars Technica observed that extreme difficulty made it possible for a game with little actual content (in terms of number of levels or opponents) to provide a long period of gameplay.[5]
The number of current games considered Nintendo hard decreased significantly with the
Analysis
Arcade conversions and 2D
Examples
The games in the following list have been recognized as being some of the hardest NES games and for some, all platforms.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
- The Adventures of Bayou Billy (1988)
- Air Fortress (1987)
- Atlantis no Nazo (1986)
- Batman (1990)
- Battletoads (1991)
- Bionic Commando (1988)
- Blaster Master (1988)
- Bubble Bobble (1988)
- Castlequest (1986)
- Castlevania (1986)
- Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989)
- Conflict (1989)
- Contra (1988)
- Cybernoid (1989)
- Déjà Vu (1988)
- Die Hard (1991)
- Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (1991)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1988)
- Fester's Quest (1989)
- Final Fantasy (1987)
- Friday the 13th (1989)
- Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985)
- Gradius (1986)
- The Guardian Legend (1988)
- The Karate Kid (1987)
- Kid Icarus (1986)
- Legacy of the Wizard (1987)
- Little Nemo: The Dream Master (1989)
- USgamer as an "introduction" of Nintendo hard difficulty[4]
- Mega Man 3 (1990)
- Milon's Secret Castle (1986)
- Ninja Gaiden (1988)
- Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990)
- Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (1991)
- Punch-Out!! (1987)
- Recca (1992)
- Shadowgate (1989)
- Silver Surfer (1990)
- Solomon's Key (1986)
- Starship Hector (1987)
- Super Contra (1990)
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986)
- Takeshi no Chōsenjō(1986)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991)
- Top Gun (1987)
- Transformers: Mystery of Convoy (1986)
- Uninvited (1989)
- Yo! Noid (1990)
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
References
- ^ a b c d e f Enger, Michael (February 8, 2011). "What is "Nintendo Hard"?". Bits 'n' Bytes. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ Lessel, Alon (September 27, 2013). "Nintendo Hard, or Hardly Working?". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ Thomas, Carlo (August 28, 2015). "Super Mario Maker: Remaking 'Nintendo Hard'". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ USgamer. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ Staff, Ars (September 3, 2021). "Too much of a good thing: Mourning the slow death of the retail game store". Ars Technica.
- ^ Gordon, Rob "SNES Super Star Wars Coming to PS4 This Week". Game Rant. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (October 11, 2021). "Dungeon crawler or looter shooter? Nine video game genres explained". The Guardian. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ Rouner, Jef (August 11, 2016). "Video Game Endings Don't Matter". Houston Press. Voice Media Group. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ GamesRadar. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ Crisman, Michael (July 1, 2015). "The Fifteen Most Difficult NES Games (That Are Not Battletoads)". Retro Gaming. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ "The 10 Most Irritatingly Impossible Old School Video Games". Cracked.com. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ "The 21 Hardest Nintendo games ever". Computer and Video Games. March 9, 2008. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ Tretina, Patrick (June 24, 2016). "Top 5 Hardest NES Games That Kicked Our Ass". Cheat Code Central. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ Oxford, Nadia (July 22, 2015). "What are the Hardest Video Games?". USgamer. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ McElroy, Griffin (December 29, 2011). "One of the hardest NES games ever translated to English". Engadget. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- Smosh.com. February 26, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ Lambie, Ryan (February 13, 2018). "Transformers: Mystery of Convoy Might be the Most Cynical Licensed Video Game Ever Made". Den of Geek. Den of Geek World. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020.