While it may be true that classic titles offer some of the most challenging experiences in video games, that's not to say that punishing gameplay and controller-shattering frustration is not to be found in subsequent generations.
There are numerous action games that can test your grit and skill with steep learning curves, unforgiving enemies, and harrowing level design. Action games can be tough, but the list compiled here takes top honors in cruelty. Dying is normal. The question is: How often will it be?
10 FTL: Faster Than Light
FTL: Faster Than Light is a space-based top-down real-time strategy roguelike game. If you think that the title is a lot to handle, then just wait until you play the game. A randomly generated galaxy will be the setting for your inevitable death as you balance all of the complexities in spaceship management. It's top-down because you have to watch over the whole ship. It's real-time because the enemy will not wait for you to figure things out. It's strategic because your crew and your ship depend on quick thinking. And we haven't even mentioned permadeath yet. Think you can survive?
9 Super Meat Boy
Meat Boy must save Bandage Girl. If only it were that easy. The demonic platformer features over 300 levels and all of them are inhospitable to wet balls of bloody meat. By the time you complete a level, the walls will be coated in the blood of Meat Boy. It's not an unfair game.
The movements are precise. But the journey to save Bandage Girl is a gory one. Buzz saws, chasms, needles, and boss fights. Not to mention hell. Actually hell. Enjoy watching the replay of all your failed attempts to beat a level. It's a good thing that Meat Boy can take a hit.
8 Spelunky
The 2D platform game takes note of the ridiculous difficulty intrinsic to classic platformers that shaped video game history. Randomized levels mean the only comfort is the skill you bring to the game after repeated deaths. Monsters and traps all want you dead, and they will likely succeed many times over. Fully-destructible environments allow the player to explore in their own way, but that doesn't guarantee safety. The opposite is true. You may never find the City of Gold. If you do, then the path will be littered with the bodies of your adventurer.
7 Cuphead
Don't be fooled by the adorable art. Cuphead may look like a classic arcade game, but it packs a punch that will leave you just as battered as when you tried to beat Mike Tyson. The run-and-gun video game features boss battles that will smack you around and leave you wondering why you didn't just play an easy game.
Cuphead and his brother Mugman have to repay their debt to the devil, but you'll be the one paying the price. A lot of effort went into creating the cartoon atmosphere of the game. Just as much effort went into making sure that the adventure was a challenging one.
6 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Surprised to find a game by FromSoftware on the list? You shouldn't be. The studio thrives on tormenting its loyal fans. Taking the Dark Souls formula to a whole new level, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice relies upon speed, aggression, and intimate knowledge of the enemies' movements. You must study the attacks of every opponent to find their weaknesses. Quick thinking and timing are rewarded. If you make one mistake, though, it may be your last. FromSoftware has been perfecting their development techniques for years. And it shows in the tears of players across the world.
5 Bloodborne
Another elegant masterpiece by FromSoftware, Bloodborne is the first deviation from the Dark Souls series, but the dark city of Yharnam is just as deadly. Hunters move faster, and combat depends on a higher rate of speed. Yet death remains a constant. The Hunter's Dream is a place of refuge from the nightmares that roam the streets.
Don't worry. You'll visit the realm often when you've been eviscerated by the newest monster to emerge from the shadows. When you beat a difficult boss in Bloodborne, your yells are almost as loud as your cries of despair. If not louder.
4 Dark Souls
The masochism machine. The scourge of gamers everywhere. The series that asks, "Why not break another controller and spew out a string of curses?" Which very well might happen. One of the most iconic boss fights of all time, against Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough, demonstrates what is so alluring and exhausting about the Dark Souls games. Die, die, and die again. But that one moment of victory, exhilarating and fleeting, makes up for all the previous failures. When the game bows to your skill, maybe it's worth all the agony.
3 Ninja Gaiden
Do we even have to talk about these games? Which one should we talk about? The hard one? Oh yeah, they're all hard. A lot of players can't even get past the first boss. So beating the entire game requires a stroke of genius. Or ironclad resolve. Stubbornness works, too.
Ninja Gaiden is a ridiculous series that takes the best players, chews them up, and spits them out. What's left is a blood-spattered mess of tears and regret. So if you've beaten a Ninja Gaiden game, then go ahead and start bragging. No one will like you. But they'll probably respect you.
2 XCOM
Permadeath. Excuse me, what did you say? Permadeath. Oh, that's great. Let's take a challenging game with dense strategy and elevate the tension to a point where every moment could be your last. XCOM fans have loved the brutal style of the series, and the second game only improved upon the first. So if you're looking for the next gauntlet to test your patience and nerve, then XCOM is probably a good bet.
1 DOOM
Okay, not as hard as the rest of the games on the list. That's true. Unless you play on Ultra-Nightmare mode. It's so hard that even the developers couldn't beat it. And it features permadeath. Yeah, that lovely specter of doom and gloom. Just two hits from the weakest creatures in the game. That's all it takes to kill you. If you breezed through DOOM, then try Ultra-Nightmare mode. It will punish you.