Nintendo is well renowned for a vast number of reasons, but rarely on that list do the words "hard games" crop up. And, considering how their brand caters to the entire family, it makes sense that their core properties would be on the approachable side.

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Fortunately, though, Nintendo had a change of heart with the Switch console; Suddenly, the platform was flooded with third-party content, and that variety brought along a slew of games that finally had players rage-quitting on the console they normally used to play their favorite Zelda title. Here are some of the hardest games to grace the Switch.

10 Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker 2

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Kaizo Mario ROM, Nintendo's Super Mario Maker allows you to make your own side-scrolling adventure starring the world's most famous plumber. Just like its likely inspiration, Super Mario Maker and its sequel for the Switch are infamous for causing a certain level of stress in players.

The 2019 level creator has been used to formulate insane puzzles and pixel-perfect platforming on a scale the genuine article has never dared reach, for fear of alienating literally everyone.

9 Hades

Hades featuring Zagreus, Megaera, and Thanatos

Even though Hades is possibly the most charming rogue-like to ever grace our mortal realm, it's no surprise that a game about escaping hell is difficult. Every pass through the underworld dungeons sees Zagreus, the imprisoned son of Hades, facing a slightly different iteration of potential cruelty.

What's more, most - if not all - of the late-game rewards are locked behind fierce challenges, each of which demands higher and higher levels of skill from you to achieve, which is about par with everything else made in 2020.

8 Celeste

Title art for Celeste showing Madeline reaching for a strawberry with wings, while supporting characters float in fog around her

Beneath Celeste's cutesy, pixilated exterior is a heartfelt narrative about facing your inner demons... and beneath that is a relentless, precision platformer that might become your personal demon.

Related: The Most Difficult JRPGs

It seems that even the developers knew the extent to which their 2018 creation would cause utter chaos because Celeste's on the cutting edge of adaptive difficulty settings.

7 Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy - Meat Boy Smiling With A Missing Tooth And A Black Eye

It's gross, it's slimy, it's kind of making fun of Mario - it's Super Meat Boy, the progenitor of the modern "maybe we should play something easier" platformer.

Originally released in 2010, Meat Boy survived the test of time to be remastered for the Switch in 2018 to scar a new generation of gamers with a billion saw blades and an uncomfortable amount of splatter animations. If squelchy protagonists are to your tastes, the Switch received a sequel title called Super Meat Boy Forever.

6 Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight: The Knight In A Blue Cave With The Logo

Originally released in 2017 and ported to the Switch in 2018, Hollow Knight is quite literally the Dark Souls of platforming games. A massive, labyrinthine open world, populated with insectoid monsters in suits of armor that will brutalize you at every opportunity, a sparse saving system where you can specialize your character's abilities, and a steep price for death... by which we mean you have to fight a shadowy version of yourself to retrieve your lost belongs and abilities every time you die.

It's really cute, though.

5 Dark Souls: Remastered

Dark Souls 1 artwork of knight

Once upon a time, Dark Souls stood resolute and solitaire for all games that dared to torment players with unyielding difficulty. Nowadays, From Software's 2011 game is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to such games.

Related: The Most Difficult Open World Games

Ported to the Switch in 2018, Dark Souls: Remastered is a perfect example of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." This does not apply to players - please don't let it break you.

4 Cuphead

Cuphead official video game artwork cuphead and mugman together pose

Rubber hose animation was popularized in the 1920s and is primarily associated with old Disney cartoons by the public consciousness, so it's jarring to think that something mimicking good old Mickey Mouse in 2017 (and ported to the Switch in 2019) could ever be about murdering sentient vegetables to pay off your gambling debt to the devil.

With that image in your head, Cuphead, Studio MDHR's megahit, is a series of boss battles, with a few side-scrolling sections thrown in for variety. The controls are simple, which is a blessing in a game that refuses to pull a single punch.

3 Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon 2 logo - Snowy Mountain Torch with party members facing mountain

Described as a gothic roguelike RPG, Darkest Dungeon promises you a brutal, enthralling experience, full of strategy and loss, often at the same time. Don't get too attached to any given character because, as you'll swiftly realize, permadeath is a thing in Red Hook Studio's 2016 game, which was ported to the Switch in 2018.

And yet, it's dearly loved by a cult following. If you find that Darkest Dungeon scratches your masochistic itch, there's a sequel too.

2 Thumper

Thumper races toward the enemy at the end of the lane

When asked to describe their work, the developers at Drool called Thumper a "rhythm violence game," which was great as rhythm games are too few and far between nowadays.

Released in 2016 and ported to the Switch in 2017, Thumper is equal parts Sonic platformer and Beat Saber. Its tempo is remorseless, but that hasn't dissuaded fans from giving Drool's hit amazing word of mouth.

1 Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze promo art with logo

Yes, we started this article by proclaiming that Nintendo games are easy, but that was an expositional statement and by no means applies to Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze.

Originally developed for the Wii U in 2014, DK and co made it the Switch four years later in 2018. Funnily enough, the reviews were overwhelmingly positive... except when it came to the difficulty. Well, if you can't take the cold, get off the tropical island invaded by frosty Snowmads.

Next: The Most Difficult Games On The Xbox Series X|S