If you are of a certain age, you may be reading the word "Arcade" and wondering what the hell that even is. Well, we're here to tell you a tale. A tale of cutting-edge video game machines that towered over their players. With games that were so ahead of their time that, to this day, most of them are genuinely gorgeous. But it isn't all grandeur. There was a seedy side to these majestic video game obelisks. They needed to get your grimy little quarters.

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And so, some of these arcade games were built from the ground up to be fiendishly difficult in order to get you to empty your pockets. And how that difficulty presented itself is interesting in itself. Some of these games achieved greatness, in part, due to their difficulty; other titles were simply twisted and evil, and that difficulty held them back. But while we strove to present a wide variety of unique titles here, one thing unites them all. These games are torturously difficult!

9 X-Men: The Arcade

X-Men Arcade, Saving Professor X

X-Men: The Arcade Game is a beloved beat 'em up. It is noteworthy for how much chaos is on the screen at once. But boy, trying to play that game without backup is ROUGH. Hitstun barely exists in X-Men: The Arcade Game and enemies hit like a truck. More concerning, using your power means giving up your health. Oh, and there are armies of goons to fight. They just keep coming and they fill the screen. If the machine is on the expert difficulty setting, you are going to be dying. A lot.

We are putting this classic at the bottom of the list for a reason. Technically, if you bring enough quarters, anyone can beat X-Men: The Arcade. Even on the hardest difficulty. But wouldn't you rather use that money for a down payment on a house?

8 Dragon's Lair

Dragon's Lair, Dirk Died

Dragon's Lair is a machiavellian arcade game that is quite simply brutal, unfair, and largely a matter of memorization. You know those notorious quick-time events that took gaming by storm for a hot minute? The ones that everyone decided that they essentially don't like anymore? Well, Dragon's Lair is a series of QTEs... but without prompts. You have five buttons, corresponding to four directions and a sword swing. You will need to decipher which button is most likely to see you through any given situation.

Some of these make sense, but many of them feel like they depend on you making a guess. The timing here can be tight, and, once again, you aren't really given a clear indication of when it is that you are supposed to react to any given obstacle. Thankfully, the animation is a joy, and dying is part of the fun. However, beating this thing in the arcades would have required you to take out a second mortgage.

7 Donkey Kong

Nintendo Donkey Kong Arcade Jumpman Mario

There is a reason why Donkey Kong is still, to this day, a competitively active game. That is because Donkey Kong is an incredibly difficult game to master. Most people can cycle through the four stages at least once, but to reach the kill screen you will need to do that an additional twenty times. Every time you wrap around, the enemies get increasingly faster. And yes, that includes that horrifying spring.

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It will take hours of continuous play, without the luxury of continues, in order to see the killscreen. Beating Donkey Kong is not for the faint of heart. To put things in perspective, despite being the most popular arcade game of its era, an era where arcades were exploding in popularity, it took a year and a half for someone to reach the killscreen. Yowza!

6 Gunbird 2

Gunbird 2

You know, one thing you gotta love about Gunbird 2 is that it is a game with a ton of charm, that has a bunch of tools for the player to use, yet, nonetheless, it is unendingly, unrelentingly, tirelessly brutal. This game does not go easy on you. Of course, if you have played games in this genre before, then you know exactly what you are getting into. They don't call them bullet hell shooters for nothing.

Here's the thing, though: Gunbird 2 is considered hard among bullet hell shooter enthusiasts. When you have the masochists of the video game world saying that something is pretty tough, you know you are dealing with a game that is downright diabolical. It has stayed relevant in those circles due to how well-made and charming it is, but it is its difficulty that makes it legendary.

5 Ghosts N' Goblins

Arthur throwing a knife at an ogre in stage 6

Ghosts N' Goblins is an absolute legend. If you have been around, you know the score. You beat the game, and then, as a treat, you have to beat it again. But, you know, it is harder the second time around. This series is absolutely brutal. It requires a degree of mastery that will feel neigh unfair at first blush. Especially when you get to the later stages. It is masterable; so if you are good enough, you will absolutely be able to beat it, but it is going to take a lot of time and money.

If you want to experience this game in all its glory, we recommend picking up the excellent remake. It provides a million ways to mitigate the difficulty in fun ways, while also allowing you to indulge your masochism and play through the game in a state close to the original title. God help you if you go for the full experience.

4 Haunted Castle

Castlevania is a series known for being pretty dang tough. And rightfully so! The titles in that storied franchise are legitimately difficult. But compared to Haunted Castle—the first game in the Castlevania franchise—they are all an absolute joke. The game gives you three lives, and we guarantee you, unless you have pumped hundreds of quarters into the machine, they won't be enough.

Maybe you think we are exaggerating. Well, this game has been released on all the modern consoles, so we would encourage you to seek it out. Haunted Castle is a game that requires repeat playthroughs in order to master. You will need to memorize the stage's layout, and figure out the tricks to beat the bosses, in order to progress. Play, die, and learn. That is how you beat Haunted Castle. The difficulty here is absolutely twisted.

3 Dance Dance Revolution Franchise

[Panel 1] An L-Tek EX Pro Metal Dance Pad controller. [Panel 2] Lady dancing in front of a colorful heart background in Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix

Of all the titles on this list, DDR is the only one that requires physical endurance and genuine dexterity. To get good at DDR doesn't simply require pattern recognition and memorization. You need to physically train your body in order to complete songs on the hardest difficulty.

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While it is conceivable that some of the hardest games ever made could be practiced, and completed, over a short-ish period of time, we don't think the same could be said about DDR. You are going to have physical limitations that you will need to overcome. Most hardcore games require you to be a dedicated gamer to complete; the DDR franchise requires you to be a damn athlete.

2 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Mortal Kombat 3, Shang Tsung poses victoriously (and probably thinks about stealing souls)

Hey, do you know what is really, really fun in a fighting game? When the AI magically uses the best possible counter to your attack a single frame after you use yours. FUN! Many of the games on this list are great, but just push the player. That is not the case with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. That's right, you heard it here first. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a damn cheater.

The game reads your inputs flagrantly. Playing Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is an exercise in learned helplessness. You will win rounds, but it doesn't feel like you did anything different in order to win them. When you take a match, it is almost like the CPU just decided to let you have it. Otherwise, it is a series of blowout losses. Pump in the quarters and pray. That is your only hope.

1 Tetris: The Grand Master 3 Terror-Instinct

Tetris The Grand Masters 3

Tetris: The Grand Masters 3 is Tetris taken to a whole other level. This game does have credits, and reaching them is not a cakewalk, but the real challenge comes from finishing the game with top honors. If you want to earn the achievment of finishing the game with a Grand Master ranking, you will have to play Tetris at a blinding speed while scoring multiple Tetrises.

That's not so bad, right? Well... the blocks are invisible once you place them down. No, you didn't misread that; at a certain point, if you are pursuing the Grand Master ranking, the final stretch will conclude with the blocks becoming invisible. On its own, Tetris: The Grand Master 3 Terror Instinct is already extraordinarily ruthless, but pursuing the Grand Master ranking makes things so, so, so much more brutal. Oh, sorry, we forgot to mention that you have to do this MULTIPLE TIMES on the same account in order to reach the Grand Master ranking.

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