After more than a decade of playing and mastering Derek Yu's popular roguelike Spelunky, the auteur game designer has finally unleashed the long awaited sequel. Spelunky 2 retains much of what made the original such a phenomenon; procedurally generated levels, ambiguous gameplay mechanics, a unique art style, and brutal difficulty.
Many are in it for the extreme challenge which keeps even the most expert players on their toes. For those yearning for games of a similar ilk, any of the ten titles below will do. They are typically not the same style, but they will all test the player's mettle.
10 Super Meat Boy
Before platformers came back into fashion with titles like Rayman Origins, Super Meat Boy came out onto the indie scene. What started out as a Newgrounds title was retooled for consoles in 2010. Every level is a grueling platforming challenge where even the starting areas will kill most players ten times before they conquer them. After beating a stage, the player is shown a replay where all the prior attempts are played simultaneously.
9 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
When talking about difficulty, a FromSoftware title has to show up. Even when compared to the other games directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice stands out as a particularly brutal adventure. Even those accustomed to the designer's work had to grow acclimated to the new combat style. While seemingly unfair at times, it is extremely rewarding and is never fully impossible. Many are still playing it, anxiously awaiting any news on Elden Ring.
8 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan, this proper sequel was considered too difficult to be accessible in the states, causing the west to receive an entirely different Super Mario Bros. 2.
The true successor to the plumber's debut platform eventually made its way to North America as a part of Super Mario All Stars and was called The Lost Levels. Aesthetically it is identical to Super Mario Bros., but it is notably harder.
7 Rayman
When it comes to 2D Rayman, one cannot do much better than Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. They are both filled with dozens of creative levels players can tackle cooperatively with up to three friends. However, if one wants to play one of the hardest 2D platformers ever made, they should pop in the franchise's debut entry. The PlayStation launch title is just insulting at times, something compounded by the limited number of lives players have.
6 F-Zero GX
F-Zero is one of the Nintendo's less celebrated franchises, though it still has a strong fanbase. F-Zero GX, released on the GameCube in 2003, is the last home console entry in the franchise, though fortunately Captain Falcon lives on in Super Smash Bros.. Unlike many racing games, it comes with a story mode, though one would be hard pressed to see all the chapters, because each challenge is a grueling gauntlet only experts can best with practice and tact.
5 Takeshi's Challenge
This is somewhat of an outlier on the list. While still extremely difficult, the challenge does not come from precision or reflexes. Instead, this side-scrolling game plays more like an old school adventure game, where certain obscure criteria must be met in order to proceed. If the player does not do these things correctly, they will fail and be forced to restart the game. Takeshi Kitano, the game's namesake, was one of the Japan's most popular comedians, though in the late '80s shifted his focus to filmmaking with hard hitting dramas like Sonatine and Outrage.
4 XCOM 2
XCOM 2 is hard enough even with the ability to spam saves and loads in combat to correct mistakes. For those who want a truly grueling experience with the science fiction turn-based strategy masterpiece, turn on iron man mode.
With this option switched on, the game automatically saves after every turn in battle, forcing players to live with every mistake and loss. With the series' trademark permadeth mechanic, fully powered-up soldiers can die forever in the blink of an eye.
3 Rogue
Rogue is the original roguelike and where the genre gets its name. Many elements one finds today in modern roguelikes are present in this 1980 classic; randomly generated maps, losing all progress upon death, and challenging combat. It is also turn-based, unlike Spelunky 2, so at least one can take their sweet time determining their next move. Though the game is forty years old, avid gamers owe it to themselves to experience this part of video game history.
2 FTL
Faster Than Light is about venturing through space towards an objective while dealing with enemy ships. In typical roguelike fashion, one death results in the destruction of the save file, forcing the player to restart the journey. Each run randomly generates the world and encounters, so one can never be truly sure what awaits them. While it makes the game grueling, it also increases its replay value for dedicated players.
1 Ghost 'N Goblins
This game is notorious for grueling difficulty, even when compared to other side-scrolling platformers of the time. It was also originally released in the arcades, making its difficulty even more unfair, since one had to continue feeding the machine money if they wanted to continue. Beating this game once is not enough, since doing so sends the player through the levels again, only more challenging, in order to reach the true final boss.