In most instances, it’s fairly easy to tell if a game is going to be a harrowing experience. Games like Dark Souls have literally informed players that they need to be prepared to die a lot, but there are just as many games that are a bit sneakier with their difficulty. For whatever reason, many games don’t look all that difficult.
Of course, that thought changes as soon as you boot up the game you thought would be simple, only to find out that it’s one of the most challenging games in its genre. A lot of different things can make a game surprisingly difficult, but it does often stem from the aesthetic of the game. Sometimes, a game that looks like a normal experience can be hiding some shocking difficulty as well.
10 Catherine
At a glance, Catherine looks like it’s more concerned with strained relationships than it is actual difficult gameplay, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Catherine absolutely features an enticing story with plenty of fun elements, but it is also one of the toughest puzzle games in recent memory.
There are a lot of different things that make the game’s unique climbing puzzles difficult, but one of the first things is simply understanding the way the puzzles work in the first place. Even the most experienced puzzle game players have admitted to struggling with the game from time to time, making Catherine a game that people shouldn’t take lightly.
9 Cuphead
A list like this basically had to include Cuphead, didn’t it? It’s a cutesy hand-drawn art style featuring anthropomorphic cups as they take down various bosses. Most of the bosses don’t look like a major threat when you first see them, but even the earliest bosses in the game can cause a struggle.
The game itself is incredibly tight, so none of the difficulty comes from any kind of unfairness. Instead, the difficulty comes from the erratic boss patterns, lightning-quick attacks, and the multitude of tricky attacks that bosses can implement. Even more, some of the boss stages feature their own unique hazards as well.
8 Super Monkey Ball 2
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Anyone who’s ever played a Super Monkey Ball game probably already agrees with its mention here. Any and every one of the games features high-speed mechanics that will see your little monkey getting flung all over the various courses.
The games only get more difficult the further you get into them, providing some of the stiffest challenges of the consoles the games find themselves on. Who would have thought a game about monkeys rolling in balls would be so difficult? Though, maybe the inclusion of the word “super” was meant as a hint to its deceptive difficulty.
7 Takeshi’s Challenge
An older game that a lot of gamers may not have heard of thanks to its Japan-only release is Takeshi’s Challenge. The game came out on the Famicom and is regarded as one of the most difficult video games of its era, despite its generally cheerful look.
It looks like the typical, happy, child-friendly platformer of the era, but it is anything but that. Instead, Takeshi’s Challenge is a game that asks you to overcome staggeringly difficult mechanics, have knowledge almost no one would actually have, and do all of that with minimal chances to actually continue after failure.
6 XCOM 2
It should be said that XCOM 2 doesn’t exactly look like an easy game at a glance, but those who know nothing about the series may just see the average strategy game. People who enjoy strategy games often consider themselves to be good with tactics, so most strategy games aren’t much to worry about.
The entire XCOM series will laugh in the face of any misconception. XCOM 2 is a brutally difficult game that requires near-perfect strategy on every level, and even then, you still may lose multiple characters simply due to a spot of bad luck on your attack rolls.
5 Trials Fusion
Another game that starts out relatively easy, but quickly becomes a brutal challenge for any genre is Trials Fusion. Luckily, it’s not a case of poor design with the game's mechanics, and instead, its expertly crafted levels provide a stiff challenge for gamers.
It’s a unique platforming game that forces players to rethink how they’d tackle the standard platformer challenges. Without coming to grips with tweaked mechanics and just barely possible gaps, some players may never make it all that far in Trials Fusion.
4 Mega Man Network Transmission
There are a lot of people who love the Mega Man Battle Network handheld series, and all of those people were likely excited when they learned that a game in the series was coming to the GameCube. Unfortunately, it is much harder than any of the handheld games.
The issue here is that the game itself could be cheap in numerous sections, creating a frustrating and difficult challenge where most players weren’t really expecting one. It’s a surprisingly difficult game for the GameCube, and one that is often forgotten about when discussing tough games of that era.
3 Battletoads
The classic eras of gaming featured some brutally difficult video games. Even some of the most popular titles could be considered to be incredibly difficult without a few well-known tricks to help you out. Battletoads is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up that practically set the standard for difficult games from that time.
Being able to hit your co-op partner is bad enough, but anyone who’s played the game will remember one particular hoverbike section that genuinely feels impossible to some people. Anyone who managed to overcome the toad-based fighter is a real pro.
2 F-Zero GX
Racing games can be surprisingly difficult for the average gamer, but those that love the genre do often struggle to find a significant challenge. Those people may be interested in dusting off their GameCubes in order to play through F-Zero GX.
The chaotic and action-packed races are some of the most difficult in the genre. The entire point of the futuristic racer is to show off the immense speed that is capable, and that immense speed can become difficult to control on the expertly-crafted tracks.
1 Conker’s Bad Fur Day
These days, there are a lot of people who felt bad for those parents who bought Conker’s Bad Fur Day for their kids without actually knowing anything about the game. It’s a relatively crude experience for the Nintendo 64, but it’s also surprisingly difficult.
It’s fair to be surprised that a game featuring a walking-talking squirrel is difficult, and that difficulty manifests in a number of ways. The controls can feel a bit dated, making the game tough, but generally being unsure how to accomplish your goals makes the game a chore at times.