Games hard to beat

Interesting article about several video games that may be hard to beat:

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in ... 51468.html

Has anyone played any of these games mentioned, and did you find it particularly hard to beat the game?? If so, what exactly did you find so difficult about it?

Can anyone think of any other games that you had a hard time winning or overcoming a level of the game, etc.?

I actually beat the Lost Levels...it wasn't easy, but I did it! As for Demons' Souls, my boyfriend has that...yeah, it's completely brutal and pointlessly hard, but that's so well known that if you buy that game, you have no excuse for not knowing how brutal it is. In fact, I think people get that game because of how hard it is.

I've also heard of I Wanna Be the Guy, and there are some hilarious Let's Plays of that on youtube.

The only game on that list I've really played is Contra. I might have tried Battletoads or the Lost Levels, but I don't really remember them if so. I've heard that Demon's Souls is really tough, but never played or even seen it. Probably because it's a PS3 game. I've never even heard of the rest of the list.

I haven’t completed any of those games, but I have played Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and I do own Demon Souls but I’ve invested very little time into that game. I have however completed its sequel, Dark Souls.

I have beaten 1 game on that list That would be Demon Souls.
Yes it was unforgivingly hard and brutal right from the start, it took many hours of level grinding, and I loved every second of it!

Difficult games ? There are alot of them which are very very hard to beat :! (and I HATE difficult games... )
I can think about Ninja Gaiden on XBOX (argh !!!!) and Alien Soldier on Megadrive : awful lol ^^

Lost levels was brutal, I don't remember finishing it. Was fun though.

Contra? Really? I used to finish that game without losing a life, both arcade and NES versions. People seem to think it was hard because the 30-lives code was a programmed behavior in most gamers so it was assumed it couldn't be done without cheating. The game could very well be completed with three lives and a little practice.

Hard games? Try 7th Saga for the SNES. I finished it when I used to live alone with a LOT of time to spend leveling until I realized that the bosses leveled with you. Ouch. It was a turn based RPG but it was HARD. I love that sort of difficulty where you live or die because you made the right decision. Games where you need hair-trigger reflexes or the ability to learn and repeat the same pattern 256 times to kill a boss bore me.

AEROPRISM : Ah ! The Seventh Saga ! I've tried it ! But never played very long because ..;because it was extremely hard I confirm ! Even the games in which "you live or die because you made the right decision" : I don't like !! Too difficult ? I abandon it ! Or try some help

Yep, 7th Saga was a pretty hard one. I remember renting that one back in the day. I don't recall how far I got into it, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't one that I rented again. I liked the concept of characters taking on different paths through the story, but the difficulty killed my interest in exploring all the paths.

Any of the Ninja Gaiden games on the NES are some that come to mind.