Ranking of all NTSC games' difficulty

BreaKBeatZ

Since a few people replied to my original post confirming that this thread hasn't been made, I'm going to start it now.  I've rated the games I've beaten (that I can remember how hard they were), but everything is subject to change.  As more people offer their opinions, I will change the rankings so that they reflect the average opinion.          

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1942	4
1943
10 Yard Fight	2
2-in-1 Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt
2-in-1 Super Spike V'Ball/World Cup Soccer
3-D Worldrunner
3-in-1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet
720	6
8 Eyes	7
Abadox	7.5
Addams Family, The
Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, The
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonstrike
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes Of The Lance	6
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Hillsfar	4.5
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance	3
Adventure Island	7
Adventure Island II	5
Adventure Island III
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom	3
Adventures of Bayou Billy, The	9
Adventures of Dino Riki, The	4
Adventures of Gilligan's Island, The
Adventures of Lolo II, The
Adventures of Lolo III, The
Adventures of Lolo, The	7
Adventures of Rad Gravity, The
Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Friends, The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
Air Fortress
Airwolf
Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing
Alfred Chicken	4
Alien3
All Pro Basketball
Alpha Mission
Amagon
American Gladiators	3
Anticipation	3
Arch Rivals: A Basket Brawl!	5
Archon	5
Arkanoid	10
Arkista's Ring	5
Astyanax
Athena	8
Athletic World
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Back to the Future	7.5
Back to the Future II & III
Bad Dudes
Bad News Baseball
Bad Street Brawler
Balloon Fight
Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach
Bandit Kings of Ancient China
Barbie
Bard's Tale
Barker Bill's Trick Shooting
Base Wars - Cyber Stadium Series
Baseball	6
Baseball Simulator 1.000	3
Baseball Stars
Baseball Stars II
Bases Loaded	2
Bases Loaded II: Second Season	5
Bases Loaded III
Bases Loaded IV
Batman	6
Batman Returns
Batman: Return of the Joker
Battle Chess	4
Battle of Olympus, The	4
Battle Tank
Battleship
Battletoads	9.5
Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team	9
Beetlejuice
Best of the Best: Championship Karate
Bigfoot
Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure
Bill Elliott's Nascar Challenge
Bionic Commando	7
Black Bass	5
Blades of Steel	4
Blaster Master	8
Blue Marlin
Blues Brothers, The
Bo Jackson Baseball
Bomberman
Bomberman II
Bonk's Adventure
Boulder Dash
Boy And His Blob, A
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Break Time: The National Pool Tour
BreakThru	3
Bubble Bobble	5
Bubble Bobble: Part 2
Bucky O'Hare
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, The	3
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, The	2
Bump 'n' Jump	3
Burai Fighter
Burgertime
Cabal
Caesar's Palace
California Games
Captain America and the Avengers	7.5
Captain Planet
Captain Skyhawk	6
Casino Kid
Casino Kid 2
Castelian	9
Castle of Dragon
Castlequest
Castlevania	6
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	4.5
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse	7
Caveman Games
Championship Bowling
Championship Pool
Chessmaster, The	3
Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers	3
Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers 2	2.5
Chubby Cherub
Circus Caper
City Connection	3.5
Clash at Demonhead	6
Classic Concentration
Cliffhanger	3.5
Clu Clu Land
Cobra Command
Cobra Triangle
Code Name: Viper	5
Color a Dinosaur	1
Commando	5
Conan: The Mysteries of Time	8
Conflict
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Contra	5
Contra Force
Cool World
Cowboy Kid	4.5
Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge
Crystalis	4
Cyberball
Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine
Dance Aerobics
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat	3
Darkman
Darkwing Duck	5
Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum
Day Dreamin' Davey
Days of Thunder
Deadly Towers
Defender II	1.5
Defender of the Crown
Defenders of Dynatron City
Deja Vu	3.5
Demon Sword	5
Desert Commander
Destination Earth Star
Destiny of an Emperor	5.5
Dick Tracy	5
Die Hard
Dig Dug II
Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City
Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs
Donkey Kong	6
Donkey Kong 3	5
Donkey Kong Classics
Donkey Kong Jr.	5
Donkey Kong Jr. Math	1
Double Dare
Double Dragon	6
Double Dragon II: The Revenge	6
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stone	7
Double Dribble	2
Dr. Chaos	4.5
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Mario
Dragon Fighter	6
Dragon Power	8
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend	4
Dragon Warrior	2
Dragon Warrior II	3
Dragon Warrior III	4
Dragon Warrior IV	4
Dragon's Lair
Duck Hunt	2
Duck Tales	3
Duck Tales II	4
Dungeon Magic
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus	3
Elevator Action	8
Eliminator Boat Duel
Empire Strikes Back , The
Evert & Lendl Top Player's Tennis
Excitebike	2
F-117A Stealth Fighter
F-15 Strike Eagle	6.5
Family Feud
Faria: A World of Mystery & Danger	3
Faxanadu
Felix the Cat	2.5
Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge
Fester's Quest
Final Fantasy	2
Fire 'N Ice
Fisher Price: Firehouse Rescue	1.5
Fisher Price: I Can Remember	1
Fisher Price: Perfect Fit	1
Fist of the North Star	6
Flight of the Intruder
Flintstones, The	4
Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak, The	5
Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll	8
Flying Warriors
Formula 1: Built to Win
Frankenstein: The Monster Returns
Freedom Force
Friday the 13th	4
Fun House
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero	5.5
G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor	5.5
Galaga	2.5
Galaxy 5000
Gargoyle's Quest II	5
Gauntlet
Gauntlet II
Gemfire
Genghis Khan
George Foreman's KO Boxing
Ghostbusters	7
Ghostbusters II
Ghosts 'N Goblins	9
Ghoul School
Goal!
Goal! Two
Godzilla
Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters
Gold Medal Challenge '92
Golf	3
Golf Grand Slam
Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode	8
Goonies II , The	5
Gotcha!
Gradius	7
Great Waldo Search	3
Greg Norman's Golf Power
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Guardian Legend, The	4
Guerilla War	1
Gumshoe
Gun Nac	3
Gunsmoke	6
Gyromite	3
Gyruss	5
Harlem Globetrotters
Hatris
Heavy Barrel	2
Heavy Shreddin'
High Speed
Hogan's Alley	3
Hollywood Squares
Home Alone
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Hook
Hoops
Hudson Hawk
Hunt for Red October, The
Hydlide
Ice Climber	6
Ice Hockey	3
Ikari Warriors	10
Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road
Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue
Image Fight
Immortal, The
Incredible Crash Dummies, The
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Taito)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (UBI)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Infiltrator
Iron Tank	8
IronSword: Wizards and Warriors II	6.5
Isolated Warrior
Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart's Super Off-Road
Jack Nicklaus' Major Championship Golf
Jackal	5
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
James Bond Jr.
Jaws	2.5
Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! 25th Silver Anniversary Edition
Jeopardy! Jr. Edition
Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper, The
Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour
Joe & Mac
John Elway's Quarterback
Jordan vs. Bird: One-on-One	4
Journey to Silius	7
Joust	6
Jungle Book, The
Jurassic Park
Kabuki: Quantum Fighter
Karate Champ
Karate Kid
Karnov	5
Kick Master	4
Kickle Cubicle
Kid Icarus	6.5
Kid Klown in Night Mayor World	5
Kid Kool
Kid Niki	7
King's Knight
Kings of the Beach
King's Quest V
Kirby's Adventure	3
Kiwi Kraze
KlashBall
Knight Rider
Krion Conquest, The
Krusty's Funhouse
Kung Fu	2
Kung Fu Heroes	9
Laser Invasion
Last Action Hero
Last Ninja, The
Last Starfighter, The
Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf
Legacy of the Wizard, The	7.5
Legend of Ghost Lion
Legend of Kage, The	3
Legend of Zelda, The	3.5
Legendary Wings	4
Legends of the Diamond

pegboy

I've been thinking about this for a long, long time. I would also strongly disagree that Kung Fu is a 1, and G&G is a 10.



I'd put Kung Fu at more like a 4-5, and G&G at an 8.



For instance, although G&G is a hard game, you do get infinite continues and can try over and over forever if you wanted.



Here are a few of my ratings:



Tetris: 10 (I consider "beating it" getting to level 29, which is very, very hard)

Ikari Warriors: 10

Bayou Billy: 8

Battletoads: 8

G & G: 8

Ninja Gaiden III: 8

Silver Surfer: 6

Life Force: 6

Ninja Gaiden I and II: 6

Gradius: 6

Contra: 5

EoTN

Don't forget about the bee throwing boss in Kung Fu. He alone definitely bumps the game up a few notches. I'd say a 4 at least. Not hard, but not a breeze. I'd only put ghosts and Goblins at a 9, It is possible to do pretty well at it. I'd say the definitive 10 would be either Ikari Warriors, Battletoads, or Ninja Gaiden. A 1 would be any kids educational game. I think such a list could be fun! Maybe do a 100 point scale so as to be more precise. maybe 20 points in 5 categories, like enemies, stage, length, control, playability, and overall difficulty would be the total.

cradelit

I haven't played ikari warriors, but Battletoads or gaiden is no harder than ghosts and goblins... It's the same type of thing, the more time you spend on it the easier it "seems".

BreaKBeatZ

I've never beaten Battletoads, it seems like a 10 to me. Ninja Gaiden is a lot easier than Ghosts and Goblins IMO, maybe because it's much more fun of a game.



Anyway, I think I'll start this thread.

cradelit

I think RPGs have a difficulty to them as well. Wizardry is harder than hell if you don't use cheats.. Some games like Ultima Exodus I also thought were pretty tough because some of the items you need to finish the game *cough.. mark of snakes* are really hard to find, but I guess in this internet age people probably breeze through it and have no idea how difficult it is supposed to be.

cradelit

The ones I think would be hard to rank would be games that never end and just get harder and harder

pegboy

I think NG1 is significantly easier than G&G and Battletoads, like not even close really. NGIII is the only one of the 3 that I would classify as being "very hard". You take way more damage, and must finish each sub-level with only 1 life (unlike NG1 & 2), and you have limited continues oin top of all that.

pegboy

Originally posted by: cradelit



I think RPGs have a difficulty to them as well. Wizardry is harder than hell if you don't use cheats.. Some games like Ultima Exodus I also thought were pretty tough because some of the items you need to finish the game *cough.. mark of snakes* are really hard to find, but I guess in this internet age people probably breeze through it and have no idea how difficult it is supposed to be.

I feel like RPGs, Puzzle games, and anything that doesn't require fast reflexes are all pretty easy if you have maps, FAQs, and the Internet.  They should almost be excluded from these kinds of rankings, or in their own seperate list.

Shinju

Kid Niki 7, Castelian 9, Mystery Quest 7, Werewolf 8, Treasure Hunter 8..

cradelit

Originally posted by: pegboy

Originally posted by: cradelit



I think RPGs have a difficulty to them as well. Wizardry is harder than hell if you don't use cheats.. Some games like Ultima Exodus I also thought were pretty tough because some of the items you need to finish the game *cough.. mark of snakes* are really hard to find, but I guess in this internet age people probably breeze through it and have no idea how difficult it is supposed to be.

I feel like RPGs, Puzzle games, and anything that doesn't require fast reflexes are all pretty easy if you have maps, FAQs, and the Internet. They should almost be excluded from these kinds of rankings, or in their own seperate list.

 

Well yeah, the reflexy games are easy if you cheat too Might just be me, but personally I think there is more to difficulty than just reflexes, I would like to see a list that tried to rank everything and maybe put an asterix, or a category of why it's difficult like reflexes, puzzle, tactics or something.  I wouldn't compare dragon warrior against contra, but I'd compare it against exodus and easily say exodus is harder.

pegboy

My point is that no matter what kind of info, maps, FAQs, or other preparation you have some of these games will still kick your ass. Even Exodus will be easy if you are sitting there playing it with a FAQ. Battletoads? Not so much.



It's hard for me to consider a game difficult if I can beat it just by reading a text file while I'm playing.



I look at difficulty in the sense that "What percentage of the population can beat this game, regardless of the resources at hand?".  Most RGPs can be beaten by anyone if they know how to read a FAQ.  The number of people that can get to level 29 in Tetris or finish Ikari Warriors is absolutely tiny, regardless of the amount of "help" they get.

cradelit

Well, yeah looking up the answers to the puzzles are how you cheat for puzzles... You use a game genie or save states or whatever to cheat for battletoads.



Thats like saying all crossword puzzles are the same difficulty because you can just look up the answers

bronzeshield

A game whose difficulty is wildly underrated, partly because the first few levels are easy and it has infinite continues: Dragon Power. I'd put it at 8/10, maybe 9/10.



Even if you do everything right, you can still be screwed if the RNG doesn't go your way, since your health steadily ticks down. And if you don't beat Levels 7-10 on your first try (after choosing the health powerup from the cutscene), you might as well hit reset, since you get kicked back to Level 7 with no extra health.

pegboy

Originally posted by: cradelit



Well, yeah looking up the answers to the puzzles are how you cheat for puzzles... You use a game genie or save states or whatever to cheat for battletoads.



Thats like saying all crossword puzzles are the same difficulty because you can just look up the answers

Using external information is different from altering the code of the game.  You aren't playing the same game if you use a game genie, you are essentually playing a hack at that point.



Honestly I think RPGs or games that require very little or no dexterity should be in an entirely different ranking.

pegboy

I think you have Contra, Mege Man 1, Castlevania I & III are HIGHLY overrated in difficulty.



Contra: 5 (This has to be the most overrated games with respect to difficulty).

Mega Man 1: 6

Castlevania: 6

Castlevania III: 7

Ninja Gaiden: 6 (No way is this a 10, not even remotely close. Ninja Gaiden III is WAY harder than NG1, and even that is like an 8 or 9 at most).

cradelit

Originally posted by: pegboy

Originally posted by: cradelit



Well, yeah looking up the answers to the puzzles are how you cheat for puzzles... You use a game genie or save states or whatever to cheat for battletoads.



Thats like saying all crossword puzzles are the same difficulty because you can just look up the answers

Using external information is different from altering the code of the game.  You aren't playing the same game if you use a game genie, you are essentually playing a hack at that point.



Honestly I think RPGs or games that require very little or no dexterity should be in an entirely different ranking.



 

course it's different.. One is how you cheat at puzzles and one is how you cheat at reflexes.  Regardless of how you cheat though it's gunna make them easier.



But yeah, thats exactly what I was thinking, you could have categories for them so they would only be ranked against other games that make sense.  I still think the hardest ones are games like tetris that just keep going until you die..  I guess they could all be 10s but I'd say some are still "harder" in a way than others..  I guess the ramp up of the difficulty as well as the top off point will be different.

Shinju

IMO any game that allows infinite continues should not be over a 5, that allows the player to learn the patterns of the level with little to no consequences for dyeing over and over. Just my take. I don't recall what ones have unlimited or not anymore.

Shinju

And Kid Icarus as a 9 is way off lol that is not that hard of a game

cradelit

^ That depends how far back you get sent when you continue imho.

caratekid

is SMB 2 really the easiest? I always thought that was way harder than SM 1 and 3

Shinju

Originally posted by: cradelit



^ That depends how far back you get sent when you continue imho.

I agree and disagree at the same time. NG is one of those that starts you over at the back of the beginning of the level you last had to continue on.  Sure having to go through all that to get back to the place you had to contiune from would be a PITA but doing it over and over again will also help you learn patterns, mob spawn and tricks to depawn mobs.  Lets call it a double edged sword?

cradelit

Originally posted by: Shinju

Originally posted by: cradelit



^ That depends how far back you get sent when you continue imho.

I agree and disagree at the same time. NG is one of those that starts you over at the back of the beginning of the level you last had to continue on.  Sure having to go through all that to get back to the place you had to contiune from would be a PITA but doing it over and over again will also help you learn patterns, mob spawn and tricks to depawn mobs.  Lets call it a double edged sword?

Well, you could say that all games let you continue infinite times they just send you back really far

Doesn't Ninja gaiden also send you back 3 levels if you die on the end boss?

Shinju

Originally posted by: cradelit

Originally posted by: Shinju

Originally posted by: cradelit



^ That depends how far back you get sent when you continue imho.

I agree and disagree at the same time. NG is one of those that starts you over at the back of the beginning of the level you last had to continue on.  Sure having to go through all that to get back to the place you had to contiune from would be a PITA but doing it over and over again will also help you learn patterns, mob spawn and tricks to depawn mobs.  Lets call it a double edged sword?

Well, you could say that all games let you continue infinite times they just send you back really far

Doesn't Ninja gaiden also send you back 3 levels if you die on the end boss?

 

I think it just sends you back to x-1 no matter were you continue from, I think NG II had sub level contiune type scenario, for example if you died on x-9 when you continued it would go to x-6. It might be reveresed I havent played those games in a while, I can verify as I do have them on a s4 card for the DSlite as my real carts are still packed away.

Shinju

NG III just straight fucks you right in the choco fish. Game is hard as nails and with limited continues doesn't allow much for trial and error as stated above.

pegboy

NG1 sends you back to 6-1 if you die at any form of the boss. However, on your first try you get your life refilled to full with each form of the last boss. That makes it significantly easier than NGII & III, where you must take down all 3 forms of the boss without a single refill.

Shinju

Spelunker 8

Vectrex28

I think you can add 1 right next to all of the kiddy games (Sesame Street, Fisher-Price, etc.)

pegboy

Color a dinosaur should get a 0 or -1.

Ipsylos

I'd say Adventure Island is easily a 7

Adventure Island 2 probably a 4 or 5.

BreaKBeatZ

I rated them based on my own experience. I'm probably not as good at games at NES games as most people here but I'll readjust them as more people give their opinions. I'll edit it now - does anyone know how I add gridlines to the chart?