10 Hardest Super Nintendo Games of All Time, Ranked
Video games were much harder in the '90s, and the Super Nintendo's library is a testament to that. Many games were designed to be as challenging as possible so that players could enjoy them for longer, and titles like Super R-Type and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts are a truly brutal experience.
Even veteran gamers may be caught off guard if they try to replay some of the hardest SNES games today. These titles are filled with challenges that wouldn't fly in the modern era, like a lack of checkpoints and continues, but because of that, beating them is even more satisfying now than it was back in the '90s.
Kirby’s Dream Course Is One of the Hardest Games in the Series
Kirby's Dream Course is a spin-off of the popular Nintendo franchise built around a mini-golf-style sports game. Players have to guide Kirby through intricate courses and launch him towards the goal. Even though the game is very cute, Dream Course's gameplay is far from easy.
Since players have a limited number of moves and lives per map, Dream Course demands perfection from players. Not only do players have to find the exact right angle, trajectory, and power when they launch Kirby, but they also need to figure out how to manipulate enemies and obstacles throughout the course.
F-Zero Redefined the Entire Racing Genre
Released as an SNES launch title, F-Zero took the entire racing genre to the next level. Vehicles move at lightning-fast speeds, and while that sense of speed makes every race feel thrilling, it also requires players to make split-second decisions and have razor-sharp reflexes at every turn.
The fact that the game has deadly winds and explosive drones makes getting through races even harder. The jump on the White Land II track has become infamous among gamers, and for good reason. F-Zero went on to launch a brutally difficult series, with F-Zero GX being one of the hardest GameCube games ever.
The 7th Saga's North American Version Is Completely Unfair
The 7th Saga has a novel premise that pits the player against six other rival heroes who are searching for the same magical Runes. Players can potentially recruit or fight these heroes, which is an awesome premise, but unfortunately, the SNES version of the game is completely unfair.
When The 7th Saga was localized for North America, the game was modified to make it more difficult. Not only do bosses have more health, but players level more slowly, which turns the experience into a constant grind. The game's balance is completely broken, and it only gets worse as the game progresses, resulting in an incredibly frustrating experience.
Home Improvement On the SNES Is an Absurdly Hard Licensed Game
One of the strangest things about the SNES era was how a licensed game could unexpectedly be brutally hard. Home Improvement: Tool Pursuit is a great example of that phenomenon, forcing Tim to fight his way through dinosaurs and aliens even though that has nothing to do with the show.
Home Improvement is technically one of the shortest SNES games, and it could be beaten in just a few hours if it wasn't absurdly difficult. Like many games of its era, it barely offers any lives or continues, and there are many times when Tim is forced to make jumps blind. It's not a bad licensed game by any means, but the controls are also a little clunky, which makes it even harder to beat.
Gradius III Is a SNES Port of One of the Toughest Arcade Games Ever
Gradius III was an SNES launch game and a port of the 1989 arcade shooter of the same name, which was also famously hard. Since the SNES port has some issues with lag, it's actually harder than the original game. In the Gradius series, players lose all upgrades upon death, so even one small mistake can have huge consequences.
Later stages in Gradius III throw nonstop challenges at players, and it still stands as one of the best examples of how hard shoot-'em-up games can be. The Gradius series includes some of Konami's best games of all time, but this is one of the toughest games in the entire series, and it isn't for the faint of heart.
Super R-Type's Punishing Difficulty Will Scare Many Players Off
The R-Type series is famous for being hard, and Super R-Type is no different. If players want to get through the game, they'll need to master every weapon and memorize every treacherous level. It's one of the toughest SNES games, but it's also one of the hardest '90s retro games, period.
If players die in Super R-Type, they have to restart the entire level from the beginning, and they can expect to die a lot. Gamers who are used to checkpoints will have a hard time adjusting to the punishing difficulty of R-Type games. It doesn't help that the game has slowdown issues that artificially inflate its difficulty.
ActRaiser 2 Shows How Hard Sequels Can Be
The original ActRaiser was challenging but still manageable for most players. ActRaiser 2 dramatically turns up the difficulty and delivers an experience that only the most patient and skilled players are likely to finish. Every level is packed with traps, while enemies hit harder, requiring players to navigate each level with care.
Boss fights can be especially punishing, often requiring players to learn specific strategies before they have any real chance of winning. Thankfully, ActRaiser 2 has more responsive controls than many Super Nintendo games, which keeps the challenge from feeling completely unfair.
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge Is a Hard Comic Book Game
Based on Uncanny X-Men #123 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge gives players control of five superheroes: Spider-Man, Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, and Storm. All five characters share the same pool of lives, and there are no continues.
The game's levels are packed with frustrating challenges, like instant-death traps that can end a run with no running. There are even stages that include dead ends that force players to restart. Many people who played this title back in the '90s have never made it any further than the intro.
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts Is Almost Unbeatable
The Ghosts 'n Goblins series is infamous for its difficulty, and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is no different. To get through its levels, players essentially have to memorize all its challenges, and because the game has so much enemy variation, players are constantly confronted with new hazards.
With a two-hit death system, many players will never make it past the first level or two of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, but its most brutal moment arrives when players beat the game for the first time. To unlock the game's true ending, players have to beat Super Ghouls 'n Ghost twice, making the first playthrough little more than a trial run.
The Super Star Wars Series Has the Hardest Games on the SNES
Super Star Wars, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Super Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi are some of the best Star Wars games ever made. That said, players who are used to modern Star Wars games may be caught off guard by its brutal difficulty.
All three of the Super Star Wars games were designed to be as punishing as possible. Enemies fly from off-screen in waves, and obstacles damage players with every step. The Super Star Wars trilogy reigns when it comes to delivering the most punishing gameplay experiences on the SNES.
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