Some people who played these N64 games probably threw their controllers at the wall.
In old video games, difficulty was often a feature rather than a bug, which was interesting because it was one of the things that made some games so appealing to fans who liked to be punished. There are still games that are designed to make you want to throw your controller, pull your hair out, and scream into your pillow so your mom can’t hear, but for the most part, huge worlds and immersive experiences have replaced straight up trickiness.
By the time the Nintendo 64 came out in 1996, video games were just getting to the point where they didn’t need to be too hard to keep people interested. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some cruel N64 games out there that have little to no respect for human sanity. Some of these pieces were great because they were hard, while others were great even though they were hard.
Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire
A lot of Star Wars fans remember Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire with a lot of fondness, and for good reason. It was an original story in the Extended Universe that still had a lot of familiar parts. Those who don’t remember it so well probably do so because it could be really, really hard.
When the difficulty is set to easy or maybe even medium, things can go pretty quickly, but when it’s set to hard, even the most experienced gamers may have trouble beating some of the tougher bosses.
Donkey Kong 64
Even though it was a fan favorite for the N64, Donkey Kong 64 set a very high bar for anyone who wanted to beat it, let alone 101% it. Yes, this game gets 1% further than what is usually considered to be “complete”
The sheer number of things to collect in this game is heaven for people who like to finish everything. But the 9th circle of Hell for most other people. It’s even more frustrating because getting all the things needed for that 101% means doing a crazy amount of backtracking. Which is a feature of video games that almost every gamer can agree is much more annoying than fun.
The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
In the 1990s and early 2000s, water levels and timed levels were two things that could make almost any gamer shiver. People like to talk about how hard the Water Temple is in Ocarina of Time, but Majora’s Mask is pretty much all about timing, so there’s really no way to compare the two games in terms of challenge.
This small change to the Zelda formula caused a lot of disagreement among fans. But it wasn’t enough to throw the game completely off track. Honestly, not even close.Some people don’t like Majora’s Mask, but even with the running clock, it’s still a classic.
Superman 64
Some games are made to be hard on purpose, while others are hard because they are. Superman 64 is known for being broken and is often listed as one of the worst games ever made. Critics say that the game is bad because the controls are hard to use, the gameplay is boring. The graphics are hard on the eyes, and there are a lot of bugs, glitches, and other technical nightmares.
But there is an ironic love for this book that makes some people want to read it just to see how bad it is. When they do, they usually find that the game is so broken that it is very hard, almost to the point of being addicting. Almost.
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark got great reviews and is often ranked as one of the best N64 games ever. But it didn’t hold back when it came to giving fans a tough task. There’s not much room for error, it’s easy to get lost on any given level. And some of the tasks can seem nearly impossible at first.
In Flappy Bird, there are different levels of challenge that players can choose from. All of them are pretty hard, though, so that’s not a good thing. And unless a true master is playing. The hardest level is only good for a few laughs at the player’s expense.
Body Harvest
Most Nintendo games are family-friendly and don’t have much blood, guts, or other reasons to be upset. Even so, it’s not like they had no edgy names at all. Body Harvest, for example, has a name that sounds like a cruel black metal band and has a lot of alien death and dangerous weapons. It’s also incredibly hard.
Body Harvest is an early game from Rockstar Games. It’s one of the more forgotten and underrated N64 games, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Some of this is because the camera and controls aren’t very good. And some of it is because there aren’t many save places and a lot of ways to die.
F-Zero X
F-Zero is a game that is often praised for how hard it is, but that praise comes with a lot of screaming, thrashing, drop-kicking consoles. And crying in the fetal position in front of a TV that doesn’t care. These are not easy games.
Many people think that F-Zero GX is the hardest, but F-Zero X isn’t that far behind. The controls on the Nintendo 64 version aren’t as smooth, which makes it harder for many people. But other than that, it has held up pretty well and is now available on Nintendo Switch Online. So any brave rivals might want to give it a try.
Jet Force Gemini
Fans of the N64 often say that Jet Force Gemini is probably the hardest game in the system’s whole library. Not because it takes too many heroic feats of dexterity or moments of impossible precision. Though there are some of those. Rather, it’s because you have to do so many crazy things to get from one level to the next.
Finding hidden items can be fun and difficult, but when players have to go back over the same ground over and over again and some of the items are so well-hidden that it’s hard to believe, the fun can quickly turn into pure rage.
