10 Most Brutally Difficult NES Games EVER

A year after they dropped Castlevania into our laps, Konami was back at it, creating yet another unforgivingly hard game to wrap our heads around. Some people claim to not find Contra too hard, but that's hogwash.

In fact, if somebody tells you they finished this game without using the Konami cheat code to give themselves an extra 30 lives, there's a real good chance that they're probably lying.

There's a good reason for using that 30 lives cheat code too, because one of the main reasons this game is so difficult is its scant offering of lives in the first place. This challenging nature is also exacerbated by a constant flow of incoming enemy projectiles, absent from many platformers.

You need to run, shoot and jump your way to victory with precision in this game, and if you're playing co-op, prey to the high heavens your partner doesn't die so much that they have to use yours to revive themselves.