History NintendoHard / VideoGamePublishers

** ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' (original arcade version): Combine OneHitPointWonder and EverythingTryingToKillYou with a protagonist who cannot jump, slide, or climb.

*** Speaking of ''Digital Devil Saga'', that particular duology is infamous for a different reason: {{Bonus Boss}}es. In both games, the penultimate ones (Huang Long in the first, Seth in the second) are considered to be at least stronger than the {{Final Boss}}es. Then there are the final ones. [[spoiler:The Demi-fiend and Satan]] are several magnitudes of difficulty higher than even Huang Long and Seth, and are widely considered the two strongest bosses in JRPG history.

* Creator/FromSoftware is notorious for making some of the most punishingly difficult games out there. Examples include the ''[[VideoGame/DemonsSouls Souls]] [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Series]]'', ''[[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Bloodborne]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.]]'' Their brand of difficulty later becomes [[SoulsLikeRPG another genre of itself]].

** ''{{Franchise/DeadRising}}''...oh boy Dead Rising. It's a doozy of an intense sandbox survival franchise. Each installment includes each game being one giant {{TimedMission}} (except for the 4th installment), mixed with [[EscortMission escort missions]] that has terrible A.I. for the first game, and boss fights that occur in random areas of the games.
*** The kicker? To go with the moving clock is a strict schedlue of all of the events to occur at certain times of the days in the first three games. So if you don't know how to manage your time properly, you can miss survivors, boss fights, and main missions known as scoops if you're not fast enough.

** ''[[Franchise/DeadRising]] is quite intense, with the first installment being the hardest.

** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'', especially ''Freedom Unite.'' Although the game eases you into the comfort of hunting initially, the ''massive'' difficulty spike come High and later [[HarderThanHard G-Rank]] throws a lot of players off guard. The game requires constant focus on the monster, an attention to carefully managing several items in your supply, and demands lots of practice. Every other monster is ThatOneBoss, and as a BossGame, this isn't comforting. It reaches the point where some late-game quests, such as some of the Elder Dragons, are considered nigh impossible without more than one player. This is all disregarding the constant grinding you'll be doing; without a good armor set or weapon and will to devote several hours to the game, you may as well give up.

* LJN. TheProblemWithLicensedGames was just as prevalent back then as it is now. They didn't actually ''make'' games, but the ones they published were almost always punishingly difficult, and savvy players knew to avoid any game with LJN's rainbow of death on it. FakeDifficulty and ClassicVideoGameScrewYous are rife in these rather execrable games. Notably (and frequently bad) games by LJN include: ''VideoGame/FridayThe13th'', ''VideoGame/WhoFramedRogerRabbit?'', ''VideoGame/TheTerminator'', ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'', ''Franchise/XMen'', ''VideoGame/{{Jaws}}'', ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', ''[[Videogame/ANightmareOnElmStreetNES A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'', and ''VideoGame/TheKarateKid''. UK developer Software Creations, creator of many LJN games qualifies as well.

*** The Hard mode cranks this UpToEleven. On top of all that, enemies do double damage and have a higher evasion rate, OneHitKO spells have higher chance of working, [[StatusEffects poison]] and traps deal ''triple damage'', items cost triple their buying price (including Magatamas, which are already pretty expensive), it's impossible to flee without using a skill or item for that, and ''there's an item limit''. When the game says this difficulty is "for those seeking the thrill of death", it surely isn't joking.

* Many games released by Creator/{{Atlus}}. This includes the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games. In particular, the infamously difficult ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''. This game was famous for having possibly the most frustrating bosses in the history of JRPG games. Of all the bosses, Matador in particular stands out as being ThatOneBoss among a game FULL of them. As a bonus, WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou is in full trumpets-blaring force through almost the entire Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Translation: should the Main Character fall, oh, hello '''''again''''', Game Over!

** VideoGame/TraumaTeam has the Specialist difficulty. To put this in perspective, a spokesperson stated that it is equivalent to Extreme (the X missions) - and you can make every operation like this.

** ''[[VideoGame/GunSmoke Gun.Smoke]]'', i.e. Battletoads with six-shooters. Die with one hit, check. Checkpoints, check. Constant swarms of aggressive foes, check. You are a world-class legend master god if you make it HALFWAY through this.
** ''VideoGame/LegendaryWings''. This one has it all: fast-moving enemies, hard-to-hit enemies, obstructions, and absolute thread-the-needle precision needed to avoid numerous ''routine'' hazards. Even better, if you continue, you get sent back to '''the start of the level'''.
** ''The Speed Rumbler'', where you drive a not very sturdy car through a confusing course with hordes of enemies constantly assailing you and instant death traps scattered everywhere. Every bit as fun as it sounds.
** ''[[VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo 1943: The Battle of Midway]]''. Starts out fairly simple. Then ramps up. And ramps up some more, until near the end you're spending almost as much time watching the continue counter run down as you are playing the game.
** ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' (original arcade version). Combine OneHitPointWonder and EverythingTryingToKillYou with a protagonist who cannot jump, slide, or climb.

** ''VideoGame/ForgottenWorlds'', ''U.N. Squadron'', and ''Carrier Air Wing''. 1943's spiritual brothers, all every bit as murderous.
** ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'', one of the most intense and merciless platformers ever; this makes Contra look like a nature walk. Of particular note is the final area before the last boss, a lengthy sequence with tons of hazards that you have to complete while ''upside-down''.

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' is an [[JustForFun/XMeetsY unholy fusion]] of the previous two franchises; the only thing preventing it from being unplayably hard is that the elements it takes from each are a bit less brutal than the originals (the equivalent of F.O.E.s are mostly optional, you have an automap, and the equivalent of Press Turn never benefits your opponents). On the other hand, it also has several [[ThatOneBoss bosses]] that are [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard cheap]] ''even by [[ThatOneCompany Atlus]] standards''.

*** The Hard mode cranks this UpToEleven. On top of all that, enemies do double damage and have a higher evasion rate, OneHitKO spells have higher chance of working, [[StandardStatusEffects poison]] and traps deal ''triple damage'', items cost triple their buying price (including Magatamas, which are already pretty expensive), it's impossible to flee without using a skill or item for that, and ''there's an item limit''. When the game says this difficulty is "for those seeking the thrill of death", it surely isn't joking.

* Capcom! ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'' is just the beginning, folks: