For many gamers, there is easy mode, nomal mode and hard mode. Then, just above hard mode, when one think’s it can’t get any worse, there is the fabled “Nintendo Hard”.

“Nintendo Hard” is the difficulty that a game holds if it seems nearly unbeatable by simply picking the game up and trying it out. Games that fall into this category are often those of an older status, games from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) era, and even before.

Games from the NES earned the “Nintendo Hard” title, and made a genre to be used for gaming generations to come.

“We are Nintendo. We challenge all players. You cannot beat us.” Says an Australian Nintendo ad from the 1980’s.

Every game generation has games which could be classified as being “Nintendo Hard.” The first games to fit this description and some of the most recognizable are games such as “Ghosts and Goblins” and the always popular “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” Anyone who remembers playing these games as a child or adult can attest to their incredible difficulty.

However, “Nintendo Hard” games were not hard for the sake of being hard. These games often included inflated difficulty in order increase the length of the games, which would be considered very short by today’s standards. Games that could be finished in an hour suddenly took hours upon hours, and even days if the player was dedicated enough.

Games of the “Nintendo Hard” variety hold a special place in my heart, these are the games that I grew up playing, and though a valiant effort was given, none were ever fully completed.

Games such as “The Lion King,” and “Aladdin” on the Sega Genesis were the games that defined my childhood. Despite the fact that these games were based on lovable Disney movies, they were no piece of cake. Veterans of “The Lion King” will most likely remember the devilish giraffes and roaring at monkeys. These are the games which helped to define an entire generation of gamers, including myself.

Just because capacity has increased in the memory of video games, they have not all gotten easier. Examples include games from From Software’s “Demon’s Souls” and “Dark Souls.”

These games are certainly not easy. They give the player an undeniable sense of accomplishment when progress is created and saved. This is something that I can personally say I have experienced, through games in the vein of Aladdin, and more infamously, “Battletoads.”

Games of the “Nintendo Hard” caliber are still being made today, even if they do not appear much on Nintendo consoles anymore, ironically. “Nintendo Hard” is a term which has been around as long as Nintendo itself has, and holds a special place in not only my heart, but hearts of gamers around the world.