The 21 Hardest Nintendo games ever

NGamer descends through the various circles of hell, in search of the toughest games ever to star on a Nintendo platform. Abandon hope all ye that enter here...

In the beginning there was the word. And the word was 'argh goddamnityouevilgame'. Yes, ever since the serpent challenged Adam to a game of 'dare you pluck from the tree of knowledge' - a Kerplunk prototype - man has obsessed over challenges of soul-destroying difficulty.

The number one peddler in frustration? That would be Nintendo. From the stinging paper cuts delivered by their early Hanafuda cards, to their dual screen screammaker Contra 4, Nintendo have been responsible for a downpour of tricky titles to douse even the most resilient gamer's spirit.