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00:08Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're bringing up a lot of trauma for kids of the 80s and 90s.
00:13Even if you played these games, you never saw the credits.
00:16These are 20 NES games that are almost impossible to finish.
00:19Let's go.
00:20Before we continue, we publish content all week long,
00:23so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified of our latest videos.
00:29Top Gun
00:33Turns out, taking off is quite easy.
00:35The real nightmare is getting the plane back on the ground.
00:38Flying is already stressful enough thanks to the missiles suddenly appearing with barely any warning,
00:42but the landing sequence is where things really fall apart.
00:45The instructions are awkward, the timing feels unforgiving,
00:47and it can take a ridiculous number of attempts just to understand what the game actually wants from you.
00:51Plenty of players probably nailed it without much trouble,
00:53and frankly, congratulations on being built like an actual maverick.
00:56Unfortunately, I'm built more like a manatee.
01:09Mission Impossible
01:15As a kid, the manual of Mission Impossible made it sound incredible.
01:19You could swap between three characters, mess around with different weapons,
01:22ski down mountains, tear around in a speedboat,
01:24and generally live out your best spy fantasy.
01:26The small problem was actually reaching any of that stuff.
01:29Most people barely escape the opening level.
01:31This game has no interest in easing you in,
01:33and by the time you finally understand what it expects,
01:36your patience is usually hanging by a thread.
01:38There is a password system, which helped me see more of it years later,
01:42but that only softens the pain.
01:43The music is excellent, and the presentation is really, really, really impressive,
01:47but the game itself is nothing worth spending money on.
01:52The Adventures of Bayou Billy
02:01Bayou Billy seems determined to prove that suffering can come in several different genres.
02:06One minute you're brawling with enemies who take far too many hits,
02:09then you're suddenly driving,
02:10then you're shooting,
02:11and every switch feels like the game has changed the exam halfway through.
02:14None of these sections are especially forgiving, either,
02:17so learning one style barely helps before you're thrown into another.
02:19The North American release even cranked the difficulty beyond the Japanese version,
02:24which is unprecedented.
02:25We're usually such giant babies,
02:27and now we're flexing on Japan.
02:28Finishing a stage never feels reassuring,
02:30it just means a fresh kind of misery is probably waiting around the corner.
02:34Aim the light gun at yourself and call it a day.
02:37Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
02:43Few games have earned the kind of hatred Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gets,
02:47and AVGN practically built a career out of suffering through it.
02:51The setup sounds simple enough,
02:52walk Jekyll across town,
02:53keeping stress under control,
02:55and reach his wedding.
02:56In practice,
02:57the entire population appears to be working against him.
03:00Dogs attack,
03:01birds dive at you,
03:02people get in the way,
03:03and random explosions turn a casual wedding stroll into a personal wedding attack.
03:07Let Jekyll get too stressed,
03:09and he becomes Hyde,
03:10sending you into a much nastier version of the world.
03:13Push too far while transformed,
03:14and the game can simply end your run.
03:16God damn it.
03:22Gauntlet
03:26Just looking at the footage of Gauntlet on the NES
03:28is enough to make me start sweating.
03:30There are nearly 100 levels,
03:32your health constantly drains over time,
03:33and the whole thing feels designed to wear you down,
03:36rather than test you in any fun way.
03:38A password system technically makes finishing it possible,
03:41but even that is more complicated than it needs to be.
03:43I genuinely like Gauntlet as a series,
03:46and the arcade original definitely earns its reputation,
03:48but this version turns endurance into the main mechanic,
03:51that and pure anger.
03:53Gauntlet has a dedicated fanbase,
03:55somewhere,
03:56I assume.
04:00Final Fantasy
04:01Final Fantasy isn't difficult because it demands lighting fast reactions or reflexes,
04:09it's difficult because it asks you to have the patience of someone waiting in line at Vic Rhodes.
04:14Oh wait,
04:14do you guys have Vic Rhodes?
04:15DMV,
04:16waiting in line at the DMV.
04:17Battles happen constantly,
04:18they take forever,
04:19and the old school systems can make every little mistake feel more annoying than it should be.
04:22My personal favourite is choosing an enemy,
04:24watching someone kill it,
04:25and then having your character attack absolutely nothing,
04:28instead of just simply hitting the next target.
04:30Brilliant work,
04:31Final Fantasy.
04:31Going back now really shows how many comforts modern RPGs have added over the years.
04:36I still think this is a fantastic game,
04:38but replaying it today on the OG hardware?
04:40No thanks.
04:47Blaster Master has one huge advantage over a lot of brutally hard NES games.
04:59It's actually good.
05:00No smack talk on Top Gun,
05:02but like,
05:02who cares about Top Gun?
05:03You spend part of the adventure blasting around in a tank,
05:06then hop out to explore dungeons on foot,
05:08grabbing upgrades that open up new areas.
05:09The problem is that both styles come with their own headaches.
05:12On foot, aiming can feel awkward,
05:14while the tank's jumping is just unreliable enough to make simple gaps terrifying.
05:18Miss once and the punishment can be brutal,
05:21especially since there are no saves or continues to rescue you.
05:24That turns every mistake into a genuinely large setback,
05:27and that patience tests the finishing chances of this game.
05:36Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels.
05:45The Lost Levels basically assumes you already mastered the first game,
05:49and would now like to be punished for it.
05:51It looks almost identical, but the level design is downright nasty.
05:55Poison Mushrooms appear where you expect rewards.
05:57Invisible blocks sit exactly where you want to jump,
06:00and some warp zones actually sent you backwards.
06:02Luigi gets a higher jump and slipperier movement,
06:06but that barely matters when the stages themselves feel personally offended by your existence.
06:11Nintendo of America famously decided it was too difficult for Western players,
06:15replacing it with the game we knew as Super Mario Bros. 2.
06:18Getting to the end comes down to grit,
06:20determination, and being Japanese.
06:22Being Japanese, I really think so.
06:31Paperboy.
06:37Paperboy somehow turns delivering newspapers into one of the most stressful jobs on the NES.
06:43You're meant to ride down the street, toss papers onto forches,
06:45and avoid the usual neighbourhood hazards.
06:47Easy enough.
06:48Except the angled camera makes judging distance really, really difficult.
06:52So even simple throws can end up smashing through windows,
06:54or sailing past the house entirely.
06:56Meanwhile, cars, fences, pedestrians, and everything else in suburbia
07:00seems determined to knock you off your bike.
07:03Miss too many deliveries, and you can even lose subscribers,
07:06which means the game punishes you for being bad at your imaginary job.
07:09It's a clever arcade idea,
07:11but the combination of awkward perspective and constant hazards
07:14means most players throw in the towel before they get near the ending.
07:23Adventure Island
07:30What makes Adventure Island so brutal
07:32is the sheer amount of game it throws at you.
07:36Eight areas are split into four rounds each,
07:38giving you 32 stages to survive,
07:40and the difficulty only gets meaner as you go.
07:43Master Higgins also has a vitality meter
07:45that constantly drains,
07:47so you can't always stop and carefully plan your next jump.
07:49You have to keep moving, grab fruit,
07:52dodge enemies, clear pits,
07:53and somehow stay calm
07:55while the level design gets increasingly vicious.
07:57Later stages demand long stretches of clean platforming,
08:00and a few mistakes can erase your stock of lives really quickly.
08:10Fester's Quest
08:17Fester's Quest has a great setup,
08:19and then spends the next few hours doing everything possible to ruin it.
08:23Uncle Fester is fighting aliens,
08:25which should be ridiculous fun,
08:26but instead you get painfully slow movement,
08:28limited health,
08:29confusing corridors,
08:30and weapons that sometimes seem offended by the idea of hitting anything.
08:34Power-ups can improve your gun,
08:35while power-downs make an already miserable situation more miserable.
08:38The music loops endlessly,
08:40the visuals don't help,
08:41and figuring out where to go
08:42often feels like the game is actively stopping you from reaching the finish.
08:45A finish that I never reached.
08:51The Legend of Zelda 2 Link's Adventure
09:01Most Zelda games are challenging without ever feeling cruel.
09:05Zelda 2 clearly missed that meeting.
09:07The switch to side-scrolling combat
09:09already makes it feel strange compared to the original,
09:11but Death Mountain is where the game goes from hard to finish
09:14to why would I bother?
09:15You're dumped into a maze of caves,
09:17dead ends,
09:18and enemies strong enough to turn Link into paste within seconds.
09:21If your stats aren't high enough,
09:23the answer is usually to stop progressing
09:24and grind experience until you can survive.
09:27Coming from a series built around exploration and puzzle solving,
09:30that kind of wall feels especially out of the ordinary.
09:40Silver Surfer
09:46Silver Surfer takes one of Marvel's most powerful heroes
09:48and somehow makes him feel like he's made of glass.
09:50The basic idea is, solid enough,
09:52blast through waves of cosmic enemies,
09:54including the Skrulls,
09:55while traveling across suitably strange locations.
09:58Then the game reveals its real gimmick.
10:00You die if you get scratched by anything.
10:03One hit from an enemy?
10:04Dead.
10:05Clip a projectile?
10:06Dead.
10:07Brush against certain walls or ceilings?
10:09Dead.
10:10The collision detection is so unforgiving
10:13that simply moving through a stage can feel impossible,
10:15let alone finishing the game.
10:17Plenty of superhero games from this era were forgettable,
10:19but Silver Surfer found a way to stand out,
10:22just not for a good reason.
10:31Ghosts and Goblins
10:38Ghosts and Goblins is already vicious long before it pulls its nastiest trick.
10:42Sir Arthur has to rescue Princess Pryn Prince,
10:45stupidest name ever, by the way,
10:46while dealing with endless enemies,
10:47awkward weapons,
10:48and a health system that gives him exactly two chances.
10:50First hit strips him to his underwear,
10:52second hit strips him to death.
10:54Somehow, that still isn't the worst part.
10:56Survive all six stages,
10:57beat the final boss,
10:58and the game basically laughs in your face,
11:00because the ending is fake.
11:02To see the real one,
11:03you have to replay the entire adventure again
11:05on a harder difficulty.
11:07It's the kind of design decision
11:09that feels really hostile,
11:11and it explains why so many players
11:12still have not claimed the true ending notch in their belt.
11:23Mega Man
11:31Falling is basically the unofficial final boss of Mega Man.
11:35Between spike pits,
11:36disappearing blocks,
11:37and jumps that demand near-perfect timing,
11:39the first game teaches you through repeated failure
11:41until entire sections are burned into your memory.
11:44The difference here is that
11:46learning the game is actually enjoyable.
11:48Great music,
11:49memorable bosses,
11:50and tight level design
11:50make repeating attempts
11:52feel satisfying rather than exhausting.
11:54You still need good reactions
11:56and occasionally a bit of good luck,
11:57so it never purely becomes about memorization.
12:00That balance is a big reason
12:01Mega Man still holds up so well today.
12:03And even in 2026,
12:05this is a very, very difficult finish,
12:06but satisfying nonetheless.
12:16Contra
12:22You know a game is impossible to finish
12:24when a cheat code that makes finishing it easier
12:26became one of the most famous codes of all time.
12:29Contra.
12:30It's genuinely excellent.
12:31Let's just start there.
12:32It's also iconic.
12:33The shooting is fast,
12:34the perspective changes keep things fresh,
12:35and everything feels great right up until you die.
12:37The famous Konami code,
12:39which gives players 30 lives,
12:40almost feels like an unofficial difficulty setting.
12:43Finishing Contra without it
12:44is the kind of achievement
12:45that makes me immediately suspicious
12:47you've been training in secret for decades.
12:55Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
13:03Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
13:04looks cheerful and harmless
13:06right up until somebody caves Little Mac's head in.
13:08The controls are wonderfully simple,
13:10punch, dodge, counter,
13:11but each new opponent demands better timing
13:13and a stronger memory for their patterns.
13:15Eventually, fights become less about boxing
13:17and more about recognising tiny visual clues
13:20before getting flattened.
13:21Then, if you somehow survive the entire roster,
13:24Tyson is waiting at the end
13:25with punches capable of ending the match
13:26almost instantly.
13:28Input lag makes the whole thing
13:29even nastier on modern displays,
13:31where a tiny delay can completely ruin your timing.
13:33I know exactly one person
13:35who claims he beat Tyson,
13:37and I do not believe him.
13:46Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
13:56As a kid,
13:58anything with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
13:59on the box was basically mandatory,
14:01so naturally,
14:02we all expected this game to be unreal.
14:04Then you actually play it.
14:06Blech.
14:07The controls feel stiff,
14:08the jumps are super easy to mess up,
14:10and enemies constantly drain your health and supplies.
14:12Then you reach the infamous dam level,
14:14which is usually where my enthusiasm
14:16packs its bags and leaves.
14:18I waste items,
14:19I struggle with those stupid clay enemies,
14:21and somehow I always end up repeating sections
14:23I thought I'd escaped.
14:24Decades later,
14:25I've never seen the second half of this game,
14:27and neither have you,
14:28you giant liar.
14:40Ninja Gaiden
14:48Ninja Gaiden is one of those games I never beat,
14:50and never will.
14:51I gave up a long time ago.
14:52The annoying part is that it's far too good.
14:55The movement is fast,
14:56the music is fantastic,
14:57and the story gives the whole thing more personality,
14:59than most NES action games ever had.
15:02The enemies start endlessly respawning,
15:04while you're trying to make a precise jump,
15:05and suddenly all that admiration disappears.
15:08I actually don't know how it ends,
15:10or how it almost ends,
15:11or actually for that matter,
15:13what happens right before it almost ends.
15:14After the first two levels,
15:15I'm pretty much blind to the rest.
15:24Battletoads
15:30I can safely say,
15:32I am a Battletoads master.
15:34I love hearing about the bike level,
15:36with those weird looking kangaroos.
15:38Everyone says that it's the hardest level in gaming,
15:40and I can safely say,
15:41I can beat it every single time I play it,
15:44simply because I spent years mastering it as a kid.
15:47I can beat that,
15:48get the warp,
15:48beat the surfing level,
15:49snag the warp in the snake level,
15:51ascend the weird tower to beat the boss up there,
15:53then,
15:54Terror Tubes.
15:55Assuming you haven't also spent literally years training to get this far,
15:58I can safely say you've never beaten this game.
16:00I've never beaten Terror Tubes,
16:02and there's still three levels after it.
16:04Guys, what are we even doing here?
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