00:05Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're looking really closely at some NES and Famicom gems to
00:11see the people we missed. Whether it was an unknown code or set of requirements,
00:15these are the 10 hardest characters to get in NES games. Let'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.
00:30Renzu Double Dragon 3 The Sacred Stones
00:40Renzu has perhaps the most Double Dragon recruitment process imaginable. Beat him up until he becomes
00:45your friend. In Double Dragon 3 The Sacred Stones, the ninja appears as the boss at the end of Mission
00:503. Defeat him and he joins the party, becoming selectable alongside the Lee brothers and Chin.
00:55Reaching that point is the real challenge because this NES sequel is brutally unforgiving.
01:00It does not use a normal stock of lives. Instead, your available fighters effectively become the
01:05team's remaining chances, disappearing from play when they're defeated. Once you get him,
01:10try and keep him alive because Renzu is worth the trouble thanks to his speed,
01:13sword and limited Shuriken's supply.
01:26Thief Rank 3 Wizards & Warriors 3 Kuros Visions of Power
01:35Getting the Thief Rank 3 in Wizards & Warriors 3 means getting through a majority of an already
01:39really, really difficult little game. Limited lives and genuinely difficult gameplay means this
01:44requirement comes with countless attempts at the main chunk of the game. After finding the gold
01:48thief statue, which is hard, and reaching the third thieves guild, Kuros gets thrown into another
01:54auto-scrolling test-packed with skinny platform spikes, flying arrows, and daggers shooting from
01:59the floor. Fall at the wrong moment and you are booted back out to try the challenge again,
02:03whilst losing a little bit of health. Survive the course, beat the gold thief boss,
02:06and the level 3 outfit is finally yours. Now, it's more of a costume than a character,
02:10but you tell me that he doesn't look like a new bloke, and I'll sell you my car.
02:20Super Saiyan Vegeta Dragon Ball Z Gigito Tenkaichi Budokai
02:28There is no heroic quest for Super Saiyan Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z Gigito Tenkaichi Budokai. Your
02:34greatest enemy is a barcode scanner. The game was built for Bandai's Detach Accessory,
02:39which plugged into the Famicom to read physical barcode cards and load fighters, items, and stats.
02:46Super Saiyan Vegeta is one of the available character forms, meaning access depends on
02:50feeding the hardware a barcode that produces him rather than beating some brutal secret boss.
02:54Back in 1992, that meant having the Detach setup and suitable cards or barcodes. Today,
03:00doing it authentically means tracking down ancient specialist hardware that collectors actually want.
03:05Vegeta finally found an opponent stronger than Goku. Discontinued electronics.
03:15Greg Cummings Flying Warriors
03:21By the time Greg Cummings appears, Flying Warriors has already asked you to deal with tournaments,
03:26side-scrolling fights, and RPG-style adventure sections, because choosing one genre was apparently
03:30a bit too relaxing. The party eventually reaches Peru and finds Greg as the lone survivor of an
03:35earlier investigation team. He joins the group there and is revealed to be another flying warrior,
03:40expanding the playable team. The tricky part is not some secret button combination, it's simply
03:44reaching him through a game that constantly changes what it expects from you. One minute you're
03:49fighting like an arcade brawler, the next you're following story clues. Greg is basically unlocked by
03:53surviving long enough for the plot to introduce him.
04:02Hammer Mario Super Mario Bros. 3
04:09Calling this a character unlock is generous, but Hammer Mario earns a spot through sheer inconvenience.
04:15Super Mario Bros. 3 hides one guaranteed hammer suit inside World 6-10, and reaching it requires a
04:21tiny sequence most players would never guess. First uncover the hidden vine, reach the P-switch,
04:26then race toward a pipe covered by frozen munchers. While the switch is active, Fire Mario must thaw them
04:31so they become coins, instead of immediately turning dangerous. Slip through the pipe in time,
04:36and a giant block rewards you with the suit. Hammer Mario can throw arching hammers, smash unusually
04:42tough enemies, and block attacks while crouching. Mario briefly becomes a construction worker,
04:46putting plumbing aside.
04:51Night Ninja Master and Wizards Final Fantasy
04:57A completely optional detour can turn the entire party into upgraded classes in the original Final Fantasy.
05:04The Warriors of Light must tackle the Citadel of Trials, recover the rat's tail, then carry this deeply impressive
05:10rodent trophy to Bahamut. He somehow accepts it as proof of courage, and promotes everybody at once.
05:15Warrior becomes knight, thief becomes ninja, black belt becomes master, while the three mages
05:20become their matching wizards. Most of the upgrades expand your equipment, or magic options.
05:25None of this is required to finish the adventure, so you can walk straight past one of the game's
05:29biggest roster changes.
05:35Snake Eyes, G.I. Joe, The Atlantis Factory
05:46Snake Eyes is not waiting politely at headquarters in G.I. Joe, The Atlantis Factory. General Hawk begins
05:52the game on his own, and other Joes are discovered as you work the branching network of stages. Snake Eyes
05:57has it particularly rough. Cobra is brainwashing him inside one of its complexes, so Hawk must locate him
06:03and administer medicine before the ninja joins the usable roster. Once rescued, he becomes a useful
06:08close-range fighter, and character weapon abilities can be improved as the campaign continues. The open
06:14map means building the team is part of the adventure, rather than a menu reward. Cobra captured a silent
06:19ninja, brainwashed him, then apparently left the cure within mission distance. Nice work, security.
06:33Tiki, Fire Emblem, Shadow Dragon, and the Blade of Light
06:40Tiki's requirement takes one conversation. The stressful part is keeping the person who can have
06:45that conversation alive for most of Fire Emblem, Shadow Dragon, and the Blade of Light.
06:49Bantu joins much earlier, and he must be around when Chapter 19 finally puts Tiki on the map
06:55as an enemy unit. Move him close enough, Chew's talk, and he breaks Garniv's control,
06:59so the Divine Dragon joins Marth. Lose Bantu permanently beforehand, and that route disappears
07:04with him. Because this is early Fire Emblem, there is no casual shrug after a death. Death
07:10stays death. Unless you restart. You know, like, real life.
07:26Sekai's recruitment in Sanada Juyushi sounds like a rumor somebody made up at school.
07:31During Chapter 9, you repeatedly pray at Kyoto Temple until a priest reveals information about
07:35a hidden boat. Then Issa has to move a strangely colored tree, exposing the vessel, and Jinpai-chi
07:41must be brought along to sail it. That trip leads towards an old wise man, who points you to Okio.
07:47Find her in Kasuguyama and use Juzo's command to expose the disguise, revealing that Okia
07:52is actually Sekai, who finally joins the party. You know what else makes this unlock really hard?
07:57This game was only released in Japan. Grab your bags, let's go!
08:06Hoho Joy Mech Fight
08:10Hoho sits behind one of the meanest roster gates on the system. Joy Mech Fight begins with only a
08:15small selection of its huge robot cast, then gradually opens more through tougher versions
08:20of its war mode. Hard difficulty can actually be accessed after clearing the first stage of
08:24normal, and finishing hard difficulty unlocks the 24 non-boss fighters from the later stages
08:29and opens special mode. Beat that nastier setting, and the four bosses, including final boss Hoho,
08:35becomes selectable too. So getting him means proving you can survive opponents that fight
08:40smarter and use hidden techniques more aggressively. Nintendo's unlock philosophy here is wonderfully
08:45simple. Congratulations on winning. Please do it again while we readjust some stuff.
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