No. 1: Castlevania — Hardest Video Games Ever

The father of every hard game is Castlevania. This game showed you what it meant to be difficult and spat in your face when you weren’t up to the challenge. The level design ensured that every weak point in your control would be exploited. You couldn’t maneuver while jumping and your whip had a delay from the time you pressed the button to attack to when it actually fired on screen. The enemies were ruthless and one hit would frequently knock out half your health. The only savior you had was wall chicken, and you could only find that by accident.