Not IWBTG stuff, where it's less about fair difficulty and more about cheap (though humorous!) surprise deaths. Still haven't gotten around to playing Ghosts & Goblins, and I've heard promising things about 7th Saga as far as difficulty goes. Any other recs?
--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBpfwpOPXNc&NR=1&feature=fvwp I watch Planet Chasers Starlight Excellent all day, every day.
Demons Souls (especially New Game +) and Ninja Gaiden II Mentor mode / Master Mode (dunno if they changed it but last time I played THOSE MOTHER ****ING EXPLODING NINJAS)
--
XBL GT: Demon Ninja X2 "There comes a time in every man's or woman's life where they have to make **** up to cover their ass." - Hazama
--
Will not remove this line of my signature until the Seahawks, Jazz or Rockies win a title (Started 5-16-09) I know I'm not getting rid of this signature, BTW.
From: BoshStrikesBack | #017 What about Prinny, for the PSP? I know it's not exactly "2D", but I've heard great (terrible) things about it.
Prinny is really, really good, but the final boss is mother****ing stupid hard. I beat every single stage mutation (each stage has different versions of it, so you end up replaying the game many times before you actually get to see everything) and I still can't do the final boss.
If you're looking for NES era games, then take your pick.
Battletoads, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon 3, Solomon's Key, Super Empire Strikes Back, Bart vs The Space Mutants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Karate Kid, Silver Surfer, Contra, Super Contra, and like you said, Ghosts n' Goblins.
Hardest game ever made is Doom, on Nightmare difficulty. Even if you use quicksaves, good luck with that. Monsters move faster, attack more often, their attack animations are faster as well as their projectiles, and monsters respawn. I've never made it past E1M3.
Yet, somehow, there are Nightmare speedruns that finish the game in less than 30 minutes. Absurd.
Anyway, it's difficult, but an enjoyable difficult.
-- People who don't finish their sentences I'm a Castlevania superfan! Ask me anything!
He said no IWBTG-style surprise-death, and isn't Kaizo filled with dumb invisible blocks?
Cool or Cruel is the Mario World hack I'd be inclined to recommend (outlines its "invisible blocks", fantastically creative level design). Although I've only watched it, not played it, so I'm not sure if it's sane to play without savestateing constantly.
People have already mentioned the obvious NES games, Touhou, Demon's Souls.
For a non-action game, Desktop Dungeons gets reasonably hard, particularly in Gauntlet.
--
Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
Hardest game ever made is Doom, on Nightmare difficulty. Even if you use quicksaves, good luck with that. Monsters move faster, attack more often, their attack animations are faster as well as their projectiles, and monsters respawn. I've never made it past E1M3.
The original DooM trilogy is in my top ten favorite series, so yeah, I'm very familiar with Nightmare mode. Absolutely absurd (in a good way).
And you know what? I'm in the mood for some Mario, so I'mma try this Cool or Cruel hack first (plus, it's among the most "2D" game thus far recommended). Will report back soon with comments!
--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBpfwpOPXNc&NR=1&feature=fvwp I watch Planet Chasers Starlight Excellent all day, every day.
Despite comparisons to IWBTG, the difficulty here is very fair. Everything still kills you, but it's more "what you see is what you get" than IWBTG, it doesn't have the surprise deaths that you couldn't know about beforehand.
Well, I had a lot of fun 1%ing metroid fusion and 15%ing metroid zero mission. Polar star only, 3 hp cave story was a blast too, though I never managed to finish the sacred grounds like that.
From: metroid composite | #038 Emporer_Kazbar posted... Kaizo Mario World
He said no IWBTG-style surprise-death, and isn't Kaizo filled with dumb invisible blocks?
Sure, but I still wouldn't put it on IWBTG level.
--
Will not remove this line of my signature until the Seahawks, Jazz or Rockies win a title (Started 5-16-09) I know I'm not getting rid of this signature, BTW.