The 20 toughest games for the original PlayStation

The “Rayman” series became one of the most popular on the PlayStation console and has popped up on other consoles, but the trip to that point is a bit surprising. Why? Well, partly because 1995’s “Rayman” was one of the hardest games, probably the hardest game, in the earliest days of the console. In fact, some have called “Rayman” the toughest platformer of the ‘90s regardless of system.

Man, PlayStation didn’t take it easy on players early. Like Rayman, the character of Crash Bandicoot and his game series are synonymous with PlayStation. Also like “Rayman,” the first “Crash Bandicoot” game was really hard. In this instance, that seemed less intentional, given that future games got a bit easier, in some cases significantly so.

A cult favorite of the PlayStation, “Abe’s Oddysee” is a weird, dark, but beloved game. That’s not because it is easy, though. Far from a breeze, “Abe’s Oddysee” is unrelenting in terms of obstacles, and while dealing with those obstacles, you have to solve hard puzzles for good measure.

This is one of those games clearly designed to be incredibly difficult, perhaps even frustratingly so, and we don’t necessarily like to laud those games too much. However, “Irritating Stick” makes the cut, as the difficulty and aggravation stand out. The game requires precise controls for a system of PlayStation’s vintage, and levels are also timed, making the learning curve effectively impossible to stay ahead of.

Although not a big game at the time, “Heart of Darkness” is now a cult favorite. Its graphics get most of the love, but good luck getting deep enough into the game to enjoy the whole visual feast. In particular, “Heart of Darkness” is singled out for having one of the most difficult opening levels of any game, barring incompetent games that are impossible early because of poor quality. You get thrown right into the chaos in “Heart of Darkness.”

Ported over from the arcades, “Darius Gaiden” had a lot of fans among players and critics. However, even those who liked it would point out the difficulty level of the side-scrolling shoot-em-up. You had to dodge enemy fire pretty much constantly, with tough baddies to boot. Also, dying would make your ship weaker, putting you consistently behind the eight ball.

A ripoff of “Resident Evil,” “Fear Effect,” is in the “problematic by modern standards” camp, but also the “maddeningly difficult” camp. It tried to mix in elements of stealth games and point-and-click games as well, creating an overstuffed, confounding amalgamation of a game.

Speaking of stealth games, that word is right in the title of “Tenchu,” and it is a patience-testing version of the stealth genre. Do you think playing a game as a ninja assassin will be packed with action and fights? Nope! Mostly you have to skulk…and skulk…and try not to misstep in the slightest, because otherwise you’re done for.

This is an instance of a game where their goals may have exceeded what the platform could provide at the time. “Nightmare Creatures” is a survival horror game that employs an “adrenaline system” that puts a time limit on you, leading you to have to kill the monsters you come across as quickly as possible. The problem is that the graphics and the “camera work” of the game are muddled and confusing. By the time you get your bearings, it’s likely too late.

A comedic shooter wherein Phil Hartman plays an alien-fighting doofus named Captain Blasto? Sounds fun! Guess what? It isn’t! The gameplay itself is quite poor, making this a mess of a game to try and get through. It’s slow and clunky and asks you to use both control sticks on the PlayStation controller, which is to its detriment. Many people played “Blasto” hoping for a fun experience. What they got instead was a miserable, needlessly difficult one.

“Einhander” drew comparisons to the side-scrolling shooters that Nintendo made famous, both in terms of quality, but also difficulty. This game ramped up the intensity of PlayStation’s shoot-em-up offerings not through quantity, but quality. Your enemies all offer up a real challenge, with the tougher ones feeling invincible at times.

An RPG original designed for computers, the porting over to the PlayStation was a bit overly ambitious. However, aside from that “King’s Field” is also intentionally super difficult. Unlike anything else from the early days of the console, game players had to figure it out while trying not to die thanks to a trap or a fight against a difficult opponent. Some PlayStation owners were possibly new to RPGs, and this one might have turned them off those games for good.

Ported over from the PC, “Riven” was an odd fit for the PlayStation. It’s also very much the kind of game you like, or the kind you can’t stand. “Riven” is the sequel to “Myst,” an adored game, but it takes that point (and point and point) and click (and click and click) puzzle game to a new level of difficulty/frustration. Also, it’s one thing to do that on a computer, but doing it in front of your TV with a controller in your hand? That just feels wrong.

The RPG “Vagrant Story” is built on tough bosses and perilous traps, but that is only half of what makes it so difficult. It was built upon a combat system that was unusual, perhaps even unique, so even RPG veterans had a steep learning curve. There was almost always some flailing at first when giving “Vagrant Story” a play.

The “Grand Theft Auto” series is one of those series where many people who have played it, and even some who enjoy the games, don’t really consider the gameplay of it all. There’s a good chance you’ve played some “GTA” but never gone into story mode, and that’s okay. The very first game couldn’t be as lushly detailed as future offerings, and a set number of lives paired with some intense spikes in difficulty made for a tough experience for many players.

With a “camera” that shoots top-down, navigating the different elevations in the landscape in “Alundra” often proved to be an extensive bit of trial and error. That was an oversight, but most of what makes this game so hard is not. This is one of those punishing back trackers, where everything the game wanted you to do in a level needed to be done. “Alundra” required attention to detail. Even the detailed-oriented could find themselves frustrated with it.

“Driver” was inspired by movie car chases, but how much you got to appreciate that is based on your patience. Many consider one of the toughest levels in all of PlayStation history to be…the tutorial level of “Driver.” Seriously, the opening level designed to help you figure out the game proved brutally difficult, not helped by the recognition capabilities of the game that would effectively require exact success to be able to move on to play the game. After, again, the tutorial level.

“Twisted Metal” was one of the big successes of the PlayStation, and the series has even gotten a TV adaptation now, and the second game got positive feedback for larger levels and more characters. Again, though, this is a game series that you may have only ever played messing around with your friends. The actual gameplay is tricky, and we wanted to shout out “Twisted Metal 2” because its “easy mode” is a false offering. If you play on the easy level, the game stops you early on and does not let you continue to beat the game.

The move from 2D graphics to 3D graphics was part of the issue with “G-Darius,” though this shoot-em-up series was already known for spamming you with baddies and challenges. Some of the difficulty was intentional, but “G-Darius” was probably not intended to have obstacles that blended into the background art. If that was the intention, well, that’s nefarious.

We will end by returning to an iconic PlayStation series, but one that is also considered quite hard. The third game in the “Tomb Raider” series is the one that always gets shouted out, though. They upgraded the game engine, but to precarious ends. It meant way more obstacles, but also level design that baffled more than excited. If you can make your way through “Tomb Raider III” without a strategy guide to tell you what the hell is going on, you’ve achieved something.