6 Hardest Xbox 360 Games Ever

The Xbox 360 was Microsoft’s console division at its peak. The system was a huge hit with players, who had hundreds of great games to choose from. Players looking for a challenge were equally spoiled for choice, thanks in part to the thriving scene of smaller games on Xbox Live Arcade. That service gave us some truly diabolical games, but the larger developers also put their stamp on the system with a few incredibly tough tests of skill.

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Here are the six hardest games on the Xbox 360.

6) Super Meat Boy

As mentioned, Xbox Live Arcade was a major player during the 360’s cycle. Not only did it introduce a ton of console players to indie games, but it gave us a few of the best games of the era. Super Meat Boy is one such game. This throwback to classic platforming difficulty was devilishly designed.

The levels aren’t just nearly impossible. The crew at Team Meat also made it so easy to restart each time you perished. While other difficult platformers might leave you frustrated, Super Meat Boy gave players that “just one more” feel. It was a perfect marriage, keeping players around for the long haul and ensuring that Meat Boy would become a fan favorite despite being one of the toughest platformers of the era.

5) The Impossible Game

The Impossible Game is another Xbox Live Arcade legend. Developer Fluke Games launched this one-button platform in 2009, and it quickly became a hit. It sounds so simple; just press one button to jump over some spikes and gaps. However, the team quickly took that simple concept and took it completely over the top.

There are no checkpoints in normal mode, which means each time you die, you’re going back to the beginning. Some of these levels become surprisingly intricate, especially if you dive into the user-created levels. And you’re going to die all the time, making this a rage-inducing game for most players. That said, you’ll stick with it because it’s so perfectly simple.

4) Trials Evolution

The Trials series is well-known for its difficulty. Controlling those physics-based motorcycles feels almost impossible until you get the touch down, and some of those levels are almost rude in their design. Plus, you have to do it all at speed if you want to compete with your friends on the leaderboard.

Out of the series, Evolution is generally regarded as the most challenging. That’s because a few of the DLC level packs really turn up the difficulty. With levels like Magic Marker, The Forge, and The Great Fire, you’re going to spend hours trying to perfect your run.

3) Halo 2 (Legendary difficulty)

On most difficulties, Halo 2 is a challenging, but largely fair first-person shooter. However, if you crank things up to Legendary, you’d better be prepared to slam your head against a proverbial wall over and over again. It’s almost like the developers just didn’t want anyone to finish this game, with how unfair a few of the encounters are.

Sure, you can learn the tricks and skips to make things a little easier, but most players will have to endure one of the toughest tests in FPS history. There are several reasons this mode is so difficult, but I’ve always thought the Jackal Snipers are the most egregious. Those bad boys one-shot you on Legendary. It doesn’t matter where they hit you. If they’re in the area, you can’t even stick a toenail out, or you’re done for.

2) Vanquish

Platinum Games’ Vanquish is a stylish third-person shooter that mixes in a host of elements. That includes everything from bullet hell to beat ’em ups. It’s an incredibly innovative shooter with some of the best boss battles of the era and a striking look. That all made it a fan favorite, but there’s an extra difficulty level that took the action over the top.

God Hard is Vanquish‘s toughest difficulty, and it nearly makes the game unplayable by most mortals. It gets rid of the upgrade system and limits how much time you have in AR Mode, which gives you zero room for mistakes. You have to be playing at your absolute best to even have a chance. Thankfully, Platinum Games didn’t lock an achievement behind the difficulty, likely because they knew almost no one would be able to finish it.

1) Ninja Gaiden 2

Ninja Gaiden 2 is a fast-paced action game regardless of the difficulty level you select, but when you turn it up to Master Ninja, it’s like trying to harness lightning. Everything moves so fast, and all of the enemies are upgraded to their toughest variants from the jump. You’ll likely die dozens of times just trying to get through the first few fights.

The developers also raised the price of items in the shop, so you can’t just quickly buy upgrades. Unless you spend hours grinding away, you probably won’t have a chance to beat this one. That said, some players might argue that Ninja Gaiden Black is actually the harder game of the two. I wouldn’t fight that opinion too hard, but I will say that NGB is much more polished, so I’m going with NG2 thanks to its rough-around-the-edges campaign.

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