[AlanJacobs]

For me, this belongs in almost every game in the 'Gradius' series. I absolutely love playing them and the level designs, bosses, and overall creativity is amazing. The only game I can beat (legit) is Life Force (Salamander) but when I try the rest, especially later on with Gradius III and so on, I just cannot progress, not even half way through the game! For Gradius III, I'm lucky to reach the Easter Island Stage. I love that game to death  and enjoy watching others play it and beat it, but I can't do it myself . Adventure Island on NES is another one for me.

Does anyone else have a game like that in mind? A game or hack you admire but can't seem to beat?

[SleepyFist]

Elite Beat Agents, its very hard but enjoyable on normal, it astounds me though how far the difficulty can actually go and that people can play it that way.

Also Contra, Recca-Pure, Demons Souls,  Combo Killer(SMW), and Princess Remedy.

[PresidentLeever]

Battle Garegga (a lot of shooters really) and multiplayer Starcraft.

[Jorpho]

I play Mario Kart 7 regularly with some folks, and just can't seem to get any better.  I've gotten a triple-star ranking, but just can't figure out what I need to do differently do move up the ranks.  I think I may just retire soon.

Super Smash Bros. 3DS is an even more hopeless cause.  At least it's fun with the items on – but of course no one wants to play with items.  And Smash Bros. Melee is darn near insurmountable.

Elite Beat Agents, its very hard but enjoyable on normal, it astounds me though how far the difficulty can actually go and that people can play it that way.

Ahh, I never finished that one.  Unlocked Very Hard mode, but barely got started there.  I recall being very frustrated with the scoring system – there was a way to break your combo stream without actually missing a beat, I think, and it would have a profound effect on your score, but there was no way of tracking your max combo, or something.  I might go back to it some day.

[SunGodPortal]

I love both of the Castlevania games for the N64, but I'm still terrible at the first. I actually played Legacy of Darkness (the one that is much better) before the one that's just called Castlevania so by the time I got to it I was spoiled on controls and cameras that didn't suck. It also doesn't help that playing Castlevania is almost like playing Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness on hard mode. I've beaten Legacy of Darkness numerous times but I still haven't made it past the 2nd or 3rd level in the original CV64.

[LivingfortheNight]

LOVE megaman (x and regular) but no matter how often i play i can only manage to scrape by levels.

[BlackDog61]

Elite Beat Agent's an excellent example - I second that!
"The world ends with you" comes to mind, too.
I'd keep Rockband in there as well.

[SunGodPortal]

LOVE megaman (x and regular) but no matter how often i play i can only manage to scrape by levels.

Yeah, I like the Megaman X games but I totally suck at those. I always thought they were way harder than the NES games. I remember revisiting one of these recently when a friend was over. I finally managed to make it to a boss fight and was brushed off like a piece of lint. He and I both laughed at how ridiculous it was before I switched to something else.

[Grimlock]

The game of life...  Though there's certainly times I wouldn't use the word "love", as I'm sure most of you could agree.  I don't think anyone ever really master's it and certainly no one beats it.  As soon as you fool yourself into thinking either of the two life always finds a way to slap you up side the head and snap you out of your fantasy...   

[Bregalad]

There's so many games I couldn't know where to start. I am not particularly skilled with games.

Double Dragon series comes to mind. Arcade games I only beat by cheating using MAME and having virtually infinite money coins, I have to use probably some 60 coins to beat the games ! The NES games are all so hard I can only beat them using save states. Super Double Dragon is easier, but I still end up dying always at the same place I don't remember where exactly but it should be in level 4 or 5. It's also less good then its predecessors.

Then there is the Castlevania series. Actually I didn't beat that many legitimately, I beat Castlevania II, SOTN, the 3 GBA games and the 2 first DS games... and that's it. I never managed to beat the original Castlevania nor Castlevania III legitimately and I always get stuck at the same point, death's stage, in BOTH of those. I of course finished them using save states or easy mode hacks many times, but no matter how much I play them I can never beat death. Super Castlevania IV I got to Dracula legitimately but never beat him without save states. Dracula X... don't even get me started. I am currently stuck in Order of Ecclesia, the boss is so hard I don't think I'll ever manage to beat him.

I cannot conclude without mentionning NES Battletoads. Very great game, I beat the underground tunnel legitimately a lot of time, I think it's difficulty is overrated a lot on the net. However I cannot manage to beat the Rat Race legitimately.

The only game I can beat (legit) is Life Force (Salamander)

Wow, respect !! I beat Life Force many times with the 30 lives code, but I couldn't possibly imagine going further than the 2nd level without it.

And I agree about gradius games being hard but awesome.

Also Contra

Even I managed to beat the NES Contra without the 30 lives code, and I am not particularly good with action games. Super C on the other hand.... is much harder (and for the most part, much better).

[Sliver X]

ADOM.

I've attempted to beat it dozens of times since I first played it in 1998. Even rigging a cheating save game method can't get me to the end (I invariably get caught in some inescapable cluster fuck eventually).

[Disch]

Elona

Super fun.  But super long, and very grindy.  I never get very far due to my wanting to keep starting over all the time (I have that problem with a lot of games)

[Mugi]

sim city @.@

no matter how much I play the game never ends... I must really suck

[MisterJones]

Any fighting game basically. I love them but I am pretty damn bad at them. Same goes for competitive RTS

Honeslty I found the megaman x games to be usually easier than the classic series due to the crazy increased mobility options. When I was like 16 I would daily go home and beat megaman x for like the 129830796173246nth time.

[jink640]

Elona

Super fun.  But super long, and very grindy.  I never get very far due to my wanting to keep starting over all the time (I have that problem with a lot of games)

Same here, every time the variant gets a new update, I start a new save to make sure there aren't any issues

[SunGodPortal]

The game of life...

This one?

Elona

Super fun.  But super long, and very grindy.  I never get very far due to my wanting to keep starting over all the time (I have that problem with a lot of games)

I'm the same way. Lots of times I'll play an RPG for about 5-10 hours, then decide I want to start from the beginning and do a better job.

There's so many games I couldn't know where to start. I am not particularly skilled with games.

Double Dragon series comes to mind.

Oh man. Double Dragon III. I want to love that game because I love the first two, but DD3 kicks my ass every time. That game is WAY too hard.

[Bahamut ZERO]

Contra Hard Corps is the first game that comes to mind. I love how insane and over-the-top the game starts off, but I can never make it any farther than like halfway through the 2nd level.

Actually, I can't recall ever beating any of the Contra games. It's the same way with Ninja Gaiden too. 

[Bobolicious81]

Blaster Master. I've made it to level 8 a few times, but never beat it. Also, the only way I can seem to beat the level 5 boss is by exploiting a glitch.

I have Mega Man 9, 10, and X4 on my PS3 but they kick my ass somethin fierce. I am proud to say though, that I got the Legacy Collection on PS4 and for the first time ever beat the original Mega Man without using the pause trick 

[AlanJacobs]

Blaster Master. I've made it to level 8 a few times, but never beat it. Also, the only way I can seem to beat the level 5 boss is by exploiting a glitch.

Yes! I agree. It took years for me to figure out how to beat the Area 5 boss. Once I figured out you needed a full gun to do so, I managed to beat the game. I will say, however, that Area 6 and 7 bosses are very difficult to pass without the 'pause' glitch. I find them more challenging than the final boss, IMO.

The game of life...  Though there's certainly times I wouldn't use the word "love", as I'm sure most of you could agree.  I don't think anyone ever really master's it and certainly no one beats it.  As soon as you fool yourself into thinking either of the two life always finds a way to slap you up side the head and snap you out of your fantasy...   

This is deep stuff, Grimlock. Really.

...unless, of course, you ARE referring to the Game of Life, the board game in which I'd say you're taking it a bit too seriously, but that's just me.

Wow, respect !! I beat Life Force many times with the 30 lives code, but I couldn't possibly imagine going further than the 2nd level without it.

I do admit this happened once a while ago. I couldn't do it again without devoting lots of time practicing.

I see some Mega Man on here which, I agree, the games can be difficult. The NES Mega Man games are quite challenging, at least the ones I played. The only Mega Man game I beat was on the PlayStation, Mega Man X4 I believe.

I always relied on the 30 Lives code for Contra. But I will say I've played it enough times that, with practice, I could potentially beat it without it. Never tried, though.

The only Castlevania game I played was Simon's Quest. I never loved a game as much as I hated it. I have not beaten it, but it brings up an interesting question...

Does anyone believe that someone can beat Simon's Quest without doing ANY research at all? Makes me wonder how long it would've taken people to figure out how to progress through the game without Nintendo dropping hints. Makes me curious.

[nesrocks]

TMNT arcade (not the turtles in time one). I can beat a couple of beat em up games in one credit, but TMNT is not one of them. I know some people can but I can't. And I love the game.