When people hear the word Nintendo they think of nice pleasant worlds of Mario, Kirby, and Wii Sports. Relaxing places where they can enjoy themselves and not be challenged too much. Players would expect Nintendo's newest console, the Nintendo Switch, to be no different.
However, while the Nintendo Switch system may seem like a family-friendly console that doesn't mean there aren't challenging titles that are so hard they could even make a grown adult cry. Dark Souls, a game renowned for its difficulty, is already represented on the console by a remastered version of its first entry. However, from platformers, RPGs, roguelikes, and even puzzles games there's a variety of other titles that players could spend months or even years trying to fully complete. If a player dares to challenge themselves here's the games they should add to their Nintendo Switch library.
10 Crypt Of The Necrodancer
While most roguelike dungeon crawlers are hard, try playing on rhythm. Crypt of the Necrodancer tasks players with playing on the beat while fighting scores of different monsters. In each of the levels, players must go through three zones before fighting a boss. While that may not sound hard, dying will send a player all the way back to the start.
If players want a slightly easier and Zelda-inspired experience they can try out the exhaustingly long titled Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Feat. The Legend of Zelda where the game's heroine is transported to Hyrule.
9 Monkey King: Master Of The Clouds
Monkey King: Master of the Clouds might not be a title most gamers are familiar with. However, those that do count it as one of the most challenging games of all time.
Monkey King is a classic Japanese arcade game that was eventually brought to the Sega Master System. It now finds a home on the Switch courtesy of a port by Starfish-5D.
The game is a shoot-em-up where the player does combat with a variety of Chinese legends. It also supports a co-op mode if a player wants to punish a friend as well.
8 Towerfall
This colorful competitive platformer hides a devastating single-player behind its main multiplayer mode. Normally, Towerfall allows up to four players (six on the Switch version) to fight it out with bows and arrows through a variety of levels.
However, the single-player is where the game's difficulty really amps up. While fighting waves of monsters might not sound too hard it can become shockingly challenging early on. To make matters even worse, every level has a harder difficulty that's unlocked when the level is completed. Then there's the time trials where players have to destroy a room full of practice dummies in a matter of seconds.
7 Celeste: Farewell
While the original Celeste is a punishing platformer the main game doesn't hold a candle to its DLC. While Farewell bills itself as Chapter 9 it can actually be longer than the entire game itself.
A large part of the difficulty comes from forcing the player to use advanced techniques like wavedashing. It also introduces a new Jellyfish-like parachute that players have to throw and then catch midair in order to continue. All of that combined with a punishingly long final screen creates one of the most difficult experiences players can have on any game system.
6 Hollow Knight
Its been called by some as the Dark Souls of 2D platformers. Behind its cute horned protagonist, Hollow Knight hides some of the biggest challenges in video game history.
Hollow Knight is metroidvania about an unnamed protagonist who travels through the forgotten kingdom of Hallownest. Even the regular enemy encounters are difficult not to mention the boss fights. However, after the credits roll is where the real challenge begins. An even harder difficulty mode and two expansions, The Grim Troupe and Godmaster, add even more tests onto an already unforgiving potential entry in a player's Nintendo Switch library.
5 Super Mario Maker 2
Most video games go through quality assurance testing to make sure players can beat its levels without too much trouble. Even the hardest games take time and care to make sure players can actually beat them. Super Mario Maker 2 is no such game.
Super Mario Maker 2 allows players to design their own levels. If there's ever been a way to test the kindness of strangers this game isn't an ideal candidate. There are entire communities of people who strive to create levels with less than a 1% completion rate. The best thing about the game is that since players make their own levels the challenges are practically endless.
4 Baba Is You
A puzzle game where the player controls a crudely drawn sheep doesn't sound like it would be that hard. However, this game's childlike aesthetics hide one of the toughest puzzle games ever made.
At the beginning of every level, players are presented with a series of "rules" that are represented with blocks. Changing these rules can change the conditions a player is required to go through to win or even what element the character controls. At the end of the game, the puzzles become so mind-bending that even Albert Einstein might have had trouble solving them.
3 Dragon's Dogma
Unlike a lot of the other games on this list, Dragons Dogma looks like it would be hard. It certainly lives up to aesthetics and name.
The game is an action-adventure RPG that's a mixture of Skyrim and Dark Souls. Players can choose from a variety of different classes to go into battle against as many enemies as they can shake a stick at.
What makes the game truly different is its pawn system. They can have three companions that they can issue a few rudimentary commands so they can cooperate with them. For a game so hard it's nice to have friends along the way. Even if they're only virtual.
2 Thumper
Thumper is another rhythm game all about guiding a beetle down a track in time to the music. The difficulty is that the beetle can only sustain one hit unless it has a shield (then it will have two). So unless a player's moves are pitch-perfect they have to start all over.
To make matters even worse there's a number of rankings players can try to get. That, combined with the mesmerizing soundtrack, create one of the most crushing and replayable games on the Nintendo Switch system. Its amazing that this game was made by a team of only two people.
1 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
One might not think one of the hardest titles on the Nintendo Switch would come from Nintendo themselves but Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze can prove anyone wrong. That being said, it was developed by the Austin, Texas-based Retro Studios. It must be Texas heat that made them so cruel.
After Kong island is taken over by evil penguins, Donky Kong must travel back to reclaim his homeland. While the game gives players just enough time to learn the controls it ramps up the difficulty as soon as players let their guard down. If a gamer is a glutton for punishment then they can go back and try to find all the puzzle pieces and Kong letters.