The Sony PlayStation console (or the PS1 as it is known today) saw the light of day in the mid-90s and changed the gaming industry forever. The console was a massive hit worldwide, and its successors never stopped creating sales records despite the various economic and logistical hurdles coming their way. With close to four decades of supremacy and countless games in the console's catalog, it is not very often that a few games tend to stray from the radar.

In addition to its technical prowess, the PlayStation 1 was a console that was flowered with powerhouse exclusives that won over the hearts of gamers worldwide. However, while some of them proved to be pleasant memories, a select few had the players toil long enough to question their existence if they were to emerge victorious at the end. These are just a few PS1 games that players everywhere struggled to beat.

Updated March 9, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: Sony's first foray into the console market was a wild success. Players loved the focus on mature games, something that the company would carry on for the rest of its generations. The original PlayStation was a landmark title, with a wealth of games that were tough and unforgiving. In fact, some games featured mechanics so wonky that defeat was imminent. Meanwhile, other titles featured bugs and glitches that made it physically impossible to make meaningful progress.

10 PaRappa The Rapper

Button Inputs Are Impossibly Precise

A lot of people are familiar with the catchy tunes of PaRappa the Rapper, and the unique cutout art style has aged like a fine wine. However, players who check out this game for themselves will be amazed at how challenging it continues to be.

Rhythm games always promote timed button presses, but PaRappa the Rapper takes things a step further. It becomes downright impossible to get past later levels. Players need to hone their reflexes to flawless levels to get through the latter stages of the game, which will make them tear their hair out.

9 Driver

Throws Players Into A Game They Have No Idea How To Play

It takes real guts for a game to throw players into the title and expect them to pull off a training course before letting them get into the game. However, Driver takes things a step too far, forcing players to try and pull off moves that they don't even know exist.

This makes for an annoying affair that would have been even more frustrating back in the day when players had no internet to guide them. A new player will take their sweet time getting through the game's tutorial level, if they have the patience for it.

8 Nightmare Creatures

Avoiding Damage Is Impossible

Fans of Gothic horror will love games that try and add their own spin to this concept. One old-school game that focuses on the dark undertones in this genre is Nightmare Creatures, a title most people haven't even heard of.

The dark, foreboding Gothic undertones do a great job of letting players immerse themselves in a ridiculously punishing game. Players have to deal with an adrenaline mechanic that punishes players for being too passive, even if it isn't their fault that the maps are huge, convoluted, and make it hard to find enemy encounters at times.

7 Fear Effect

Instant Death Traps & Obtuse Puzzles

Fear Effect Reinvented might excite fans of the gaming community and those new to the franchise who look forward to knowing what the fuss is all about. However, only those who played the original will know how annoyingly hard the game was.

Even though the game had every element that would bring about a social outrage in the modern world, its in-game controls still boiled the blood of many players. The conglomeration of copycat controls from Resident Evil, along with point-and-click mechanisms, were frustrating to learn in a game that was already a little ahead of its time.

6 Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Death Awaits At Every Corner

The 1997 game from Oddworld Inhabitants, published by GT Interactive, is self-aware of its complex game mechanics and original puzzles. Furthermore, the game was designed to make the players pull their hair out and was unapologetic about it.

Everything on the gaming screen was relentless and aimed to beat the player into submission. With the constant gunfire and the easy-to-miss obstacles, every inch of the gaming terrain was a nightmare to navigate. To make things worse, Abe's Oddysee did not have the option to save progress, and the limited lives were the perfect icing on the cake.

5 Crash Bandicoot

Players Need To Perfectly Time Their Jumps

Players of the 1996 Crash Bandicoot would have no arguments about seeing the game on the list. In fact, they might be jealous of the younger players having their first experience of the game through the 2017 remake.

The first blockbuster outing from Naughty Dog was unintentionally riddled with odd camera angles and visual choices. Then, to add more fuel to the fire, the controls were tough to master. This made it a painstaking task to clear even the easiest of levels or the basics of obstacles along the way.

4 Heart Of Darkness

Gameplay Revolves Around Do-Or-Die Situations

Heart of Darkness was a marvel for its visual approach alone. Taking cues from the cinematic animations of the time, the game puts the players in an experience unlike no other and stands the test of time even today.

The side-scrolling puzzle action game is filled with bizarre traps, spikes, and swarming enemies on both sides. The game challenges the best of the gamers right from the first level, putting it all in from the get-go. Apart from the time to learn the controls, the game gives no breathing space.

3 Tomb Raider 3

Dated Controls And Tough-As-Nails Enemies

The Tomb Raider franchise was unique and was one of the beloved series of the early gaming community. However, before Lara Croft got her long-due makeover in the visual departments, her OG outings in the first three games were still considered the most intense.

The third installment, Tomb Raider 3, was so hard to beat that a vast majority of those who played the game stooped as low as using cheats in order to win. The game was downright hard to tackle on its own, but the additional tension of collecting limited green gems that allow players to save their progress made it even more hopeless.

2 Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

It's Easy To Be Spotted And Even Easier To Be Hacked Down

Stealth games are often associated with franchises like Hitman, but even before Agent 47 had his spotlight, a certain PlayStation exclusive from 1998 made gamers sweat their palms and hold their breath. The Tenchu series was a beloved franchise while it lasted, and it was as tricky as a stealth game should be.

The game focuses primarily on how it should be played more than the actual story narrative and can test even seasoned gamers. Every move is a game-changing step, while every path is new. One must understand the game completely in order to foresee the mistakes that could quickly end the turn.

1 Alundra

Without A Guide, This Game Is Ridiculously Punishing

Alundra is undoubtedly one of the most visually complex games of its time and is also intricate with its gameplay ideas. The RPG classic is one of the few games from the early days that focused on narrative and exploration more than tutored guidance.

However, its specialty proved to be its suffering. The game needed players to be aware of everything it offered, down to the minute details. For example, missing a turn or ignoring an unopened treasure chest might hinder the progress to the next level. On top of that (pun intended), the top-down angle makes it difficult to differentiate the different elevations in the level, making players jump around like Kangaroos before finding an elevated loft.