http://themexicanrunner.com/

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I own one of the top 5 hardest games on the system (Ikari Warriors) and my friend and I have fun with it getting annihilated in less than 30 minutes, but if we had to sit down to beat the game together I imagine it would lower our overall enjoyment of the game significantly, since I am better than my friend and keeping him alive while managing items would be a nightmare -- I don't think there has been a 2-player completion run of the game in existence. Another challenge looms in the gaming world...

There are some games that are so satisfyingly difficult you don't stress out from not beating them within a set time period. Like with Metal Slug 3 and its long final stage that could pass off as an entire game. I would like to see Ikari Warriors further rated by the TheMexicanRunner with ratings by each particular stage. I, for instance, wouldn't rank completing the first stage as a 1-star experience, but maybe he just strongly dislikes the NES controls compared to the arcade game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bByE7n2AJj4

AVGN sums up my EXACT thoughts and memories on Ikari Warriors. I remember it was featured in Nintendo Power and I was like, "Wow, the stages are long AND there's a wide variety of enemies". But the movement is so...slow...

Mexican Runner thought...That guy is just insane.

I would say Hudson's Dino Riki is fairly close to the insane difficulty, possibly worse! I find that few people talk about this one compared to IW.

Dino Riki is a hideously difficult game, but I would argue it is simply a better game than Ikari Warriors. IW is hard because of the poor design and the overall walking speed, DR pretty much overwhelms you with crap onscreen while the screen autoscrolls (kind of like a walking shmup). From a game design perspective, I thought DR was fine.

I guess I would also say neither are considered classic, must-have NES games (depending on who you ask, but neither has ever come up in such a conversation and I personally don't). That said, Ikari is a much higher profile game. It was an arcade release, was made by SNK, had multiple parts and was featured at-length in The Official Nintendo Players Guide (which made the game look way better than it actually was). DR is kind of a sleeper at best. I only know it because I rented it and it frustrated the hell out of me.