Why old games were so hard: the reasons, ranked by how much they mattered

A tier list by abafa · filed under Gaming · published 26 September 2026

My opinion: the five reasons old video games were so hard, ranked by how much each one shaped difficulty. Explained in my video "Why Old Games Were SO Hard" on YouTube (Abafaboy). Do you agree? Rank it yourself!

S tier

  1. Arcades: every life cost a coin
  2. Tiny cartridges: difficulty stretched short games

A tier

  1. No saves: start over every time

B tier

  1. Developers too good at their own games
  2. Made harder to beat rental shops

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