19. Ninja Gaiden
Man, what an insanely difficult game! Ninja Gaiden earns its namesake with unforgiving combat, excruciatingly tough boss battles and tons of gore. It was so hard they had to release a later version that included an easy mode! It doesn’t have the staying power or the accessibility of the games ahead of it, however, meaning that its excellence is and was overshadowed just by how “OP” 2004 was.