You’ll have heard some people saying that Pokémon is for kids or that it’s super easy, but they’re completely wrong. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to put my Game Boy down and walk away from a Gym battle that hasn’t gone my way, and the quest to ‘catch ’em all’ seriously takes some hard work and dedication.
I put the question to you, our Retro Dodo readers, as to which the hardest Pokémon games were in the entire series. We had so many answers listing the same games over and over, proving that the games in this article are universally revered as being hard as nails. I’ve listed the top 10 titles mentioned and the reasons you gave for why they’re so darn hard, as well as some of my thoughts and experiences thrown in for good measure.
Table of Contents
A Quick Note On Nuzlocke Rules
I just want to touch on Nuzlocke rules before I go on as many players take on this extra hard challenge when playing Pokémon to make things even tougher, and such a feat needs to be celebrated publically. Nuzlocke players have to abide by two main rules when taking on the challenge.
- If a Pokémon faints, you have to let it out into the wild or put it in a box on your storage PC and never bring it back out again. It’s unusable for the rest of the challenge, and if you run out of Pokémon (i.e they all faint and all have to be put in boxes),
- You can only catch the first Pokémon you encounter in any area.
There are other universally accepted and optional rules to follow, but those two are the main Nuzlocke commandments, as it were. So, if you want to make the games below even harder, then now you know how!
NB: All average completion times are taken from How Long To Beat and take into account completing the main story and the main story + side quests, not 100% completion. I take a heck of a lot longer as I find every little element in each game, but these are a good guide to go by.
1. Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
- Release Year: 2021
- Developers: ILCA
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 30-40 Hours
- Buy Digital: Nintendo Switch Store
- Buy Physical: Brilliant Diamond on Amazon/Shining Pearl on Amazon
I had to go through hundreds of responses from our readers, and one set of games kept coming out time and time again – Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. With their revamped AI making trainer battles way harder, these remakes for Nintendo Switch proved to be a thorn in the side of Pokémaniacs everywhere.
One of the things that I kept reading was that the Elite Four became so tough that beating them was a bit of a chore for a lot of players. When I play Let’s Go Pikachu now, I tend to blast through the Elite Four, but I agree with you guys – I really had to keep on my toes when going up against them in BD/SP. The fact that opposing Pokémon always seem to have the move that you don’t want to come against happens time and time again too… funny how these things work out, huh?
Many of you complained about the new mechanics too (and complaining is exactly what we wanted you to do here – how else am I going to find out which games you found the hardest?). Mining cropped up in our list a few times, as did other elements that made the game feel more laboured, like the game feeling more like you were going to work instead of logging on to relax.
2. Pokemon Colosseum
- Release Year: 2003
- Developers: Genius Sonority
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 30 – 60 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
If this game wasn’t on the list, then I would have definitely had to add it. Luckily, it appeared so many times that I put it in second place without any hesitation. One of the things that make this game so hard is that every battle is a double battle. 2 vs 2 battles when you’re trying to level up your Pokémon and going up against tough foes make for brutal gameplay, and the fact that catching Shadow Pokémon is so darn difficult also adds another level of hair-pulling annoyance to the game.
Another thing you all mentioned was the fact that the intense difficulty has the tendency to make the game feel tedious. Having to wait an age to re-catch Pokémon that you missed the first time around as well as the new battle mechanic which was so alien at the time made this game feel like a massive slog. A rewarding slog for those who managed to complete it, but one that would have led to a few bashed controllers and snapped discs in the process nonetheless.
3. Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
- Release Year: 2017
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 30 – 60 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
How many of you can remember the SOS battles in Ultra Soon & Moon? You’d get a Pokémon down to a low level of health, and then it would call in a mate to help it out, making it a double battle. It was one of the most annoying mechanics of all time designed solely to ramp up the difficulty. This game has also proved tricky for players going by Nuzlocke rules too (which you now all know about from my explanation above!), so it’s a real thorn in the side of the whole Pokémon community.
I’ve read this game described via multiple curse words by you guys over the past couple of weeks, and it always comes back to the SOS battles with many of you saying that, despite them making the game harder to complete, are the worst feature in any Pokémon game. Others praised the difficulty of the Totem Battles and the overall challenge that the game provides without it being as difficult as the likes of Pokémon Colosseum, but it’s in this list for a reason, and that reason is that it drove you, our readers, up the wall!
4. Pokemon Emerald
- Release Year 2004
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 30 – 60 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
Brandon’s played Pokémon Emerald many times, a character-building exercise that never fails to make him angry. Just like Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Game Freak ramped up the difficulty of the Elite Four in this game to supernova levels. Many of you had to go and try to find Rayquaza just to be able to become the champion!
It’s not just the Retro Dodo readers who found this game difficult too – pretty much everyone on the internet has described the difficulty curve in this game as being more of a deathslide than a gentle slope. You’ve really got to put the time into battling wild Pokémon and leveling up past what you normally would instead of just trying your luck with the trainers. You’ll be in for a long slog… or you could just use some of the cheats we’ve listed below!
Check out our cheats list: Full List Of Pokémon Emerald Cheats
5. Pokèmon Black 2/White 2
- Release Year: 2012
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 50 – 60 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
Black 2 & White 2 might have the most boring names out of the series, but they make up for it with brutal battles that really test your strength and skills. Like Emerald, you’ve got to level up before heading to the Elite Four, 5 to 10 levels more than you think you should for the final battles.
Many of you have said that the gym battles are excruciatingly painful too, and that’s not even just while playing through Challenge mode which admittedly adds some grit to the game. The easy mode leaves you under-levelled with less exp, meaning it’s more of a brain-numbing experience, and the Challenge mode means you’re over-levelled but with more people to defeat who are also way more advanced than you.
The whole thing feels a lot more drawn out than the other games, and that could also be because of the continuation of the storyline and not feeling ‘new enough’. In all honesty, that’s the feeling I have with Tears of the Kingdom, and that’s definitely the reason why I’m having more difficulty getting through it than I did with BotW.
Discover our cheats list: Cheats for Pokémon Black 2 / Cheats for Pokémon White 2
6. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
- Release Year: 2009
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 50 – 80 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
HeartGold & SoulSilver might be brilliant updates visually, but man do they ramp the difficulty all the way up to 11. Pretty much everyone on our socials and in our DMs who cited this game as being difficult mentioned the same thing – level grinding was tough. You’re left putting in hours of ‘easy battles’ for low exp just to be able to battle the Gym Leaders, and the general level progression path can be a bit hard to follow as it was in Gold if you’re not used to the earlier games where ‘guesswork exploration’ was the only way to figure out where to go next without a guidebook or tutorial.
That being said, HG & SS are brilliant games with many new features that didn’t feature in the original Gold and Silver games. They improved on the classic formula of the iconic GBC games and added online trading and battle functions. The menu system also got a revamp too making it much smoother and easier to use. So, increased difficulty but an overall more pleasant experience. Sometimes you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth!
Use our cheats: Discover cheats for Pokémon HeartGold /Use Cheats For Pokémon SoulSilver
7. Pokemon Crystal
- Release Year: 2000
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo
- Average Completion time: 30 – 50 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
Pokémon Crystal sometimes gets overlooked, which is hard to believe considering its amazing cart design. There seems to be a real explosion in difficulty right after you get the second badge and fight your rival. It’s like the game’s saying ‘ok, you’re fully prepared now, have a bash at this!’
The same problem with HeartGold & SoulSilver which happens in Gold & Silver and Crystal (as they’re all Gen 2 games) is the fact that your Poké pals learn moves much later than is actually useful. You’ve got to level up to around level 50 to get the good moves for beating the Elite Four, which means a lot of smaller battles with easy Pokémon to level up. I found the Battle Tower super tough on this game too and ended up scurrying back to Pokémon Centers after whiting out multiple times!
Cheat on Pokémon Crystal: 20 Cheats For Pokémon Crystal
8. Pokemon Red, Blue, & Yellow
- Release Year: 1996-1998
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo
- Average Completion time: 25 – 50 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
Take yourself back to the 90s when you first played Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow. We didn’t know anything about the mechanics, what Pokémon were, how to progress, the fact that you’ve got to backtrack through certain areas. I know we all know the formula now, but back when I was 6 it involved a lot of learning. I still find navigating some of the earlier games like Gold & Silver more difficult than working my way around Scarlet & Violet, for example.
The Elite Four still provides a challenge if you haven’t leveled up enough, and catching the legendary birds is always a bit of a chew on if you fail to do it the first time. I also think that catching Pokémon in the original games was much harder too… I don’t know whether that’s just me or not, but I feel like my Pokémon Red cartridge is toying with me every time I try to catch critters in the early stages of the game!
Check out our guide on picking the best team: Choosing A Team In Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow
9. Pokémon Platinum
- Release Year: 2008
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 35 – 70 Hours
- Buy Physical: eBay
In the same way that Crystal made things more difficult than Gold and Silver, Platinum saw users scratching their heads at an increased difficulty compared to Diamond and Pearl. Generation 4 is considered, as a whole, to be the hardest gen of Pokémon games; that much has been confirmed by all of you telling us that BD & SP were the hardest of all the games in the series.
Battling took a more difficult turn, with trainers proving to be a much bigger pain in the behind and giving fans of Diamond and Pearl something new to sink their teeth into in the process. And battling trainers is still the best way to get exp as the critters you find, as mentioned before, tend to give you low exp after defeating them. Rebattling Trainers in daily battles is the best way to go for those looking to level grind, but don’t expect them to go easy on you!
Check out our cheats list: Full List Of Pokémon Platinum Cheats
10. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
- Release Year: 2022
- Developers: Game Freak
- Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
- Average Completion time: 25 – 50 Hours
- Buy Physical: Amazon
The final official Pokémon game in this list is Legends: Arceus, a game that was notoriously difficult to look at while playing due to the levels loading as you moved around the world. Still, that’s not the reason why many of you found it difficult; it’s the open-world nature and the fact that Pokémon of insane strength can attack you as you’re exploring. The temptation to stray from the path is so extreme in this game, but if you do you can end up being brawled by a gigantic Paras who’s out for blood.
There are certain areas in this game where Pokémon spawn, and it can often be dangerous getting to them if you’re underprepared. Because the game is much more advanced than the earlier titles, some Pokémon like the genies will only come out when certain weather conditions are met. Catching Pokémon took a lot of effort too, especially because you knew you had to go and build your balls once they were all depleted. All in all, I thought it was a slightly disappointing and difficult outing and one that Nintendo really should have spent a little more time on.
Read our guide on catching Pikachu: Getting Pikachu in Legend: Arceus
Bonus Mention – Pokèmon Unbound
We asked you to name the most difficult games from the main series and you did a brilliant job, but I just want to add a bonus mention to Pokémon Unbound, a FireRed ROM hack that is one of the most difficult games in the entire series. It’s undeniably brilliant, with a storyline that could well be a part of the main canon, but the difficulty level is phenomenal! I’ve got to a gym where I have none of the Pokémon needed to actually beat any of the trainers inside, never mind the leader, which means that I’m having to explore new territories blindly to try and find some electric Pokémon.
The storyline does get a little convoluted after a while, it has to be said. There are so many things to remember and lots of different elements to juggle as you move through the game. There are side-quests to complete too which add to the difficulty and keep you playing the game for longer, which admittedly does add gameplay value to a title that is free to download. Honestly, it’s one of the best Game Boy Advance ROM Hacks of all time and one of our favourite Pokémon hacks to kick back, and one we play on a regular basis!
Check out our official review: Our Review of Pokémon Unbound
