Hardest Game Ever 2 Review

Very nearly living up to its name, Hardest Game Ever 2 is quite the challenging selection of mini-games. It's probably not quite the hardest game ever (as a child of the 1980s, I can safely say there are many, many more terrifying titles out there) but it's certainly rather tough.

A fairly shallow experience, Hardest Game Ever 2 is all about simply beating the game and maybe acquiring a few decent high-scores along the way. At first, only six "easy" stages are available to try out. Gain 3 S Ranks and unlock the "normal" levels. That's about as easy as it gets, though. Players must have fast reactions and mental skills to traverse such varied obstacles as running to the toilet quickly, filling up ice cream scoops and dictating who wins in a game of rock, paper, scissors. Each round sounds easy, simply requiring a tap or two of the screen at the relevant moment. With a small margin of error, and the ever ticking clock, however, it proves quite the challenge.

Fortunately, Hardest Game Ever 2 manages to offer a tough difficulty curve that rewards practice. Persevere and it won't be too tough to make one's way to the normal challenges. Similar gameplay is involved, but with a few variations such as glasses that must be destroyed quickly while not overshooting. Don't expect to finish Hardest Game Ever 2 any time soon, though.

While 24 mini-games might not sound like a huge number, things get very hard, yet also consistently tempting to keep playing. Vibrant, arcade-style graphics capture the feel of the game perfectly, and that burst of adrenaline as finally one completes a stubborn stage is all too sweet.

There are in-app purchases available for the wimps, I mean those who are struggling, but that really goes against the entire point of the game. Hardest Game Ever 2 is more about the journey than the destination, and it's worth sticking at it. Sure, it's a shallow experience but that brings with it a purity that is all too tempting for twitch gamers. I'd suggest paying out the $0.99 for unlocking Arcade mode and removing adverts, though. Those flashing images get all too distracting when competing with the game.