Is Contra Hard Corps the hardest video game ever?

[IslandG]

I LOVE this game, one of the most underappreciated NES games of all time. I feel the game is hard but fair with enough practice.

I need to revisit the game. Played it decades ago. Couldn’t get past the first level...bearing in mind I completed some of the most notoriously difficult NES games (N Gaiden 1-3, Punch Out, Battletoads, TMNT, etc)