Video games offer a special kind of escapism. Unlike the passive joys that, say, a movie or a television show can bring, a video game puts you in the hot-seat and asks: “Hey, do you want a part in all this?” Generally speaking, then, video games allow us to live out many of our wildest fantasies. You wanna leap from building to building to assassinate a corrupt government official? That’s cool, bro. Feel like snowboarding down a mountain whilst clinging to the bottom of a helicopter? You can do that, too. Wanna dress up like a plumber and rescue a princess from a giant fireball-spittin’ lizard king? No problem, pal, we can set that up for you.
Most of the time we’re too busy enjoying the game to acknowledge it. We’re too immersed in the story and visuals and gameplay to notice we’re even playing something with our hands. But nothing snaps you out of a video game and ruins the experience like a difficult level. It’s the kind of thing that – at the time, anyway – makes you feel like you’re gonna quit the damn things forever. And we’ve all been there, haven’t we? Screaming at the television and throwing the controller around the room and swearing at our parents because they “don’t understand.”
Think you’ve had it tough? Check out our list of the 10 most frustratingly difficult video game levels of all-time. Just don’t try them at home. Seriously.
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34 Comments
Great list. ‘Water Temple’ and ‘Aztec’ especially rang true for me. I also remember taking about 12 years (no, really, 12 years, I’d finished Uni by the time I finally did it) to beat Wizpig in Diddy Kong Racing. Am I the only one?
Oh but did you beat the rematch with wiz pig? How about on Adventure 2, mirror mode?
I’d rather do my whole degree in economics again than try to 100% San Andreas. An undertaking I regretted as soon as I hit the 70% marker. Them pearls . . .
Oh, nooo… the Dam. That stupid freakin’ Dam. The electric tentacles. And timer… *fetal position*
Super Mario 3. World 1, Level 4. It’s optional for a reason, and everytime I hear that music I have flashbacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-YZNHsMX3A
what?! where is the Max Payne blood trail levels?
That’s a good pick. Those were so confusing sometimes and quite trippy.
For me it’s disney’s fantasia on the sega mega drive. I struggled to get past the first level then on the second level I’ve pretty much used up all of mickey’s magic and there’s nowhere to get anymore. It’s a ridiculously hard game and I got rid of it because it was near impossible to even get onto the 3rd level, never mind completing it.
I never really could pass “the dam” as a child )’;
Last level of Fzero GX for gamecube
The hardest ones for me were Chapter 5 and 7.
Turbo Tunnel….flashbacks…just when I thought I had forgotten!
Am I the only person who didn’t have that much trouble with the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time? I probably just got lucky, I do remember being confused for a bit first time around, but then I figured it out not all that long after and actually enjoyed the logical thinking it employed. I wouldn’t say I was overly frustrated and ever since I completed it first time around I’ve luckily been able to remember the rough order you have to do everything in order to escape, so when I played the 3DS version it wasn’t all that tough at all.
Definitely agree about the Aztec level on Goldeneye though! To be honest, trying to play the whole game through on the 007 difficulty (I think that was what it was called?) was pretty tough! Especially as I wasn’t that old at the time! I remember struggling a stupid amount and dying countless times on the Cradle! Those automated turret guns and Trevelyan’s incredibly powerful gun made it near impossible on the higher difficulties! Just kept me coming back for more though!
Also, I’m probably the only one but the final mission of Killzone 2 on Elite difficulty was one of the most frustrating missions I’ve ever faced. The final battle before taking on Radec in the big hall was incredibly difficult, especially as Rico’s AI was absolutely awful and he spent more time dying and shouting abuse than he did actually helping me out. I always remember it as the closest a game has ever come to beating me, I actually gave up for a time before coming back to it. I had nightmares about Rico afterwards, which I found rather weird, think it was because I hated him so much by the time I’d finally managed to get through it!
The Water Temple in the 3DS version was very dumbed down. They pointed out answers to the puzzles that one had to figure out on their own in the original version. One instance I remember was when the game pans down and shows you a passage way that was under a certain rising platform inside the main column in the Temple. Otherwise, good on you if you didn’t have too much trouble with the Water Temple. The only reason I can beat it now without difficulty is because I’ve played that game way too many times. I make a point to play it once a year now.
Maybe I’m getting muddled between the times I have played it! To be honest, the first time I ever played Ocarina of Time I was pretty young, i rented the game a few times from Blockbuster and I had trouble with the first water dungeon, inside Jabu Jabu! So I can’t really profess too much on the ability side of things haha. It’s probably because I returned to it when I was already a little older and managed to get through most of the game okay, although I did have a little help finding all the heart pieces..which definitely helped! haha
I didn’t even realise the 3DS version was dumbed down, I just thought I got through it alright ’cause I’d been through it so many times until that point, little bit disappointed that they felt they needed to change such an iconic section of the game for a portable release. I doubt many people would have quit when they got to the water temple on the 3DS if it was too hard, it’s a pretty significant chunk through the game after all.
nono I’m the same, maybe a bit backwards from the rest of the crowd even. I had no trouble with the water temple aside from a couple of times I had to stop and map out a plan. But the forest one where you are groing through the hallway the twists and the shadow hands. *shivers* That level always left me pausing and walking away from hours at a time because I just couldn’t do it stright through.
Seeing The Dam at 4 and The Turbo Tunnel at 1 made this entire list legit. Those two levels made 7-year-old me breathe fire.
Tubular was definitely a pain in the ass. I remember the first time I beat it, I literally shouted and jumped for joy.
One level that I was surprised didn’t show up was Rainbow Road from any of the iterations of Mario Kart. Every single incarnation of that level was a sonofabitch to play.
Level Minus 1 on Super Mario Bros. I know it isn’t a level you are supposed to get to but you can and when you do you are screwed.
Also The Dam – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was on the NES not the SNES.
A Sick Article (even though i have never played any of these games, so most of the references didnt make sense)…for once however i have something to add. THE MOST frustrating game of all time, one i dont anyone in the world has ever completed is: ‘Heart of Darkness’ for ps1.
This deserves to be at the number 1 spot in my humble opinion..
I don’t think I have even made it to The Zelda Great Palace. I repeatedly die in the mandatory-fight-swamp thing guarding it.
And I have been trying for about 20 years now.
Same here. I only just recently beat that game and had to heavily cheat to do it. That whole damn game is a frustrating pain in the ass.
This list needs to include Ikana Canyon from Majora’s Mask.
I’ve been attempting to beat that game for ten years and still no luck… get stuck at the canyon temple every damn time.
Way too many nintendo games. Need a bigger range from other consoles/developers!
My suggestion would be the final level of Sonic 2 on the megadrive. No rings and have to beat metal sonic and robotnik. Only ever completed this once!
Your list is stupid. Everyone knows that Carnaval Night Zone in Sonic 3 is way more frustrating than that stupid level in that stupid Sonic game that no one has played
What do you think of Godhand? There is this stage where we need to fight three bosses at the same time, one female and 2 men. I spent days to get through them. That was normal difficulty though. On easy difficulty it was not much problem.
Does anyone not remember the challenge of the last levels in medal of honor Frontline? The lack of checkpoints on a huge map and regenerative health made these of the trickiest yet addicting levels of all time. Runner up levels that should be mentioned would be the original Driver game involving a level traveling from one side of LA to the next with full felony, and lastly Burnout3, competing for the world cup post card in a f1 gp race that could easily take 20 mins each try. Its unfortunate today’s games are downgraded to be made more accessible, such as the differences made from Oblivion to Skyrim.
What about the mission “Wrong Side Of The Tracks” in San Andreas where you had to ride a motorbike beside a train while Big Smoke inaccurately tries to shoot the Vago’s (with tank tops that must have been made of kevlar) off the train. That mission was really fkn annoying. By the time I had completed the mission (which took me months) I had a full health bar which takes time to achieve.
No Contra: Shattered Soldier. I remember I tried to beat that game with a friend and even with the 30+lives cheat we still couldn’t.
I remember being stuck on the very first mission of “Driver”, where you had to audition to be in the gang by driving round a car park . . . stupid, stupid game
So…uhhh….Nintendo Fan maybe?
I can’t say I’ve played a lot of these games – but the dam was my favourite levels. Unfortunately, I could never get much further than it. I quite like tubular as well – not the best level in the game, but not bad.
The hardest levels I’ve ever played are Rayman 1, (PS1) where you basically had to get 100% before the final boss would unlock, and then again on Rayman Origins – which was a terrible story but better gameplay. The Land of the Livid Dead… it’s… a nightmare.
I also thought that the flying levels of Spyro the Dragon were a bit harsh – and Area 51 on Crash Bandicoot 3…
How about every NES Mega Man level ever? As much as I love the Mega Man universe and story, the games are just stupidly difficult. But then let’s face it, retro games…kinda sucked. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that making you main character a 1 hit point KO in a game with no ability to save your progress was a bad idea.
You forgot to mention the last level from Ninja Gaiden 1 (NES)
The Japanese, but domestically released puzzle/relationship game CATHERINE was cruel… just cruel.
Hidden & Dangerous 1,should be on the list,as it is one of the hardest games I have ever played.It was an tactical FPS,and the only game that pretty drew me insane