10 TERRIBLE Levels That Stopped You Replaying Great Video Games

No classic is safe from the odd gigantic misstep into a ditch full of escort quests.

Sonic the Hedgehog Labyrinth Zone
SEGA

We all have our favourite games. We all have our favourite levels in said favourite games. Think Shadow Of The Colossus' third battle, or Sonic 2's Chemical Plant Zone. It's gaming at its finest, and one of the reasons we love the medium so much. Being able to not only experience these moments but to control them and drive them ourselves is what makes gaming so special.

But for every "Breaking The Bank At Caligula's" in GTA, there's inevitably going to be a "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" or "Supply Lines".

Yes, these are levels so awful that they give you pause when you dig out an old favourite for a bit of nostalgic fun. There's little worse than burning through a series of endlessly entertaining missions, only to hear you were "supposed to follow the damn train" over and over again until it haunts your nightmares and every waking moment of your life.

So let's pay tribute to all those water temples, vulnerable NPCs and forced stealth sections, and remind ourselves why you should maybe leave those classics well alone.

10. The Tank Chase - Jak II: Renegade

Sonic the Hedgehog Labyrinth Zone
Sony Computer Entertainment

Jak II, Naughty Dog's sequel to their platformer Jak And Daxter, has an incredibly strong opening. After an opening level featuring a thrilling escape sequence and new and improved combat, we get a glimpse of the new world we're about to explore.

However, a mere three missions into the game, all that wonder and goodwill seeps away. A task for the resistance sees Jak and Daxter head to a fortress to destroy an ammo cache, resulting in them being chased by a security tank. The player is forced to navigate a series of corridors bordered by bottomless pits, all the while making tricky manoeuvres to dodge fire from the tank's turret.

This early on in the game, players likely won't have had the chance to master the unpredictable roll-jumps necessary to survive this gauntlet, and you'll be finding out what's at the bottoms of those pits a great deal. Considering that at this point you're also confined to a tiny portion of the sandbox map and have no weapons, there's no real fun to be had in the open world either. In an otherwise excellent work, this mission serves like no other to start the game off on the wrong foot.

Contributor
Contributor

Neo-noir enjoyer, lover of the 1990s Lucasarts adventure games and detractor of just about everything else. An insufferable, over-opinionated pillock.