8 Beloved Video Game Levels That Have Aged Terribly

8. Tick Tock Clock - Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64's late-game level Tick Tock Clock is, in a word, insane. 

A gruelling test of every skill the player has amassed up to this point, it requires pin-point precision as players ascend the innards of a grandfather clock while circumventing all manner of obstacles.

Back in the late '90s, when players en masse were still in slack-jawed awe of Mario's glorious leap to 3D platforming, it was decidedly easier to embrace Tick Tock Clock for what it was than what it wasn't.

But the near-30 years since release haven't been majorly kind to this level above all others, which simply feels like an exercise in Nintendo actively chastising their own paying customers.

Modern players simply aren't used to platformers punishing them quite this egregiously for minor mistakes, especially with the sheer amount of Things Happening throughout the level.

Tick Tock Clock admittedly still has its defenders to this day, but even if you can contend with the maddening level of difficulty, it's also arguably the visually blandest level in the entire game. There, we said it.