10 Brutally Difficult Opening Levels In Video Games

The late eighties were an incredible time, weren’t they? The hair. The fashion. The Walkmans. The cellphones roughly the size of the Chrysler Building. It was a simpler, ridiculous-looking time, and we just didn’t appreciate it enough while we were living.

Do you know why we didn’t? Because Contra (and other dastardly difficult arcade titles) were making us realize how inadequate we all were, that’s why. Arcade titles are notorious for being incredibly hard (arcades themselves wanted players to keep pumping in their money, after all), but the Contra series is one of the most infamous of all.

Realistically, any of the games in the series would fit comfortably in this entry, but we’ve opted for the original. Jungle was an outright fiendish level, especially for newcomers who didn’t even know which button was to shoot and which was to jump.

Your character has barely spawned before the enemy onslaught begins, and it never lets up. Swarms of agents, gun turrets and all manner of other nasties approach, from behind you as well as from in front, and the simple controls give you little chance to react to them.

How much health does that compound door boss have, too?