10 Most Brutally Difficult Opening Levels In Video Games
9. Underground Zone - Sonic 2 (Game Gear)
I felt special when I was the only kid my class who owned a Sega Game Gear rather than a sickly green-screened Game Boy. I didn't care that it burned through six AA batteries in about three hours or that it had a paltry games selection. It had colours, and Sonic, and a backlight, and I loved it...
... until I actually played Sonic 2 that is, when it became clear that this wasn't the Sonic I knew and loved. The little blue blur could barely fit on the Game Gear Screen, and I never even got to the point in the game where Tails (who I assume is in the game because he's also on the front cover) appeared, because that first world was too damn hard.
With the poor visibility, you can barely run a few yards before skewering yourself on spikes or an enemy, and that infuriating boss at the end of the zone - where you need to jump up a slope, avoid some bouncy balls, and avoid getting eaten by the pincer-thing at the bottom of the slope all at once - ensured that I and many others never got to see the rest of the game... until YouTube happened.