10 Most Stressful Video Game Levels

If you owned a PlayStation in 1996, then it’s possible that you remember jumping and spinning your way through the colourful and challenging levels of Crash Bandicoot as everyone’s favourite polygonal marsupial.

What you don’t remember from those precious memories, however, was a level called Stormy Ascent. That’s because it was cut from the final game at the last minute for being deemed too difficult.

Unluckily for us, this notorious level was added as an optional stage in all its punishing glory in the N. Sane Trilogy – and it as just as frustratingly difficult as players would expect.

Essentially a much tougher version of the already challenging Slippery Climb, this bonus level sees players push their platforming skills to their limits as they make their way up the walls of Cortex’s castle.

Pin-point precision and timing is paramount in navigating this five-minute-long run of rotating and disappearing platforms, bottomless pits, birds you’ll need to bounce across, and collapsing stairs. And then there's strategically placed enemies positioned throughout the level to ensure making progress is as tricky as possible.

With no checkpoints and one-hit deaths, this level should come with a warning label. And this is all without even mentioning attempting the time trials.