9. Sonic the Hedhehog Drowning
Even today youll struggle to find a game mechanic that is as simple yet as nerve-janglingly terrifying as the drowning mechanic from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Nothing quite compares with the rising sense of panic you get when that timer begins the count down from five, and that ominous, dread-inducing music begins to dominate the soundtrack, hurrying you toward the inevitable outcome. http://youtu.be/vdRBVdOAnf0 Even the relief you feel when you capitalize on an air-bubble is marred by a mocking sense of temporariness; youve only got moments before that timer, and that music, begins again. Its not easy to induce dread in an audience; especially a modern audience, whove been hardened by ultra-violent video games and torture porn movies. Yet still, drowning in Sonic remains today as nail-bitingly uncomfortable an experience as it ever was.