10 Nasty Video Game Levels Designed To Torture You
3. Tubular - Super Mario World
Contrary to others present in this list, Tubular's not a test of endurance, reflexes or memory, it asks of the player the same as any other featuring the Italian plumber: get from point A to point B.
The critical difference here, however, is that, bar some sporadic instances, there's no floor for Mario to set foot on. After leaving the initial starting area, the mustachioed hero needs to bridge the gap between those two points in one flawless attempt, anything else will result in a slimming down of Mario's extra life counter.
To combat the rules of gravity and evade enemies spewing screen-filling projectiles, the only tool Mario gets is the P-Baloon power-up, but it only lasts a fraction of the time required to make ground on the other side.
Failing to replenish the timer by guiding the bloated plumber to a '?' block, or getting hit by a stray pellet will spell game over.
In a time before merciful checkpoints and infinite retries, that's tantamount to a permanent death.