10 Ridiculous Video Game Puzzles Everyone Cheated For

10. The Barrel Of Doom - Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Our list kicks off with one of the most infuriating and unexpected "puzzles" in any AAA game ever.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3's Carnival Night Zone features an obstacle so frustrating and obtuse that it's gone down in history as part of 90s gaming folklore - the so-called Barrel of Doom.

Near the end of the second act, players will find a barrel blocking them from proceeding, and though the barrel moves when you jump on it, it doesn't drop low enough to allow Sonic and Tails passage through.

At the time of the game's release and for years after, the Barrel of Doom was an epic source of ire for poor gamers trying to make progress, and it became a major talking point in gaming magazines. The game's lead programmer, Yuji Naka, even went on to apologise for including the puzzle.

But the solution is hilariously simple if you know how - all you need to do is press Up and Down on the D-Pad in order to move the barrel up and down, eventually with enough momentum that Sonic and Tails can pass through the gap.

There is no visual cue for players to do this, ensuring players either stumbled across it by accident or had to read the answer in a magazine. Pre-Internet gaming was no joke.