10 Super Mario Levels That Were Just Plain Unfair
9. Champion's Road - Super Mario 3D World
Hidden amongst all of the upbeat big band tunes, colourful graphics and cute cat costumes is Super Mario 3D World's Champion's Road, one of the most frustrating and unfair levels to have ever emerged from the minds of Nintendo.
Granted, it is designed to be the hardest level at the end of the game and takes inspiration from the likes of Special 8-Crown from the 3D Land and the Grandmaster Galaxy from Galaxy 2, however there's just something particularly evil about Champion's Road.
Players need to have collected all Green Stars, Stamps and Golden Flags throughout the game to even gain access to the level, which is in itself a pretty unfair ask. Champion's Road features eight different unique enemies, a series of scarcely doable jumps, moments that require precise bursts of speed and optimised movements and, of course, there are no checkpoints in the entirety of the level to help players, despite this being one of the longest levels in the whole game.
As much of a slog-heavy marathon as it is an adrenaline-pumping finale, Champion's Road does at least end with a nice 'Thank You' message from Nintendo.