We wouldn’t be surprised if most of your playtime came from these particular levels.
Welcome to Culture of Gaming, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 20 most challenging video game levels of all time. For this list, we’ll look at those levels that had us biting our nails and frustration and rethinking our game-playing choices.
Now we’re not talking about those infuriating games in which every second is tormenting. Instead, we’re looking at levels within certain games that took the difficulty up a notch or ten notches. That said, these don’t have to strictly be called levels. Dungeons and distinct areas qualify as well.
Number 20: Champions Road, Super Mario 3D World
This is the final level in the game, and you can also expect a few more final-level entries in this list. The Mario franchise continues to evolve and revolutionize the platform or genre with every entry, and for that, we’re grateful.
However, we aren’t grateful for this level from the 2013 release, Super Mario 3D World.
There are vanishing blocks, enemies that require ultra-quick reflexes to dodge, and every type of platform you can think of to traverse. One slight misstep and you’re a goner.
But hey, at least there’s a nice message at the end.
Number 19: The Impossible Lair, Yooka-Laylee
When the level has the word impossible in the name, you know you’re in for trouble.
While this particular level isn’t literally impossible, it’s close to it and has been known to take even experienced gamers upwards of 50 tries to complete.
That is, if you don’t give up first.
Each section of the level tests timing and reflexes, with every movement requiring the utmost concentration.
Number 18: Death Mountain, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
While we are okay with this 2D side-scrolling iteration of this influential franchise, we still prefer its top-down and 3D entries.
That said, you can’t deny that this entry had charm or, in the case of this level, a relentless difficulty that earns a place of distinction in the series.
You can’t just mash the attack button in Death Mountain.
Enemies have specific weaknesses that can be tough to discover, requiring you to study them before you make a move.
That said, if you can get past the red ax-throwing baddies, you should be able to make it to the end.
Number 17: Tubular, Super Mario World
The level that made fans hate the P-balloon, as it may take hours of attempts to beat. But with a runtime of about a minute, you can expect to hear that annoying, albeit catchy, death tune pretty often.
Not only does controlling the P balloon feel like dragging a heavy rock on an icy pond, but a single hit will make you fall to your death, even if you have a power-up.
If the plants don’t get you, the baseball-throwing ones will.
Add to the pressure of making sure you get to the next P balloon power-up before the time runs out and you fall to your death, and you’re gaming under seriously stressful conditions.
Number 16: Welcome to the Machine, Echo the Dolphin
This game gave me nightmares as a kid. There is something about the sea and what lies beneath it.
Oh my God.
Anyway, most retro games have at least a couple of annoying sound effects, but mashing the sonar button over and over again (which is unfortunately required to have a chance at beating this level) will have you playing on mute.
This narrow corridor auto-scrolling level, combined with the speed at which the enemies fly into you, gives you barely any time to react.
Couple that with the camera’s unpredictable path, and your sanity will steadily erode with every attempt.
Aliens weren’t something we were expecting when we started this game.
Number 15: Water Temple, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
If you thought being inside a whale stomach was bad, wait until you become an adult and do the temple equivalent of Ocarina of Times water dungeon.
The constant resetting of water levels makes it annoying.
The maze of whirlpools makes it frustrating.
Its non-linearity makes it confusing.
And the battle with Dark Link makes it painful. But hey, it does make for a damn good battle.
Keys are also spaced out around the level, which can also mean lengthy backtracking if you don’t have enough to get through doors at the end of long corridors. The water temple is an exhausting experience to say the least, but it’s a rewarding one.
Number 14: Parking Lot Tutorial, Driver
The tutorial is harder than the actual gameplay experience. You can be sure that many gamers never played long enough to find that out for themselves.
You have to prove you’re the driver for the job, and with that comes a list of driving tasks you need to accomplish, all with a strict time limit and only a handful of chances to mess things up.
Wow.
Oh, and if you think you’ve done a track multiple times and still aren’t getting the check mark for some strange reason, that’s just part of the levels charm.
Number 13: Mile High Club on Veteran, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
Given the title of this level and its corresponding achievement, we weren’t quite sure what to expect and whether or not this belonged in a Call of Duty game.
Rest assured that it not only belongs but will test a COD player like few other missions can.
It’s a short form linear level through a plane that is hard to complete on the hardest difficulty and probably resulted in many broken controllers and cracked TV screens.
Running through the level in under a minute requires a memorized pattern of movements, and just one minor slip-up is all it takes to prompt you to restart immediately.
Number 12: Slippery Climb, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
In this ominous 24th level, you’ll need to climb the outside of Cortex’s Castle on a wet and stormy night.
Moving platforms, acid-throwing lab assistance, and evil hands trying to swipe you from below are just a few of the challenges you’ll face on your hair-raising ascent. In addition, there are stairs throughout the level that disappear, causing you to slide back down.
While the entire course theoretically takes about six minutes to complete, we can guarantee that it’ll take you much longer than that.
Number 11: Flying Machine, Shovel Knight
Who would’ve thought a game about a knight and his shovel would be endearing and challenging.
In many games, a boss will be difficult and their corresponding level easy or vice versa, but what we have here is a high difficulty package deal.
These green hover meanies are an absolute nuisance, especially when pushing you into cannon balls. The constantly changing air currents will mean you must be precise with your movements.
Then there’s the actual boss.
Propeller Knight moves incredibly fast, meaning you’ll have to time your jumps to a T. Of course, it doesn’t help that the floor begins to crumble underneath you.
Number 10: Through the Fire and the Flames, Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock
Who knew your fingers could move this fast?
If you can complete this track on expert mode without getting booed off the stage within 30 seconds, then you’re truly a legend of guitar hero. The constant onslaught of keys to hit does mercifully have a couple of slight intermissions so you can catch your breath and shake your hand around, but the entire song is just so long that you’re all but guaranteed to cramp up or lose feeling in your fingers before you hit that final note.
Getting through the song is one thing, but 100% is nearly impossible.
Number 9: Assault, Hotline Miami
You’re going to die a lot playing Hotline Miami. Each level is a trial and error experiment as you attempt to figure out the exact pattern that will have you killing everyone in the level without falling victim yourself.
But chapter 13, titled Assault, is in a league of its own. It features tons of baddies with high-powered weapons that move just as fast as you do in a game where one person with a baseball bat can give you grief. That should give you pause, but at least the music is excellent. That might not seem important now, but trust us, you’ll hear a lot of it.
Number 8: Ringed City, Dark Souls 3
The Ringed City is the final DLC released for Dark Souls 3, and it’s safe to say they left the hardest for last. In particular, we’re talking about the pain and suffering the Ring City archers have brought so many players. Dozens of ghostly archers fire a barrage of arrows at you, disappearing, then reappearing behind you even if you find cover behind the nearby tombstones.
Nowhere is safe.
You’ve also got to face off with arguably one of the most demanding bosses in the franchise: Darkeater Midir.
Dark Souls has always been known for its high level of difficulty, but the Ring City is on another level.
Number 7: Chapter Nine, Farewell Celeste
Celeste’s main game is notoriously tough but fair.
The B side and seaside stages were grueling, but chapter nine, which was offered as free DLC, makes you feel like your spirit has been ripped out of you and there’s no hope left. And as such, we could understand you not wanting to put in the effort to complete it.
Combining complicated move sets is the only way to get through this DLC chapter, which is much longer than previous levels. So when you multiply the length by the overall high difficulty level and add newly introduced technical mechanics, you get one epic and exhausting farewell.
Number 6: Dark Side of the Moon, Super Mario Odyssey
Unlocked after you find 500 power moons, this level gives you a bit more odyssey to experience, but it has to be earned.
The level honestly feels like a chore, but chores can be fun, right? Practice makes perfect, but you can skip multiple segments of the level if you have little time to practice.
The caveat is that discovering the skips can become a challenge in itself. Hat throws, wall jumps, triple jumps, and impeccable timing are all required in unison here. This gives grand master galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2 a run for its money.
Number 5: Dr. Wiley’s Castle, Stage Three, Megaman 9
In Megaman nine, Dr. Wiley’s Castle introduced sadistic traps and gimmicks that the player hadn’t encountered before, resulting in a certain unpreparedness that we had to overcome.
From stage three onwards, you will find sections in which the platforms you have to jump to are barely large enough for Mega Man to land on.
As if that’s not enough, you encounter shield-bearing enemies that give you only a small window to attack. Otherwise, they bring their shield up and do what they do best, taunt you.
Don’t even get me started on the gravity well sections.
Number 4: Water Dam, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Timed levels are the bane of every gamer’s existence, but couple that with a punishing control scheme, and you’ve got a recipe for rage in this notorious underwater level.
Energy beams appear in the weirdest spots without notice, zapping your health away. There’s one spot in particular that gives you a very narrow pathway to follow around a corner, and if you stray from it ever so slightly, then you’re pretty much dead.
Luckily, you have the option to switch turtles and get full hp. Otherwise, there’d be literally no chance of beating this one.
Number 3: Super Mario Brothers, The Lost Levels
Mario is back at it again with another entry on the list, and this time he’s taking us back to his retro days with the lost levels in world c-3, which is an updated version of 7-3.
But now with Lakitus, you’ll spend most of the time guiding Mario through the stage without ever looking at him.
The reason because he’s being launched into the freaking stratosphere by these unnaturally powerful springs scattered throughout the stage. You’ll have to time it right so that when Mario begins his descent, he has a platform to land on. If you can manage that, you only have to do it a bunch more times to reach the end.
Number 2: Stage 6-2, Ninja Gaiden
Imagine not blinking for five minutes straight. Now imagine not blinking for five minutes straight so you can concentrate on not being destroyed by a flying ninja.
In this particularly punishing level of 1988s Ninja Guide, multiple enemies come at you simultaneously. The entire stage is one seemingly endless onslaught of varying enemy types that come flying at you from the sky and both sides of the screen.
And should you make it through to the end, guess what? The subsequent levels are strong contenders for the hardest levels in their own right.
Heck, the entire game is a contender. And here we were, thinking the 2005 version of the game was tough.
Number 1: Turbo Tunnel, Battle Toads
Oh, the hours we’ve lost to Turbo Tunnel with its unfairly placed obstacles, little to no grace period between movements and sheer speed of the ramps and walls coming at you.
This level earns its infamous place in gaming history. Turbo Tunnel undoubtedly resulted in anxiety attacks for a lot of players. There is no room error move or jump a millisecond too late, and you pay the price.
The sequence isn’t that long, but it feels like you’re spending hours traveling simply by virtue of the number of obstacles you need to avoid.
Why did we have to jump on this dumb bike anyway?
