Hardest platform levels

Josey Wales

I saw a thread on another message board that got me thinking about difficult levels in games. What platform games have you played that contained levels that left you pulling your hair out?

I remember two off the top of my head. First up is the Tubular level from Super Mario World.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSXSWqUirGA

The second level I had huge trouble with was from near the end of LBP. I'm not sure if it was the last or second last level but there was a

huge rotating machine that you had to get Sackboy through

. Man, it was unbelievably frustrating. I got through it eventually but I think I just fluked it.

Anymore?

steve_

Hellish torment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in6RZzdGki8

Mr E

Good call with the "Special" levels in SMW.

There were a few in the Yoshi's Island games (especially the second DS one) that were very difficult, more so if you were going for 100% completion on the levels.

Any game that has "Ice" levels where the platforms are slippy. Never fun.

Jip

I'm afraid every bloody level in Ghosts and Goblins and Ghouls and Ghosts, most frustration game ever.

Retr0gamer

Ghouls n'Ghosts isn't that tough, I've beaten it with one credit although stage 5 takes some getting used to. Ghosts n'Goblins on the other hand is an absolute ****.

I'd like to add Heatmans stage with the disappearing blocks in Megaman 2. I've never beaten it without rush coil.

Ultimate Ghosts n'Goblins 3rd level (I think) with the moving cloud platform at the start is a horrible and frustrating exercise in terrible game design. The whole game is filled with bad game design but this level takes the biscuit.

There's a level in the original Ninja Gaide that has the most ridiculously hard jump to make ever, think it's in level 5-1 but it's really frustrating and you could spend hours at it.

Professey Chin

I cant remember exactly which stage but in the final world in Mario 3 theres one that used to always drive me mental.Just bombs everywhere man!Bombs everywhere!:eek::eek:

Korvanica

Dangerous Dave... Quite a tough game...
Linkage

Retr0gamer

Super Mario Bros the lost levels had some stupidly tough levels in it as well. There was a castle that resembled the trick castle in Mario Bros 1 where you couldn't advance without taking the correct route. It wasn't actually a trick castle but a stupidly long stage designed to fool players.

However what took the biscuit was the one Arino got stuck on in the episode of Game Centre CX where the level just repeats but the only way to get out of the level is to find a hidden vine that requires a stupidly tough jump to be performed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgeJjoFVMTk

L31mr0d

Last level of Psychonauts.

It's probably not the hardest level I've ever played, but it was just such a shock in comparison to the rest of the game. The whole game is pretty easy but entertaining, and then all of a sudden you are given this last level which is unlike any other levels in the whole game. The camera angles are all over the place, and you are constantly being attacked with grenades, fighting against the rising water level, whilst trying to make your way through a ridiculous assault course.

Loved it though when I finally completed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh-sSUR2EuY

chin_grin

I think for me it was Mega Man on the Gameboy. The bit when you had to memorise the disappearing platforms to get to the ladder. I think it was for Elektroman or something.....Sweaty palms there by gawd.

Jazzy

fukin Gutsman

Sasquatch76

The labyrinth level on Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive) frustrated the hell out of me as a kidlet. In hindsight, it wasn't particularly hard... I just didn't "get" it, or what you were supposed to do to progress.

L31mr0d

I'm probably alone with this, but I had a game on the Atari Lynx called "Scrapyard Dog"... which had possibly the hardest 2D platforming I've ever encountered in a game. Especially in some of the flying levels close to the end.

What always made me laugh was these bonus rooms where you got to listen to a piece of midi piano music and memorise the piano notes as they lit up. You then had to jump on the notes in the order they where played. At the start this was fine, with only 2 or 3 notes, but by the end they where playing minute long concertos. There was no possible way you where going to remember all those notes.

Shapey Fiend

2D wise I'm going to say Lost Levels as well.

3D wise I'd say Shinobi on the PS2 gave me the most problems. Trying to get a good rank grabbing all the tokens was a nightmare.

molloyjazz

Sasquatch76 wrote: »

The labyrinth level on Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive) frustrated the hell out of me as a kidlet. In hindsight, it wasn't particularly hard... I just didn't "get" it, or what you were supposed to do to progress.

lol i came to brick wall on the first Shinobi on the Master System when i was about 7-8 the boss was called Mandara.

Retr0gamer

Sasquatch76 wrote: »

The labyrinth level on Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive) frustrated the hell out of me as a kidlet. In hindsight, it wasn't particularly hard... I just didn't "get" it, or what you were supposed to do to progress.

That was a ****er, it took me two hours to find my way out of it by trying every possible combination. Eventually memorised it off. Still never beat the last boss.

jaykhunter

Last platformer I've played is the New Super Mario Bros Wii game. Everything was fairly smooth running, only a few levels I'd have to play more than 5 times.

This one took me around 40+ lives. World 9-7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCvidbAQRo

Bear in mind this is a walkthrough, i really had to learn the level off by heart to beat it... one of those levels that's so hard; i was determined to beat it. BY the next day I had it sewn up and could do it in one go...it's been a long time since i've been angered enough to stay put for a few hours until i've beaten it :D

Retr0gamer

That wasn't too tough but getting the 3 coins on it was a total bitch. It's one of the few games lately that I've finished 100%

jaykhunter

Retr0gamer wrote: »

That wasn't too tough but getting the 3 coins on it was a total bitch. It's one of the few games lately that I've finished 100%

Ya I meant getting the coins and not dying! Cause the level's short enough lol. The middle coin where you have to wait for some ice to melt, and the third having to wall-jump.....it's for masochists!

Overheal

The Megaman Games.

Take yer pick. Im still stuck on Wily stage 2 of Megaman 9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfMe4rEVmNY

Though I spent 3 days (~6 hours) doing stage 1. And ill have to do it again too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHTIdZyULOo

He makes it look easy. Though for the dragon fight i dont think he ever figured out you can use the wind attack 2x to kill him. Its the lava-shoots that took me forever. But i found you can use the concrete shot to freeze them and walk on them.

Retr0gamer

You think stage 1 and 2 are tough? Wait until you check out stage 3 and it's boss

Never figured the lava shoot thing, I had to use the quick rush coil trick.

calex71

Current gen games have ruined me , looking back at some of these if I were to play them today , no way I'd have the patience to stick at them.

Glico Man

One of the hardest platformers I've ever played was the first X-Men game on the Sega Megadrive. Only ever finished it once on its hardest difficulty

Overheal

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You think stage 1 and 2 are tough? Wait until you check out stage 3 and it's boss

Never figured the lava shoot thing, I had to use the quick rush coil trick.

I did the coil to get the powerup on the first ladder but had no idea it would reach the 2nd ladder.

After grabbing the pickup I hang off the first ladder, Concrete the lava shoot and walk to the 2nd ladder :cool:

calex71 wrote: »

Current gen games have ruined me , looking back at some of these if I were to play them today , no way I'd have the patience to stick at them.

Well Megaman 9 (above) came out in 2008/9, and Megaman 10 just released and I have yet to play it.

Capcom has been getting retro, releasing 8-bit New Classics. I ****ing love the idea. I do wish they would release ALL of the old games on the Wii, not just I II and III, but I can kind of understand the reason after reading the Die Hard megaman reviews about the original titles.

Professey Chin

aaronh007 wrote: »

One of the hardest platformers I've ever played was the first X-Men game on the Sega Megadrive. Only ever finished it once on its hardest difficulty

Is that the one you have to reset the console at one point but theres absolutely nothing to tell you this

Josey Wales

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Is that the one you have to reset the console at one point but theres absolutely nothing to tell you this

Seriously? That is crazy.

Overheal

Please xplain chin o_O

I once played a Flash puzzle platformer that for one level the only hint is "Reload"

After 10 minutes we reloaded the Web Browser and sure enough, the Goal unlocked.

I believe it was called The Only Level.

Retr0gamer

One of the X-men games definitely had that in it. It was fairly ridiculous.

3DataModem

Who remembers Rick Dangerous on the C64.

Jesus... some crazy invisible traps. Great game, never finished it.

Professey Chin

Josey Wales wrote: »

Seriously? That is crazy.

Overheal wrote: »

Please xplain chin o_O

Think it was that one anyway.
Youre told to press a switch to reset the Danger Room computer to stop a virus or somethin but theres no switches in the game.It literally meant to press reset on the console

landsleaving

The AVGN did a review of it, it was X Men alright. He also mentioned there being no reset on the nomad.

Joneser

Always hated the bike level in Battletoads on the SNES

landsleaving

Oh jesus battletoads. Don't get me started. Nearly threw my gameboy out the window.

Shapey Fiend

Oh **** Battletoads.. that's a good one. I rented it a couple of times and it damn near killed me. I got stuck pretty early on on the airbike bit where you have to keep dodging ****. That sort of thing just isn't my forte. The minecart part on Mega Drive Taz used to muder me as well.

I owned Revenge of Shinobi for 6 years and I only completed it properly the night before I sold my machine to someone else. When I look at youtube videos now I think "for **** sake, it's actually way easier than It seemed" but you don't have the benefit of GameFAQs back in the early 90's. Memorising the route to the last boss is easy enough, but killing him before the girl gets killed is a bitch. I got the to the last room of the labyrinthe, picked up the POW and managed to get through all the flying ninjas to the last boss without getting hit once, so I had one chance at killing the boss quickly enough to save Naomi(?). And I did. But it turnes out there's a hidden POW in the empty room right before the boss, and you can hit the hole in the wall on the boss level with shruiken to stop the cage from falling, so it's easy save the girl regardless. But then, I didn't know that at the time so I had to make things hard for myself.

pwd

manic miner got quite hard

look:
http://www.darnkitty.com/manic/

Shapey Fiend

If we're going back that far then I'm reminded of a platformer I had on the Atari 2600 that was utterly impossible. I got off the first screen a couple of times but that was it. The mechanic was you couldn't actually jump but you shoot this diagonal grappling hook up to the platform above you, and there were dinosaurs walking about on each platform. You get up to the top of the screen ala Rainbow Islands and then onto the next level. Wish I could remember what it was called. I'm pretty sure it was an average port, of an average coin-op game.

eddhorse

Joneser wrote: »

Always hated the bike level in Battletoads on the SNES

Jebus, my eyes, the googles do nothing !!!
At the start i was thinking that it didnt look too bad.....
The concentration levels on them colours means you surely need glasses now !
I dont think they are allowed make games like that anymore for health and safety reasons....

landsleaving

What was the game where you were a native american on the Snes, Blackhawk I think. You could hide in the shadows by holding up. That used to drive me mental. Thinking back I don't know if it was all that hard, but the setting was so bleak and despressing I'd be in a rush to get it over with :rolleyes:

Retr0gamer

Blackthorne is what you are looking for.

corcaigh07

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Super Mario Bros the lost levels had some stupidly tough levels in it as well. There was a castle that resembled the trick castle in Mario Bros 1 where you couldn't advance without taking the correct route. It wasn't actually a trick castle but a stupidly long stage designed to fool players.

However what took the biscuit was the one Arino got stuck on in the episode of Game Centre CX where the level just repeats but the only way to get out of the level is to find a hidden vine that requires a stupidly tough jump to be performed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgeJjoFVMTk

great video!

Retr0gamer

Game Centre CX is probably the best show ever made about videogames. It's a pity nobody will pick up the rights to a subtitled DVD collection. It's really entertaining and Arino is a great host and an underdog everyman that you just have to root for. It's a pity there's so few episodes translated and they are so hard to find.

Mr. K

What a great show! That video is excellent. I played through most of The Lost Levels on the Super Mario Bros DX cartridge when I was twelve, nearly went mad on one of the later levels.

eddhorse

Watched all that video, very good !

cherryghost

i love how all the hardest platform levels (bar 1) is all pure retro stuff. Just goes to show

a) the depletion of the platform genre in gaming
b) how easy games are these days :rolleyes:

Mr. K

cherryghost wrote: »

i love how all the hardest platform levels (bar 1) is all pure retro stuff. Just goes to show

a) the depletion of the platform genre in gaming
b) how easy games are these days :rolleyes:

At least we still get tough ones like SMB Wii!

Retr0gamer

Mr. K wrote: »

At least we still get tough ones like SMB Wii!

Eh, it was a total pushover. Only world 9 had a few tough levels. I have 99 lives before I reached world 4 and never once saw the game over screen. The last old school tough games I played were DMC 3 and Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2. Even Demon's Souls is manageable.

Grimebox

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ninja Gaiden

I actually gave up on that game. It was so hard that i couldnt get any further

jaykhunter

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Eh, it was a total pushover. Only world 9 had a few tough levels. I have 99 lives before I reached world 4 and never once saw the game over screen.

Not everyone is a bloody platforming Jedi. There are normal people in the universe too! I hate it when people brag how easy a game is when replying to someone saying the opposite. It's so mean-spirited.

Grimebox, have you seen the new AVGN? He tries to beat Ninja Gaiden. Worth a watch

Retr0gamer

jaykhunter wrote: »

Not everyone is a bloody platforming Jedi. There are normal people in the universe too! I hate it when people brag how easy a game is when replying to someone saying the opposite. It's so mean-spirited.

I'm not being mean spirited and I'm no platforming jedi. Compared to most NES platformers it's a total pushover. These days people are too used to easy games that when something that you actually have a chance of dying in comes along that it's proclaimed the hardest game ever. Look at the reviews when Megaman 2 came out on Virtual Console. It was pointed out that the game was very difficult, same thing with Megaman 9 and 10 when Megaman 2 and the entire series was criticised back in the day for being too easy.

If you are talking about the toughest platform levels compared to the 8-bit era it doesn't come close.

jaykhunter

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'm not being mean spirited and I'm no platforming jedi. Compared to most NES platformers it's a total pushover

Most gamers are "Pushovers" then. From your PoV it isn't hard but for "normal" people NSMBWii is hard!! I know previous NES games were much harder but to us regular folk they're impossible. Arguing to someone that a hard game is actually easy (i.e. they just suck at games) is pretty mean. "Hard/hardest" is relative to a player's ability.

Retr0gamer

Games being hard never stopped 'normal' people and children beating them in the 8-bit era. People only think NSMB Wii is tough because they are used to games with recharging shields and lenient checkpoints (nothing wrong with these either). A game where a 'normal' person like myself (I actually nothing special at games, ask the fighting game forum guys how bad I am) can amass 99 lives before they are halfway through the game without trying (I was rushing through it to get a review out) and keep it that way pretty much constantly can hardly be considered tough.