Every now and again, a video game will drop players into levels andboss fightsthat feel like no-win scenarios. Controllers have been thrown, monitors punched and walls busted in fits of rage as players are pushed to the breaking point.
Related:Best Castlevania Games, Ranked
Whether it’s long hallways, absurd hordes of difficult enemies, or awkward execution, some video game levels are beyond the point of reason and cross over into absurdity. Some levels can make players wonder if developers ever beat them before giving the game the green light.
10Turbo Tunnel - Battletoads
Like many NES games, Battletoads has become renowned for its overt difficulty from beginning to end. The true horror of its difficulty lies with Turbo Tunnel, the bane of many children’s existence. The fast-paced beat ‘em up gameplay is suddenly replaced with a side-scrolling vehicle section, with players having to bob and weave across obstacles at the speed of light.
For many, this was as far as Battletoads went, as kids couldn’t adapt quickly enough to the sudden difficulty spike and gameplay change to avoid being sent back to the beginning.
9The Water Temple - Ocarina of Time
If someone that’s playedThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was asked to name the worst aspect of the game, chances are they would bring up the Water Temple. Having to navigate a blurred, underwater temple layout with minimal aid and familiar-looking architecture in the majority of the rooms and hallways is far from entertaining and grinds the game’s pace to a halt for unfamiliar players.
While easier in the modern age thanks to online walkthroughs, the early days of this game and the unfamiliarity of the temple to the masses keep the Water Temple a frustrating experience for veterans and unsuspecting newcomers alike.
8Aztec - Goldeneye
Aztec is a bonus level forGoldeneyeon theNintendo 64, and what a reward it is. Tight, dimly lit corridors and hallways in an ancient temple that’s filled to the brim with bullet-sponge enemies that have 007 dead to rights. On top of all that is an encounter with Jaws, the metal-mouthed henchman that stalked Bond during two films of the Roger Moore era, and he’s got a health bar that feels a mile long.
Related:Best Video Game Characters Of All Time, Ranked
The only upside to Aztec is that the mission isn’t required to complete the main campaign, and can only be unlocked by completing the entire single-player campaign on the Secret Agent difficulty. For players that want to test their skills to the breaking point, Aztec is the perfect, yet brutal, proving ground.
7The Library - Halo: Combat Evolved
The Master Chief has to escort an ancient alien AI through an equally ancient library that’s been overrun by a fungal zombie hivemind, and all the hallways look the same.Halohas its fair share of difficult and tricky levels across over two decades of storytelling, but The Library reigns supreme.
Poorly lit hallways flooded with Flood Combat and Infection Forms, many of which are wielding shield-stripping plasma weapons and health-shredding shotguns and assault rifles, coming from all directions as players have to follow 343 Guilty Spark as he floats towards his objectives. If not for the Anniversary Remaster graphics increasing the lighting and adding subtle arrows to point players in the right direction, there would likely be players lost and afraid in The Library to this very day.
6Chapter 7 - Transformers Devastation
In the world of theTransformers, a combiner is one of the deadliest threats that can appear on the battlefield. With Megatron enacting his plan to destroy all organic life on earth, Optimus Prime and the Autobots are hot on his heels, but two titans stand in their way. The Decepticon combiners Menasor and Devastator have to be dealt with, first the individual Constructicons, then their combined form of Devastator, then Menasor joins the fray.
An ever-escalating threat that pushes players to use every dodge, combo, and weapon mod they’ve learned and acquired throughout the game to survive, let alone succeed. With Megatron himself forcing players into two back-to-back, one on one fights soon after, players will be numb in the hands and short of breath until they triumph or pitch their controller through a window.
5Parking Lot - Driver
Ever heard of a tutorial that was harder than the rest of the entire game? Driver has exactly that, and there’s a reason this game ruined so many weekends when it was first released. The Parking Lot has a tight time limit, little room for error, and will force players to play it over from the beginning if they mess up.
Related:Legend of Zelda: Hardest Dungeons, Ranked
With practice and a patient mind, the level can be completed with a few attempts. But the fact remains that Driver front-loaded players with its most difficult gameplay section in a mandatory tutorial level, keeping countless players from experiencing the rest of an otherwise outstanding title.
4The Suicide Mission - Mass Effect 2
The culmination of every mandatory quest inMass Effect2, the Suicide Mission takes into account the player’s decisions during the mission, right before the mission, and several choices made well beforehand. If players don’t pay attention to their choices and overlook seemingly innocuous upgrades to the Normandy SR-2, the mission is guaranteed to cost the lives of squad mates, affecting their presence inMass Effect 3.
This means players may have to re-do entire portions of the game to make the correct decisions if they enter the Suicide Mission without these upgrades and the resources to craft them. When the story is about making sure everyone’s business is wrapped up before going through the Omega-4 relay, the game was addressing the player as much as it was the characters themselves.
3World C-3 - Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels
There are several reasons why it took until the release ofSuper MarioAll-Stars on the Super Nintendo for these levels to see the light of day in the western market.
World C-3 is the embodiment of the game’s outrageous difficulty, players forced to take one blind leap of faith after another, launched from Springpad to Springpad that isn’t on-screen, separated by bottomless chasms. Nothing makes a platformer harder than not being able to see the platforms in the first place.
2Area 2 - Dam Level - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
Imagine having to swim underwater, on a time limit, without a map, to defuse bombs that are surrounded by deadly plants and electric fences. That’s the Dam Level segment of the originalTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesgame on the NES, and its reputation is well-earned. Players are given no warning and even less direction on where to go and how to accomplish their goal, leading to anxiety spikes and mistakes that cost lives and end runs right then and there.
Related:Best Disney Games Ever Made, Ranked
This sudden gameplay and difficulty shift from the previous sections of the game threw countless kids for a loop, especially with the Turtles’ overwhelming popularity at the time. For many, the ticking of the clock and the sound of the turtles losing their final health bars in those underwater tunnels is burned into their minds.
1256 - Pac-Man
The hardest kind of level is the one that’s never meant to be experienced, much less beaten. Level 256 was never meant to be reached in the original Pac-Man arcade cabinets, and the rollover of the code on the game’s board leads to 256 only half loading, with one half of the map being nothing more than a jumbled mess of pixels with no rhyme or reason.
This makes only half the map usable, rendering the level impossible to beat. For years people have tried to genuinely beat this unintentional final level, to no avail.
