30 Days of Video Games

[Sean]

Day 10: Least favorite boss battle

Fuck this bitch.

Why do there have to be so many not fun Pokémon gym battles? In fact, I just want to go on record for saying that Pokémon in general has some of my most dreaded boss battles, so I can't pick just one I loathe. But Elesa takes the cake for maybe not the hardest gym battle in Black/White, but certainly the most annoying one. When you reach this point in the game, you're bound to have no Pokémon with a clear-cut advantage over her little runts, and the fact that they're some of my most hated Pokémon in the entire generation does not soothe the humiliation of being defeated by them over and over, just to have to level-grind a few more times and get my ass kicked again.

Elesa's only saving grace is that she's really fucking hot and there's so much fan art of her that I almost forget how hard she constantly curbstomped me. Oh Elesa! You kick me and hurt me and make me feel like such a lowlife but I know that deep down you will let me change you!! But your fucking flying Pikachu can get bent.

[Shane]

I could say "Silver from '06" or something, but instead I'll go with a boss from a good game.

This boss is a recurring boss...

His or her name is the rival who appears unexpectedly, usually at the end of a route or a cave and always when you haven't saved in a while and your Pokémon have low health.

He or she may or may not look like this:

The battle starts with the player hitting his or her thigh out of sheer frustration. Then, depending on how many items you have, you spend the next several minutes playing Pokémon roulette until at least some of them are healed enough to battle.

You lose this battle and you're sent back to a Pokémon Center.

Manliness -1.

Honestly, though, these battles can be pretty intense and upon winning, you feel pretty good. If not, you always have another chance later and this time you're more prepared.

The best time this happened was in the originals - just when you think you've beaten the game and your Pokémon are practically dead, it's revealed your rival got there first and you still have to fight him in the toughest battle in the game. Probably the most iconic RPG boss battle in history right there.

[Chibinuva]

Day 10 - Worst / Least Favorite Boss Battle.

Let's see, I generally like most bosses, but there are a few that just plain piss me off.

E.G.G. Station Zone Death Egg Robo

Normally, I enjoy the final boss, because even if it can be somewhat boring or cheap, the feeling of taking down a powerful monster/robot that could destroy the planet creates and atmosphere of epic. This my friends, is the ultimate exception. For one, you have to go through the bosses of the other four zones before you fight Death Egg Robo himself. While that wasn't too bad (aside from the Lost Labyrinth Zone boss,) now comes the fun part. And by that, I mean, have fun being killed cheaply by this fucker and wasting like 45 minutes trying to beat him. Oh, and I hope you brought extra lives because he eats them like candy (took me about 20 or so, not inlcuding all the times I wasted lives before having to exit.) I'd suggest playing Casino Zone Street for awhile before hand.) Finally, this boss is CHEAP. AS. HELL. Especially his dick final move where the entire floor gets smashed, meaning you have to be close enough so the floor doesn't fall out from beneath you, by far enough so you don't get crushed. The green target helps with that, but it's still a pain in the ass (especially for new players and those refusing to look it up online.) Oh, and did I mention one of the achievements requires you to play this entire level through, without taking any damage? That's right. Not a time limit, or requiring you to not lose any lives, but you can't get hit at all. And unfortunately, even if you manage to collect all the rings in this stage, I do not believe you can obtain Super Sonic, so good luck getting all the Gs in this game.

(Dis)honorable mention goes to the Sandopolis Zone Act 1 boss, which was just plan ridiculous. I mean seriously, you just stand there and wait for him to fall into the sand, jumping over him as he does so. It's stupid, pointless, with no way to speed him up, and what's more, hitting him actually slows down the "fight", since it just splits him into pieces which you then have to wait for to reassemble.

[Octarine]

I hate to give the lamest possible answer here, but I can't think of any better candidate for this one than Dark Gaia's first phase, at least in the HD version. It might not be the absolute worst boss I've ever fought in terms of gameplay (although it's definitely up there), but it somehow made a segment where you control a giant combining robot made of temples in the planet's core not awesome, and that's unforgivable.

We need Dragonzord power!

The big problems with this battle have been laid out a bunch of times already, so I'll skim over them. You're controlling a giant, slow, clunky robot that has to punch meteors to proceed, which would be bad enough if this wasn't a Sonic game, except it is so it's even worse. You have to play through the same segment three times, with the only real additions the second and third times around being points where Dark Gaia shoots lasers at you that force you to take damage. In between these segments, you're given tiny little Sonic-gameplay fragments that are just enough to remind you of what this boss should have been without actually alleviating the problem. Also there are quick-time events, though those are at least easy.

The worst part of all of this is that if you fail, and I certainly did, you're sent back to fight the Egg Dragoon again. Now, the Egg Dragoon is one of the better bosses in the franchise, and it's pretty easy to boot, but having to waste time fighting it again because you failed at the meteor-punching is totally absurd. This flaw extends into Perfect Dark Gaia as well, which is a real shame because that part of the fight is a lot better than the first.

Runner-up: Red in Pokémon G/S/C, solely because of his location. I love that he was in the game and everything, but I should not have to take three HM slaves into battle with the toughest opponent in the game.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Octarine

[turbojet]

I hope that today is going to be to the tune of the sexiest character. I could go all day.

[Ducktor Naldush]

Least favorite boss(es)?

Dynamo Man (Megaman & Bass)

Alright game, bring it on. I defeated the Dragon Boss in Megaman 2, the Yellow Devil in Megaman 1, and Dr. Wily plenty of times. I got Bass by my side, nothing can scare m...Wait. How the hell....WHAT? This boss is soooo cheap. Like every other robot masters, he has a fixed pattern, easy to figure out. But he can recharge himself to full health over, and over, and over. I die at least once every time I challenge him. Not a bad boss on his own, it's just the first hard Robot Master I ever bumped into.

Super IX (Sonic Chronicles)

Ok, you know this guy. The easiest boss I ever faced. Yeah, easier than Big's Chaos 6. At least that boss had the excuse of being...well...Big's Final Boss. I like the fat cat, but since the beginning of the game I knew that I wasn't going to face the Wrath Of God using a Fishing Rod*. This guy instead...It's just a Quick-Time-Event cutscene. You can't possibly lose. Oh, well. I can say that he is the perfect final boss for such a mediocre game.

*

Even though that would be awesome, Sega

[Kamicciolo]

Day #10 - Kami's absolute worst "Ninjashark must have personally trained it" Bosses from any Video Game

I actually kinda struggled to think of one for this spot. I don't generally let myself thing about the less pleasant bosses. Though if I'd have to pick, I'd say Dark Gaia is probably the worse boss I've played.

A good number of people have covered it already, but I'll go over it again :V. The battle starts with the Gaia Colossus flying at Dark Gaia, which is a pretty clunky experience as you slowly shift the Colossus towards Dark Gaia, while having to punch meteors and block lasers. It's a pretty annoying section, that ends up getting repeated 3 times...and leads into a QTE point where the Colossus punches Dark Gaia a few times (with very little time between the QTEs, and one failed one sends you right back to the flying section...)

After the Punching section you get Sonic running across the Colossus, which is at least passable I guess. There is a time limit on these sections which doesn't help when you first attempt it, but this part is generally simpler to play through (using the Day Stage gameplay that's familar at this point helps)

Once that section is done, you move onto Perfect Dark Gaia, who's battle doesn't fair much better in quality. It opens with a 3D Doomsday Zone styled section, which would play pretty neat if the rings weren't so difficult to see, and all the meteors and stuff weren't so blummin big that they catch ya pretty easily, but this portion lasts only a very short time as you end up flying around Dark Gaia's shield. Really, this part is kinda inoffensive...just maybe a bit too zoomed out for my liking, and the Dark Gaia tentacle things taking a few hits more than really woulda been necessary.

This section is immediately followed by an entire Quick Time Chain Event...which contains the infamous "mash button 60 times" bit. This bit really just seems more like a waste, since they could've just reused the 3D Super Sonic bit from the start to simulate hitting the hands.

All this, and it doesn't help that I think Chip turning into the Colossus was one of the stupidest things that have happened in the Sonic Series (excluding stuff from Shadow and 06). It's played like it's meant to be an all-out desperation attack on Chip's part...but it just comes across and cheap looking and pretty lame to me.

Unhonourable Mention

Time Eater - Great role in the story, neat idea for a boss, horribly executed in game. the 3D portion is really clunky and slow (Sonic barely seems to move as you go along), Rings are impossible to see yet again, and the Boss kinda lacked in any interesting attacks beyond the Arm Portal trick and the (ineffective) Time Stop move. Kinda a let down when the cutscene before it really set it up to be good.

[\Lennox]

The best time this happened was in the originals - just when you think you've beaten the game and your Pokémon are practically dead, it's revealed your rival got there first and you still have to fight him in the toughest battle in the game. Probably the most iconic RPG boss battle in history right there.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Madame Amano

[Semi-colon e]

Okay now I just finished Unleashed, Dark Gaia and Perfect Dark Gaia were fucking abysmal. The tentacle thing with Super Sonic's health bar and being blindsighted by rocks that hurt you as well as Perfect Dark Gaia's attacks was possibly the worst part of it, especially as it was timed due to the colossus. Oh and you don't even get to start with a full health bar, you can barely see the rings, and they are so close to the rocks that you might get hurt getting them anyway. At least Time Eater didn't pull off such dickery.

[PSI Wind]

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (II/EXTEND) - Hazama/Yuuki Terumi

Okay, this one is a minefield. First off, he's his Unlimited version, which means the game deliberately programmed him to cheat in order to win. I kept on dying several times due to how many hits he was able to give me nonstop (and oh boy, Hazama's good with chain attacks and combos and shit like that) damage, and his Astral Heat/Distortion Finishes were no help either. I almost thought they eliminated more HP than normal. Ughh, because of this, I'm playing Noel forever.

Oooooooh, you just brought back BAAAAD memories of him. I was able to beat him with all the characters mind you, but beating him with Carl was a fucking BITCH!

[Carbo]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

[Lady Soniko]

Day 11- Hardest stage in a videogame

nuff said for me, i'll add more when i think of some...

[PSI Wind]

Alright, please note that I have never played Unleashed HD, but I KNOW how difficult this stage is. This is ACTUAL PLAYABLE HELL! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in Eggmanland is out to kill you. And on top of that, most people take atleast 40-50 minutes just to complete it! You'll start getting tired or fatigued at that point that your reaction times might be off a bit. It's also one of the most challenging levels in Sonic history.

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Can I really go with any other level than this one?

Eggmanland (Sonic Unleashed)

Eggmanland is the very definition of a hard freakin' stage. It's one of the longest, largest, and deadliest Sonic stages in existence and combines all of Unleashed's most terrifying moments into one straight shot. Truly a final stage worthy of the good doctor.

Edited January 26, 2012 by chaoscontrol14

[Semi-colon e]

Considering I played it for the first time today, it's gotta be Eggmanland with no question. While I didn't actually die on it that much as I'd already seen footage, it's such a long level with so many traps, difficult enemies, hard QTEs, so much shit everywhere, really hard Werehog pipe sections (sadly the camera isn't too great here), and the fight with two Dark Titans at the end. I loved it from start to finish, though, I'd say it had some of the most interesting level design for either Sonic or Werehog in this game.

Runner up is the Large Cavern from Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia. It's not actually that large, and it's optional. However, it's full of some insanely tough enemies that take ages to die, and kill you in about 3 hits. You can wait out each room for a minute or so until the door opens, but you have to hit the enemies at least once, so they attack you like crazy. It's hard as hell with the flight ability which helps a lot, so without it it's pretty horrendous. Oh and there's no checkpoints, like you'd expect. There is a sub-boss at the end who can kill you in 3 hits too, but he's actually quite easy other than that. At the end you'll get treasure - one subquest requires you to get something that has 1/4 chance of appearing in a chest (in either this place or the ironically named Training Hall, which is another bonus area of some of the most brutal platforming challenges in the game), and if you don't get the item you need (Alexandrite), you need to do either this or the Training Hall from the start again ._.

[Tornado]

Labyrinth Zone

Wait, no. I probably can't do that again. Hm...

...

Fuzzy Bear - Interstate '82

Bumpy, slick road that only gets worse as the level goes on? Check. Shitloads of enemies that you absolutely cannot shoot back at, or Fission Mailed? Check. Bit in the middle which is impossible to get by if you don't have a certain upgrade on your car (without the game warning you)? Check. Enemies have weapons that have splash damage, so even if they miss they can hit near you and spin you out (and thus give perfect change to shoot at you while you regain control)? Check. Roadblocks everywhere, including ones with mounted cannons (which you also can't shoot at)? Check.

Not helping are the fact that there are cars that literally cannot complete this mission because they either aren't fast enough, can't carry enough armor, or both (and you also aren't warned about this). Look how close he was to dying, and that was a mid-sized car with decent armor.

Literally the only good thing about this mission is that you could strip your car as low as possible and sell the parts, then steal the conversion van (which was a gamebreaker in this game due to a glitch) parked at the end of the left fork near the end of the level.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Tornado

[Marcello]

Carbo, will there be a most frustrating level day? If not I think I could sort of fit what I'm thinking of here.

[Your Vest Friend]

Meh, Eggmanland honestly wasn't that hard to me. Long? Oh yes, but not hard

Given that I'm not a natural shooter person, I guess this would be my choice for hardest stage;

No, this isn't actually any of those, but there aren't many images of the game on the web.

The Bad Place/Viggo-a-Gogo (tentative) [Fur Fighters]

My God these places are just so long and hard to me. First is the undisputable hard level, the Bad Place. Basically, this is Hell, and as such there's an almost infinite stream of bears and other low-lifes just waiting to shoot and beat the stuffing out of you. In this part, you have to reignite three or four torches (which are a bitch to locate and navigate to successfully) to make the door to nothing appear. From there, you go into an apartment like area with a creepy lack of music. There are six doors scattered throughout this place, and you have to go through each in order with a different Fur Fighter, with each area getting harder and harder until you eventually get to a nightmare area based of Roofus' time as a soldier, where things get really hard. Plus, you can't switch your character voluntarily at all.

Viggo-A-Gogo...it IS hard. I remember taking weeks to get through the airship and the sub before getting to the Bond-parody HQ, and all the while I must have died hundreds of times (whether from being shot to death or falling victim of a failed QTE). Despite this, I'd hesistate to say that this is harder than the Bad Place for one reason only; by the time you get to Viggo-A-Gogo, it's possible that you've collected evey baby in the game, which is the pre-requisite for unlocking the invincibility cheat. Ergo, you can activate that and then be completely immune to everything bar the QTEs.

Interesting fact; Even with the cheat on, it's possible to die without insta-death QTEs or lethal pits; if you manage to slide down the entrance to Dinotopolis from Fur Fighter Village wrong, you may end up left at 5hp when the Dinotopolis hub loads, allowing an enemy to kill you if you don't heal quickly enough.

[Kamicciolo]

Day #11 - Kami's Ultra Difficult "Ninja should stick to Green Greens" Most Difficult Stage

Instead of picking Eggmanland like alot of people seem to be doing, I've decided IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE OF PACE! to go something else.

Personally I'd have to say the most difficult stage I've played in recent memory was the Golden Temple stage from Donkey Kong Country Returns (backed up by the other Temple stages leading up to it).

The stages all require very precise jumping on both enemies and very small and often fragile platforms over one wide bottomless pit, with even the slightest mistakes sending you all the way back to the start of the stage (and these ones can be pretty long too). However, unlike the aforementioned Eggmanland, these stages are acceptable because there challenge generally doesn't come from cheap abuse of mechanics (Werehog Pipe Balance), and since the levels are optional in the first place, there's nothing forcing you to play them bar your own wish to take on the challenge. It's those little differences that help make this a more fun type of hard stage that frustrating.

Honourable Mentions

Grandmaster Galaxy - a culmination of pretty much everything in SMG2, the Grandmaster Galaxy doesn't half put you to the test, especially in the Daredevil Run.

Guts Man's stage (MM1) - ...lets just say I did a run of Mega Man 1 (pretty much blind I might add :V), had this suggested as the first stage to tackle...and suffered for it...

[Jeffhog]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

Difficult Fun: Eggmanland - Sonic Unleashed [HD]

Allow me to join in on the fun of praising the achievements of the great Doctor Eggman.

Alright, I've gotten used to this stage up to the point where I don't end up getting killed at all, and even now it's still difficult.

But honestly? As a final stage as well, Eggmanland is insanely fun! Tearing down through this crimson carnival is an absolute joy. I wouldn't main paying another ticket to hop back into what a wild ride it is! I'd buy triple of all souvenirs!

It's even more difficult, especially for Sonic the Werehog, when you haven't levelled up your stats enough, because this level truly tests your skills, guts, and patience as you boost and slash through Eggman's fighters and Dark Gaia's spawn. It's difficult but it's a blast once you know the tools of the trade, know the (awesome) level design.

And in story mode? It leads up to an amazing boss fight with the Egg Dragoon, which I say is one of Eggman's greatest Eggmanned mechs yet! Badaaaaaass~!

notgonnamentionDarkGaia

Heck, this even takes the cake as the greatest Big Bad base I've ever seen. It perfectly reflects the childish immaturity and the ambitious side of the Doc sprayed all over the place, considering that this is practically one of, if not the closest Eggman got to world domination.

Best part: no annoying Werehog Battle theme. Instead, you are left with the epic and awesome Day and Night themes for Eggmanland to encourage you to trek deeper into Robotnik's lair to get to the last Temple of Gaia that Eggman built his base over.

This level isn't frustrating because of its difficulty, it's funstrating!

Honourable Mentions:

-Grandmaster Galaxy [Daredevil Run] - Super Mario Galaxy 2

-Complete Temple of the Ocean King - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Difficult KILL IT WITH FIRE: Water Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3D)

Already explained on Mainly because you can easily get lost for hours without end.

Dishonourable Mentions:

-Cosmic Wall [Hard Mode] - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (HOW MANY POINTS!!?)

-The extra levels of [super Mario Advance 3] Yoshi's Island

Edited January 26, 2012 by VizardJeffhog

[King Frosty]

Eggmanland. The hardest level in a Sonic game so far.The place was Sonic Hell. The Hellish length of it all. The platforming as the werehog. Bobsledding through dangerous slopes. You had to have some of your best reaction time just to beat it. It's the best level of all tiem. OF ALL TIEM. :3

[Senator NinjaShark]

Day Numbero ⇂⇂ - Ninja's Nine Circles of Hell resembling, "Kami couldn't even beat a Hatless Metool in those levels", Hardest Area/Level/Stage ever!

Cortana, Halo 3

so let us Imagine, you are a Game Designer, and you Just designed your agems residental "Annoying as Hell" Enemy. So what do you do with it?

Why, you Put Millions (and Millions) of Him into a single level and make sure said level also has the Most Confusing and Annoying Level design in the Entire Franchise!

and this is where Cortana comes into Play, Filled to the Brim with the Flood (Parasite Like enemies that can turn corpses into Zombies and Create Bigger enemies), Featuring by far the worst Level I played so far in a Halo Game, and Just to round it up every now and then having annoying Mind Screw parts wher ethe Chief Flood is talking to you.

The Star Forge, Knights of the Old Republic.

Now Imagine you also finished designing your residental "Annoying as Tits" Enemy type, what do you do with that?

Why you put it into the very Last level of your game and make sure they keep endlessly Respawning!

Enter the Star Forge, or "How to make Ninja say 'Fuck it' and run straight to the end of this fucking thing", Filled to the Brim with about the Toughest and most annoying to Beat enemies you'll face in the Game, over and over and over and over again.

I Love KorOR, I really do, But this Part was simply Dicks to me.

now Just to not have only Hard levels I hate, here is one I like

Now Imagine you, as a Game Designer, Got Fired, and a New Game Designer who has actually good and Fun ideas took your Place.

and this is Where Prehistoric Path comes into Play, alot of Other DKC:R levels can count as "Hard but Fun" levels, but I picked this since it's the first that sprung to my Mind.

reason why I put it is because for one, it's one of the ever so Populer Minecart levels, and requires quite a bit of Precision, especially if you wanna get all the Puzzle Pieces and K-O-N-G letters, Plus all sorts of Hazards like the Tar and Sinking Platforms.

and aside of that, it has a really Cool Scene with a Giant Dinosaur Egg towards, the end, it's Tricky, but fun, and thats why I like it.

[Carbo]

aaaaAAAAAARGGGGGHHHHH

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SSSHHIIIIIITTTTTTTT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNYhHJF6IEY

FUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Rayman Origins is easily a perfect representation of how a natural platform should evolve and how it should be. Platformers can only hope to be as good as this game. The control is amazingly smooth and responsive, it's got a steady flow, it never abruptly stops in the midst of playing to fuck that feel of flow, it's vivid, colorful and charming, and it has one of the steadiest difficulty curves a platformer has seen, especially considering the original was about as difficult and flowing as a boulder shoved into a drainage ditch.

Then this comes along and fucks your anus with a needle. Land of the Livid Dead is the bonus world of the game, and when you reach this point of the game, all bets are off. Getting to this world is a daring hell on it's own, but once you get your ass down into this monstrous pit of hell, the true meat of the game is revealed as an insidious, mocking, evil, twisted and relentless world that shows you no mercy what so ever. Old grannies smacking you with purses, man-eating piranhas, skull rafts floating faster than the speed of sound, killer vines, flesh eating parasites and cracks within the ground spewing fire from the core. This is possibly the hardest and most cleverly designed level I've ever had the fortune of playing that doesn't fuck around with poorly implemented design decisions, and to be honest, is actually fair. This is like taking the hardest and most insidious levels in Super Meat Boy and extending it to an absolute marathon with few checkpoints in between. This level was incredibly frustrating, but not in a way that made me quit playing. It just made me more determined to finish it.

The first section involves having to bounce perfectly off of enemies, chase falling debris to use as platforms, sliding and jumping with impeccably precise timing. The second part is perhaps the hardest part of all, where you get chased by parasites and run at a speed that puts most classic Sonic games to shame, all while jumping past and in between vines, keeping up with the insanely fast raft. Finally, the third section. A section which actually regulates things you do such as both the movement timing and falling speed due to fire spewing out at every conceivable corner.

Dissident and T-Man can attest how much I frothed in my mouth on Skype when I got to this level for the first time. It is literally hell.

Runner up:

Cave Story - Sacred Grounds.

This game had so many secrets to discover in some of the most convoluted of ways that were at times tedious and challenging all at once, but man does it reward you for it. By sending you straight to the Sacred Grounds. The sign gives you such a sincere greeting, "Welcome to Hell!" And by god is it hell alright. After spending so much time discovering all the hidden corners of the game, the ultimate reward is a no holds-barred, absolutely devastating final act. You'd probably be exhausted as shit from that challenging encounter of what you at first considered to be the final boss - The Undead Core. But no. That's not nearly enough.

If you have met all the right criteria, entering the rest house at the collapsing balcony reveals an ominous hole in the ground that wasn't there prior. Suddenly upon entering it, all your weapons you worked hard to level up for the final fight are completely nullified, and you are left maneuvering through a pit of death. This level is the ultimate example of a final exam level, where everything you have mastered up until this game is put to the test; your jetpack skills, your trigger finger, your movement and dexterity, as you navigate through three sections of a collapsing cave. The first one is fairly straightforward, as it only involves jetpacking and getting level cubes for your nullified weapons. The second one involves falling blocks though that deal tons of damage, with insidious cupids rushing at you from every angle. It's not until the third section in which you take the fight to them, and you plow yourself through a ridiculous stretch of spikes, platforms, enemies and all that other jazz. At the end of it, you need to, under heavy circumstances by traps and speeding enemies, release the hatches for a heavy press to clear the pathway and open up the exit.

But that's not even the end of it. After you have gotten through all of this, you are given one last opportunity of recovering your composure before you go and face the true final boss of the game - Ballos. A four formed, absolute terrifying monstrosity of a battle that requires your uttermost finesse. Oh, and did I mention that you have to go through all of this in one complete run and there are no checkpoints? Also, you only have the opportunity for one life refill throughout the ordeal?

Terrifying, but definitely challenging.

Carbo, will there be a most frustrating level day? If not I think I could sort of fit what I'm thinking of here.

Since we've already done least favorite and are now doing hardest, doing a "frustrating" one at this point seems like it's scraping the barrel. But yeah, if it's related to what we're doing today then feel free to go ahead since hard can go two ways.

[Marcello]

Day 11 - Hardest Area / Level / Stage in a Video Game.

Sky Keep - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The dungeon was pretty hard! The enemies were are powerful and the puzzles had me racking my brains at times. It was fun. Nothing too hard or frustrating. Just a challenging final stage. I would have loved the stage if it weren't for one thing....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFRM8upElrE&feature=related

That fucking sliding puzzle. And it was just made more annoying and frustrating by having to constantly switch rooms to move the in the correct place.

[Covskin]

I think this was mentioned in "Least Favourite Level", but its worth a mention here too.

Down The Tubes, Part 2 from Earthworm Jim.

This is ridiculously difficult, especially considering its not even halfway through the game. It starts like a normal level, but once you get in that pod, you're screwed. A long, narrow maze must be traversed, and there's a timer. And your pod is fragile. The route can be learnt, but even then its a tight race to safety. Needlessly difficult.

I'm assuming there's a "most difficult boss" later because I'm holding back on a level/boss combo.