30 Days of Video Games

[Bria]

Day 11: Hardest Level/Area/Stage

Sphere 211

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Ok, while this isn't exactly just one area--I still found it extremely hard. Once you beat the game, Star Ocean opens up to a bunch of side quests. I managed to beat two of the three extra dungeons in the game except for Sphere 211. First of all, the name says it all. This place has 211 floors and every ten or so floors is a miniboss you have to face. All the bosses are boss monsters/people/whatever you've fought in the game once before, but much harder this time around. Each floor has five types of designs; each one having some sort of treasures to unlock extra attacks, healing items, weapons, and other things. The main objective in each floor, aside from battling the levels' boss, is to find the next floor teleporter.

It just takes a very long time to get towards the top, and once you do you have to fight the strongest boss in the entire game; the Ethereal Queen. I have never fully beaten this area. I've gone up to floor 180...something before putting my controller down. Any place that has over 100 floors is enough for me.

[Serperior]

I could honestly write about every stage in X6 and it would fit this day's criteria, but I'll keep it to the hardest one. Blaze Heatnix's stage from Mega Man X6 is the hardest stage in my opinion, and here's why. Imagine a boss rush stage, where all of the bosses are massive, have tiny weak points (You see those green spots? Those are the only damagable parts on the boss, and you have to take them out individually), the rooms all have really awkward layouts so they're hard to maneuver around, and in some cases, you also have to worry about not falling off of a platform into instant death. That's Blaze Heatnix's level in a nutshell. Blaze Heatnix himself is pretty hard for similar reasons as well, since he also summons instant kill lava in his fight as well....from the ceiling, making some of his attacks insanely hard to avoid. All in all, it's an insanely hard level for all of the wrong reasons.

Now for a level that's hard, but has an excuse to be. As others have said, this level really feels like a test to show how well you've learned everything there is to do in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and while it is a really difficult test due to some hard to avoid enemy placement here and there, some pretty tricky platforming and some hard to pull off moves needed to get by in some places, and all of this with no checkpoints and a single hit as well, it fits considering it's the finale to the game and all but it's still worth mentioning as a really difficult stage.

Honourable mentions:

Elecman.exe's stage (Mega Man Battle Network): Solly went into detail about this earlier, but I find it pretty difficult as well so I'll give it a mention as well. The darkness gimmick in combination with the limited battery life you're put on (AKA Being able to heal goes away after walking around the network for so long) makes for a stupidly hard combination, since you have to spend a lot of time running around trying to find the invisible pathways, not to mention having to go back and reset puzzles if you fail at them, which you usually will since there isn't much indication on what you're meant to do on them.

[Solly]

This level isn't just hard, but it's hard for all the wrong reasons. I don't understand how human reflexes are capable of carrying a person through this stage on their first time. Yes, the Perfect Run in Mario Galaxy 2 was hard, but theoretically, if you're really really good at Mario Galaxy 2, you could use your own skill and wits to get through it on your first try.

Eggmanland, however, is impossible to be ready for. It is SO MUCH harder than anything else leading up to it. I must not have adequate reaction time, but I can't fathom a person playing this stage for their first time and not dying on something.

I think there are other, harder games out there, but Eggmanland is the only specific level I can pinpoint as being the hardest out of the games it's from.

[Ducktor Naldush]

Hardest level/stage:

oh well, at least I used a different image....

Eggmanland.

I know, I know, it's starting to get redundant but please, try to understand! I STILL HAVEN'T FINISHED SONIC UNLEASHED BECAUSE OF THIS LEVEL! I...I just...can't...get past that...abomination....Screw you Eggman. SCREW YOU.

Coming to think of it, SU was Eggman's finest hour, wasn't it? I mean, he stopped Super Sonic, splitted the planet in half and then created this. Well played, Doctor.

Edit: I remembered another hard level that made me rage back in the days.

Corona Mountain (Super Mario Sunshine)

I had the patience to complete this game by finding every blue coin in Delfino Island. But, good lord, do I hate this stage sooo much. The platforming section at the beginning is easy, and so is the last part. But there is a catch: the middle session involves you trying (and in my case, failing miserably) to guide a boat by using the FLUDD. I went to the underwhere a shittilion of times before finally getting the chance to face Bowser.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Phantom Nald

[Nix]

Eggmanland's not hard, it's fucking bullshit and I refuse to choose it as the "hardest stage ever" when the only "difficulty" it has is of the fake variety.

So instead I'll choose the Grandmaster Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy 2. This on the other hand is a difficult stage done right because it's a test of your skill, not your memory. It's tricky, yet I never feel cheated when I die, because I'm the one who ultimately caused my demise because of my lack of patience and caution, not the game. Plus, a test of your skill and what you've learned is a wonderful way to finish off a wonderful game.

That being said, I can't wait until I get to some of the stages mentioned in this topic (Rayman Origins and Super Mario 3D Land specifically), they sound like a blast.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Nix

[#EndyGate]

>Hasn't played Unleashed or Galaxy 2

>Feels out of the loop

{insert picture that i was too lazy to find here}

Dr. Badboon's Space Base - Super Monkey Ball 2

Basically it takes all of the difficulty from levels before it, and cranked it up a bit, these levels are creul, horrid, and completely merciless, though if you got that far, you should be able to make it through. Though, I've heard that levels in the original Super Monkey Ball were a bit harder, though sadly I never got a chance to play it.

Banana Temple (World 9-1) - Donkey Kong Country Returns

>Zero Checkpoints

>Tiny platforms in the form of strawberries, blueberries, and cherries, as well as bananas that move in and out of the background

>Enemies, everywhere (some even placed specifically to hinder your platforming)

Welcome my friends, to your worst nightmare. Though this level is beautiful, with a wonderful remix of Donkey Kong Jr. in the background, it can be quite dificult to actually travel through it, I haven't even made it through yet.

[SuperStingray]

Hardest Level: Vanquish - Challenge 6

I give credit to Vanquish for being the hardest game I've played on its top difficulty level, but even its side challenges push you hard. Through struggle and strife I've beaten the first five challenges unlocking a sixth challenge- the final and hardest of all. The first phase pits you against ten robots scattered around a battlefield while Dr. Manhattan turns invisible and hunts you down with a blade, often appearing out of nowhere to strike you. Next phase, a Bogey appears and fights you with 10 helicopter robots. I figured out how to take out the helicopters easily, as they die instantly from an EMP. Third phase? About seven or eight Romonovs- every kind from flamethrower to rocket to drill approach you with vehement rage. I can't describe the rest because this is as far as I've gotten; the entire battle is littered with potential OHKO attacks and guess what? No checkpoints.

Edited January 27, 2012 by SuperStingray

[Shoot em up Capbusta]

The Mystic Ruins in Sonic Adventure mad be frustrated at times. As a kid I had trouble finding those statue things for knuckles so he can go to lost world. The first statue was easy to find since it was right there in front of you but the second one was hell to find. I didn't know where the fuck that second statue was and I searched everywhere for the damn thing and I couldn't find it. It took awhile but I eventually found it hidden in some cave like corner. The thing was that the way the textures were presented it didn't even look like a cave at first, I thought it just a wall*crappy ass graphics*.

Then in SA2 I had trouble with one of the treasure hunting levels playing as rouge. It wasn't hard but that damn timer mad me so nervous and I would get pissed off every time the chaos emerald would spawn by the are with all the lasers. Yeah I hate that level

[null]

Day 11 - Hardest Level/Area in a Video Game

Fortress - Aero Fighters Assault - Nintendo 64 - 1997

(I know the picture isn't that great, so have a video instead)

This is kinda pushing it in terms of being considered as a boss, because from what I can gather, the fortress is the boss itself, and Le-Ostro is its name. Yeah, don't ask me. This game is the fourth and final game in the arcade vertical-SHMUP series known as Sonic Wings in other non-American regions, and apparently this "boss" appeared in a console-version of the first game. If you know anything about this series, then pat yourself on the back for being more informed than me.

For the 12 years that I've owned this game, I could never beat the 3rd stage. I would leave sticky notes on the TV asking for my Dad's help in beating it, and proceeding to watch him play the rest of the game. But then 2 years ago, I happened to just play it on a whim. And I beat it. With no help required. I was satisfied that I had conquered one of the few remaining beasts from my childhood. Then the 4th stage came, and it was a breeze. I knew for sure that nothing was going to break my stride from beating this game after more than a decade later.

And then this stage shows up and rapes every orifice in your entire body.

My memory of this stage is hazy, but I remember a fuck-load of turrets, a fuck-load of enemy jets spreading their chaff everywhere making them a bitch to take down, and mountains. Oh god, those polygon mountains. You don't even get health taken off if you crash into the ground/enemy/water/buildings in the game, (If I remember correctly) but they show up out of fucking nowhere when you're focused on something else. And don't get me started with this game's fetish for impossible time-limits. The video I posted? Yeah, no, the guy playing that is more skilled than I am, end of story. He even has the time to show off that he can switch camera angles while taking down shit. I can't even keep it switched for more than three seconds before I get scared that I'm going to crash in that spontaneously-appearing building that I mentioned earlier.

Granted, I have not played the other games in the series, and this was the first and last 3D installment of AF/SW before the developer Video System disbanded, so I'm assuming this wasn't a very good game in the first place.

Runner-Up: Tubular (Super Mario World)

Edited January 27, 2012 by Ricky

[Swiss]

I've seen Land if the Livid Dead get a few mentions but I have to say...I had hardly any trouble with it. D: Once you've memorised the timing and jumping patterns it's pretty much a piece of cake, I found. Mecha No Mistake is the true hell level of Origins in my eyes. SO MUCH RAGE

[Autosaver]

DAY 11 - Hardest Area/level/stage - World 8-7 New Super Mario Bros Wii

This level can go dive into that hot lava. World 8-7 is extremely frustrating and annoying when you play with 4 friends. It doesn't help my friends try to pick me up and dump me into the lava EVERY SINGLE TIME. Or, they just jump on me which makes get hit by the lava. This is a hidden level, and you skip half the world by finding the secret entrance. I guess they had to ramp up the difficulty for this level. This level is actually quite fun if you don't die. What was Nintendo thinking when they made this stage?

ROLLER COASTERS

BOTTOMLESS/1 HIT KO PITS

TONS OF LAVA

RIDES THAT DETATCH AND JUMP INTO THE LAVA

PERFECT

[Gregzilla]

Day 11 - Hardest level

The Kid's Levels (mainly the first one) from Super Meat Boy -

Look at it.

Look at it.

JUST.

FUCKING.

LOOK AT IT.

Super Meat Boy consists mainly of levels that are supposed to take several tries, but in reality a complete run of a level should only take about 30 seconds to a minute. I had tried to beat this series of levels in 3 separate playthroughs, and they each lasted about 40 minutes long. When I finally triumphed, I felt like a king among gamers. My life in reality hadn't gotten any better or worse, but at least I rest easy knowing it's not hanging over my head. Though I have yet to beat the dark world version of the final stage.....

I can't really think of any runners up, cuz this is the one stage(s) that came to my mind immediately, and everything else pales in comparison.

[Mandyrobin]

I can't remember anything recently in terms of a hard level or stage. However, I do remember what gave me a lot of trouble years ago.

Cannon's Core

Cannon's Core was the only stage in the entirety of Sonic Adventure 2 that I could not get A ranks in. The stage used to irritate me so much. It was a very tough stage to get through ten years ago and the thought of needing all As really didn't sit well with me. Thankfully, the Dreamcast version didn't require Cannon's Core to be in all As to get 180 emblems. My younger sister was better at this stage than I was.

[Indigo Rush]

DDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sky Canyon and it's boss.

They together can go jump off a cliff. which is incredibly easy because 90% OF SKY CANYON IS OVER BOTTOMLESS PITS.

The level itself is bad enough, but then try collecting all of the hidden Special Rings. FASDADGREASFA.

It's a pain in the arse, and I do NOT like it.

...and I guess Eggmanland is up there, as well. :L

[Chooch]

This stage in the original Viewtiful Joe destroyed me an innumerable amount of times during my first playthrough. The Magnificent 5, as vaguely hinted by the title, is a boss rush stage presented close to the end of the game. The game expects you to run through and defeat powered up versions of four end bosses you had fought previously. This time back to back with no save points in between. Once that's over, you go up against the final member of the Magnificent 5, Fire Leo. Guess what? He's at least twice as hard as all of them combined.

There was one point where I thought completing The Magnificent 5 was impossible for me. I don't think a level in any other game has genuinely gotten me to that point other than this one.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Chooch

[turbojet]

Final Fantasy XIII

Chapter 6

FUCK Vanille and fuck Sahz.

If you don't understand, this is the part where the group becomes separated and the player is stuck with weak ass Sahz and annoying as hell Vanille. It is bad enough that these characters are without a doubt the weakest characters at this point and can't do a damn thing against a shit ton of mooks that might as well be bosses. When you get to the actual bosses of the chapter, you want to break the damn disk in half. The fuck!

[Noir]

I find it hard to believe that all the people choosing any Sonic level that isn't Eggmanland have ever played any other game in their entire lives. But anyway,

Hell / Sacred Grounds - Cave Story

My memory of Cave Story is very very distant. I think my first and only time playing it was almost five years ago, so I have a tough time recalling specifics of why this level is so horrible. But I just know it. The immense frustration of dying countless times is one thing I haven't forgotten. It's a very fitting ending to the game, and earns its difficulty not through bad design and cheap deaths, but a real concentration of all the skills you've accumulated and then cranking up the challenge. Beating the level is truly a fantastic feeling. Though I never did beat the boss, and I kind of want to replay the game just to do that now.

Honorable Mention:

The Gauntlet - BIT.TRIP RUNNER

[Autosaver]

@The Pyro

I can see why people are choosing Sonic levels other than Eggman Land. One example (that is above your post) is reasonable. A late level stage with TONS of bottomless pits. The level also has a boss that can instant kill you. Talk about cheap.

I also think some people might be picking other levels from their "Hardest Level" list. Seeing something other than Eggman Land posted 40x over and over is quite pleasing and adds a variety to the topic.

[Sean]

Day 11: Hardest video game level

Mission 7 in F-Zero GX is just one of those levels in a game that I love so much that I have never been able to beat, nor will I ever muster the patience or inhuman skill to conquer in my lifetime.

At first glance, it's just your typical grand prix race. However, apparently the game developers decided that players should not be allowed to win it. Therefore, the race is fucking rigged for your convenience. CPU racers are faster than you, have infinite boost, maneuver perfectly in ways human players just cannot do, and slaughter you with reckless abandon to ensure that your health bar whittles down to a sliver at any given opportunity - even just mere seconds after the race starts. F-Zero GX has one of the stupidest, most insanely difficult, not fun story modes I have ever experienced in a video game, but mission 7 is god damn impossible. The dev. team hates you and they decided that sacrificing their first-borns in order to possess this video game with the most vile of hell demons is a superior alternative to letting the player win their stupid little story mode.

This isn't like Super Meat Boy where you can build your skill and learn from your mistakes - F-Zero GX is unfair, pure and simple. I stopped trying to beat this mission because I don't want to take my hatred out on the game itself, which is otherwise a fantastic racing game.

[Shane]

I feel really bad doing this right after Sean, and I was probably gonna do Eggmanland or something, but upon reading that post I was reminded of how terribly-difficult F-Zero GX's story mode actually is. I do not remember beating Mission 7. My current save file is still stuck on Mission 2 for crying out loud, but Mission 7 is the worst, most unfair level I've had the unpleasure of experiencing. Like Sean pointed out, the fact that apart from the story this is an otherwise fantastic racing game (and my personal favourite F-Zero).

Why the developers felt the need to add a "all the players cheat" level to this monstrosity of a story mode is forever beyond me. I think I need to bust out the Action Replay soon.

[Jeffhog]

DDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sky Canyon and it's boss.

They together can go jump off a cliff. which is incredibly easy because 90% OF SKY CANYON IS OVER BOTTOMLESS PITS.

You get used to it after so many years. -.- At least I can get through easily now, but one false move...

The level itself is bad enough, but then try collecting all of the hidden Special Rings. FASDADGREASFA.

Great concept, but shittiest execution to get into a Special Stage ever. It's already a perfectionist chore for Sonic to begin with, but the fact that you have to get all of the Chaos Emeralds five times to actually 100% this bitch, that's too much.

And because it was practically begging for the occasion...

[Sami]

Day 11: Hardest video game level

Mission 7 in F-Zero GX is just one of those levels in a game that I love so much that I have never been able to beat, nor will I ever muster the patience or inhuman skill to conquer in my lifetime.

At first glance, it's just your typical grand prix race. However, apparently the game developers decided that players should not be allowed to win it. Therefore, the race is fucking rigged for your convenience. CPU racers are faster than you, have infinite boost, maneuver perfectly in ways human players just cannot do, and slaughter you with reckless abandon to ensure that your health bar whittles down to a sliver at any given opportunity - even just mere seconds after the race starts. F-Zero GX has one of the stupidest, most insanely difficult, not fun story modes I have ever experienced in a video game, but mission 7 is god damn impossible. The dev. team hates you and they decided that sacrificing their first-borns in order to possess this video game with the most vile of hell demons is a superior alternative to letting the player win their stupid little story mode.

This isn't like Super Meat Boy where you can build your skill and learn from your mistakes - F-Zero GX is unfair, pure and simple. I stopped trying to beat this mission because I don't want to take my hatred out on the game itself, which is otherwise a fantastic racing game.

I remember the only reason I ever beat that level to begin with was because by sheer stroke of luck, I won by accident. I was trying to drift for some extra speed and hit a land mine that launched me forward past the finish line in first place.

Never trying it again. XD

[Chibinuva]

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

Hardest fun stage

I'd have to go with Eggmanland (Wii.) This stage, while hard, provides a fun challenge. I'm especially fond of the werehog levels, since to me they give off an espionage vibe, what with the sneaking around, running across platforms, and that music. The day stages weren't as fun, but I still enjoyed them.

Controller-throwing hard

This stage, it annoys me to no end. Be it trying to move those stupid gears, falling onto spikes/bottomless pits, getting crushed by machinery, or cheap deaths thanks to those slicers. I don't generally hate stages, but this one was just so hard. It's actually the reason I have yet to complete Sonic 2 (as Sonic or Knuckles.)

[Phantomime]

SACRED GROUNDS (Cave Story)

I have never beat this level. The sign at the beginning, "Welcome to Hell!" is NOT a joke. This is by far the hardest level in the game. Fast falling rocks that take out a chuck of health, enemies are everywhere, and tons and tons of insta-death spikes. And then you get to the TWO HARDEST BOSSES IN THE GAME, Heavy Press, and Ballos.

CORONA MOUNTAIN(Mario Sunshine)

This is a bad level. The spike and fire bit at the beginning is fine, if very hard, but then you get to the BOAT. It throws physics out the window and goes wherever the hell it wants, and one touch breaks the boat and throws you into the lava.

GRANDMASTER GALAXY ACT II (Mario Galaxy 2)

This is a good level. It is incredibly hard, you have one HP, and a long, dangerous struggle to the end. Nearly every challenge the game has thrown at you gets mixed in with others, and made even more likely to hit you. It's the ultimate challenge, but not unfair.

Edited January 27, 2012 by The Spy

[Lucky]

Day #11 - Hardest Level

So, after I made my the other day, I decided to give Ecco the Dolphin another whirl as I hadn't played it in years. And part of me thought it probably wasn't gonna be as hard as I remembered, because... come on, after all these years and the amount of games I've played since, it's gotta be a lot easier than it was when I was a kid, or heck, even a teenager. So I fired it up... got past the first stage without many hitches... and then reached the next level and suddenly realised it was worse than I remembered. Much, much worse.

Most of the levels definitely qualify as some of the hardest things ever, but worst of all is the one I mentioned yesterday... Welcome to the Machine, otherwise known as Hell.

No videos can show you just how much of an utter nightmare the stage is to play, but it does give you an idea of just how sadistic the people who designed this were. You have Vortex coming at you from all directions, and if one of them touches you, you're dead. Back to the beginning of the level. The walls are trying to kill you. Even the the camera is out to get you, constantly misdirecting you and leaving you with a split second to get out of whatever tight corner it's tricked you into before you get squished and have to start the level over. AGAIN. Honestly, it was kind of a waste of time to even keep the health meter at this point in the game as pretty much everything is gonna kill you on the first hit.

And the worst part about it is just how many times you're forced to play it. It's bad enough that you have to start the stage over again every time you get killed on the level itself, but the fact that the game transports you back to the start of it if you get killed on the final boss is just plain mean.

Although The Tube is definitely a close contender, not to mention the most horribly claustrophobic thing ever:

Don't get me wrong, I do actually love the game. It's just that it pulls a lot of dick moves (especially in the later levels) that leave you feeling so frustrated. But it's got such a wonderful atmosphere to it and when you do manage to complete something, you get a lot of satisfaction out of it.