Frustrating Levels In Otherwise Great Games

Video games are an excellent medium for people to relax and have a few hours of fun, so it’s a real shame whenever a quality title features an unexpectedly challenging level where this feeling can be ruined in seconds. Most people can appreciate a good challenge, but sometimes a specific segment may not respect the established difficulty curve or may just be flat-out badly designed.

Almost every good video game has that one frustrating part that comes really close to ruining the overall experience, and it has happened to even the most critically-acclaimed titles in the industry. There are many frustrating levels that could be used as an example of this unfortunate phenomenon, but the following eight are some of the most infamous ones.

8

Chapter 3: The Burning Ground (Bayonetta)

Awful Quick-Time Events That Come Out Of Nowhere

Back when it initially released, Bayonetta felt like a true evolution of the hack & slash genre, thanks to its stylish combat system and bombastic boss battles. On the other hand, however, its level design left a lot to be desired, and the third chapter of the adventure, titled The Burning Ground, is a perfect example of this.

This level takes place in a city that has been completely shrouded in fire and manga by the boss Fortitudo and, as a result, almost every enemy is covered in flames that will burn Bayonetta when she touches them. This is already quite annoying, but the worst part about this chapter are the occasional Quick-Time events that come out of nowhere during unpolished platforming sections, and they give players little-to-no time to react. The entire game is riddled with these frustrating segments, but Chapter 3 is definitely where this unpleasant mechanic is at its absolute worst.

7

Atlantica (Kingdom Hearts)

A Confusing Water Level With Lackluster Combat

The original Kingdom Hearts became an immediate success for many reasons, and one of them was the different worlds based on popular Disney movies that Sora, Donald and Goofy have to visit. While players really enjoyed levels like Agrabah or Halloween Town, there’s one that lives in infamy among them, and that is Atlantica, the world based on The Little Mermaid.

The layout of this underwater level is extremely confusing and most players get lost in this massive aquatic labyrinth. If they want to access certain specific areas by riding on the dolphin, they’ll have to defeat every single Heartless enemy in the Undersea Valley, which can be extremely tiresome at times. And while the swimming controls of Atlantica are not that bad, the combat in this level feels very limited, since Sora can’t use fun mechanics like Summons or Special Abilities.

6

Rush Hour (Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time)

Way Too Long And Overwhelming

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was a return to form for the Crash Bandicoot franchise and a worthy successor to the original PS1 trilogy. But it was not without its flaws, as this game has been heavily criticized for its extensive levels that take too much effort and time to complete 100%. Furthermore, level 29; Rush Hour is the culmination of this game’s glaring issues.

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Contradictory to its own name, Rush Hour is just way too long, as it can take even the most seasoned Crash Bandicoot players more than 10 minutes to complete, which is uncharacteristically long for this franchise. The worst part is that players don’t even get to control Crash in this level, but they are forced to play as Dingodile and Tawna instead. These characters are usually fun to play as, but extensive levels like this one reveal that their individual mechanics can feel quite unpolished at times. It would’ve been a lot more reasonable to divide Rush Hour into two levels, one for each character.

5

Poison Pond (Donkey Kong Country)

Missing One Thing Can Turn This Level Into A Nightmare

Donkey Kong Country

Systems

Released

November 24, 1994

The original Donkey Kong Country is one of the best 2D platformers of all time, thanks to its beautiful music, revolutionary graphics and a challenging – but fair – difficulty curve. But this doesn’t mean that every single one of its levels is perfect, because there’s one underwater course on which most players can get stuck, and it’s called Poison Pond.

The water levels in Donkey Kong Country are already quite frustrating because of their limited controls and unreliable physics. But things are even worse in Poison Pond, since there are many enemies swimming around and the paths are way too narrow, so players will need to be extremely precise with their movements in order to succeed. There’s a secret passageway at the very beginning where Enguarde can be found, which makes the overall experience a lot less aggravating, but not by much.

4

The Meat Circus (Psychonauts)

An Escort Mission Combined With Precise Platforming

Psychonauts is an excellent 3D platformer that is brimming with creativity, and this can be especially seen in its many mental worlds that depict the bizarre psyches of the many charismatic characters of this world. Furthermore, the final level of the game, Meat Circus, combines the backstories of the main character, Raz and the main antagonist, Coach Oleander.

The final result is quite aesthetically pleasing, but it’s very infuriating on a mechanical level. Raz will have to protect a young Oleander from being attacked by bunny demons, which is quite annoying in itself. But on top of that, he will have to access the different parts of the Meat Circus by going through some really challenging platforming segments that require precise timing from the player. The combination between an Escort Mission and a ruthless platforming challenge did not work well at all, and it resulted in a disappointing final level for such a solid video game.

3

Pachinko Game (Super Mario Sunshine)

Unreliable Physics At Their Absolute Worst

Mario may be the undeniable king of platformers, but this doesn’t change the fact that most of his games have at least one infamous level that fans would rather skip. Super Mario Sunshine is the plumber’s second foray into 3D platforming and, while it may not be as iconic as Super Mario 64, it is still a masterpiece of the genre. However, it is infamous for its physics, which can occasionally be quite clunky and unreliable.

There’s a fair share of optional courses where the awful physics of Super Mario Sunshine can be frustrating, but there’s nothing worse than the infamous Pachinko Game. The player has to navigate a Pachinko machine while collecting 8 red coins, but there’s a catch: There seems to be an invisible force that is constantly pushing Mario towards the outside of a board, and the unpredictable physics of this game don’t help at all. This small change makes the entire level feel completely random and almost impossible to control.

2

Can’t Wait To Be King (The Lion King)

A Deliberately Hard Level Meant To Artificially Extend The Game’s Length

The Lion King for the SNES is often considered to be one of the best games based on an animated movie: It has beautiful 2D graphics, its soundtrack sounds just like the original film, and it features some really fun platforming levels. However, every single person who has experienced this game, especially back in the day, has grown to despise the second level: Can’t Wait To Be King.

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There are many elements that make this level so infamous: Meticulous platforming on top of giraffe’s heads, confusing puzzles with monkeys in the trees, annoying obstacle courses while riding on an ostrich and much more. And the fact that Simba dies on just one hit didn’t make things any easier. The worst part about this ruthless difficulty spike is that it was completely intentional by the developers, since Disney and Blockbuster had ordered them to artificially extend the game’s length in order to prevent players from renting it and beating the entire adventure in one sitting. This is the rare occasion of a level that was purposely designed to frustrate the player.

1

Temple of the Ocean King (The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass)

A Horrible Level That Has To Be Visited Multiple Times Throughout The Adventure

Every Legend of Zelda game has one dungeon that is infamous among fans, and Phantom Hourglass is far from an exception, since it features what might be the absolute worst in the franchise. This is a real shame, because this Nintendo DS exclusive was positively received for its unique control scheme, innovative mechanics and incredible graphics, but the Temple of the Ocean King was enough to sour the experience for anyone who has played it.

The main gimmick of this dungeon is to navigate it while using the titular Phantom Hourglass, which lets Link explore without taking damage from the curse. But there’s a timer that is increasingly going down, and this adds an overwhelming sense of urgency to the level. The main enemies of the Temple of the Ocean King are the Phantoms, which can steal Link’s sand and decrease his timer if they hit him. This can be avoided by using really clunky stealth mechanics that make the gameplay all the more tedious.

All of these elements are enough to make this dungeon one of the most excruciating levels in the Zelda franchise, but what’s even worse is that the Temple of the Ocean King is a recurring dungeon, meaning that Link will have to navigate it at least 5 times throughout the game. This repetitiveness is extremely tedious, and it unfortunately ruins what was otherwise an excellent DS game.

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