 C... ...that's drunk? Hi, folks! It's time once again to indulge in the Internet's favorite pastime, arguing with one another about which retro games are and are not difficult. In past videos, I've made lists for the hardest boss fights on Super Nintendo and the hardest Super Nintendo games period. And this time around I'm concentrating on the hardest levels, and just like in those two videos, broken and just plain bad games don't count. the level actually has to be competently made and reasonably intuitive for any player to complete. So yes, while Garbage, like The Rocketeer, has some stages that seem impossible, it's not going to count because that game is riddled with bad design and you shouldn't play it for any reason. The game actually has to be worth playing today, if it's going to make this list. Before I get any further, though, I need to make sure I shout out at least a few games that didn't quite make the cut. So, an honorable mention to games like Battletoads and Battle Maniacs, R-Type 3, Spider-Man and X-Men in Arcade's Revenge, Super Earth Defense Force, Iron Commando, and a few more. And those all deserve recognition for having certain sections that are a giant pain in the neck to complete. But instead, let's start with... Super Star Wars, Inside the Sandcrawler. You knew this game would be on here one way or another. This level, more than anything else, is just very, very annoying. You got Jawas coming from every direction. You have all sorts of awkward jumps that make it seem like they already had the level layout designed before they ever considered how Luke jumps and controls. And eventually, you'll get Jawas dropping bombs on you while fire comes out the walls. Then you'll reach this goofy section here where you have to destroy these guns and make a very precise jump to avoid the spikes. Next, you have to deal with these floor-to-ceiling lasers that pop on and off, and you still have Jawas tossing bombs at you from off-screen, and the level just drags on and on. It's just plain grueling, and it sums up the entire game. Out of this world, the last level. This one is a bit weird to categorize. I always referred to games like this as cinematic platformers or a cinematic run-and-gun. Blackthorn and Flashback and Prince of Persia are all in the same category. Out of this world, however, is much tougher than those games because it's one of those classic pick-up-and-die playthroughs. You progress a little bit, you die, and you hope you learn from your mistake and repeat about a thousand times until you finish the game. There's this section here where there are rocks falling on top of you, you've got guards shooting at you the split second you show up on the next screen, but this final section where you have to escape the planet with your friend is pure chaos. There's guards everywhere running in every direction, there's dudes shooting at you from the foreground, and you eventually get to your ship and everything is so disorienting, I have no idea what the heck is even happening. The final part of this game is such a massive adrenaline rush, but damn, it is really, really hard to get through. ELEVEN Donkey Kong Country's Snow Barrel Blast. Yeah, I know there's a shortcut that skips most of this level, but we all remember playing this one for the first time, which puts this one in kind of a different category than anything else on this list. I think most folks watching this have played through this game and this level in particular so many times that maybe some of you don't see this as that difficult anymore, but playing this for the first or second time or even the 20th time, it sucked. What I like about it is that it's completely fair difficulty. It's just a matter of timing, but when you screw up, you can't help but feel like a complete idiot. I remember playing this as a kid and practically getting into arguments with the barrels, shouting stuff like, ah, come on, that was totally pointed the right way, come on. And those dang wasps will forever be the bane of my existence. Ugh. 10 Super Ghouls and Ghosts, level one, stage one. Yes, that's right. Super Ghouls and Ghosts waste zero time getting straight to the difficulty. Zombies are coming out of the ground, coyotes are jumping around, flaming skulls shoot fireballs at you, and you're just trying to get your bearings so you can deal with whatever weapon you just picked up, as well as this weird, stilted jump you gotta deal with. You also have a heaping help-in of slowdown here, and some people will insist that the slowdown actually helps, but I say no, it does not. It can't. Because you never know when the slowdown is going to happen, or when it starts, and when it stops. What could a slowdown going to do when you can't change direction and mid-jump anyway? I mean, unless you're into watching yourself die in slow motion. I love this game. It's an all-time favorite of mine, but even I have to admit, it gets off to a really rough start. 9 Super Mario World Tubular. I think we all know this one. It's the infamous balloon power-up level, where you grab this P balloon, and you have exactly 10 seconds to find the next one, all while dodging fireflowers and charging chucks that are tossing baseballs and kicking footballs at you. Even once you know all the locations of the balloons, this one's still really hard, because of how Mario controls when you're in this state. Everything has kind of a delay to it. You move very slowly from left to right, and you have to anticipate projectiles extremely well because they come from everywhere, and you have to start moving well before they get near you, because otherwise you're dead. Of all the levels on this list, I think I've died on this one the most, and the thing is, it's not even that long of a level. It only takes like two, two and a half minutes to complete once you do it, right? But getting it right takes a lot of practice. 8 Pilot Wings, the last helicopter level. We go from skydiving and steering biplanes all the way to gunning down enemy turrets on a helicopter. Sure, this looks fun, and it is, but holy crap, it is stressful. You have to destroy every single one of these turrets firing at you, which seems pretty easy at first, but the further you go is just one group after another, after another, and some are even hidden by the forest below. And guess what? One hit brings you down. You're getting blasted at from all angles trying to steer this stupid helicopter, which controls like you're trying to ride an elephant, and all it takes is one hit, and that could potentially come from off-screen, and then it's game over. It's not just that, though. After you destroy all your targets, then you have to land the chopper without blowing it up. I remember this one being pretty fun when I was a kid, but playing it now, I just can't get past how friggin' brutal it is. Super Mario Kart. Donut Planes 3. If I had to pick the hardest and most frustrating Mario Kart track, it would be this one. There's two reasons why this one is so hard beyond just the original Mario Kart at 150 CC, being really friggin' hard in general. One reason is the narrow sections of the two bridges that you have to deal with, and when you've got big fat characters like Donkey Kong or Bowser in the way, they can effortlessly bump you off into the water and you're screwed. I mean, it's hard enough to make these turns as it is. Remember, the original Mario Kart has five laps per race, so you have to get through these obstacles a total of ten times without getting bumped. Seriously, one slip up and you're done. Good luck catching up. The second reason this track is tough is because of Monty Mole. There are 19 different moles scattered around the course that can pop up and make your life suck for the next eight seconds. Throw in the fact that this is a special cup race, so there's plenty of crazy hairpin turns and the AI-controlled racers are ruthless and comically fast and don't appear to be affected by the same obstacles that you have to face. I don't think I've ever finished better than fourth on this track. To me, it's by far the hardest in any Mario Kart game. Six. The Lion King, be prepared. If you've gotten this far in the game, you've already survived swinging on rhino tails that are about one pixel wide. You've gotten through the elephant graveyard. You've made it past that annoying puzzle where the monkeys throw you around, so so far you've weathered what's been a surprisingly difficult game. Who would have thought Lion King of all things would be so brutal? And then there's be prepared, the eighth level. At this point, Simba has grown up and you've got a melee attack you can use now, but it doesn't matter. You've got leopards, you've got hyenas and they take several well-timed hits to take out, all while bats come from nowhere to do damage and lava drips from the ceiling. You've also got to deal with these little mini-volcanoes before you get to a dead end. Here, you're supposed to slash at this rock up here without otherwise touching it, one wrong jump and it's instant death. Then comes the absolute worst part. You have to stand on this tiny log, slash at these bats that you can barely see coming, then fight some more lepers while the log keeps going underneath you and then hope that you still have a prayer of making it back onto the log with a leap of faith. Hey, look, we made it! Oh, whoops, gotta watch out for that boulder coming from nowhere. Jeez, this is the most comically difficult level in a comically difficult game. Gradius III, level 7. Sometimes when I revisit an old game I've beaten years ago, I seriously sit and wonder, did I really beat this game? How? Gradius III is one of those games for me. I did beat it once upon a time and I still have no idea how, mostly because of levels like this. Here, you have a series of corridors that you have to navigate and the level auto-scrolls so you have to react to twists and turns on the fly. This is already hard enough when you're fully powered with adequate speed, but if you make one tiny slip-up, you're dead. And when you start with nothing, you have to grab some power-ups and put them into your speed immediately, otherwise you're basically stuck in a loop behind this door. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Then if you're able to get past this, you still have to deal with this last plunge, complete with annoying turns and gun turrets firing at you. This entire game is really hard. I could have picked at least a couple other levels for this one, but I just hate this particular level the most. Four. Super Ghouls and Ghosts, the last level. This one is such a bastard. So in order to beat this game, you have to obtain a certain weapon, the Princess Bracelet, and in order to get it, if you're starting with just your regular armor, you have to climb up all this way with these annoying little demons popping up. You have to beat a Red Devil, then you have to beat these two things, then you get to a room full of ghosts and mimics that are freaking swarming everywhere. If you manage to get through that whole sequence without getting hit, then you can trigger this chest here and get the Princess Bracelet. The problem is, this weapon sucks. It ranges way too short. And if you die at any point after getting the Princess Bracelet, then you're just stuck with this crappy weapon and it takes forever to get rid of these birds blocking the ladders here. I mean, it's to the point where you have to start worrying about the time limit once you get to the boss. It's ridiculous. This level is hard enough, as you can see, but the fact that you have to use the Princess Bracelet because you need it for the final boss, that just puts this level over the top for me. 3 Hagane, level 5. Hagane is a really tough game all around. In fact, it's my pick as the hardest Super Nintendo game out there. But the cool thing about it is that your character is capable of a ton of different attacks and abilities. Plus, there's tons of different weapons and subweapons to pick up. And then you get to the final level of the game, which starts with random enemies dropping from the sky, then three tough mini bosses in a row. After that, the game really starts to escalate with random enemies coming out of random doors, spikes shooting out from everywhere, enemies that can shoot projectiles through walls, fire coming from wherever, buzz saws grinding up from the ground, and then worst of all, a platforming section where you race spikes coming up from the ground, followed by a spiked wall chasing you at alarming speed while you try and avoid the spikes beneath you. Whew! You better have perfected your character's mid-air somersault jump by now because if not, you are done. This section will make sure of it. Zagane is a great playthrough that has some really well-balanced difficulty for the most part, but man, oh man, this game makes you earn it. Two... Donkey Kong Country 2, Animal Antics. Well, just because Zagane is the hardest game on the Super Nintendo doesn't necessarily mean it has the hardest level. Anyone that suffered through Animal Antics remembers the pain that this level brings. It's a good idea for a level. It brings together every animal that's helped you throughout the game, giving them each one segment. You start out with the rhino as a house of fire destroying everything. Then it's the swordfish, and yeah, it's a bit taxing to get through here. The spider is pretty forgiving since you can create your own platforms, but then you get to the parrot and dear god. Just dear god. The way Squawk the Parrot controls here is completely different than any other character, and it's like you're playing a completely different game at this point. And you have to deal with the wind blowing 100 miles an hour back and forth. So the controls are super wonky. It is so freaking tough to get used to. In my first playthrough of this, I swear I died like 20 or 30 times. It is insanely frustrating, but man, it feels good to finally do it. I think Donkey Kong Country 2 is easily a top 10 Super Nintendo game, but to be blunt, Animal Antics freaking sucks to play through. Super Star Wars Return of the Jedi, the final Death Star run. Oh god, this freaking game. It's hard enough to get to this part. I mean, every Super Star Wars game is stupidly difficult. The thing is though, these games are still worth playing today, especially Return of the Jedi, which is my pick for the best of the three. You can play as Leia, Chewie, Wicket, and all the different settings from the movie show up. It's a great time. Until you have to fly the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star. You fly through this corridor with enemy ships chasing you down, getting in front of you, turning around and shooting you in the face. All while your ship goes faster and faster and the corridor gets more and more narrow. One tiny bump can send your ship careening out of control and you'll be bouncing from wall to wall, completely disoriented before you can finally regain control, only to have the exact same thing happen again 10 seconds later. Oh, and also, this part of the game is ridiculously long. You think you're doing well at the start, but then it just keeps going. You blow up the main reactor and now you've got to race this huge explosion on your way out through those same corridors. This entire sequence lasts something like 9 or 10 minutes, but it feels like an eternity. You have to white-knuckle it the entire time. And if you manage to pull it off, you will feel like you just ran a marathon. And that's why it's the hardest level in any Super Nintendo game. Alright, that's all for now. And I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day.