21 Frustrating Levels in Games that Had Us Crash Out
^ Water Temple – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Every gamer knows the pain. The anger. The impulse to try to break your controller in half like a pretzel but not doing it because, I mean cmon these things are expensive! Here, we’ve baked up another “21 List” – and for this batch we’re talking about a few fist fulls of levels in games that had us on edge and wanting to eat our remote. We know there’s plenty more out there and we do enjoy all or most of the games listed – we’ve got plenty more digital trauma to share down the line.
Table of Contents
Heart of the Reich (On Veteran) – Call of Duty: World at War
Never, ever, ever have I come so close to tearing out my own hair and smashing my controller with a hammer than when I booted up this nightmare-fuel of an endeavor. CoD is no stranger to veterans being a challenge, but Heart of the Reich in World at War is a whole other beast. The first part of the level, while challenging, is almost deceptive. You take your regular Veteran-difficulty precautions and think, “Oh, ok, maybe this won’t be so bad.” Not so fast there. Once you get to the part where you actually storm the Reichstag, a powder keg of death, frustration, and rage becomes so powerful it could ignite a rocket to space. With large open views, infinite enemy respawns, limited checkpoints, and a seemingly never-ending supply of enemy grenades, this one is for the books. I died on this level—a lot. The exact amount? Couldn’t tell you. Let’s just say I lost count around 51.
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The Bridge Levels – Crash Bandicoot
Two for one—these levels are, bar none, the most frustrating, tedious, and rage-inducing in the first game by a long shot. We find our hero Crash atop a rickety old wooden bridge, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem too sturdy. Open gaps, collapsing sections, precise jumps that rely on the turtles, and unkillable hogs were enough to make any ’90s kid weep. There is, however, a hack you can use with the bridge’s ropes: carefully jump on them and walk along the sides to bypass the obstacles. But be warned— it’s time-consuming, tedious, and will almost certainly lead to a lot of unnecessary deaths if you’re not cautious.
Krauser Chase – Resident Evil 4
The most annoying and cliché encounter you could imagine before the actual boss fight. There’s a huge gate that Ashley is behind, but in order to open it you need three pieces of the lion beast (how original): one in the north, another in the east, and—lo and behold—Krauser has the last one. Throughout this section, he constantly chases you down, guns you down, and, in general, is just a huge pain in the ass. Keep in mind that at this point he’s unkillable, so emptying your weapons on him will only make the actual boss fight that much more infuriating.
Spaced Out – Crash Bandicoot 2
This level on its own is already a blood-boiling experience—featuring brutally confined platforming, stress-inducing timing, and very few checkpoints. But the real kicker comes when you try to 100% it. To unlock the death route gem, you can’t die up until that point—pretty self-explanatory. The problem? There are boxes in both the main and death routes, which means if you want all the boxes, you have to backtrack. Going forward in this game is hard enough, but going backwards—HOLY MOLEY—was someone playing a cruel joke?
Subway (second time around) – Silent Hill 4: The Room
One of the most divisive things about Silent Hill 4 is the reuse of its levels. I’m willing to overlook that, but one thing I was emphatically NOT happy about was how the second half of the game turns into a giant escort mission. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the mechanics weren’t so painfully undercooked. Eileen has a broken arm and can’t climb ladders, meaning you’ll have to traverse most of the stage without her—and then flip through your map trying to remember where the heck you left her. Add in a ton of unnecessary backtracking, and it really kills the pacing in what is otherwise a pretty solidly designed stage.
Toxic Tower – Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
This is another one of those levels where Rare just straight-up bullies you. Toxic Tower is the final gauntlet before the finish line, and boy do they make you earn it. You’re racing against a rising wall of toxic sludge while controlling the slowest snake in platforming history – Rattly feels like he’s made of wet cement. There’s no room for hesitation, no room for error. The second part of the level isn’t nearly as bad but before you get there you have to endure this giant barrel of misery.
Racing Segments – Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
My least favorite part of Sly Cooper. A slick, polished, stealth-based game emphatically does NOT lend itself to racing. I’m convinced you cannot beat these on your first run. The turning is dodgy, it’s way too easy to veer off to the side, and once you fall behind, you’re honestly better off just restarting—you’re not catching up.
Snowmobile – Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
This level was the absolute bane of my existence as a kid. You play as Shaggy riding a snowmobile going what feels like a million miles a minute. You can slow down, but you can’t stop—and even then, it’s far too easy to lose control and fly off the side. The WORST part is when you have to slow down and perfectly time a brutal jump off a ramp. Get used to hearing Shaggy falling to his death—you’re gonna hear that A LOT.
Hot Coco – Crash 3 Warped
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the jetski levels in Warped, but this level takes the cake. What makes it even worse? It’s one of the last levels. You’re so close to 100%-ing the game you can practically taste it—and this level will dilute that feeling and leave a really sour taste in your mouth. The extremely open area and the placement of bombs everywhere make it ridiculously easy to miss a box or fail the time trial. Somehow, it was made even HARDER in the N. Sane Trilogy. Grab a pillow for punching—or screaming—you’re gonna need it.
The Power-Up – Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
In a level in DBZ Budokai, you play as Piccolo, powering up to finish Raditz in battle. All you have to do is spin the analog stick—but you literally only have around 10 seconds to charge up. It’s boring, unintuitive, annoying, and, above all, way too difficult for something with such simple mechanics.
Anywhere Outside – Metro 2033
The first Metro game is easy to love when you’re safely underground, picking your way through tunnels and mutant infestations. But the second you step outside… Good Lord! Suddenly, you’re nothing more than lunch for flying monsters with absolutely zero sense of fairness. One minute you’re clearing out enemy soldiers like a pro, the next you’re ripped off the map, flung like a ragdoll, and instakilled—over and over and over. The game dares to venture outside – and that’s when you quickly become prey. A lot of my rage came simply from being constantly and arbitrarily snatched by those flying monsters, like a small animal grabbed by a hawk and dropped to my death. I’d spend minutes clearing out all the enemy soldiers, only to get picked up and and yeeted outside the bounds of the playable area. This happened many times and is honestly the worst part of an otherwise awesome trilogy.
Lily Pad Shine Sprite – Super Mario Sunshine
Despite my Stockholm syndrome for this game and its many, many frustrating—and downright abusive—areas (I mean that pachinko machine, amiright?), nothing quite floods my cereal with swamp water faster than the freaking Lily Pad Shine Sprite level. Trying to capture all the 8 red coins while fighting against the rough currents on the fast disintegrating lily pads is absolute torture. It’s hell. Every time I’ve gone for 100% in this game, THIS is the one I dread the most.
Blighttown – Dark Souls
I’m talking strictly to the newbies here – I was one once too. Your first trip to Blighttown is the true test of whether Dark Souls will make or break you. You might even learn to love it one day, but after navigating the sewers and making your way down, dodging poison darts and trying to figure out which ladders to climb down before bum-rushing the next bonfire… well, let’s just say the Queen Spider boss is the least of your problems here.
Blood Maze – Max Payne
I love the Max Payne trilogy, but like many great game series, the first entry has its rough spots before the developers ironed things out. Case in point: this one level. Playing it on console before switching to PC really was a nightmare. The platforming in Max Payne is awful. Without the instant-revert save feature, every tiny misstep—falling off that thin red line while the baby cries in the background—means redoing the whole thing. It’s truly maximum levels of pain.
The Library – Halo: Combat Evolved
Even the Bungie developers, in retrospect, talk about how padded out this level is. Seemingly endless swarms of Flood enemies in very copy/pasted forerunner corridors. It just goes ON! The level design here is weak compared to the rest of the game. A real disappointment right after the grand reveal in one of my favorite missions, 343 Guilty Spark, where the game pulls a huge twist and suddenly turns into survival horror. The Library is honestly the one level I wouldn’t shame you for just skipping if you’re replaying the game. Nobody likes this level.
The Race – Mafia: Definitive Edition
I guess you can say they stayed faithful to the original. The infamous Grand Prix racing mission from the first Mafia game was somehow made just as bad in the remake. The driving in general in this game is not meant for this – It feels like you’re trying to perform F1 combat maneuvers with a school bus. Fuggetaboutit!
Watch Mikhail’s full play-through of Mafia The Old Country
Get Seal Piece at Water Slums – Jak 2
I could’ve made an entire 21 list of JUST this game. Jak 2 is littered with frustration thanks to its unforgiving checkpoint system (see my full retrospective). Of the countless missions that made me want to quit and never look back, this one drove me to near insanity. I must’ve tried it at least 80 times before finally beating it. It’s one of those missions so earth-shatteringly agonizing that when I finally finished, I didn’t feel relief—I still felt beaten. There IS no “correct” way to tackle it. You can try shooting, riding your hoverboard, or (just like I did) punching and dashing your way through. I have respect anyone who makes it through this madness. It’s BAD.
Rusty Bucket Bay Engine Room – Banjo-Kazooie
In an otherwise masterpiece, the rusty old engine room in Rusty Bucket Bay is truly the spider at the bottom of your milkshake. Already the weakest level in a game full of gems, this particular area—especially if you’re still playing the original cartridge—can set you back a long way. The platforms are far too slippery for a game that wipes almost all your progress upon death, aside from the jiggies you’ve collected. It’s maddening that they tossed such a punishing, precision-heavy section into an otherwise brilliant level—it feels less like a challenge and more like a cruel joke.
Watch Mikhail’s full ranking of the Banjo-Kazooie Worlds below ⬇️
Demolition Man – GTA: Vice City
This is one of the most stressful GTA missions I can think of. You have to fly a freaking helicopter inside a building and plant four bombs… all within seven minutes. Seven. Minutes. One wrong bump against a wall and its instant death, your precious chopper exploding like a soda can in a volcano. By the time I finally planted that last bomb I needed a drink, maybe a vacation. Maybe a change of identity and move to a new city.
Rainbow Ride – Super Mario 64
I don’t loathe this stage like others do, but man, it does test your patience. Every time you miss a jump and plummet into the void, it’s not just the fall that stings—it’s the punishment of having to slowly float back on those molasses-paced magic carpets. A few stars here I find pretty quick and relatively painless, but others? Forget it. Unless I’m committing to the full 120-star run, those stars can stay up there gathering dust. There’s just not enough gold at the end of these rainbows.
Path of Hades – God of War (2005)
This level is sadistic. The game is already full of some pretty intense trials but picture this: you’re climbing a spiked wall while fiery souls are clawing at you nonstop, trying to drag you down. One wrong move and you’re skewered like a kebab, forced to start the whole climb over again. It’s olympic tier baloney and easily the worst part of the entire series.
Stay tuned for more
There’s plenty more where that came from. We publish at least one of these 21 Lists every single week. I like to leave these open ended as there’s plenty more frustrating levels that can be discussed in the future. Checkout some of our other lists and follow us on X and Youtube :))
