A lot of video games have levels or sections that tend to be pretty tough. A lot of them can really add to the fun of the game and leave us feeling super accomplished once we finally get through the level and come out on the other side. But then, there are levels that are just plain frustrating and we don’t even feel good about it once we beat it. Instead, we’re left feeling relieved that we don’t have to keep trying to beat that section of the game anymore.
Instead of adding a fun challenge to the game, these tough and frustrating levels can really start to ruin our enthusiasm for fun games. Although the rest of a game may be a ton of fun and a really enjoyable experience, these levels do their best to ruin it for us.
To see 10 frustrating levels that ruined otherwise fun games, keep reading!
10 Rendezvous At The Museum (Dying Light)
Dying Light is a game in which the player controls Kyle Crane, a man sent to a zombie-infected city in order to track down a powerful leader who stole a bunch of classified documents. The game is a ton of fun and has a lot of focus on parkour and trying to find creative ways around the city, but there are some incredibly frustrating sections.
Luckily, the most frustrating part of Dying Light isn’t really that bad. The player is tasked with taking out a huge hoard of zombies at the museum in order to save Jade. Then, Crane has a seizure and finds himself trying to get through a terrifying and dizzying hallucination world. Between all the zombies and the warped camera effects, this section is definitely frustrating.
9 The Hotel Basement (The Last Of Us)
The Last of Us is a really fun PlayStation exclusive set after the zombie apocalypse. At different points in the game, players either control Ellie or Joel, two survivors living after a fungal infection has turned people into terrifying monsters.
The hotel basement is a section of the game that takes place in Pittsburgh and is known among fans of this game for being the most difficult and overly frustrating part of the game. Although the game is a ton of fun, this section just isn’t. It’s dark, there are stalkers everywhere, and you have to find an elusive key card without getting attacked.
8 Marble Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog)
The Sonic the Hedgehog games are all based around going fast. Sonic can run at incredibly quick speeds and can even quickly roll his way through sections of the game to get through them even faster. But, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game had a zone where you were basically forced to just wait around.
Instead of going fast through the entire level like you did through Green Hill Zone, Marble Zone forces the player to sit and wait. You have to wait for blocks to float through the lava so you can get to the other side, wait for fire to shoot up so you can run past it, and wait for big spike platforms to drop down so you can jump onto them.
7 Getting The Juice Boxes (Dead Island)
In Dead Island, players control one of four survivors as they try to fight off zombies on an island that was once a popular tourist destination before zombies took over. Players do quests for different NPCs around the island and one of them involves picking up juice boxes for a group of thirsty survivors.
Unfortunately, the juice boxes are located in a zombie-infested gas station. We know that having food and beverages is important, especially after zombies have taken over and supplies are limited, but carrying these juice boxes slows the player down and leaves you totally open to attacks, making this quest so annoying.
6 Can’t Wait To Be King (The Lion King)
The Lion King is a popular Disney movie that, like many other movies, inspired a video game back when it came out. This game was released on the SNES and the Sega Genesis and had one level that frustrated 90s kids all over.
Early in the game, the Can’t Wait To Be King level had players jumping over giraffes, roaring at monkeys to change the direction they would throw Simba, and riding an ostrich over and under obstacles. Although this game was aimed at kids, this level was incredibly frustrating because of the fact that a single wrong jump meant you basically had to start over from the beginning. Pair that with limited lives and you’ve got a recipe for a nightmare of a level.
5 Riding Derby (Far Cry New Dawn)
Far Cry New Dawn is set after the end of Far Cry 5. After the player does their best to defeat Joseph Seed’s cult, only to witness a nuclear bomb’s explosion, the world changes. This game is set in what was once Hope County, Montana, nearly two decades after the first game.
The Riding Derby section of the game has the player get into a car and ride around in a track, taking out all the other people that are taking part in the Riding Derby. Mickey and Lou have a sick sense of humor and find forcing people to take part in this entertaining. While it’s fun, it’s not easy and it can get frustrating to have to restart it over and over.
4 The Caves In Any Pokémon Game
Although the different Pokémon games are undeniably fun, there are certain sections in each game that can be frustrating for players to make their way through. In just about every game, there’s a section where the player has to make their way through a cave of some kind.
Although other sections of the game are a ton of fun and have a variety of different Pokémon that a player might encounter there, that’s not necessarily the case in the caves. It’s hard to take two steps in the caves in Pokémon games without running into a wild Zubat or Diglett which can get irritating.
3 The Mall (The Last Of Us: Left Behind)
Left Behind is the DLC for the game The Last of Us. It takes place partially in flashbacks to the time before Ellie was bit and during a time jump in the main game in which Joel had become injured and Ellie went out to try to find supplies to help him out.
Although the flashbacks are heartwarming fun and it’s nice to see Ellie enjoying herself, the section of the game in which you’re searching the mall for supplies can be really frustrating. Not only are there zombies everywhere, but there are also humans that are after Ellie and you have to find a way to take them all out, while not getting the attention of the Clickers.
2 Carnival Night Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog 3)
Carnival Night Zone is a section of levels in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. These levels have a bright, circus-inspired theme and upbeat music. Although these levels are fun, they can also be really frustrating.
There are springs and other items that can bounce Sonic back which can be annoying if you bump into one without meaning to. But, the most frustrating part of this section of levels is the fact that not all of the items are super intuitive, making it hard to know what you’re supposed to do. How were we to know you had to bounce on these barrels to make them move?
1 Water Temple (The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time)
Let’s be honest, water levels in games are never fun. For whatever reason, water levels are staples in video games and they’re almost always irritating.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a good example of a great game with an incredibly awful water level. It’s a multi-layer temple and in order to get through it, players have to constantly raise and lower the level of the water to be able to access the different levels, meaning that it gets repetitive and confusing.
