The 10 HARDEST Platforming Sections and Levels of the 2020's

The 10 Hardest Platforming Sections and Levels of the 2020s

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re getting tilted at some of the most challenging platforming levels players can put themselves through. However, we’re only including games that were released from 2020 onward.

The Great Harmoneel's Final Rehearsal

“Donkey Kong Bananza” (2025)

DK’s glorious return in “Bananza” honestly isn’t too difficult. And of the hardest Banandium Gems to earn, there are some post-game combat challenges that definitely deserve some rage. But when it comes to actual platforming, the final hidden level is naturally pretty tough. As you might expect, the level tests your skills with all five of DK’s Bananza forms. But does so with some truly aggravating hazards and enemy placements, with everything designed to make you fall, or take a lot of hits while you try to remain calm. The ostrich and zebra sections, bookending the level, are especially annoying, as they’re the easiest to die during. Still, we’re not surprised that the 3D Mario team created another ultimate challenge at the end of the game, even if it isn’t on the same level of difficulty as their previous work.

The Monster

“Ghostrunner” (2020)

Even if you get used to the first-person platforming found in “Ghostrunner,” there’s no way to prepare for the hellishness that is the game’s final level. The Monster features some of the trickiest platforming of the 2020s, which will get you extremely comfortable with dropping into the abyss. The platforms you stand on, and the walls you run across, get fairly small as the level goes on. So, you already need perfect reaction time. But then the walls start moving, and red orbs that instantly kill you start appearing, and it's all you can do to hold onto your sanity as you get stuck in this seemingly endless loop of death.

The Final Final Test Badge Marathon

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” (2023)

Although we haven’t yet gotten a new traditional 3D Mario in the 2020s, we did get a 2D one. And unsurprisingly, “Wonder” kept the legacy alive of a super hard, all encompassing hidden level, unlocked once you’ve beaten everything else. The Final Final Test Badge Marathon is a group of ten obstacle courses, each one designed around one of the various gameplay badges you earn across the game. Obviously, using them here is a lot more challenging. One section has you use the Wall Jump badge to escape rising poison, one has you sprinting across long missiles flying through the air, and another forces you to make tough jumps while invisible. Multiplayer, whether local or online, does make this easier, since you can be revived. But solo? No wonder they call it a marathon.

The Ripsnorter

“Sackboy: A Big Adventure” (2020)

For the most part, “Sackboy: A Big Adventure” is an easy game. But in comparison, the difficulty of the Ripsnorter feels like it doesn’t belong here. Essentially, it takes the fifteen trial levels that players previously completed and pieces them into one, painfully long course. You die in only two hits, though it’s more likely you’ll mess up a jump or that one of the hazards will simply knock you over the edge. And since there are no checkpoints, every loss is that much more demoralizing. Things get even worse if you're a trophy hunter. To get Gold on this level, you have to beat it in under ten minutes, which gets you the ‘String It Together’ trophy. But with how long the level is, and how easy it is to die, that makes “Sackboy” a deceptively hard game to Platinum.

Great Master Challenge

“Astro Bot” (2024)

Although not nearly as long as Sackboy’s Ripsnorter, the Great Master Challenge is a ‘more bang for your buck’ scenario. You unlock the level after collecting the 120 puzzle pieces and rescuing the 300 bots found in the base game. Things are immediately unsafe as soon as you start moving. Most places you’re actually able to stand on are dangerous, since the platform will either fall or break beneath your very feet. And it doesn’t help that enemies are constantly firing at you or trying to smush you while you navigate the crumbling environments. Basically, if you stop moving, you die. And as to be expected, there are no checkpoints.

The Divine Trials

“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” (2024)

Although criminally underplayed, there are some really tense platforming sections hidden in the corners of “The Lost Crown.” But for those wishing to truly prove themselves, Ubisoft had some post-launch DLC already planned with the Divine Trials. Not all of these trials focus on platforming. But the ones that do require perfect reaction time, during moments where it is frankly impossible to achieve. Needless to say, your time with these levels will likely feature just as much trial and error as there are swears and curses being hurled at the TV. If we had to pick a single trial as the toughest, ‘Tick, Tick, Death’ is a nasty combination of moving platforms surrounded by a sea of spikes and spinning blades that will have you begging for mercy before long.

Laser Hell

“Split Fiction” (2025)

You could argue, with its blend of genres and mechanics, that “Split Fiction” isn’t necessarily a platformer. And yet, it has one of the hardest sections of any modern game, revolving around the core principles of jumping, running, and dashing to your doom. Accurately named by fans, ‘Laser Hell’ refers to a hidden section found in the Maximum Security level. It seems small, made up of five rooms holding different laser fields. But you’ll find it increasingly easier to make a mistake and get disintegrated in the process. There’s also the added layer of this being a co-op game, meaning both players must make it through each laser field. This section was so well-hidden and so challenging that the first players to beat it were greeted by director Josef Fares, who then invited them to visit Hazelight Studios.

Path to the Nameless Town

“Hollow Knight: Silksong” (2025)

In the far North of Pharloom, you can find a village without a name. Sounds mysterious, even intriguing, no? Well, good luck reaching it. Because to do so, you have to go through the hardest platforming in a game that is famously known for making players rage. This vertical climb is mostly defined by incredibly narrow paths. Hazards like spikes, rotating gears, and thorn-covered vines dare you to move, grappling, dashing, and wall-jumping to one of the few safe spaces, for a breather you will most certainly need. There are just so many spots where it’s so easy to make a mistake. It isn’t on the same level as the Path of Pain, from “Hollow Knight’s” Grimm Troupe DLC. But it’s as close to the same level of platforming frustration that the base game of “Silksong” has to offer.

Toxic Tunnels

“Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time” (2020)

“Crash Bandicoot 4,” as fans can tell you, is a much harder game than you might initially think. And while there are a handful of levels that deserve their reputations, Toxic Tunnels stands at the top for us. As we’ve said with a lot of our entries, this level punishes anything but perfection. Jumps must be executed with precision and hazards deftly avoided, or else Crash is going to have a very unpleasant time. The level certainly has a lot going on, with electrocution, explosion, or just dropping into the river of toxic sludge all being viable forms of death. But like “Sackboy,” the difficulty increases drastically if you want that Platinum. To earn this level’s Perfect Relic, you have to break all boxes, of which there are a lot, and not die once outside of bonus areas. Oof.

The Crucible

“Mio: Memories in Orbit” (2026)

The newest game on our list, the difficulty of “Mio: Memories in Orbit” quickly got some “Hollow Knight” comparisons on release. With areas like the Crucible, we aren’t at all surprised. Thankfully, it’s another optional area, but it’s one that can completely change the game’s ending. And unfortunately, the Crucible is not a single hard platforming section; it’s two of them. Both paths are extremely long, with tricky movement to stress out over and tons of hazards to kill you, but without a single checkpoint. It’s hard to get across how fundamentally infuriating both of these paths are, causing many players to either stay stuck for hours or simply give up on reaching that alternate ending.

Which platformer from the 2020s has given you the most grief? Unload those painful memories in the comments, and we’ll see you next time!