The 10 HARDEST Collectathon Games of All Time

The 10 Hardest Collectathon Games of All Time

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re counting down our picks for the ten hardest collectathon video games of all time. While the term collectathon could cover a wide variety of genres, it’s generally most understood in the 3D platforming space where specific collectible items are necessary for progression or completion. So, that will be the focus for this list. Let’s dive in!

“A Hat in Time” (2017)

Despite “A Hat in Time’s” cartoony veneer, it’s a surprisingly dark 3D platformer where some heavy themes bubble just below the surface. Oh, and it’s also loaded with collectibles that will take a fair bit of time to gather, spread across some massive, diverse worlds. You see, as Hat Kid, it’s up to you to recover your lost Time Pieces in order to make it back home. This, of course, kicks off your world-spanning adventure. “A Hat in Time” features the aforementioned Time Pieces to collect which act as the main progression collectible. Hat Kid can also spend time finding Yarn, Badges, various Pons, Time Rifts, Relics, Color Palettes and more. These various collectibles can provide new ability-equipped hats, currency, expanded movement options, and more. It’s a deeply layered collectible system that consistently rewards exploration, especially since backtracking to previous levels is often encouraged.

Platform Gems: https://www.youtube.com/@PlatformGems

“Snake Pass” (2017)

2017’s “Snake Pass” might be a left-field pick for a list of collectathons since it features a lighter load of items to collect by comparison. However, this one is considered hard due to the unique movement and traversal whereby you can’t actually jump or platform in the traditional sense. Instead, as our adorable snake and helpful bird friend, you can only slither around the creative stages, using the game’s physics engine to clamor up, down, and around various structures and obstacles in order to progress. On paper it may not sound that complex, but in practice, it’s a deeply nuanced and complicated physics-driven traversal system that requires loads of patience and practice. Your main collectibles will be Gate Shards (keystones and gems) to beat a level, Blue Orb Wisps, and Gold Coins. These may not be as numerous as other collectathons on this list but you will have a doozy of a time gathering them all, none-the-less.

World of Longplays: https://www.youtube.com/@worldoflongplays

“Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy” (2001)

Where “Jak II” and “Jak III” went in a more 3D action-adventure trajectory, “The Precursor Legacy” leaned on the full power of being a 3D platformer with oodles of collectibles that take our eponymous duo hours upon hours to collect. To put it into perspective, the game has 101 Power Cells, 2000 Precursor Orbs, and seven Scout Flies in each level. You could also count Eco here since it is a gameplay-specific collectible. So, as you can see, there’s a lot for our duo to gather up. The thing that makes the first “Jak and Daxter” game so hard as a collectathon game, apart from the large number of central collectibles, is that fact that each level is massive to explore, many items are locked or hidden behind environmental puzzles or just-out-of-reach areas. The overall non-linear nature of the game (while enjoyable) can make it tough to fully grab everything the game offers players in terms of collectibles.

Loopy Longplays: https://www.youtube.com/@LoopyLongplays

“Psychonauts” (2005)

This cult classic 3D adventure platformer starring Raz, from the bizarre, quirky developer Double Fine is a real gem that needs to be experienced. But, if you are hoping to completely beat this game in full then it’s going to take some grit and patience. Apart from just throwing loads of collectible items at the player - things like Figments, Emotional Baggage, Memory Vaults, Cobwebs, PSI Cards, Arrowheads, and more - many of these collectibles can only be obtained via tough-but-fair skill-based platforming challenges in tandem with non-linear gameplay, for the most part. In all honesty, it’s super duper hard to actually keep track of the double digit collectibles in this game which can be quite overwhelming. Fortunately, all of these collectibles feed into the central gameplay or narrative in some shape or form, which means you do feel compelled to get as many as you can.

Global Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/@YTGlobalGaming

“Yooka-Laylee” (2017)

Where “Yooka-Replaylee” made collecting everything this game throws at you more streamlined, telegraphed, and easier to nab, the OG 2017 version of this game was a real battle if you hoped to fully collect everything it offers. The difficulty in this collectathon is two-fold: firstly for the game’s premise of expanding storybook worlds which requires you to backtrack in order to expand the already massive levels, opening up new routes, new areas, new items to collect – all while remembering where everything was during the first pass. Secondly, this game (like many others on this list) is just chock-full of collectibles for Yooka and Laylee to gather up. From Pagies to Quills to Ghost Writers to Mollycools to Power Extenders to Play Coins to Arcade Tokens, there’s a cornucopia of things to collect if you want to fully experience this rough-around-the-edges, but fun 3D platformer.

Retro Longplays: https://www.youtube.com/@retrolongplayer

“Banjo-Tooie” (2000)

“Banjo-Kazooie” was certainly not an easy game when it came to collecting everything it had to offer, it’s hard to argue that “Tooie’s” bigger size, interconnected world, more complex gameplay mechanics, and loads more collectibles easily the harder collectathon. Backtracking is really the name of the game here, which, for some players is a boon and for others plays is frustrating. Taking the interconnected approach, Banjo and Kazooie must scour every nook and cranny of this creative platforming playground in order to obtain every Jiggie, Glowbo, Cheato Page, Move/Ability, Note, Egg, Feather, Honeycomb, and Jingo. Now, sure, not all of these are needed to progress, but they do always tempt you with their allure of 100 percenting an area. Plus, many areas of the game have you split up Banjo and Kazooie which throws another wrench into the works as you seek to find every last collectible in this game.

Retro Longplays: https://www.youtube.com/@retrolongplayer

“Sly 2: Band of Thieves” (2004)

The “Sly Cooper” series might not have the staggering number of collectibles like other games of its ilk do; but make no mistake about it, the items it does have to collect as Sly and the gang take quite a good deal of work and effort to obtain. Where the first game, “The Thievius Raccoonus” was pretty straightforward with its level-based collectibles (and keeping track of them), “Sly 2’s” more open-nature (and more playable characters), makes things much harder all-around. You see, instead of the collectible Clue Bottles being collectible in each individual stage like the first game, it’s the game's large hub worlds that now hide them, with 30 in total for each new hub area. This, as you imagine, requires you to fully grasp (and purchase) each ability for Sly, Bentley, and Murray if you hope to actually explore the intricate (and well-hidden) parts of each hub. Then, the game features challenging Treasures to obtain which are much more rare. These are really the only two central collectibles apart from the regular loot and coins spread about the game’s hubs and levels. But, given “Sly’s” stealthy 3D platformer gameplay experience, it’s not just a simple run-and-jump affair. As I mentioned before, each playable character has particular moves that you need to purchase with coins if you hope to fully explore every area completely.

LongplayArchive: https://www.youtube.com/@longplayarchive

“Super Mario Sunshine” (2002)

Okay, we did think about putting “Super Mario Odyssey” on this list instead of “Sunshine” due to the sheer number of Power Moons to collect all throughout the game; however, gathering all of the Shine Sprites and Blue Coins in “Sunshine” is generally tougher all around, mostly because it’s honestly quite tough to contend with FLUDD. Getting to grips with platforming around each tropical-infused stage battling goons and collecting goodies in tandem with FLUDD’s one-of-a-kind mechanics is divisive to say the least, and really hard to master. Whereas utilizing Cappy in “Odyssey,” while unique and super fun to be sure, isn’t really all that challenging once you get the initial hang of it. Some of the Shine Sprites in “Sunshine” are downright grueling to obtain. And, as we mentioned before, those Blue Coins challenges truly take the pineapple upside down cake here.

LongplayArchive: https://www.youtube.com/@longplayarchive

“Donkey Kong 64” (1999)

For many collectathon fans out there, this is likely the game that your mind conjures up when you think of hard collectathons. Not only does “DK 64” feature a staggering boatload of very-specific collectibles to find and obtain, but you are required to gather many of them with individual Kongs which means tons of backtracking and trying to retrace your steps to remember where you saw ‘such and such’ collectible. Be it Bananas, Banana Medals, Blueprints, Boss Keys, Fairies, and more, you can easily see why “DK 64” is a doozy of a collectathon. The game features well over 1,000 specific collectibles…yes - 1,000 plus. Crazy indeed! This is a gargantuan undertaking if you hope to achieve that coveted 100%. You’ll have a blast doing it to be sure, but you better get out your notebook to keep track of everything. Good luck!

BeardBear: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardBear

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

It’s hard to think about any collectathon that would be harder in terms of both the number of collectibles and the amount of gameplay challenge that you need to contend with, but “Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time,” while not having nearly as many as “DK 64” is a full-on challenge fest to not just beat this game regularly, but to fully complete it, collecting everything single item along the way. Apart from easily being one of the hardest platformers of all time, it’s also a ridiculously punishing collectathon that requires absolute mastery of every single character, ability, level, and more. You see, “Crash 4” has layered collectible systems for each level, which basically means you can just go through a stage once to gather up every Gem, Relic, Flashback Tape, and the like. Sure, you can more easily get every Wumpa Fruit, Crate, and Aku Aku Mask, but that’s just the start of the pain for completionists out there. Crash and pals must fully grasp every single time ability while memorizing each tricky level in order to get through unscathed and in a quick time, again, all while collecting all of the other items. Heck, I can barely even get through this game to just beat it normally, let alone collect everything.

LongplayArchive: https://www.youtube.com/@longplayarchive

So, what did you think of our picks for this list? What are some of the hardest collectathon games you have played? Let us know in the comments.