The 10 HARDEST 3D Platformers To 100 Percent

10 Hardest 3D Platformers to 100 Percent

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re counting down our picks for the 10 hardest 3D platformers to 100 percent complete.

“Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves” (2005)

“Sly 3” might seem like an odd, leftfield choice when your mind conjures up 3D platformers that are tough to 100 percent. However, once you dig a bit deeper into this experience, you’ll soon realize “Honor Among Thieves” is super challenging to fully complete. The majority of this 100 percent difficulty comes from the game’s many Master Thief challenges, each of which requires you to master every character’s unique skills, often with heavy precision and tight time limits. Toss in the sheer variety of gameplay, the notoriously difficult vehicle sections, and plenty of collectibles, and you have yourself a recipe for a tough 100 percent platformer.

“Psychonauts 2” (2021)

Where the first “Psychonauts” was mostly straightforward with its 100 percent completion (despite some hard-to-obtain collectibles and tough end-game challenges), “Psychonauts 2” really ups the ante. Our plucky protagonist Raz really has his work cut out for him in this more open-ended and beefy adventure. The bane of many competitions is the reality of missable content. Well, “Psychonauts 2” features missable content, especially the oodles of Emotional Baggage Tags and Baggage itself, as well as the tough-to-track Figments. If you proceed past certain narrative intervals, you likely won’t be able to return to certain mental worlds in order to hoover up the needed items to get 100 percent completion. Combine these things with a mastery of Raz’s psychic powers to access certain areas as well as the PSI challenge markers, and it’s clear “Psychoanauts 2” is down for some sheer mental gymnastics.

“Yooka-Laylee” (2017)

Where 2025’s “Yooka-Replaylee” made finding the game’s many collectibles much more palatable, this OG 2017 version of this game can make you pull your hair out in frustration as you try to collect every single Pagie, Ghost Writer, and Quills. “Yooka-Laylee” features massive 3D platforming playgrounds that would expand later on in the game as you obtain more Pagies and move the story along. The game never really did a great job at signposting where to get all of the collectibles. Even if you were a pro at gathering all of them, you still had to deal with the game’s punishing old-school arcade-like mini-games, mine cart sections, and a bevy of tonics and abilities to hoard.

“Sonic Adventure 2” (2001)

“Sonic Adventure 2” is unique in that its 100 percent completion requirement really doesn’t come down to finding a cornucopia of hidden collectibles; but instead, requires sheer mastery of Sonic’s repertoire of moves and blazingly fast abilities. You see, in order to fully wrap up this game, you need to gain the coveted A-rank on every single mission and stage in the game; no easy feat indeed. The word strict would be an understatement when it comes to the parameters to achieving A-rank for every level in this game. “Sonic Adventure 2” also features some RNG when it comes to treasure hunting, some upgrades are tough to come by, and of course, pouring endless amounts of time and energy into your Chao garden. Good luck!

“Sypro: Year of the Dragon” (2000)

Now, by and large, “Spyro” games really aren’t all that difficult, especially when it comes to getting 100 percent in each game. However, “Year of the Dragon” decided to make getting 100 percent completing a grueling task. Where the “Spyro” games that preceded this one were fairly straightforward, with plenty of signposting for collectibles, “Year of the Dragon” makes things so much harder. The collectibles are all that bad to get here but you will surely have trouble with the skill-based mini-games, discovering every single dragon egg, and mastering every playable character’s abilities. This game is just harder all around and you can only get the game’s true boss fight and ending via 100 percent completion.

“Jak II” (2003)

Come on, you knew this would be here, right? The first game, “The Precursor Legacy” was a cake walk compared to its grittier and moodier sequel. “Jak II” almost feels and plays like a completely different game in the beloved series. Apart from the game’s darker tone, it’s also made extra difficult in its 100 percent completion requirements. Unlike other games on this list, fully wrapping up “Jak II” mostly comes down to the game’s overall sheer challenge level, brutal difficulty spikes, and frustratingly tough open-ended stages. Oh, and of course, escort missions. We all love those, right? Where you are trying not to get pinned down during city exploration, working to just stay alive during hectic firefights, or trying to hoover up every single Precursor Orb, it’s quite clear Jak and Daxter aren’t going to have this be easy for them.

“Banjo-Tooie” (2000)

Don’t get us wrong, “Banjo-Kazooie” was not an easy game to fully complete 100 percent. However, “Banjo-Tooie” truly ups the ante here, mostly down to a more open-ended platforming experience with massive worlds to explore and loads upon loads of backtracking required by our titular duo. Seriously, good luck trying to obtain all of the Jiggies and Jinjos in this game. “Banjo-Tooie” often feels like one big cryptic puzzler where you are never fully sure of how to fully complete a world. You are forced to remember where hidden collectibles are which, again, means so much backtracking. Plus, you have to remember when and where to use our duo’s transformations in tandem with their arsenal of moves. “Banjo-Tooie” is an exercise in sheer attrition when it comes to 100 percent completion.

“Super Mario Sunshine” (2002)

Can we just get this right out of the way? “Super Mario Sunshine” is just a demanding and tough game all around, and easily the hardest of the 3D “Mario” platformers. Of course, these factors are all also true if you hope to ever get 100 percent in this 2002 GameCube game. Much of the challenge comes from mastering FLUDD’s mechanics, something that requires patience, precision, and skill in equal measure. Yes, getting all of the Shine Sprites is tough in its own right (with plenty of brutal secret stages galore), but it’s really the Blue Coin challenges that take the biscuit here. Hopefully you are writing down how many you have obtained and where you found them, and where you still might be missing one or two…or twenty. Good golly, “Super Mario Sunshine” seems to actively want you to fail in your desire to fully complete this otherwise magical 3D platformer.

“Donkey Kong 64” (1999)

For most 3D platforming fans out there, “Donkey Kong 64” is the poster child for 3D platformers that are insanely difficult to obtain 100 percent completion. This is the collect-a-thon to end all collect-a-thons. Seriously, this game is just overflowing with things to hoover up. Oh, and you can only collect every single item in this game by using every single Kong, which often means loads of backtracking and plenty of mental gymnastics to do so. Just for funsies, here’s a rundown of all of the game’s many, many, many collectibles: golden bananas, boss keys, battle crowns, banana fairies, banana medals, blueprints, banana coins, rainbow coins, the Nintendo coin, the Rareware coin, pearls, and the general, everyday bananas and balloons. My goodness! Talk about having your work cut out for you!

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

So, you thought “DK 64” was the hardest 3D platformer to get 100 percent completion? LOL…nope. For our money, we have to say that “Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time” is the pinnacle, the peak, the gold standard of downright brutal 3D platformers to fully 100 percent complete. While it may not have quite as many collectibles to obtain, and while the game’s many levels are linear by nature, it’s the way in which you must absolutely master every single move and ability in this game for every single playable character. The parameters in place to hoover up every single box, gem, and relic and just ludicrous here, kind of like the game doesn’t want you to actually fully wrap it up. If you are perfect in every single level then you won’t 100 percent this game, full stop. Oh, and let’s not forget the N. Verted mode as the additional cherry on top of this gargantuan sundae.

So, do you agree with our picks for this list? What are some of the hardest 3D platformers you have played that took forever to 100 percent? Let us know in the comments.