The 10 HARDEST PS2 Platformers

10 Hardest PS2 Platformers

Welcome to MojoPlays and while we can’t remember the last time we jumped in real life, these platformers have made us realize jumping is overrated anyways. Platformers aren’t exactly known for their challenge, but it seems some developers back on the PS2 didn’t get that message and enjoyed watching players miss a single jump a hundred times.

“Rayman Revolution" (2000)

Rayman already had a reputation as a challenging 2D platformer, but his jump to 3D not only brought our limbless hero into three dimensions but maintained the same level of difficulty and frustration of his flatter counterpart. While most of the game could be considered relatively tame, it’s the random difficulty spikes and steep learning curve that can be especially frustrating, whether that be from near impossible feats of platforming or enemies unexpectedly attacking offscreen or knocking you off a precarious perch. Couple this with time trials and the collectible Lums hidden within every level, and you’ll be leaping to your death so often the “Try Again” screen will be permanently burned into your retinas.

“Viewtiful Joe” (2004)

Viewtiful Joe uses its stylish cel shaded graphics to lull players into a false sense of security thinking they’re going to have a fun superhero adventure like the MCU, only for the game to completely stomp on their superhero dreams with a crushing dose of reality like the DC Snyderverse. Players are given a set of superpowers ranging from slowing time to precision strikes and then set loose in a series of levels that test not only their skills as a newly fledgling hero, but also their patience. Enemies will routinely swarm the player, and many can only be defeated by specific skills which also have cooldowns leading to frantic bouts of simply surviving until the meter refills and you can narrowly escape death. Viewtiful Joe is a gorgeous game that makes you look and feel like a superhero, just not an invincible one.

“Pac-Man World 2” (2002)

The original Pac-Man World is an enjoyable 3D adventure that made the jump to 3D surprisingly well and was overall a pleasant experience. However, the devs clearly heard fans complaining about the lack of difficulty in the first game, took that personally, and decided to give the people what they wanted in the sequel. And they might have done it a bit too well. Besides the difficulty between levels swinging wildly between calm and chaotic, anyone attempting to 100% the game is in for some of the most gruelingly cruel platforming challenges on the PS2. The time trials are especially unforgiving, demanding only perfection from players where even the slightest mistake can cost you precious seconds. Some of these challenges are so difficult, many thought the game was actually broken upon release. You’d almost hope those pellets were some kind of medication to increase your focus surviving the Pac-Man World 2 gauntlet.

“Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex” (2001)

Crash Bandicoot is synonymous with difficulty with the marsupials original PS1 trilogy ranking among the system’s most challenging. As the first game in the series not developed by Naughty Dog, developer Traveller’s Tales maintained not only the classic humor and level design blueprint of the original games, but also the series’ trademark difficulty. In all honesty, it likely stuck a bit too much to the tried-and-true formula as much like its predecessors, The Wrath of Cortex wasn’t the only thing to be worried about during this adventure. Underwater levels and the addition of Coco as a playable character made the game almost unfairly challenging and the game’s fixed camera oftentimes with poorly designed angles led to more than a few unfair deaths and much more frustration than the PS1 games’ traditional trial-and-error style of gameplay.

“I-Ninja” (2003)

Don’t let the bright, colorful aesthetics fool you, I-Ninja stealthily sneaks some of the most devious platforming challenges under the guise of “kid friendly”. Given the game revolves around a ninja, naturally there are a myriad of ninja abilities available to players, particularly when it comes to traversing the environment. Unfortunately, this Ninja’s controls are closer to the old Assassin’s Creed games and he seems to have a mind of his own when it comes to the direction of some of his jumps. The game also heavily relies on its melee combat but will oftentimes throw more enemies at the player than any ninja could realistically handle. The game is still quite an enjoyable experience and a hidden gem amongst a sea of copycat platformers, but you’re almost going to develop real life ninja skills by the time the adventure is over.

“Alien Hominid” (2004)

Long before Cuphead, Alien Hominid was the OG 2D cartoon inspired platformer, but just like Cuphead, Alien Hominid reveled in making players see the game over screen again, again, and AGAIN. When even a single hit can kill you instantly, even keeping track of your little Alien becomes almost overwhelming and unfairly difficult with the myriad of enemies, projectiles and platforming challenges constantly bombarding the player both onscreen and off. Seriously just look at this! Even the long list of powerups the Alien can acquire do little to soften the sting of death and simple missteps can easily send you back to the start of the level as the game laughs at your failure. At least the game is a visual treat because you’re going to be looking at the same levels over and over again.

“Ratchet & Clank” (2002)

Insomniac’s Ratchet and Clank series is one of the longest running platformer series in gaming and for good reason. The quirky characters, engaging worlds, fun gameplay and inventive weapons are all some of the best in the genre and immediately enjoyable for all ages. That being said however, the original Ratchet and Clank is by far the most challenging to revisit. Not necessarily because the game is inherently difficult, besides those mandatory races which can get straight in the bin, but because of the quality-of-life advancements made in the gameplay by the follow-up Going Commando. The lack of strafing in a 3D shooter makes the moment to moment combat frustrating, but it's the lack of pause when switching weapons makes certain encounters almost impossible, especially the final boss fight against Drek when there’s so much chaos happening all at once.

“Jak II” (2003)

The original Jak and Daxter is incredibly approachable, perfectly blending open world exploration with precision platforming and intricate level design. The sequel Jak 2 is the original’s emo cousin who listens to Disturbed way too loud and skips school because they think it makes them look cool. Jak 2 is such a drastic change from Jak 1 in terms of gameplay that many struggled with the new elements, particularly the new weapon focused combat. The game suffers heavily from random difficulty spikes and the guns aren’t nearly as precise as they need to be for this style of combat. Unfortunately, the enemies don’t seem to suffer from the same problems and will routinely hit you from offscreen leading to multiple unfair deaths and even more frustration. With all these new elements, along with an unforgiving checkpoint system, Jak 2 is less of a platformer and closer to a more colorful version of Dark Souls.

“Contra: Shattered Soldier” (2002)

What would a list of hardest platformers be without a Contra game on it? So notoriously difficult it’s single-handedly responsible for popularizing the “Konami Code”, Contra is as challenging as a game series can get. Naturally this difficulty carried over into the PS2 entry Shattered Soldier, and even the modernized gameplay elements did little to sour the absolute gut punch this bullet hell had in store for players. This game both expects and demands perfection from its players, hurling moving platforms, endless waves of enemies and projectiles, often all at once, and tells the player to simply survive. Most would be forgiven for giving up after the first couple of levels but for anyone looking to actually complete the game better lock in because Shattered Soldier is more than the game’s title, it’s what will be left of you by the time credits roll.

“Maximo: Ghosts to Glory” (2002)

Based on the infamously difficult Ghosts ‘n Goblins series, Maximo Ghosts to Glory updates the original's mechanics, graphics and world, but keeps the controller smashing, make you cry level of difficulty. Much like in the original, Maximo can equip armor that acts as his health bar, the more hits he takes the more armor pieces he loses until he’s fighting in nothing but his underwear. The game’s combat is well balanced but given the limited camera controls, it’s all too easy to be taken down by a cheap shot from off screen, and the game’s multiple levels grow increasingly more dangerous and volatile as the game progresses and the bosses are unrelenting, resulting in Maximo meeting with Death numerous times to negotiate his return to the world of the living. The sequel Army of Zin somehow managed to be even more challenging, but thankfully with better camera controls this time around.

Which platformer challenged your jumping skills so much you just gave up? Share your struggles in the comments.