The 10 HARDEST SNES Levels

Extra 1: Poochy Ain’t Stupid

“Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island” (1995)

Despite the name of this level, Poochy is in fact, very stupid. Although considered easier than many other Mario games of the time, Yoshi’s Island has some deceptively difficult levels, especially the extra levels players can unlock by obtaining enough points in the main levels. Nearly all of the Poochy Ain’t Stupid level is covered by lava, forcing the player to ride on Poochy’s back across the molten floor. The challenge is increased by the auto scrolling of the level and the constant need to rely on Poochy to not only follow, but keep up with the player, all while dodging enemy attacks and the deadly lava. Poochy will routinely get stuck on obstacles or charge headfirst into dangers leading to many unavoidable deaths at the pups' paws. So yes, Poochy is indeed stupid.

Stage 6

“Contra III: The Alien Wars” (1992)

Given this is Contra, you naturally expect a challenge, but even by Contra standards, this is just cruel. As the final level of the game, Contra III throws everything it has at the player, quite literally in most cases, flooding the screen with screen with enemies and projectiles, but the worst is yet to come. After narrowly surviving the base enemies, Contra III drops not one, not two, not three, not even just four, but FIVE increasingly difficult bosses at you one after another. Keep in mind, this game was released before save states, meaning if you died once, that was it, back to the start of the level. How anyone managed this back at release is absolutely insane. And if you wanted an additional challenge, and why would you, if you played the game on hard, the final, final boss had an extra stage.

Dark World Ice Palace

“The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” (1991)

The early Legend of Zelda games can already be fairly difficult, with very little direction given where to go next, but simply even FINDING the Ice Palace was a challenge unto itself. After somehow uncovering the warp in the southeastern part of the map, players are then required to navigate the chilling depths of the Ice Palace. Besides the maze-like layout of the dungeon, the Ice Palace lives up to its name and the many icy floors make not only traversing the dungeon more difficult, but also narrowly avoiding the many obstacles and enemies littered within. The entire Ice Palace is designed for trial-and-error, leading many players around in circles until they happen to fall to the correct level below. Those who complain about the difficulty of Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple clearly haven’t navigated the Ice Palace.

Donut Plains 3

“Super Mario Kart” (1992)

Although the original Rainbow Road easily could have easily made this list for starting our longstanding trauma with the recurring multi-colored hellscape, Super Mario Kart has one much more challenging and frustrating level that infuriated racers far more: Donut Plains 3. The track itself is incredibly narrow compared to the rest of the game and is filled with both water and grass hazards that can greatly slow you down. Combined with tight turns, rubber banding AI who seem unaffected by the track’s many hazards, the other players constantly bumping you off the track AND Monty Moles, the little bastards, Donut Plains 3, especially if you’re attempting it on 150CC, is probably the closest many of us came to snapping those fragile Super Nintendo controllers in our tiny hands.

Secret Mission 2

“Pilotwings” (1991)

On the surface, Pilotwings appears to be a fairly straight forward flight sim, something especially impressive back on the Super Nintendo. However, for those who unlocked the game’s Secret Mission 2, suddenly you’re piloting a helicopter behind enemy lines and need to eliminate every enemy turret without taking a single hit or else it’s game over. Compared to the rest of the game, the helicopter’s reaction time is incredibly slow, leading to dozens of unfair deaths as enemy turrets are relentless and oftentimes, even hidden offscreen. And to top it all off, after surviving everything else the game has to offer, you then need to land the helicopter without completely destroying it, or else you’re right back at the beginning. This was childhood PTSD.

Level 7

“Gradius III” (1991)

Much like Contra, you expect a challenge when you boot up any Gradius game, but Level 7 from Gradius 3 is sure to send even the most dedicated fan over the edge. Level 7 starts out innocuous enough, with the usual waves of enemies flooding at you in predictable patterns, but it’s when you head inside the massive structure within the level, things start ramping up. Now, not only are you surviving the onslaught of enemy ships and the usual bullet hell assault, but you also must navigate the twisting and winding corridors filled with turrets, multiple gates and the increased speed of the game’s autoscrolling. All this hell culminates in one of the game’s toughest and most unpredictable bosses and its bouncing orbs. Gradius is not for beginners and Level 7 separates the casual from the hardcore.

Death Star Escape

“Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” (1994)

Every Super Star Wars title is incredibly hard, but for the final level of the final game of the trilogy, the developers really wanted fans to feel the pressure. And suffer. The final Death Star run is without a doubt the most devious and frustrating level in the entire trilogy. The corridors are incredibly tight, and the constant stream of explosions can completely blind you, leading to multiple unfair and unavoidable deaths. This is because if you even barely touch one of the nearby walls, the Millenium Falcon will begin pin-ponging around the stage until you regain control, only for the same thing to happen again. This is also the longest level in the entire game, with zero checkpoints. Die, and it’s back to the beginning. Not even the force will be able to help you here.

Animal Antics

“Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest” (1995)

The Super Nintendo Donkey Kong trilogy have some truly difficult levels, but few manage to reach the same level of unfair frustration as Animal Antics in Donkey Kong Country 2. While an interesting concept, a level dedicated entirely to the numerous animal companions in the game, in practice, the level is a nightmare. The Rambi Rhino and Squitter Spider aren’t terrible as Rambi is a powerhouse and the Squitter can create its own platforms, but Enguarde the Swordfish is naturally more difficult simply for being a water level. However, without question the worst is Squawks the Parrot. Not only is Squawks already difficult to control, made worse by the entire level being covered in spikey vines, but there is also a seemingly hundred mile per hour wind that constantly switches direction to contend with, sending Squawks directly into the spikes or the dozens of Zingers lining every pathway. These are truly the worst kind of “animal antics”.

Be Prepared

“The Lion King” (1994)

Theoretically we could have included any of the levels from The Lion King game on this list for making our childhoods miserable, such as the notorious “Can’t Wait to Be King” level, but for those who managed to survive long enough to reach the end of the game, your struggles were far from over. Despite being a fully grown lion by this point, Simba is still incredibly underpowered compared to the numerous hyenas and leopards blocking your path who can take quite a bit more punishment than the future king. The level is filled with lava pits, lava eruptions and even lava dripping from the freaking ceiling, all of which need to be avoided. And if you manage to survive all of that, you then need to precariously ride a platform through the lava and finally hopefully remember the random boulder with your name on it at the end. No matter what you think, you’re not prepared.

Tubular

“Super Mario World” (1990)

While the base game of Super Mario World can offer a fair amount of challenge sometimes, none of these compare to the levels in Special Zone, in particular, Tubular. While the level starts out normal enough, once Mario grabs the Power Balloon, he must then hover and maneuver his way very slowly, due to his delayed reaction time, around a constant stream of obstacles and projectiles hurled his way. Oh, and not only that, but you also need to constantly refill your Power Balloon every ten seconds or drop to your death. Because there’s very little if any form of solid ground throughout the level, even a single hit is enough to send Mario into the pits below. Mercifully, the level is short, but that’s really only after multiple tries. Hopefully you stocked up on extra lives before attempting this deceptively difficult gauntlet.

Which Super Nintendo level challenged you the most? Share your frustrations in the comments below.