Summary
Nintendocan be considered the “King” of 2D platformers, as this companychanged the entire video game industry with their work in this genre, many that are still positively received to this day. Just because a 2D platformer may seem simple or colorful at first, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easy.
Nintendo has been responsible for some of the toughest and most frustrating – yet satisfying – experiences within the genre of 2D platformers. This is not something that exclusively happened during the days of the NES, since there are several modern titles that still challenge players as well. These are some of the best examples that can be found throughout the company’s entire history.
Giving players the tools to create their ownMariolevelswas a groundbreaking idea, and it led to bothSuper Mario MakerandSuper Mario Maker 2being some of the most beloved entries in the plumber’s long-running franchise. However, this success would come with the cost of being infamously challenging games.
While most of the difficulty in bothMario Makertitles comes from the many courses made by fans – which are often designed for very experiencedMarioplayers – the prebuild levels made by the developers themselves are also a major challenge. They work as the perfect test of patience for any new player, before they foray into the online mode and try out the courses made by other players.
The entireDonkey Kong Countryfranchise is quite challenging, but the third entry,Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!, is considered to be the least difficult one. However, this doesn’t mean this classic SNES platformer is a breeze by any stretch.
Donkey Kong Country 3shares a lot of elements with its predecessors, as this is a 2D adventure with tight level design that requires precise platforming. To make things worse, this game has a lot of crazy and unexpected gimmicks that will make things harder for players, like a level that inverts the controls, or another one in which lightning constantly comes down from the sky.
When Nintendo gave Rare the keys to the classicDonkey Kongfranchise, nobody expected them to turn it intoone of the best 2D platforming series in the entire industry. That’s exactly why the originalDonkey Kong Countrywas such a delight, as it was a refreshing take on the genre that differed greatly from its contemporaries.
Behind the beauty of its music, environments, and pre-rendered 3D graphics,Donkey Kong Countrywas hiding some of the most challenging levels of its time, with tricky enemies and carefully built designs. Any player who wants to overcome this challenge will have to master this game’s smooth yet precise controls.
The second entry in theDonkey Kong Countryseriesis often seen as the best one, so it’s curious how it’s also considered to be the hardest one in the original SNES trilogy. This sequel took everything that worked well in the original and brought it to a whole new level: graphics, music, controls, and, of course, difficulty.
Donkey Kong Country 2has some of the best levels in the franchise, which is frustrating because they’re also some of the most challenging. From Bramble Scramble to Animal Antics, every single one of these levels is as creative as it is incredibly hard. At least players can enjoy the beautiful music of this game as they lose over and over again.
An expansion forNew Super Mario Bros U(which was later turned into a standalone release)starringLuigimay seem like a silly and simple game at first, but this was not the case. WithNew Super Luigi U, it feels like Nintendo’s answer to every critic who claimed theNew Super Mario Brosseries was too easy.
This ended up being one of the most difficultMariotitles in years, and most players were not expecting this level of challenge. It was made for veterans and not newcomers. Half of the difficulty comes from Luigi’s less conventional control scheme - as he’s floatier and more slippery than his brother - and the other half comes from the crazy obstacles that most of the levels throw at the player.
When Retro Studios got the opportunity to bring back the belovedDonkey Kong Countryseries for modern audiences, it seemed like these games were going to become a tad easier. This couldn’t be further from the truth, asDonkey Kong Country Returnsmanaged to somehowbe even more difficult than any of its predecessors.
Thanks to newest technology, the game’s levels could now be longer and harder, and they’re filled with crazy gimmicks like the rocket barrel. Even the Bonus Levels and the boss battles are major obstacles. Meanwhile, Donkey and Diddy Kong can still take very few hits and will face a Game Over if they lose all of their lives. It’s a combination of old school and modern ideas, which resulted in a game so hard that it needed to add the infamous Super Guide.
That was not all. Just 4 years later, Retro Studios delivered another amazing but challenging adventure starring Donkey Kong and company.Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freezeis a true masterpiece in level design, and it is considered by many to be one of the best 2D platformers ever made. It’s also one of the most demanding games in its genre.
From beginning to end,Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freezeis an incredible adventure that’s filled to the brim with clever challenges that only get harder and harder at it goes along. Retro Studios somehow managed to make Bonus Levels and bosses that are even tougher than the ones in their previousDonkey Konggame. While this game offers some alternatives to make the experience more accessible for players – like Funky Mode - they don’t help much in the long run.
Modern 2D platformers at least have several tools that can help players should they get stuck. The same can’t be said of classic platformers for the original NES, withKid Icarusbeing one of the most infamous examples. As cute and colorful as this game is, it can get very hard very fast.
The levels inKid Icarusare very big, and the checkpoints can be unreliable, which leads to a lot of frustration. Not to mention that it is very easy to get lost in its maze-like levels, which are also filled to the brim with annoying and challenging enemies, like the Pluton Fly or the infamous Eggplant Wizard.
Adding RPG elements to a 2D platformer is a genius way to make things really difficult for players. It’s because of this thatZelda 2: The Adventure of Linkis one of the weirdest entries in the franchise, sinceit has almost nothing in common with the original adventure game, or any of the games that have come since.
Zelda 2shares more elements with 2D action sidescrollers likeCastlevaniaorMega Man, as players need to have precise reflexes to avoid and attack every enemy they find. This isn’t easy, especially because Link can’t take many hits. The RPG mechanics mean that players will have to grind and level up before they can even think about trying out some of the biggest challenges in this game, simply adding to the frustration.
To this day,Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levelsis well known for being so excruciatingly hard that it was not originally released in North America. This is a game that has become infamous on the internet, and most people who try it out are players who are actually looking for a huge, soul-crushing challenge like this one.
Sometimes it feels like every level inSuper Mario Bros. The Lost Levelswas specifically designed to mess with the player and hinder their progress. With hidden blocks in unfortunate places, small platforms that Mario will struggle to land on, huge gaps to jump over, and even leaps of faith.This is a game of trial and errorthat will forever change the lives of any players who manage to overcome it, as they will likely never face another challenge like it.
