One-liner
From the frustration of F-Zero GX's impossibly hard missions to the bane of every Zelda fan's existence in Majora's Mask's Great Bay Temple, the list details the misery endured by players across various titles, crowned by universally reviled water levels.
Key insights
Introduction to Gaming Tribulations
Warbuck40 begins the video with a tongue-in-cheek reference, contrasting the joy of gaming's best moments with the dread of its worst. Using various games as examples, this segment sets the stage for a journey through agonizing levels that put even seasoned gamers to the test.
Specific Violators
F-Zero GX Story Mode
F-Zero GX's story mode is highlighted for its drastic spike in difficulty after the second mission. The level design is considered punishing, with highly aggressive AI that tests player limits, exemplified by a particular mission likened to the plot of the movie “Speed,” with a bomb rigged to explode if the racer's speed drops. Warbuck40 admires those who've conquered this challenge, despite the underwhelming reward of mere cutscenes.
Mario Party's Control Stick Minigames
Mario's hand is the villain behind Mario Party's painful control stick minigames, which induced hand blisters due to the N64's poorly designed joystick and prompted Nintendo to distribute gloves to prevent lawsuits. This painful memory earns a spot on the list for physical damage rather than in-game difficulty.
Halo's Flood Levels
Cortana in Halo is cited as representing the ire of Flood levels across the Halo series: insufficient ammo, monotonous aesthetics, and irksome enemies. The exhibit of the Flood illustrates a common low point in FPS campaigns, which diminishes an otherwise fantastic gaming experience.
Pikmin 2's Submerged Castle
The Submerged Castle of Pikmin 2, with its invincible Water Wraith, captures the essence of anxiety in gameplay. Its relentless pursuit and instant destruction of your Pikmin squad are termed disastrous, making it a morbid high-rank on this distressing list.
Kingdom Hearts' Atlantica
Kingdom Hearts turns the Little Mermaid's Atlantica into a musical annoyance, where famous tracks are shunned for dismal original songs. This imaginative failure, combined with bizarre character transformations, haunts players with an experience far from the magical Disney norm.
The Legend of Zelda's Water Temples
Water-themed dungeons from The Legend of Zelda series represent the pinnacle of player ire. With Majora's Mask's Great Bay Temple edging out Ocarina of Time's Water Temple for the top spot, the underwater controls and tedious lead-up quests make this renowned Zelda feature an unwelcome aquatic ordeal.
Key Quotes
- "F-Zero GX is hard as balls."
- "In Mario Party, (...) it wants the hands of others to suffer the same fate it has."
- "Who doesn't love doing this [in Halo]—hey, come back here, I just want to talk to you!"
- "The water wraith (...) is one of the few creatures that actively hunts you down, is completely invincible, and anything in his path is crushed and killed instantly."
- "Water levels just suck."
Make it stick
- The haunting image of Mario Party's joystick causing actual physical pain has become synonymous with poor game design.
- The invincible Water Wraith of Pikmin 2 embodies the primal gaming fear of being pursued by something you can't defeat.
- Kingdom Hearts' Atlantica is a classic case-study in how a creative license can go awry when original content overshadows beloved classics.
- The Legend of Zelda's water dungeons are a universally acknowledged standard for infuriating level design, setting the high-water mark for gaming frustration.
This summary contains AI-generated information and may have important inaccuracies or omissions.