Mario Games are
known for their imaginative level design, perfect platforming and
overall great gameplay. They're hardly ever mentioned in Lists
containing the hardest games though. Still the original Super Mario
Bros. 2 was deemed to hard for the West back in the day. That's why
we got a reskin of a different game sold to us as Super Mario Bros.
2.
From that well
known anecdote you can tell that Mario and difficulty isn't mutually
exclusive. In fact some levels in the modern Mario games rank among
the hardest platforming challenges you can face.
The great thing
about these is that they are often optional. You don't need to
complete them to face off against Bowser and safe Peach, but if you
want to complete the Game 100% then there is no way around it.
So while Mario is
normally seen as child and family friendly, today I want to focus on
his other side. The dark depths of countless hours and lifes lost in
the most brutal challenges the Mushroom Kingdom has to offer. These
Challenges are the crowning Achievement towering over their games as
final goals to conquer.
5: Super Mario
Galaxy 2: The Perfect Run
Super Mario Galaxy 2 improved a lot of things over it's predecessor. There were some really great ideas in this sequel and the Levels, even though they focused even more on the obstacle course platforming, were great.
On of the biggest
improvements however was the ''Post Game.'' While in the original
Galaxy game you had to collect all 120 Stars again with Luigi, this
time you got 120 completely new Green Stars to find. Given these were
only hidden away in the existing levels and not as fleshed out as
regular Stars. Despite this fact the Galaxy wide scavenger hunt was a
lot of fun. And as a reward for finding all 120 Green Stars you
unlocked the Grand Master Galaxy.
This Galaxy
offered two final Stars. One for the regular Run and one for the
Perfect Run, where you only had one Hit Point and no Checkpoints.
The Perfect Run is
the crowning Jewel in the Crown that is Super Mario Galaxy 2. It
demands you to use everything you have learned over the course of the
game perfectly. There is hardly any room for mistakes.
After an initial
two Parts where you can use Yoshi you then reach the first challenge.
A room full of Lasers and Wind, where you have to use the Cloud Suit
to carefully maneuver around. It's important to take a fresh Cloud
Suit with some Charges left into the next section, because it makes
everything a lot easier.
The following part
is the one I always struggle the most with. Switch Platforms,
difficult jumps and a bombardment from all sides make this a
nightmare without the Cloud Suit to help you out.
The Run ramps up
the difficulty in each section until you reach the final nail biter
against a gauntlet of Hammer Bros and the final three Boomerang Bros.
Beating the
Perfect Run will give you a huge feeling of accomplishment because it
is literally a perfect run. You beat the hardest level in the game
without getting hit once. And all that just to meet Rosalina... what
we do for women.
4: Super Mario
Sunshine: The Poison River
I hate this Shine so much. It's by far the hardest Shine in the whole game and it's just not fun. In comparison to the Perfect Run, which ramps up it's difficulty over time this just slaps you in the face with the worst kind of Trial & Error. It is just brutally punishing.
Your goal is to
collect eight red coins scattered across a poisonous river. Doesn't
sound so bad? I thought so too until I played the goddamn thing. You
see there are several hiccups, which complicate the whole process.
First you only have one chance to collect the Coins. If you reach the
goal without all of them, you lose. Theoretically you can go back
before reaching the goal and collect the missed coins, but two
factors pose a problem to that. First going against the flow of the
river is extremely hard and second the water lily you use to traverse
the river doesn't last forever before it disintegrates into the
poisonous water.
And the last small
problem you'll face is that Mario can't touch the water. At all. One
dip into it and you're finished.
So you have a hard
to control ''vehicle'' and a zero tolerance for mistakes. The perfect
recipe for an unforgiving, hard and merciless challenge. I know
several people, who never fully completed Super Mario Sunshine
because of this Shine Sprite.
3: Super Mario 3D
World: Champions Road
Super Mario 3D World got a lot of flak during it's unveil because it was a continuation of Super Mario 3D Lands style of Gameplay. Upon it's release most of the critics shut up however, because the game was just superb. There was only one criticism that kept popping up then and now. The Game was to easy. And they where kinda right. Apart from one level the road to the final Bowser Fight was pretty chill. But that only takes half the game into account. Because after you beat Cat Bowser (Meowser) you then travel to a whole new world. In the truest sense of the World.
The Post Game
content in Super Mario 3D World is among the best in any Super Mario
Game. The Game offers you three Worlds filled with new Levels as well
as remixes of old ones. And to top it all of, once you've collected
all Stamps, Green Stars and Level Exits, you can then head to the
true final World.
World Crown offers
a challenging Toad Stage, a brutal Mystery House and the final level
of the game.
Champions Road is
a curious case because honestly it could fit in at any place on this
top list. The reason for that is that you can make the level
tremendously easier by heading in with two Power-Ups. So if you start
the level with a Tanuki Suit and a Cat Suit the experience is
completely different than if you tackle it in your base form. This
means that the player decides how hard the challenge ultimately will
be. So with Power-Ups it would feel comfortable at the Number 5 spot,
while it can also easily claim the top spot without them.
Also the level has
only two truly challenging parts in my opinion. The second part with
the Disco Blocks and the key collection at the very end.
But it can't be
denied that this level is among the hardest in any Mario Game and
finishing it, alone or with your friends, is a tremendous
accomplishment.
2: New Super Mario Bros. 2: The Impossible Pack
New Super Mario Bros. 2 was a curious case. This and New Super Mario Bros. U were released back to back and as result they hit franchise fatigue quite hard. Also it didn't help that the game was generally very well made, but completely unremarkable.
The main theme of
the game took the challenge completely away because you always had
more than enough lives and the normal levels weren't really
challenging to be honest.
But Nintendo
offered a solution for all masochistic Mario Fans out there. New
Super Mario Bros. 2 offers a Coin Rush Mode. The goal there is to
complete a level as fast as possible while gathering as many coins as
possible. And for that Mode Nintendo offered a DLC package called the
Impossible Pack. And well... they delivered.
The Impossible
Pack features three extremely difficult stages. Unlike other Coin
Rush stages there are no coins inside the levels themselves, so the
only way of earning some is through the time bonus when you complete
a level. So not only are these stages extremely hard, but you also
have to rush through them to reach the 100 Gold goal of these stages.
The Impossible
Pack demands you to use every move in Marios Toolkit to utmost
perfection. You need timing, precision and good reflexes to survive
the courses. If you want to test your mastery of Marios Moveset then
there is no better (and harder) set of levels for you.
1: New Super Mario
Bros. U: Don't. Touch. Anything.
Now the Impossible Set tests your mastery of Marios moves to the utmost, but what if there existed a challenge that did that and also wanted you to ignore everything you about the basics of Mario that you know? Well ask no further because this challenge exists.
New Super Mario
Bros. U, just like new Super Mario Bros. 2, didn't really offer
anything new. It was a well made 2D Mario Game, but nothing to brag
about. But that is not entirely true because it did offer something
new. Something exciting. Something that was one of the best additions
to any Mario Game in a long time. It offered a Challenge Mode. This
was a separate mode with different challenges, for example collecting
a lot of One Ups, Time Attack or survival.
One set of
challenges was the Con Collection in which you had do collect a
certain amount of coins within a time limit. Until you reached the
last challenge in that set.
Don't. Touch.
Anything is, like the Name implies, a challenge where you aren't
allowed to touch anything. Touching an enemy or collecting six coins
immediately fails the stage. So you have to fight your internalized
urges to stomp Gumbas and collect coins, while maneuvering through
the level. All the while several Lakitus throw down Spinies from
above.
Completing the
level alone is extremely hard but to earn a gold medal you're truly
not allowed to touch anything.
This stage will
test your mastery of Mario to the utmost, while also demanding you to
ignore your trained reflexes. If you can manage to get a Gold Medal
here, then you're a true Mario Master.
So what stages
always give you the hardest time in Mario Games? Anything in
particular where you always get stuck? Let me know in the comments.
And as always
thanks for reading
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