History Main / DeadlyWalls

* The [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]] space shooter ''VideoGame/ArrowFlash'' had plenty in the later levels, including a winding path, and is a classic example of a game where they're your biggest threat after you've built up your weaponry (which all goes away if you die). One of the [[TitleDrop Arrow Flash]] moves gives temporary invincibility against them; just don't use it too late.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'', the notorious Turbo Tunnel is a high-speed maze of one-hit-kill walls, some flashing at the edge of the screen to warn of their approach, others deposited on the ground by flying rats. The seventh level (and the second level of ''Battletoads'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy) had deadly barriers the height of the screen with small gaps to fly through.

* The refueling tunnels in ''VideoGame/{{Parsec}}'' for the UsefulNotes/TI99.

* The Japanese game show ''Ucchan Nanchan no Honoo no Challenger'' has an event where contestants must guide a rod through a maze (of sorts) under a [[TimedMission nowhere-near-forgiving time limit]], and the rod gives off a burst of smoke if it collided with [[EverythingTryingToKillYou anything in the maze]], including the walls, a slot-machine type contraption, rods, at least 1 robot, or a pendulum. This was adapted by Saurus into an UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame running on a unique variant of the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo system with a trackball controller and blasts of compressed air as the penalty for collisions, and a UsefulNotes/PlayStation game localized by Creator/{{Jaleco}} under the name ''Irritating Stick''. Sometimes challenges of this sort appear in those NintendoHard real-life obstacle course competitions. The whole concept appears based on the classic board game ''Operation'', where the sides of the chambers are "deadly" in the sense touching them ended your turn. They all work on the same principle. Both the stick and the edges of the maze are electrified. Touching them completed the circuit and triggered the alarm.

** Also, Deadly Walls and BulletHell don't meet each other nicely. A wise player should plan out carefully, using these walls as [[TakeCover their cover]] behind the nasty bullet showers the mooks are firing. Even then this doesn'talways work well.

* The NES ''VideoGame/SilverSurfer'' is an {{JustForFun/egregious}} example of this trope. Like anything, walls will kill him in one hit, but what makes it really bad is the overhead levels, where his surfboard takes up a great deal of space and so much as grazing a wall with the back corner of it will kill him. It should also be noted it's hard to distinguish the walls in the overhead levels making it even more frustrating. And this completely ignores the fact that the Surfer's primary power in the comics is being {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le.

* ''VideoGame/CurseCrackersForWhomTheBelleToils'': In later levels (and a few hidden areas in earlier levels), there are walls made of rock with what looks like lava dripping from them. Touching them results in instant death.

* The classic ''VideoGame/Snake'', when it didn’t have the rubber-band screen.

-> "Terrain is more deadly than any bullet."
--> -- ''VideoGame/DevilEngine''

* One level of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' has a version of this. You have to move through walls of brambles in a spiral shape to reach the prize in the center. Hitting the walls at all takes off one of your [[RuleOfThree three]] [[CallAHitPointASmeerp life watermelons]] (essentially hitting you for 4HP). Sounds simple, except the bramble walls spin back and forth, making it a great feat to get in and out without dying. Not to mention you do the maze as DK, who has a pretty large hitbox, and that it’s possible to accidentally access it before third watermelon is available.
** Before that, ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' had some bramble levels. Then again, since the walls are made of bramble (which has a lot of thorns), it's justified in both games. Fortunately, the floors and walls only hurt Squawks himself when he is carrying Diddy and/or Dixie (but he will drop one of them when hit, losing a life if they're both gone). When transformed into Squawks directly, touching hazards (including bramble walls) will lose a life if the other Kong isn't "in reserve", and remove them from reserve if they are.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' had the infamous rocket barrel levels, where hitting anything would instantly kill you. This was corrected in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' where walls break when hit, costing you a HitPoint instead of a whole life.

** The addition of the WallJump in ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' added a variation to the games that came after where characters occasionally have to travel ''up'' a shaft lined with [[SpikesOfDoom death spikes]]. Most of these shaftswill also be filled with enemies and and hazards purposely designed to knock, throw or drop the player into the spikes. Examples include Spike Rosered's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and Neo Arcadia Tower in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1''.

** The addition of the WallJump from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' onward adds a variation where characters occasionally have to travel ''up'' a shaft lined with [[SpikesOfDoom death spikes]], often while also being assaulted by enemies and hazards purposely designed to knock the player character into them. Examples include Spike Rosered's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and Neo Arcadia Tower in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1''.

* The first game in the ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}}'' series had a lighter version of this : merely scratching a wall would instantly set the player's speed to zero. The following [=PS1=] games handled it a bit better, but then the collision handling became ''[[GoodBadBugs abusable]].''

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' had a variation in one level. The player must control a rocket down and then back up a chasm while avoiding running out of fuel. In the second half hitting a wall doesn't kill you directly but it does waste enough fuel that you may not make it to the end.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'', the notorious Turbo Tunnel is a high-speed maze of one-hit-kill walls, some flashing at the edge of the screen to warn of their approach, others deposited on the ground by flying rats. The seventh level (and the second level of ''Battletoads'' for the GameBoy) had deadly barriers the height of the screen with small gaps to fly through.

->''"Imagine if I were to draw a maze on a sheet of paper. I'm asking you to draw a line from the beginning of this maze to the end. You can't run into any dead ends and you can't touch any of the lines. Now while you're trying to do this, ''I'm moving the maze to the left.'' It would drive you fucking nuts."''
-->-- '''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''' on ''VideoGame/SilverSurfer''

* The NES ''VideoGame/SilverSurfer'' is an {{egregious}} example of this trope. Like anything, walls will kill him in one hit, but what makes it really bad is the overhead levels, where his surfboard takes up a great deal of space and so much as grazing a wall with the back corner of it will kill him. It should also be noted it's hard to distinguish the walls in the overhead levels making it even more frustrating. And this completely ignores the fact that the Surfer's primary power in the comics is being {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le.