History Main / PlatformHell

* The BrutalBonusLevel of ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'', Yoku Man's stage, fits this. Not only does it include the iconic disappearing[[labelnote:*]]"yoku"[[/labelnote]] block puzzles of the classic series, but contains several twists deliberately designed to mess with the player--one of the first obvious ones being that the background music contains the iconic sounds of the disappearing blocks. Others include [[ChestMonster enemies disguised as yoku blocks]], [[SpikesOfDoom yoku spikes]], enemies that create {{Fake Platform}}s (and some Fake Platforms that simply exist to begin with), [[AlienGeometries a labyrinth section that connects to other rooms within it inconsistently]], and finally a boss that will appear to die from being shot, only to attempt to reappear on top of the player ([[InterfaceSpoiler keep an eye on the boss's health meter!]]). It's also [[MarathonLevel a LONG level]].

* ''[[http://www.kongregate.com/games/Eggy/the-unfair-platformer The Unfair Platformer]]'' - ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, though more like a homage as many sections are rather easy once you've figured out where the traps are.
* ''[[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1fSJrIxFM&feature=PlayList&p=07D13F6ABF7F1853&index=12 Super Kusottare World]]'' [[/index]] - That's just a video of the very end of one level, and a hack that's seemingly so badly designed it took said video maker about 5 hours to get past one jump. It's all but unplayable even with save-states. The maker gave the game to someone to review on Platform/YouTube. The reviewer became so incensed at the game that he abandoned the project halfway through and told the maker never to contact him again unless the hack was edited. Kusottare is a swearword that roughly means 'bullshit' in Japanese.
[[index]]

* [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5GKNJQA5cu0&feature=channel_page Springboard and Shells Hack]]. Yes, just that name, but freaking hard as hell. That video is a tool assisted speedrun the hack creator made of the last level, which makes you dodge almost endless halls of spikes while bounce on enemies, entering doors in mid air by bouncing off keys and blocks and having between only 50 and THREE seconds to beat each room. Then there's the boss...

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OPVqVSDHRU The Vein Popper]] - Another hack that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. It begins with having to move to the right after beginning the game or else you die at the hands of a Thwomp, and the first level involves getting a bunch of extra lives. This should set the tone nicely.

* In the Platform/Commodore64 game ''VideoGame/{{Hercules}}'', and its sexed-up Platform/AtariST[=/=]Platform/{{Amiga}} remake ''Yolanda'', the protagonist is a OneHitPointWonder with no attacks and must undergo the "Twelve Labours of Hercules," all of which involve finding the way to the exit. Each of these trials is selected at random and is TrialAndErrorGameplay that makes ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'' look like a model of fairness. They feature floors that spontaneously burst into flames (and every starting platform will do this if you dawdle on it for a few seconds), platforms that disappear when you jump on them, and invisible platforms that could be anywhere.

* UrExample: The infamous ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module, ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors''. To just ''get into'' said dungeon you have to get past a literal RocksFallEveryoneDies. And that's the ''easiest'' part of it; it all goes downhill from there. Have fun, you masochistic players, have fucking fun.

* The PC game based on ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984'' is notorious for being very close to Adventure Game Hell. Many puzzles are ridiculous and insane, and the room descriptions contain outright lies. Not mistakes, '''lies'''. Many other Creator/{{Infocom}} InteractiveFiction games have even harder puzzles, but this is the only one that uses its difficulty in the same ironic manner as other Platform Hell games.

* Several InteractiveFiction games fit this trope; the most famous is probably ''VideoGame/{{Curses}}''. (Just don't say any actual curse words in-game, no matter how frustrated you get, or [[DevelopersForesight you will be punished with a parser that ignores you until you wash your mouth out with the soap that just appeared in your inventory.)]]

** And ''VideoGame/TakeshisCastle'', which has been beaten by a total of nine people.
** Ditto for ''VideoGame/Wipeout2009'', which also has a Wii adaptation.
* The {{Roguelike}} equivalent is ''VideoGame/IterVehemensAdNecem'', which means "A Violent Road To Death". It is not kidding. The fact that some people can beat the game is generally considered a bug.

* ''[[http://king-soukutu.com/flash/owata.html Jinsei Owata no Daibouken]]'' (also known as ''The Life Ending Adventure'') - an ASCII art flash game:
** It stars various Japanese {{ImageBoard|s}} memes. It's also ''murderously hard''.
** In one of the current versions, right from the start the game pulls two traps almost back to back in the first screen, the boss at the bottom path is pretty much as BulletHell in a platform game as you can get (and it's ''mandatory'' if you ever want to take the right path or take the left without fighting the clones), the top path boss is a BossRush of three clones that get harder, the last one having an attack leaving it invincible and dashing around the stage (and it can use it after another bullet spammy attack -- just jumped because of a wave of bullets? Then you can't reach the ground fast enough to jump again and avoid this attack), said boss even ''heals'' its health mid fight, and, if that wasn't enough, the left path [[spoiler:becomes a {{Homage}} to ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy itself.'']]

* ''Rockman 2 Neta'', a mock-up[[note]]Not a romhack, as the original game could not handle fighting the 8 robot masters at once.[[/note]] of ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' with a... twist. An easy way to sum it up is, if you have trouble fighting the robot masters ''individually''...

** ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld 2'' goes one step further into Platform Hell within the first few seconds of the game by attempting to kill you in the ''opening cutscene''.

* Going back to the original Super Mario Bros., [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqog-br6nhY Hard Relay Mario]] makes Super Mario Frustration look like a walk in the park. [[KaizoTrap Kaizo Traps]] in half the levels? Check. Spikes that instantly kill you, even if you're big? Check. Employs nearly every glitch in existence, some requiring frame-precise timing? Check. Naturally, this is impossible without emulators, slowdown, and savestates. For a slightly faster TAS of the first world, see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_NrQ__EUJ4&feature=related here]], but it doesn't include the bonus levels.

* Going forward two platform generations is Kaizo Mario 64. Notably, it's different from most of the typical Kaizo-style hacks in that it simply takes the levels in the original game and makes them much, much, ''much'' more difficult, whereas Kaizo Mario World and other similar hacks often have very difficult levels made from scratch. It also has a variation on the KaizoTrap, which are instead placed at the ''beginning'' of certain levels, rendering them inaccessible until you activate the cap switches. [=LPs=] of the game can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL81B11E2623B59F31&feature=plcp here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3430496E172C4ADD here]].
** For the Wii there is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dQNEXXyY4I Kaizo Mario Galaxy 2]].

* S Mario is a hellish hack of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. But what's worse than a few annoying aspects is the fact the game bases all its levels around an unfair, brutally cruel gimmick and then makes you do standard kaizo stuff under said limitations. Some of the worst levels are:

* "Master Quest", which is a fan-made level of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', which is based on the hardest level in the game, "The Perfect Run", which is a harder version of the already-hard to beat Grandmaster Galaxy. The star is located above the house you see Rosalina inside at the end of the level, and it's very hard to reach without a Cloud Flower.

* The PETA video game [[http://features.peta.org/mario-kills-tanooki/Default.aspx Super Tanooki 2D Skin]], which parodies VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand's use of the Tanooki suit. It is a very short game, but it is impossible to beat without dying a lot, especially since the game is just one ''fast'' AutoScrollingLevel and the scrolling speed just gets faster as time goes on.

* ''SMW Lost Brain Ultimate Edition'' is this, because it completely lacks any kind of consistency. Basically, no two objects act the same way as any other two objects in game, so the whole thing is literally TrialAndErrorGameplay from start to finish. That one pipe or cloud could kill you instantly with no warning whatsoever, but the one next to it (with identical graphics) is completely harmless. In some cases, the ground, water or even AIR kills you with no warning, so the whole thing is basically video game Russian Roulette. Basically, you can't beat it without rewinds, save states and likely psychic powers.

--> raocow: "[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6XVqhBKT8Y This level]]] was made by me back in the day when I had no idea what 'fun' meant"

* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy: The Movie: The Game'' - confirmed to be directly inspired by ''Jinsei Owata no Daibouken'' mentioned above[[note]]At the time IWBTG was made, ''Owata'' was unfinished. By the time the webgame was completed, IWBTG had achieved its infamy as a super-hard game inspired by ''Owata'', hence the homage ''Owata'' put in its final levels.[[/note]]. In this game, everything [[EverythingTryingToKillYou really]] ''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou is]]'' [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Trying To Kill You]], even ''apples''. Which ''fall upwards''. At one point, the ''moon'' gets dropped on you, several times. At another, a ''save point'' [[ChestMonster tries to eat you]]. Find it in all its horrible, hair-tearing glory [[http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/index.php here.]]

** The sequel, ''I Wanna Save The Kids'', is an ''EscortMission'' from hell. As if that wasn't redundant enough.

* In the Platform/Commodore64 game ''Hercules'', and its sexed-up Platform/AtariST[=/=]Platform/{{Amiga}} remake ''Yolanda'', the protagonist is a OneHitPointWonder with no attacks and must undergo the "Twelve Labours of Hercules," all of which involve finding the way to the exit. Each of these trials is selected at random and is TrialAndErrorGameplay that makes ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'' look like a model of fairness. They feature floors that spontaneously burst into flames (and every starting platform will do this if you dawdle on it for a few seconds), platforms that disappear when you jump on them, and invisible platforms that could be anywhere.

* ''VideoGame/OneThousandAndOneSpikes'' is all about this. The difficulty is somewhere between ''VideoGame/MeatBoy'' and ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', giving your difficult platforming with semi-frequent psychic-powers-requiring death traps. Most common of those death traps are spikes that unexpectedly come out from the ground but they can also take form of collapsing floor tiles.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 - YOLO Edition'' is a rom hack where you only have one life to beat the game. There are no rings, checkpoints, extra lives, or continues (the score is frozen at 0), every monitor is a [[PoisonMushroom Robotnik monitor that will kill you]], and cheats don't even work (level select sends you to the beginning no matter what you select).
[[/index]]
* While on Sonic, ''[[http://gamejolt.com/games/sonic-unfair/23573 Sonic Unfair]]'', which like ''Unfair Mario'' is a huge Kaizo trap (with just one ''minor'' advantage: Sonic can jump while falling).
* Now there's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_022dQGSPx8 Kaizo Sonic]] rom hack. Just to emphasise how hellish it is, all the original sound tracks are replaced with DarkReprise remixes, and the last level (based on [[ThatOneLevel Labyrinth Zone]]) is called "[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Bad Time]] Zone". At least it gives you lots of extra lives.
[[index]]

* ''Trap Adventure'', an [=iOS=] game full of hidden spikes, collapsing platforms, and other ridiculously unfair traps in the vein of ''I Wanna Be the Guy''. And there's a sequel with even ''more'' ridiculous traps.
** [[spoiler: of note is that the second game has things like UnexpectedGameplayChange, fake notification that fall on your character, and the ending credits after you seeming escape with a space shuttle where you dodge the game montage to play a few more screens in an outer space setting before the game truly ends]].

* Several InteractiveFiction games fit this trope; the most famous is probably ''Curses''. (Just don't say any actual curse words in-game, no matter how frustrated you get, or [[DevelopersForesight you will be punished with a parser that ignores you until you wash your mouth out with the soap that just appeared in your inventory.)]]
* ''Wizardry IV: The Return of [[SdrawkcabName Werdna]]'' is RPG Dungeon Crawler Hell. You know how weak the average monster in a RandomEncounter is compared to RPG heroes? Well, in this game, you're on the side of the monsters. Not only that, but the puzzles take GuideDangIt to an extreme; most players won't even make it out of the first room without outside assistance.

** To be specific, there has been 31 Ninja Warrior tournaments held, each with 100 contestants. So 4 out of 3,100 people have passed it...a whopping 0.13% success rate.

* ''Deadly Danger Dungeon'' is a board game example, which was created by none other than Creator/JamesRolfe when he was a kid. He showed it on one episode of ''WebVideo/BoardJames'' which demonstrated ''just how frikkin' hard it is''. The rest of review was him humiliating Mike Matei with it.

* ''Technomage'', an obscure, German-developed action [=RPG=], includes some platforming segments which come with checkpoints, in anticipation of players finding them this tough. If a player [[BottomlessPits fai]][[NotTheFallThatKillsYou ls]] a platform segment, they're sent back to the checkpoint with no penalty.

* ''WebAnimation/Kaizo Trap'', combining the worst aspects of CheckpointStarvation, BulletHell, and TrappedInTVLand, [[spoiler:and the best of ThePowerOfLove. Oddly enough, the actual KaizoTrap trope is subverted]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIES3ii-IOg "Kaizo Trap"]], combining the worst aspects of CheckpointStarvation, BulletHell, and TrappedInTVLand, [[spoiler:and the best of ThePowerOfLove. Oddly enough, the actual KaizoTrap trope is subverted]].

* ''[[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1fSJrIxFM&feature=PlayList&p=07D13F6ABF7F1853&index=12 Super Kusottare World]]'' [[/index]] - That's just a video of the very end of one level, and a hack that's seemingly so badly designed it took said video maker about 5 hours to get past one jump. It's all but unplayable even with save-states. The maker gave the game to someone to review on Platform/YouTube. The reviewer became so incensed at the game that he abandoned the project halfway through and told the maker never to contact him again unless the hack was edited. [[index]]

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xQUrRHXaOY&playnext=1&list=PL64E3C28B7240FCD4 Super Tabarnak World]]'' -- A hack that actually requires you to get a Yoshi in the ''bonus game'' to progress and whose [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AdAp_NmJW3A&feature=related last castle]] is basically 10 rooms of Kaizo traps on permanent super sped up mode. With more Kaizo traps in the middle. And tons of ghosts in the Bowser battle. Pretty much defines cruelty.
** It speaks volumes when the strange word (Tabarnak) in the title is actually a ForeignCussWord from Quebec. The title cusses. That bad, people.
*** 'Kusottare' above is a swearword, too. It's roughly 'super bullshit world' in Japanese.

* ''Wild Woody'' for the Platform/SegaCD. The game stars the titular MascotWithAttitude, Woody, a pencil given life by an talking totem head statue to return his brothers and save the world. The game itself is annoying difficult as the controls are heavy and unresponsive, setting objects like mushrooms hurt you for whatever reason, power-ups and their sections add extra difficulty because you can't see what's up ahead, and the only way to beat enemies is a gamble as the controls don't always register that you tried to erase a mook so you'll take yet another hit. The game received negative reviews and didn't help the Sega CD's small library of games to stand out to the Sony Playstation or the Sega Saturn.

** All of these have been outdone by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMhoQtuJXyI Armageddon]]. It uses every TAS technique and glitch known as of its release in 2021 (including the ones in Glitch Abuse and many newly discovered ones), is longer than Colon Three and the last room requires you to do ''arbitrary code execution'' to complete it.

* Pirated hack ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVEBk9_wTBc Super Contra II]]'' (hack of the already NintendoHard ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'' on the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}) is somewhere between this, NintendoHard, and BulletHell. You start off with 5 lives instead of the usual 3 and you get to keep your weapon when you die, but that's the only mercy this hack has. The level designs are obtuse and ridiculous, featuring numerous invisible platforms and being able to fall off the screen when you're in water, the base levels are practically BulletHell, and the bosses have been ramped up in difficulty. One of the most egregious examples is in the first level, [[DepthPerplexion where certain sections will have you falling out of the water to your death]]. Oh, and the KonamiCode won't save you here[[note]]It reduces your life count to 3 lives[[/note]].

* In the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 game ''Hercules'', and its sexed-up UsefulNotes/AtariST[=/=]UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} remake ''Yolanda'', the protagonist is a OneHitPointWonder with no attacks and must undergo the "Twelve Labours of Hercules," all of which involve finding the way to the exit. Each of these trials is selected at random and is TrialAndErrorGameplay that makes ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'' look like a model of fairness. They feature floors that spontaneously burst into flames (and every starting platform will do this if you dawdle on it for a few seconds), platforms that disappear when you jump on them, and invisible platforms that could be anywhere.

* ''Wild Woody'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD. The game stars the titular MascotWithAttitude, Woody, a pencil given life by an talking totem head statue to return his brothers and save the world. The game itself is annoying difficult as the controls are heavy and unresponsive, setting objects like mushrooms hurt you for whatever reason, power-ups and their sections add extra difficulty because you can't see what's up ahead, and the only way to beat enemies is a gamble as the controls don't always register that you tried to erase a mook so you'll take yet another hit. The game received negative reviews and didn't help the Sega CD's small library of games to stand out to the Sony Playstation or the Sega Saturn.

* ''[[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1fSJrIxFM&feature=PlayList&p=07D13F6ABF7F1853&index=12 Super Kusottare World]]'' - That's just a video of the very end of one level, and a hack that's seemingly so badly designed it took said video maker about 5 hours to get past one jump. It's all but unplayable even with save-states. The maker gave the game to someone to review on Website/YouTube. The reviewer became so incensed at the game that he abandoned the project halfway through and told the maker never to contact him again unless the hack was edited.

*** Multiple human players have now run ''Super Metroid Impossible'' deathless, including [[https://youtu.be/vw5GDG_zAG4 Oatsngoats]], [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/542825270 azder]], and [[https://youtu.be/zmNfgb0dxWo hotarubi]], and [[https://youtu.be/LbIrKJ4eoCU zoast]], the world record holder as of October 2021. (Oatsngoats and hotarubi are former world record holders for ''Super Metroid'' itself; zoast still holds ''SM'' world records in numerous categories.) Oats also ran the game [[https://youtu.be/Crlxv5EwkuE?t=56 at AGDQ 2020]]; he died five times to Ridley and reset once at Mother Brain. (Ironically, Draygon is generally considered the toughest fight in this hack.) A better indicator of the hack's difficulty, however, is to watch zoast play through the hack for (mostly) the first time, having only seen other players run it. It took him about nine hours over several days, and he divided the Website/{{YouTube}} video into [[https://youtu.be/7gwK74jSB34 two]] [[https://youtu.be/1jiSfd1LNbE videos]].

** All of these have been outdone by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMhoQtuJXyI Armageddon]]. It uses every TAS technique and glitch known as of 2022 (including the ones in Glitch Abuse and many newly discovered ones), and the last room requires you to do ''arbitrary code execution'' to complete it.

* ''VideoGame/OneThousandAndOneSpikes'' is all about this. The difficulty is somewhere between ''VideoGame/MeatBoy'' and ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', giving your difficult platforming with semi-frequent psychic-powers-requiring death traps.

Might we be the first to say...welcome to Hell. ''[[TitleDrop Platform Hell]].''

This isn't simply NintendoHard; it's sadistic. Every platform has [[SpikesOfDoom booby-trapped spikes]]. Every empty hallway has a wall of cannons waiting just offscreen. Most of the [[PowerUp power-ups]] will [[PoisonMushroom kill you]] or [[PowerupLetdown impede your progress]], but every power-up that doesn't is absolutely necessary for survival. The KaizoTrap isn't a nasty surprise, it's an inevitability. And when you think you've figured out the twisted mind of the game designer, [[FromBadToWorse something incomparably worse gets thrown at you]]. The entire experience is a humongous, hilariously sadistic Kafkaesque [[TheParody parody]] of a DarkerAndEdgier NintendoHard video game.

* Difficulty as a RunningGag: The difficulty never, ever lets up, and after a while, becomes ludicrous in its persistence.

* Difficulty as {{parody}}[=/=]{{deconstruction}}: These games take well-known video game challenges, such as ''Franchise/MegaMan'''s disappearing blocks, to completely unreasonable conclusions.
* Twisted familiarity: The game levels generally [[VideoGameSettings fit the classic settings of the game they're based on]], and theme their deathtraps and challenges appropriately. This also saves time in level editing. Even original games such as ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' are generally one big NostalgiaLevel [[ThatOneLevel From Hell]].

* Background elements [[DepthPerplexion actually being treated as foreground elements]] (eg. those "mountains" that look just like a dozen others you've harmlessly passed by are actually SpikesOfDoom).
* Traps at the end of the stage that will kill you unless you've prepared something from the ''beginning'' of the stage, such as the (in)famous "KaizoTrap" in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' romhacks, which required you to use a P-Switch before crossing the goal to prevent Mario from automatically walking into a pit and dying during the victory fanfare.

* Requiring the player to play as a OneHitPointWonder. [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity If you're ever given a powerup that lets you take an extra hit]], then "trap at the end of the stage kills you unless you've prepared something from the beginning" is most likely in effect and you will be forced to take unavoidable damage later, meaning you still have to go through the majority of the stage without getting hit, which may actually be ''harder'' than playing through the stage without the powerup since some games increase the protagonist's size (and therefore the size of their hitbox) upon picking it up (eg. Mario games).

For obvious reasons, very few commercial companies would dare release a game like this. Hence, this variety of videogame is almost entirely the domain of {{ROM Hack}}s and homebrew. Romhacks especially are made for game emulators, which almost always have a save state function, so it's fully expected that the player will be [[SaveScumming taking advantage of it as much as possible]].

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': The ''Abortionbirth'' fan mod is intended to be purposefully unbalanced and extremely difficult. It contains bosses such as an "Ultra Envy" that splits in to ''three'' Super Envies as a potential ''first'' boss, [[Memes/SonicTheHedgehog "Sanic"]] worms that randomly fire screen-filling Brimstone beams or a fast version of Hush's continuum attack, and [[PoisonMushroom items that have far more of a net loss effect.]] One item even has ''every'' room suddenly spawn several copies of Blastocyst, a lategame AsteroidsMonster boss.

* ''[[http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2007/12/super_hard_mario_bros_game_1.html Shobon no Action]]'' (sometimes called ''Cat Mario'' or ''dongs.exe'', but most commonly known as ''VideoGame/SyobonAction'') - seemingly inspired by the two directly above. As it isn't a ROM hack, the designers were able to add even more preposterous traps and setpieces. It also makes very clever use of the InvisibleBlock trick; [[spoiler:most players would be genre savvy enough to check for invisible blocks, sometimes even being able to get an advantage in clearing the pit by standing on the block. The game knows this, and has a block that once you stand on, ''it breaks''.]] If the main game is not enough, pressing "0" on the title screen creates levels with randomly-placed blocks, enemies, and hazards. The first stage music in this game is a ShoutOut to ''[[VideoGame/Action52 Cheetamen II]]'', an infamous [[ObviousBeta half-finished]] Platform Hell which is loved for its music and nothing else.