History ThatOneLevel / SuperMarioBros

* Stage 5-5, the Cave That Never Ends, and stage 5-7, Super Hard Acrobatics. The first is an obnoxiously difficult forced-scrolling stage that very nearly lives up to its name. As if that weren't enough, once you get to the exit ring, you find out you passed it quite a while ago, but the scrolling wouldn't let you go to it until just now. The second is, unsurprisingly, composed of vicious jumping puzzles and dodging on moving platforms. If this weren't bad enough, unless you specifically set yourself otherwise, you're probably carrying Baby Donkey Kong into the stage, which cripples your speed and aerial ability.
* Pretty much every single one of the secret levels ("Welcome to Yoshi Tower", "Yikes! Boiling Hot!", "A Light in the Dark" and "Yoshi's Island Easter Eggs") is this. The former is a scrolling level of NintendoHard puzzles and lava, the second a NintendoHard level of lava practically making up most of the level, the third has very little light/visibility and a hated ski section and the latter seems to want to be [[PlatformHell Kaizo type evil puzzles]] (aka, lots of spikes of instant death and perfectly timed jumps needed).
* Hurry and Throw! was another annoying level, with the scrolling and looping stage, but it was probably less noticeable because it was between a rock (A Light in the Dark, arguably the hardest level in the game) and a hard place (Yoshi's Island Easter Eggs, the other hardest level in the game).

* [[spoiler: S7-1]]. It's basically [[spoiler: 3-4]]. Wasn't so bad, right? Well, this level may not have any previous obstacles or enemies, but they are replaced with Boomerang Bros. throwing boomerangs at you when you are on a tightrope with little space to dodge, and with only 30 SECONDS. Oh, and you'll have to kill enemies to get time. And waste some getting Star Medals, since they are NOT on your path. And those Roulette Blocks over there? You're probably gonna get a mushroom. Admit it,you want to cry now.

* [[spoiler: S8-3]]. It's a rehash of [[5-Castle. 5-Castle wasn't so bad, huh? Well, [[ScrappyLevel 8-3]] is. You start out with only 30 seconds on the clock, and you can't stop or turn around because a [[IGotBigger Giant]] Cosmic Mario is chasing you. Not to mention the star coins (and time bonuses, to a lesser extent) are VERY inconveniently placed, more enemies are added, and all item blocks are no more. [[RageQuit You're gonna cry.]]

* [[spoiler:S]]W8-3. It's a rehash of 5-Castle. 5-Castle wasn't so bad, huh? Well, [[ScrappyLevel 8-3]] is. You start out with only 30 seconds on the clock, and you can't stop or turn around because a [[IGotBigger Giant]] Cosmic Mario is chasing you. Not to mention the star coins (and time bonuses, to a lesser extent) are VERY inconveniently placed, more enemies are added, and all item blocks are no more. [[RageQuit You're gonna cry.]]
* S7-5. Especially the first coin. All you have to do to get it is hit a block, jump onto it, and get it. In theory it's pretty much nothing, but in practice it's pretty much impossible. It's a scrolling level, so you get maybe half the time you need to do it. If you actually got it, you might as well be killed by the coin itself, because there's no way you're getting to the next platform before the screen kills you. It would probably be easier in any other game, but in this game, Mario's jumping skills were effectively nerfed out of existence.

** [[spoiler:It's possible to mistake the unfolding green floor for the proper path if you're expecting the brutal level design to continue.]] [[{{Understatement}} This would be a mistake.]]
* [[spoiler:S]]W8-3. It's a rehash of 5-6. 5-6 wasn't so bad, huh? Well, [[ScrappyLevel 8-3]] is. You start out with only 30 seconds on the clock, and you can't stop or turn around because a [[IGotBigger Giant]] Cosmic Mario is chasing you. Not to mention the star coins (and time bonuses, to a lesser extent) are VERY inconveniently placed, more enemies are added, and all item blocks are no more. [[RageQuit You're gonna cry.]]

* World 4-7, "Teeth-Chattering Chill Zone". Let's see: You use Bouncies in combination with ice to slide past the crushing rocks, BUT those things fall and rise INCREDIBLY fast, so you're likely to DIE. Then, you have to use Bouncies and Bumpties to cross REALLY long gaps. The problem? They're far more likely to push you down to the point where you're too far below the top of the platform, and BAM! You're dead. Bad enough that some gamers never even get past this part before giving up in frustration. The final section is a ski jump section, which normally is a ScrappyMechanic, but here, it's actually the easiest part of the level.

* Let's not forget the cloud stage in 8-3. You have to make big jumps and dodge hammer bros. In addition, there are invisible blocks designed to trip you up, one of which contains a poison mushroom.

* Also, the race against Big Penguin in Cool, Cool Mountain. {{CrazyCommentaries}} mentions that one turn in particular is angled just such that you can't slow down without falling off, you can't go too fast without falling off, and sometimes the penguin you're racing will just bump you off the track if you barely make it past the turn. The turn actually earned the nickname "[[FanNickname Demon Turn]]" from the duo.

* Let's not forget about those darn mini-stages, in which every other platform is either moving, has tons of holes in, or is disintegrating beneath your feet, and the camera is [[CameraScrew swooping around so much]] that that jump you judged you'd make has now sent you plummeting off the edge. Not to mention that they all share the same [[EarWorm Ear-Wormy]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCwZPn2sJg0 tune.]]
** Actually, in the majority of the mini-stages, the camera stays pretty firmly at one angle you choose, and it is especially stable compared to how it works on the normal stages.

* Then there's the Ghostly Galaxy's Daredevil Comet, which pits you up against ThatOneBoss, Bouldergeist, and because of the Daredevil Comet, you cannot get hit even once. The way to beat the boss is to throw three sets of three Boo Bombs at his center, but you have so little control of where the bombs will go off that half the time Bouldergeist's arms will take the hit, lengthening the fight. And since Bouldergeist's main attack is summoning jagged rocks from the ground that are really hard to dodge, you will be playing that level for a while. Best to just skip it unless you want OneHundredPercentCompletion.

*** This troper finds the Cosmic Clones and the two flip-by-spinning galaxies a particularly brilliant stroke of evil genius. Basically, what they created wasn't so much a threat that was actively trying to kill you, but instead a way for you to kill yourself over and over. After all, the clones simply does whatever you do, and the flip floors' and flip wall's difficulty lies in how ingrained the habit of making a spin on every jump is.

* Don't forget the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials. It seems to be your standard Pit of 100 Trials: 100 floors, no opportunities to completely heal or save in between floors, and "rest stops" every 10 floors. Here's where it gets infuriating: To fight [[spoiler:[[BonusBoss Shadoo]]]], you have to go through the entire thing, TWICE.

* Until you get used to it, Wendy's Castle in Chocolate Island is this. The bone-throwing Dry Bones will be the least of your problem, what with the spiked pillars pounding from the ground and ceiling and the saws. Oh yeah, and the section at the end with the floating platforms with little spark creatures rotating on the perimeters.

* World 4-7, "Teeth-Chattering Chill Zone". Let's see: You use Bouncies in combination with ice to slide past the crushing rocks, BUT those things fall and rise INCREDIBLY fast, so you're likely to DIE. Then, you have to use Bouncies and Bumpties to cross REALLY long gaps. The problem? They're far more likely to push you down to the point where you're too far below the top of the platform, and BAM! You're dead. Bad enough that some gamers never even get past this part before giving up in frustration.

* Wario's (or rather, Mario's) Castle has many jumps that are nigh impossible without bunny ears.

* Anywhere that requires you to use the Wing Cap. ARRRGGHH! No control, no turning, I can't get up as high as I need, oh look I plummet to my death! Fun for all. Now where's those cannons...
* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' lends itself to many a SelfImposedChallenge, one of the most common being getting every coin in each level of the game. There are a few levels that are annoying to do this on (Hazy Maze Cave and Tiny-Huge Island, anyone?) but nothing comes even close to LethalLavaLand. Why? '''Coins vanish when they touch lava'''. So you have to choose between using the shell and its imprecise controls (when you have to be dead-on accurate), or going without and taking tons of damage, being oh-so-careful to time the coin collection ''just right''. And then you go into the volcano, and ItGetsWorse. So, SO much worse. There is an enemy near the very top of the volcano holding that...one...coin. To get it, you must punch him down into the lava (which is about 10 stories up), and then ''jump in after it, with perfect timing and perfect accuracy, and THEN make it back to the tiny platform nearby while you're flailing about from the lava so you can live to tell about it''. It's even harder than it sounds.
** To elaborate on Hazy Maze Cave and Tiny-Huge Island, the former is easy for the most part, but contains a few coins that are just utter nightmares, in particular the [[GoddamnedBats bats]]. They're no threat on a normal run of the game, but they each contain a coin, and there's a good number of them in an area that requires an insane amount of backtracking to get to if you fall, plus one that flies directly over a slide leading to a BottomlessPit - and that's not even getting into the Mr. I enemies, both of which require circular motions on platforms that are absurdly narrow, and CrystalDragonJesus help you if you kill it and ''then'' fall. The latter just contains a LOT of coins, more than any other level in the game by far, and a huge majority of the coins are missable, which magnifies any mistake you make by about a hundredfold - and it's a very tricky level to begin with, especially in the windy valley area, where pretty much any mistake means certain death. And then there's a Bob-Omb on Tall Tall Mountain with an obnoxious tendency to walk right off the cliff with no provocation, screwing you out of its coin. Even Bob-Omb Battlefield (yes, ''the first level in the game'') can be annoying, due to the 45 coins that you have to shoot yourself out of the cannon to get to and the wooden pole that you have to run around three times while avoiding the Chain Chomp tied to that same pole in order to get five coins. Oh, [[GuideDangIt you didn't know you were supposed to do that?]] Here's hoping you learn by Tiny-Huge Island, as that has wooden poles too.
* To single out a level which requires the Wing Cap, Mario Over the Rainbow is arguably the hardest level in the game. You have to collect eight Red Coins in the air. Solid ground is minimal, and due to the angles, it can be really difficult to gauge safe landing spots. And you have to keep refreshing the Wing Cap to have enough time to collect all the coins, so if your cap is about to run out, you have to not only land safely somewhere, but land somewhere with a Wing Cap box in the area. Even if you're good with the Wing Cap, this one is extremely frustrating.

* Some of the 100-coin stars. Especially Dire, Dire Docks in which you must scour every single nook and cranny to find all the coins you need.

* World 8-1. The whole level isn't that bad. But there's one leap that you have to make by perfectly timing when you let go of the run button while still moving and jumping at the right time to land on a platform THAT'S ONLY AS WIDE AS MARIO IS in bewtween 2 of the biggest gaps found in the entire game that are meant to be clear-able.
** And for that matter, all of world 8 leading up to the castle. 8-2 not so bad but still annoying. The castle itself is the final level, so it probably shouldn't count here, but World 8-3.... [[ThisIsSparta MOTHER. FUCKING. HAMMER. BROTHERS.]] if you don't have a fire flower... DOOOOOOOOOMED!

** Level 5-1. Not a powerup in sight. Woe to the player who starts out small, or dies.

When a series has been running for 25 years, has countless installments, and features the most prolific video game character in history, you would expect it to have its tough moments. But these [[ThatOneLevel take it to another level.]]

* 9-7, even by [[BrutalBonusLevel World 9]] standards, is flatly unbelievable. There's so many Fire Piranha Plants in that level, you'll spend the whole level trying to dodge the fireballs. But there's not much normal ground, but there's a lot of ice, and you ''generally'' need the ice to stay the way it is or it will either turn into Munchers--invulernable enemies--or coins, leaving you with no way to cross. Cue Unwinnable situations happening if you mess up--even if you aren't getting the Star Coins...
** And if you ''are'' going for Star Coins, you're pretty much fucked. To make it achievable through anything other than luck or unholy skill, you must have a Fire Flower at a certain point. You have to run right (on ice), ''stop'' (again, on ice), turn around (once again, on ice), throw a fireball to the left, jump down and grab the Star Coin, jump back up, and ''then'' run forward before the Fire Piranha Plants melt all the ice blocks in front of you. See the image at the top of the page? That's what happens 99.99% of the time you go for the second Star Coin.

** Also, there's another item available called the Jugem's Cloud, which allows you to bypass a level ''completely''.

** Is it worth all of this pain and misery for the reward of [[spoiler: seeing Rosalina's stories?]]

** I repeat myself, Is it worth all of this pain and misery for the reward of [[spoiler: seeing Rosalina's stories?]]
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