History ThatOneLevel / SuperMarioBros

* Tubular from the Special Zone. This Level. There's a reason a save point exists after this level. If you're not navigating through the hoards of Parakoopas, baseball-throwing, football-kicking Charging Chucks, Jumping Piranha Plants, and piles Volcano Lotuses (and their fireballs) with a Blue Yoshi/Cape Feather combo, you're doing it the harder way: with the P-balloon. Regardless of how you choose to get through, the level calls for precise navigation as hovering in the wrong spot at the wrong time can send you into the BottomlessPit.

* Sling Pod Galaxy requires precise aiming of the namesake Sling Pods, or else you will drift off into space or get sucked into a black hole. Star bits in excess of 9,000 ([[MemeticMutation not joking]]) were earned, thanks to the developers always making sure there were enough of them to give you an extra life every time you died.
* The three Trial Galaxies are called that for a reason.
** The Loopdeswoop Galaxy. Ray, a large manta ray steered using the Wiimote, returns from the similarly-named Loopdeloop Galaxy, except that this course is narrower and has harder turns, with some sections also being much faster. There are many 1-Up Mushrooms scattered throughout the track.
** The Rolling Gizmo Galaxy, which forces you to cross very thin platforms, dodge Bob-Ombs, and ride moving platforms while rolling on a ball and crossing the void. To add insult to injury, you're required to hop on a block that rotates around the platform to get to the final Star Ball blaster, which is an extra tricky bit of maneuvering.
** The Bubble Blast Galaxy. The bubble, already a hard-to-maneuver OneHitWonder, must be navigated through a maze of electric fences. The first objective is to collect five Star Chips within five different areas, all featuring you riding the bubble. Then after you collect them all, you'll be launched to an area where your bubble has to dodge Bullet Bills that home on to you, as well as guns that shoot electric balls.
* Several levels rely on a hard-to-master Spring Mushroom, which can easily result in you falling to your death. The one in Matter Splatter Galaxy is particularly hard, since the third section requires you to bounce up an effectively AutoScrolling level where platforms appear and disappear as a patch moves up a tall tower with no walls.
* The sole mission in Snow Cap Galaxy involves chasing and catching several Star Bunnies within 150 seconds, on a planet that is is covered almost entirely with snow that will slow Mario down to a crawl.

* Fleet Glide Galaxy. Fluzzard from the Wild Glide Galaxy is relatively hard to control, and you die if you hit a wall. A key difference is that there is lava everywhere, so you will want to collect the Life Mushroom to stay alive. The hardest thing about the level is obtaining the Comet Medal: Like before, you have to pass through five gates to get the medal, but all five are out of your way, and you have to skip the Life Mushroom to pass through the first gate.
* Clockwork Ruins Galaxy has you traversing a series of giant rotating cogs. Gravity does not keep you in place, so you have to keep moving around the edges of the platforms in order to stay in a position where you don't fall to your death. The Prankster Comet for this world requires you to collect 100 Purple Coins on the two cogs of the first planet, within 5 minutes.

* Mario Over the Rainbow is one of the hardest levels in the game. The player has 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. The Wing Cap must be refreshed every so often to have enough time to collect all the coins. That's not even mentioning the fact that if you fall off the stage (which does not actually cost you a life), you end up ''outside the castle'', and have to go all the way back up to the top to try again. The DS version takes some of the sting out of this - if you need to land, keep an eye on the lower screen and activate a Ground Pound when the Mario icon is directly over an island. Even this is not foolproof, though - the lower map gives no indication of height, so if you rely on it too heavily you may Ground Pound while ''under'' an island instead of ''over'' it - and if you are too high up when you Ground Pound, Mario will lose two or even four units of health.

* Out of all of the missions in the game, "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure" deserves special mention. Taking place in Ricco Harbor, there is a Shine Sprite trapped in a cage that is sealed off by the yellow moving graffiti that only Yoshi's juice can wash away. First you need to hatch Yoshi, but he always require a durian. The problem is that the only way to get a durian in this level is to pound on one of the two giant fruit dispensers. However, [[LuckBasedMission there's an even greater chance that you'll get a different fruit instead]], and if you pound on one dispenser, you have to hop to the other and pound that one. You can easily go for a long while without getting a single durian if you're especially unlucky, but worse is that if there is a fruit in the way of the dispenser, the durian may bounce off of the ledge behind it where you can't get it back up there because Mario can't pick up durians, only kick them, leading to the player repeating the whole cycle over again. Even if you get a durian and hatch Yoshi, you must then navigate a treacherous parkour segment high above a body of [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal water waiting to wash]] Yoshi away if you fall. You must spray Cheep-Cheeps with durian juice to turn them into horizontal-moving platforms, except said platforms get increasingly high up making it easier to miss a jump and plunge Yoshi into a watery grave, making you have to repeat the whole process of hatching him all over again.

* #6 Wendy's Castle in Chocolate Island, until you get used to it. The bone-throwing Dry Bones and the Grinder buzzsaws will be the least of your problems, what with the spiked pillars (which, by the way, are not treated as normal hazards, but rather as solid walls, meaning they will [[OneHitKill kill you instantly]] if you get caught under them and you cannot [[MercyInvincibility run your way through them]]. Even after the midpoint, there's still a precarious platforming section with shifting terrain and many Li'l Sparkies and Hotheads rotating on the perimeters.

* World 7-3. Those green springs that propel Mario and Luigi so high they go offscreen for several seconds? They're now on tiny platforms spaced really far apart over {{Bottomless Pit}}s, followed by a couple platforms that are only several blocks wide with firebars. There's some [[GustyGlade wind]] too, and it abruptly stops near the end, easily throwing off an otherwise successful jump. You also have to play this level the ''exact same way'' in World C-3.

* The infamous Tubular level. The player must spend a good chunk of the level as balloon Mario[=/=]Luigi in order to make it across a large bottomless gap. This is easier said than done since there are a ''lot'' of enemies along the way, either flying in the middle of the pathway or throwing projectiles. While avoiding enemies, the player also must make sure to keep hitting blocks for more P-Balloons as its effects will wear off after a minute or two.

* Wario's (or rather, Mario's) Castle has many jumps that are nigh impossible without bunny ears. There's swinging pendulum maces, propeller platforms over lava that have [[HitboxDissonance very wonky hitboxes]], bone platforms that either rise/fall or almost instantly break, trap tiles that release fast-moving spiked fists, and more. It's also [[MarathonLevel the longest level in the game by far]], and has [[CheckpointStarvation no checkpoint]]. Die while fighting the [[SequentialBoss three-phase]] final boss (or at any other point for that matter), and you're doing the whole damn level over again from the beginning.

* World 7-3. Those green springs that propel Mario and Luigi so high they go offscreen for several seconds? They're now on tiny platforms spaced really far apart over {{Bottomless Pit}}s, followed by a couple platforms that are only several blocks wide with firebars. There's some [[GustyGlade wind]] too, and it abruptly stops near the end, easily throwing off an otherwise successful jump.

** World 8-4 is [[TheMaze]], with not a single power-up in any of it. There are loads of pipes to take in the castle, and going down the wrong one will take you back to the start. Even after you've conquered the maze, there's still an underwater section where you have to dodge Bloopers and [[FridgeLogic Firebars]], and to top it off, there's one last Hammer Bro to deal with on completely level ground before BigBad Bowser himself.

** Slightly mitigated though, in that one of the path choices is always obviously more difficult than the others, and this is always the correct path.

** The "always pick the hardest path" trick doesn't really work here either, as in one case the easier path is correct, and in many cases there are multiple paths of pretty much equal difficulty.

*** One trick to deal with the maze though is that the correct path is always the last possible pipe before the stage loops. The idea is that the player is forced to travel the longest possible distance; all earlier pipes are a one-way trip back to the start.

* World 7-4 employs the concept of 4-4 in a nastier way, as to advance you have to pick ''three'' correct paths to get to the next segment; do it wrong and you have to guess the three paths again. This is where the ports' audio cues ''really'' come into play; good luck not timing out this level without a guide in the original version.

** World 8-1. The whole level isn't that difficult. 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 between 2 of the biggest gaps found in the entire game that are meant to be clear-able. This is also the longest level in the entire game and you only have 300 seconds to complete it, and though there's a Super Star a ways in, there's no other power-ups to be found.
** World 8-2 has you facing Lakitu again, mixed with dodging a barrage of Bullet Bills and loads of green Paratroopas. There's also a long pit to jump over with two one-block wide pits just before that. At least it's much shorter than 8-1 and gives a 1-Up Mushroom early in the level, so you get as many attempts as you need provided that you never miss it.

** World 8-4 is [[TheMaze a maze beyond a maze]], with not a single power-up in any of it. There are loads of pipes to take in the castle, and going down the wrong one can take you back to the start. Even after you've conquered the maze, there's still an underwater section where you have to dodge Bloopers and [[FridgeLogic Firebars]], and to top it off, there's one last Hammer Bro to deal with on completely level ground before BigBad Bowser himself.

* World 5-3 introduces a devious new concept in the form of adding the gimmick where the level loops unless you take the right path, normally only seen in castles, into regular overworld levels, easily confusing first-time players.[[note]]This is only worsened in the original FDS version, where there's no audio cue to explicitly express this.[[/note]] Even after the right path is found (which requires a chain of Paratroopa jumps into a pipe), there's a ''very'' difficult jump near the end (as seen in the page image) where the player must jump from a moving platform onto a Paratroopa to bounce up to higher ground, while also dealing with an airborne Blooper as well as randomly spawning Bullet Bills. There's still some jumps on very small falling platforms before the flagpole, and if you mess up there, [[CheckpointStarvation you end up at the very beginning, since this level has no checkpoint]].

* World 8-3. Not only is there a low-altitude Lakitu as soon as the level kicks off, but you also have to make big jumps and dodge [[EliteMooks Hammer Bros.]] ''Running'' Hammer Bros that are also encountered on completely level ground, just like 8-3 in the first game. In addition, there are {{Invisible Block}}s designed to trip you up, one of which contains a PoisonMushroom.[[note]]The blocks are ''technically'' visible in the original FDS version, but they're obscured by the brick wall in the background.[[/note]] The final stretch even requires some hidden blocks to be found in order to reach pulley platforms that must be weighed down as much as possible to make the level's final jumps.

** World 5-9. What makes already difficult platform jumping more difficult? ''Diagonal'' [[AutoScrollingLevel autoscrolling]]. Once you think you've mastered that, [[DemonicSpiders Fire Chomps]] will appear and make sure things will only get harder.

** The second Fortress in World 7. Have fun having to constantly time jumps on pipes, which of course are inhabited by Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps. The pipes are tiny platforms, giving you a hectic time to juggle between between timing jumps and avoiding shots from the Fire Traps, and waiting for the Piranha Plants to retreat. The level also throws two tricky jumps involving Thwomps, and to make matters worse, the stage throws Boos at you to give you even more obstacles and distractions to manage. Unless you've been [[TooAwesomeToUse saving up those Hammer Bro suits]], you're most likely in for a rough time.

** The Fortress. A textbook example of TheMaze, with a [[OneOfTheseDoorsIsNotLikeTheOther countless amount of doors to pick from, and only one leading to the boss]]. If that weren't enough, not only do some of the doors put you on [[ConveyorBeltOfDoom conveyor belts]] that will near instantly push you into lava unless you have good reaction time, but the boss is found through a door that is only accessible for a brief time by using a P-Switch. There is no indication of this, so first-timers will often time out. Even worse in the SNES/GBA versions, where the two sides of the fortress are the same colour. Many a player has saved a Lakitu's Cloud for the whole game just to skip this level.

* Butter Bridge 1 can be quite irritating due to being an AutoScrollingLevel with small rising and sinking platforms (thankfully, the only ones that appear in the game), that absolutely tests your precision. It even has parts in the level that can be rendered {{Unwinnable}}. For instance, it's easy to screw yourself by raising a platform too high for you to reach and thus doesn't fall fast enough before the screen catches up, forcing you to exhaust a life. One screw up, and you're doing the whole thing over again.

* World 8-Tower 2. The ENTIRE level takes place on a Snake Block, reminiscent of Castles 5 and 7 in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. It's [[TrialAndErrorGameplay unpredictable, tedious,]] and nerve-wracking. Of course, as if the task of staying on the platform weren't difficult enough, EverythingTryingToKillYou, whether it be spikes, Firebars, or rolling spiked balls. The very last Bowser Jr. fight at the end is also the harder version.

* Tick Tock Clock is a nightmare. The level is ''long'' and painfully linear, and it's one continuous tricky jump after another after another, made worse by the fact that most of the level takes place on very thin platforms which are really easy to fall from, particularly into the BottomlessPit at the very bottom of the level. Plus, if you don't know the "trick" for entering the level, the whole level can end up requiring insane timing. Even if you ''do'' know the trick to stop the clock, two stars all but require the clock to be in motion so that the hands of the clock can carry you to the stars, at least in the N64 version[[note]]It is possible to get all the Tick Tock Clock stars without the clock moving, but it does require some very skilled jumps and overall knowledge of the game's physics[[/note]]. The level is also subject to randomly-spawned invisible walls that will most likely kill you if you're unfortunate enough to hit them on a risky jump. In the DS version, if you play as Luigi, all eight stars (including the 100-coin star) can be obtained while the clock mechanism is stationary.

* World 4-4, the first of three maze castles. In the original NES version, there is no indication that you are taking an incorrect path other than seeing the same layouts again and again. Thankfully, the ''All-Stars'' version and the ''Deluxe'' port put in audio cues to inform you if you're on the right or wrong path.
* World 7-4 employs the concept of 4-4 in a nastier way, as to advance you have to pick ''three'' correct paths to get to the next segment; do it wrong and you have to guess the three paths again. This is where the ports' audio cues ''really'' come into play; good luck not timing out this level without a guide in the original version.

* To single out a level which requires the Wing Cap, Wing Mario Over the Rainbow is one of the hardest levels in the game. The player has 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. The Wing Cap must be refreshed every so often to have enough time to collect all the coins. That's not even mentioning the fact that if you fall off the stage (which does not actually cost you a life), you end up ''outside the castle'', and have to go all the way back up to the top to try again. The DS version takes some of the sting out of this - if you need to land, keep an eye on the lower screen and activate a Ground Pound when the Mario icon is directly over an island. Even this is not foolproof, though - the lower map gives no indication of height, so if you rely on it too heavily you may Ground Pound while ''under'' an island instead of ''over'' it - and if you are too high up when you Ground Pound, Mario will lose two or even four units of health.

** World 8-3 might take the title of nastiest level in the game. It looks simple enough, but there are [[DemonicSpiders Hammer Bros.]] ''all over'' the level (eight to be exact) and the four in the final stretch are on completely level ground. You can't wait for them to get on a higher platform and knock them off; you can only run under them, jump over them, kick a Koopa Troopa shell into them if any are available[[note]]but due to a bug, there's a chance that [[HitboxDissonance the shell will go right through them[[/note]], or have a Fire Flower (and good luck keeping one at that point in the game). Fortunately, there are two power-ups in this level, but they are both heavily guarded by the first two pairs of Hammer Bros., and you only have 300 seconds on the timer.

* Valley of Bowser 2 can be difficult the first time you go through it, especially in the block maze on the second section, where one wrong move will lead you to getting crushed. You can skip this for the normal exit if you have Yoshi, since his wings are right before the block maze, but you must go through it to find the secret exit, [[GuideDangIt which is where no one would think to look on the last screen]] as well. Your reward for finding the secret exit is...
* ...the Valley Fortress. Not only does it have the same deadly spiked pillars as #6 Wendy's Castle, but toward the end of the level they move up and down equally quickly, requiring more than usually sharp timing and positioning. If you have a Cape, it becomes even more frustrating unless you can force yourself to tap the Jump button instead of holding it for even a fraction of a second longer than necessary; otherwise, Mario/Luigi will float for a while and throw off the timing. There's still one last Reznor fight to deal with at the very end, too. This level also [[CheckpointStarvation lacks a checkpoint]] in the SNES version, which the GBA port later rectified.

* The secret level "Welcome to Yoshi Tower!". Rising lava, only just enough stars to max out your counter, loads of hazards, and no checkpoints.

* Most of the secret levels here are very hard, though 4-S in particular stand out as it has the dreaded return of Poochy combined with loads of thorns and barely enough time to jump over them.

** World 8-1. The whole level isn't that difficult. 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 between 2 of the biggest gaps found in the entire game that are meant to be clear-able. This is also the longest level in the entire game and you only have 300 seconds to complete it, and though there's a Starman a ways in, there's no other power-ups to be found.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McEZ5ifAn-Y World 7-7]]. You get a Starman at the start, but the ground is made entirely of damaging Munchers, so you have to run to the next ? Block before the invincibility expires to release another Star. Even then, if you immediately collect the Star when it appears, you won't have enough time to get to the next one - you'll have to let it bounce on its own for a little bit first. It's not too bad until the pipes start to get in the way, including one near the end where you have to crouch-slide underneath it if you aren't small.

[[folder:''New Super Mario Bros. DS'']]
* World 8-4. The entire level is filled with Scuttlebugs, GiantSpiders that constantly drop down from the ceiling and chase after you; and a good chunk of the level involves moving platforms over bottomless pits. You're going to have a rough time if you don't have a Fire Flower on you to compensate; and the Star Coin placements are enough to throw most players through the wringer. Trying to get that last Star Coin in particular without dying is CRAZY hard since that requires the use of a Mini Mushroom, the power-up that makes you a floaty OneHitPointWonder. The Starman certainly helps, but it is not a free ticket to victory.

** Of particular note is a variation on Wall-Kicking it Underground, which has the medals placed in such a way that the second medal requires a pixel-perfect jump to avoid getting stuck on an alternate path where you can't reach the third. If you're very lucky, you'll wind up there with a Starman and avoid the headache, but it's usually the first or second of the ten just to make sure you can't use that trick.

* "March of the Rookie Toads", tasks you with bringing ten Toads over to the goalpole, who follow eiher you to your very move, or behind another Toad doing the same thing, who can get trapped in a bubble in one hit. If that doesn't sound hectic enough, Fire Piranha Plants on Lakitu Clouds also shows up as well, meaning if you aren't very careful with how you jump, half of the time you'll spend on this level is dealing with the Toads who were caught by the Sun swooping down on them, if they weren't caught by a stray Goomba or any other enemy that shows up throughout the level. However if you use Assist Mode and steal the Lakitu's Cloud with Starman, it suddenly becomes a breeze.

** Most of the secret levels in the 3DS game are also very hard, though 4-S in particular stand out as it has the dreaded return of Poochy combined with loads of thorns and barely enough time to jump over them.
** "Slime Drop Drama" is normally fine to beat, but doing it without taking damage with 30 stars can be really annoying, the first room might have a crate of five stars, but you might just have to get red eggs, enter and exit a locked door over and over again and pin down the Shy Guys or Snifits. And there is barely anything besides the middle ring and three Snifits tucked within walls during a moving platform segment to supply you with stars in the second room. Kamek can easily become ThatOneBoss trying to get through without getting hit.

* Rainbow Ride is the last full level of the game, and it's the ultimate test of the player's abilities.T The course is set in the sky, so one wrong move ends in a quick death. Several of the stars are built around riding a magic carpet. Mario will have to jump and dodge obstacles while returning to the carpet before it moves out of reach or disappears. These stars are very challenging and frustratingly time-consuming.

* World 2-3 (and, by extension, its [[HardModeFiller "revamp"]] as World 7-3). At first it seems like you can just run across the bridge and outrun the Cheep-Cheeps, but then you get to just before the end, where there are three small platforms. If you don't slow down, you can easily miss all of them and lose a life. However, if you slow down too soon, you will get snagged by a leaping Cheep Cheep. ''VideoGame/NESRemix'' forces you to do this level full speed the whole way. Additionally, in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros35'', these are especially difficult because not only do you have to focus on the Cheep Cheeps ... you also have to focus on non-native enemies sent by other opponents too, which could include Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros, and Bowser himself. Better hope your 20 coin roulette gives you a Star.

** World 8-2 has you facing Lakitu again, mixed with dodging a barrage of Bullet Bills and loads of green Paratroopas. There's also a long pit to jump over with a one-block wide pit just before that. At least it's much shorter than 8-1 and gives a 1-Up Mushroom early in the level, so you can keep trying multiple times as long as you don't miss it.
** World 8-3 might take the title of nastiest level in the game. It looks simple enough, but there are [[DemonicSpiders Hammer Bros.]] ''all over'' the level, 8 to be exact, half of them on flat ground. You can't wait for them to get on a higher platform and knock them off; you can only run under them, jump over them, kick a Koopa Troopa shell into them if any are available, or have a Fire Flower (and good luck keeping one at that point in the game). Fortunately, there are two power-ups in this level, but they are both heavily guarded by the first two sets of Hammer Bros., and you only have 300 on the timer.

* The ''Vs.'' arcade game replaces the HardModeFiller stages with insanely difficult new stages that were later incorporated into ''The Lost Levels'', where they fit perfectly. Three are particularly sadistic; World 3-2 (''TLL'' 2-2), with lots of BottomlessPits and precise jumping puzzles; World 6-3 (''TLL'' 4-3), an athletic level from hell with extremely long gaps, one of which requires [[LuckBasedMission a blind jump to a Koopa Paratroopa to cross]], and narrower moving platforms than its ''TLL'' counterpart; and World 7-3 (''TLL'' 6-3), a long bridge level that combines the flying Cheep-Cheeps and Paratroopas from the original bridge stage with many narrow platforms. To rub more salt into the wounds, the {{Warp Zone}}s to Worlds 7 and 8 have been removed, so no skipping these challenges for you!

* World 8-3. Not only is there a low-altitude Lakitu as soon as the level kicks off, but you also have to make big jumps and dodge [[EliteMooks Hammer Bros.]] ''Running'' Hammer Bros that are also encountered on completely level ground, just like 8-3 in the first game. In addition, there are {{Invisible Block}}s designed to trip you up, one of which contains a PoisonMushroom. The final stretch even requires some invisible blocks to be found in order to reach pulley platforms that must be weighed down as much as possible to make the level's final jumps.

* World 6-5. The only way out is to grab a Koopa shell, fly up a narrow hole in the ceiling (which there are many of, but you have to figure out which one is the right one via TrialAndErrorGameplay) and throw it at the Nipper plants and Brick Blocks blocking the exit pipe. The worst part? The ground is cluttered with block-throwing Buster Beetles that you have to clear out first, and you can only hold the Koopa shell in your hands for so long before it eventually breaks free and instantly hurts you. There's a room that [[AntiFrustrationFeatures provides a powerup every time you enter]] and respawns the Koopas to prevent you from [[{{Unwinnable}} getting stuck with no method of flight and/or Koopas]], but it also respawns the Beetles, naturally.

* [[FanNickname "Pachinko Game"]]. You have to retrieve eight Red Coins in a giant pachinko board (essentially an upright pinball game with no flippers). However, you have extremely limited movement with F.L.U.D.D., and a good half of the coins are in really hard-to-reach locations. Should you happen to miss all the pockets and fall to the bottom of the board, you're immediately chucked out the bottom where you fall to your death. The pins also have random kinetic effects if Mario touches them, sometimes catapulting you across the pachinko machine in a random direction or creating invisible walls.

* World 2-3 (and, by extension, its [[HardModeFiller "revamp"]] as World 7-3). At first it seems like you can just run across the bridge and outrun the Cheep-Cheeps, but then you get to just before the end, where there are three small platforms. If you don't slow down, you can easily miss all of them and lose a life. However, if you slow down too soon, you will get snagged by a leaping Cheep Cheep. ''VideoGame/NESRemix'' forces you to do this level full speed the whole way. Additionally, in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros35'', these are especially difficult because not only do you have to focus on the Cheep Cheeps ... you also have to focus on non-native enemies sent by other opponents too, which could include Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros, and even Bowser himself. Better hope your 20 coin roulette gives you a Star.

** World 8-1. The whole level isn't that difficult. 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 between 2 of the biggest gaps found in the entire game that are meant to be clear-able. This is also the longest level in the entire game and you only have 300 seconds to complete it, and even though there's a Starman a ways in, there's no other power-ups to be found.

** World 8-4 is basically [[TheMaze a maze beyond a maze]], with not a single power-up in any of it. There are loads of pipes to take in the castle, and going down the wrong one can take you back to the start. Even after you've conquered the maze, there's still an underwater section where you have to dodge Bloopers and [[FridgeLogic Firebars]], and to top it off, there's one last Hammer Bro to deal with on completely level ground before BigBad Bowser himself.

* World 5-3 introduces a devious new concept in the form of adding the gimmick where the level loops unless you take the right path, normally only seen in castles, into regular overworld levels, easily confusing first-time players.[[note]]This is only worsened in the original FDS version, where there's no audio cue to explicitly express this.[[/note]] Even after the right path is found (which requires a chain of Paratroopa jumps into a pipe), there's a ''very'' difficult jump near the end (as seen in the page image) where the player must jump from a moving platform onto a Paratroopa to bounce up to higher ground, while also dealing with an airborne Blooper as well as randomly spawning Bullet Bills. There's still some jumps on very small falling platforms before the flagpole, and even if you mess up there, [[CheckpointStarvation you end up at the very beginning, since this level has no checkpoint]].

** The first Fortress has tricky jumps a-plenty, and Thwomps and Roto-Discs all over the place, used in tandem in some particularly devious ways that make it very difficult to get through without taking a hit. Fortunately, it's totally optional, as it's part of a split path (the other option being [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Level 5-3]]), and clearing it only creates a shortcut to the start of the world. (Which is only useful if you were to Game Over and continue.)

* World 8-4. The entire level is filled with Scuttlebugs, GiantSpiders that constantly drop down from the ceiling and chase after you; and a good chunk of the level involves moving platforms over bottomless pits. You're going to have a rough time if you don't have a Fire Flower on you to compensate; and even then, the Star Coin placements are enough to throw most players through the wringer. Trying to get that last Star Coin in particular without dying is CRAZY hard since that requires the use of a Mini Mushroom, the power-up that makes you a floaty OneHitPointWonder. The Starman certainly helps, but it is not a free ticket to victory.

* Getting used to the ice can make for a DifficultySpike in 3-1 that can make it seem like a ThatOneLevel.

** The very next level, World 3-2, "The Goonie Coast Isn't Clear", is quite often considered one of the worst levels due to the fact that it scrolls the entire level. It's not the first section of the level that gets most, although it is a little frustrating ; it's the latter section that many consider to be [[PlatformHell extremely frustrating]] because this section is ''several'' times as long as the first section in the level and also partially loops in the fourth ship, if you plan on getting all secrets and a 100% for the stage. It doesn't help that some players consider the level's music to be an annoying and empty tune that seems to be taunting the player.

* Chapter 5-3, a mine level that centers mostly around one long, enemy-filled room with so many branching pathways, several of which are ''hidden'', that it becomes extremely easy to get lost and forget which doors you've already explored. Not to mention the fact that at one point, in order to progress, you must go through one of the automatic MinecartMadness sections while flipped to 3D. The player doesn't find out about this until the end, at which point they're forced to ride back, flip to 3D, and go through it again, meaning they need to sit through the minecart ride ''two more'' times.

* World 7, Cannon Cove is a nice breather level after the hell that was World 6, even in plus mode. That is, however, until you hit the nasty brick wall of 7-7 with a hellish puzzle with Capture Kongs and an almost guarantee of getting your Minis in the door out of order. That level is by far the hardest level in the game outside the BrutalBonusLevel set, and even then, it's harder than most of the NintendoHard bonus levels.

* World 5-3. The entire level is a hornet's nest of Bob-ombs and Sparks, and the majority of it has you hopping up and down and across a bunch of platforms trying to dodge said Sparks and Bob-ombs with hardly any room to maneuver thanks to the low ceilings. The first part of the stage has you jumping over blockades while an endless blitzkrieg of fast-flying Albatosses constantly bombard you with Bob-Ombs, forcing you to constantly dodge to stay alive, and that's the ''easy'' part of this stage. Next there is a underground section littered with Bob-ombs and a Red Panser waiting for you. Then there's a vertical platforming section where you have to dodge not one but ''two'' [[DemonicSpiders Blue Pansers]] (thankfully not on the same screen) rolling down the platforms, that [[RespawningEnemies respawn]] when you fall down a screen and climb back up, while showering you with fireballs. Just like you, both the Pansers ''and'' their fireballs [[WrapAround wrap around the edges of the screen]]. Once you get past all that, you have to ride two Pidgits' carpets past a bunch of dive-bombing Beezos without getting knocked into the abyss to reach a red Birdo to kill before the actual boss of the level, Clawgrip. Having three or more hearts still won't get you out of trouble: there are Shy Guys and Snifits roaming the place, [[LedgeBats trying to knock you straight into a bottomless pit]].

* World 8 (Castle of Koopa):

** The Fortress. A textbook example of TheMaze, with a [[OneOfTheseDoorsIsNotLikeTheOther countless amount of doors to pick from, and only one leading to the boss]]. If that weren't enough, not only do some of the doors put you on [[ConveyorBeltOfDoom conveyor belts]] that will near instantly push you into lava unless you have good reaction time, but the boss is found through a door that is only accessible for a brief time by using a P-Switch. There is no indication of this, so first-timers will often time out. Even worse in the SNES version, where the two sides of the fortress are the same colour. Many a player has saved a Lakitu's Cloud for the whole game just to skip this level.

* #7 Larry's Castle is not too difficult per se, but you only have a time limit of 300 and nearly half of that will be lost just riding the Snake Block to the second room unless you have very impressive skills with a Cape Feather and are able to skip this part. The second room is long and contains the ever-annoying Magikoopa. If you don't have the Cape Feather by this point, you'll be waiting for Magikoopa to blast through the turn blocks so you can advance, and this can take time if you accidentally take Magikoopa out. If you find the hidden midway gate and you lose a life, however, you can retry the level at the end of the first screen without the time issue being too big of a deal. "If" is the key word here, as said midway gate is in a small alcove at the bottom of a long chasm where the Snake Block's path ends, so the average player would avoid it thinking that it's a BottomlessPit.

* Wario's (or rather, Mario's) Castle has many jumps that are nigh impossible without bunny ears. There's swinging pendulum maces, propeller platforms over lava that have very wonky hitboxes, bone platforms that either rise/fall or almost instantly break, trap tiles that release fast-moving spiked fists, and more. It's also [[MarathonLevel the longest level in the game by far]], and has [[CheckpointStarvation no checkpoint]]. Die while fighting the [[SequentialBoss three-phase]] final boss (or at any other point for that matter), and you're doing the whole damn level over again from the beginning.

* World 8-Tower 2. The ENTIRE level takes place on a moving platform reminiscent of Castles 5 and 7 in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. It's [[TrialAndErrorGameplay unpredictable, tedious,]] and nerve-wracking. Of course, as if the task of staying on the platform weren't difficult enough, EverythingTryingToKillYou, whether it be spikes, Firebars, or rolling spiked balls. The very last Bowser Jr. fight at the end is also the harder version.

** Frosted Glacier-Ghost House/Swaying Ghost House, just for the sheer GuideDangIt factor. The door to proceed is hidden behind a false wall—with no indication that said wall is anything but a wall, especially considering it feels perfectly solid if you don't have a P-Switch activated—in not one but two rooms, although the second at least gives you a hint...hidden behind another wall. The secret exit is even worse: [[spoiler:the room it's in requires being fairly fast just to get to the regular door, and getting to the secret door allows you only a very small margin of error...even if you figure out that this time, the door is hidden behind the ''ceiling''.]]
** Soda Jungle-Tower/Snake Block Tower. "Snake block" levels are nothing new, but this time, you have ''two'' sets of blocks to keep track of, one normal-sized and one giant, and they move around lots and lots of Amps and Ball 'n' Chains, some of them in configurations that are nearly impossible to dodge. The Star Coins? Easy enough to find, but good luck getting them all without taking a hit.
** Peach's Castle-1/Meteor Moat. The level in and of itself isn't that bad, until you get past the checkpoint. After that, you start getting bombarded by the meteors, while at the same time dealing with rising tides of lava and a crap load of Dry Beetles. It gets worse if you're going for the star coins, especially the third. But if you're trying to get at the secret exit, good luck not raging.
** Peach's Castle-Castle 1/Red-Hot Elevator Ride. The entire level takes place on a rising platform that can be controlled by tilting the [[UsefulNotes/GeneralGamingGamepads Game Pad]] or Wii Remote, but this one stops moving if more than one thing is on it. Goombas, Bob-ombs, even ''coins'' can bring it to a halt until they are disposed of if they land on it. This wouldn't be so bad, but you must also contend with constantly rising lava below, meaning that if the platform stops rising for too long, Mario will instantly die from the lava. Like Snake Block Tower, the Star Coins are in plain sight but very difficult to get and remain unscathed. The level [[CheckPointStarvation has no midway point]] either, so if you die from the lava, a bolt of electricity, a wayward Bob-omb, etc., enjoy starting the level over from the beginning and losing any Star Coins you happened to collect.

** 3-T (Shish-Kebab Tower) is almost impossible to complete as anyone but Nabbit. The pillars move in and out at insane speeds. This, combined with the time limit, Luigi's high jump, and slippery physics, can easily end your game.
** 8-2 (Magma River Cruise) takes the annoying acid moat level from Wii, puts it in a lava world, and adds the most annoying enemies in the game. It's a good thing that you can skip this level, though.

* To single out a level which requires the Wing Cap, "Wing Mario Over the Rainbow" is one of the hardest levels in the game. The player has 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. The Wing Cap must be refreshed every so often to have enough time to collect all the coins. That's not even mentioning the fact that if you fall off the stage (which does not actually cost you a life), you end up ''outside the castle'', and have to go all the way back up to the top to try again. The DS version takes some of the sting out of this - if you need to land, keep an eye on the lower screen and activate a Ground Pound when the Mario icon is directly over an island. Even this is not foolproof, though - the lower map gives no indication of height, so if you rely on it too heavily you may Ground Pound while ''under'' an island instead of ''over'' it - and if you are too high up when you Ground Pound, Mario will lose two or even four units of health.
* Tick Tock Clock is a nightmare. The level is ''long'' and painfully linear, and it's one continuous tricky jump after another after another, made worse by the fact that most of the level takes place on very thin platforms which are really easy to fall from. Plus, if you don't know the "trick" for entering the level, the whole level can end up requiring insane timing. Even if you ''do'' know the trick to stop the clock, two stars all but require the clock to be in motion so that the hands of the clock can carry you to the stars, at least in the N64 version[[note]]It is possible to get all the Tick Tock Clock stars without the clock moving ([[LetsPlay SuperJeenius having pulled it off in a Let's Play]]), but it does require some very skilled jumps[[/note]]. The level is also subject to randomly-spawned invisible walls that will most likely kill you if you're unfortunate enough to hit them on a risky jump. In the DS version, if you play as Luigi, all eight stars (including the 100-coin star) can be obtained while the clock mechanism is stationary.

* World 3-2 (Chain-Link Charge) will probably be one of the first levels that you will seriously rack up the deaths on. It has many segments with moving fences, most of which block your way or force you to make quickly-timed jumps if you don't have the Super Bell. If you do, you can climb on the fences... but you can't climb on forever. The second Green Star is brutal, since you have to make some very tricky jumps past two moving fences right before the checkpoint, so if you mess up you're doing the level from the start again. After that it goes upwards through segments where the fences move against you over clouds and a lot of enemies. Also, ''it's an auto-scrolling level!''
* 5-6 (Cakewalk Flip) isn't so hard if you're just playing through. If you're going for the collectibles (''especially'' the stamp and third Green Star), on the other hand...those ''bleeping'' Ring Burners ''in conjunction with flipping platforms'' ...and that's with one player. Any more than one player, and the level becomes unmitigated chaos, with the platforms flipping every time ''anybody'' jumps.

* [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Castle-Castle]] (Bowser's Lava Lake Keep), if you're going for all collectibles in one run. The second star requires a Cat suit (which isn't even available in this level, so you have to enter while wearing one, and if you lose it, you have to leave and acquire another), while the third can only be retrieved with the boomerang suit, and the only ones in this level are far before and far after where the star is. So you have to juggle two different powerups past firebars, fireballs, bombs and DemonicSpiders. The icing on the cake is that the checkpoint is located just before the narrow fireball-infested bridge leading to the third star, so you have to skip the checkpoint and go back and activate it ''after'' retrieving the star, lest the star becomes unobtainable until clearing or leaving the level if you die or lose the boomerang suit.
* Bowser-7 (Grumblump Inferno) is the lava equivalent to [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Guts Man]]'s lifts. This level is the last regular level in the main game, and [[DifficultySpike it lives up to the position]]. The gimmick of the level is large rectangular blocks in [[LethalLavaLand lava]] that tumble end over end and force you to keep running to the next side. They tumble rather quickly, and you must be pretty careful with your positioning and timing when running; too far forward or back, and [[OneHitKill say hello to the lava]]. The cubical blocks are bad enough, but some of them are rectangular, so the distance you need to move isn't always the same. They don't just move in straight lines but go along twisty paths that make frequent 90-degree turns. [[SerialEscalation And because Nintendo just loves you]], you will have to do all this ''while'' dodging Hammer Bros and Fire Piranha Plants in some places. Then there's the collectibles... Let's just say one of them is hovering above a one-block thin pillar, with a Hammer Bro on it. The only mercies you're given are that the level at least gives you a Tanooki Suit ...and the music is great. It says something when the final castle (boss included) is substantially easier than this insanity. Whatever you do, do ''not'' ground pound the blocks, even out of frustration -- if you do, they get angry faces and move faster (though you have to do this if you're attempting a speed run).

!!!Unofficial Games
[[folder: ROM Hacks]]
* ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'' has "Titanic", a Ghost House level with the reappearing Boos, combined with a ''very'' strict time limit, makes for one hell of a time.
* ''VideoGame/NewerSuperMarioBrosWii'' has a few.
** 2-7 (Windworn Dunes), for one, which brings back the [[ScrappyMechanic wind gimmick]] from [[GustyGlade 2-4]] of [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii the original game]].
** 8-2 (Jet Airship). {{Bottomless Pit}}s aplenty and ''really. Freaking. [[ScrappyMechanic Fast]]. [[AutoScrollingLevel Autoscrolling]]''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Something}} Series'':
** Boss Bass is the gimmick within Dat Bass and to make it worse, it is immune to fireballs. He's even found in the Switch Palace exit.
** Chateau du Vent. The wind tries pushing Mario to the left, which makes moving to the right much more difficult, especially with obstacles in the way.
** Hell Ship in the Sky is difficult because of the Homing Pidgit Bills. They're fired by the ship's cannons and they will always aim for Mario's position, no matter what. Later on, Spikitus start throwing them. Another one joins and makes things worse.
** Spikitu Castles 1+2 in Something Else are difficult because of the Spikitus. They are immune to Luigi's arsenal of tricks.
* ''Sui Mario''.
** Many of the levels have ice physics, but a big offender is Clavinet Plateau Fortress. Fireballs, Sawblades, Thwomps, and Magikoopas. Even the hint block at the start says it's a bullshit excuse that all the surfaces were waxed.
** For the Completionists; Bass Cave Ghost House takes the cake as the Alternate exit requires you to go to the end, get a P Switch after hitting 2 invisible blocks to show up for you to get said P Switch, all the while spin jumping on Boos to regain your footing, then taking said P Block all the way back to the start, also the floors are made of ice blocks, so the usual slipping BS too.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioStarRoad'' is one of the most ambitious, creative rom hacks of VideoGame/SuperMario64 ever created, but it's also one of the hardest due to some fiendish level design that assumes that you have mastered the controls and quirks of the game. There are many hard levels in it...
** ...but few of them reach the hair-pulling insanity that is ''[[BrutalBonusLevel The Hidden Palace]]'', which is pure PlatformHell. It will push your skills to their limits—you need well timed triple jumps, ''frame perfect'' wall kicks, risky jump dives, tiny platforms to navigate (including a very small platform that you have to triple jump off of), the works. A lot of it is set over a bottomless pit, so you have no room for error after the beginning. Oh yeah, and there's a Replica Star hidden directly above the main star on the roof of the top of the level, meaning you have to play through it ''twice'' to complete it!
** Gloomy Garden is an early example of how tough this hack can get. The whole level consists of narrow walkways over a dark BottomlessPit that enemies can easily knock you off of if you're not careful. Skelux himself has acknowledged this and said he would redesign it so that it was much more fair in the DS version.
** Mad Musical Mess is another particularly notorious level. It's also another level made of platforms floating over a bottomless pit and contains a lot of tricky jumps. It's also the first level to introduce the [[DemonicSpiders bee enemies]], which are hard to hit and can effortlessly knock you to your doom.
** Colossal Candy Clutter is another frustrating level as well. Star 5 in particular, because you need to make a few perfect pole jumps combined with wall kicks, along with a few perfect long jumps across very small platforms to complete it, and one slip up will either make you have to start over or will send you flying to your death.
** Bob-Omb Battle Factory. It demands precision platforming and has lots of spots where you can easily fall to your death and some tricky narrow platforms. It also throws in a KaizoTrap warp pipe that will throw you into a pool of instant-death gunk if you jump into it.
* ''S Mario''. This hellishly hard hack played by LetsPlay/{{raocow}} has a few awful levels best mentioned here for their obnoxiousness...
** World 3 castle makes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBmOSBz0RU&t=8m50s a previous level's]] gimmick [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1dtBJ9J3EA even worse]]. No going left, no spin jumping (you die instantly if you try), with ice physics, with water physics (in places) and with such 'fun' obstacles as on/off switches and homing Bullet Bills.
-->'''Azentiger:''' ...NOOOOOO! ''No left!'' '''No Spin Jump!''' '''''ON ICY FLOOR!?''''' YOU! GOTTA BE! KIDDING ME!
** The final castle, which had the frustration of random wind physics. Imagine an already hard level. Now imagine every time you move or jump, you could be pushed left or right at random, and the direction changes every second or so without warning. Not an enjoyable experience.
* The final level in Japanese hack ''Luigi of Shadow''. What's worse than a Marathon Level that's ludicrously difficult? How about one which is also TheMaze? Yes really. The place is littered with doors, and they go to every single room in the place at what seems like random. Often a room you've been to and completed ten minutes ago, which means a lot of back tracking if you have no save states. Oh, and the game's actually trying to trick you into opening them, with some positioned at points where they look rather like what would normally be the door to the next area...
* Kaizo Mario 64 is a hack that, while not ''quite'' on par with the notoriously hard [[VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld ROM hack it's named after]], has some levels that will tear every hair from your skull. The most notable is its take on Bowser in the Sky, if only because ''the entire level is invisible''!
* Super Mario 74 Extreme Edition is the sequel to Super Mario 74, the first complete Super Mario 64 hack not to be based on the levels from the original game. It's regarded as being even harder than Kaizo Mario 64. One particularly noteworthy pair of levels are Veneno-Sphere and Crudelo-Sphere, which are based on a pair of levels from the original hack, Luminum-Sphere and Ombru-Sphere (which were plenty difficult in their own right). Ombru-Sphere was an upside-down version of Luminum-Sphere; the Extreme Edition versions literally ''turn them on their side'' (and add in tons of lava, just in case the levels weren't already difficult enough). Extreme amounts of wall-jumping are needed to complete the stages, and to make things worse there are 14 red coins to collect in Veneno-Sphere and 20 in Crudelo-Sphere. This hack definitely lives up to its name.
[[/folder]]

* World 6-5. The only way out is to grab a Koopa shell, fly up a narrow hole in the ceiling (which there are many of, but you have to figure out which one is the right one via TrialAndErrorGameplay) and throw it at the Nipper plants and Brick Blocks blocking the exit pipe. The worst part? The ground is cluttered with block-throwing Buster Beetles that you have to clear out first, and you can only hold the Koopa shell in your hands for so long before it eventually breaks free and instantly hurts you. There's a room that [[AntiFrustrationFeature provides a powerup every time you enter]] and respawns the Koopas to prevent you from [[{{Unwinnable}} getting stuck with no method of flight and/or Koopas]], but it also respawns the Beetles, naturally.

[[folder:''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'']]
* Beating the base high score in 4-3 in the first ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' to get its star is ''much'' harder than doing it in the surrounding levels. The first area of the level is extremely cycle-based due to the line-guided Lifts that you have to ride to get anywhere, which ''severely'' limits the possible time bonus [[note]]every second left on the clock is multiplied by 100 and added to your score[[/note]] you can get if you don't maximize your efficiency within these cycles. If you aren't opening the key door before the first section's timer goes below 90 seconds, you'll be rushing through the second half to wring out those precious few seconds in the hopes of even meeting the base high score of 31500, though even with good cycle management in the first half (~94 seconds entering the key door), it's highly likely you'll only be about 1000 points above the original score.
[[/folder]]