[[quoteright:312:[[BrawlInTheFamily http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bitf_71_hidden_block.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:312: Oh, GOD ''[[KaizoTrap DAMN IT!]]'']]

->''"Here's an example of a typical scene: Trees full of apples. Unassuming, you stride under one, and an apple falls from the tree and crushes you, sending you back to the start of the screen. You approach again, this time cautiously poking your nose out under the tree in an attempt to goad the apple into falling before you pass. ... About halfway across, you notice an apple low enough you can jump over it. ... You jump over the apple, and the apple falls up and kills you. '''The apple falls up and kills you'''."''
--> --[[http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=11 Anna "Dessgeega" Anthropy]] on ''IWannaBeTheGuy''. Note: They're really more like giant cherries.

If you want a picture of the future, [[NineteenEightyFour imagine a plumber jumping into an invisible coin block... repeatedly... forever]].

Video game protagonists often have bad days. It's not uncommon to have to DoubleJump between FloatingPlatforms over [[SpikesOfDoom spiked pits]], dash between three sets of synchronized fire vents, then bounce off a flying enemy to hit an item block, all while dodging those GoddamnedBats and DemonicSpiders. It may be [[NintendoHard fiendishly difficult]], but it's still par for the course.

But not like this. ''[[TheMatrix Not like this]]''.

The first item block? [[TrialAndErrorGameplay Falls and crushes you when you hit it!]] The pit spikes? Shoot [[FrickinLaserBeams freaking lasers]] when you jump over them! The safe platform at the other end? [[FakePlatform Suddenly tilts sideways]] for no reason at all! The harmless bush you just walked past? Grows teeth and bites your head off! The tiny white cloud that you ''thought'' was part of the background? Just [[ShockAndAwe blasted you with lightning]]! The secret WarpZone you found? Sends you back to the first level of the game!

And when you finally, finally get that precious Super Mushroom? Makes you grow so [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever monstrously huge]] that the floor cracks in half and you plunge into the center of the Earth.

Might I be the first to say... welcome to Hell.

This isn't NintendoHard; it's murder. Every platform has [[SpikesOfDoom booby-trapped spikes]]. Every empty hallway has a wall of cannons waiting just offscreen. Every [[PowerUp power-up]] will [[PoisonMushroom result in death]], and every power-up that doesn't will result in death if you ''don't'' pick it up. And when you think you've figured out the twisted mind of the game designer, [[ItGotWorse something incomparably worse gets thrown at you]]. The entire experience is a humongous, hilariously sadistic Kafkaesque [[TheParody Parody]] of a NintendoHard video game.

'''As a rule of thumb, a Platform Hell game should meet several of the following criteria:'''
* Difficulty as slapstick comedy: these games try to make their sudden and completely unfair deaths so ridiculous as to be hilarious. The player engages in self-aimed schadenfreude.
* Difficulty as RunningGag: The difficulty never, ever lets up, and after awhile it becomes ludicrous in its persistence.
* Self-awareness: The aforementioned comedy often comes from the game [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard knowing exactly what the player is going to do]], and catching them when they least expect it.
* Difficulty as [[TheParody parody]]: These games deconstruct well-known videogame challenges, such as MegaMan's disappearing blocks, taking them 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 [[IWannaBeTheGuy IWBTG]] are generally one big NostalgiaLevel [[ThatOneLevel From Hell]].

'''Typical "traps" in these games include:'''
* Invisible blocks: Some of them will just be there to trip you up (as in the picture above), some need to be hit in order to pass a seemingly impassable obstacle, and some will leave you trapped between a rock and a hard place.
* Background elements (such as seemingly distant mountains) actually being treated as foreground elements (i.e SpikesOfDoom).
* Traps at the end of the stage which result in your death unless you've prepared something from the ''beginning'' of the stage, such as the famous "KaizoTrap" in Super Mario World romhacks: if you don't turn the coins into blocks, the auto-scroll as part of the victory fanfare will cause Mario to die.
* Traps at the beginning of the stage that will kill you a couple of seconds after entering unless you act immediately.
* TrialAndErrorGameplay, typically in the form of paths that appear to lead somewhere interesting but instead drop you into an inescapable DeathTrap. (Of course, PlatformHell games also have areas that merely ''[[RedHerring look]]'' [[RedHerring like inescapable death traps]].)
* Killing you in the intro cut scene before the game actually begins, especially in Mario hack examples.
* [[PitTrap Pit Traps]] and [[FakePlatform Fake Platforms]] that look exactly the same as solid ground and real platforms, respectively.

They will also usually go by names that outright suggest the cruel difficulty and trickery contained within, usually with names based on 'hard', 'impossible', 'difficult' and 'unfair'.

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, fully expecting and taking advantage of the fact that players ''will'' be SaveScumming.

Also known as "Masocore", after [[http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=11 this blog post]]. [[hottip:*:Although, the term "masocore" is subtly broader - referring simply to "player death as narrative technique". Cactus's ''Psychosomnium'', for instance, is masocore but not Platform Hell in the least.]] This should not be confused with very NintendoHard games like ''Jumper'', ''{{N}}'', ''SuperMarioBros. 2'' (the [[MissionPackSequel Japanese one]]), and ''{{Battletoads}}'', which, while being immensely difficult, play (mostly) fair and straight. It should also not be confused with masochism-themed games like ''[[http://mightyjilloff.dessgeega.com/ Mighty Jill Off]]'', which are more homage than parody.

See also ClassicVideoGameScrewYous, which these games generally take UpToEleven.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Mega Man inspired: ]]

* ''[[http://www.flashgameblaze.com/games/views/27/The-Life-Ending-Adventure.html Jinsei Owata no Daibouken]]'' (also known as ''The Life Ending Adventure'') - an ASCII art flash game starring various Japanese ImageBoard memes. It's also little bit hard.
* ''IWannaBeTheGuy: The Movie: The Game'' - confirmed to be directly inspired by the above. In this game, everything [[EverythingTryingToKillYou really]] ''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou is]]'' [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Trying To Kill You]]. Even ''apples''. And 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 moon not only drops on you, it ''follows you around the screen''. There's screens that are only crossable by landing on blocks that aren't visible until you hit them, screens that kill you instantly as soon as you step onto them, spikes that spit antigravity fruit, stars that drop onto your head and gib you, and a ''giant, fire-breathing Mike Tyson''.
** '''[[SelectiveGravity Apples don't fall up!]]'''
*** [[RunningGag They're actually more like giant cherries...]]
*** According to Kayin, the programmer, they're "Delicious Fruit" and the kids of the world eat them. They have to use sticks to get them off the trees safely, then boil them three times before they eat them. Seriously. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l-kBGr-tB8 He explains it in one of the videos of HIS playthrough of it.]]
** Please note that ''one'' player managed to beat the game on Impossible (meaning no save points). The official comment was "holy crap your not serious are you".
** The sequel, ''I Wanna Save The Kids'', is an ''EscortMission'' from hell. As if that wasn't redundant enough.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Super Mario Bros inspired: ]]

* The Japanese ''Super Mario Bros. 2''[[hottip:*:[[UpdatedRerelease Repackaged]] as 'Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels' with Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES.]] is probably as far as a commercial game can go into this trope. Not only did it have the PoisonMushroom - a power up that killed you - but it had Warp Zones that sent you on a one-way trip back to World 1. (Apparently, it didn't sell very well.)
** Oh, and that picture at the top of the page? Looks like a pretty childish hack right? Super Mario Bros. 2 JP does a trick as or more cruel than this at least once per world.
* ''[[http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/iz4pdXMAVVA/ Super Mario Forever]]'' - this video was phenomenally popular in April of 2007, mostly due to the surprising amount of visible emotion and frustration in the anonymous player's actions. An English GagDub of that same video exists [[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6204903272262158881 here]] (NSFW). And now you can [[http://selectbutton.net/misc/MarioForever.zip try it yourself!]]
* ''[[http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Kaizo/ 1]] KaizoMarioWorld'' - colloquially known as "Asshole Mario". While ''Super Mario Forever'' had only fire bars, blocks and moving platforms, the many traps and devices of Super Mario World make their appearance here. Spawned a sequel in ''[[http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Kaizo2/ Kaizo Mario World 2]].''
** The single nastiest and most horribly sadistic trap in the entire game? Special World 2. If you don't grab a pound switch right at the end of the level, then [[KaizoTrap after you hit the end gate, Mario gleefully walks along, right off a ledge, and dies. AFTER FINISHING THE LEVEL]]. And what's even worse is that [[TimedMission the entire level has to be completed in less than TWO MINUTES]], so the player is already in a frenzy, trying to get to the end before the timer runs out.
** 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''. (The first one does this, too, but not successfully.)
* ''[[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 ''Syobon Action'') - seemingly inspired by both of the above. As it isn't a ROM hack, the designers were able to add even more preposterous traps and setpieces. Hint: don't eat the mushroom.
** 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 falls''.]]
** What ever you do, '''[[MinusWorld DO NOT PRESS "0" the the title screen]]'''.
* ''[[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.
** Although it suffers a bit from engine-imposed FakeDifficulty, with some slippery hit detection.
* ''[[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.
** This troper remembers that the maker gave the game to someone to review on 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.
* ''Super Mario Bros [=SpeedExpiation=]'' seems innocent enough--all the original levels are left as is. Then you notice how quickly the timer runs down, and how it's a bad idea to do a GoombaStomp or even pick up a coin... It's basically turned normal game objects into instant death blocks.
** [[http://www.veoh.com/videos/v17374864P58kD6rj Here's a compilation]] of [[http://www.veoh.com/channels/sistermind someone's]] tool-assisted speedruns through the entire game, mashed into one video.
* The "gimmick" used by the above is also applied, with hair-rending results, to Super Mario World in this, ''[[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kzcKU6L-88s&feature=channel_page Present Mario]]'', as played by raocow.
* [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AdAp_NmJW3A&feature=related Super Tabarnak World]]'' - A hack that actually requires you to get a Yoshi in the BONUS GAME to progress and whose 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.
** "Tabarnak" is, in Quebec, a very strong swear with religious connotations.
* ''[[http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=thread&id=11839 The Hard Level Compilation]]'' - Exactly what it says on the tin, and a compilation of about 20 of the hardest Kaizo styled levels people have contributed. This level linked below is just one of them, and took a video reviewer FIFTEEN videos to get past:
**''[[http://uk.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4A5828BC078F4752 Bowser's Ruins]]''.
* [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G7zs2O_4f7Y Pit of Despair]]. That's a Tool Assisted Speedrun of the level which has to utilize pretty much every glitch in the original game. It's also only one of three (Moltov Mario World and Lawler Mario World being the others) that the video creator has made based purely on being the hardest games ever.
** And the sequel, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAzxnJKCEdU&feature=channel_page Pit of Death]]. Apparently, it took over 5000 reloads using TAS to beat that level for the creator.
* [[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 of keys and blocks and having between only 50 and THREE seconds to beat each room. Then there's the boss...
** And here's the follow up to the above, Item Abuse. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvY1MNF26-w Link to video of a TAS of said game]]. Apparently requires every single glitch in Super Mario World and beyond, and has a boss battle in mid air among lots of killer spikes. Apparently inspired by Pit of Despair.
** World of Pain. ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, by the same creator as the last two. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR2HGCalYK4&feature=channel_page Link to video of first level of World of Pain]]. Apparently, it's supposed to be an EASIER Kaizo game...
* [[http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9B1C2CE0534B8C6C Cool or Cruel]] A deliberately Kaizo Mario inspired hack/game which is also a parody of the Mario World Special World area (note the punny names such as Snarly instead of Gnarly, Way Cruel instead of Way Cool and Awful instead of Awesome). PlatformHell is pretty much the most common Mario World ROMHack genre by now.
* [[http://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.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqD8hyL-kN4 Mario's Evil Level]] is a really sadistic version. This level is tough as nut even with save states. In addition, it has multiple paths, some of them which take you to dead end and some of them which make you think they've taken you to the dead end. To add insult, almost every 3-up moon and often seemingly safe surfaces or air kills you without any indication before.
* Many ROM hacks of ''SuperMarioBros 3'', eg ''Ultimate SMB3'', are like this.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhZrHhaC-so&feature=PlayList&p=F157F2CF58F602B8&index=10 Mario's Masochistic Mission]]. That video being a perfect example. Nice relaxed Super Mario Bros 1-1 remake. Then a [[ClownCarBase "tiny"]] fortress where the end usually is... which turns out to be a massive castle of doom, Munchers, death traps, pixel perfect jumps and instantly dodging about four falling Thwomps. And it ''kills you'' at the end if you didn't activate the red switch, which is ''later'' in the game.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other Platformers: ]]

* A number of homebrew edits of the Spectrum game ''Jet Set Willy'' are deliberately written in such a way that you need to exploit bugs in the game engine to solve them.
** As if the original game weren't hard enough: not just that it frequently requires perfectly accurate jumping, but a single false step or jump may well cost you the entire game: you fall into a room below, die with no way to avoid that fate ... and re-enter the room in exactly the same way as the time before, leading into an infinite loop.
*** So these edits are [[UnWinnable more winnable]] [[GameBreakingBug than the]] [[JetSetWilly original]].
** And of course, the original was {{unwinnable}} without hacking the game.
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_no_Chousenjou Takeshi's Challenge]]''. It says on the box (OrSoIHeard) that it was made by a man who hates video games. It shows.
** Note that this is based on ''[[TakeshisCastle Takeshi's Castle]]'', a NintendoHard ''game show''. There is only one person who has won the prize on this show. Ever.
* The hidden [[http://lamulana.super-turbo.net/wiki/index.php5?title=Hell_Temple Hell Temple]] in ''LaMulana'' takes an already difficult game and [[http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=eY0IH80cHB0&feature=related sends it screaming right into the bowels of self-aware platform hell]]. It may seem fair, but you'll be going cross-eyed with grief once you step into an invisible pit ''again'', or accidentally enter a one-way DoorToBefore. And the solution to the final 'puzzle' in the temple? [[spoiler:''Completing the whole temple again. Twice.'']] And once you finally beat Hell Temple, what is your final reward for it all? [[spoiler:A skimpy swimsuit. Which you then see [[FanDisservice Professor Lemeza wearing]]!]]
** Did we mention the [[BonusLevelOfHell Hell Temple's]] LANDS OF HELL? The LANDS OF HELL are what you fall into if you fall into a pit. You have to defeat all the enemies in them, and then you can go back up to the room. Easy, no? No, because you go back to the first room that Land Of Hell(there are four) can be fell into. The third Land of Hell even has pits that lead to the second one. Did we mention that [[spoiler:you HAVE to fall into the first three and pause in front of the land in each one]] to continue through the dungeon?
* Pretty much any platform game on the ''Action52'' NES compilation, as well as ''Cheetahmen 2''. In fact ''Ooze''(at least on a cartridge), ''Fuzz Power'', and ''Cheetahmen 2'' are [[{{Unwinnable}} literally impossible to beat]], and ''Alfredo'' and ''Jigsaw'' are unplayable except on some emulators. A couple egregious examples: ''Streemerz'', a BionicCommando ripoff where touching any object, including money bags, causes damage, and ''Billy Bob'', a crippled PrinceOfPersia clone which is nearly(but not completely) impossible to beat due to the wonky jumping controls.
* ''[[http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/59370 A Slightly Difficult Game]]'' really likes spikes, weights falling out of the air for no reason and Mega Man-style dissapearing blocks. The game over screen (which you are going to see a lot) also has a [[HaveANiceDeath message mocking the way you died]].
* ''[[http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/69828 I Wanna be the Star]]'' is a Christmas themed platform hell game inspired by I Wanna be the Guy where you play as a blue ornament trying to oust and replace the star on the top of the tree.
* ''[[http://www.venbrux.com/blog/?p=46 You Probably Won't Make It]]'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. No traps, but LOTS of SpikesOfDoom, combined with obnoxiously difficult jumps, and a system that shows you where you died last. Expect the screen to be *covered* with red blotches.
** Especially in [[ScrappyLevel Level 18]]. [[spoiler: At least, until you realize that it is impossible, and the creator didn't add a level 19 or 20.]]
* As mentioned above, it's possible for a game to be an example of {{Masocore}} and not be {{Platform Hell}}. ''[[http://www.nitrome.com/games/cavechaos/ Cave Chaos]]'' shows us how it's done. There aren't any [[ViolationOfCommonSense violations of common sense]], the short level length means you won't have to redo much when you get killed, and the traps are avoidable with foreknowledge and cleverness--but you'll still scream at the computer when the MutuallyExclusivePowerups doom you, or a mine cart falls out of nowhere and lands on your head.
* {{Canabalt}}, but only because it loves you.
* The DirtyHarry NES game is somewhere between this and NintendoHard. While a lot of the difficulty is standard, it also sports a number of cruel glitches, as well as things more in this category. Such as the "Ha Ha Ha" room. An area, impossible to tell from the outside, that once entered, requires you to reset the game, and a one-way maze leading back to the start of the game.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Non-Platformers: ]]

* {{Trope Maker}}: The infamous {{Dungeons and Dragons}} module, {{Tomb of Horrors}}. To just ''get into'' said dungeon you have to get past a literal {{Rocks Fall Everyone Dies}}. It's all downhill from there. Have fun, you jackasses.
** And as a shining example of {{Tropes Are Not Bad}}, this is also by far and away the franchise's most well-known module.
** And just to show the difference between this trope and {{Nintendo Hard}}, the 3.5E counterpart Red Hand of Doom is an insanely difficult {{Timed Mission}} module which requires players to punch way above their weight class. In a lot of ways, Red Hand of Doom is more difficult since it relies much more on a [[{{Stop Having Fun Guys}} complete mastery of the combat engine]] and [[{{Min Maxing}} character builds]] than {{Trial and Error Gameplay}}. But aside from that the adventure doesn't pull any unusually cruel tricks. Well, [[{{Killer Gamemaster}} for the kind of game it is]].
* ''TheImpossibleQuiz'' - a non-platformer example, only by virtue of the completely ridiculous and hilarious "solutions" that the game expects of the player.
** A brief sampler of said "solutions:" Finding a completely invisible button to click on a white field, choosing an answer in a multiple choice question where the answers have nothing to do with the question, are not in english, or are blank, and ''right clicking on the window to deactivate the Flash control to keep the program from failing you.''[[hottip:*:This was possibly inspired by the quiz level in ''EarthwormJim 2'', which was only a BonusLevel but had answers such as 'B. A' and 'C. Come on, I really need this powerup!']]
* The PC game based on ''[=~The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy~=]'' 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 {{Infocom}} InteractiveFiction games have even harder puzzles, but this is the only one (that this troper knows of) that uses its difficulty in the same ironic manner as other Platform Hell games.
** In addition, it's ''extremely'' easy to make this game {{Unwinnable}}. Didn't pick up [[spoiler:the junk mail]] at the start of the game? Didn't [[spoiler:buy the sandwich]] in the pub? The game won't mind, it won't even hint that those things have any effect when you do them - but if you don't, woe betide you later on.
*** For the [[spoiler:mail, the game indeed becomes Unwinnable, although you'll notice when getting the Babel Fish, which isn't too far ahead.]] However, in the pub, [[spoiler:you can in fact replay this section using the Infinite Improbability Drive as Ford, and buy the sandwich that way.]]
** Douglas Adams said in [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/metaguide/computergame.shtml an interview]] "This is the first game that moves beyond user friendly. It is user insulting and ... user mendacious."
** Dave Leary's games were notorious for their "lying computer" puzzles as well. Leary did admit to being heavily inspired by Infocom games.
* ''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.
** The same can be said about Samuel Stoddard (of [=RinkWorks=] fame)'s dungeon crawler Murkon's Vengeance, which is basically a homage to Wizardry IV in every way. ''Including'' the difficulty. Watch as your 10-hitpoint-1-damage-dealing character barely scratches the enemies less than half of the time and spends the rest "too scared to act". Thankfully, it gets easier once you find the summoning squares.
* ''ChipsChallenge'' is largely NintendoHard, but plays it straight... until level 131, which is called ''Totally Unfair'' and requires the player to remember the exact layout of an earlier level, given only a bare minimum time limit.
** And level 140, ''Icedeath'' which literally requires you to use trial and error, instantly sliding chip into some [[SuperDrowningSkills fatal water]] every time you make a false move. And you can't see where the safe land is!
*** Of course some of the custom levels that people have made make even the hardest of the original levels look easy. Especially the ''Inanity'' level pack.
* "Penn and Tellers Smoke and Mirrors" though unreleased, appears to be a deliberate play on this trope, especially the minigame where you drive a bus across the Nevada desert without exceeding 45mph. Oh, and the bus veers a little to the left. And [[BladderOfSteel you can't pause]]. And making it to Nevada is worth [[ScoringPoints one point]].
** You neglected that the game is in real time. Like, actually real time. By which I mean, ''it takes 12 hours to play once''.
* ''[[http://fph.altervista.org/prog/bastet.html Bastet]]'', or Bastard Tetris, is a Tetris clone with a key difference. Whereas Tetris will select the next brick random(ish)ly, Bastet [[{{TheComputerIsACheatingBastard}} deliberately gives you the least useful brick]].
* Pandemonium Warden. FinalFantasyXI managed to take ThatOneBoss and drive it into PlatformHell. Fifty times more people have beaten IWannaBeTheGuy than this [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel nightmarish monstrosity]]. Hint: [[spoiler: try running away or logging out and then returning to get yourself off it's hate list. Still belongs here]].
* Non-video game example: ''NinjaWarrior''. Hopping around obstacles of varying difficulty within a time limit is harder than it looks, especially since only ''two people'' beat the obstacle course.
** To be specific, there has been at least 22 Ninja Warrior tournaments held, each with 100 contestants. So 2 out of 2,200 people have passed it... less than 0.1% of the attempts.
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