History Main / HardModeFiller

* The arcade version of ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'' has eight semi-unique levels, but has NoEnding and [[EndlessGame starts over after you "complete" it]], while the NES version, which has only four unique level designs, has a AWinnerIsYou ending after 16 levels (four loops).

* ''Munch Man'' (a ''Pac-Man'' clone for the UsefulNotes/TI99) had 20 levels. The next 20 were the same maps with faster, tougher enemies. The 20 after ''that'' had even faster enemies and ''invisible walls''.

* In ''Frak!'' for the UsefulNotes/BBCMicro, after completing the third level, the levels repeat themselves with everything besides the status numbers vertically flipped.

%%* Some earlier games on the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem, like ''Safari Hunt'', ''Ghost House'', or ''VideoGame/MyHero'', only had three levels, and basically followed this trope to the letter.

* Chapter 6 of ''[[VideoGame/TraumaCenter Trauma Center: Under The Knife]]'' requires the player to treat all the previous GUILT strains that they'd dealt with earlier in the game, but with the difficulty bumped up quite a bit. Chapter 6 of the VideoGameRemake, Second Opinion, replaces this chapter entirely.

* ''VideoGame/ThemePark'' boiled down to this. After the first few missions, every level boiled down to the same thing, but suddenly the customers spent less money, inflation was much higher, and everyone began hating you

* ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'': The game has two missions set on Severnaya Zemlya. The Surface level of the second is at night and much more difficult, while the second trip to the Bunker starts as a NoGearLevel and has several new rooms added.

** In the highest-end game/generation expansions (''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004 Monster Hunter G]]'' and the first ''Freedom'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterFreedom 2 Freedom Unite]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri 3 Ultimate]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter4 4 Ultimate]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Generations Ultimate]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld Iceborne]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise Sunbreak]]''), once the player enters G Rank (exclusive to these expansions, and known as "Master Rank" from the fifth generation onwards) in the multiplayer quests, old monsters will once again return with even greater power and difficulty, and new subspecies and variants of monsters (as well as all-new monsters) are introduced to provide very formidable boss fights.

* In ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', the first subgame reuses the Office, Construction, Maintenance, Executive, and Computer level templates multiple times, just with different and more challenging enemy, hostage, item, and barrier placements, plus the occasional BossBattle, the only unique levels being the Garage, Reception, Ballroom, and Vault. The Rooftop bonus stages are also identical for the most part. Similarly, ''Die Hard With A Vengeance'' uses each of its maps(Harlem, Tunnel, Central Park, Chinatown, Downtown, Aqueduct, and Waterfront) at least twice.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', "Heroic" dungeons are earlier dungeons tuned to a difficulty for a moderately well equipped player at the current level cap. For the most part, the enemies hits harder, drop better loot, etc. However, some of them add new boss abilities, or an [[BonusBoss additional boss]]. Cataclysm has brought this one step further by introducing heroic versions of popular content from previous expansions, as well as the standard "Hard Mode" that it has been used for previously. The fanbase seems to be split between fans and critics of the system: some older players are happy to replay the "golden age" content, and newer players may be excited to see this hyped content for the first time (it can be hard to find a group for a mid-level dungeon from which the rewards would be obsolete after just a little LevelGrinding), but other longtime players think Blizzard is trying to exploit nostalgia to pump out relatively easy-to-design, cheap content.

* [=E3M9=] "Warrens", the SecretLevel in ''VideoGame/{{DOOM}}'' Episode 3 starts out as completely identical to the episode's first level. Until you reach the [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle "end"]] and hit the "level complete" teleporter, when the walls around you suddenly come down and you find yourself in a giant room with a Cyberdemon. And it [[FromBadToWorse only gets more insane from there...]]

* In ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', the first subgame reuses the Office, Construction, Maintenance, Executive, and Computer level templates multiple times, just with different enemy, hostage, item, and barrier placements, plus the occasional BossBattle, the only unique levels being the Garage, Reception, Ballroom, and Vault. The Rooftop bonus stages are also identical for the most part. Similarly, ''Die Hard With A Vengeance'' uses each of its maps(Harlem, Tunnel, Central Park, Chinatown, Downtown, Aqueduct, and Waterfront) at least twice.

* In ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', the first subgame reuses the Office, Construction, Maintenance, Executive, and Computer level templates multiple times, just with different enemy, hostage, item, and barrier placements, plus the occasional BossBattle, the only unique levels being the Garage, Reception, Ballroom, and Vault. Similarly, ''Die Hard With A Vengeance'' uses each of its maps(Harlem, Tunnel, Central Park, Chinatown, Downtown, Aqueduct, and Waterfront) at least twice.

* In ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', the first subgame reuses the Office, Construction, Maintenance, Executive, and Computer level templates multiple times, with different enemy, item, and hostage placements, the only unique levels being the Garage, Reception, Ballroom, and Vault. Similarly, ''Die Hard With A Vengeance'' uses each of its maps(Harlem, Tunnel, Central Park, Chinatown, Downtown, Aqueduct, and Waterfront) at least twice.

* ''Saint Sword'' second half repeats the first six levels, except enemies are swapped out with tougher variants and you no longer have the arrow telling you where the key and stage exist are.

* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'': The Land of Carnage, aka the Carnage Dimension, has been a staple since ''VideoGame/Disgaea2'', not only increasing enemy levels, but also allowing for the best weapons and armor to be found in the Item World. ''VideoGame/Disgaea3'' even made it so that enemies that would surpass Level 9999 would continue to increase their stats. ''VideoGame/DisgaeaD2'' even added a unique perk: absorbing the stats of defeated Carnage foes!
** Titles 5 and 6 in the franchise take this to differing heights:
*** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5'' turns the Carnage Dimension from merely a side-quest to a full-on story arc of its own, involving the Carnage Demons invading the main universe to recruit strong people. [[spoiler: The Carnage Demons rescued Goldion from what would've been his demise at the story's end, training him to become several times more powerful. He joins you once the storyline is complete.]] In addition to this, the Carnage Dimension also has its own set of the game's equipment, albeit with ''much'' better stats, and completing a series of Carnage Maps would open up [[spoiler: a final fight against Void's disembodied Malice, which was the crux of several story maps preceding the Carnage arc. Clearing this nets the player their last Primary Evility Slot, alongside Eclipse Power, the ability to absorb Item World Boss foes' stats.]]
*** ''VideoGame/Disgaea6DefianceOfDestiny'' has not only Carnage as a difficulty setting, but went one step further by importing Dimension 2's ''Rakshasa'' modifier -- this in addition to the game taking the AbsurdlyHighLevelCap even further beyond. And yes, both modifiers have their own equipment sets.

* In ''VideoGame/AstroBoyOmegaFactor'', Astro [[KillEmAll fails to save the world]] after defeating Pluto and the world's strongest robots. However, the Phoenix shows up and grants Astro TimeTravel so he can restart his adventure and SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. For some reason, everything deals double damage now, and enemies have better reaction times and more hitpoints. Replaying through this mode, unlocking all the extra plot stages and talking to all the necessary [=NPCs=] unlocks the real final stage and the GoldenEnding.

** In the highest-end game/generation expansions (''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004 Monster Hunter G]]'' and the first ''Freedom'', ''Freedom Unite'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri 3 Ultimate]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter4 4 Ultimate]]'', ''Generations Ultimate'', ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld Iceborne]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise Sunbreak]]''), once the player enters G Rank (exclusive to these expansions, and known as "Master Rank" from the fifth generation onwards) in the multiplayer quests, old monsters will once again return with even greater power and difficulty, and new subspecies and variants of monsters (as well as all-new Elder Dragons) are introduced to provide very formidable boss fights.

* Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', controversially, has several Chapter 1 missions redone with modifiers to make them extra difficult to complete. They come in three flavors: Extreme, which has harder to kill enemies and less health to the player, Total Stealth, which enables instant game overs if even a single enemy spots you, and Subsistence, which forces players to complete a mission without a sortie prep or Mother Base support. The modified missions vary in difficulty, though the Extreme variants often hit NintendoHard territory, because most of the missions involve boss battles or Skulls encounters; the latter which are already annoying in their original forms. The controversial part of MGSV's use of HardModeFiller is that it was a result of [[ExecutiveMeddling Konami rushing the game to release before Hideo Kojima properly finished the main game]]. The modified missions seen in Chapter 2 were meant for original levels instead of rehashed ones.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', the stage before TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is Onett, the FirstTown, except now full of the high-ranking minions of BigBad Giygas instead of stray dogs, crows, and skater punks. In addition, almost every door in the town is locked or refuses to open because the townspeople are scared out of their minds, meaning you also can't access any shops or sidequests. Lucky for Ness that his mom still provides free healing once he reaches his house.