History Main / LevelInReverse

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has two versions of this in one. [[spoiler:The inverted castle is not only played with the same level geometry, only upside-down, but you start the inverted castle from the Dracula fight room, and work your way 'upwards', thus utilising both methods of masking the reused geometry at the same time.]]

** The ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games have Mirror Mode, which require the player to race on the exact same track, except flipped horizontally. An extremely nasty version of the Mirror race is in Toad's Turnpike from ''VideoGame/MarioKart64''. The traffic, which you raced alongside with, is now in reverse. ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction. Also done in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' when Paris Promenade and Sydney Sprint from ''Tour'', as well as DS Peach Gardens, returned as part of the Booster Course Pass, as portions of all three are driven in reverse. Some missions in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' also have the player drive in the opposite direction.

* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}:

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', after defeating Ganondorf, you have to go back down Ganon's Tower [[CollapsingLair while it's collapsing]]. The main difference being that the stairwells are blocked by debris, forcing you to go down the outside of the tower instead.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has a variation where different ports of the game are flipped relative to each other. The game was originally developed for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] before Nintendo decided to also release it for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} and incorporate motion controls, which they felt was natural for things like swinging Link's sword. The problem was, however, that most people would want to make the motions with their right hand, and that Link was traditionally left handed. They couldn't just flip Link's model, since that would interfere with animations, level design, etc. which they didn't have time to redo, so instead they just flipped the geometry of the entire game to make Link right-handed in the Wii version. The HD UpdatedRerelease for the UsefulNotes/WiiU uses the original Gamecube orientation for its normal difficulty setting, and the mirrored Wii orientation for [[HarderThanHard Hero Mode]]. The [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 3DS]] port for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' has the game's world flipped in the Master Quest mode, which also makes Link become right handed.

** The ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games have Mirror Mode, which require the player to race on the exact same track, except flipped horizontally. An extremely nasty version of the Mirror race is in ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'''s Toad's Turnpike. The traffic, which you raced alongside with, is now in reverse. ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction. Also done in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' when Paris Promenade and Sydney Sprint from ''Tour'', as well as DS Peach Gardens, returned as part of the Booster Course Pass, as portions of all three are driven in reverse. Even before that, some missions in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' had the player drive in the opposite direction.

* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}: Fell'' does this multiple times. "We Corpses All Sing" revisits "A Merging of Shadows" with a different starting point and without the vacuum conditions, "The Face Below The Puddles" begins at the endpoint of "Nox Quondam" and retreads some of that level's geometry, and in "Vessel in the Depths" you start on the large ship from "No Whisper a Man Could Hold" and go through space to a smaller ship mostly identical to the one in the original level. Ditto "Phaidros' Eighth Guest" and "How the Stones were Placed".

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[[folder:Action Adventure Games]]
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has two versions of this in one: [[spoiler: The inverted castle is not only played with the same level geometry, only upside-down, but you start the inverted castle from the Dracula fight room, and work your way 'upwards', thus utilising both methods of masking the reused geometry at the same time.]]
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'': Lucia's first mission basically makes her retrace Dante's first mission in reverse.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': Most of Dante's playable portions in the main campaign have the same levels Nero went through during its first half, but are played in reverse direction and contain some minor alterations or additional gimmicks.
* Right after going through the ''Salvation'' level, ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed II'' has the player go through the level backwards, starting at the boss room. What makes this level different from the one just before is that the ship is now in the middle of a battle, so you have to deal with missiles shattering the hull, stormtroopers boarding the ship, and parts of the ship collapsing outright as you make your way through a level you thought you mastered.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', after defeating Ganondorf, you have to go back down Ganon's Tower [[CollapsingLair while it's collapsing]]. The main difference being that the stairwells are blocked by debris, forcing you to go down the outside of the tower instead.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has a variation where different ports of the game are flipped relative to each other. The game was originally developed for the UsefulNotes/GameCube before Nintendo decided to also release it for the Wii and incorporate motion controls, which they felt was natural for things like swinging Link's sword. The problem was, however, that most people would want to make the motions with their right hand, and that Link was traditionally left handed. They couldn't just flip Link's model, since that would interfere with animations, level design, etc. which they didn't have time to redo, so instead they just flipped the geometry of the entire game to make Link right-handed in the Wii version. The HD UpdatedRerelease for the Wii U uses the original Gamecube orientation for its normal difficulty setting, and the mirrored Wii orientation for [[HarderThanHard Hero Mode]]. The 3DS EnhancedPort of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has the game's world become flipped in the Master Quest mode, which also makes Link become right handed.
* In ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Level 5 consists of Obi-Wan escorting Queen Amidala [[spoiler:or rather, her decoy Sabé]] from the Naboo Royal Palace to the Hanger. Level 10 is split between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's battle with Darth Maul, and Padmé and her guards fighting their way back to the palace from the hanger, occasionally running into an NPC that Obi-Wan helped.

** ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' 2 had a setting which, if checked, meant you drove every track backwards.
** The ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games have Mirror Mode, which require the player to race on the exact same track, except flipped horizontally. An extremely nasty version of the Mirror race is in ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'''s Toad's Turnpike. The traffic, which you raced alongside with, is now in reverse.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction. Also done in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' when Paris Promenade and Sydney Sprint from ''Tour'', as well as DS Peach Gardens, returned as part of the Booster Course Pass, as portions of all three are driven in reverse. Even before that, some missions in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' had the player drive in the opposite direction.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'' and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3 3]]'' do this sometimes with their Spec Ops levels, with several of them being areas you play through in the campaign (two in ''[=MW2=]'' are even taken from levels from ''VideoGame/{{Call of Duty 4|ModernWarfare}}''), just played from the 'end' of the level to the 'start'.

** And further back in the original ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', there was Ste. Mere-Eglise and Ste. Mere-Eglise-Day. The first was at night and had you clearing the German AA guns from the occupied burning town, hence the alternate name "Burnville". The second, during the day (hence the alternate "Dawnville" name, used for the multiplayer version) with the fires burnt out and some areas blocked off by rubble, consisted of pushing back the German counterattack and taking out their mortar crews.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Portal 2}}'', the Dual Portal device is lying in the fire pit from ''{{VideoGame/Portal}}''. After grabbing it, you navigate backwards through Chamber 19's (now-dry) river of GrimyWater.

* ''{{Franchise/Doom}}'':

* ''{{VideoGame/Marathon}}: Fell'' does this multiple times. "We Corpses All Sing" revisits "A Merging of Shadows" with a different starting point and without the vacuum conditions, "The Face Below The Puddles" begins at the endpoint of "Nox Quondam" and retreads some of that level's geometry, and in "Vessel in the Depths" you start on the large ship from "No Whisper a Man Could Hold" and go through space to a smaller ship mostly identical to the one in the original level. Ditto "Phaidros' Eighth Guest" and "How the Stones were Placed".

* ''{{VideoGame/Toontown Online}}'' has a section called the Goofy Speedway, where you race on one of 18 tracks. 9 of these tracks are reverse versions of the other 9 tracks.

** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', the late-game [[TheLostWoods Gold Leaf Galaxy]] is a RemixedLevel of the second stage, Honeyhive Galaxy, flipped vertically and {{Palette Swap}}ped to take place in [[ForestOfPerpetualAutumn autumn]].

* Both types show up in ''VideoGame/NESRemix''.
* Many levels in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' occur in different areas of the same location, and often reuse parts of layouts that are sometimes in reverse. Examples include Tails' Prison Lane to Eggman's Iron Gate, set on [[CardboardPrison Prison Island]]; and Sonic's [[GravityScrew Crazy Gadget]] to Tails' EternalEngine to Eggman's [[BlackoutBasement Lost Colony]], set on [[SpaceStation the ARK]].
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' uses this in Shadow and Silver's iterations of the same levels Sonic went through. Shadow's Kingdom Valley has a part that is Sonic and Silver's done backwards, while the End of the World level is [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage made up of various different pieces of previous levels]], sometimes played backwards.
** Some of the DLC content involves playing through stages in reverse.

* The OldSaveBonus "''Episode Metal''" in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4: Episode II'' that you get by having an ''Episode I'' save takes Metal Sonic on a journey through one act versions of Mad Gear Zone, Lost Labyrinth Zone, Casino Street Zone, and Splash Hill Zone in that order. In other words, the reverse sequence of zones from ''Episode I''. The ending then has him give chase to Sonic and Tails, setting up his role as an antagonist in ''Episode II''.
* ''VideoGame/SonicMania [[UpdatedRerelease Plus]]'' adds Encore Mode and a new set of special stages to go with it. These stages are significantly more challenging and also involve playing through the backgrounds of the original stages in reverse order.

* In ''VideoGame/YoshisCraftedWorld'', each course has a "Flip Side", which starts you at the end and has you traverse backwards, with the perspective turned around to reveal many visual elements of the course that are not visible from the obverse side. The main goal of each course's Flip Side version is to find three Poochy Pups and bring them to the goal within a specified target time.

[[folder:Role Playing Game]]

* In [[VideoGame/GuruminAMonstrousAdventure Gurumin]], the levels 4 and 5 of each world are reversed versions of level 2 and 1.

** The Fortress stage in ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} IV'' turns sideways halfway through.
** Stage 6 in ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} V'' has the level geometry tilt in various directions, followed by scrolling backwards. The final stage is a mirrored version of Stage 2, [[JustifiedTrope since you're now playing as your future self from that stage]].

[[folder:Third Person Shooter]]

* In ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1997'' for N64, the second half (action) of the Embassy mission is a reverse of the first half (stealth), and the final mission [[BookEnds revisits the submarine base from the first mission]] with a reversed path.

* A common cheat in the ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' franchise is mirrored levels, which causes everything to be flipped across the Y-axis.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} 1'''s fourth stage is an upside-down version of the first stage, with many more enemies and bullets.

* ''{{VideoGame/Doom}}'':
** In ''Doom 3'' you have to backtrack to Marine HQ in Mars City after the demons are unleashed, with many doors and stairways blocked off by the damage.
** The secret level for the original ''Doom'' Episode 3 was, at first glance, a room-for-room repeat of the first level of the episode, but with the original final room expanding into a boss arena when you hit the switch--the rest of the level has you going backwards through it, with all the rooms similarly expanded and with new enemies in them.

* ''VideoGame/TestDrive 4'', ''5'', and ''6'' all have reversed versions of their point-to-point courses.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction. Also done in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' when Paris Promenade and Sydney Sprint from ''Tour'' returned as part of the Booster Course Pass, as portions of both are driven in reverse. Even before that, some missions in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' had the player drive in the opposite direction.

* In ''VideoGame/GhostRecon: Future Soldier'''s second mission, you first stealthily clear out an enemy-infested refugee camp, then travel to an airfield to stop a cargo plane from taking off. After the plane goes down, you have to trek back to the camp to retrieve the black box, plus the terrorists have retaken the camp and a [[InterfaceScrew sandstorm hinders your vision]].

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* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has a variation where different ports of the game are this to each other. The game was originally developed for the UsefulNotes/GameCube before Nintendo decided to also release it for the Wii and incorporate motion controls, which they felt was natural for things like swinging Link's sword. The problem was, however, that most people would want to make the motions with their right hand, and that Link was traditionally left handed. They couldn't just flip Link's model, since that would interfere with animations, level design, etc. which they didn't have time to redo, so instead they just flipped the geometry of the entire game to make Link right-handed in the Wii version. The HD UpdatedRerelease for the Wii U uses the original Gamecube orientation for its normal difficulty setting, and the mirrored Wii orientation for [[HarderThanHard Hero Mode]]. The 3DS EnhancedPort of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has the game's world become flipped in the Master Quest mode, which also makes Link become right handed.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction. Also done in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'' when Paris Promenade from ''Tour'' returned as part of the Booster Course Pass, as the final lap is driven in reverse. Even before that, some missions in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' had the player drive in the opposite direction.

* ''{{VideoGame/RAGE}}'' has several instances of having to go back to previous areas in order to retrieve something not gotten the first time, such as the two visits to Dead City. Once for an upgraded defibrilator, the other to get info on The Authority.
* ''{{VideoGame/Duke Nukem 3D}}'' has an addon pack called ''Nuclear Winter'', in which the first two levels are the first two levels of the standard game, played backwards and with a Christmas theme.

* The first driving stage in VideoGame/TheSpongebobMovieGame has [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick escape from Bikini Bottom as Plankton starts taking over. The last stage before the final boss has them return to the Krusty Krab by driving the same course but backwards through what is now "Planktopolis".

#The level ''really'' has potential for re-use, as much of the environment can be played very differently from a different angle and with little alteration (for example, the first level has the player get in a ship, which starts to sink during intermission, so the second level has a whole level tilted and partially flooded, making the once easy-to-access entry way become a lethal trap and force the player find another way).
#The level description requires the use of previous level geometry, with different enemy placements, objectives etc. (for example, the player is going back to an area previously visited, except that they are approaching it from a different angle/entrance, or in the case of flipped geometry, a literal interpretation of a MirrorUniverse situation.)
#[[CreatorsApathy The dev team was lazy.]]
#The dev team ran out of time to develop unique geometry for every level.
#The level contents (items, enemies etc) are randomly generated, including start and end points.
#The level is a NostalgiaLevel, and this is used to give a twist to the original design.
#The dev team needed to keep file sizes down.

* The fourth, fifth, and sixth levels of Dark Castle, the final level of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'', are literally mirrored (and harder) versions of the first, second, and third levels respectively. Part of levels 3 and 6 are maze-like {{Autoscrolling Level}}s, and getting through the latter without getting trapped and crushed between the wall and screen edge requires memorizing the path from the former.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not have flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' 4 had half the game as this, only playing as Dante, instead of newcomer Nero.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' does not flipped courses but does feature the occasional track where you go in the opposite direction.

* Right after going through the ''Salvation'' level, ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed II'' has the player go through the level backwards, starting at the boss room. What makes this level different from the one just before is that the ship is now in the middle of a battle, so you have to deal with missiles shattering the hull, stormtroopers boarding the ship, and parts of the ship collapsing outright as you make your way through a level you thought you mastered.

->'''Solid Santa''': Major, I've delivered the presents, mission accomplished..
->'''Major Tim''': Good, now get out of there.
->'''Solid Santa''': Are you kidding me?! Now I have to do it BACKWARDS?
->'''Major Tim''': Yes, I have to artificially extend playtime somehow.

* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' and ''3'' do this sometimes with their Spec Ops levels, with several of them being areas you play through in the campaign (two in ''[=MW2=]'' are even taken from levels from the first Modern Warfare), just played from the 'end' of the level to the 'start'.

* In ''VideoGame/RainbowSixVegas 2'', after rescuing Cohen and disarming the bomb at the Convention Center, you have to go back through the exhibition hall, which is now filled with terrorists.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', some of the hard mode dungeons start at or near where the final boss was, and works their way down to where earlier bosses were. However, avoiding the use of this trope as a cheap pallette swap, the visuals and appearance of the dungeon have changed to reflect the time that's passed and events that have occurred since you were there the first time, to the point you may not recognize some areas that you saw in the normal version when you enter them again.

* ''VideoGame/LEGORacers'' has three levels which are previous levels, inverted left-to-right.