History ThatOneLevel / ShootEmUps

* ''InTheHunt'' had the "Deep Dark Sea". If the multiple lava vents that spewed out fireballs didn't kill you, then the [[DemonicSpiders never-ending, annoying swarms of gray, futuristic submarines that fired indestructible aimed shots]] will. The boss of the stage was a three headed [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon-whelk]], with SIX of those lava vents in the area. You had to dodge the boss' attacks as well as the lava balls that were periodically shot out by those vents, making it ThatOneBoss.

[[quoteright:256:[[{{Gradius}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gradius2-11.png]]]]

* Level 4 of Axelay (Very Hard Difficulty), "Silence" features a partially underwater cave, in which you must avoid organic, and highly mobile enemies. It would not be so absurdly difficult if it weren't for little, monstrous triangular blobs that clung to your ship and dragged it into walls. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glzFfIfXf4Y This is not an example of very hard, by the way.]] Try beating this without losing a life. Arms installation is complete, good luck!
* In the ''{{Gradius}}'' series, if a stage involves crystals, you will most likely hate it. ''Gradius II'' 's third stage (fourth in the Famicom version) is a crystal stage that, at one point, throw a storm of large blocks of crystals at you, which break into smaller blocks when shot enough times. If you die in this stage, consider your remaining lives gone too. And then the arcade version of ''Gradius III'' has a stage where, near the end, cubes fly toward the left side of the screen and will randomly change direction and/or speed up; many a life has been lost here. In fact, on the [=PlayStation=] 2 version, there is a "Cube Attack" mode which lets you practice this part.

* Stage 5 in ''[[{{Touhou}} Subterranean Animism]]'' has left many a player tearing their hair out. [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned exploding spirits!]]

* ''{{Tyrian}}'''s first episode has the ungodly bonus level Soh Jin. It's tempered by having a LOT of points and some ''very'' nice equipment available, but it gets to be in here because it has one thing that virtually no other level has: ''WALLS''. Did I mention all the enemies in this level are turrets which fire shots which knock you physically halfway across the screen? Yeah.
* [[{{Mushihimesama}} Mushihimesama Futari]] [[DifficultySpike stage 3]], mostly for the second half. A LOT more aimed bullets, very large hordes of enemies, some of which don't appear until they're already on the lower half of the screen, spread patterns that force you to move through streams, and {{That One Boss}} at the end of it. This is at its worst on Original, where [[NonIndicativeDifficulty some parts of the level are harder than the same parts on]] '''''[[HarderThanHard ULTRA]].'''''

[[quoteright:256:[[{{Gradius}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gradius2-11.png]]Good luck. You'll need it.]]

** On that note, practically every non-tutorial level as well. Every so often, you find one that isnt built around constantly spamming your DesperationAttack, but even then it's still difficult because [[WallBanger they removed omnidirectional aiming]].

* Stage 5 in ''[[{{Touhou}} Subterranean Animism]]'' has left many a player tearing their hair out. [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned zombie fairies!]]

* In a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRHJMf_jY8A#t=39m12 Google Tech Talk video], Jeff Minter had a discussion about his games created at Llamasoft. He discussed ''SpaceGiraffe'', where he designated level 64 as that one level. "If you get to level 64, I guarantee the first time you get there you would just go 'What the smoke is going on there and you'll die.'" The developer then plays through the level, with both an InterfaceScrew, CameraScrew, [[MostAnnoyingSound numerous danger alerts]], and chaos.

*** Basically, the only way you really had a chance getting the unlock from the mission without better muscle memory than required to [[Game/GoldenEye speedily find Dr. Doak]] was to unlock the Super Spy cheat (which prevents you from dying and gives you infinite boost), which is unlocked by... beating every mission with all objectives cleared.

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<<|ThatOneLevel|>>

** This troper, as a kid, ''[[GuideDangIt didn't even know what to do on that stage.]]'' The planes? Doesn't seem to be dying, so let's try shooting these skeleton guys. Nope, nothing either. Oh crap, John Connor's dead, mission restart. Even ''his dad'', who played with him, didn't know what to do on that stage.

** Scene 8-3, "Secret Sign "Hierarch's Arcanum" from Shoot the Bullet. Walls of purple amulets come from both sides of the screen. Their lengths are random. You are going to get walled - if not at the beginning, then when Ran starts firing slow, aimed bullets that can cut off your escape route. No wonder Touhou Wiki states that this is "one of the hardest scenes in the game."
** Scene 9-6, "New Impossible Request - Seamless Ceiling of Kinkaku-ji", also from Shoot the Bullet. Perhaps the best showcase of Kaguya's tendency to wall your character, and there are seven pictures, which get [[TurnsRed progressively tougher]].

* Stage 5 of ''{{DoDonPachi}} [=DaiFukkatsu=]''. Not for [[BulletHell obvious reasons]], no. What makes it exceptionally hard is the existence of these circular groups of pods that continuously shoot out either bullets or [[BeamSpam lasers]]. In the case of the lasers, you're forced to fire your own laser and use the laser and the aurora covering your ship to block the lasers, which reduces your movement speed and your spread (unless you're using Type A, which has little spread to begin with). And '''[[InvincibleMinorMinion they can't be destroyed]]''', unless you're playing Arrange A in the 360 port.

*** And before that we have Aquas, the only underwater level in the game, using a submarine that functions a bit differently compared to the Arwing and Landmaster. You can't charge up shots, and you use an infinite supply of torpedoes instead of bombs. They also provide some light, which is very much needed to see anything. And pretty much every enemy you encounter down there qualifies as GoddamnedBats.
**** And if you've been spamming torpedoes and barrel rolls to BS through Aquas, [[DamnYouMuscleMemory expect to accidentally waste a few bombs when you get to Zoness.]]

** The original ''VideoGame/StarFox'' has Sector Z--take Sector X, add wireframe beams, and add a section where you have to dodge rotating wirefream beams, and you have yourself an asshole of a level.
*** If you hit the retros constantly, it's possible to get through Sector Z without ever getting hit by those beams.

** If a stage is a mechanical fortress, it's going to be a DeathCourse, especially in ''Gradius III'' (arcade/PS2 version). Swarms of Zubs, aka GoddamnedBats teleport in to assault the Vic Viper, then there's MalevolentArchitecture in the form of flying ceiling tiles, followed by ships that leave behind indestructible wrecks when killed, miniature DegradedBoss versions of the invincible spider mecha from ''Gradius II'', a LaserHallway, SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom, as well as a MiniBoss that must be fought while dodging those, and an invincible giant blue spider mecha boss where you must navigate through the legs. At the entrance to Bacterion's lair, you must blast through Regenerating Walls that have organic SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom in between. After you defeat the AntiClimaxBoss, you have to escape through a narrow TurboTunnel, better have an extra speed-up or two.

** The fifth stage in ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' is another nasty one. It utterly floods the screen with powerups, which sounds like it would be a good thing until you realize that there are so many powerups that it's hard to see the bullets, resulting in many a "WTF just hit me?" reaction from the player. Even without this complication, the stage is still quite obnoxious at many points, most notably the orb clusters that ''actively hunt you down'' while shooting the whole time - and not just at you, either, so streaming is right out. And the bosses are nightmarish. The midboss at least is somewhat redeemed by only having a single spellcard, so you can just bomb and forget. The boss...[[ThatOneBoss not so much]].

* If you're going for medals in ''StarFox 64'', Sector Z will give you hell. You need 100 points for the medal, and assuming things go right, 66 of these points will come from destroying the missiles headed for Great Fox. The problem? Your wingmen (and Kat, if you're coming from Zoness) will [[StopHelpingMe "help"]] you destroy the missiles. What's wrong with this? You don't get points for missiles that your wingmen land finishing shots on, which tends to turn the stage into a somewhat LuckBasedMission. Oh, and you can't shoot your wingmen out of the way without forfeiting the medal no matter how many points you get.

** The original ''StarFox'' has Sector Z--take Sector X, add wireframe beams, and add a section where you have to dodge rotating wirefream beams, and you have yourself an asshole of a level.

** Scene 8-3, "Secret Sign "Hierarch's Arcanum". Walls of purple amulets come from both sides of the screen. Their lengths are random. You are going to get walled - if not at the beginning, then when Ran starts firing slow, aimed bullets that can cut off your escape route. No wonder Touhou Wiki states that this is "one of the hardest spell cards in the game."
** Scene 9-6, "New Impossible Request - Seamless Ceiling of Kinkaku-ji", in Shoot The Bullet. Perhaps the best showcase of Kaguya's tendency to wall your character, and there are seven pictures, which get [[TurnsRed progressively tougher]].

** Scene 3-4, "Small Thread - Kandata's Rope" is the first scene that is unilaterally loathed by players. It's relatively simple in comparison to anything in stage 12, but it is an absolute [[DifficultySpike brick wall in terms of difficulty]].

* The Tutorial mode levels in ''Bangai-O Spirits''. You know you're in for a NintendoHard experience when you die many times ''in the tutorial levels''.

* ''Space Megaforce'' has twelve levels. Level eight, which seems to take takes place in some kind of ship's graveyard, is the hardest one. In that level, shooting the walls will cause pieces to break off and become dangerous projectiles. Most of your weapons have bullet patterns that will cause you to hit the walls constantly, and most enemies are objects, such as gun turrets, mounted on the walls in places that are hard to hit. It's hard.

* ''Tyrian'''s first episode has the ungodly bonus level Soh Jin. It's tempered by having a LOT of points and some ''very'' nice equipment available, but it gets to be in here because it has one thing that virtually no other level has: ''WALLS''. Did I mention all the enemies in this level are turrets which fire shots which knock you physically halfway across the screen? Yeah.