History YMMV / Pilotwings

** Another one in ''64'' can be found in the Pilot Class in Rocket Belt, "Dark Cavern". You have to fly through a cavernous passage to the goal. There's a stream running throughout the cave, always putting you at risk of [[SuperDrowningSkills instant failure]], and bumping into walls takes away points. And you need to get through this cave without any collision-induced penalties in under ''two minutes'' for a perfect score.

* ThatOneLevel: In ''64'', Class A for the Hang Glider has the "Chicken Dive" mission. You start by jumping off the summit of one of the Holiday Island mountains and follow a waterfall down to try to fly through as many rings as you can. Because diving causes you to pick up speed, it becomes easy to lose control of your Hang Glider. But the last few rings are right in front of a wall and you need to ''quickly'' pitch up and turn right to avoid a crash. Ignoring these "daredevil" rings is not optional if you want the perfect score.

* ThatOneLevel: In ''64'', Class A for the Hang Glider has the "Chicken Dive" mission. You start by jumping off the summit of one of the Holiday Island mountains and follow a waterfall down to try to fly through as many rings as you can. Because diving causes you to pick up speed, it becomes easy to lose control of your Hang Glider. But the last few rings are right in front of a wall and you need to ''quickly'' pitch up and turn right to avoid a crash. Ignoring these rings is not optional if you want the perfect score.

* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Best Level Ever]]: Little States in ''64''. It is, as the title indicates, a miniature version of the lower 48 U.S. states, and is the biggest map in the entire game. It's easy enough to just ignore your objective and [[SceneryPorn go explore for a while]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqAbNqhZuk "Birdman"]], the music for the Free Flight mode, is well known for being very good. Even the original composer was very fond of it, especially because it got to be one of the longest tracks in the game.

* HilariousInHindsight: Those who played the SNES game in the late 1990s or later may find it hard not to mentally add [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark "Gay" into Big Al's name]].

** Similarly, Meca Hawk's apperance in ''64'', in a game that's otherwise free of any hostile entities. After going through a few dozen rings, blowing up targets, taking pictures, and landing on floating pads, you now have to enter combat against a giant humanoid who throws rocks at you, and yes being hit can potentially end the mission as your Gyrocopter goes spiraling down into a crash.

* NightmareFuel: If you crash in the helicopter missions in the SNES version -- whether by slamming the copter into the ground or getting shot, in itself a frightening experience since you, a civilian aviation student, go straight from training to ''crossing a war zone'' -- [[NothingIsScarier there's no post-failure remarks from any of your instructors; you just go straight to the game over sequence]]. The implication is that you didn't just fail at your objective, you ''died''.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: Some of the instructor's surprised facial expressions when you get a perfect score in the [=SNES=] original -- ''especially'' Shirley, who gets [[UncannyValley bizarre vertical line-shaped eyes that just don't look right on an otherwise relatively realistic-looking human]].
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The music for the free flight mode "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqAbNqhZuk Birdman]]" is well known for being very good. Even the original composer was very fond of it especially because it got to be one of the longest tracks in the game.
* BestLevelEver: Little States in ''64''. It is, as the title indicates, a miniature version of the lower 48 U.S. states, and is the biggest map in the entire game. It's easy enough to just ignore your objective and go explore for a while.

* HilariousInHindsight: Those who played the SNES game in the late 1990s or later may find it hard not to mentally [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark "Gay" into Big Al's name.]]
* LighterAndSofter: ''Pilotwings 64'' and ''Pilotwings Resort'' are this when compared to the subtle militaristic undertones of the original game on the SNES.

* NightmareFuel: If you crash in the helicopter missions in the SNES version -- whether by slamming the copter into the ground or getting shot, in itself a frightening experience since you, a civilian aviation student, go straight from training to ''crossing a war zone'' -- [[NothingIsScarier there's no post-failure remarks from any of your instructors; you just go straight to the game over sequence]].

* NightmareFuel: If you crash in the helicopter missions in the SNES version -- whether by slamming the copter into the ground or getting shot, in itself a frightening experience since you, an aviation student, go straight from training to ''crossing a war zone'' -- [[NothingIsScarier there's no post-failure remarks from any of your instructors; you just go straight to the game over sequence]].

* NightmareFuel: If you crash in the helicopter missions in the SNES version -- whether by slamming the copter into the ground or getting shot -- [[NothingIsScarier there's no post-failure remarks from any of your instructors; you just go straight to the game over sequence]].

* MostAnnoyingSound: The alarm that blares whenever the game announces "RATE OF DESCENT TOO GREAT", "STAY INSIDE OF COURSE", or "WATCH ALTITUDE".

** The Bonus Chance minigames count too. A penguin diving into a pool? A man in a bird wing costume leaping out over the sea? It's especially jarring if you need the minigame's bonus points to skim by on a course by doing too poorly, meaning these BLAM moments in an otherwise down-to-earth title are ''essential'' to progression.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The helicopter rescue missions in the SNES original. Why are your instructors being held captive in a war zone? Who cares, go blow stuff up!

* AwesomeMusic: The music for the free flight mode "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqAbNqhZuk Birdman]]" is well known for being very good. Even the original composer was very fond of it especially because it got to be one of the longest tracks in the game.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The alarm that blares whenever the game announces "RATE OF DESCENT TOO GREAT", "STAY INSIDE OF COURSE", or "WATCH ALTITUDE".
* NightmareFuel: Some of the instructor's facial expressions when you get a perfect score, ''especially'' Shirley.

* AwesomeMusic: The music for the free flight mode "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqAbNqhZuk Birdman]]" is well known for being very good, even the original composer was very fond of it especially because it got to be one of the longest tracks in the game.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The alarm that blares whenever the game announces "RATE OF DESCENT TOO GREAT" or "WATCH ALTITUDE".

* MostAnnoyingSound: The alarm that blares whenever the game announces "RATE OF DECENT TOO GREAT" or "WATCH ALTITUDE".

* HilariousInHindsight: Those who played the SNES game in the late 1990s or later may find it hard not to mentally [[SouthPark "Gay" into Big Al's name.]]