matrix-cat
Member
Racing that one dude through the course of those blue gravity star things in Mario Galaxy didn't take me all that many tries, in the grand scheme of things, but boy did I really not enjoy it:
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What's the worst Mario level?
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
Impossible? I beat it five times. One with each character. It's hard, but hardly impossible.
It's Rainbow Cruise. Nothing less fun than waiting around on slow magic carpets
It really isn't. What do you expect from a level right at the end that's so hard to unlock?
It really isn't. What do you expect from a level right at the end that's so hard to unlock?
Dagobert Duck
Member
Its called Champion road for a reason...if you cant make it you arent a Champion!
Castef
Banned
First reply is perfection.
Champions Road from 3D World
Even with powerups galore it took me well over 100 tries to complete this level.
Many people will say that's the greatest. The level is supposed to be tough.
Mechanically? As everyone's already said - it's the Pachinko Level.
Not only does it have little to do with Mario's abilities or use of the flood, but the game's physics system puts too much random chance in lining shots.
Aesthetically? I'm going for lethal lava land in Mario 64
It's just a collection of islands with objectives on them - nothing feels particularly contextualised, and there's no fun in navigation. I imagine the level design was literally a matter of just dropping some islands and then filling the floor with lava. And the slide puzzle doesn't fit (I know Mario games are kind of abstract, but they do at least have some logical consistency. A sliding puzzle in a lava world doesn't)
Inside the volcano's alright though I guess.
Not only does it have little to do with Mario's abilities or use of the flood, but the game's physics system puts too much random chance in lining shots.
Aesthetically? I'm going for lethal lava land in Mario 64
It's just a collection of islands with objectives on them - nothing feels particularly contextualised, and there's no fun in navigation. I imagine the level design was literally a matter of just dropping some islands and then filling the floor with lava. And the slide puzzle doesn't fit (I know Mario games are kind of abstract, but they do at least have some logical consistency. A sliding puzzle in a lava world doesn't)
Inside the volcano's alright though I guess.
Earthpainting
Member
Took the words out of my mouth.
My memory might be playing up here - and there might be inaccuracies - but the ones that spring to mind are the 100-coin stars for Rainbow Ride and Tick Tock Clock.
I *think* Rainbow Ride has some missable coins that you can't go back for, so you need to do a comprehensive sweep constantly to have enough by the time you get to the end - and I *think* Tick Tock Clock is impossible to get 100 on if you have the clock speed setting set wrongly when you go in, although you may not discover that until quite late.
But those are my recollections from twenty years ago... they might be wrong!
I *think* Rainbow Ride has some missable coins that you can't go back for, so you need to do a comprehensive sweep constantly to have enough by the time you get to the end - and I *think* Tick Tock Clock is impossible to get 100 on if you have the clock speed setting set wrongly when you go in, although you may not discover that until quite late.
But those are my recollections from twenty years ago... they might be wrong!
Not the worst, but boy was that green star level in the toy galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 1 was a pain. https://youtu.be/Hm_sJXa_wrg
Any answer other then this is wrong.
Because Miyamoto feeds on children's tears.
Click the image. Go on. Do it.
Any answer other then this is wrong.
Because Miyamoto feeds on children's tears.
No Mario game is objectively terrible - and Sunshine is still a solid 8/9 out of 10. The core game-play works, and i'd even say the flood is a great addition that adds more depth to the mechanics- both modifying your jumps and running ability, as well as adding extra variety with the spraying and shooting mechanics.
The levels are great - not as many as 64, but far more fleshed out and detailed, both in looks and the amount of stuff there is to do. Unlike 64, objectives are even better designed too.
Graphics and Audio are subjective, but I think they're both excellent still - the tropical holiday setting is visually rich and gives everything this bright poppy look. Unlike most Mario games, it has an actual narrative, and a lot of cutscenes and voice acting - which i thought was fine; it didn't clash, and didn't take precedence over game play.
The reason I don't like it compared to 64 or Galaxy, and I don't know if this applies to others, is that feels a bit messy in some parts. Later levels have strange designs that aren't particularly fun to navigate, or obtuse objectives. Mini-games hidden in the world to bulk out the amount of challenges are also very hit and miss - the flood-less sections are excellent, but stuff like pachinko and the poison river are really bad. I'd also say, compared to those games, the platforming or problem solving isn't as fun.
So I guess if you want a reductionist statement, it is the worst 3D Mario Platforming game, but is still an excellent game with flaws.
Ryouji Gunblade
Member
I have no memory of the lily pad death level, but I'm sure I've beaten that before. Sunshine repression is one hell of a drug.
Tubular looks fun by comparison.
Tubular looks fun by comparison.
McMoneyman
Member
Any level where you have to race against the screen in the 2D games. Hate that shit.
JershJopstin
Banned
It's definitely worth giving a shot. The movement is the tightest in the series... for the most part.
Yea. Who designed that? Terrible.
The Hermit
Member
Champions Road from 3D World
Even with powerups galore it took me well over 100 tries to complete this level.
I never did it
Oh yes. Especially because IIRC there was no indication you could do that. Sure, vomiting on fish turns them into platforms, isn't that obvious?
Pachinko is probably the most broken level but the lily pad one takes the cake for the worst. Missing one coin and going through the pipe only to be transported back to the fucking village was actually the only time I threw my controller across the room. Never completed Sunshine afterwards.
One level is bad because you don't like the game's artstyle?
daTRUballin
Member
The best part is that the game isn't even out yet, so nobody has any basis to say whether the level is bad or not. And basing it off of the art style at this moment in time seems a little weird.
Oh, for sure, if they made it available for Wii U or Switch, I'd definitely pick it up.
pirateluigi
Member
Oh god. I'm having nightmares now. I hated this level so much as a kid.
Vampirolol
Member
The Savannah in Super Mario 3D World.
Yep. Asthetics are part of the enjoyment for some people.
Sky Walker
Member
Any 2D water levels, they are just unenjoyable and not fun to play.
Greatest Ever
Member
Totally worth skipping. It's everything you didn't know couldn't be wrong with 3D Mario, ironically coupled with a deep as hell moveset (which is offset for me a bit by 30 FPS).
Jonneh3003
Banned
No way! I love the surfing levels :c
TheRedSnifit
Member
AntiFacebook
Member
Champion's road in SM3DW
I never did it
This is why Champions Road for me is the worst (never played Sunshine)
I quit the game for 6 months, almost permanently because I couldn't beat that level.
It is a masterclass of design, it's also such a massive spike in difficulty compared to what came before that it feels like it's from a different game at times.
I know of a number of people who simply never beat it and to me that seems too tough.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Oh gosh, I had nightmares of that sun chasing me as a kid. I would skip that world just because of that level
Belgian Dude
Member
Aesthetically? I'm going for lethal lava land in Mario 64
It's just a collection of islands with objectives on them - nothing feels particularly contextualised, and there's no fun in navigation. I imagine the level design was literally a matter of just dropping some islands and then filling the floor with lava. And the slide puzzle doesn't fit (I know Mario games are kind of abstract, but they do at least have some logical consistency. A sliding puzzle in a lava world doesn't)
Inside the volcano's alright though I guess.
I feel like the design process of Lethal Lava Land was based around riding a shell on lava. The shell's one of the first thing you'll find the level, a lot of the scattered platforms in corners have slight curves going up to them...
But then outside the Red Coins/100 Coins nothing really makes use of it and you get "go to two platforms and take out the bully" oops.
Since everyone's already complained about the obvious bad Sunshine missions, I'll repost my thoughts on my own personal worst.
Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, the final mission of Ricco Harbour. Possibly the most tedious thing in the entire game. The jist is that you need to use Yoshi to get to a Shrine Sprite by creating platforms using his juice on enemies. It would be simple enough but they really made it annoying.
For one, you are told nothing. Aside from getting a preview of where the Shine is and that you need to use Yoshi, nothing else is told to you. Creating platforms with the enemies, you're not told that. The fact that different fruit has different effects on the platforms? You're not told that. You need to use specific fruit to get the platforms you need to complete the mission? You're not told that.
So aside from you need to use Yoshi, the whole thing is trial and error. This is made all the more fun by the whole platforming section taking place over water. In Sunshine, Yoshi will die instantly if he touches water, not to mention it's a long way down. If you fall, you'll lose Yoshi and need to swim then climb all the way back to the place you needed to go every single time. And there's no penalty aside from this, it's another case of a segment with no punishment aside from mild annoyance. You can't die in this mission unless you do it on purpose.
Next is getting Yoshi. In Sunshine Yoshi eggs will need specific fruit to be hatched, so you need to get it to Yoshi. However, rather than having fruit in plain sight so you can easily feed it to him and switch fruits to match what you need, instead you have to use an awkward machine. This requires you to climb to the top of it and stomp on a button which makes fruit come out. Random fruit. There's no choice, it just plops out whatever fruit it wants and you even get a little cutscene every single time you press the button. So usually you're stuck for a good minute just trying to get the fruit you want to hatch Yoshi, and you better hope it's not the Durians which act like footballs, because they can so easily roll away during the cutscene and then you have to get a new one all over again.
So now you finally have Yoshi. Now you need to do the platforming. So you've got a bunch of platforms and random enemies jumping up and down out the water. You need to spray juice on them so they transform into platforms and then you can use them to get up higher. As mentioned the game never tells you this, so you're stuck figuring it out on your own. And then you're not told about the random effects the fruit can have. Depending on which fruit Yoshi ate the platforms react differently, moving in a different direction based on the fruit. This would be fine if you could change fruits easily, but you can't. You can only get fruit from the random fruit machine. That means that you have to do the platforming all in one go with the fruit you have, no matter what platform effect is has. This makes it almost worthless to have anything that doesn't move the platforms upwards. Also, did I mention that Yoshi has a juice meter that can run out and Yoshi dies if it runs out? If you spend too much time trying to get the fruit you need or you spray too much juice trying to platform about then Yoshi dies and you have to start all over again.
And the weirdest part of all. This is the ONLY part of the game which has this. This whole fruit based mechanic of Yoshi making platforms with specific moving platforms is only in this single mission of the game. Granted it can be performed elsewhere, it's never needed or required in anything else besides this one mission. This one extremely tedious horrible mission.
PS: Sunshine IS a good game, it was just obviously rushed/not tested properly
Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, the final mission of Ricco Harbour. Possibly the most tedious thing in the entire game. The jist is that you need to use Yoshi to get to a Shrine Sprite by creating platforms using his juice on enemies. It would be simple enough but they really made it annoying.
For one, you are told nothing. Aside from getting a preview of where the Shine is and that you need to use Yoshi, nothing else is told to you. Creating platforms with the enemies, you're not told that. The fact that different fruit has different effects on the platforms? You're not told that. You need to use specific fruit to get the platforms you need to complete the mission? You're not told that.
So aside from you need to use Yoshi, the whole thing is trial and error. This is made all the more fun by the whole platforming section taking place over water. In Sunshine, Yoshi will die instantly if he touches water, not to mention it's a long way down. If you fall, you'll lose Yoshi and need to swim then climb all the way back to the place you needed to go every single time. And there's no penalty aside from this, it's another case of a segment with no punishment aside from mild annoyance. You can't die in this mission unless you do it on purpose.
Next is getting Yoshi. In Sunshine Yoshi eggs will need specific fruit to be hatched, so you need to get it to Yoshi. However, rather than having fruit in plain sight so you can easily feed it to him and switch fruits to match what you need, instead you have to use an awkward machine. This requires you to climb to the top of it and stomp on a button which makes fruit come out. Random fruit. There's no choice, it just plops out whatever fruit it wants and you even get a little cutscene every single time you press the button. So usually you're stuck for a good minute just trying to get the fruit you want to hatch Yoshi, and you better hope it's not the Durians which act like footballs, because they can so easily roll away during the cutscene and then you have to get a new one all over again.
So now you finally have Yoshi. Now you need to do the platforming. So you've got a bunch of platforms and random enemies jumping up and down out the water. You need to spray juice on them so they transform into platforms and then you can use them to get up higher. As mentioned the game never tells you this, so you're stuck figuring it out on your own. And then you're not told about the random effects the fruit can have. Depending on which fruit Yoshi ate the platforms react differently, moving in a different direction based on the fruit. This would be fine if you could change fruits easily, but you can't. You can only get fruit from the random fruit machine. That means that you have to do the platforming all in one go with the fruit you have, no matter what platform effect is has. This makes it almost worthless to have anything that doesn't move the platforms upwards. Also, did I mention that Yoshi has a juice meter that can run out and Yoshi dies if it runs out? If you spend too much time trying to get the fruit you need or you spray too much juice trying to platform about then Yoshi dies and you have to start all over again.
And the weirdest part of all. This is the ONLY part of the game which has this. This whole fruit based mechanic of Yoshi making platforms with specific moving platforms is only in this single mission of the game. Granted it can be performed elsewhere, it's never needed or required in anything else besides this one mission. This one extremely tedious horrible mission.
PS: Sunshine IS a good game, it was just obviously rushed/not tested properly
papercan55
Member
mario sunshine should be played by everyone, if only to cement in their heads just how good all the other 3d marios are in terms of design and polish.
Nintendo made a few games around that era which clearly has cut content or seemed rushed but mario sunshine was the worst offender, some god awful levels coupled with an atrocious camera system and even worse ideas.
It's not all bad but when compared against 64, galaxy 1+2 and 3dworld it's a mess.
FinalFanXtreme
Banned
Champions road took me forever. But it's what I expected from a level that was challenging to unlock from the get go.
I'd say most bad levels will come from Sunshine because the controls just didn't work at times. Getting Yoshi to the island to spray the paint just to enter a level with poison water and a leaf to collect coins was probably my least favorite level. Atleast with the pachinko I could enter the level easily if I game overed. But not with the poison lake.
Sunshine is a brilliant game. I love it. But it also has some of the most difficult stuff basically because the controls don't work that well.
I'd say most bad levels will come from Sunshine because the controls just didn't work at times. Getting Yoshi to the island to spray the paint just to enter a level with poison water and a leaf to collect coins was probably my least favorite level. Atleast with the pachinko I could enter the level easily if I game overed. But not with the poison lake.
Sunshine is a brilliant game. I love it. But it also has some of the most difficult stuff basically because the controls don't work that well.
tkscz
Member
This. The only way I found to beat the level is by getting a Blue Yoshi with a cape and reaching the red koopas. After that the stage is a breeze, but without that, the stage is a pain as the balloon mechanic is not good enough to have it's own level.
But you don't know anything else about it. Is it really fair to say something is the worst at something if you haven't really experienced it?
mrmickfran
Member
Wyndstryker
Member
Do troll levels in mario maker count?
jimjonjimmy
Member
I have one that wasnt mentioned yet. Any level that has 1 platform you ride on till the end that has a weight limit. These levels are usually in the poison world in the New Super Mario games. You are on one platform that spans most of the screens length then enemies will be constantly falling onto the platform. What happens with the platform with too many things on it varies like either the platform will fall after a short time or will stop moving. These levels are slow and frustrating.
