What drove you INSANE in a Sonic game?

[Solid SOAP]

All of the Knuckles/Rouge levels in SA2, especially Mad Space, that level that took place in the well, and the timed Prison Island one.

[Tombi]

Sonic 1:

Playing through Marble Zone on an iPod. I really tried to dedicate myself and I got to the later stages of Act 3 several times but I was never able to beat it. Not to mention spending an hour on the level each time I tried - the palette, music, hazards and general sameyness can get very grating. The last time I tried this it must have the very closest I've been to insane, so I've made sure not to touch it since then and only enjoy my Sonic 1 on a control pad!

Sonic 2:

Not technically the commercial game but playing through Wood Zone on one of the extended roms certainly did drive me mad. Especially when I just kept falling through everything whether I wanted to or not.

Sonic 3:

I also went through a bit of hell with "The Barrel" but I don't really have any horror stories. I pretty much gave up and played something else when I first found myself stuck on it. Until I saw it discussed on the internet I'd forgotten all about it and some bad memories came rushing back. With that said I only reached Ice Cap Zone for the first time in the early stages of this year...so yeah.

Adventure 2

The Knuckles swimming section of Cannon's Core. Now this was back in 2002 where I had it for my Dreamcast but didn't have access to any Internet help, so needless to say I knew nothing about any hidden power-ups and died repeatedly and often.

2006

Silver's ball puzzle. End Of The World was pretty bad too, but nothing compares.

Black Knight:

Damn near all of the "replay value" once you beat The Dark Queen. The actual storyline-driven game is fun enough but just looking at some of the extra challenges I knew I was in for a hair-tearing experience. I think I might just download a save file.

In particular, there's that one level of which name I can't recall where there's loads of will-o's everywhere and at one point there's a grindable rail that's path is cut short by unbreakable boxes and a will-o. To this day I still have no idea how one is to get past that.

Unleashed:

Oh so many ups and downs with my sanity. Let's start with Cool Edge Day - Act 2, lots of spiky balls, Eggman springs, falling ice and about 75% of the level takes place on water where you're constantly at top speed and can't see anything coming! You get used to it once you beat the level and you can replay it easily enough, but the level is so ridiculously tight that I've never felt like doing that.

Whilst Jungle Joyride day is very high on my list of favourite levels in the game, I can't say it didn't completely break me on my first playthrough of it. There's a hell of a lot to look out for and you really have to learn it before you can expect to enjoy it without dying. Eggmanland I didn't have too big of a problem with, but the sledding sections I probably wasted about a combined 100 lives on. Accursed lasers.

Also - "Sonic, Dark Gaia's getting ready to dooo soomething!". The final boss I had no problem with but this really boiled my blood. I made it about ten times worse for myself when I didn't realise I had to sidestep to the left to get the extra life, and nearly every time I re-tried it I had to do the Eggman boss beforehand. Being fast, not falling and avoiding crap from the sky has never been so difficult.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Tombi

[Blue Blood]

Sonic 2:

Not technically the commercial game but playing through Wood Zone on one of the extended roms certainly did drive me mad. Especially when I just kept falling through everything whether I wanted to or not.

You mean that beta stage that was incomplete because it was a beta?

Black Knight:

Damn near all of the "replay value" once you beat The Dark Queen. The actual storyline-driven game is fun enough but just looking at some of the extra challenges I knew I was in for a hair-tearing experience. I think I might just download a save file.

In particular, there's that one level of which name I can't recall where there's loads of will-o's everywhere and at one point there's a grindable rail that's path is cut short by unbreakable boxes and a will-o. To this day I still have no idea how one is to get past that.

Misty Lake and it's Will-O-Wisps of doom. You have to jump, hold B and flick the nun-chuck. Sonic (this move actually works for everyone) will then kick whatever you're locked on to. Kick a Will-O-Wisp and it'lll bounce away and smash the bricks. Who's dumb idea was it to put one there anyway? If you're not insanely slow coming down the rail then you'll hit it.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Blue Blood

[JezMM]

Cosmic Fall on hard is crazy. Though admittidly not as crazy as people warned me... but still damn testing.

As for Marble Zone - not madness inducing by any means, but I do think it goes on just that little bit too long considering it's not all that fun.

[Arrow]

Marble Zone puts me off playing Sonic 1. It's incredibly dull.

[Legendary Emerald]

Marble Zone puts me off playing Sonic 1. It's incredibly dull.

Marble Zone is one of the best Sonic levels in the blue hog's entire history! Levels like Marble Zone are integral for a good Sonic game experience, imo. Sonic 2 was all 'hold right', and Sonic 3 had too many badnicks and one hit kills for my liking. Without the platforming, Sonic games are rarely better than shit; Sonic Unleashed being a perfect example of how NOT to design a Sonic level.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Legendary Emerald

[Badnik Zero]

Cosmic Fall on hard is crazy. Though admittidly not as crazy as people warned me... but still damn testing.

I actually just watched a video of expert mode Cosmic Fall, and I know what gave me trouble. If you have the keys for that level, the switch behind the key door gives you a string of rings that bypasses the death-jump platforming. I never had those keys, which meant the hard part. Jumping to fast moving platforms places hundreds of feet apart, fighting the camera the whole time.

[JezMM]

Marble Zone is one of the best Sonic levels in the blue hog's entire history! Levels like Marble Zone are integral for a good Sonic game experience, imo. Sonic 2 was all 'hold right', and Sonic 3 had too many badnicks and one hit kills for my liking. Without the platforming, Sonic games are rarely better than shit; Sonic Unleashed being a perfect example of how NOT to design a Sonic level.

Yeah, standing on endless amounts of moving blocks on lava, jumping over the occasional block, and then zoning out and missing the integral jump at the end of the sequence causing you to embarrassingly hop back across the lava and do it allll again sure is a nice change of pace from holding right...

Okay, I kid, Marble Zone isn't badly designed, there's just too much of it. It just goes on and on and on and whenever I surface from the underground I feel like I should be near the end but no, there's more, and it's hardly different from the last section...

[Dark Qiviut]

The Carnival Night barrel. 'Nuff said here.

And one other that annoyed me like crazy was the Underground Zone boss in Sonic 2 GG (U.S. port). I didn't complete the first stage until I was about eleven years old.

Marble Zone is one of the best Sonic levels in the blue hog's entire history!

I never really understood the hype around Marble Zone's "excellence." The pace sometimes went into a rather annoying, boring crawl, and I like a good pace. It just doesn't interest me that much. Edited September 5, 2009 by Dark Qiviut

[StarWolfX]

Story mode of Sonic Shuffle for the Dreamcast

[Diogenes]

I understand why Sonic needs platforming, but Marble Zone is a pretty poor example of how it should be done. It's a long, slow slog, and it never really makes use of Sonic's abilities. I don't even think it has angled ground apart from the brief above ground bits...

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Oh damn...somehow Marble Zone just reminded me of the Labyrinth Zone.

I HATED that stage. That was the only stage I couldn't get past when I first started playing Sonic when I was around 2 or 3 years old...

Didn't actually realize how good I was at the game at that time.

[Tombi]

You mean that beta stage that was incomplete because it was a beta?

No, but rather a version that was extended for the sake of a \"complete\" Sonic 2 experience. It actually is possible to complete now but the entire gimmick of the levels can really make your head hurt if you don\'t approach it right.

Misty Lake and it\'s Will-O-Wisps of doom. You have to jump, hold B and flick the nun-chuck. Sonic (this move actually works for everyone) will then kick whatever you\'re locked on to. Kick a Will-O-Wisp and it\'lll bounce away and smash the bricks. Who's dumb idea was it to put one there anyway? If you're not insanely slow coming down the rail then you\'ll hit it.

Thanks for that, I\'ll give it a try later on.

I understand why Sonic needs platforming, but Marble Zone is a pretty poor example of how it should be done. It\'s a long, slow slog, and it never really makes use of Sonic's abilities. I don't even think it has angled ground apart from the brief above ground bits...

I agree. Even without the less-than-convenient gaming platform I always found that it dragged on for much too long offering very little difference between each act. Lava levels in general I'm not crazy about, but Marble Zone really didn't make a great start as far as I'm concerned.

Story mode of Sonic Shuffle for the Dreamcast

Ohh boy, well I can't say this drove me insane per-se; but I can say that it drove me, um, mild - if you will. I've literally never beat the first stage, not because of any lack of ability but just because it gets so boring. I\m not sure of the exact number of turns but it really did seem to go on forever. Actually completing an entire story mode's worth of stages like that and staying sane I just can't comprehend.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Tombi

[-Mark-]

Shadow the Hedgehog, The Doom, Dark Mission.

*shiver*

I'm convinced the 60th GUN trooper actually isn't there on some playthroughs.

Ditto, except I found the Hero mission slightly more irritating. A-Ranking that mission is just infuriating.

The thing I find totally ridiculous is the fact that in the Expert Mode version of that level, all the researchers are in the same room. I swear they accidentally mixed up the normal and hard versions of that stage.

[Phos]

In my opinion, the real problem with Marble Zone is that Act 2 is basically the same thing as Act 1, and so is Act 3, iirc. It also could have done with a better musical track. I like it's more methodical nature, but wish it didn't have so much stuff you had to wait on. Also, those Cattakillers are kind of annoying to deal with.

[-Mark-]

Oh, and as others have said, some of the extra missions in Sonic and the Black Knight were pure pain. I must have spent a few hours on a single mission over the space of a few days, just failing it over and over.

Still managed to 100% the bitch, though. 8D

[JezMM]

The thing I find totally ridiculous is the fact that in the Expert Mode version of that level, all the researchers are in the same room. I swear they accidentally mixed up the normal and hard versions of that stage.

I think they did it for two reasons:

1. Make an otherwise explorable level linear for the expert challenge.

2. While they're at it, let's just confuse the player too by making him paranoid that he's not finding any researchers!

It's kinda like how on "hard mode" on City Escape, the rings and ramps were switched to the opposite sides at the start. They're not in any way "harder" other than because they confuse you for not being where you've learnt them to be.

Like that, but on a much grander and more evil scale, lol.

[Arrow]

Marble Zone is one of the best Sonic levels in the blue hog's entire history! Levels like Marble Zone are integral for a good Sonic game experience, imo. Sonic 2 was all 'hold right', and Sonic 3 had too many badnicks and one hit kills for my liking. Without the platforming, Sonic games are rarely better than shit; Sonic Unleashed being a perfect example of how NOT to design a Sonic level.

But it's dull. And it's so close to the beginning of the game, that the thought of it puts me off.

[CreamyBagel]

Fighting against Silver in Sonic 06. I found out the hard way why you shouldn't get close to a Hedgehog with psychic powers. You're pretty much doomed if you get caught in his 'death grip' because he'll just keep picking you up over and over again until all your rings are gone.

Edited September 5, 2009 by CreamyBagel

[Frozen Nitrogen]

To add more to the cavalcade of Shadow's-game-hurt, now that I think about it:

Central City, Good Mission.

You effectively HAVE to use the Vacuum Egg at all times, but the real kick in the teeth is that there's a section at the end of a road filled with toxic goo where you need to use one of those big red dynamite sticks to blow up a wall to continue. The pain comes when you waltz into the area, finger firmly pressed down on the Vacuum Egg trigger (as it has to be, to scoop the little bombs up before they detonate on their own) and you invariably suck up the dynamite.

The catch is that the dynamite is NON-REGENERATING, and you absolutely have to have it available to progress through the wall and get any further in the level.

I've had to restart Central City SOOOOO many times 'cos of that damn dynamite.

Still managed to 100% the bitch, though. 8D

Z0mg!

Wow. Dude. Do you get anything cool for 100% completion? I have heard vague rumors on the tubes that there's some sort of fire-emblem or something, but it's all shrouded in mystery.

[JD!]

Marble Zone puts me off playing Sonic 1. It's incredibly dull.

I have to agree with you there, both zones are exactly the same. Booooring!

[PoshAlligator]

Clearly the Carnival Night Zone Barrel. We all know and hate it.

[JezMM]

The catch is that the dynamite is NON-REGENERATING, and you absolutely have to have it available to progress through the wall and get any further in the level.

Are you sure? I thought the rocket launcher can destroy any breakable walls too. At least, it seems to be able to on other levels.

[azoo]

As much as I love me some platforming in a Sonic game, I agree that Marble Zone didn't do it right in any way possible. There wasn't just a lack of flow, but also a lack of anything that took advantage of Sonic's abilities at all. Also to note it was the most repetitive level of all time (sadly even moreso than Labyrinth). So yes, Marble gets my vote.

(Besides, I couldn't beat Marble as a kid either )

And I can't believe you guys couldn't beat neither the Crazy Gadget puzzle or the Carnival Night barrel. I beat it as a kid. Maybe it's just because I was a child prodigy or something.

Edited September 6, 2009 by Black Ranger Azukara

[Frozen Nitrogen]

Are you sure? I thought the rocket launcher can destroy any breakable walls too. At least, it seems to be able to on other levels.

I am sure. TRAUMATISED sure.

And while the rocket launcher can indeed break walls, good luck finding one in Central City. Especially against the clock.