Bastard Hard Moments in Sonic

[Cortez]

Sonic games have always been guilty of being rage worthy at times, whether it's the dreaded Chemical Plant Zone Act 2 moving blocks section or the nightmarish Eggmanland I'm sure we all have a moment in Sonic history we look back on and think 'fuck, that was hard'

For me it's the infamous Missions 53 and 54 from Sonic Adventure DX, every other mission in the game can be completed in a matter of minutes with ease but these two missions are bastard hard.

Both of these missions take place during the snowboarding section of Ice Cap. The former requires you to land three perfect jumps on the final three jump ramps as Sonic to pass over a line of rings above the Goal Capsule. This is a crazy task, it's so difficult to time these jumps right that most of the people who have attempted this task online have looked into ways to glitch the game so you can break through the Ice Cap boundaries just to complete it.

Mission 54 once again takes place right at the end of the snowboarding section, only this time you're required to nab 13 scattered flags as Tails. This is no easy task, the flags are so thin that more often than not you'll just skip straight past them even when it appears you've touched them, tie this in with the fact there's little precision in the snowboarding controls and if Sonic reaches the Goal Capsule the stage automatically ends and this becomes another bastard hard challenge.

Both challenges are made much more rage worthy by the fact you have to start the snowboarding sections from the very beggining if you cock up...

So SSMB, what are your bastard hard Sonic moments?

[Blue Blood]

That spring in Sky Canyon 2 (Advance 2) that's designed to knock you very quickly into spikes and said spikes throw you into a bottomless pit. Hitting that spring is essential if you've taken the lower path.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Blue Blood

[Abominal SnowTaz]

The only Sonic game that I find hard is Sonic The Hedgehog 2, mostly because of that damn bastard final boss before the credits. As a kid, me and my cousin used to bust our thumbs trying to beat it. It's been 16 years now and to this day, I still can't beat the game without using the ol' debug code. For me, it's virtually impossible....

I almost forgot. The last Race against Johnny for the seventh Chaos Emerald in Rush Adventure. It's so hard to get because Johnny moves too friggin' fast and boosts constantly. To top that off, there are bombs and boulders you have to duck and dodge past, so not only can I get past him for one quick moment only to lose, I have to restart every time I mess up or run out of boost.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Abominal Taz

[Badnik Mechanic]

In recent years... the following.

The Hard Boiled trophy: It was bad enough trying to complete Eggman land with checkpoints and lots and lots of lives. But doing it 3 times with only 1 life and zero checkpoints... ARE YA' TAKING THE PISS!? Ok, now it's not so bad since so many glitches and shortcuts have been found, but when Sonic Unleashed first came out, this was not an easy trophy to get, it's quite telling since it took about a week for the game to be out before anyone got platinum on it, and it's almost always this one that people struggle with.

Untouchable trophy: This... isn't that bad... except for one part, the 4th boss! Unlike the other bosses this one doesn't really have a standard attack pattern compared to the other boss fights, nor do you get much or any warning as to what type of attack the boss will do, it makes this trophy very difficult to get.

[Aquaslash]

I'll second the Untouchable trophy one. I still haven't figured out how to deal with the "haters gonna hate" walk yet. Additionally, Sonic 4 has that damn 4th Chaos Emerald. Those bumpers made that the hardest special stage bar none.

I also spent a long time getting an S rank in Team Rose's final mission in Sonic Free Riders. It's basically Amy in Magma Rift expert, and not only does she have to get the achievement time for the stage (-5 minutes), she has to do it with her default gear, with no parts other than grind, and while dealing with those bastard AIs and their precise as all hell aim with weapons. That track is a bastard without any kind of auto cornering gear or durability increase.

Speaking of Free Riders, there's also the race against Eggman in the last story. Man does he put his all into that race. S ranking it is no fun either. It basically means taking every single speed shortcut, and it's personally hard for me because not only are the rails in punk ass locations that require precise aim and steering, but Sonic rides regular and I ride goofy, which means I have to keep on switching stances just to grind the rails!

I'll have more as I think of them.

[StarWolfX]

Sonic Shuffler's AI....

[DarkOverord]

Ranking systems ;P

Honestly though? Besides Wing Fortress, there's not many I can think of. I mean I can throw "Quick Time Events", I'm so crap at them I HAVE given up on Sonic Unleashed a few times till someone else did the QTE's for me...

I agree with J on missions 53 and 54, I think I've done Tails' mission, just. But not Sonic's :V

[Gamenerd]

When I was very little, a few standout moments aggrivated me - any underwater section, the bit in Chemical Plant with the rising water and the blocks, and Hill Top's earthquake sections. Not because they were hard necessarily, but because I didn't like the tension of these sink or swim moments. Also, that damn Carnival Night barrel.

As far as actual challenge goes though, not much comes to mind in the Sonic series. The Sonic 2 final boss is a bit of a bitch, some of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles special stages bug the hell out of me and the last Sonic Rush special stage is borderline impossible if not for the start button trick. More recently, Asteroid Coaster bugged me in Sonic Colours; I don't find it hard anymore, but I find that Colours in general ups the difficulty faster than the user has to adapt and learn to take advantage of the controls and physics, so in my first playthrough of Asteroid Coaster I still made rookie mistakes.

[Unholy Sonic]

Sonic 2 on the GG:

The last freaking secret, tru, boss.... URGH!!

No rings like in Sonic 2 in genesis/master system but in worst!!

You're locked in a cube, facing Eggman high up and you gotta play coward style by staying in the tubes spinning around him until he's done shocking the whole place. Not only that but while he lunched strange circular death thinggies, you had to manage to find a good way to hit him. On top of it all, if you stay too long in the tube he'll send vicious killer electric bar stuff!! *throws the keyboard*

Sonic 3:

Carnival Night Zone...

The Barrel Of DOOOOM!!

Sonic & Knuckles:

Knuckles vs Mecha Sonic...

Knuckles: Don't use my M.E. without my permission!!

Mecha Sonic: You inferior being, bow down to my superior existence and face my wrath!!

Nuff said

Sonic Adventure 1:

Fishing, not Big but just fishing.

Sonic Adventure 2:

-Crazy Gadjet with its upside down in space torture

-Biolizard and his eggs of death while you float in the air copletely defenseless

Sonic Heroes:

Just the fact that some stage take way too long to finish and the infinite pits that will try to take your life if you run on the border of any platform.

Sonic Unleashed (Wii):

Abadat's mission of not touching the jars

Sonic CD:

Time stones...

Me: GET YOUR "%/@!"/ @£¤¢ BACK HERE YOU @£¤¢@£ SPACE POD I NEED THAT DAMN TIME STONE!!

[Abominal SnowTaz]

Sonic 2 on the GG:

The last freaking secret, tru, boss.... URGH!!

No rings like in Sonic 2 in genesis/master system but in worst!!

You're locked in a cube, facing Eggman high up and you gotta play coward style by staying in the tubes spinning around him until he's done shocking the whole place. Not only that but while he lunched strange circular death thinggies, you had to manage to find a good way to hit him. On top of it all, if you stay too long in the tube he'll send vicious killer electric bar stuff!! *throws the keyboard*

Sonic 2 for the game gear just makes me have a seizure out of pure frustration. Not just the last boss, but the whole game itself!

[SuperStingray]

I can't say much for the whole game of Sonic 2 GG since I never even passed the first boss.

I also remember a particular mission in Secret Rings being nigh on impossible for me. Got so frustrated I threw the controller, breaking the wrist strap. I forget the details, but it was in Evil Foundry.

[DaBatGuy]

Marble Gardens Boss with Tails.

For most of the game Tails' flight negates most of the challenge but this takes the piss. Sonic doesn't come to help you so your only means of attack is your tiny spinning ass. This is only made worse with Eggman's random attacks(only one actually gives you a chance to attack), Tails' weird flight movement, and the boss' tiny weak point. If you fuck up Miles either get drilled in the ass or torched in the face. Oh, and you can only take 2 hits because you can't recover your rings once they fall.

[Bebe_theSaint]

Hardest moments in Sonic games, for me. Well when I was younger, all the Genesis gaems were hard for me to complete. Especially Chemical Plant Zone when you have to escape the flood of chemical purple stuff rising.

Sonic Adventure 2: Crazy Gadget, the part where you go upside down and have to figure out which path will lead to the finish, or to your DOOM.

Also for some reason I had alot of trouble with the biolizard and dodging those blue balls of electricity that grow larger as they get closer to you. Now I can do it easily but the first time around...not so much.

Sonic Heroes: Hang Castle where you have to fly out just far enough to hit a switch but not fall to your death (forgot which act but I know Team Sonic had to do it). Also the final act on the Eggman's ship where you have to dodge like ten laser cannons and keep switching rails.

For me, the Team Sonic story was harder to complete even though Team Dark's story was supposedly the hardest. I think their levels just were longer and had more enemies, whereas Team Sonic had to deal with all the rediculous platforming obstacles.

Sonic 06: I only got to play Sonic's story on my friend's playstation but, pretty much any time when Sonic speeds up and you have to time everything way in advance because of how far he flys when he jumps. Hate that level with the train where you have to hurry up but at the same time you keep falling over the edge of a cliff if you time your jumps wrong.

Sonic Unleashed for Wii: Eggmanland daytime- near the end of the level, the checkpoints were so far apart, I had to keep slowing down and even that didn't help me from falling over the edge of a cliff a billion times. The whole level was hard but the last leg of the run where you have to keep up enough speed to run along the bendy metal road and then dodge a bunch of obstacles on the straightway was unbelievably hard. Had to take a break for a few days before I could go back to it with a sane state of mind.

Sonic and the Secret Rings: The final boss where you go super darkspine or whatever its called. My hands got numb shaking the Wii remote so much just to fill my power meter, SO FRUSTRATING. Had to go online to find out that you have to hit him a certain number of times the first time you get to take a whack at him just so he won't change his pattern to a super-hard-to-dodge-and-attack mode.

[Kuzu]

Sonic 4's final boss, seriously I haven't had rage against a boss in so long. Even when not trying to get the untouchable award, its a bitch to get through, because his attack pattern is so damn random, and the ring physics are balls, they go off screen whenever you get hit after his pinch mode, FFFFFFF

Other levels include:

Sonic Adventure 2's crazy gadget, this level pissed me off, because I didn't know how the damn switches work, and I was stuck on that last part for a good 2 weeks.

Sonic CD's Metallic Madness, the most dickish level design in the series; Not only is it LOONG, but it actually sends you backwards at certain parts, its just unfair.

[turbojet]

Sonic Shuffler's AI....

This.

Also, Sonic 06 on a whole because that game was so buggy and glitchy there was no way that you could play that game without getting irritated. Especially those damned Mach zones.

Sonic Unleashed was bastard hard as well.

[Vertekins]

Expert Mode of Cosmic Fall in ShTH. The previous stages in Expert Mode were undeserving as being labelled as "expert difficulty" but Cosmic Fall suddenly becomes insanely hard. Jumps towards moving platforms below have to be timed perfectly and require the use of spin dash, which is slippery enough already.

Certain missions in SatSR are hard enough just to clear let alone get gold medals in! Ones that spring to mind as especially difficult are the perfect missions especially the perfect missions of Dinosaur Jungle and Night Palace. The Night Palace one has those giant spiked balls on the slippery glass winding walkway that are insanely hard to dodge. You can't even brake to dodge them easily. And if you get hit once, it's all the way back to the beginning.

Eggmanland's Hot Dog missions. 'Nuff said.

[Skyler]

/thread

[Core]

Recently the only moment I can remember is Terminal Velocity from Sonic Colors Wii. That's the only time I can remember when I really wanted to throw the Wiimote at the TV, and seriously considered giving up.

Then when I finally completed it after many lives lost, I thought "oh, maybe it wasn't that difficult after all. I guess I was just using the wrong technique".

Otherwise, I remember Eggmanland in Sonic Unleashed HD was pretty frustrating too. And then there were the extra acts and missions...

[LimeTH]

Chemical Plant Zone Act 2.

I can never beat the second stage of ANY classic Sonic game, but this one, my god, this one takes the fucking cake.

If it's not those damn moving blocks, it's the platforms afterwards that flip over while youre running over them and kill you. I was THIS CLOSE to beating this stage at last, only to be undone by those accursed flipping floors. Well played, old foe, well played.

Edited December 7, 2010 by LimeTH

[R@fÆL]

Every level in sonic uleashed WII.

Either you fell or stomped into a wall in every level.

Sonic Unleashed (Wii):

Abadat's mission of not touching the jars

THIS.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Whilst not exactly a Sonic game (well it isn't).

How about that Bonanza Brothers mission on Sonic and Sega All Stars racing? The one where you have to pass through all those gates in the time limit, theres only one path you can take and your driving has to be spot on otherwise you'll never do it.

[Aquaslash]

Whilst not exactly a Sonic game (well it isn't).

How about that Bonanza Brothers mission on Sonic and Sega All Stars racing? The one where you have to pass through all those gates in the time limit, theres only one path you can take and your driving has to be spot on otherwise you'll never do it.

Oh MAN! I did NOT like that mission! That's the hardest mission in the game bar none D:

Biolizard was a pain in the booty for me on the first go round. Also S ranking End of the World. The worst part is I actually have to do it again thanks to save faggotry D: Oh, and Every mission in Sonic Riders where you have to stay above 140. Especially the ones in Free Riders. I've never seen a fail screen so many times in my life.

[JezMM]

The final fight with several wizards and a titan on a tiny platform in Sonic Unleashed DLC Shamar Night Act 3.

Avoiding his jumps and punches is one thing, but the worst is he has an absoloutely bizarre area of damage caused by his swiping attack. You can be standing behind him and it'll still hit you, sending you into the pit in one hit.

Maddenning. At least first time I didn't get the same glitch I got on this level the other day... the wizards never spawned, which at first was a godsend... until the goal ring didn't appear after killing the Titan. D8

Honestly, this level frustrated me so much on one playthrough I actually accidentally broke my laptop in a fit of rage. I'm serious. (I had music playing and after chucking the controller I slammed space bar on the keyboard to pause the music. After it didn't work I slammed it harder several times out of rage and the thing seriously crashed bad and got ridiculously slow upon reboot, forcing me to buy a new PC. Luckily it just worked enough for me to get my hard drive content off it onto an external...

[Sean]

Here's a lovely one that nobody has mentioned yet! Sonic Battle in its entirety. I just love how this game thinks. How you're constantly pitted against numerous enemies who go after only you, and once you defeat them, you're forced to fight them all over again, but with double the lives. Beautiful. And how there are times when you're forced to use Emerl early on in the game when you don't have any good battle cards, taking twenty minutes to take down opponents like Knuckles as you chip away their (and your) health. Just love it. Sonic Battle is amazing.

Fucking hate this piece of shit abomination of hell game.

[Aquaslash]

How you're constantly pitted against numerous enemies who go after only you, and once you defeat them, you're forced to fight them all over again, but with double the lives.

That is by far the worst aspect of the game.