10 Brutally Difficult Opening Levels In Video Games

[@ItsMikeysMind]

The Driver level was infuriating. There was an insane difficulty spike in an EA boxing game that made me quit. In the 90s, a runaway mine cart level on a Taz game drove me mad. These are burned into my memory.

[@synaesthesia2010]

the Driver level was easy, i had no problems with it

[@TheElDiabloDR21]

@@synaesthesia2010Same. I just had to follow the video showing us how to do it, and just did a couple things slightly differently

[@Gamesta100]

The final mission Presidents Run is even harder

[@Gamesta100]

​@@synaesthesia2010you must be part of the 1% then lol

[@ItsMikeysMind]

@Gamesta100 I agree. This all has that old school Arcade feel of everything timed and tested to the millisecond. Same with something like getting licenses in Gran Turismo. Hard-core. In an Arcade it's designed to get you chucking in more coins. At home, it gets u chucking controllers.

[@keyblur_the_stoic]

The Driver opening is not a tutorial. It's an exam on the first day of class.

[@jmace2424]

Wait, Driver has an actual game attached?

[@TheViper4Life]

My biggest issue with Driver playing it as a kid was not knowing what the hell a Slalom was. There were so many times that it was my last objective...it wasn't until years later I knew and managed to get past it.

[@affliction1979]

I had a couple of advantages over the Driver tutorial, for one, I was 17 or 18 when it came out, and I started racing karts at 6 years old, and later track cars, still to this day.

[@Aperson-gf6lv]

E.T. The Extra-terrestrial, Atari 2600, 1982. Nothing follows.

[@Astraeus..]

Why do you guys always have to bring up my Contra trauma at least once a year!?!? The first level isn't what did me in, for me it was level 2. A level that makes you move up (instead of a side-to-side) was bloody rough for my then 8 year old brain to get figured out....first game to ever make me break a controller, and lv2 is entirely responsible for it.

[@derekstein6193]

Solo was hard, but a two-player run through level 2 was a lives stealer.

[@jayeshleman480]

Up up down down left right left right b a b a select start 😂

[@NickWuebker]

I remember playing Tomb Raider III’s opening level on my cousins PlayStation. Brutal doesn’t even begin to describe it.

[@gambello1195]

hah same, played it on my cousins PS too

[@PeterVanDerPan]

And it gets even more ruthless as the game progresses 😂😂

[@HylianFox3]

Rogue Squadron was such an amazing series, it didn't deserve to end on the sour note that was Rebel Strike.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

To be fair, Rebel Strike DID come with the ENTIRE Rogue Leader included as a co-op game.

[@garypasquill2355]

Imagine a current gen version, it would look real

[@Nathan-oo2ik]

Man I luckily had a friend who knew what a slalom was, and could get past that intro no problem. That was one of my favorite games for sure, absolutely loved it!

[@DMBLaan]

With hindsight, I wonder if the "good to bad game ration" people say about the Dreamcast was more related to how few games it got before it was dropped, than any actual quality control.

[@RainWalking]

What does driver ask you to do? A simple driving lessson that asks can you drive? But people think that is impossible.

[@TheDeviantPro]

The first level is not even a training level. The actual tutorial/training level is in the training option on the main menu which actually teaches and shows you how to complete the first level.

[@Dtgray12]

What's dumb about the jet set radio every is that's the tutorial option from the main menu. It's optional. Players can jump right into the story without it. The only hard part of the first mission is trying to mimic the CPU in 3 separate tricks and that's about 10 minutes of gameplay.

[@TheDeviantPro]

Same with Driver, there's a training option in the main menu which actually shows you how complete the opening level.

[@timothylewis2527]

Maybe that's why I don't remember the game being difficult in the beginning. I've beaten the game so many times and I've never tried the tutorial. Didn't even know it existed!

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

Mega Man 1 was notoriously difficult. And it was the only Mega Man game ever to use the scoring system.

[@rickmease9531]

I think Mega Man & Mega Man 2 were the peak of the series but they were all pretty solid in the Nes & SNES days. Played the first two to death back in the eighties.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

I just gave up when I got to Wily's Fortress because I just didn't see myself being able to beat the Yellow Devil.

[@rickmease9531]

@@ArcaneAzmadi The Yellow Devil had a pretty major weakness that you could exploit. Switch to the Elecman powers, fire the bolt, then cheese the pause button. Every time you unpause, it's like they're getting hit repeatedly. Of course I could beat it without that but it did make it way easier.

[@clarafedde8674]

No Dragons lair nes and kings field is a bummer, but if you want a doozy of a first level of a game, I recommend Langrisser or Warsong. All you can do is run away....and watch people you know die. Ouch

[@dustinhooper2260]

I knew immediately driver was going to be in here. I’m surprised it didn’t rate higher on the list. It was brutal at first, but to be fair you needed the skills it taught you to get good at it. The survival mode was insane. I think I can probably still do the tutorial today 😂

[@trevordavidjones]

EE-ka-ru-ga. Great video!!

[@StewartyMac]

Tomb Raider II's first level was more difficult than the opening level in the third game.

[@mwambachileshe6150]

Awesome Jules How about 10 video game end levels that turned the difficulty up to 11?

[@MrAmaar]

I have Driver, and I do have Jet Set Radio, never played them beyond the first level.

[@toddanderson7142]

Wasn't it Jet Grind Radio on the Dreamcast?

[@mj.ray0898]

That's also how I remember it, but the sequel was always Jet Set Radio Future, so I kinda just accepted that people call it both. I'm American and I wonder if it was named differently in other regions.

[@lauracollins1366]

I believe it was called Jet Set Radio in Europe and Jet Grind Radio in US

[@jamalvargas6146]

Powerdrome Power Racing Still Have That game to this very day

[@Ginkgo_leaf_3000]

I'm surprised NieR Automata didn't make the list. There are hard levels but it's no cake walk and you can't save.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

Momodora: Reverie Unde the Moonlight. The first area is probably the hardest in the game because you're at your weakest and the enemies (including the poison bomb-throwing imps and shielded imps) are among the most annoying in the entire game as well. At least the boss is actually appropriately easy for a starter boss compared to later ones.

[@Bill_xi]

Driver on ps1 BETTER be on the list After watching: good. I would put it at No.1

[@jmace2424]

Contra’s tutorial was so bad they had a whole scandal against those who said “I Ran Contra” 🤣

[@pahowitzer446]

I didn't have a problem with the driver tutorial. It always gets me when I hear people complain about it. I bought my PS4 for Bloodborne.

[@danjc9783]

I always found the Driver Tutorial piss easy. Loved that game so much.

[@timothylewis2527]

I have absolutely no recollection of a 50 trick combo at the start of Jet Set Radio. I'm not some great gamer but the intro levels were pretty user friendly.

[@backpackingtony1779]

I’m a gamer that started in the late 70’s. I was in my mid 20’s when Driver was released. Even I couldn’t get past the interview in Driver. I never went back to the series because of that.

[@mikeburkhart8336]

Dozens of laser ports shooting at you on the first level of Guardian Legend for NES,not to mention ships to crash into quickly draining what little shield health you have so one wrong move and you're space dust before the game even gets started.

[@pretzelthedude]

That Witcher 2 'tutorial' is the reason I have about 15-20 minutes of actual play in that game and haven't gone back since.

[@marqz900]

Megaman 1 is has nothing on Megaman 9!! Contra on the other hand.... Damn I remember borrowing it from a relative, putting it into my NES playing for about 3 minutes and never to be played again...

[@Bow-to-the-absurd]

C64 Holywood or bust It was unfathomable

[@Kinshinobi]

Proud graduate of the Driver parking garage test. Can you say the same?

[@quawar]

Garage? Well la di da Mr French man

[@devT44]

​Can u tell me game name? Game plot is like this: the girl has two laser guns. When game starts, a girl enter a room, a demon tries to stab her from backside with a trident. The demons were get killed by girl in the game, but they reappear on same place after some seconds. On the way she finds a hall having access to three rooms. The middle one is fire room. If she goes, she dies. She either had to choose left or right one. The right one was difficult. So I chooses left one. There were laser rods coming and going on the foot steps. After coming down she finds a demon, kills it and move further. Next there is a moving robot, that robot is like round sweeping machines . I can't kill it. It tries to give electric shock to me. If I fire, it goes in a hall and charges itself again and attack me. I had to move next room where I don't find anyone but someone kills me. It's a game around year 2000

[@NOTHlNG]

Tomb Raider 3 was the first game in the series that I played and it is still my favorite one - despite its demanding difficulty. :)

[@hackcubit9663]

While the very first level of Contra for the NES (big caveat there, I now understand) was manageable, looking at the arcade version, it appears that while I was spared the pain of the arcade version, by now I'm sure the only reason I consider the first level easy is simply because I have it memorized. By the time I was like 14 I'm pretty sure I had the entire game memorized, for that matter.

[@Jnensrevenge]

Tomb Raider 2's first level is more difficult than TB3's. Rest of Three is harder though.

[@JiggaJ1979]

Lol trying the souls genre with Demon Souls. Don’t remember ever saying all them cuss words on a Sunday

[@GoldenJoe9176]

Thanks for including Driver, first game I ever played

[@PenDreamt]

FromSoftware: Death in tutorial, whether you beat the boss or not!

[@benjaminA.stantonpun]

Contra seems like a terrible pick for this list. I remember the first time I played Contra. I was 10 years old. I died twice and then beat the first level. It was easier than Sonic The Hedgehog’s first level. 🥰

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

The speeder level at the beginning of Super Return of the Jedi had a lot of problems. The speeder is too fast and the controls are not intuitive. The vehicle sections of the Super Star Wars series were not great, but that one was the worst.

[@megaben99]

8:43 You pronounced Ikaruga wrong. Other than that great video, You deserve a like. p.s. The only Tomb Raider game I was able to play was the 2013 reboot.

[@michaelsmith8107]

Always found tomb raider legend pretty simple as far as tomb raiders go.

[@CardboardTelescope]

I thought Driver was inspired by the car chase thrillers of the 70s?

[@moviesignsol]

I believe that you are correct. The Detective : I'm gonna help you be a better cop. You know how? You know what you do first thing every morning? Read the sports page. You know why? Best part of the newspaper. Winners, losers, how it happened, score. And we got a much better game than the one they give the players. They don't retire us after 10 years. Just one thing: you gotta be a player. A real player, not just fillin' out a position.

[@finnydot]

Same list, just New Game+ version. Hadn't played GOW2018 since I beat it. Fired up the first level of NG+ on "Give Me Balance" and got one shotted 6 times! 😂

[@pariahmutt3589]

Surprised Fallout 2’s Temple of Trials didn’t make the cut. That turned off so many people to a great game.

[@jekw23]

Yes. It’s not that hard (or even that long) but it’s not a great intro to the game and it frustrated me the first time.

[@conn1239]

Ahhh tomb raider 3, sliding down jumping over spikes, avoiding snakes, piranhas, and dinosaurs all within the first few levels. Nothing better than an easy couple of tutorial levels 😂

[@NOTHlNG]

I think its difficulty comes from the strictly limited number of saves. Still my favorite TR game nevertheless.

[@RHCole]

It's not a first level per se, but the Yian Kut Ku in the first Monster Hunter game was RIDICULOUS in it's difficulty spike. While it is technically the weakest Wyvern in the game, that it is also the fastest Wyvern makes that first fight such an absolute slog OMG.

[@lukemundy4023]

The Witcher 2 post patch was still a poop tutorial and the first fight with Letho was a nightmare ,, there are entire forums focused on this 1st fight with him because of how annoying it is

[@salvador_mano4x4]

So, i was one of that 1% Who liked divers"s parking?

[@LordRain1031]

*sigh* Dreamcast did introduce some "ahead of it's time tech," Dreamcast was Sega's "last ditch effort in the console wars before drowning." My friend insisted "Dreamcast is the next BIG thing!" No, not it wasn't. It was Sega is drowning to the competition and this was their "we either make it or we give up because we can't compete." 🤷‍♂️

[@LordRain1031]

Never played Bloodbourne but I'd say, along those same lines, Nioh (is that how it's spelled?). Bought it used. Returned it literally the next day! 🙄😒🤦‍♂️😡🤬

[@cppblank]

The 70s were when the best car movies were made.

[@rig-zag]

As soon as I saw this list pop up I knew it was a make-up list for omitting the Driver opening from the "Most infuriating tutorials" list

[@saladass1571]

I could see Bloodborne being on this list for the sake of people that haven’t played a Solesborne before, but the beginning wasn’t too bad if you had an idea of what to do

[@Gamesta100]

Driver starts with an insanely difficult training mission and ends on an even harder mission. I'm positive that the final level is only possible with luck. Presidents Run is bs hard lol Don't forget warp pipes that actually take you back to previous levels instead of future levels in SMBTLL.

[@donychow7411]

Nier:Automata should have been on this list. That atleast 30 minutes long "tutorial" with no saving or check points until after you kill that bloddy boss. Death meant starting from the begining. You will die a lot if you were expecting a rpg because how it was marketed and how every reviewer has said it was one of the best rpgs of the time, but no one ever mentions that it was a bullet hell game with rpg elements. I died so many times because I was no good with bullet hell games, especially because the bullets come from everywhere 360° around you. If I had know it was a bullet hell game I would have never bought it. I have nothing against bullet hell games, only because they are not my thing because I suck at them.

[@CardboardTelescope]

Absolutely. And all you really need to know is ‘you can spam the dodge button indefinitely’ but nothing ever tells you that, and it’s not how dodge mechanics usually work

[@dominiccummings1893]

Ninja Gaiden. That is all.

[@ThePman007]

To be fair this was about the first level but damn ninja Gaiden was hard after that not even talking about the 3-d ones just the ones on nes

[@XannolcZ]

Today i learned that Witcher 2 has a tutorial? I distinctly remember starting a new game on multiple occasions and seeing Geralt waking up in bed. Had to learn how combat works via death by Nekker over and over

[@jamesianhutchison1165]

Just going to dust off my rose tinted glasses and say I definitely don't remember the first mission of Rogue Squadron 2 being that difficult.

[@PeterVanDerPan]

Tomb raider 3 was my first tomb raider and till this day holds a special place in my heart. It’s ruthless tho 😀

[@valetboy21]

A list read by Jules about hard opening levels and no Po-Tay-to Po-Ta-to. What a waste.

[@BabyKobeeee]

Am I the only one that only watches the vids that Jules voices😂😂oh and Scott

[@nicmainville9954]

Driver's opening level difficulty was just unnecessary.

[@ronray3293]

So we're just not gonna talk about Elden Ring's "You want a tutorial? Not until you finish your boss fight!"

[@tshepourbanlaser4515]

Drake of The 99 Dragons might be one of the wirst games ever but it's tutorial section is the hardest part of the entire game

[@Amego9002]

The thing whit Driver that is not mentioned is that all off the ting must be done in a tight time limit, but one off the hardest Lv 1 for me is "Ikari Warriors" on Nintendo

[@Thedandalorian42069]

Who tf struggled with the death star level of rogue sqaudron 2....

[@michaelsmith8107]

🤷 I struggled with the one at the end of the game though. Only managed to do it once. Admiral Akbar keeps getting destroyed lol

[@Thedandalorian42069]

@@michaelsmith8107 ngl. I nutted in that games ass I fucked it so hard

[@exharkhun5605]

Note that the parking garage was also the level used for the Driver demo. It will have cost them a ridiculous amount of sales.

[@drgonzo123]

Bloodborne was my first souls game, and boy howdy did it take me a while to acclimate. I had downloaded tried and deleted the game about 3 times before I came to terms with the combat. I love the game now, but it wasn’t immediate.

[@annapierce8666]

*Tombraider* 3's 1st level is a *cake* *walk* ,i think you ment to say *Tombraider* 2's first level 💃

[@Jeremy-ql1or]

I am playing Thymesia. The first boss, Odur is harder than any early Souls boss. They say it will be easier after this but I don't know if I will ever get past this guy. After I finally beat him, I found out he had a second much harder stage.

[@krvgames9258]

Bloodborne is a From Software game Jules, OF COURSE THE FIRST LEVEL IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT!

[@RealBradMiller]

Lol, i was literally about to talk about the Driver game, had no clue what name it was, went back to playing GTA after twenty minutes and never looked back. 😂

[@TCPolecat]

Starts out with Driver: Perfect. I never even managed to make it past that opening level, because I couldn't figure out half of what it wanted me to do!

[@waxmandr]

Here we go, another list with Driver 🙄

[@jamesfrankiewicz5768]

That level of Rogue Leader wasn't too bad when it was released, as a lot of us who bought it at launch already put in tons of time on Rogue Squadron (N64). Although I can see that if you just jumped into the game with no prior experience, it might seem a bit much.

[@DrkMggt69]

No Super Star Wars for the SNES!?!?! I still, to this day, have never beaten the opening level!!!

[@thatguy66199]

The Adventures Of Bayou Billy had an infamous opening level

[@corwinharper8763]

I was looking for neir automata potato potata 🤣🤣🤣

[@felman87]

If you do a sequel, Fallout 2 could be brutal for all but the strength/physical builds.

[@LoverOfBellies]

Pretty sure the game was just Rogue Squadron & the sequel came out later on in the Game Cube's life or was Rogue Squadron on the N64 🤔 - my memory isn't that great

[@michaelsmith8107]

Rogue squadron came out on the N64 and pc, rogue squadron 2: rogue leader and 3:rebel strike came out on the GameCube

[@xbilly_vedovelli1228]

We had to use a french english dictionary to finish driver 1

[@antfrancis9941]

Forbidden siren. The game was so hard i gave up after the first stage. & if i recall correctly it was completely in Japanese bar some in-game english text. Again, the only game i completely gave up on after the 1st level.

[@nintendians]

6. all classic tomb raider on the ps1 are hard and gives no clues to what you have to do. 1. "super mario bros. the lost level" is definity a brutal game overall.

[@GoldenJoe9176]

Bloodbourne was an exclusive? I never knew that

[@sorahearts3317]

Not as hard as these but I'd say Nier Automata has a difficult tutorial

[@toddclawson3619]

The hard part with Nier Automata is that there was no checkpoint or way of saving until you fought the first boss so if you died you had to restart all the way at the beginning. It was a long and quite painful start to the game especially since you were just starting out and didn't really know how to play. An amazing game, but I almost quit right at the start because I was frustrated at how far back I had to go each time I died with no clue as to when I would finally be able to save.

[@swordbladez]

If you revisit this: Double Dragon 3 on the NESzzzz where you die anywhere and it’s back to the title screen and for me that’s the beginning level sooo much as Billy sucks so much! And Hagane for the SNESzzz … I need not explain that one!

[@slicksilver9441]

Does anyone here remember the nes game, "sky shark"? I loved that game. Ikaruga reminded me of it for some reason

[@Cman04092]

Oh god, not driver! Me and many others just have up, because we didn't know what to the hell to do back when we were kids/teens. To me it was just a list of radom words, lol.

[@iamdb1990]

seriously, Driver can F off... twice, never gonna get over that, my cousin had the rest of the game unlocked so when I played it, I enjoyed it, bought it myself and then the first part... anyway, nice Simpsons reference, Jules, car hole lol

[@khylelewis]

I saw this video and the first thing that came to mind was driver lol. Luckily I was buying bootlegged games for like $1 each so I had plenty to choose from for PS1 and just put it down and put something else in. Must've bought at least 500 games for the first playstation.

[@chrisbellon3739]

First Legend of mana game on og game boy, had you fighting a super strong creature in like first 5 minutes

[@TwitterPaulsVersion]

Frick ikaruga

[@adamlach6572]

i suck at arcade games but contra is actually one of the easiest, it rules are very transparent and it doesn't require nearly as much precision or fast reflexes as some

[@jeffm5056]

As soon as I saw the video title, I knew Driver would be on the list. What a terrible way to start an otherwise great game.

[@heidetermeg427]

Am I the only one who can do the garage test in Driver first time? I spent damned near 60 tries on beating Gehrman in Bloodborne - I beat Radec in Killzone 2, after trying for an eternity - but funnily enough, I have no problems beating the garage test in Driver... I think that sort of makes me the best worst gamer, ever

[@synaesthesia2010]

getting sick and tired of seeing Driver on these kind of lists, the tutorial WAS NOT HARD!!!! all you need to do is learn each maneuver then string them together. took me 20 minutes to get past it

[@ericromero5438]

My proudest moment it video games today is beating the Megaman anniversary collection

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

The arena fight in Witcher 2 was designed to work out your difficulty level.