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00:00Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 20 Hardest Mario
00:08Levels.
00:15For this list, we'll be looking at the most challenging obstacle courses Nintendo's
00:19mascot has had to overcome, however we're only looking at Mario's mainline releases.
00:25Which of these levels made you rage the most?
00:28Let us know in the comments below!
00:39WING MARIO OVER THE RAINBOW β Super Mario 64
00:49There are a handful of secret levels that utilize this entry's wing cap, but we'd
00:53only advise going after this one if you're aiming for 100%.
00:57Located next to the entrance of Tick Tock Clock, more on that later, this cheerful looking
01:01course left many players feeling just the opposite.
01:04The course tasks you with collecting 8 red coins spread across some clouds.
01:08It sounds simple enough, but the flight controls are hard to get the hang of and they only
01:12feel more clunky with each passing year.
01:15This resulted in countless plunges beneath the clouds, which spits you back out at the
01:19castle's entrance and forces you to make your way back.
01:23DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING β New Super Mario Bros. U
01:31Jumping on enemies and collecting coins is simply in Mario's nature.
01:35The player must show mad restraint while taking on this challenge, as the objective is to
01:39get through the entire course without touching anything.
01:42This is only made harder due to the abundance of coins in your path and those pesky Lakitus
01:47throwing spikes everywhere.
01:48If Mario weren't in his mini-form, this course would be virtually impossible.
01:53Even with that slight advantage though, you'll be lucky to get just a bronze medal when all
01:57is said and done.
01:59WORLD 8 FORTRESS β Super Mario Bros. 3
02:09As one might expect, the final world in Super Mario Bros. 3 is just as deadly as it looks.
02:14The fortress level found towards the end will put you through the ringer.
02:17Tight spaces, conveyor belts or lava, annoying roto-discs, and all the classic enemies placed
02:23in just the right spots to be in your way.
02:26As if all that wasn't bad enough, the level is divided into two sections with a series
02:30of doors that take you between them throughout.
02:32If you don't know the doors to enter in order to progress, you'll have to backtrack through
02:36traps you've already made it through.
02:39LILLIPAD RIDE β Super Mario Sunshine
02:46You might think that riding on a giant lillipad would be pleasant, but certainly not here.
02:51Mario gains access to this hidden level after unlocking Yoshi.
02:54Although it's pretty short, it is a major pain.
02:57Players must ride the lillipad down a river, collecting the eight red coins along the way.
03:01Making this much, much more difficult is the quick current and the fact that Mario must
03:05use flood to push the lillipad at the right angle.
03:09If you fall in the water, you die, and the lillipad sinks slowly as you ride it.
03:13It manages to cram a lot of frustration into mere moments.
03:18TICK TOCK CLOCK β Super Mario 64
03:27As cool as it sounds to have a level set inside a clock, all the moving parts and complex
03:31mechanisms make for one seriously challenging level.
03:34Its layout and the speed at which everything moves will be different depending on the time
03:39when you enter the level.
03:40Regardless, it will usually be incredibly easy to fall to your doom.
03:44Each star requires a lot of climbing to reach, so every misstep or fall hurts your ego that
03:49much more.
03:50Plus, Bowser's various minions along the way are sure to add some extra stress while
03:54you attempt your daredevil jumps.
03:56It's an awesome concept, but being one of the final worlds means your enjoyment will
04:00be limited.
04:02WORLD 8-7 β New Super Mario Bros.
04:11Koopa Troopas and their various turtle brethren are some of Bowser's most loyal minions,
04:16and World 8-7 of New Super Mario Bros. is like one big family reunion for all of them.
04:22In addition to those regular enemies, it features just about every variant of the Hammer Bros.
04:26in existence.
04:27Storming through Koopa Troopas and their flying counterparts is Mario's bread and butter.
04:32But when fireballs, boomerangs, hammers, and body-stunning shockwaves are also being hurled
04:36your way, things get a lot trickier.
04:39As much as we love the DS, its controls can make some of these jumps cumbersome, especially
04:44those to moving platforms.
04:47WORLD 8-3 β Super Mario Bros.
04:50The Lost Levels
04:58Hammer Bros.?
04:59Why did it have to be Hammer Bros.?
05:01These minions of Bowser are some of the most frustrating foes Mario has ever encountered.
05:05World 8-3 is overrun with them, as well as a number of other trials.
05:10This lost level especially had gamers scratching their heads towards the end, where the pulley
05:14platform rests beyond their reach.
05:16You need to hit a couple of secret blocks in order to make the jump.
05:20And this is why we're so grateful for the internet today.
05:24FIREBAR SPRINT β New Super Luigi U
05:32Originally released as DLC before becoming a standalone release, this reworking of New
05:36Super Mario Bros.
05:37U is automatically much harder than the original.
05:40That's because it's built for speedrunners.
05:42You only have 100 seconds to beat each level.
05:44It reaches peak punishment during this grueling level in its final hidden world.
05:49As the title says, Luigi must sprint through a ton of giant firebars, which spin in different
05:54directions and at different speeds.
05:56If you try to be cautious, you run the risk of running out of time.
05:59If not, it's entirely likely poor Luigi will be burned to a crisp.
06:04This is a level perfectly designed to make you rage.
06:07WORLD 9-7 β New Super Mario Bros.
06:10Wii
06:17Ice levels are hard in any platformer, as they make everything twice as challenging.
06:21But World 9-7 is a new level of awful.
06:24Most of the ground is made up of ice that either holds munchers, invincible flower enemies
06:28that deal damage as soon as you touch them, or coins above a pit.
06:32The level is also populated by fire-spewing piranha plants just waiting to melt everything
06:37If they don't, you will by accident, because the only power-up found on this godforsaken
06:41stage other than a super mushroom is a fire flower.
06:45It forces you to rush through lest you die against the onslaught.
06:48If you don't, you'll very quickly have nowhere to go.
06:52WORLD 8-Airship β Super Mario Bros. 3
06:59The World 8 Airship is possibly the greatest 2D Mario level ever conceived, not to mention
07:04one of the hardest.
07:06Although the entire Dark World is an arduous trek, it's this particular airship that'll
07:10put your gaming skills to the test and make you scream at the top of your lungs.
07:14You'll definitely want to cover your P-Wings for this level, seeing how it's easy to fall
07:18and even easier to get stricken with a wrench.
07:21Faster than your average airship level, with obstacles always on the horizon, it's easy
07:25to see why some angry video game nerds consider this world to be hell.
07:30Pachinko Machine β Super Mario Sunshine
07:39Putting Mario inside a pachinko game sounds like a really awesome concept.
07:43While this hidden mini-course from Super Mario Sunshine is indeed a lot of fun, it's also
07:47ridiculously challenging.
07:49With Mario getting launched into the air like a pinball, you'll need perfect aim, precision,
07:54and timing to collect all 8 red coins.
07:57If you fall down the opening at the bottom, then it's back to square one.
08:00You know what the absolute most frustrating part is?
08:03Once you do nab every coin, the Shine Sprite appears in the trickiest possible area to
08:08catch.
08:09You're so close to victory, but even closer to potential doom.
08:13The Final Final Test Badge Marathon β Super Mario Bros.
08:19Wonder
08:212023's Wonder was packed with delight, but the final level will test the lengths of which
08:27you'll find it charming.
08:28And Marathon is definitely the best way to describe it.
08:31Players must make it through 10 obstacle courses, each with a designated mechanic that comes
08:35with a badge.
08:36Some aren't too bad since you'll have gotten used to using their badges throughout the
08:39game, but there are others that only cause frustration like one that requires wall-jumping
08:44away from rising poison, and another that has you make tricky jumps while invisible.
08:48It isn't as hard as other final levels Mario has faced, with pain eased by the ability
08:53to play with others.
08:54Still, that doesn't make it easy.
09:05Tubular β Super Mario World
09:14Tubular finds the player having to navigate through a gigantic gap full of football players
09:19and jumping piranha plants.
09:21Unless you've got a cape or Yoshi on hand, the only way through this is inflating Mario
09:25like a balloon.
09:26If you get hit or run out of power, Mario will go tumbling down and your controller
09:30will go flying at the TV screen.
09:32This has got to be one of the weirdest and most trippy Mario levels ever brought into
09:36fruition, which is saying a lot.
09:39As you might expect, it amounts to an insanely difficult special zone.
09:43Special 8 Crown β Super Mario 3D Land
09:55Many modern Mario adventures end by pitting every single platforming skill you have against
10:00an absolute juggernaut of a level.
10:02While Special 8 Crown isn't as hard as some others, it's still plenty damn tough.
10:06Its opening sections consist of annoyingly placed enemies and some very small platforms,
10:11meaning your hand-eye coordination will need to be spot on.
10:14Then you just have to deal with a duo boss fight, a distressing switchboard ride surrounded
10:18by death, a field of fire bars with falling platforms, and a flaming maze as a giant clone
10:24chases you.
10:25Going into it with a Tanooki power-up is extremely advised, though if you lose it, good luck
10:30because there aren't any checkpoints.
10:33Luigi's Purple Coins β Super Mario Galaxy
10:41Of all the coin-collecting challenges in the Mario franchise, Luigi's Purple Coins
10:45is quite possibly the most inventive and difficult.
10:48Landing on a planet shaped like 8-bit versions of the Little Green Brother, the objective
10:52of this level is to collect 100 of 150 purple coins.
10:56This level constantly keeps you on your toes, with rotating tiles, disappearing tiles, and
11:01poisonous water.
11:02A valuable piece of advice?
11:03Be sure to leave a trail open back to the starting corner, otherwise you'll never be
11:08able to reach the star and cash in on your payday.
11:11Long Journey's End β Super Mario Odyssey
11:21Odyssey instills a sense of wonder and magic in the player, getting you excited for each
11:25new world.
11:26And Long Journey's End proceeds to beat it out of you.
11:28It's the final challenge in the game, meaning Nintendo pulled out all the stops.
11:33It tests you on every capture in the game and every Mario mechanic, new and old.
11:38One of the biggest hurdles is how grand Nintendo made it to fittingly cap off the globetrotting
11:42adventure.
11:43And because there naturally aren't any checkpoints, dying means repeating giant sections of gameplay
11:48at a time.
11:49At least Nintendo allowed Mario to keep his health bar.
11:52Other games weren't so gracious.
11:55World C-3 β Super Mario Bros.
11:58The Lost Levels
12:06The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was initially considered too hard for North
12:10American gamers.
12:11And yeah, it is relentlessly hard.
12:15One of the most vexing levels in the entire game is World C-3, in which the player must
12:19hop from platform to platform via springs.
12:22While that's already pretty tough, this level kicks things up a notch with violent
12:26winds that can blow you away.
12:27You rarely know where you're going to land, and it's likely you'll collide with an
12:31enemy.
12:32And this isn't even the most brutal stage the game has to offer.
12:36Champions Road β Super Mario 3D World
12:46Although modern Mario games arguably aren't as consistently hard as the classics, each
12:50one throws in a level that gives pro gamers a run for their money.
12:53Champions Road from Super Mario 3D World is a maddening journey without a checkpoint in
12:58sight.
12:59Unless you're a hardcore player, we'd strongly advise that you enter the world with
13:03a power-up.
13:04Due to their jumping skills, Luigi and Peach are the ideal characters to get through this
13:07unpredictable obstacle course composed of vanishing boxes and dash panels.
13:11If you can conquer Champions Road with every character, however, then you truly deserve
13:16a golden crown.
13:18The Impossible Pack β New Super Mario Bros. 2
13:29It's called the Impossible Pack for a goddamn reason.
13:31If the name of these downloadable courses aren't already an obvious indication of
13:35their difficulty, the dry Bowser icon at the beginning certainly is.
13:39So what exactly makes it so dangerous?
13:41For starters, you have to power through three courses with zero power-ups in one sitting,
13:46so it feels like one long level.
13:48Although this is a coin rush challenge, there actually aren't any coins in the level.
13:52The amount of coins you earn all depends on how much time is left once a stage is completed.
13:57So if you want to score 100 coins, make best friends with those green clocks.
14:01The Perfect Run β Super Mario Galaxy 2
14:04You can't call yourself a grandmaster until you've completed The Perfect Run in Super
14:08Mario Galaxy 2.
14:10If you thought the ultimate test was impossible, The Perfect Run ups the ante with no checkpoint
14:14flags and only one piece of life.
14:17Each tribulation is more over-the-top than the last, which only makes it more gratifying
14:20when you achieve that final star.
14:23As challenging as this level is, The Perfect Run also exemplifies everything we love about
14:27Mario games with its inspired gameplay mechanics, crazy environments, and endless creativity.
14:33Even if you can't beat it, you're still going to have a ton of fun trying.