5 Impossible First Levels in Video Games That Almost Made You Quit Immediately

Tough video games are nothing new. Players have been enjoying challenging games since the industry started gaining popularity, but most developers try to start relatively easy to ease you into the difficulty. Other developers aren’t as nice, starting you out with a kick to the gut that might make you put that game down for good. Some of these games continue to ramp up the difficulty as you go, but a few of them get much easier if you’re able to finish that first challenge. Here are five first levels that will make most players quit before they get started.

5) Level 1 – Contra

Look, there’s a reason everyone and their mother learned the Konami code. Most Contra players back in the day never got through Level 1 without using that code to get extra lives. Konami doesn’t let you ease into Contra‘s brand of side-scrolling action. It almost immediately turns into bullet hell, with dozens of enemies to fight through. Sure, you can grab a few gun upgrades to give you a chance, but the bullet patterns of Contra‘s first level do not give you any time to breathe.

Learning those patterns takes time, but if you die quickly, you’ll have to start over. Players who didn’t learn the code or didn’t want to spend hours trying to learn Contra‘s first level patterns moved on quickly. Those who stuck with it were treated to one of the best side-scrolling shooters of the era, but don’t take that to mean Contra gets any easier. This is one of the toughest games of its era, and the first level is only the beginning of your pain.

4) Chapter 1 – Ikaruga

Ikaruga is actual bullet hell, and widely seen as one of the toughest games in the genre. Part of that is because you have to master the polarity system, which is developer Treasure’s key addition to the genre. Using this, you’ll flip back and forth between black and white polarities. Bullets are also either black or white, and you need to absorb as many of the correct colors as possible, while dodging the opposite color.

It’s a nifty mechanic that’s used to keep things frenetic across Ikaruga’s five stages. Now, the first stage is generally seen as the easiest, so Treasure should be commended for creating a solid difficulty curve. That said, it’s still a monster of a first level that left many players in tears. The good news is that if you can survive to the fifth stage, Treasure does take it easy on you, making that final level feel like a celebration of you overcoming the rest of the challenges.

3) The Way of the Ninja – Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden is one of the hardest games of all time. In fact, it’s one of the hardest series of all time, so any time you’re starting up a Ninja Gaiden game, you know you’re going to die all the time. For my money, the first level of 2004’s Ninja Gaiden is the hardest opening level in the series’ long history. Part of the issue is that you’re plopping into the action without any real tutorials, which means you have to learn as you go.

Given how difficult Ninja Gaiden is, that’s going to be a tall task. Thankfully, Team Ninja drip-feeds the first few enemies, giving you a little time to learn Ryu’s skills. The good times don’t last long. Ninja Gaiden starts to throw tons of enemies at you, and you’ll need to be nearly perfect to get through combat without dying. Learning the timing of your blocks and rolls without any real explanation felt almost impossible. Then, you have to fight a nunchaku-wielding boss, who loves to use unblockable grabs to quickly destroy your health bar.

2) The Rings – Superman 64

Those rings, man. Look, Superman 64 is, by many metrics, one of the worst video games of all time. It’s a buggy, ugly mess that feels more like a half-baked cash grab than a real video game fans would spend their money on. It’s not just a bad game, but it’s also an incredibly weird one. The plot revolves around Lex Luthor trapping all of Superman‘s friends inside of a digital version of Metropolis. To get them out, you have to complete a bunch of timed trials at Luthor’s request.

That’s where the rings come in. This first level has you working through a few challenges, but it’s the rings that get you. I don’t know why Luthor needs Superman to fly through rings, but I do know that it’s a mess. The controls are poor, the timing is very restrictive, and the visuals are so poor that your eyes might start to bleed. Just an absolutely garbage level that is equal parts difficult and frustrating.

1) Parking Garage Tutorial – Driver

As bad as Superman 64‘s ring level is, nothing touches the tutorial for Driver. Traditionally, tutorial levels are there to teach you how to play. They aren’t too difficult, so pretty much anyone can get through them. Driver is different. You need to complete a series of challenges under a time limit. That might not sound hard, but let me assure you that it is almost impossible.

The first problem is that Driver doesn’t tell you how to do any of the required maneuvers. You need to go into the menu if you want to learn that information. The time cap is also very aggressive. You’ll need to be quick, but you also can’t be too reckless. See, the whole tutorial happens inside of a parking garage, and if you take too much damage, you’ll fail the challenge. It’s even worse when you realize that the rest of the game is relatively easy. Dropping this monster on players out of the gate was a big miss from the developers that turned off almost everyone who picked up Driver.

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