6 Hardest PS1 Levels Ever

The original PlayStation was a massive success for Sony, catapulting itself into the console market alongside Nintendo and Sega. Like many consoles of the era, the first PlayStation had plenty of incredibly difficult games that gave players fits. However, if you drill down even further, you can find a few truly diabolical levels that caused broken controllers, aching hands, and a puddle of tears. These levels were no joke, and at least one of them forced most players to drop the game before ever making it out of the starting gate.

Here are the six hardest games on the original PlayStation.

6) Gran Turismo 2 – Millennium in Rome

Gran Turismo has always been a demanding series. Some of those license tests will break even the most tested drivers. However, I’m going with one of the endurance races. You could also toss Grand Valley Speedway 300 km into the mix, but either way, these races will test your resolve like few other challenges in gaming.

These incredibly long races will take you around two hours to complete. It’s downright soul-crushing if you lose and have to start over, but even if you finish them in one go, you’re going to have a bad time. It’s not difficult in the traditional sense, but these races will test your endurance more than anything else.

5) Crash Bandicoot – The High Road

Once you know the trick, The High Road isn’t too bad. However, learning that trick takes quite a bit of work. See, you can skip through most of The High Road by jumping onto the rope and carefully running along it to the end of the road. It’s still very easy to fall off, but it’s much more manageable than actually playing the game the way it was designed.

Of course, you can’t use the rope trick if you want to get all the boxes on The High Road. For that, you’ll need to endure some of the trickiest platforming elements on the PlayStation 1. Weirdly spaced jumps, annoying enemies, this one has it all.

4) Einhander – Stage 5

Einhander was quite the looker on the original PlayStation. This shooter might draw you in with those gorgeous visuals, but it will quickly slam your head into the ground with its over-the-top difficulty. Einhander is one bone-jarringly tough level after another, but Stage 5 is most players’ breaking point.

Not only is the entire level one cavalcade of enemies after another, but it also has the toughest midboss in the entire game. If you can get past this level, most of the rest of the game will feel like a breeze. The bosses are still ridiculous, but you won’t have as much trouble getting to them after finishing Stage 5.

3) Rayman – Space Mama’s Crater

The first Rayman is a weirdly paced game. It’s relatively easy at the start, but at one point, there’s a massive difficulty spike. That’s best seen in Space Mama’s Crater. First, you need to work your way through three of the most difficult platforming sections in the entire game. There are no breaks. Everything feels impossible.

If you can somehow make it past that slog, you’ll have to go up against Space Mama herself. This boss is widely seen as one of the most difficult on the system, and the fact that you have to go through a slog of a level makes it even worse. There’s definitely a case to be made for Space Mama’s Crater taking the top slot.

2) Driver – The Tutorial

Like I said in the intro, one game on this list saw most players return it before even finishing the tutorial. That’s because Driver‘s intro is one of the most frustrating levels ever invented. The developers slap you into a tiny parking garage and give you a list of maneuvers to pull off.

None of these moves is ever explained. If you don’t know how to do a Reverse 180, you’re just out of luck. Sure, YouTube videos have since made this process much easier, but back in the ’90s, you just had to figure it out. Even if you can pull off the moves, you have to do them all under a time limit and without running into too many walls. It’s one of the meanest levels a developer has ever made.

1) Roll Away – Everything Past Level 140

Roll Away (Kula World if you’re not in North America) is a relatively obscure puzzle-platformer. You play as a beach ball trying to roll through various stages. For the first 120 levels or so, Roll Away isn’t too difficult. Sure, there are a few mechanics to wrap your head around, but nothing that feels impossible.

Then, the developers at Game Design Sweden AB start to take things up a notch. By the time you get to the last ten or so levels, any of them could break you. Levels 140-150 are devastatingly difficult and aren’t for the faint of heart. It might be cheating to group them all, but it’s impossible to separate them.

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