Top 10 Hardest Levels in Sonic the Hedgehog Games

The Top Ten
1 Eggmanland - Sonic Unleashed

Agreed.
Combining everything you have learned throughout the game, comes in a very hard and long level that would take about an average 30 minutes to beat.
But then again, this was Eggman's dream since Adventure 1. Of course he would go full out on it, He finally built Eggmanland in Sonic Unleashed, and damn did he do it right for the final level.
This needs to stay in the #1 spot.

It's just sad that Sonic games after Black Knight don't offer much challenge anymore. Sonic Colors was too short and simple, Sonic Generations threw challenge out of the game, and Sonic Forces... no challenge at all, not to mention each stage lasts less than 2 minutes. Disappointed. I wish there was another level as hard as Eggmanland, or heck, even harder! Maybe another Eggmanland...

Eggmanland was Eggman's dream throughout the Sonic franchise, and he did so after successfully defeating Sonic by sucking the energy out of the Chaos Emeralds, and fragmenting the earth using his laser penis. (Seriously, watch the cutscene, that laser machine's design made me laugh), and in this game, Eggmanland does not disappoint. It serves as a massive difficulty spike for the already-difficult game, and is the penultimate final level. Lots of death traps, tons of precise platforming, and the parts with the loose rollercoaster car and the rotating fans in the tube section nearly made me throw my PS3 controller out the window. Anyway, great Sonic game, bad final level.

2 Scrap Brain Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog

Ah, yes. A level I can at least respect due to actual difficulty. No broken controls, no lag, just pure level design. Although I had a tougher time in the Cannon's Core and am yet to experience Eggmanland, I'll give props to this one for, well, everything. Plenty of enemies, platforms that don't know what or where they want to be, crushing platforms, electric balls, and everything that just tells you that Final Zone only deserves the best. And the underwater part is nearly impossible unless you know about one small secret.

Act 1 and two are easy for the most part.
Act 3 is labyrinth zone 4, which makes it so hard and long unless you know the shortcut at the beginning of the level. There have been harder levels. However it is far too high up on this list!

Sonic can't go fast here, because if he does, he'll die in a trap (or two) within 3 - 10 seconds. And even if you take it slow and cautious, you're going to be hit by lots of things anyway! (The flame traps are so annoying; they look like part of the floor! )

3 Cannon's Core - Sonic Adventure 2

I got SA2B when I was very small, I swore I could beat it before I became ten. I think I did it... But only a month before. That is all due to this 'mega level'. Still though, it was a good way to wrap up a good story and the ending was just awesome... Also did I mention the music? No? Oh, I'll sum it up quickly then... IT'S OVER 9000!

I've played this level so much that I really don't have a problem beating it now. But it took me about 15 game overs to beat the first time. For a person who try's this level the first time, it's impossible. I know it was for me.

Its not too bad, make sure you have the air necklace or know how to do the clip in knuckles' section, also the time stops are fun, especially with the infinite time freeze bug.

4 Metallic Madness - Sonic CD

Sure, you can rush right through Act 1, have some trouble with Act 2 and its one-way-door traps, and then you'll get the Bad Future, and inevitably, the Bad Ending. You know what that means? You have to get the Good Future, which means you have to find the Badnik Transporters (Good Luck), to get the Good Ending. Which, you know, takes time and effort. And you don't have enough of the latter, due to the size of these Acts...

I had to look up how to beat this level's second act because it was so big and confusing.

This zone was hard on its own, but try beating it WITH good futures! It's even harder!

5 Labyrinth Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog

This level is hard? You people kidding me! The water sections aren't that long, and most of them have tons of spots to refill your air bubbles! Sure, the boss is hard, but that's one part of the whole zone. Sure, you can drown, but there is a way to counter it. Take your time, don't rush last each air bubble refill spot until you get to a part with no air bubbles. If you stop at each and every air bubble dispenser, the zone actually becomes easier. The only part I found truly hard were the Badniks. The fish are fine, but the Screw Nose ones and the Spike Ball ones are a pain. The Screw Nose ones sometimes really well hidden, and the Spike Ball Badniks can only be killed via either invincibility frames, waiting for its slow attack to finish, or timing your jumps. Plus they're usually right in front of air bubbles.

Sonic movments underwater is a lot slower on start and stop runing. It takes much time to find out how you have to move through levels. But real trouble is Scarp Brain Zone - Act 3, wich is kinda act from Labyrinth Zone.

6 Metropolis Zone - Sonic 2

This level is pretty difficult. I don't hate it as much as some other people do (wing fortress zone is my most hated and difficult level) but this one is still pretty bad, especially with that cruel twist of having 3 acts instead of 2. The enemies are the worst and there are evil traps EVERYWHERE like those corkscrew things, gears, lava, arrows sticking out of blocks, etc.

REALLY cheap enemy placements and I would always get lost and have to start over again. At least the music is decent

God damn stars! Plus, we have to suffer this stage 3 times?

7 Marble Zone -Sonic the Hedgehog

Well, it is from Sonic 1, but I'll give it to you. After all, beating this level was a big breakthrough for me, even though there were more difficult levels ahead.

Second level syndrome- Marble zone and Chemical Plant zone in sonic 2

8 Death Egg/Doomsday Zone - Sonic and Knuckles

Very hard, luckily if you get a game over you can restart with 3 lives in sonic 3 and knuckles but not sonic and knuckles.

9 Iron Fortress - Sonic Forces

Classic Sonic's horrible controls just makes this level so difficult it took me 20 tries and a daily bonus to get an S rank. The side scrolling section is just the worst pair that up with Classic Sonic's spindash making you drop like a pile of bricks when you use it and you got a very difficult level.

Holy crap this level killed me 50 times! and that auto scroller was so tedious! the badniks are also a pain in the butt because the home in on you all day long! but the worst part was that you were playing as classic which I don't have a problem with, but I hate how his jump is so powerful! I can not control it!

The side scrolling section had me die about 10,000 times!

10 Launch Base Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 3

I was only 6 years old when I played this. I remember being specifically frustrated by this level, so naturally when a 6 year old gets frustrated by something, she whines to her mother, "moom I can't beat this level! ". My mom couldn't beat it either! She did eventually and we continued, but I will never forget this level. I thought it was called Launch Pad for a while for some reason, but finding this jotted my memory. Wow. The underwater parts were impossible.

The Contenders
11 The End of the World - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

This... is probably the worst stage in the franchise, period. Sonic 06 was already a broken game to begin with, so why add a broken, rushed, glitchy final stage, just like the rest of the game itself? Let's get into the stage itself. It has those annoying Solaris eyes that try to suck in your character. There are 7 different long loading screens for each character. Glitchy physics are prevalent. Rage-inducing difficulty. Just playing this stage does feel like the end of the world. The upside? The music is awesome, just like the rest of the game's soundtrack.

The reason it's so hard is due to 06's unfinished controls, physics, bad stage layout, glitches, and the small amount of lives given to you during the long trek to the end. It wanted to be like Canon's Core but in CC you felt accomplished because the game before it is at least fun! Here it just feels like getting to the end of a grocery line where everyone keeps cutting ahead of you for 8 hours!

12 Final Chase - Sonic Adventure 2

I prefer Final Rush over this level. Cheap enemy placement (I hate the Artificial Chaos enemy so much), various bottomless pits, and that part with the cylinders made me so mad that I almost broke my GameCube controller. At least the music is good to listen to. It's this electronic cybergoth beat that easily fits Shadow, but pales in comparison to White Jungle's theme.

I hate this level. Extremely tight grind switching that doesn't work with Sonic's air control, so many bottomless pits to kill Sonic, and to top it all off, when you have to homing attack onto a grail for extra speed, it's so easy to miss and fall into a bottomless pit!

Final Rush - My 2nd favourite level in the Sonic series, following Rooftop Run Daytime in Sonic Unleashed!

Final Chase - Uh, the level with the gravitational cylinders? Easy! I have an "A" rank on the level. It really is not that bad!

13 Death Egg Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

If this is considered a level, which it is, it is definitely the hardest in the entire franchise. Besides being considered the second hardest video game boss of all time on another list, the thing is downright BRUTAL.

I mean, come on! If there's one level that you'd assume everyone who's tried it has died on try #1, it would be this one.

You deal with the finicky spikes of Metal V.1, which is so darn easy compared to what lies next. Additionally, you have less experience with what lies next, as you're hard-pressed on making it through boss #1 at first that you rarely get to even TRY boss #2.

And even when you do get the hang of it, the Death Egg Robot can be so mind-bogglingly unfair! Forget lack of skill, it's sometimes just unfair-you somehow manage a jump over the spiked arms, are going in, with more patience than allowed by the universe on a casual Sunday, and nothing can go wrong-oh, wait, right, YOU GLITCH THROUGH HIS ARMS!

I can't count how many times I've had that happen-I stock up on dozens of lives and waste them all on these random glitches! Heck-I've gotten Super Sonic more times than I've finished the game! (Seriously, 5 times to 2!)

Some other levels, when you get the hang of them, it's always easier later on. But the reason why Death Egg Zone of Sonic 2 is the hardest among the Sonic universe is because there is less than no room for error.

14 Carnival Night Act 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3

When sonic 3 first came out, had no idea how to bring the block down at the end of the stage (internet wasn't around at that time to offer hints).

15 Crazy Gadget - Sonic Adventure 2

This level took me 3 years to beat just because of that dreaded puzzle at the end

16 Casino Park - Sonic Heroes

The pinball controls are terrible, either you go way too far or not at all, he only redeeming quality is the ground sections and getting the bingo card things.

Casino Night Zone from the Mega Drive version of Sonic 2 is much better than Casino Park. Still, I like this hard stage.

This level is like TORTURE! It takes you forever to reach the goal ring.

17 The Cauldron - Sonic and the Black Knight

I died a lot on this level because of the lava rings when trying to jump

18 Dragons Lair - Sonic and the Black Knight

I thought it was hard only because of one section with electro road

19 Wacky Workbench - Sonic CD
20 Lost World - Sonic Adventure

Man, what a crazy A mission. I remember barely making 4:30 in time (had to use a giant shortcut to get to the end). The snake in the water room tested my patience, and the wall-walking room was the highlight of the whole place.

I cried and destroyed many things in the room trying to beat this level.

21 Lost Impact - Shadow the Hedgehog

I like this game well enough, but this level encapsulates every problem I have with it.

22 Scrambled Egg Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

There IS an Scrambled Egg Zone in Sonic 2. It's the 8-bit version it's talking about.

Umm...there is no Scrambled Egg Zone in Sonic 2.

23 Collision Chaos - Bad Future - Sonic CD

The boss sucks. It's really repetitive.

24 Terminal Velocity - Sonic Colors
25 Final Fortress - Sonic Heroes

For Team Sonic and Team Dark, the camera view is so bad that it is hard to see where you are going. When you start playing the stage, you launch through the ring and there is a rail somewhere. When you miss the rail, you're toast and it seriously takes you a ton of tries to reach the rail. There are also lasers on the rail you have to avoid as you go deeper into the stage.

This level is only due to the dreadful camera angle and slippery controls

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