Sonic the Hedgehog has brought to the masses some of the most legendary levels in video game history – and some of the absolute worst. Whether due to its grand spectacles, stunning soundtracks, or intricately designed gameplay, Sonic has had his hills and valleys in terms of quality.
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Sonic the Hedgehog has changed considerably since its transition from 2D into 3D. Even at its best, however, 3D Sonic often made itself harder than its 2D counterpart. For every City Escape, there's a Crazy Gadget right around the corner. Unfortunately, SEGA's mixed bag level design has only seemed to continue into Sonic Frontiers.
Updated 18th of November, 2022 by Patrick Arellano: The third dimension brought a lot of challenges to the Blue Blur's formula. Almost everything about the way levels were designed and how Sonic moved had to be changed to accommodate this new freedom of movement. Because of this, the hardest 3D stages might actually be more Herculean than the 2D ones. With the recent success of Sonic Frontiers, it seems fitting to highlight more of the hog's hardest 3D levels.
15 Terminal Velocity Gives Players Whiplash
Sonic Colors (2010)
Running segments where Sonic can only sidestep are common throughout Sonic Colors. By the game's release, these section had become a staple in the 3D games. Terminal Velocity, Colors' final zone, is populated entirely by these segments as Sonic battles Dr. Eggman and escapes a crumbling interstellar amusem*nt park.
Part of what makes Terminal Velocity so difficult is the Big Chaser, who pursues Sonic throughout the Area. This enemy debuts in Aquarium Park and makes its return in Terminal Velocity. Its attacks are hard to time correctly, which leads to taking damage by attacks that seem unfair or shoddily programmed. Despite all that, the stage is loads of fun for the final boss alone.
14 Levitated Ruin Falls Prey To The Game It's In
Sonic And The Secret Rings (2007)
Sonic and the Secret Rings is one of the most hated games in the franchise and, in some regards, rightfully so. The game can be buggy, the story isn't all that interesting, and the controls run on a flawed system. This all culminates in the Levitated Ruin, high above the ground, where Sonic searches for Sinbad the Sailor.
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The area's main gimmick is a strong wind that blows Sonic backward, which can be annoying for some and an outright hindrance for others. In the Sonic Storybook spinoffs, Sonic always runs forward unless directly moved back by the player. This makes the slower parts of Levitated Run where he navigates the obstacles and narrow paths tedious and frustrating.
13 Mystic Mansion's Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out To Annoy
Sonic Heroes (2003)
The penultimate world of Sonic Heroes takes a Halloween-esque turn with grinning pumpkins, mischievous specters, and a foreboding manor. While the first part is pretty much what players have come to expect, Mystic Mansion is where things get really frustrating. The main gimmicks of the level are the switches that transport players to different rooms.
Players are tasked with figuring out which ones lead to progress and which ones will send them in an infinite loop. Mystic Mansion is a long and tedious affair that's not helped by the amount of combat players must perform – an issue that plagues most of Heroes' level design.
12 Dusty Desert Is Dragged Down By Its Puzzles
Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)
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If a new player decided to give Sonic '06 a chance despite all the criticisms, no one would blame them if Dusty Desert blew the wind out of their sails. Sonic's version of the mission is a slog, but many fans consider Silver's variation the more frustrating stage. Wandering the ancient ruins searching for Sonic, Silver stumbles into a wayward Amy Rose, also looking for the Blue Blur.
What earns Silver's version of Dusty Desert its medal for toughness is the many complicated puzzles players have to complete. Couple that with Amy's stilted gameplay with her hammer, and the underground version of Dusty Desert goes from a stage with potential to the leading cause of hair loss among Sonic fans.
11 Final Chase Tries Too Hard To Be Challenging
Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
For such a great game, even Sonic Adventure 2 has its sore spots. Final Chase, the last stage of the Dark storyline, follows Shadow as he runs through the Space Colony ARK to stop Sonic's advance on the Eclipse Cannon. This stage is loathed for the "spinning drums," rotating cylinders that Shadow can move around and across to advance.
Similar obstacles existed in the classic games, but the third dimension makes them more complicated than they need to be. The bottomless pits and enemy placement don't help matters. Other than that, however, Final Chase is still an overall solid level.
10 The Weather Outside Is Frightful In Frozen Factory Act 2
Sonic Lost World (2013)
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Many of Sonic Lost World's problems stemmed from two wildly conflicting gameplay mechanics having to share space in a single game. While the Parkour platforming or the wild geometric worlds might have worked fine as their own games, they didn't really mix. However, Frozen Factory Act 2 deviates heavily from this format to provide a Super Monkey Ball-esque rolling ball change.
For reasons beyond understanding, Sonic rolls himself into a giant snowball. Players are forced to laboriously spin dash their way across the level while avoiding obstacles. Completing Frozen Factory act 2 is easier said than done thanks to its maddening physics.
9 Crazy Gadget Could Send Players Towards Their Doom
Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
Super Mario Galaxy this level is not. Crazy Gadget sees the blue blur in a gravity defying trek through the Space Colony Ark. Scattered throughout the level are several switches that change the gravity of certain rooms, allowing Sonic to get to previously unreachable areas. However, players who aren't careful may find themselves plummeting towards their doom.
Additionally, the game's quirks add to the difficulty with an uncooperative camera and moves that may not perform the way players intended. It doesn't help that Crazy Gadget is also too long for its own good. The trial & error design and absurd length are sure to make any fan feel exhausted by the end.
8 Players Will Seek Cheater's Justice In Casino Park
Sonic Heroes (2003)
While the Casino Zone in Sonic 2 is one of the most beloved stages in the franchise's history, Sonic Heroes' take on the concept doesn't provoke the same amount of reverence. Casino Park boasts all the same neon lighting, slot machines, and pinball mechanics of the former, but the transition to the third dimension brings some problems.
One really annoying glitch can cause one of Sonic's buddies to be stuck in the machine, preventing players from progressing any further. Additionally, the physics can prove to be really annoying when players are tasked with getting to the top of each pinball section.
7 Radical Train Goes Off The Rails (In a Bad Way)
Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)
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The funny thing about Sonic '06 levels isn't that they're hard by design, but because they're Sonic '06 levels. The game's core problems taint the entire experience, from numerous glitches to a scatterbrained story to a rushed development that shows Sonic Team's incompetence on its sleeve. Radical Train is merely one level to demonstrate that.
Shadow's version of this stage is the toughest, in which he must chase down a train within the time limit to destroy it and reach Eggman. Because Shadow isn't as fast as Sonic, he has to rely on vehicles for easy transportation, which unfortunately feels like piloting clunky heaps of scrap thanks to the game's terrible design and controls.
6 Final Fortress Is The Final Straw
Sonic Heroes (2003)
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Sonic Heroes is a game that, over time, has become a beloved title even though it started as a hated one. As one of the earliest installments in the 3D era, there were a lot of improvements needed as SEGA and the 3D games evolved. Final Fortress is what happened when the developers overstepped a bit too far.
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In a game with already wonky controls, the last thing Heroes should have expected from the budding player base was a clean landing after launching their character into the air toward offscreen grinding rails. Unfortunately, Final Fortress does just that. Thankfully, the level is still beatable, just with a little extra effort and patience.
5 Lost Impact Should Have Stayed Lost
Shadow The Hedgehog (2005)
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A common trend in hard Sonic levels seems to be the presence of tedium, and Lost Impact from Shadow the Hedgehog is no exception. Fans abhor this level in particular for how immense the area is, where Shadow maneuvers the ARK as it's attacked with Maria in tow. Lost Impact's two objectives are simple: annihilate the rampaging Artificial Chaos or find Professor Gerald's laboratory and escape the space station.
Slaying Artificial Chaos will award points towards concluding the Hero mission and defeating all 35 completes the stage. Clearing the Hero mission is the reason Lost Impact is so toilsome, as it requires navigating the entire stage to seek and destroy every required enemy.
4 Iron Fortress Belongs In the Wrong Era
Sonic Forces (2017)
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When Sonic Forces was released, fans immediately lambasted it for its subpar controls, lackluster narrative, and forced inclusion of Classic Sonic following the success of Sonic Generations. They were absolutely correct. The level design of Forces varies from generic at best to needlessly baffling at worst, one of the most infamous examples being Iron Fortress.
Speaking of Classic Sonic, the stage may have been more bearable if it originated from the Sega Genesis. However, because it's from Forces, the controls hold it back. When asked, many fans will refer to the stage's side-scrolling segment, which is hard to keep up with due to the bottomless pits and traps that line the stage.
3 Cannon's Core Requires Patience
Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
Final levels in any game are meant to be tests of skill for the player, a way to gauge how much they've learned throughout their playthrough. Cannon's Core from Sonic Adventure 2 delivers for better and for worse. For starters, Cannon's Core forces the player to juggle between multiple play styles in a single stage by using every character in the game, excluding Shadow.
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If that weren't enough of a hassle, getting a Game Over on this level sets the player back to the beginning, starting the level over as Tails and Eggman with their slow, clunky tanks. That, coupled with the Knuckles swimming section, makes for a level that can quickly become a nightmare for first-time players.
2 It's The End Of The World And Players Won't Feel Fine
Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)
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Much like the finale in Adventure 2, Sonic '06 tasks players with completing a marathon section with the game's other playable characters. As before, running out of lives at any point bumps players back to the main menu and forces them to redo the whole thing from scratch.
Just when players thought the level design couldn't get more frustrating, the game suddenly throws instant death portals everywhere. What's the ultimate reward for the player's valor? A cutscene where their favorite animal mascot makes out with a human princess. This might be the one case where a simple "Thanks for playing" would have been preferable.
1 Eggmanland Is A Test Of Skill And Willpower
Sonic Unleashed (2008)
Sonic Unleashed is a brilliant game that was crafted by a rejuvenated studio with a grand vision: a high-speed globe-trotting adventure. Split into day and night stages, Unleashed swaps between high-octane obstacle-dodging action with normal Sonic and platforming with a side of beat-em-up action with Werehog Sonic. Eggmanland, the final zone, is the ultimate test before the confrontation with Dark Gaia.
Throughout the level, Sonic transforms to progress in ways that play to either his or the Werehog's strengths. Eggmanland is a level that is hard on purpose. Here, Dr. Eggman has finally achieved his goal from back in Sonic Adventure and is now throwing everything and the kitchen sink at his longtime nemesis.
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