Greninja The Mario Karter
Greninja the Water/Dark Ninja
- Pronouns
- He, Him, His
Mario has had thousands of levels to play through in the entire franchise, but there are some bad ones. Here are my least favorite ones.
Number 10: Snowcap Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy).
Super Mario Galaxy has a ton of galaxies that add to the experience, but Snowcap Galaxy is an exception. Catching the Star Bunnies is already annoying, but add a time limit and cover the planet in snow, and it's much worse. You can use a Fire Flower, but it doesn't help you as much as you would expect. The music is the worst part of it all. The Star Bunny Chase theme sounds like the game is laughing at my misery.
Number 9: Stone Cyclone Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy 2).
Super Mario Galaxy 2 recycles levels from previous games for nostalgia purposes, but the worst one is Stone Cyclone Galaxy. Not only is it a single planet from Beach Bowl Galaxy converted into its own galaxy, but it's even cheaper than it was before. The level moves much faster, and while you can slow down time with the switches, there aren't enough of them. The Star Medal is even worse to get because you have to jump on a platform floating over a bottomless pit, and if you miss it, you die.
Number 8: Rainbow Dream (Mario Party 5).
Mario Party 5 is my least favorite home console Mario Party game due to its awful capsule system, over-reliance on button mashing and luck based minigames, and five of the boards range from decent at best (Pirate Dream) to forgettable at worst (Bowser's Nightmare). The remaining two boards, Future Dream and Rainbow Dream, are insufferable. Why? Because they're island hopping boards, and I heavily dislike island hopping boards because you can get stuck on one island for the entire game. Rainbow Dream is worse, since you have four islands as opposed to Future Dream's three islands. And the Stars spawn on different islands, and the only way to even get to another island is to land on a Happening Space, but even that comes down to chance.
Number 7: Tubular (Super Mario World).
Who can forget the horror that is Tubular from Super Mario World? I bet we all wish we could. This is a memorable level, but for all the wrong reasons. You have to constantly use P-Balloons to make your way to the end of the level, and if you get hit or let your balloon form expire, you're as good as dead. There are also several enemies that will try to send you falling to your doom, the worst ones being the Baseball Chucks. This level is why I dislike the P-Balloon in its original appearance.
Number 6: Wing Mario Over the Rainbow (Super Mario 64).
Just like the previous level, this one makes me dislike a certain power-up, the Wing Cap in this case. The Wing Cap is bad enough in that it is nearly impossible to control, and you can't fly higher. I can't believe they chose the Wing Cap for the cover of the game, but Wing Mario Over the Rainbow makes me hate it even more. At least with Tubular, it ends within a short period of time if you know what you're doing, and at least you can jump back into the level. Going around this stage is a pain to do, and if you accidentally slide off, you can't fly back up and fall into the bottomless pit below. If that happens, you fall all the way outside Peach's castle, forcing you to climb all the way back up the castle just to get another shot. At least Tick Tock Clock isn't this punishing. I would rather have the Red Star. It may not be used as much, but at least it controls better than the Wing Cap.
Number 5: World 7-4 (Super Mario Bros. 3).
I dislike both water levels and autoscrolling levels. The aforementioned types of levels are bad enough on their own, the former for slowing down movement and the latter for forcing you to go in one direction and giving you little time to strategize. World 7-4 from Super Mario Bros. 3 combines both into one level. There isn't much room to move around, and enemies are everywhere, making it likely to take damage. Halfway through are Jelectros, and you have to press the A button at the correct timing to avoid them. And to make matters worse, this is a required level to beat the game, as World 7-5 leads to a dead end, which is sad.
Number 4: World C-3 (Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels).
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels wasn't released outside of Japan due to its insane difficulty, and World C-3 is a good example of why. It's a carbon copy of 7-3, but it's even harder due to larger bottomless pits and springs that launch you several meters into the air. You need very good accuracy and the patience of a saint to get through this level.
Number 3: Kamek's Revenge (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island).
I haven't talked about Kamek's Revenge, but I'm about to do it right now. Throughout the entire level, you are ambushed by Kamek. You have to do everything while avoiding him, as he can easily kill you. But he isn't the only problem here; this game also has Fly Guys. You have to take them out quickly and make sure their Red Coins don't fall off the stage, because if you leave the screen and return, they don't come back. The Baseball Boys will throw eggs at you to knock you around, which again, can lead to an easy death. After this is the skiing portion, and yes, as I've mentioned before, Kamek follows you for the entire level. You have to worry about him and getting every collectible without missing any. But the first two parts of this level are tame compared to the helicopter portion. You have to fly around getting Red Coins and Flowers all while avoiding the Baseball Boys and Kamek, and if you run out of time, you have to redo the skiing portion of this level.
Number 2: King Boo's Haunted Hideaway (Mario Party 8).
This board is a travesty and is my pick for the worst board in the entire Mario Party series. The board layout is completely random, meaning your map doesn't help you until you've been in certain rooms, and this is very frustrating because you have to guess which path leads to King Boo. Most of the time, you will end up encountering pitfalls, which take you to the start without any Stars. This is especially bad when playing against CPUs, because they know where the Star is every time, giving them an unfair advantage. These CPUs are Sonic Shuffle levels of annoying on this board, and I would rather take an island hopping board and/or a star stealing board over this any day.
Number 1: Lily Pad Ride (Super Mario Sunshine).
For the number 1 spot, I have chosen the Lily Pad Ride. The level itself is already bad enough, being a hunt for Red Coins that requires you to use a lily pad over instant death kill water. If you stand on the lily pad for too long, it will disintegrate. Also, if you miss any Red Coins, you either 1: have to walk on a rail to go back to the start to find another lily pad, or 2: die by jumping in the water or falling off the stage. This is basically a pick your poison type of level. This level pulls one of the most evil moves on you in Nintendo history; there is a pipe at the end of the level, but it just returns you to Delfino Plaza. The worst part is the method of actually getting to this level. At least the Pachinko Game is easy to access, as it requires you to ride a boat under a bridge. For this level, you have to get a Yoshi, take him to the island near Pinna Park, wait for a boat to go to a scaffolding in the middle of the sea, jump on said scaffolding to get a Banana Bunch for Yoshi to replenish his juice meter, carefully jump on the boat that takes you to the island with the pipe so Yoshi doesn't fall in the water to evaporate, and spray the Orange Juice Generator to then jump in the pipe. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have Yoshi run on a juice meter and evaporate in water should be sentenced to 20 years in prison, because this is unethical.
Number 10: Snowcap Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy).
Super Mario Galaxy has a ton of galaxies that add to the experience, but Snowcap Galaxy is an exception. Catching the Star Bunnies is already annoying, but add a time limit and cover the planet in snow, and it's much worse. You can use a Fire Flower, but it doesn't help you as much as you would expect. The music is the worst part of it all. The Star Bunny Chase theme sounds like the game is laughing at my misery.
Number 9: Stone Cyclone Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy 2).
Super Mario Galaxy 2 recycles levels from previous games for nostalgia purposes, but the worst one is Stone Cyclone Galaxy. Not only is it a single planet from Beach Bowl Galaxy converted into its own galaxy, but it's even cheaper than it was before. The level moves much faster, and while you can slow down time with the switches, there aren't enough of them. The Star Medal is even worse to get because you have to jump on a platform floating over a bottomless pit, and if you miss it, you die.
Number 8: Rainbow Dream (Mario Party 5).
Mario Party 5 is my least favorite home console Mario Party game due to its awful capsule system, over-reliance on button mashing and luck based minigames, and five of the boards range from decent at best (Pirate Dream) to forgettable at worst (Bowser's Nightmare). The remaining two boards, Future Dream and Rainbow Dream, are insufferable. Why? Because they're island hopping boards, and I heavily dislike island hopping boards because you can get stuck on one island for the entire game. Rainbow Dream is worse, since you have four islands as opposed to Future Dream's three islands. And the Stars spawn on different islands, and the only way to even get to another island is to land on a Happening Space, but even that comes down to chance.
Number 7: Tubular (Super Mario World).
Who can forget the horror that is Tubular from Super Mario World? I bet we all wish we could. This is a memorable level, but for all the wrong reasons. You have to constantly use P-Balloons to make your way to the end of the level, and if you get hit or let your balloon form expire, you're as good as dead. There are also several enemies that will try to send you falling to your doom, the worst ones being the Baseball Chucks. This level is why I dislike the P-Balloon in its original appearance.
Number 6: Wing Mario Over the Rainbow (Super Mario 64).
Just like the previous level, this one makes me dislike a certain power-up, the Wing Cap in this case. The Wing Cap is bad enough in that it is nearly impossible to control, and you can't fly higher. I can't believe they chose the Wing Cap for the cover of the game, but Wing Mario Over the Rainbow makes me hate it even more. At least with Tubular, it ends within a short period of time if you know what you're doing, and at least you can jump back into the level. Going around this stage is a pain to do, and if you accidentally slide off, you can't fly back up and fall into the bottomless pit below. If that happens, you fall all the way outside Peach's castle, forcing you to climb all the way back up the castle just to get another shot. At least Tick Tock Clock isn't this punishing. I would rather have the Red Star. It may not be used as much, but at least it controls better than the Wing Cap.
Number 5: World 7-4 (Super Mario Bros. 3).
I dislike both water levels and autoscrolling levels. The aforementioned types of levels are bad enough on their own, the former for slowing down movement and the latter for forcing you to go in one direction and giving you little time to strategize. World 7-4 from Super Mario Bros. 3 combines both into one level. There isn't much room to move around, and enemies are everywhere, making it likely to take damage. Halfway through are Jelectros, and you have to press the A button at the correct timing to avoid them. And to make matters worse, this is a required level to beat the game, as World 7-5 leads to a dead end, which is sad.
Number 4: World C-3 (Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels).
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels wasn't released outside of Japan due to its insane difficulty, and World C-3 is a good example of why. It's a carbon copy of 7-3, but it's even harder due to larger bottomless pits and springs that launch you several meters into the air. You need very good accuracy and the patience of a saint to get through this level.
Number 3: Kamek's Revenge (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island).
I haven't talked about Kamek's Revenge, but I'm about to do it right now. Throughout the entire level, you are ambushed by Kamek. You have to do everything while avoiding him, as he can easily kill you. But he isn't the only problem here; this game also has Fly Guys. You have to take them out quickly and make sure their Red Coins don't fall off the stage, because if you leave the screen and return, they don't come back. The Baseball Boys will throw eggs at you to knock you around, which again, can lead to an easy death. After this is the skiing portion, and yes, as I've mentioned before, Kamek follows you for the entire level. You have to worry about him and getting every collectible without missing any. But the first two parts of this level are tame compared to the helicopter portion. You have to fly around getting Red Coins and Flowers all while avoiding the Baseball Boys and Kamek, and if you run out of time, you have to redo the skiing portion of this level.
Number 2: King Boo's Haunted Hideaway (Mario Party 8).
This board is a travesty and is my pick for the worst board in the entire Mario Party series. The board layout is completely random, meaning your map doesn't help you until you've been in certain rooms, and this is very frustrating because you have to guess which path leads to King Boo. Most of the time, you will end up encountering pitfalls, which take you to the start without any Stars. This is especially bad when playing against CPUs, because they know where the Star is every time, giving them an unfair advantage. These CPUs are Sonic Shuffle levels of annoying on this board, and I would rather take an island hopping board and/or a star stealing board over this any day.
Number 1: Lily Pad Ride (Super Mario Sunshine).
For the number 1 spot, I have chosen the Lily Pad Ride. The level itself is already bad enough, being a hunt for Red Coins that requires you to use a lily pad over instant death kill water. If you stand on the lily pad for too long, it will disintegrate. Also, if you miss any Red Coins, you either 1: have to walk on a rail to go back to the start to find another lily pad, or 2: die by jumping in the water or falling off the stage. This is basically a pick your poison type of level. This level pulls one of the most evil moves on you in Nintendo history; there is a pipe at the end of the level, but it just returns you to Delfino Plaza. The worst part is the method of actually getting to this level. At least the Pachinko Game is easy to access, as it requires you to ride a boat under a bridge. For this level, you have to get a Yoshi, take him to the island near Pinna Park, wait for a boat to go to a scaffolding in the middle of the sea, jump on said scaffolding to get a Banana Bunch for Yoshi to replenish his juice meter, carefully jump on the boat that takes you to the island with the pipe so Yoshi doesn't fall in the water to evaporate, and spray the Orange Juice Generator to then jump in the pipe. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have Yoshi run on a juice meter and evaporate in water should be sentenced to 20 years in prison, because this is unethical.
