Toughest Tasks in Gaming History - Volume Eight

These five new gaming tasks are quite the tough cookies! I'm talking as tough as trying to get a pre-order in for the PlayStation 5, or to be even more topical, as tough as it was to wait for the U.S. presidential election to be called! These five gaming tasks demand patience, persistence, and a high degree of skill to complete, so if you wish to take these on (or already have), then you are a brave, brave soul! This time around on this eighth edition of Toughest Tasks in Gaming History, we have another helping of variety--from platformers like Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and Hollow Knight, to extreme sports games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. So, strap in and get ready for a steep challenge!

Check out the previous seven volumes of Toughest Tasks in Gaming History with the following links:

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six

Volume Seven

Earning All Platinum Relics - Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4, XB1)

Crash Bandicoot and his games have been no stranger to Toughest Tasks in Gaming History. If you thought earning Gold Relics in the Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy's three games was no walk in the park (and to be honest, you really shouldn't be walking to clear time trials), then you ain't seen nothing yet with the latest game in the series, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Crash Bandicoot 4 takes an already somewhat difficult platforming series and turns up the dial to 11 to create one incredibly hard game, even just to beat normally. It's already tough to clear the absurdly lengthy levels in Crash Bandicoot 4 without dying already, but try doing it while racing against the clock with insanely (or is that "N. Sanely?) tough times to beat in order to earn Platinum Relics. Yes, you read that right. No longer is it okay to just earn a Gold Relic for an achievement like past Crash Bandicoot games--you have to earn a Platinum Relic on each and every hair-pulling, hard-as-nails level in It's About Time. Again, Crash Bandicoot 4 is already no cakewalk (again, you really shouldn't be walking to clear time trials), so having to clear levels in one life, without dying, and rush, rush, rush to the end will separate the casual Crash fans with the Crash fanatics (dare I say, masochists?). 

Getting All "Get Theres" - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS4, XB1, PC)

We move from one Activision-published game to another with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, yet another excellent return to form for a game series that was in hibernation for a while. Getting certain gaps in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 can be a challenge all to itself, but with the game's "Get There" challenges, the intensity of difficulty ramps up considerably.

"Get There" challenges require the player to perform consecutive gaps successively without bailing or running out their combo. While the Easy and Normal difficulty "Get There" challenges are simple enough, the Hard level "Get Theres" offer definitely daunting tasks. Many require minute-long combos to reach each and every gap necessary in a level to achieve them. Unlike the Easy and Normal "Get Theres", you can't just cheese your way through them with cheats like perfect manual or perfect grind abilities. These consecutive gap "Get There" challenges demand finely-honed precision, great execution, and above all else, immense patience to achieve. Just don't attempt to break your controller over your knee as if it were your skater's board due to the challenge and possible resulting rage.

Earning All Medals - Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (NSW)

With a new Hyrule Warriors on the horizon this month with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity soon releasing on the Nintendo Switch, it seems like a great time to bring up a challenging task within the original Hyrule Warriors. (Well, at least the re-release with all of the DLC included as part of the Nintendo Switch port.)

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is absolutely packed to the brim with content, offering so much to do and so much to play that it can be overwhelming. And believe me, perhaps "overwhelming" is an understatement. That's why the goal of getting all of the medals, or achievements, within the game is such a taxing task and no easy accomplishment.

Many of the medals are simple enough to earn, such as clearing Legend Mode, running a certain distance across all maps, and defeating a specific amount of enemies, but then you get to Adventure Mode. This mode includes over eight unique maps, each with their own multitude of stages that not only need to be beaten, but also cleared with an "A" rank for certain medals. In order to achieve an "A" rank, one must usually clear a stage within a certain time limit, defeat a number foes, and not take much damage to boot. 

Further, there's the immensely time-consuming task of playing around with the "My Fairy" feature of Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, which has you feeding found faeries food in order for them to level up and learn new Fairy Skills. In order to get the medal for this part of the game, you have to learn every Fairy Skill, which requires an exorbitant amount of time and food. So, not only is earning every medal within Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition a tough task due to the difficulty of getting "A" ranks in Adventure Mode, but it's also an extraordinarily time-consuming one, too. I'm talking hundreds of hours "time-consuming".

Clearing Steel Soul Mode at 100% - Hollow Knight (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)

Our final two tough gaming tasks follow the same principle--they're just from different games but of the same genre. They're both 2D platformers of the Metroidvania persuasion, and they're also both beautiful lookers, too. 

The first is Hollow Knight, a game that this month is "free" for PlayStation Plus subscribers, interestingly and conveniently enough. Hollow Knight is already a challenging game with a wide open world that encourages exploration and doesn't rely on many roadblocks to keep players from uncovering its mysterious world. Beating the game is a tough task all to itself, in some regards, but doing so in Steel Soul Mode is even tougher! Pushing even further, clearing Steel Soul Mode with 100% completion is the toughest task one could ask for within Hollow Knight.

Steel Soul Mode is essentially Hollow Knight's permadeath mode. Our buggy hero only gets one life to live in the game, and once he perishes in battle or through an environment hazard, poof! The player's save file is over and they must start the game fresh all over again. Simply surviving the harsh underground labyrinths of Hollow Knight is a challenge all to itself, but surviving while achieving 100% completion--finding every collectible there is to find and battling every boss with one life--makes it so only the bold (or very, very foolish) need apply. You'll need to have boss and enemy patterns down pat, know the world and its secrets well, and hightail it and retreat when necessary. Good luck.

Becoming "Immortal" - Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (XB1, NSW. PC)

Similar to Hollow Knight's Steel Soul Mode, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition's "Immortal" achievement, requires players to go through and beat the game with one life. Again, if the little spirit Ori perishes for any reason, it's game over for good.

While Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is hardly the hardest Metroidvania out there, what makes this particular challenge so... well, challenging is that there are multiple spots and segments within the game where death can come quickly and immediately in some cases. I'm mostly referring to the chase sequences in the game, where Ori must hightail it through danger-ridden, paths of death, which demand split-second reaction times and precise execution or else an "Immortal" run will swiftly become cut short. I already had issue with the chase sequences in my normal run of the game, due to their trial and error gameplay, but attempting these knowing I only have one chance at them? Nooooooooo thanks!

Best Levels in Gaming History - Volume Eight

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Welcome to volume eight of one of our favorite segments here at SuperPhillip Central, Best Levels in Gaming History. No, your eyes do not deceive you. We're retroactively changed the name of our segment from Great Levels in Gaming History to Best Levels in Gaming History. Oh, the nerve of us. Regardless, we continue our look at levels that we deem the greatest in design, most fun to play and most memorable of all. Today we have some of the most entertaining games of all time to share with you-- many of which were listed on SuperPhillip Central's Top 100 Games of All Time ten week event.

If you've missed a previous volume of Best Levels in Gaming History, check out the links below:

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six
Volume Seven

Phazon Mines - Metroid Prime (GCN)

Things get much hairier for Samus Aran when she enters the Phazon Mines, the center of all Space Pirate activity on the wondrous planet of Tallon IV. With the heavy pollution, massive amounts of machinery, and radioactive Phazon that will damage Samus upon contact unless she is wearing the ultimate suit in the game, the conveniently called Phazon Suit.

The Space Pirates are certainly up to no good in the Phazon Mines, mining Phazon, pollution the sky into a pink haze, and keeping multiple Metroids locked up (but not for long) under quarantine.

Phazon Mines is so awesome because you feel like the Space Pirates are putting everything they have in stopping Samus from venturing into the depths of the mines. There's automatic turrets, cloaked drones, different elemental varieties of Space Pirates, Elite Pirates, and the most menacing creature of them all, the Omega Pirate, delivering one heck of a boss battle for players. Then there's how vertical the area is, offering plenty of fantastic first-person platforming action and adventuring. The Phazon Mines are indeed a very cool sight in a game that is full of magnificent areas.

Click Clock Wood - Banjo-Kazooie (N64, XBLA)

The final world of the Nintendo 64's greatest 3D platformer (in SuperPhillip Central's opinion at least), Banjo-Kazooie, is one that requires players to visit each of its seasons. It is none other than Click Clock Wood. You start off in a wooded area with four doors, only one which is accessible to Banjo and Kazooie, Spring. Through finding the switch to open the next door containing the next season, you can venture from Spring to Summer, and then Fall and Winter.

The fun of Click Clock Wood is how doing something in Spring will affect the next season, and so on. One Jiggy objective requires you to perform actions across all four seasons to obtain it. There's a squirrel to gather its acorns in the fall so he can hibernate for the winter, a beaver whose home is blocked by a giant rock that Banjo can destroy during the summer (when the moat surrounding the central tree structure is barren), and the ability to freely fly around the spring version of Click Clock Wood thanks to Mumbo Jumbo's bee transformation. Click Clock Wood is a terrific way to cap off Banjo-Kazooie, and it's a highly creative world, too.

Cronos - God of War III (PS3)

What's great about this level is that it works as a level AND a boss fight. We're choosing the former to represent Cronos from God of War III. After Kratos got Pandora's Box, Zeus banished the titan Cronos to the Pits of Tartarus, and this earth-based colossus is pretty pissed about it.

The sheer size of Cronos makes the bosses in Shadow of the Colossus even envious of him! Kratos is but a bug to him, as seen in the screenshot above, nestled between the titan's two fingers. Kratos, however, gets the upper hand... and arrives on Cronos' upper hand, where he does battle with summoned enemy fodder. He battles these foes while dodging the humongous hand and fingers of the boss.

This level, this boss encounter, is one that is truly unforgettable, as it has Kratos scaling up the behemoth body of Cronos, as if he were climbing a wall, slamming his chained blades into the titan's flesh, swinging around, dodging Cronos' advances. Perhaps Cronos' undoing is when he swallows Kratos. Unfortunately for him, Kratos uses his blade to carve a path out of the titan's chest. After impaling Cronos with his own crest, Kratos leaps up to the titan's forehead, slams his sword straight into his skull and wins another battle. Absolute coolness... and icky, too.

Tower of Babel - Final Fantasy IV (Multi)

One of the most memorable dungeons for us in the earlier Final Fantasy titles is Final Fantasy IV's Tower of Babel (or as it is called in the Game Boy Advance version, Babel Tower). It's a hulking structure that stretches from the inside the earth all the way up higher than airships can fly. The tower features multiple hidden pathways and rooms that lead to some terrific treasure. Unfortunately, a lot of these treasures hide monsters inside, and deadly ones at that. Regardless, when the encounters are as challenging and as fun as the ones in this towering dungeon, we really can't complain. It's a dungeon so nice that Cecil and his party just so happened to visit it twice.

Katina - Star Fox 64 (N64, 3DS)

Unlike the other levels previously mentioned in Best Levels in Gaming History, Katina from the brilliant Star Fox 64 does not have our heroes on rails. Instead, Katina is a 360 free-flight mission, and the immense number of enemies and friendlies that soar in the sky around the center base is a pure adrenaline rush.

Taking a page straight of Independence Day with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, an enemy mothership enters into the fray about a minute into the mission and hovers over the resistance base of Katina's forces. The goal is simple, destroy the four hatches on the underside of the mothership when they show themselves. Then the core will appear, requiring Fox and the team to destroy it before it can obliterate the base with a massive energy beam.

Whether you succeed and go to Solar or fail and go to Sector X (I usually succeed and opt to go to Sector X anyway, as I like that level more), Katina is a mission that is just spectacular, flying with your buds, engaging in intense dogfights with enemy ships, and "accidentally" shooting down friendlies. "Wait! That's one of ours!" You said it, Peppy. You said it.

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Which levels have you played in the past that you think should hold a spot on a future volume of Best Levels in Gaming History? Think about it for a little bit, and then return here with your thoughts.

SPC Quickies Volume Eight: It Only Does Everything

Besides play its back catalog, am I right? Nailed it. Regardless, tonight we're ending our look at my console collection with the PlayStation 3, a mighty system with some wonderful games both first and third party. Quickie reviews are always rated from 1-5, five being the best, one being the worst. Let's get to work!

007 Quantum of Solace - Bond is back, and this time Activision is in charge. Their first attempt combined both Daniel Craig movies, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, into one cohesive package. The gunplay was fast, fun, and forgettable, really, but I think Activision really nailed it when came to the controls. Online multiplayer had several enjoyable maps and there's seldom a wait to play. 4/5

3D Dot Game Heroes - This homage to Zelda does it well. You earn new weapons and items inside the game's many dungeons and you take on that dungeon's boss. The game is no slouch. The entire landscape and characters are made from dots. This unusual graphical style is a cool approach to the tired gray and ugly games on the system. Does it beat Zelda? No, but it's a good try all the same. 4/5

Batman: Arkham Asylum - The dark knight returns for this game that doesn't suck! A Batman game that doesn't suck? Get out of here! It's true and it plays similarly to a Metroid game in some aspects as you earn new gadgets to reach new places. The voice acting team from the animated series returns in epic fashion, and if that doesn't win you over, the fantastic gameplay will. 4/5


Darksiders - Get on your horse and start attacking. Darksiders plays like a brooding Zelda with items you get from dungeons that are used to defeat said dungeon's boss. It brings its own mythos to the table in a post-apocalyptic world. Haven't had many of those this generation. Regardless, if you're in for a Zelda-like experience hop on your trusty steed and banish those monsters to Hell. 4/5

Dead Space - Not since Resident Evil 4 has a game unnerved me as much as Dead Space. This goes especially true on Impossible mode where buying the right equipment can be the difference between death and survival. The evil necromorphs are hideous in their own right, but they're no sissies either. They'll happily run after you, sink their claws into your flesh, and rip you right apart. Dinner, anyone? 4/5

God of War Collection - Two games for budget price? I'm there. The God of War Collection features both God of War I and God of War II with some exclusive content thrown in for good measure. There's not much one can say about these two epic games, so I'll let the score do the talking. 5/5

God of War III - Enter once again Kratos' tragic past and present in God of War III, one of the most visually impressive games of our time. Though graphics can only get one so far as we've seen most of the tricks the God of War series has in its arsenal. There's really little new to this ultimate chapter of the series. Still, it's darned cool to whip the undead into shape Kratos-style. 4/5

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds - What do you get when you take all the content-rich features from Hot Shots Golf Fore and translate it to the PS3? You get significantly less content, less features, and more importantly, less fun. The game still is enjoyable, but the lack of courses, characters, and challenges hurts this golfing extravaganza. 3/5

inFAMOUS - Play as Cole as you choose between hero or villain in this sandbox title. Hurt people and your street cred will be negative. Help people and your cred will make you popular among the townspeople. There's truly elements of Sucker Punch's last game, Sly Cooper, in the gameplay here from leaping atop poles and wires to effortlessly leaping to another platform. Just put the mute button on the annoying fat dude. 4/5

LittleBigPlanet - Create, play, and share is the mantra of the LittleBigPlanet series, and it's all wonderful. You can create epic levels with all the tricks and treats you can think of, play your level with others, or share it the masses online. That's not to mention the awesome single-player mode where you can gain your ideas from. A content-rich game anyone can enjoy, LittleBigPlanet gets a big recommendation. 5/5


Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - I loved MGS3: Snake Eater, so I assumed I'd love the latest installment. Not a chance. It's as if Hideo Kojima did acid as he wrote the script of this piece of crap. It made sense to him then, so why wouldn't it make sense to us? The gameplay is fine and never better, actually. The stealth gameplay is fun. It's just the damned story that blows chunks. 3/5

ModNation Racers - Taking that mantra of LittleBigPlanet and using it on a racing game, ModNation Racers is a fast and fun kart racer that couldn't quite beat Mario Kart. Sure, you can create and customize your own tracks, but the racing part wasn't all quite there. Then you have the massive loading times, and you have a lot of frustration. Still, the game is really enjoyable, and creating your own tracks is an awesome experience. 4/5

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift - Motorstorm: Pacific Rift takes you on sixteen courses split up between four types of courses: air, fire, water, and land. Each course has been designed for maximum fun and carnage. Each track has specific routes laid out for specific vehicles. For instance, a big rig should take ramps that launch them into the air as a motorcycle shouldn't go through deep mud or water. A great racer that anyone can enjoy. 4/5

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - You'd think after eight or nine installments in less than a decade would give a franchise a bit of fatigue, but with Ratchet & Clank, you'd apparently be wrong. This time, time travel is the main story arc with certain characters fixated on ruling the world one era at a time. It's up to Ratchet and Clank to take Dr. Nefarious out once again! With great platforming and great action, A Crack in Time is a great entry in this great series. 4/5


Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - While A Crack in Time had a better platforming/shooting ration, Tools of Destruction is more about shooting than platforming. This isn't bad, mind you, but it does get a bit more repetitive. The signature humor of the series is there as is the entertaining gameplay, so what else could a person ask for? 4/5

Resident Evil 5 - Throwing away its survival-horror part of things and adding pure action, Resident Evil 5 is more about blowing away zombie-like characters than running in pure fear. At least Resident Evil 4 has some scary moments. Resident Evil 5 is really devoid of them. That doesn't make it a bad game. It's just a different one than what fans were expecting. Still, the gunplay's enjoyable and the surprises are many in this terrific title. 4/5

Resistance 2 - Play in one of three modes: the single-player campaign, cooperative mode, or multiplayer deathmatch style in Resistance 2. Most people are down on this sequel, but I found it quite a blast. The campaign was interesting enough, the cooperative missions were mad fun, and the multiplayer was balanced and quite good. This is coming from someone who nearly got his platinum. That's how much this game was a good time for me. 4/5

Saints Row 2 - The Saints are back, and this time they're pissed. The Row has turned into an ultra-rich part of the city, the gang's been split up, and your character had some reconstructive surgery. That's how bad that ship explosion was. The sandbox gameplay of Saints Row 2 beats out Grand Theft Auto IV easily to me. There's just more stuff to do and less "oscar-worthy" dialog. 4/5

Singstar - Singstar's my first singing game, so I went easy on it to be fair. The SingStore isn't updated nearly as much as it should be on the North American side of things, and the choice of music is mostly pop tunes instead of more interesting music like classic rock. Of course, that's just my preference. Can't fault the game for that. Singing solo or with a friend is a really cool experience, and going for high scores is its own challenge. 3/5

Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing - This was the game that to me beat out Mario Kart Wii. It's full of fair and fun racing with a host of SEGA characters represented such as Ulala, Aiai, Alex Kidd, and Beat, for starters. The courses are expertly designed with smart twists and turns and clever references to SEGA brands in the backgrounds. No matter the system, Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing is a fantastic racer worthy of your money. 4/5


Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection - Over thirty classic Genesis games on one Blu-ray disc is a mighty fine present indeed. There's some stinkers here and there such as Golden Axe, but for the most part, the collection is full of quality games. From Alex Kidd to Sonic the Hedgehog, there's a game here for everybody. 4/5

Super Street Fighter IV - I'm not too big on fighters. After playing Tatsunoko VS. Capcom on Wii, I was thinking fighting games weren't too hard to get into. Apparently I was wrong as learning moves, combos, and specials for each character is like studying for your midterm. It's a chore. I hate myself for wasting $40.00 new on this game. It's just not for me. 2/5

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Sure, enemies might be bullet sponges, and the game might be a little too linear for its own good, but Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a sensational experience from beginning to end. It plays like a Hollywood movie which many games nowadays seem to aspire to but often fail. Well, Uncharted is no failure, buddy. It's got that hardcore action and gunplay that many games strive for. 4/5

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Sure, enemies might still be bullet sponges, and the game might still be a little too linear for its own good, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves triumphs over the original with more delicious set pieces, fast and wild gunplay, and an always smart-mouthed hero in Drake. There's no better experience than Uncharted 2 on the PlayStation 3 when you a little action in your life. 5/5


White Knight Chronicles: International Edition - This by-the-numbers action-RPG mixes human combat with giant relic combat. The story may be at times corny, but it's an interesting tale from beginning to end. The battling is rather fresh as well with plenty of monsters to slay, baddies to beat, etc. Is it the most originally RPG out there? No, but it is one of the more intriguing ones on the PlayStation 3. 4/5

Phew! What a workout! This concludes my grading my current-gen console collection, so until next time-- adieu!

If you missed a previous Quickie segment or just want to reminisce of old times, check them out here:

[SPC Quickies]

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six
Volume Seven