# Best "Levels" in a Video Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 26, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648 "2008-10-26T17:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/1 "2008-10-26T17:10:03Z")
In older video games, levels were pretty clearly defined. Super Mario divided everything up into worlds, while Donkey Kong had different screens. I got to thinking of what the best levels are, but I’m willing to define level as a “section” of a game. This opens things up to just about any video game. As long as you describe a clear section of a game, it can be considered a level. I’ll start: **Psychonauts: The Milkman Conspiracy** - This whole level takes place in the mind of a disturbed milkman. You travel his mind, which looks like a crazy suburb filled with G-men(yes, G-men). All the G-men play roles in the community, varying from Powerline Workers to Housewives. My favorite are the sewage workers. You have to gather the correct tools to pretend to be each kind of role. It’s weird, fun, and brilliant. What levels or sections of video games do you think are the best? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/2 "2008-10-26T18:00:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Psychonauts: The Milkman Conspiracy** - This whole level takes place in the mind of a disturbed milkman. You travel his mind, which looks like a crazy suburb filled with G-men(yes, G-men). All the G-men play roles in the community, varying from Powerline Workers to Housewives. My favorite are the sewage workers. You have to gather the correct tools to pretend to be each kind of role. It’s weird, fun, and brilliant. That’s exactly what I thought of as soon as I saw the thread title, but really, anything in Psychonauts is head and shoulders above almost everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/3 "2008-10-26T18:12:01Z")
Yeah, I was going to say the Milkman stuff in Psychonauts. When the squirrel takes your picture, god how I laughed. And the housewife! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/4 "2008-10-26T18:46:57Z")
I’m always a fan of high-stakes last levels. The final Bruma gate in Oblivion. The ruined Citadel in Mass Effect. Going back a bit; the flying fortress level from Sonic 2 was ace n’all. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/5 "2008-10-26T19:02:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Psychonauts: The Milkman Conspiracy** - This whole level takes place in the mind of a disturbed milkman. You travel his mind, which looks like a crazy suburb filled with G-men(yes, G-men). All the G-men play roles in the community, varying from Powerline Workers to Housewives. My favorite are the sewage workers. You have to gather the correct tools to pretend to be each kind of role. It’s weird, fun, and brilliant. That’s a great game, and a great level. I love how the whole level messes with gravity. I can’t think of a better level in that game. In Half Life 2, the level where your gravity gun is upgraded… superb. If only it had been upgraded earlier, while you are still outside the citadel. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/6 "2008-10-26T23:35:19Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > In Half Life 2, the level where your gravity gun is upgraded… superb. I found that to be anti-climactic myself. It was so easy and the level design so boring there that it felt like an afterthought. Thinking of the “best” on this one is tough. There’s a lot of ones that are interesting in context of the game as a whole but don’t really stand alone (Cydonia in X-Com for example, where you’re finally taking the fight to the invaders). So I’ll arbitrarily pick Emerald Hills 1 from _Sonic 2_. The early Sonic games had superb level design with multiple paths and challenges. I think the level design in the second game is an improvement over the first (_Sonic 3_ I think gets a little too busy to be the “best” and _Sonic CD_ has some amazing levels but the layout is crazy). Some sections of the game become more linear than others which is why I chose Emerald Hills 1, it has a nice balance of sections to race through. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/7 "2008-10-27T00:04:04Z")
The Omaha Beach level in Medal of Honor was pretty amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/8 "2008-10-27T01:18:58Z")
I’ve always been a big fan of the Rainbow Road courses in the **Super Mario Kart** games, especially the very first one. Great challenge, and great music. Took me a long time to be able to finish without getting knocked off the stage once, let alone winning. ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Goodfellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Robin\_Goodfellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robin_Goodfellow)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/9 "2008-10-27T01:31:27Z")
Pretty much every level from **Psychonauts** is head-and-shoulders above most games made since. I especially liked Napoleon’s strategy-board-game-platformer. The snow-slide level in **Super Mario 64** is one of the few things I’ve sought out not because I needed any achievement or reward, but just because it’s fun. Then, the final level of **Rez** will always hold a special place in my heart for how it takes visuals and music that were already genre-breaking to a whole new level. Finally, the case vs. von Karma in the first **Phoenix Wright** is one of the most intense gaming experiences I’ve had. Very well-written game, that one. ---
**Author:** ![in\_hiding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c5a1d2/32.png) [@in\_hiding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/in_hiding)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/10 "2008-10-27T01:45:47Z")
I loved Fort Frolic, Sander Cohen’s level in Bioshock. All that dead splicers in under white plaster, his strange voice in the Radio - that was beautiful. The end, when you finally get to use the bathysphere, is great. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/11 "2008-10-27T02:00:36Z")
Shalebridge Cradle from Thief: Deadly Shadows is probably the scariest experience i ever had in a computer game. I recommend the game for that level alone. PC gamer did an in depth article about the level that you can read [here](http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/?page_id=618). ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/12 "2008-10-27T02:11:37Z")
Fort Frolic is a great example. Ravenholm in Half Life 2. AvP2, there’s one stage where you’re fleeing a whole shitload of aliens and you have to run down this long, open passage outside while turning around periodically to shoot the much faster aliens. Final stage of Portal. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/13 "2008-10-27T02:17:25Z")
Colossus #13, Shadow of the Colossus ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/14 "2008-10-27T02:58:14Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > In Half Life 2, the level where your gravity gun is upgraded… superb. > > If only it had been upgraded earlier, while you are still outside the citadel. It’s a bit easy, but picking up enemies and tossing them at other enemies is incredibly good fun. > [@Windwalker](#): > > I’ve always been a big fan of the Rainbow Road courses in the **Super Mario Kart** games, especially the very first one. Great challenge, and great music. Took me a long time to be able to finish without getting knocked off the stage once, let alone winning. Yes! Rainbow Road is awesome. > [@Robin\_Goodfellow](#): > > The snow-slide level in **Super Mario 64** is one of the few things I’ve sought out not because I needed any achievement or reward, but just because it’s fun. …for the first thirty seconds, and then a total bitch because you have to get back up again. > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Ravenholm in Half Life 2. I generally don’t like “scary” games, because I tend to get wayyy to into them and leap off my chair and things like that. It would be okay, but I have a glass desk. But yeah, Ravenholm is phenomenal… especially the part where you’re sort of locked at the bottom of an elevator shaft with the chick and the lights stop working, and you have to kill zombies using just a flashlight. I may be conflating part of _Episode 1_ with the main game there though. Big Blue in the original _F-Zero_ and [Level 3](http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/Chris+Huelsbeck/track/Apidya+Level+3) of _Apidya_ (warning: link contains music) are awesome just for the music, although Big Blue was my favorite track layout anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/15 "2008-10-27T03:11:58Z")
World in Conflict is full of great levels. In the single player game, there’s a small town at night that has a bunch of houses with Christmas lights on the houses and in the yards. It’s really pretty until it gets nuked. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/16 "2008-10-27T04:07:40Z")
I really enjoyed the final car (Warthog) race down the interior of a spaceship at the end of Halo. Far Cry has a speedboat chase down a twisting river - you’re going like a bat out of hell, trying to steer a powerboat while manning the machinegun and grenade launcher to fend off other boat crews, bad guys on the shore and IIRC, at least one helicopter. The only way I found to do it required keeping the boat at full speed the entire time. I was hooting and hollering the whole way. Neither of those are groundbreaking, just a ton of fun. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/17 "2008-10-27T04:31:50Z")
In Return to Castle Wolfenstein I played the stealth level repeatedly. In Ultimate Doom, Episode 4 gets addictive if you like short, puzzle-like levels. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/18 "2008-10-27T04:37:26Z")
The Dream Den in Pikmin 2. Getting the Libra/Computer in Pikmin. Planet Sarathos, in Ratchet: Deadlocked The overworld hub in Zelda: The Wind Waker The Healing Garden in Advance Wars: Dual Strike The Hoverbikes level in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi for SNES. Boss Rush from SSBB. Level 17 from Tetris DS. The Donut World Ghost House from Super Mario World. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/19 "2008-10-27T04:43:23Z")
[Shalebridge Cradle](http://gillen.cream.org/thecradle.pdf), from Thief: Deadly Shadows. Holy God, no videogame has ever frightened me so badly as this one level. It’s absolutely brilliantly designed. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648/20 "2008-10-27T04:53:03Z")
The Giant World in _Mario World 3_ always holds a special place in my heart. I barely played worlds 2 and 3, since I’d just get the whistle and go to 4. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-levels-in-a-video-game/469648.md?page=2)