To take a look at a past installment of Toughest Tasks in Gaming History, look no further than these links:
Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Now, let's move on to the newest taxing tasks added to this ever-expanding list!
Beating Oxide's Ghosts in Time Trial - Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4, XB1, NSW)
We begin this look at tough gaming tasks with a recent release--Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. This is a remarkably challenging game all on its own. Heck, I could easily pick completing Hard Adventure Mode as one of the toughest gaming tasks alone, but I feel that excelling in the Time Trial mode by beating each and every one of Nitrous Oxide's times is the most difficult feat within CTR's wonderful remake.
It's a bit of a grind to unlock N. Tropy's time trial ghost, and then beating that just to unlock a chance to beat Oxide's own ghost. You have to go through this process in each and every track--all 31 of them. Regardless, Oxide's ghosts themselves use every trick in the book--power sliding and drift boosting at every opportunity, keeping a boost throughout entire laps, nailing shortcuts in each and every track with almost effortless ability, and generally making you feel like you have no business being on the same track as these ghosts. "Ghost" is a perfect term for these fast time trial pests, as they will haunt you as you try to overcome and outrace them, constantly coming within split seconds of doing so but failing. It will take a true CTR expert to accomplish this task, and a lot of practice as well. Good luck, racers.
Obtaining All of the Mii Maker Outfits - Super Mario Maker 2 (NSW)
We continue with another recent release with Super Mario Maker 2, which contains a pretty stiff challenge for completionists: Obtaining each and every one of the outfits that your maker Mii can wear. These range from full-body gear like the Propeller Suit to clothing like shirts, shorts, dresses, and more.
The more time-consuming costume pieces will require you to grind through levels, playing as many as you possibly can to reach the 10,000 level threshold for but one of the outfit unlocks. Then, there's playing through the currently lackluster online multiplayer, where you must get to a certain rank to earn outfits--one of which requires you to win 10 consecutive matches, while another requires you reach the highest rank in general. Finally, there's the luck of the draw of hoping one of your created levels gets popular and viral enough to get enough plays and get enough likes to put you on the leaderboard. Only the most popular creators will ever reach the very top where an exclusive outfit is available.
It seems obvious Super Mario Maker 2 isn't exactly meant to be 100% completed when it comes to outfits, as these tasks have shown, but that isn't stopping intrepid players and makers alike to try. Nevertheless, I would sincerely applaud anybody who is able to successfully unlock every possible Mii Maker outfit within the game.
Clearing Spelunker Mode - 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
We go from a Mario game to a Zelda game. Well, not an official Zelda game, but one clearly inspired by the classics in the franchise. 3D Dot Game Heroes lives up to FROM Software's penchant for truly tricky and challenging games. While the main adventure is no real cakewalk, the unlockable Spelunker difficulty cranks up the difficulty dial past "11".
In Spelunker Mode, you have 1 HP. Any damage you take will result in a "Game Over". With traps and enemies that can you take you out easily--especially in dungeons--and said dungeons having it so dying returns you to its very beginning, playing carefully and cautiously is paramount to success in this mode. While there is a means to cheese Spelunker Mode's difficulty by running into walls to allow yourself five seconds of invincibility frames, it's still quite the challenge that requires patience, perseverance, and plenty of luck to complete.
Earning the Big Boss Emblem - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS4)
Obtaining the Big Boss Emblem is the single-most challenging objective to accomplish in any Metal Gear game. Heck, it's just a challenging objective in gaming in general! To acquire this emblem, you must do a checklist of arduous, hair-pulling tasks.
For one, you must beat the game on the hardest difficulty. Okay, that might be enough to separate the Solid Snakes from the Johnnys of the series any day, but there's more! You have to do so without dying even once, without sounding an alert from the guards, without killing a guard or any other character, and without recovering health via items. So, not only is this pacifist run with the proverbial deck stacked against you daunting enough, but this must all be accomplished in five hours or less. Is Solid Snake Tom Cruise all of a solid because this mission sounds impossible!
Beating the Game on the "Mein leben" Difficulty - Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)
Now, it's time for another task featuring a hard gaming difficulty! Take the already immensely challenging "I am death incarnate!" difficulty where death comes quickly--a couple shots and it's game over, and one mistake means a certain and swift death--and make it so if you die, you have to start from the beginning of the game all over again. Oh, and you can't save at all either. That's what Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus' "Mein leben" difficulty delivers to the most masochistic of its players.
In a mode where one good shot can take you out, this seems like a--forgive the play-on words--"colossal" challenge to overcome. Preparing for such a herculean task means playing through the already arduous "I am death incarnate!" difficulty, practicing runs at a near-obsessive pace, and then hoping for the best when you finally tackle your "Mein leben" run. Permanent death is bad enough, but the aforementioned lack of saving makes things even more taxing and seemingly impossible. It's a gaming challenge that will make you hate Nazis even more than you already do/should.
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