History ThatOneLevel / SuperMarioSunshine

* Episode 8 - Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]] Worse yet, Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg (the reason why this is the only time Yoshi asks for a durian is because the durian and pepper are the fruits that make Yoshi purple, whose juice's platforms move horizontally. The fruit machine does not yield peppers). The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigmarole.]]

* Episode 8 - Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]] Worse yet, Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg (the reason why this is the only time Yoshi asks for a durian is because the durian and pepper are the fruits that make Yoshi purple, whose juice's platforms move horizontally. The fruit machine does not yield peppers). The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]

* Episode 8 - Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]] Worse yet, Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg (the reason why this is the only time Yoshi asks for a Durian is because the Durian and Pepper are the fruits that make Yoshi purple, whose juice's platforms move horizontally. The fruit machine does not yield Peppers). The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]

* Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water or hasn't ate a fruit in a while, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water [[SuperDrowningSkills kills Mario instantly,]] and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level; it's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]]One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process over again.'' It's telling that the preferred method of trying again is to simply ''die'' (provided one has prepared thoroughly by having a ''lot'' of lives ready).

* The final stage, Corona Mountain, starts with a tricky Hover Nozzle section to douse flaming platforms and properly time jumps on other platforms that occasionally are covered in spikes. While touching either the flames or the spikes isn't immediately fatal, it might as well be, since Mario will instantly take heavy amounts of damage and knockback until he's done for. Once that's done with, there's the infamous boat segment, which uses the same boat from Noki Bay, except with ''much'' higher stakes - if the boat crashes into an object and sinks, instead of falling into [[DamageOverTime regular poison water]] or even completely harmless water, Mario will instantly meet his demise in OneHitKill lava.[[note]]The trick to controlling the boat is this: if you're standing at the front and shoot left, it will turn right (and vice versa). If you're standing at the back and shoot left, it will turn left. If you're standing at the center of the boat and shoot left, it won't turn very much.[[/note]] Even once you reach the final platform underneath the clouds that lead up to Bowser, if you want every Blue Coin in this stage, you'll have to keep the boat intact and ''very'' carefully make it circle around its perimeter.

!! Bianco Hills

* Episode 5 - Secret of the Village Underside is an infamous LuckBasedMission as far as secret levels go. Just getting to it is bad enough, since you have to take Yoshi and perform a series of treacherous jumps just to get to the opening. After it starts, the level, instead of relying on your platforming abilities, relies on you talking to various Piantas who will throw you across the level. The problem being that if you talk to the Piantas from ''slightly'' the wrong place or angle, they'll hurl you into the abyss. Plus, some Piantas walk back and forth across the level, meaning you have to wait for them to ''slowly'' walk into position before you talk to them, and again, you need to watch your angle at the same time. This level has caused many a player to froth at the mouth at the mere memory of the phrase "I'm a chuckster!".

* Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water or hasn't ate a fruit in a while, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water [[SuperDrowningSkills kills Mario instantly,]] and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level; it's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]]One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process over again.''

* Episode 8 - Yoshi's Fruit Adventure, where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]] Worse yet, Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg. The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]

Thanks to SequelDifficultySpike, ''Super Mario Sunshine'' has enough of these to make getting OneHundredPercentCompletion the most infamous part of the game, turning an otherwise top-notch ''Mario'' experience into a complete nightmare. The ones most likely to turn you into a ShellShockedVeteran are as follows:

* The Pachinko Game. You are in, as the name implies, a gigantic pachinko board, where you need to maneuver Mario to collect eight Red Coins. The difficulty comes from one single thing: the "launcher" that propels Mario into the machine makes him go so fast, it's insanely hard to get him to land where you want to. He even goes too fast for you to use FLUDD to correct any mistakes unless you somehow touch one of the openings of the machine and don't get knocked down to your doom. Even if you collect all 8 coins, you still need to get back into the machine to actually get the Shine. What also doesn't help is that if you skip the launcher by wall kicking up and out, you get flung to the right anyway due to the way the game's physics work.

* Corona Mountain. The boat segment is one of the most difficult in the game. The trick to controlling the boat is this: if you're standing at the front and shoot left, it will turn right (and vice versa). If you're standing at the back and shoot left, it will turn left. If you're standing at the center of the boat and shoot left, it won't turn very much. Also, the lava in this area kills Mario instantly if he so much as touches it.
* "The Goopy Inferno". The level kicks off with the entire village being covered in flaming goop, with nothing to do about it because Shadow Mario steals FLUDD from you right beforehand, which normally only occurs in secret levels. In order to reach the mayor and complete the level, you need to find an opening to the underside of the village and hang on a path of scaffolding to come back up on another end. However, said scaffolding is teeming with enemies (that also chase after Mario if they see him), and if Mario takes a single hit, he'll immediately lose his grip and fall to his death. To make matters worse, sometimes there are areas where you need to cling onto and punch scaffolds to move them, but [[DamnYouMuscleMemory the controls for those actions depend on whether they're horizontal or vertical, so you might end up letting go and dying when the same button activated a scaffold seconds earlier]]. Even once you make it back to the village proper, you still have a precarious series of jumps over flaming goop (which more often than not will lock Mario into a helpless CycleOfHurting until he dies) before you can finally retrieve FLUDD and save the mayor.[[note]]There are various ways to {{Sequence Break|ing}} and completely skip the underside portion, but they can be quite risky and the chances that a first-time player will discover them on their own are quite low.[[/note]]
* To unlock the final area, you have to complete the seventh episode in each of the stages. The required seven episodes are fairly reasonable, for the most part. The eighth and final episode, however, is typically a fairly significant DifficultySpike.
** In "The Watermelon Festival" in Gelato Beach, you have to guide a gigantic watermelon down a cliff and along a beach past a horde of Cataquacks, who, if they get anywhere close, will knock the watermelon into the air, popping it. Besides, they are ''all red'' in this particular episode, also costing you health when knocked to the air. The controls for guiding said watermelon are hellishly awkward, ''and'' the melon itself is ridiculously fragile, causing you more often than not to make it go sideways or accidentally pop it while trying to push it. You can squirt the Cataquacks with FLUDD to stun them, but the area is so swarmed with them that for every one you can fend off, there are always two or three more coming at you from the other side. You can kill the Cataquacks beforehand with the Dune Buds or luring them into the ocean, though, making this a little easier, but this takes a long time.
** "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure", where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]] Worse yet, Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg. The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]
** "The Red Coin Fish", in Noki Bay, which requires you to catch 8 red coins swimming in the shape of a giant fish. The underwater controls are highly unmaneuverable, it's extremely difficult to tell where Mario is in relation to the coins, the coins are constantly moving, and just to add insult to injury, the coins comprising the fish's body will regularly scatter outward for several seconds, leaving you with nothing to do but wait while you slowly drown. The fact that there's only a limited number of refills for the air meter in the form of the coins outside of the Red Coin Fish further exacerbates the situation. At least the music's relaxing, but even that does little to help given Mario's rapidly-draining oxygen.
* The Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water or hasn't ate a fruit in a while, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water [[SuperDrowningSkills kills Mario instantly,]] and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level; it's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]] Bring a lot of extra lives, because this is ''hard''. One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process just to get back into the level.''
* ''Any'' of the FLUDD-less platforming levels, to the point where just hearing "Secret Course" is enough to make players start frothing at the mouth in rage. And you have to visit these places twice: The first time (without FLUDD) to just complete the course and get the Shine and the second time (with FLUDD) in order to complete a red coin challenge for a secret Shine. The red coin challenges are even nastier due to having to do things you wouldn't have done on the first go-around ''and'' they're a TimedMission to boot.
** "The Hotel Lobby's Secret" in Sirena Beach is a particularly frustrating one, featuring some jumps on flying enemies to cross gaps, narrow pathways of collapsing sand, and a ride on a rotating cog platform whose curved edges are so sensitive that they're very likely to make Mario slip off if the side is even slightly turned forward or back. After the cog, there's a pyramid of sand blocks you need to walk down to jump to the Shine platform, where an enemy is patrolling for fun. The saving grace of the level is that there's two easy 1-Ups, with one being right at the start.
** "Secret of the Village Underside" is an infamous LuckBasedMission as far as secret levels go. Just getting to it is bad enough, since you have to take Yoshi and perform a series of treacherous jumps just to get to the opening. After it starts, the level, instead of relying on your platforming abilities, relies on you talking to various Piantas who will throw you across the level. The problem being that if you talk to the Piantas from ''slightly'' the wrong place, they'll hurl you into the abyss. Plus, some Piantas walk back and forth across the level, meaning you have to wait for them to ''slowly'' walk into position before you talk to them, and again, you need to watch your angle at the same time. This level has caused many a player to froth at the mouth at the mere memory of the phrase "I'm a chuckster!". But the level ''is'' slightly offset by the fact that there's a 1-Up right at the start of the level that you have to be thrown into by a Pianta, and even if you miss, you're unlikely to fall off the level. So you don't have to worry too much about your lives, just your blood pressure.

* "The Sand Bird Is Born", a notoriously difficult level even by the game's standards. You not only have to collect 8 red coins, but you must do so on a moving bird made out of sand with flapping wings which, combined with the game's wonky physics, is very easy to fall off of. And when it turns sideways, good luck getting to a safe location in time. To make matters worse, if you think it's too difficult, it's actually one of the easiest of the infamously difficult sub-levels.
* "The Shell's Secret". Most of the secret courses are big jumps in difficulty, but the one in Noki Bay really takes the cake. It's the longest secret course by miles, and involves a lot of triple jumps, backflips, wall jumps, and backflips into wall jumps, often over bottomless pits. Also, unlike most secret courses, it doesn't give you much in the way of 1-ups.
* Any of the 100 coin missions except in Pinna Park (which has two episodes where it's possible to earn 999 coins). In the predecessor, ''Super Mario 64'', the levels were similar enough per episode (barring a few exceptions) to allow the player to collect the 100 coins needed for the star in any order and the blue coins gave the player five to help with the collection. In ''Sunshine'', the blue coins and the red coins are their own currency; and so the player has to hunt down 100 coins on their own, which is a colossal pain in the ass. To compound this, the number (and location) of coins in the zone changes from episode to episode; in fact, a lot of episodes won't let you get 100 coins, and it's not always immediately apparent which ones have 100 coins (or more) and which ones don't.
* "Scrubbing Sirena Beach", primarily because of how tight the time limit is for a mission where you have to clean '''all''' of the goop that was present at the start of "The Manta Storm". Thankfully, there's no [[ThatOneBoss Phantamanta]] to fight, but the low amount of time you get for this undertaking will make you pull your hair out a few times. This is one episode where the [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotgun blast]] and [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spinning spray]] techniques ''really'' shine through.

** "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure", where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]]
*** [[FromBadToWorse Even worse is that]] Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg. The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]

* "The Goopy Inferno". The level kicks off with the entire village being covered in flaming goop, with nothing to do about it because Shadow Mario steals FLUDD from you right beforehand, which normally only occurs in secret levels. In order to reach the mayor and complete the level, you need to find an opening to the underside of the village and hang on a path of scaffolding to come back up on another end. However, said scaffolding is teeming with enemies (that also chase after Mario if they see him), and if Mario takes a single hit, he'll immediately lose his grip and fall to his death. To make matters worse, sometimes there are areas where you need to cling onto and punch scaffolds to move them, but [[DamnYouMuscleMemory the controls for those actions depend on whether they're horizontal or vertical, so you might end up letting go and dying when the same button activated a scaffold seconds earlier]]. Even once you make it back to the village proper, you still have a precarious series of jumps over flaming goop (which more often than not will lock Mario into a helpless CycleOfHurting until he dies) before you can finally retrieve FLUDD and save the mayor.[[note]]There are various ways to {{Sequence Break|ing}} and completely skip the underside portion, but they can be quite risky and the chances that a first-time player will discover them on their own are quite low..[[/note]]

* "The Goopy Inferno". You have no access to FLUDD until the end of the level, and the entire town is covered in flaming goop. One touch of the stuff and it's almost a nerve-wrecked mess for you. [[SequenceBreaking Although you could just climb to the top of the tree in the western part of the level and jump down to where FLUDD's platform is located]].

** "Secret of the Village Underside" is an infamous LuckBasedMission as far as secret levels go. Just getting to it is bad enough, since you have to take Yoshi and perform a series of treacherous jumps just to get to the opening. After it starts, the level, instead of relying on your platforming abilities, relies on you talking to various Piantas who will throw you across the level. The problem being that if you talk to the Piantas from ''slightly'' the wrong place, they'll hurl you into the abyss to your death. Plus, some Piantas walk back and forth across the level, meaning you have to wait for them to slooowly walk into position before you talk to them, and again, you need to watch your angle at the same time. This level has caused many a player to froth at the mouth at the mere memory of the phrase "I'm a chuckster!". But the level ''is'' slightly offset by the fact that there's a 1-Up right at the start of the level that you have to be thrown into by a Pianta, and even if you miss, you're unlikely to fall off the level. So you don't have to worry too much about your lives, just your blood pressure.

** "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure", where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]]\\
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[[FromBadToWorse Even worse is that]] Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg. The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again. If you thought you could just bypass the whole thing with the Rocket Nozzle, there's an Orange Juice Generator on top of the Shine's cage that has to be dissolved with Yoshi's juice. However, said cage has some [[HitboxDissonance very odd collision]], meaning if you ground pound ''just'' right on one of the corners, Mario clips through the corners of the cage, [[GoodBadBugs cheesing the whole rigamarole.]]

[[FromBadToWorse Even worse is that]] Yoshi will ''always'' require a durian to hatch in this level, and the only way to get one is from the fruit dispenser not far from his egg. The problem is that there is that you must climb on top and ground pound one of the buttons on top of the dispensers and there is a greater chance that you will get a completely different fruit instead, meaning it can take a long time to even get a durian if you're especially unlucky. However even if you get one, heaven-forbid that there's a fruit in the way of the dispenser, or else the durian will bounce off of it into the lower platform behind it, out of Mario's reach, meaning that you have to repeat the cycle over again, making the simple act of hatching Yoshi alone a frustrating hair-pulling experience. And if you fall off the platforms, you have to do that whole routine all over again.

* The Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water or hasn't ate a fruit in a while, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water kills you instantly, and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level. It's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]] Bring a lot of extra lives, because this is ''hard''. One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process just to get back into the level.''

** Corona Mountain. The boat segment is one of the most difficult in the game. The trick to controlling the boat is this: if you're standing at the front and shoot left, it will turn right (and vice versa). If you're standing at the back and shoot left, it will turn left. If you're standing at the center of the boat and shoot left, it won't turn very much. Also, the lava in this area kills Mario instantly if he so much as touches it.
** "The Goopy Inferno". You have no access to FLUDD until the end of the level, and the entire town is covered in flaming goop. One touch of the stuff and it's almost a nerve-wrecked mess for you. [[SequenceBreaking Although you could just climb to the top of the tree in the western part of the level and jump down to where FLUDD's platform is located]].
** To unlock the final area, you have to complete the seventh episode in each of the stages. The required seven episodes are fairly reasonable, for the most part. The eighth and final episode, however, is typically a fairly significant DifficultySpike.
*** In "The Watermelon Festival" in Gelato Beach, you have to guide a gigantic watermelon down a cliff and along a beach past a horde of Cataquacks, who, if they get anywhere close, will knock the watermelon into the air, popping it. Besides, they are ''all red'' in this particular episode, also costing you health when knocked to the air. The controls for guiding said watermelon are hellishly awkward, ''and'' the melon itself is ridiculously fragile, causing you more often than not to make it go sideways or accidentally pop it while trying to push it. You can squirt the Cataquacks with FLUDD to stun them, but the area is so swarmed with them that for every one you can fend off, there are always two or three more coming at you from the other side. You can kill the Cataquacks beforehand with the Dune Buds or luring them into the ocean, though, making this a little easier, but this takes a long time.
*** "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure", where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]]\\

*** "The Red Coin Fish", in Noki Bay, which requires you to catch 8 red coins swimming in the shape of a giant fish. The underwater controls are highly unmaneuverable, it's extremely difficult to tell where Mario is in relation to the coins, the coins are constantly moving, and just to add insult to injury, the coins comprising the fish's body will regularly scatter outward for several seconds, leaving you with nothing to do but wait while you slowly drown. The fact that there's only a limited number of refills for the air meter in the form of the coins outside of the Red Coin Fish further exacerbates the situation. At least the music's relaxing, but even that does little to help given Mario's rapidly-draining oxygen.
** The Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water or hasn't ate a fruit in a while, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water kills you instantly, and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level. It's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]] Bring a lot of extra lives, because this is ''hard''. One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process just to get back into the level.''
** ''Any'' of the FLUDD-less platforming levels, to the point where just hearing "Secret Course" is enough to make players start frothing at the mouth in rage. And you have to visit these places twice: The first time (without FLUDD) to just complete the course and get the Shine and the second time (with FLUDD) in order to complete a red coin challenge for a secret Shine. The red coin challenges are even nastier due to having to do things you wouldn't have done on the first go-around ''and'' they're a TimedMission to boot.
*** "The Hotel Lobby's Secret" in Sirena Beach is a particularly frustrating one, featuring some jumps on flying enemies to cross gaps, narrow pathways of collapsing sand, and a ride on a rotating cog platform whose curved edges are so sensitive that they're very likely to make Mario slip off if the side is even slightly turned forward or back. After the cog, there's a pyramid of sand blocks you need to walk down to jump to the Shine platform, where an enemy is patrolling for fun. The saving grace of the level is that there's two easy 1-Ups, with one being right at the start.
*** "Secret of the Village Underside" is an infamous LuckBasedMission as far as secret levels go. Just getting to it is bad enough, since you have to take Yoshi and perform a series of treacherous jumps just to get to the opening. After it starts, the level, instead of relying on your platforming abilities, relies on you talking to various Piantas who will throw you across the level. The problem being that if you talk to the Piantas from ''slightly'' the wrong place, they'll hurl you into the abyss to your death. Plus, some Piantas walk back and forth across the level, meaning you have to wait for them to slooowly walk into position before you talk to them, and again, you need to watch your angle at the same time. This level has caused many a player to froth at the mouth at the mere memory of the phrase "I'm a chuckster!". But the level ''is'' slightly offset by the fact that there's a 1-Up right at the start of the level that you have to be thrown into by a Pianta, and even if you miss, you're unlikely to fall off the level. So you don't have to worry too much about your lives, just your blood pressure.
** The Pachinko Game. You are in, as the name implies, a gigantic pachinko board, where you need to maneuver Mario to collect eight Red Coins. The difficulty comes from one single thing: the "launcher" that propels Mario into the machine makes him go so fast, it's insanely hard to get him to land where you want to. He even goes too fast for you to use FLUDD to correct any mistakes unless you somehow touch one of the openings of the machine and don't get knocked down to your doom. Even if you collect all 8 coins, you still need to get back into the machine to actually get the Shine. What also doesn't help is that if you skip the launcher by wall kicking up and out, you get flung to the right anyway due to the way the game's physics work.
** "The Sand Bird Is Born", a notoriously difficult level even by the game's standards. You not only have to collect 8 red coins, but you must do so on a moving bird made out of sand with flapping wings which, combined with the game's wonky physics, is very easy to fall off of. And when it turns sideways, good luck getting to a safe location in time. To make matters worse, if you think it's too difficult, it's actually one of the easiest of the infamously difficult sub-levels.
** "The Shell's Secret". Most of the secret courses are big jumps in difficulty, but the one in Noki Bay really takes the cake. It's the longest secret course by miles, and involves a lot of triple jumps, backflips, wall jumps, and backflips into wall jumps, often over bottomless pits. Also, unlike most secret courses, it doesn't give you much in the way of 1-ups.
** Any of the 100 coin missions except in Pinna Park (which has two episodes where it's possible to earn 999 coins). In the predecessor, ''Super Mario 64'', the levels were similar enough per episode (barring a few exceptions) to allow the player to collect the 100 coins needed for the star in any order and the blue coins gave the player five to help with the collection. In ''Sunshine'', the blue coins and the red coins are their own currency; and so the player has to hunt down 100 coins on their own, which is a colossal pain in the ass. To compound this, the number (and location) of coins in the zone changes from episode to episode; in fact, a lot of episodes won't let you get 100 coins, and it's not always immediately apparent which ones have 100 coins (or more) and which ones don't.
** "Scrubbing Sirena Beach", primarily because of how tight the time limit is for a mission where you have to clean '''all''' of the goop that was present at the start of "The Manta Storm". Thankfully, there's no [[ThatOneBoss Phantamanta]] to fight, but the low amount of time you get for this undertaking will make you pull your hair out a few times. This is one episode where the [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotgun blast]] and [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spinning spray]] techniques ''really'' shine through.

*** "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure", where you have to squirt juice onto jumping fish to reach a series of platforms, is so frustrating that one online FAQ simply states, "I dunno, haven't finished this level." The secret to beating it is that Yoshi's juice after eating a durian will turn enemies into platforms that move sideways, but eating a coconut will make its juice turn enemies into platforms that move upward. But since this is likely the first time players have made platforms with Yoshi juice, and the required coconuts are hard to find, the whole endeavor becomes much more challenging than it should be. Also, this intended method often serves as a GuideDangIt moment due to being [[MoonLogicPuzzle completely arbitrary, unintuitive]], and the necessary Yoshi abilities [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman being useful only for this specific level.]]

** ''Any'' of the FLUDD-less platforming levels, to the point where just hearing "Platforms-A-Plenty!" is enough to make players start frothing at the mouth in rage. And you have to visit these places twice: The first time (without FLUDD) to just complete the course and get the Shine and the second time (with FLUDD) in order to complete a red coin challenge for a secret Shine. The red coin challenges are even nastier due to having to do things you wouldn't have done on the first go-around ''and'' they're a TimedMission to boot.

** The Lily Pad Ride is one of the most frustrating mini-levels to complete. Actually getting there is annoying enough; you have to jump on a series of slow-moving boats in order to reach a small, isolated island with Yoshi, so as to remove the barrier that's blocking your way. This is already hard by itself, because Yoshi dies if he falls into the water, the boats are small, and it can be easy to miss a jump. The level itself, however, is even worse. You have to ride on a slowly-sinking lily pad in order to collect eight Red Coins, so you can obtain the Shine. The water kills you instantly, and the currents are too fast for you to backtrack, meaning that not only is it very easy to miss a coin, but if you do, you're screwed.[[note]]You ''can'' return to the start of the level without dying or leaving the level. However, it requires patience and a steady hand. Just walk along the narrow edge of the level. It's a long trip, and it's easy to fall, but it is doable. If you have sufficient control, you can do the walk-along-the-edge technique to backtrack to any missed coins, then go for them via the Hover Nozzle, but it's easy to get the height wrong and either fly over the coin or fall into the water.[[/note]] Bring a lot of extra lives, because this is ''hard''. One last thing: do not assume [[SchmuckBait the Warp Pipe at the end]] is a nice and convenient way to return to the start of the level. ''It sends you back to Delfino Plaza, forcing you to repeat the whole process just to get back into the level.''