on Google Preferred Source Google News Link copied to clipboard By Jason Venter Published Sep 3, 2026, 10:26 PM EDT Polygon Lists All killer, no filler
Image: Nintendo Sign in to your Polygon.com account Add Us Add on Google Preferred Source Google News Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Video games are an art form, and the levels used to build many of them can be thought of as the brush strokes that make it all possible. And yet, as with any medium, there are moments that don’t go quite right. Even fantastic games feature stretches where design principles falter or potential remains unmet.
Thankfully, there are plenty of welcome exceptions to the rule, too. Such games linger in our memory, long after we’ve forgotten their minor imperfections. They never stop calling us to return to them once more. Here are 10 such games from across generations and platforms that offer an unbroken string of levels that are genuine masterpieces.
By today’s standards, the levels in The Legend of Zelda might not seem like much. Puzzles were simplistic, and the actions necessary to advance through them could get repetitive. However, those seemingly basic designs hit a lot differently in the mid 1980s, thanks to a few important factors. For starters, the templates featured a different hue for each dungeon, which really impacted the sense of atmosphere. The music changed only once, for the final stage, but there were other elements to keep things fresh, from enemies to environmental barriers and traps. After players cleared the first quest, they discovered a second one waiting with false walls and bubbles that robbed hero Link of his ability to swing a sword.
The Legend of Zelda is a miniature game design manifesto that would go unrealized for over 30 years
Image: Neversoft/Activision Released: Sep. 20, 2000
Video game characters need not be plumbers, elves, or hedgehogs to navigate interesting levels. They don’t even have to be in the hero business, as Tony Hawk proved with his successful series of skating games featuring professional athletes thrashing their way through popular locations in America and beyond. The compact settings were the perfect playgrounds for skaters to perform tricks and catch air, all while racking up ridiculous scores to unlock still more destinations. A new location felt like a true gift, because you just knew it would offer new thrills and opportunities. Players spent dozens of hours finding the best lines and bragging to their friends. Five years ago, a new generation of players got the chance to do the same thing again, when Activision released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 for PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
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Image: Capcom/iam8bit Released: Dec. 17, 1993
The early Mega Man games on the NES were packed with levels we’ll never forget. Several of them might easily have appeared on this list. But the original Mega Man X used the additional power of the Super Nintendo hardware to elevate the experience. After a memorable stage that found X jumping along the crumbling remains of a ruined highway, the game presented the usual eight robot foes to tackle in any order. Actions taken in one stage might impact anoth…