10 Most Hilariously Stressful Sounds In Video Games | Screen Rant
Many gamers appreciate a good challenging game. If a level, or even an entire title, is too easy to get through, it will often become forgettable. However, a game that takes a couple of tries to complete will become all the more memorable for gamers, ensuring that it cements itself in their minds and hearts as a nostalgic title.
Some of these games, however, will have a specific sound that is linked with a portion of the game that must be repeated over and over before completing. These sounds have become so deeply associated with the stress and frustration that gamers experienced during that game, that hearing it will bring all those feelings back up again. While these sounds are infamous for setting gamers' teeth on edge, causing them to want to put the controller down for good, they are now remembered fondly as the sounds that gamers just love to hate.
The first Kingdom Hearts game is infamous for its first couple of levels being frustratingly difficult. For this reason, one of the first sounds that players will become used to is that of the siren that sounds when Sora is running low on HP.
The sound is a high-pitched wailing that will not stop until a player gathers up enough HP to put themselves back in the green zone on their gage. However, after all that work to make the terrible sound end, only one hit from a boss can be enough to make the sound go off again. For this reason, any Kingdom Hearts fan will immediately recognize this frustrating sound.
Back in 1991, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released for the Sega Genesis. It became an instant favorite for gamers who enjoyed the fast passed action and fun characters. Players control Sonic as he speeds across a 2D stage, dashing through rollercoaster-like loops, jumping on enemies, and collecting golden rings; a common trope for all Sonic games.
The game is infamously difficult, however, and any time that Sonic takes damage, he drops a handful of the previously collected golden rings. When this happens, the metallic sound of the rings hitting the ground screams out at players. The more they play, the more they get hit, and the more this unmistakable sound rings out. Decades and multiple installments later, the sound is still a classic characteristic of any Sonic game.
The Last of Us is a wildly popular post-apocalyptic game that helped pave the way for others of its kind. The game takes place in a universe that has been ravaged by a brain infection that turns humans into zombies, and players must make their way through a world covered in beings in various stages of infection.
Clickers are humans that are in the third stage of their infection. They are so taken over by the fungus that results from their infirmity that they are barely recognizable as humans and are downright terrifying. They are stronger and more difficult to kill than the previous stages of the infected and create an eerie clicking sound that announces their presence, creating an involuntary panic response in players.
Super Smash Bros. is considerably more light-hearted than other famously brutal fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. However, despite its cartoon-like nature, the game has proven itself to be a difficult game to master, with tournaments maintaining popularity in the gaming world.
Die-hard fans of the Super Smash Bros. games know that one item has appeared in every Smash title, and it comes with a thin gunshot-like sound that lets opponents know that there is no hope left. The "home run bat," which looks like any other baseball bat, only makes this sound when it makes contact with an opponent, and once this happens, the result is an automatic KO.
Guitar Hero took the video game world by storm in 2005 when it was first released, and quickly became popular even among those who don't normally play video games. The game allowed players to feel like they were performing guitar for a crowd of screaming fans, with increasingly difficult levels and popular songs.
While nailing a song resulted in the audience's adoration, failing resulted in booing. The crowd is full of only NPCs, but something about that booing affected players as if it was a real-life crowd that was disappointed in their performance.
The Legend of Zelda games are not inherently scary, but there are a surprising number of terrifying enemies and monsters that engraved themselves in the minds of fans. One of these is the ReDeads, which are zombie-like creatures that can typically be found within graves or around abandoned areas.
When ReDeads catch sight of Link, they will let out a shrill scream that will paralyze him, keeping players from escaping as they mount him and drain his life away. While the ReDeads move very slowly and keeping a distance from any in the area will typically keep Link from any danger, the sound of their scream is still enough to make any fan shiver.
The Final Fantasy games are known for great soundtracks, but not every sound in the game is appreciated. Traditionally in the Final Fantasy games, players never know when they will be engaged in battle during their exploring. Stepping in any specific spot will trigger a battle, which can make traveling quickly across an area slow and arduous.
When this trigger happens, the game will play a sound as the screen fades to black to let the player know that they have encountered an enemy. While these battles can be fun and useful for climbing levels, there is nothing more frustrating than hearing this sound over and over when all the player wants to do is get to a certain location.
Luigi's Mansion combines the lighthearted mood of Mario games and the spooky jump-scares of horror titles to create something all of its own. With each of its two sequels, the games have managed to keep gamers thoroughly creeped out while maintaining a "cute" aesthetic.
However, in Luigi's Mansion 3, game designers succeeded in creating even more suspense with the alert sound for Luigi's HP. When Luigi takes on too much damage, a beeping sound, accompanied by the sound of a beating heart, starts slow but as the damage gets worse and Luigi's life becomes even more at risk, the beating steadily speeds up, until the HP finally runs out. The result is steadily building suspense until the player finally loses their life.
Few sounds in video games are as iconic as the "spotted" sound from the Metal Gear games. While Metal Gear is also known for its storytelling, these games revolve heavily around stealth game-play, so players must navigate Snake through a variety of stages using obstacles to keep out of sight from enemies.
When gamers are unsuccessful in this objective, an exclamation point will appear above the enemy's head, and a sharp trill will sound over the speakers. This iconic sound very successfully lets players know that they have failed, steadily increasing their frustration every time.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most groundbreaking titles in video game history, and is therefore remembered very fondly by fans. However, one portion of the game is almost unanimously regarded as annoying: Link's companion, Navi.
Navi is a fairy that follows Link around, and she is supposed to be helpful. She is a player's aid when targeting enemies and is supposed to give tips and tricks to assist in gameplay. However, she will often chime in with her infamous "hey, listen!" even if the player doesn't need her information. If a gamer chooses to ignore her, she will simply repeat herself, making her unmistakable voice one of the most frustrating sounds in video games.