🎮 Top 10 First Levels in Video Game History 🎮
10. Medal of Honor: Frontline – D-Day Beach
You begin on a landing craft, waves crashing and chaos erupting, before storming the beach under relentless fire. This opening doesn’t just teach you the basics—it thrusts you straight into the terror and heroism of Normandy. It’s cinematic, intense, and sets the tone for the entire campaign. Few shooter intros have matched its sheer adrenaline since.
9. GoldenEye 007 – Dam
From sneaking along snowy ridges to storming the dam and bungee jumping off the edge, this level makes you feel like James Bond from the first second. It mixes stealth, action, and set-piece spectacle flawlessly. The Dam became an instant benchmark for how to start a shooter with style.
8. The Last of Us – Prologue
What begins as a quiet night turns into chaos, heartbreak, and loss. This prologue hooks you emotionally before the gameplay even truly begins, grounding the entire journey in human stakes. It’s gripping, cinematic storytelling at its most powerful.
7. Portal – Test Chamber 00
A single room, a portal gun, and a mysterious voice with a dark sense of humor—that’s all it takes to captivate you. This intro teaches you mechanics organically while hinting at something much stranger going on. Minimalist, clever, and instantly iconic.
6. Halo: Combat Evolved – The Pillar of Autumn
From the moment you wake up from cryosleep, you’re fighting for your life aboard a doomed starship. The Covenant are boarding, alarms are blaring, and you’re learning to fight on the fly. This intro nails pacing—mixing tutorial moments with full-blown firefights—and sets the stage for one of the most influential shooters ever made.
5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Train Car Cliffhanger
Nathan Drake wakes up bloodied and dangling from a derailed train teetering over a cliff. You’re thrown into climbing, shooting, and scrambling for survival in one of gaming’s most cinematic openings. It’s pure blockbuster energy from frame one.
4. Sonic Adventure 2 – City Escape
Sonic grabs a piece of debris like a skateboard and launches into a high-speed dash through the city streets. Grinding rails, outrunning G.U.N. trucks, and jamming to “Escape from the City” set the tone for the entire game. It’s Sonic at his most stylish.
3. Bioshock – Welcome to Rapture
A plane crash in the ocean, a mysterious lighthouse, and then a descent into an underwater dystopia unlike anything you’ve seen. This level is pure atmosphere—equal parts beauty and menace—and it hooks you instantly. A masterclass in world-building.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Kokiri Forest & Inside the Deku Tree
The game begins in the charming Kokiri Forest, letting you meet quirky villagers, explore freely, and learn the basics. Soon, you venture into the Deku Tree—your first taste of a Zelda dungeon—where puzzles, enemies, and treasures await. This gradual build from peaceful exploration to heroic action set the template for 3D adventure game openings for decades.
1. Super Mario Bros. – World 1-1
The most famous opening level in gaming history. Without a single text box, it teaches you how to run, jump, dodge enemies, and collect power-ups—pure game design genius. Every block and Goomba is perfectly placed to encourage learning through play. Decades later, it’s still the gold standard for first levels.
🎯 Honorable Mentions
Mega Man X – Intro Highway A masterclass in teaching mechanics without words—plus, the music shreds.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Crew Expendable Rain, stealth, and sudden chaos aboard a cargo ship—cinematic FPS gold.
Cuphead – Tutorial Island Short, sweet, and charmingly old-school while prepping you for pure boss battle madness.
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Colter Snow-covered mountains, a tense outlaw hideout, and early glimpses of Arthur’s world.
Metroid Prime – Frigate Orpheon A haunting sci-fi tone-setter that perfectly blends exploration and foreshadowing.
Final Fantasy VII – Mako Reactor 1 An explosive start to one of gaming’s most beloved RPGs—literally and figuratively.
What’s the first level you’ll never forget? Drop your pick in the notes and let’s see how many people agree with you!
