Brutal Bonus Level/Playing With

Basic Trope: An extra level that's not part of the overall game but noticeably harder than the rest of the set.

Straight: Once a player beats the final boss, they can choose to watch the credits or attempt the bonus level, the Climb of Death Elevator Action Sequence.
Exaggerated: After defeating the final boss, the player is allowed to attempt the bonus level, Maxwell's Hellish Falling Deathtrap: The Last Stand.
Justified:
- Maxwell was the Man Behind the Man of the final boss, and has good reason to want to be defended with the best and most brutal defenses available.
- By the time the player unlocks the level, they will be experienced enough to take it on and not die repeatedly.
Inverted: The postgame content is far easier than the Nintendo Hard main game.
Subverted:
- A new campaign? Well, let's give it a sh--Oh god, with the lasers and the death spikes! Fission Mailed.
- Alternatively, the bonus level is fairly easy, if you can get past the initial "gatekeeper" jump...
Double Subverted: The bonus level is built up as something insane, but it's fairly easy... except for its boss.
Parodied: The player dies the instant the bonus level starts
Zig Zagged: ???
Averted: There is no Bonus Level, or it's explicitly pretty easy.
Enforced: ???
Lampshaded: If your game has an afterlife level, an NPC comments that they died here.
Invoked: ???
Exploited: ???
Defied: ???
Discussed: ???
Conversed: ???