What is it about the presence of water that makes games worse? As far as consistently lousy level types go, underwater levels often rank up there with the likes of sewer levels and escort missions.
In some cases, just being in the vicinity of water can make certain segments of games objectively worse. This can be a result of bizarre, unintuitive swimming controls, strict air limitations, or just a general slowing of the game’s usual pace.
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Whether due to these or other factors, there are some water-centric levels or segments in games that you just want to get over with as quickly as possible.
10Water Dam
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TheTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesgame that was released for the NES in 1989 wasn’t exactly a slam dunk even in the best of times, but is mostly bearable at least.
One major exception, however, comes about in the level set below the Hudson River dam. The goal of the level is to locate and disarm a handful of bombs.
Not only are all of these bombs on a single short-timer, but the entire area is a maze of electrified kelp.
Even a small brush with this stuff will knock off a whole pip of health, which is a problem when you’re rushing around trying to disarm explosives.
9Water Temple
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
While the horrors ofOcarina of Time’s Water temple have been overblown over the years, it’sno bowl of cherries either.
For one thing, since Link can’t actually swim, navigation is annoying in general. You have to constantly open the pause menu to equip or unequip your Iron Boots, and you have to deal with their sluggish movement both in and out of combat.
Besides that, the puzzles are laid out in a generally unintuitive manner, and if you happen to forget that you can play Zelda’s Lullaby at Triforce signs to change the water level, you get completely stuck.
It may not be the horrifying game-ender it used to be, but most would agree that the Water Temple is definitely a chore.
8Ghost Ship
Devil May Cry
The originalDevil May Cryhadn’t quite perfected the series' signature action formula yet, but it was still a pretty good time when Dante was firmly planted on his feet. Midway through the game, though, he’s forced off his feet to navigate a sunken ghost ship.
Obviously, Dante can’t use his sword or guns underwater, not that the enemies care. Your only move is to clumsily swim past them, which is awkward because swimming is in first person for some reason.
Midway through this section, you get a needle gun, so you can at least fight back. Unfortunately, compared toDante’s other weapons, the needle gun isn’t particularly fun to use, so it’s more of a band-aid than a solution.
7Atlantica
Kingdom Hearts
The Little Mermaid may be a classic Disney film, but it’s definitely not an ideal setting for action RPG combat. In spite of that, we still had to suffer through Atlantica in the originalKingdom Hearts.
The 3D swimming controls are rather finicky and confusing, which is annoying when you’ve got Heartless closing in on all sides. Not only that, but the layout of the level is extremely confusing, with several required passageways blocked off by seemingly random requirements.
Don’t even get us started on the fights with Ursula, the first of which requires consistent application of magic. If you don’t have a full stack of Ethers on you, the fight slows to a crawl.
6Gloomy Galleon
Donkey Kong 64
The Gloomy Galleon level ofDonkey Kong 64is a large ship graveyard littered with the remains of vessels fromearlier Donkey Kong games. Cool aesthetic touch, not much fun to navigate.
Not only is a large portion of this hefty level submerged, but it’s also dark, so you need to either squint really hard or wait for the little light fish to keep up with you.
This level is also home to one of the game’s more annoying boss fights. Rather than your usual skills, you need to putter around a large pufferfish on a barrel boat, activating electrical generators.
5Labyrinth Zone
Sonic The Hedgehog
Despite being in the biz for several decades,Sonic the Hedgehognever learned how to swim. You’d think after suffering through Labyrinth Zone in his first adventure, it would’ve been a priority.
Labyrinth Zone is made up of narrow, sharp-edged corridors, many of which are completely submerged. Putting aside how this completely kneecaps Sonic’s signature speed, the long stretches of water require you to constantly seek out air pockets and bubbles.
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This was likely the first time players would hear thatinfernal low-oxygen warning song, the same one that still haunts us into the modern day.
4Bat’s Tower
Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Midway throughConker’s Bad Fur Day, the titular squirrel needs to open an underwater vault as a favor for some catty fish ladies. This seemingly simple chore requires a rather extensive trek through a large tower.
Both before and after entering the vault, you’ll have to swim through long submerged passages filled with enemies much more mobile than you. It’s even worse post-vault, as this section requires you to keep a flashlight powered and has larger enemies on patrol.
The only saving grace is that after all that swimming, you do get to play one of the game’sfunniest segments. It involves fiery imps and a keg of beer. We’ll leave it at that.
3Down The Tubes
Earthworm Jim
In the fifth level of Earthworm Jim, you have to navigate a large maze of underwater glass tubes ruled byBob the Killer Goldfish.
This maze is patrolled by hulking mutant cats that you can’t defeat; you can only grab onto perches and wait for them to pass.
At several points throughout this level, you have to get into a glass submersible to reach the next set of tubes.
Not only does this vehicle have a strict oxygen time limit, but its body is incredibly fragile. If you tap it against the rock walls that line the area too many times, it’ll shatter and kill you instantly.
2Dire, Dire Docks
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64has two water-centric levels: Jolly Roger Bay and Dire, Dire Docks. While many players have a sore spot for the former due to the nightmare-inducing giant eel hiding in the pirate ship, the latter presents more swimming-styled woes.
Barring a few jumping sections at the beginning and end of the level, the entirety of Dire, Dire Docks is underwater. Mario is not a great swimmer, never moving as quickly or smoothly as you’d like.
This is a problem because several of the level’s stars require quick movements, particularly swimming through several sets of bubble rings.
1Mount Kazai
Skies Of Arcadia
Skies of Arcadia
Midway throughSkies of Arcadia, the party must venture into the depths of Mount Kazai, the prison of the Blue Gigas. The good news is that the party has a diving suit to navigate the submerged dungeon.
The bad news is that walking around in the diving suit is incredibly boring. The entire area is a maze, and you have to explore all of it and solve puzzles at a fraction of your normal movement speed.
Plus, thanks to the original game’s high encounter rate, any time you’re not slogging underwater, you’re being stopped for fights. It is a dungeon that never takes ten steps when 10,000 will do.
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