10 unbearable underwater levels in video games

Why is it that water, or just the existence of a swimming level, almost always makes the experience worse? When talking about the types of stages players tend to hate, the verdict is almost unanimous: underwater levels are among the worst, right next to sewer stages and those frustrating escort missions where the character walks painfully slow.

Sometimes, the stage does not even need to be completely underwater. Just being close to it can make certain parts of the game worse. This happens for many reasons: clunky and unintuitive swimming controls, forced limitations, abrupt pacing changes, or simply that heavy, sluggish feeling that completely breaks immersion.

Even in games often praised for their aquatic environments, like Subnautica or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, there are sections that feel like they exist only to test the player’s patience. Most of the time, the feeling is the same: you just want to finish as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, here are ten of the most frustrating water levels in video game history. They still haunt players to this day. If you disagree, leave a comment.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, released for the NES in 1989, was never considered a timeless classic, even at its best moments. Still, it was at least somewhat playable.

Everything falls apart, however, in the infamous Hudson River Dam level. The goal is to find and defuse a series of bombs scattered around the underwater area. The problem is that they are all tied to an extremely short timer, and the path to each bomb runs through a maze of electrified seaweed.

Touching this seaweed even slightly drains an absurd amount of health, and no, turtles do not breathe underwater. Since you have to rush to defuse the bombs, mistakes are almost guaranteed. Even fans of the game often recall this stage as one of the most infuriating moments of their gaming childhood.

Over the years, the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda has become a symbol of frustration in adventure games. While its reputation might be slightly exaggerated today, it is still far from enjoyable.

The main issue is the constant need to equip and unequip the Iron Boots, which requires pausing the game repeatedly. This kills the pacing and quickly becomes irritating.

On top of that, the temple’s layout is anything but intuitive. If you forget that you can play “Zelda’s Lullaby” on the Triforce panels to change the water level, you will end up stuck and lost with no idea what to do. Even with improvements in later versions, most players still see this dungeon as tedious rather than fun.

In the first Devil May Cry, Dante did not yet have the fluidity and refined combat that the later games are known for. Still, while on land, the gameplay worked well enough.

Then comes the dreaded Ghost Ship section. Here, Dante is forced to swim through submerged areas. Not only does he lose access to most of his weapons, like the sword, pistols, and shotgun, but the perspective also shifts to first-person, completely breaking the flow of the game.

Later, you receive a water-specific weapon, the Needle Gun, but it is clunky and far less fun than anything else in Dante’s arsenal. The result is a section that breaks immersion and slows the momentum of the entire game.

On paper, including The Little Mermaid world in Kingdom Hearts sounded like a good idea. The series is built on Disney worlds, and Atlantica’s underwater setting is visually unique.

In practice, though, it became a control nightmare. Swimming in full 3D feels awkward and stiff, which makes fighting off swarms of Heartless much harder than it should be.

The level design makes things worse, with maze-like paths and seemingly arbitrary conditions for unlocking new areas. The Ursula battles are especially notorious, particularly the first one that requires constant use of magic. If you are not stocked up on Ethers, you are in trouble.

Atlantica ended up being one of those worlds players drag themselves through, relieved once it is finally over.

Gloomy Galleon is one of the most memorable stages in Donkey Kong 64, but not for the right reasons. The setting, a graveyard of sunken ships, is visually appealing, but much of the stage is underwater and dark.

You can barely see what you are doing without the help of glowing fish. To make things worse, this stage includes one of the most hated boss fights in the game: a giant pufferfish. Instead of letting you use the Kongs’ abilities, the game forces you to pilot a barrel boat and activate generators, which feels more like a repetitive mini-puzzle than an actual boss battle. Overall, Gloomy Galleon requires far more patience than it deserves.

Since his debut in the early 1990s, Sonic has been all about speed. Putting the blue blur in a water stage where he cannot swim goes completely against the game’s core design.

All of Sonic’s underwater levels are painful, but Labyrinth Zone, the first one, is especially infamous. Narrow, fully submerged corridors force you to constantly search for air bubbles. Miss one, and it is instant death.

This level also introduced the terrifying “drowning music” that plays when Sonic is running out of air. Many players still have traumatic memories of that sound, which continues to appear in later games in the series.

One of the most drawn-out sections of Conker’s Bad Fur Day happens when the squirrel has to help some “fish ladies” open an underwater vault. This requires climbing a massive tower and slogging through long swimming sections.

Before and after the vault, you face flooded corridors full of enemies that move much more easily than you. The level also forces you to rely on a flashlight with limited energy, adding more stress. Thankfully, once this part ends, you are rewarded with one of the funniest sequences in the game, involving flaming imps and a beer barrel. But getting there is tough.

In the fifth level of Earthworm Jim, you must navigate a maze of underwater pipes. The area is ruled by Bob the Killer Goldfish and patrolled by giant mutant cats you cannot defeat.

At several points, you use a fragile glass submarine. The catch is that it has a very short oxygen supply and shatters with even the slightest bump against a wall. You have to tap the controls gently to avoid crashing, but one slip means instant death. The constant tension and punishing design make this stage exhausting.

Super Mario 64 features two water-focused stages: Jolly Roger Bay and Dire, Dire Docks. The first is remembered for its nightmare-inducing giant eel, but the second is far more frustrating mechanically.

Apart from a few jumping sections at the beginning and end, Dire, Dire Docks takes place almost entirely underwater. Mario, however, is not a great swimmer. His movements are slow and imprecise, which is a serious problem when certain stars require precise bubble-ring swimming or timed races. The level feels clunky, frustrating, and disrupts the flow of the game.

Midway through Skies of Arcadia, the crew must explore the depths of Mount Kazai, home of the Blue Gigas. They even wear diving suits to move around, which sounds like a great idea at first.

In practice, however, it is painfully slow. Movement in the suits drags, and the dungeon itself is a sprawling labyrinth full of puzzles.

To make matters worse, the original game had an extremely high rate of random encounters. Even when you are inching slowly from one area to the next, you are constantly interrupted by battles. It feels like a dungeon that never ends, draining every bit of patience.

Released by SEGA for the Master System and Genesis, Ecco the Dolphin tells the story of a dolphin with special powers on a mission to rescue others kidnapped by aliens. It is a strange and confusing story, but not as strange as the gameplay itself.

Although not just one level, Ecco the Dolphin stands out for being entirely underwater, filled with navigation challenges and puzzles that can be disorienting and difficult. Its open-ended exploration and cryptic objectives often leave players lost in its vast aquatic environments. The constant threat of drowning and the need to navigate through labyrinths and complex puzzles make Ecco the Dolphin memorable, though not always in a good way.