Final Friday Top Five!

Final Friday Top Five!

Underwater Video Games

5. Finding Nemo Video Game

Photo from Disney Fandom Wiki

I remember playing this as a teen. It was a bright, colourful game and a good companion to the film. It was good fun, contained clips from the film, and had a variety of different levels. There was one, in particular, which was ridiculously hard! It involved bouncing on snail shells and I'm still not entirely sure how to complete this level, to this day. I think one of the sisters managed to crack it, somehow...

4. Assassin's Creed: Black Flag

Photo from Wikipedia

This is the only Assassin's Creed I have played. I've seen my sister play others and, honestly, it gives me vertigo! But I could cope with this one. The beautiful setting, the wild locations, the sailing: tick all my boxes. And I swear the buildings are not as tall in this game! It is an absolutely beautiful game and, much like any game with a tropical island (I'm looking at you Besaid), I want to live there. 

One of my favourite things about this game is the sandbox element to it. Sometimes I get stuck or bogged down with the storylines of games - if a level is too hard or I keep failing, it can grow tiresome. But there is so much extra stuff to do - collecting the shanties, the kill contracts, hunting. (Although, on that last one I did have to apologise every time I went whaling!)

3. The Lake Task - Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4

 

Photo from EB Games

This is cheating a little bit, as it's not entirely an underwater game but it does have a few levels which are. I love the Lego video games, they are hilarious and simple to play, but challenging enough so they aren't boring. They are also a great two player game, my partner and I have spent many an evening on them.

The Lake Task from the fourth film is a particularly great level as the whole thing is underwater. There are a couple other levels which have one section underwater and that is it; but not this one. You have to progress through various obstacles, destroy all the Lego bricks, collect all the studs - all good fun. And it has great re-playability. There are certain sections you can't get to on the first play through, until you have unlocked more characters.

2. Spongebob Squarepants Battle for Bikini Bottom

Photo from Wikipedia

My sisters and I sunk many an hour into this game which, like Finding Nemo, was weirdly hard! You had to save Bikini Bottom from invading robots and collect golden spatulas (or golden back scratchers, as Patrick called them) across a variety of levels. They were set in familiar locations across Bikini Bottom, like Goo Lagoon and Jellyfish Fields, and went from simple to downright surreal. I recall a level referencing the episode where Spongebob travels through everyone else's dreams - jumping across the musical notes in Squidward's dream was difficult!

Despite being hard, it was a great game. It used the proper voices, referenced episodes, and each character you played had different abilities. It was an entertaining play.

Honourable Mentions:

Blitzball in Final Fantasy X

Underwater levels in Super Mario

1. Endless Ocean

Photo from Wikipedia

Are we really surprised? I love this game. It is so relaxed and calming (with the grand exception of the abyss, that will never not be stressful!). It is an absolutely beautiful game. Since learning to dive I have realised just how wildly inaccurate the diving is, but I forgive because of all the fish. It's great fun to just pootle along the bottom and poking the fish. And the moments when you come across things like whale sharks and dolphins are awesome. Plus, the soundtrack is on point. One of the most stressful things about the abyss is the big orchestral accompanying music which will suddenly blare out a big note after a relatively quiet spell. But also, the other songs are the perfect plinky-plonky background music which makes this game rather meditative.

What are your favourite games set underwater? Or that feature underwater levels? Lemme know below!

Listening to: Music to Rediscover