Secret Owl
Neo Member
Came here to post this.The only real answer:
Maybe some other answers, but TF swimming is tops.
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plutoknight
Member
Echoing the two Rayman games and DKC: TF. Rayman especially has such great swimming controls (coupled with best underwater music)
pillowtalk
Member
Mario 3 with the frog suit.
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Came in here to post this.
jadedm17
Member
First post nails it; the music helps make it.
As for DKC TF I still need to purchase that.
AntiFacebook
Member
Came to this thread to see Mega Man,but no one has mentioned Mega Man for some reason.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Crab Milk Mickey
Member
Way too many Super Mario Galaxy votes in here with how atrocious the camera was during the underwater sections. Moves where you don't want it to far too easily when approaching a wall / obstacle and no manual control of the camera beyond recentering (which it sometimes stubbornly refuses to do). It's an improvement over Sunshine's camera, but that's not much of an accomplishment. Especially that boss fight against the bonefish was a huge hassle.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
I understand your criticism regarding walls and certain obstacles, but for the most part, as long as you kept moving, recentering the camera was enough to get a good view of the action. It's not perfect, but it was fun, and admittedly 3D swimming (of which this game seems to be the only example in the thread) is much harder to get right than 2D.
grandwizard
Member
DKC: Tropical Freeze has the best underwater controls I have ever experienced in a game. It's a tight balance between giving you enough control but also make you feel like you really are underwater and have to manage momentum and weight, and they nailed it.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
That's not swimming.
Rats Off To Ya
Banned
Absolutely. It's an amazing accomplishment that the water levels in the HD Rayman games are actually some of the best parts.
The swimming segments in the Ratchet and Clank games were always pretty good.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
thinking about the swimming in 3D mario games has now got me trying to come up with other 3D 3rd person games that had good or decent swimming. There was that Ecco the Dolphin game on DC which I never played.. Anything more recent?
ResidentDante
Member
Gotta agree!
Mohonky
Member
Yeh, and the music in those levels too. Brilliant.
Nocturnowl
Member
I'm on the other side of the fence here with Ristar, for me this was one of the worst.
Not so much because of Ristar's movements in water which were decent but for the odd placement of Ristar himself on screen in the game combined with how much of a speed burst you get when opting to stroke forward, the games camera places Ristar more towards the side of the screen you're progressing towards limiting your view of what's ahead and in the water sections I found this especially aggravating.
Bronetta
Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I also really love the water levels in Maui Mallard. You dont have proper swimming controls, instead you have to propel yourself around by firing your gun. Its a fun and unique spin on a water level, and the music in the SNES version is dope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFw7f4UJBfA
The music in Maui Mallard is a forgotten 16-bit gem. It's by Michael Giacchino.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
The Rayman games remind of the God of War games' swimming. Very simple, but very satisfying. You wonder why its so hard for other games to have swimming be such a smooth, painless experience. I think the fixed camera in both helps, you never have to babysit it.
Violence Jack
Member
Along with Rayman and DKC
EastOfEden
Member
Are you guys for real? I mean, if you're racing with the shells it was alright but trying to collect stuff was a nightmare. Swim directly to the left or right of a coin or something. Now try to pick it up in less than 15 seconds...
Nocturnowl
Member
Hey that shot of bubble man's stage remind me, nuts to the underwater spike tunnels that turn up in the castle of every Mega Man game, I will abuse invincibility frames from the enemies within to help cheese my way through the spiky gauntlet, no shame.
Deadpool_X
Banned
PSYGN
Member
I thought so, too. I never played the new DK game, though.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
So you're saying SMG would have been more fun if it was easier to make sharper turns while swimming.
In your opinion, how much maneuverability under water would you say is just enough?
I'm actually trying to think of an example of a game that should be emulated.
Metal Gear Solid. Right at the beginning, you can go back into the water to get an item. Snake just walks underwater. Just like normal. Cracks me up.
Also, I always enjoyed swimming while hiding a key in Super Mario World. I don't remember if the key changed the controls, I just remember enjoying it.
Also, I always enjoyed swimming while hiding a key in Super Mario World. I don't remember if the key changed the controls, I just remember enjoying it.
Dimentionalist
Member
No love for the Banjo games? I typically don't enjoy underwater levels but swimming in Banjo is smooth and fun.
Ivan
Member
EastOfEden
Member
Good question, I've got a mental blank though haha. :/
It was the camera as well though. I was playing it on a whim a couple of months ago and there was one underwater ghosty level where you had to collect purple coins. The amount of times I swam around this one confined section trying to aim for this one coin before the camera went weird and my swimming was put off course, then trying to turn around with the limited space and missing it again. Gah.
Weird, I was going to complain about how I didn't like Tropical Freeze's swimming. I much prefer "hold down to descend, press jump to ascend" controls for 2D games like in the classic DKC trilogy.
In terms of 3D games, this has always been my personal favorite:
One of the few games I've played where merely controlling your character is much of the fun without resorting to slippery controls as a gimmick.
In terms of 3D games, this has always been my personal favorite:
One of the few games I've played where merely controlling your character is much of the fun without resorting to slippery controls as a gimmick.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
I know right?
Nocturnowl
Member
Love Clanker's Cavern as a stage but the actual swimming can be clunky since you move in bursts when holding B at least, it never feels particularly fluid to me and it can be a pain when collecting notes and making tight turns.
Though Banjo Tooie did give you the ability to upgrade underwater movement, coming to think of it DK64 actually wasn't too bad with water movement thinking back, not great but an improvement over Banjo at least.
EastOfEden
Member
Just trying to think about what games I've played recently with swimming. I think Thief and Deus Ex had good swimming. The Zeldas usually have rubbish swimming but the metal boots make up for it. Super Mario 3D World had alright swimming. It at least let you stop and turn around pretty easily. Ummm... that's all I can think of. None of those I listed were perfect but they at least (apart from Zelda) weren't frustrating.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Cool, I have Human Revolution but haven't played it yet. Will be sure to take note of the swimming when I do.
EastOfEden
Member
Whoops, I meant DE1 (and Thief 1). Not sure if the newer games in those series have swimming.
mmhmm
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
Nice that Tropical Freeze is getting props for the swimming.
They'll never be the land sections but I thought the water world of the game was very well done and that the controls were about as good as they can be for such sections.
Retro don't fuck around when it comes to gameplay.
They'll never be the land sections but I thought the water world of the game was very well done and that the controls were about as good as they can be for such sections.
Retro don't fuck around when it comes to gameplay.
Maybe people read it and still wanted to talk about Tropical Freeze.
Wow, gamechanger.