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What was the first water level in a platformer? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I think Super Mario Bros might have been the first. Might depend on what counts as a "platformer" or a "water level".

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[-] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Jump Bug (late 1981) is the earliest. It has an entirely underwater level, and the car moves more slowly in it. It was also one of the earliest platformers, beaten only by Donkey Kong (mid 1981) and a couple others.

Super Mario Bros. (1985) introduced a significantly different mechanic for its water levels from the rest of the game, specifically swimming, and it was about a bajillion times more popular than Jump Bug. But it wasn't the first.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

Anybody have one that predates Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984)?

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Jungle Hunt was '82.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Huh... I see swimming through water in this video, but I don't see platforms.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

A lot of water levels in Platformers have swimming instead of platforms like the entire rest of the game does

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Sure, but I don't see platforms anywhere in that particular game.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Sub Hunt, Frogger, White Water

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Water, sure, but none of those are platformers.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I’d call frogger a platformer, but the water aspect is only aesthetic. So disagree with OP on that but for different reasons.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Upvoted, but I'm not sure frogger counts. I haven't heard of the other two.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I'm worried that you may be a time-traveler with a gruge.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

If you mean "water level" as in where for an isolated level you're swimming, but not the entire game, super Mario Bros might be it

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Released in 1985, about a year and a half after Pitfall II.

this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
34 points (97.2% liked)

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