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What was the first water level in a platformer? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 week ago by frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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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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[-] xyzzy@lemmy.today 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[-] who@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago

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

[-] seppesai@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago

Jungle Hunt was '82.

[-] who@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

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

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week 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

[-] who@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

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

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Sub Hunt, Frogger, White Water

[-] who@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

Water, sure, but none of those are platformers.

[-] KnitWit@lemmy.world -2 points 1 week ago

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

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

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

this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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