Underground Level: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Underground levels, carved out of endless expanses of rock, are among the favorites of video game designers, primarily because they can shape these tunnels and cavities to any sizes, shapes and lengths they desire without having to resort to the [[Insurmountable Waist High Fence]].

Visitors may encounter [[Bottomless Pits]], falling rocks, stalactites, breakable walls, [[Fungus Humongous|giant mushrooms]], [[Lethal Lava Land|lava]], an [[Under the Sea|underground lake]], and/or [[Minecart Madness|minecarts]]. [[Goddamned Bats]] abound, and watch out for the [[Underground Monkey|monkeys]]. Visitors will probably ''not'' encounter stalag''mites'', because game designers prefer flat, uninterrupted floors for the characters and enemies to walk along (though stalagmites may show up from time to time as the cavernous version of [[Spikes of Doom]]). The music often gets more low-key and adds drums and bass.

 

 

An extremely common variant is the crystal cave, featuring quartz and precious gems wall-to-wall. No one ever considers mining them out, because they're just there to look [[Rule of Cool|cool]]. And wouldn't you know it, sometimes the crystals are [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|ice crystals]].

 

== [[Literature]] ==

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The first two ''[[Avernum]]'' computer games take place entirely underground, and there are underground parts in all the others.

* Glitter Gulch Mine from ''Banjo-Tooie''.

** These are recurring locales in the series. Underground prisons are also common.

** The Outer Wall appears to be outside the caves, although it's always night there, whereas it's daytime up on the balcony.

* Chimp Caverns from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'', with various other areas also qualifying.

** Occasionally subverts the "there's always" light, with levels that require you to free a parrot to carry a lantern for you, giving you an annoying flashlight-style lit area. Other stages are lit by torch light and thus have normal lighting.

** ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 3'', however, took a bit of a step backwards, with more generic cave levels taking the stage. The music did sound pretty nice though, whether you went with the SNES or GBA versions.

* The ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]'' games manage to cross this level with [[Under the Sea]] several times. At one point the severely reduced visibility is actually acknowledged, and the use of Ecco's sonar is required to get through.

* The Underworld in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] II'' is [[Hailfire Peaks|half this and half]] [[Big Boo's Haunt]].

* Brinstar, the beginning cave area from many ''[[Metroid]]'' games.

** Most of the first ''[[Metroid]]'' game is divided between Brinstar (caves) and Norfair ([[Lethal Lava Land|lava caves]]).

** Later games mix things up with Marida ([[Down the Drain|flooded caves]]), Phendrana Drifts ([[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|frozen caves]]), and the Phazon Mines ([[Green Rocks|irradiated caves]]).

** Metroid tends to be either underground or in a space station, aside from some of the areas in the Prime series. Almost the entirety of both Super and Zero Mission (remake of the first game, which lacked the outside part in ZM) are underground in Zebes.

* Too many in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' games to name them all- each game seems to feature at least 3, and [[Hailfire Peaks|at least one]] is an [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|ice cave]], and another one is pitch black and requires the Flash power to navigate with any accuracy. Victory Road is always among them, however.

** ''Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum'' have a set of underground passages filled with treasure that spans the '''entire region'''

* Mystic Cave Zone from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]] 2''.

** Skeleton Dome from ''Sonic and the Secret Rings''.

** Coral Cave in ''Sonic Rush Adventure'', [[Hailfire Peaks|mixing it up with]] [[Under the Sea]]. And it's very pretty.

** Crystal Cave from ''Sonic and the Black Knight''.

** Underground Zone and Gimmick Mountain from Sonic 2 8-bit.

** The second half of Flame Core in Sonic 06, similar style to Red Mountain, and also Lava Reef from Sonic and Knuckles. And the 2P level Endless Mine in Sonic 3.

* ''[[Young Merlin]]'' has a cave system with mine carts. There are passages everywhere between various cave entrances--you just step in the entrance and get transported to a different cave entrance somewhere else. Unless you step into the cave entrance and get killed by a bunch of creatures with evil eyes (the only thing you ever see). As far as this editor can determine, choice of movement and chance of death are completely random.

* The Hollow from ''[[Primal Rage]]''.

* The first ''[[Ultima Underworld]]'' game in its entirety.

* The entire setting of ''[[Manic Miner]]'' ([[Captain Obvious|duh]]).

* All of ''[[Touhou]] Project: Subterranean Animism'' is like this as the plot requires the characters to investigate a disturbance coming from the underground.

** Except the extra stage, which revisits a location from the previous game. <ref> the Moriya Shrine. Which also happens to be the location of the previous game's extra stage.</ref>

* This is arguably the most common type of dungeon in [[The Elder Scrolls]].

* The first and second chapters of the Hordes of the Underdark expansion for [[Neverwinter Nights]] are (except for the very start) spent underground.

* ''[[Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'' has a number of mines and underground cities to explore, usually infested with [[Breakable Weapons|weapon-eating]] golems and corrisive blobs.

* ''Athena'' has World of Cavern as the second level.

 

{{reflist}}