10 Weird Locations and Levels From Computer Games (Part 2)
This was a continuation of a list of weird locations and levels from computer games. The items included in the list were from games I had personally played and considered weird. The entries were not placed in any order.
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5. Ikana Canyon from Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Ikana Canyon was the strangest area in Termina, the setting for Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, partly because it was unusually unsettling.
The road to Ikana Canyon led from Clock Town, between stone pillars (that were decorated to resemble strange creatures) to a mountainous area. The road then led between rocky cliffs and was obstructed by fences and large, fallen pillars, that also resembled creatures.
One area of Ikana Canyon contained a river and a steep cliff face that the player climbed to reach Ikana Village on the top. The town consisted of a few ancient, round buildings, made from stone, and a ruined castle. In the middle of the town, on a dried riverbed, was a brightly painted, wooden house that resembled a music box. To reach the castle, the player had to navigate an underground maze, which was dark, damp and built with stone. The castle itself was elaborately decorated with bright colours, that seemed to have faded, and some of the rooms seemed to be designed to be grand, although some of the structure seemed to have decayed, which created an impression of faded splendor.
Following the river in Ikana Canyon led to the secret shrine. This shrine did not seem to have any religious use, instead it consisted of a series of caves that were decorated in a weird manner. The doors found in the shrine were painted with a design that resembled either a map or a dragon, with a heart also visible. The rooms in the shrine were also decorated with heart shaped items that had 3 holes in them that seemed to resemble a face, with the holes that looked like eyes also lined with red (like blood), and were shown to hang from wooden beams by rope.
Another area of Ikana Canyon was a graveyard. The graveyard consisted of 2 linked fields, that contained stone gravestones (which seemed to have round heads like ghosts), stone pillars (with lanterns attached) and strange structures that created a barrier made of fire. A path led through both fields, under a stone bridge, around a hill, over the same bridge and ended in a platform. The bridge was instantly destroyed when a giant stalchild was awoken underneath it, so the reason it was built was a mystery. Part of the bridge also functioned as the grave keeper’s home, which consisted of a single room. Underneath the headstones were holes that led underground. Underneath the graveyard were a series of tunnels that led to grand and elaborately decorated rooms, some of which were brightly coloured.
The dungeon, that was located in Ikana Canyon, was the Stone Tower Temple, which was an enigmatic structure. The Stone Tower, which contained the temple, resembled a huge, stone cactus and could be seen throughout Termina, seemingly looming above the horizon. Link entered Stone Tower by running up a slope and walking through an opening that resembled the mouth of a strange creature. The inside of Stone Tower was hollow, except for some platforms, and had no roof. The tops of the platforms seemed to be covered with a material that looked like straw and the walls were covered in black squares framed by a light brown material. The entrance to Stone Tower Temple was set in a huge wooden structure, that was painted with muted colours, and resembled a face. The Stone Tower Temple itself seemed to be built using grey and brown stone and decorated with symbols that resembled a claw or an insect, with some odd symbols painted on the stone structure. Unlike other Temples in the Legend of Zelda series, many of the rooms in the temple did not have ceilings, so the grey sky was seen above. The unique feature of this temple was that the player was able to turn the world upside down while completing it, which created an interesting visual as the sky was visible underneath Link and the player was able to fall into it. It was also unusual to consider that, while the player was walking along the roof of the upside down temple, it was actually located at the highest part of Termina. Unusually, the player did not fight the boss in a room in the temple, instead the player seemed to enter a portal that led to a separate area, which also had a strange design, where they fought the boss, Twinmold, using a mask that can only be used for this specific battle.
A sense of ruin and death permeated Ikana Canyon. Many of the inhabitants of the location were undead, such as Gibdos, Re-Deads, ghosts and Stalchilds, with only 4 living people residing in the area, which created a sense of isolation. The surroundings consisted of bare rock and ruined buildings and the only trees were dead. A family, consisting of a scientist and his daughter, lived in the ruined village, but the father had transformed into a frightening creature and was locked in a cupboard. Garos were present, who were warriors, whose presence was signaled by a sense of a “thirst for blood” and seemed to appear while Link wore the Garo mask. The emblem, which the player used to turn Termina upside-down, was described as “blood soaked”. The underground maze was filled with Gibdos, who seemed to wait in the darkness and made demands when the player approached them. If the player approached Re-Deads while wearing the Garo or Gibdo masks, the Re-Deads performed strange dances, which seemed macabre. While exploring the underground maze, the player obtained the mirror shield, however, unlike the mirror shield found in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time game, this item was decorated with a face showing a horrified expression.
Weirdly, as well as an atmosphere of horror, Ikana Canyon also seemed to present with a sense of sadness. It was sad to watch Pamela, the young girl, attempt to survive in the hostile environment, while trying to keep her transformed father safe. The ghost of the composer Sharp harmed Link with his music when the player entered the spring he inhabited, however, if the player played the Song of Storms, which the ghost of Flat (Sharp’s brother) taught the player when they entered the room where Flat had been locked away and died, Sharp’s anger subsided. After defeating the giant Stalchild, the player learnt he used to be the commander of the Ikana Army, who stayed in the graveyard after his defeat in battle, and his last order was to tell his loyal, former shoulders, who remained in the graveyard with their fallen commander, that the war was over. After the player defeated him in battle, the former King of Ikana Kingdom stated that greedy squabbling led to the downfall of his kingdom. Interestingly, after the player defeated them, many of the former residents of Ikana Canyon recognised that they did not belong there and should have left the land, which created a sense of finality and added to the atmosphere of sadness.
Strangely, completing the Stone Tower Temple did not result in the usual effect that occurred whenever dungeons were completed in the Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask game. When the player explored the other regions of Termina, it was obvious how the Skull Kid had affected the area and the harm was removed when the nearby temple was completed. In Ikana Canyon, however, the effect was less pronounced. While interacting with the various characters that inhabited the canyon, it was discovered that the ghosts appeared after the Skull Kid opened the doors of Stone Tower, which inflicted a curse on Ikana Canyon and the ghosts. After the player completed Stone Tower Temple, Link saw a weird light glowing in the town before it moved towards the sky and caused another light to appear, however, this seemed to have no effect on Ikana Canyon as the ghosts still remained and there was no difference to the area. After the player completed the temples found in the other areas of Termina, they were able to access challenges that, after they were completed, allowed the player to obtain new equipment. It was odd that completing Stone Tower Temple did not offer any new challenges or new equipment, which seemed to emphasise that completing the dungeon had no effect on Ikana Canyon.
4. Golden Temple from Donkey Kong Country Returns
Most of Kong Island, the setting for Donkey Kong Country Returns, consisted of grounded areas with cartoon-like designs. While completing the game, the player explored a jungle, ruins, mines, a volcano, etc. If the player fulfilled a set criteria, however, they were allowed to enter the Golden Temple, which was a very surreal location.
After selecting the level, the player walked up the steps of a golden pyramid structure. Some coloured stones were used to unlock and open a large door and the heroes entered a narrow passage built from stone. The heroes reached a large room, filled with palm trees, that contained a stone path. The heroes followed the path and climbed some steps that led to the top of a platform located in the middle of the room. Two large, golden statues of Donkey Kong were situated either side of the platform and were positioned so that they were raising their fists towards each other. A large, golden banana floated in the air between the 2 statues. The heroes pulled the banana down to the ground and peeled some of it’s skin off, which caused a bright light to appear. Weirdly, the heroes started to eat the unusual fruit. The heroes then glowed before disappearing in a shower of sparks.
The heroes then appeared in an extremely strange area. The ground was far below and the player had to jump onto floating platforms, which were made of stone and covered with grass and moss, to reach the end of the level. The platforms also seemed to slowly move up and down and rock from side to side. At one point, a cascade of water seemed to fall from above, hit a platform and fall to the ground below (it was not clear where the water was flowing from). The background consisted of a bright blue sky with white clouds, that were dark underneath, and strange, giant bananas were nestled in the clouds, which seemed to emphasise that the level took place high in the sky.
The level began with the heroes travelling through a portal to reach a floating island (made from stone) with an archway, that was decorated with 2 palm trees, and 2 large bananas placed on either side of the archway. The level ended with the player reaching a floating island, that was decorated with 2 large bananas and 2 stone palm trees, which was positioned underneath a huge stone ring. The player entered a barrel, which launched the heroes into another barrel, which launched them into another barrel and then they were repeatedly launched into the 3 barrels in succession, which caused a huge stone island to rise up into the sky. The island resembled a stone pyramid, with a monkey’s head that wore a headdress which consisted of 7 bananas, placed on the top and 3 palm trees positioned on either side. The ending of the level was strange, particularly as the player retrieved an object at the end, which was different to the other levels in the game.
The level also seemed to feature fruit. The player was able to jump onto huge bananas, strawberries and blackberries that floated in the air and some of the fruit also seemed to move. Large cherries on sticks were present throughout the level, which seemed to sway from side to side. If the player jumped on the cherry, they then needed to jump off the fruit before it suddenly exploded. In some areas, large oranges fell from the sky and, if they made contact with the player while they were jumping through the air, they caused the player to fall down. Some of the bananas also seemed rotate in the air, so the player had to jump on them at certain points of the rotation and then jump off again before the banana’s movements caused them to fall down.
The level also featured Tiki Seekers. These enemies were not found in any other level in the game and were unusual. The Tiki Seekers suddenly appeared, seemingly through a portal, fired a projectile and then disappeared. The creatures increased the difficulty of the level as they appeared suddenly (so the player could not anticipate their attack), they fired a projectile when the player was standing on small platforms (which made the attack difficult to dodge) and many of them could appear at the same time and launch simultaneous attacks.
The level was very difficult to access, which caused it to seem stranger. To access the Golden Temple level, the player needed to collect every letter (which spelt KONG) in each level, which allowed access to the temples found in each area. Completing the temple allowed the player to obtain an orb and, after completing all 8 temples, the player could use the 8 orbs to open the door to the Golden Temple. The temples were very difficult to complete. The Golden Temple itself was very hard to navigate, because the level mostly consisted of jumping onto small platforms while avoiding attacks by the suddenly appearing Tiki Seekers. Completing the Golden Temple allowed the player to access Mirror Mode, which featured the same levels as the default mode of the game (including the Golden Temple level itself), but was even more difficult because the player was only given 1 piece of health to complete each level. The creators of the game, therefore, set a number of difficult challenges to allow the player to enter the Golden Temple, which, after they had completed this hard level, gave the opportunity to experience an even more difficult version of the game, including the Golden Temple, which seemed very strange.
3. Floating Islands from Tomb Raider 2
During Tomb Raider 2, Lara Croft witnessed an unusual ceremony. Marco Bartolli, Lara’s enemy, was standing on a podium and wearing only a pair of black trousers. While 4 of his underlings chanted, he held the Dagger of Xion in his hand and then plunged it into his chest. Marco fell backwards, where he was caught by the 4 men, who carried him through a large doorway. Lara followed Marco into another room where he transformed into a huge dragon.
The above was a description of what should have happened during the game. Instead, Lara followed the group of men through the doorway and into the Floating Islands level.
The Floating Islands level consisted of a group of islands, made of stone and a weird glowing, green material, that seemed to float in the air. Some of the islands even had trees growing on them. Blackness seemed to cover the ground underneath the islands and the background consisted of a band of grey light, which resembled sunlight blocked by clouds, visible against blackness, which caused the level to appear to be very dark. Ancient Chinese buildings were present throughout the level, including a stone wall decorated with a dragon and a large building that was accessed by a bridge. While completing the level, the player entered a building, built with green stone, that was decorated with elaborate carvings and some of it’s walls and floors seemed to be made of fire. At one point, the player needed to dive through a trap door, located in the middle of a floor covered in fire, to reach a waterlogged room underneath, which had a ceiling made of fire that did not appear to make Lara hotter. The enemies in this level were large warriors, armed with ancient weapons, that were able to fly so that they could reach the player.
One of the strangest aspects of this level was it’s location. Lara clearly entered the Floating Islands level through a door in the Temple of Xian, which was located underground and beneath the Great Wall of China, however, the level seemed to be set above a large chasm and the surroundings were empty for a large distance in each direction. Before entering the Floating Islands level, Lara watched as Marco Bartolli’s unconscious body was carried into a doorway on the shoulders of a group of men, however, these men must have somehow navigated the islands because Marco was found in a chamber within one of the buildings.
2. Tetsuo’s Games from Red Steel
The Red Steel game resembled an action thriller. This game was a shooter set in Tokyo and featured levels set in realistic areas, such as nightclubs, hotels, mansions, etc. The Tetsuo’s Games level, however, was very different to the rest of the levels and used a strange design.
During the Red Steel game, Scott (the hero) had to reunite the leaders of a Yakuza gang to prevent Tokai (the villain) from dominating the gang. It was actually interesting how the different leaders were located in different areas of Tokyo and were responsible for different illegal enterprises, as well as the unique reasons that they no longer helped their old gang. It was also interesting how each level that featured the leaders used an individual setting based on the character’s responsibility. Tetsuo Mishimi was responsible for gambling, however, since Sato (the main leader) left Tokyo, Tetsuo arranged illegal fights, with some speculation that his mental health had deteriorated. The player had to enter a fight to convince Tetsuo to return to his gang.
The Tetsuo’s Games level started in an ordinary way, the player was standing on a street in the Pachinko District of Tokyo and had to enter a nearby Pachinko arcade that Tetsuo used as a base of operations. The arcade itself was dimly lit and coloured with different shades of grey, with the rooms on the higher floors filled with more luxurious furniture and decorations. There wasn’t anything strange about the arcade, except for a curtain that resembled a door and men dressed as female sailor or schoolgirl characters from an anime film. The player reached the roof of the arcade, where they were met by one of Tetsuo’s employees, who gave them a mobile phone that was connected to Tetsuo. After listening to the gangster, the player was then blindfolded.
Scott then woke in a wooden cabin, seemingly located in the middle of a field during a snowstorm, that contained a rabbit statue, which spoke with Tetsuo’s voice. Tetsuo challenged the player to complete the fighting area. The player escaped the cabin, only to discover that fake snow was being blown across the area by a fan and the background was only a backdrop. The rest of the level became increasingly surreal.
The player reached a room that resembled a mountainside, with a slope covered in snow, functioning cable cars that resembled penguins, wooden huts and a restaurant that was accessed by a tunnel that seemed to lead through white rock. The player also explored a room that was designed to resemble the Arctic, with glowing, white floats that moved along rails, statues of penguins and polar bears, dim lighting, a floor that resembled ice, a background that consisted of bright stars among blackness and an igloo surrounded by a pair of Inuits, whose smiles appeared malevolent in the glow of the igloo. The player also traveled along a dark tunnel, at a fast speed, on a vehicle that resembled a UFO, with the walls decorated black with glowing planets and stars. Ghost-like things appeared in the air during the journey. Another room resembled a swamp, with items and enemies hidden inside giant eggs, mist floating in the air, walls resembling rock and the ground covered with grass and large plants. The final room of the level consisted of a metal catwalk above a glowing floor, with the walls decorated black with glowing stars and glowing planets suspended from the ceiling.
Outside of the themed rooms, the rest of the level resembled an industrial structure. Dim, narrow corridors led between rooms and metal doors were used. The corridors were also filled with boxes, which made them seem like storage areas. There was even a strange area that resembled a scene from a horror film. The power was not activated in the area, therefore, many of the rooms were badly lit, so that the statues that were placed there seemed eerie, which created a sense of suspense. Some of the rooms were even pitch-black, with only a few lights and brightly coloured items visible. As the player walked through this area, they could even see men running into rooms and across corridors, which added to the sense of fear. Some of the themed rooms also contained objects, such as roulette machines and crates, placed on the ground, which made it seem like they were also used to store things. Metallic walls were visible between the strips of wallpaper that were used to create the backgrounds of the themed rooms, which made it seem that little effort was used to decorate them.
To fit the themes of the different rooms, the enemies were dressed in unusual costumes. Many men were dressed as female sailors or schoolgirls from anime films. Inside the rooms that were pitch black, the enemies wore black outfits that covered their bodies and the only visible part were round, white discs placed on their faces. Other enemies wore green dinosaur costumes, which covered their entire bodies, including one enemy that stood against the wall of one corridor and seemed to wait for the player to walk past (although his status as an enemy was signaled by the appearance of the knife symbol, which allowed the player to slash his body). 4 swordsmen also challenged the player, who appeared in puffs of coloured smoke and wore catsuits (decorated with the same colour as the smoke that suggested their arrival) and motorbike helmets. The swordsmen were armed with glowing rods.
The level also prominently featured white rabbits. Rabbit heads decorated barrels that were found throughout the game. The barrels, which were filled with fireworks, harmed the player if they hit them while travelling on the UFO or if they exploded next to them, however, if the player shot the barrels, they exploded and created a short fireworks display. Lamps, in the shape of rabbit heads, provided light in some of the dark rooms and large rabbit statues were found throughout the level, including in the pachinko arcade. I was unable to determine if the white rabbit decorations were used because Tetsuo viewed Scott as a rabbit being hunted by hunters or if it was a reference to the Alice in Wonderland novel.
The local leader, Tetsuo, was also unusual compared to the leaders based in the other areas of Tokyo. In the other levels, Scott would meet the gang leader in person and they would briefly speak to him before the player convinced them to help their gang. Tetsuo, however, spoke to the player through the rabbit statues positioned throughout the level and appeared in an animated sequence at the end, so he was more present than the other leaders, but he was only seen for a short amount of time. Weirdly, the player learnt that he watched monster films as a child, which meant they learnt more about his background than the other senior members of the gang.
The Tetsuo’s Games level was also a familiar type of level found in shooter games. At the beginning of the level, the player lost all the guns and ammunition they had collected during the game so far, which meant they had to accumulate weaponry from nothing. A lot of games used this feature and it can be irritating.
The level ended with a picture showing the building that the level took place in. The building seemed to consist of a large, sloping roof propped up by girders and decorated by rabbit heads, which did not fit the level design.
1. Sarasaland from Super Mario Land
For many years, I believed the story for Super Mario Land was thus: Mario was searching for Princess Peach (it took a while for me to realise that he said “Oh! Daisy!” when he met the princess). Mario started in Egypt, where he ran along sandy ground, among palm trees and pyramids, before entering a pyramid (decorated with hieroglyphics) and fought a Sphinx. Mario then flew, using a UFO, to the Pacific Ocean and explored a number of islands before using a submarine to enter the water and fight a seahorse. Mario then reached Rapa Nui (or Easter Island), which was decorated with huge Moai, and fought a number of living Moai, before running through a cave. Mario then traveled to East Asia to continue his quest. Tall bamboo shoots and distant mountains were present and the player fought enemy ninjas. The player flew into the sky in an aeroplane and fought a huge cloud and an alien. After defeating the alien, Mario found the princess and the 2 characters entered Mario’s aeroplane and flew away.
I later learnt that Mario was rescuing Princess Daisy, not Princess Peach, and that he was exploring a location called Sarasaland, not Earth. The different areas that the player explored were actually the 4 kingdoms of Sarasaland, named Birabuto, Muda, Easton and Chai.
Despite the seemingly grounded locations, there were some odd aspects of the level design. The first level of Muda consisted of jumping onto hills that seemed to rise from a sea and running along floating platforms. The second Muda level was made up of blocks, that formed platforms, and included an invisible path, which was suspended in the air above the ocean, that the player could walk along to access a tunnel underneath the main road. UFOs were present on the seabed of the third level set in Muda, which was located underwater. The player left a cave and entered the third Easton level, which consisted of platforms floating in the sky and a background that included columns with Moai on top. This level ended with the player entering what appeared to be a building, which was made of stone and lit by torches. The player also appeared to enter a building, made of tiles, during the second level set in Chai.
As well as areas that resembled regions of Earth, Sarasaland seemed to be inhabited by enemies found in other Mario games. A creature, which resembled a Koopa Trooper (with it’s upright body bearing a shell), walked along the ground, although it exploded after being harmed. Small enemies, that resembled the mushroom-like Goombas, also harmed Mario. Strange launchers appeared from pipes and fired bullets that appeared to be Bullet Bills. Plants, with teeth that bit Mario, appeared from the ends of pipes, like Piranha Plants. These characters, however, were not the same enemies that were found in other games, instead they were completely different creatures, named Nokobon, Chlblbo, Gira and Pakkun Flower respectively. As well as the familiar looking enemies, other creatures indigenous to Sarasaland were also unusual. While completing the game, the player encountered robots that used their heads to attack Mario, bees that dropped spears, leaping mice, etc.
What did you think of the list? Were there other locations and levels that could have been added? Please add suggestions below.
moresleepneeded 