History Main / DownTheDrain

* ''VideoGame/MissionImpossibleKonami'': Most of the first stage is spent exploring the massive sewers underneath Moscow to find the hidden Sinister Seven base. Naturally, [[SuperDrowningSkills falling into the water kills you,]] and there are multiple traps and a few PushyMooks trying to shove you in. Sewage pipes discharge at regular intervals over walkways, posing a hazard when crossing them.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and its mods:

** Many ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' games have sewer levels, though they're [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that the Ninja Turtles actually ''live'' in the sewers.

* There's a level in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' where you have to be [[RoaringRapids thrust along with the current]], through huge groups of [[MalevolentArchitecture spikes and nearly-invisible foes]] - right after a ''boss'' that occasionally forces you to drown if you're not careful enough, all while firing extremely damaging projectiles at you. Thankfully, you can save first. Unfortunately, if you screw up in this area or the prior boss, the best ending is {{Permanently Missable|Content}}.

** The underground caverns in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', being filled with deep water pits and rushing waterfalls and all.

* The Spring in the Sky in ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' is literally ''up'' the drain. And to get the item which prevents water from continuously damaging you, you have to do a little painful swimming first. You also need to buy a helmet first from a DungeonShop to have a chance to getting past the waterfalls, at which point, [[AmbushingEnemy Surprise Fish!]] The Tower of the Goddess doesn't appear to have water at first, but partway through you have to detour back to an earlier level to raise the water level. The swimming controls are not good.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae|2002}}'': The Dribble Fountain, which is some kind of aqueduct/sewer thing, is the very first dungeon.

* The second half of Lud's Gate, one of the most difficult areas in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII'', is a large underwater maze, compounded by the lack of air pockets and the clumsy controls of the UPV.

** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', certain sections of both [[JungleJapes Tallon Overworld]] and [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Phendrana Drifts]] are filled with pools of water. The Tallon Overworld section in particular requires you to traverse the crashed Frigate Orpheon from the beginning of the game with the Gravity Suit.

* ''[[VideoGame/JakIIRenegade Jak II]]'' and ''VideoGame/Jak3'' have you go into plenty of sewer sections in Haven City, often to either get around barriers or do dirty work for Krew. Even Daxter hates it when Krew sends them off down there, but mostly cause he'll be running around in a smelly sewer [[RunningGag without pants]]. You also go under the Port to meet up with Sig near the end of ''II'', the entire first section of which has you traveling through an underwater section in the resident MiniMecha.

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', being a Metroidvania, follows suit with the Royal Waterways under the City of Tears. It's not huge, but the mapmaker is easy to miss, making it easy to get lost in the winding pipes. But it redeems itself with the area boss, a bouncy, rollicking fight with a hammy dung beetle that lightens up a gloomy game.

* The sewer level in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' is generally considered to be pretty good, although mostly because the music is cool. The sewer/swimming level in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' was also reasonably inoffensive, since it helped you get between the Zanzibar Building and the Tower Building without having to get through Maze Wood and the deeply annoying Nariko Sand stage - but if your finger slipped, you could find yourself washing up on the wrong bank and having to backtrack a good half of the game with next to no health and a face full of mines. There's also Big Boss' escape from Groznjy Grad in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''; it is fairly short and the challenge mainly comes from the lack of equipment as opposed to typical sewer level mechanics.

A level that takes place in the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer sewers]] or a flooded building or some sort of hydraulic plant. Common mechanics of these levels include maze-like layouts, SuperDrowningSkills (or SuperNotDrowningSkills, depending on the game), narrow passages obstructed by [[DeadlyRotaryFan rotating propeller blades of death]], running water causing platforms to act like conveyor belts, and requiring the player to swim through sections of the level (sometimes the whole thing). Hitting switches to somehow divert the flow of water to flood or drain certain areas is also [[StockVideoGamePuzzle fairly common]].

* ''VideoGame/EdEddNEddyTheMisEdventures'': Scam 2 of the console version mostly has the Eds going thrugh the Cul-de-Sac sewers to sneak in to Jimmy's party. The Sewers are flooded with shallow water, and introduce sewer gator and clam enemies. One segment involves lowering the water levels to distract Jonny.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'': Mario is too tiny to enter the house in MacroZone through the front door, so he travels up the plumbing to emerge out of the kitchen sink.

* ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'': "Big Bungee Piranha's Lair". It's a waterlogged sewer with outdoors areas where Yoshi has to manipulate corridors whose positions can be toggled by pressing (or shooting at) color-coded switches, tackle an underground maze with ponds of water, and defeat a large Piranha Plant monster rooted from the ceiling.

* The Moaning Well level in ''VideoGame/NappleTale'' does not have any smelly sewage (it's a well; that would be unsanitary,) but it does involve a number of water level switches and a [[MinecartMadness water slide sequence]].

** The first game waited until the third episode of four to have a dedicated sewer level ("Raw Sewage", which thankfully isn't too bad), though it also has several times when you have to dive in more primitive outhouse pits. One such pit [[{{Squick}} connects to the aquifer leading to a lake]] and features an entrance to the FireAndBrimstoneHell you must pass through to get to Tchernobog.
** ''Blood II'', on the other Choking Hand, shoves you into one right in the fifth level of episode 1 ("Steam Tunnels"), which is [[MarathonLevel an annoyingly long]] but not extremely difficult area. The third level of episode 2 ("Sewage Treatment Plant") is mercifully a lot shorter, but also quite a bit harder, with several spots where Cabal's Fanatics wait in ambush with {{hitscan}} weaponry, including a Howitzer. Episode 2 also has "Love Canal", an older and more open style of sewer, [[BlackoutBasement with plenty of dark areas]]. At one point in the game, Caleb muses that, were he to obtain godlike power, one of his first steps would be to completely eliminate sewers from the universe.