Pikmin 2 has long been one of my top three favorite games of all time. Even though I haven’t played any of the other games, the series has held a special place in my heart. That is why, to celebrate tomorrow’s release of Pikmin 4 (and the return of caves to the series), I have decided to discuss one of the most infamous levels in the series – Submerged Castle from Pikmin 2.

For those unaware of how the series works, in each instalment you control one or more tiny alien astronauts (Olimar and Louie in Pikmin 2) as they explore a post-apocalyptic Earth. These astronauts typically need to collect objects – ship parts in Pikmin, treasure in Pikmin 2, and fruit in Pikmin 3 – but are unable to themselves due to their diminutive size. Thus, they need to captain swarms of native plant-like creatures called Pikmin to defeat monsters and achieve their goals. Each color of Pikmin has its own special ability, with blue being able to move in water, red being resistant to fire, white being resistant to poison, etc.

The series’ second instalment introduced caves to the series. Caves are underground levels, each consisting of one or more procedurally-generated sublevels, with a coherent theme, multiple treasures to find, and a boss at the end. Once you’ve completed a few caves, you generally have a good idea of how the rest are going to go. Until you reach Submerged Castle, that is.

Available to explore near the halfway point of the game, Submerged Castle has developed a well-deserved reputation as an edge-of-your-seat nailbiter. The first twist is discovered right off the bat – all of the possible threats in the game (fire, electricity, poison, and water) are present in the cave, but only blue Pikmin can enter. This alone would be enough to make the level quite annoying (especially as electricity can insta-kill any non-yellow Pikmin). But the game designers didn’t stop there. Everywhere you turn you end up triggering traps like falling rocks that can crush your Pikmin, bombs that blow up after only a few seconds, and hidden enemies. Even the music is extremely off-putting and creepy. None of that is the worst part, however.

If you spend longer than five minutes on any of the five sublevels – something that isn’t rare, given everything else you have to contend with – a creature known as the Waterwraith appears. A massive, humanoid, and invincible creature seemingly made out of water, it will roam around the level on large rollers, mercilessly hunting you down and crushing large swaths of Pikmin at a time. Combine all of this and you’ve got a level that is pretty much the closest I’ve encountered to video game Hell. To this day I consider beating the level twice without losing any Pikmin to be my greatest video game achievement. (Note: The following video is not me.)

Luckily, you do end the level with a bit of catharsis. On the final sublevel you are able to transform some of your blue Pikmin into purple Pikmin, which are able to stun the Waterwraith and allow you to destroy its rollers. This immediately turns the tables, leaving the Waterwraith completely harmless as it flees from you in terror. Even this can’t quite make up for the rest of the level, however.

That’s all for now. Have a great day, everyone!