9 Best Beach Levels In Gaming

Summer. A time for fun in the sun, heatstroke, and of course beaches. Seeing that the idea of going outside in the current British heat sounds just awful though, I think I'll stick to virtual beaches.

Luckily there are plenty to choose from. Many developers probably find the idea of a beach pretty appealing whilst they're stuck inside programming so a lot of games end up with a seaside level.

A beach area might be one of the hardest level types to pull off. They're usually a mix of traditional gameplay which takes place in an area that’s usually a large stretch of nothing but sand, and many video game beaches double up as water levels which are notoriously bad most of the time.

The gorgeous beach aesthetic often comes with the caveat of swimming controls. But not all water levels are bad, not every beach level focuses on or even contains swimming, and sometimes the idea of a beach is just so appealing that we can put up with some bad swimming controls.

Sometimes, the idea of a large stretch of nothing but sand sounds pretty nice.

Practically every level from Super Mario Sunshine could be included on this list. The game is entirely beach themed so other than the likes of Pinata Village, Bianco Hills, and Corona Mountain all of the levels are relevant to this article.

Sirena Beach for example manages to mix the beach-side resort theme with the spooky haunted mansion theme, something that isn't done enough, it's awesome.

Ricco Harbor gives you a number of difficult yet rewarding platforming challenges as well as a race in the water.

Pinna Park is a seaside amusement park that lets you go on a rollercoaster. What could be better than that?

Whilst some levels are technically better, Gelato Beach is the most beach-y.

Gelato Beach is mostly just beach. It has a lot of fun seaside activities to conquer like diving in a coral reef, going for a run, and exploring a giant sandcastle - something that we've all done, right?

Gelato Beach does have some annoying objectives in it like the sand bird and pushing that bloody watermelon, but those annoying objectives are not enough to damper a beautiful beach level where you can spend hours just chilling on the shores, swimming around having fun, and searching for the many secrets.