Now, let me start out by saying this is for games with swimming in three dimensions. We know that swimming is bearable in most 2D games that require it. I personally believe Super Mario World managed to master 2D swimming, as you can use the D-pad to adjust your vertical speed quite nicely in one particular Forest of Illusion level.

So yes, are there any 3D games that you think did quite nicely at the controls for swimming? Are there any games that you think mastered it such that anyone could pick up a controller and do it well?

My personal answer is no. I haven't found a single game that did swimming well enough. The only few that I can think of that did (mostly on Nintendo 64) did very poorly at managing the camera while swimming, so that cancelled out any praise I had going for those games.

Well this certainly isn't the thread for me, screw EVERY SINGLE water level in every game.

-Super Mario Sunshine had decent swimming as well as perfect camera controls. It was greatly augmented with the Turbo Nozzle as well. But then again, swimming isn't even important.

-Super Mario Galaxies 1 and 2 pretty much functioned like Super Mario 64, only with the spin (which depleted air, so it wasn't useful.) I think this game has the best mechanic in the form of shells which are like AMAZING underwater.

-Skyward Sword's controls were simple and fluid. I guess in theory it should've worked well using the Wii Motion Plus to sync with Link. But the freakin' spin is so OUTRAGEOUS you just lose all control. Not to mention air is drained a lot faster... it's like Galaxy on drugs.

-I think Crazy Taxi is unique in its own right because you can perform pretty darn well underwater in a game where that should be physically impossible.

Zelda-Twilight princess did well on swimming for the gamecube version. (i only got far as up to the water dungeon though)

But right now thats the game i can think of.

Well I saw the title of the thread, so I threw my 3DS games in the bathtub to see if they could swim. They floated around a little bit so I guess they can.

*read forum posts*

Oh, well I guess I just destroyed my games for nothing.

I seriously don't understand this thread at all though because at what is swimming in a video game even "good" if its terrible in nearly every video game.

In my experience there is one game that comes to mind with good swimming mechanics. The swimming in Major'S Mask was smooth, easy and didnt make it a huge pain.