Palmtree Panic

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The video game level version of Beach Episode—a level on the beach.

These levels are not entirely Under the Sea, but feature the edge of land and water. This can be an easy, fun and relaxing level in the style of a Beach Episode, but not always, since the beach can be dramatic. Expect palm trees, sand, fun Caribbean-style music and jetskis. May overlap with Gang Plank Galleon and/or Under the Sea, or located near a Port Town.

Compare the just-as-tranquil Green Hill Zone. There is considerable overlap between the two.

Examples of Palmtree Panic include:

Action Adventure

• Great Bay from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening- at the start of the game you must return to the beach you washed up on and search for your lost sword. This can actually be a remarkably difficult area for first-time players, as, well, you have no sword, and the use of the shield to push enemies is neither obvious nor explained.
  • A good deal of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker had this too.
• Shantae starts on the outskirts of the seaside village of Scuttle Town.
• Star Fox Adventures - Cape Claw.

Driving Game

• There are a few of these (such as Baroo Coast) in Star Wars Episode One Racer. They're a real pain, because sand noticeably slows you down (variable traction for antigravity generators?) and water just stops you outright.
  • It's not antigravity per se; repulsorlifts are pretty much reverse tractor beams, so they need a firm surface to push against.
• The Big Blue stages in F-Zero GX.
• Modnation Racers' track editor can let you make tracks in a beach area if you chose to go with a Seaside Setting.
• Many stages in the Mario Kart series are this: Koopa Beach in the SNES original, Koopa Troopa Beach in 64, Shy Guy Beach and Cheep-Cheep Island in Super Circuit, Peach Beach in Double Dash, Cheep Cheep Beach in DS, and Mario Beach in the Arcade GP games. So far, only the Wii version doesn't have a beach-themed track, though Daisy Circuit comes pretty close.

Fighting Game

• Rival Schools: United By Fate has the Gorin High Training Camp stage, which takes place on a sunny beach (complete with an ice-selling shack on the background).

First-Person Shooter

• The Beach in Water Warfare, where the copious damaging water and obstructions make the map difficult to navigate.

MMORPGs

• Reynard Beach and Zaylope Beach are two such examples in Ace Online, although the palm trees have probably been long vaporised by the ongoing war between Arlington and Bygeniou.
• The MMORPG Wonderland Online makes use of this trope in the starting areas.
• Maple Story has the Florina Beach area, filled with monkeys, crabs, and turtles.

Platform Game

• The Trope Namer comes from Sonic the Hedgehog CD, where it served as Green Hill Zone. The first level of Sonic Heroes and the tutorial of Sonic Rush Series Adventure count as well.
  • Even the original Green Hill Zone and its successors (Emerald Hill Zone, Sunset Hill Zone) have a coastline and palm trees in the background.
  • Emerald Coast Zone from Sonic Adventure.
  • Super Sonic in the picture above is flying into Sonic 3's Angel Island Zone.
    • Which makes it an odd choice of picture when you consider that the beach section of that level lasts for all of two seconds, and the rest of that level is more of a jungle (on fire!) than a beach.
      • It's weirder still when you remember that Angel Island is a floating land - so, unless that's just a very, very large lake that Sonic flies over, there shouldn't actually be the water to form a beach, let alone the beach itself.
        • Actually, considering that Angel Island crashes into the ocean at the beginning of the game, the water being there does make a little sense. The beach itself, however...
  • Wave Ocean from |Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.
  • Adabat from Sonic Unleashed is a cross between this trope, Jungle Japes and Temple of Doom.
  • There is also Neo Green Hill Zone in Sonic Advance, Resort Island in Sonic R, Emerald Coast and Balloon Park in Sonic Drift, and Emerald Coast in Sonic Battle. The list just never stops growing.
  • Tropical Resort Zone from Sonic Colors. The dirt even has the same texture as the ground in Palmtree Panic.
  • Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace from Sonic Heroes, which also appear in the Play Station 3/Xbox 360/PC version of Sonic Generations.
• The Super Mario Bros. series has plenty of these levels.
  • The non-Under the Sea levels of World 3 in Super Mario Bros 3 hinted at this, and the World Map gave off the theme with relaxing beach music, palmtrees and even a canoe.
  • Crescent Coast in Yoshi's Safari is one-third this and two-thirds Under the Sea.
  • Super Mario Galaxy combined several of its water levels with a beach filled with a recurring cast of penguins in a swimming class.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 has the Starshine Beach Galaxy.
  • Gelato and Sirena Beaches and the beach outside of Pinna Park from Super Mario Sunshine, albeit the latter two to a much lesser extent than the former.
  • Fourth world in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The original New Super Mario Bros. also has it as the third world.
• Half the levels of Plok consist of these.
• The Kirby series has plenty - Float Islands in the first game, Ripple Field in Dream Lands 2 and 3, Ice Cream Islands and Orange Ocean from Kirby's Adventure, the second stage of "Revenge of Meta Knight" and Aqualiss/Aquarius from Kirby Super Star, Illusion Islands in Kirby Super Star Ultra, the first and third levels of Aqua Star from Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, Olive Ocean from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (a cross between this and Under the Sea), the Water Top Ride course from Kirby Air Ride, and finally Secret Sea from Kirby Squeak Squad.
• Treasure Trove Cove in Banjo-Kazooie.
  • Jolly Roger's Lagoon and Nutty Acres in the sequels are both subversions; the former turns out to be just a small portion of a hidden Under the Sea level and the latter is a combination of Palmtree Panic with other level types.
• The Starting Beach in Tomba 2 (or Tombi 2, depending on a region).
• The Sanctuary of Water and Ice from Rayman 2: The Great Escape.
• Rice Beach in Wario Land is this, albeit with less water than most examples (until the tide comes in after beating the world boss) up to around level 4.
• Cool Spot began with a beach level.
  • And ended with one.
• Jett Rocket begins in one of these, called the Atoll. Strangely, the second level of the Atoll is a Death Mountain instead.
• The second world of Donkey Kong Country Returns, simply named "Beach", is set on DK Isle's tropical beach amid the wrecks of numerous ships (overlapping with Gang Plank Galleon). Crabs and squid abound.
• Ape Escape gives us the whole Oceana level set, with Crabby Beach, Coral Cave, and Dexter's Island (where the level takes place primarily inside a dinosaur).
• Bummin' It Beach is the beach level in The Fancy Pants Adventure: World 3.

Puzzle Game

• There's an entire Beach faction of Lemmings in Lemmings 2: The Tribes, with appropriate Macro Zone levels.

Role-Playing Game

• Chrono Cross: Opassa Beach.
• Kingdom Hearts has one of these both at the beginning and the end of the game.
• Final Fantasy XI has Bibiki Bay, Valkurm Dunes, and Buburimu Peninsula.
  • The first third or so of Final Fantasy X once you get out of Zanarkand is Palmtree Panic.
  • Let's not forget Final Fantasy XII's Phon Coast near Arcadia.
  • There's also Sunset Beach from Final Fantasy XIII.
• EarthBound has Summers, a beach resort town about midway through the game. It's quite a bit more relaxed in pace than the previous areas, though not safe - overzealous cops, muscled beach jocks, taxis and street signs are still out to get you, albeit at a low encounter rate. Also references overinflated prices at tourist resorts by jacking up the price on everything at shops.
• Wizardry 8 has Bayjin, a tropical-themed area inhabited by Rynjin.
• Mass Effect: Virmire. A beautiful beach area, completely unlike the desolate or otherwise depressing locations in the other main-quest missions up to that point, yet it's also one of the most dramatic locations in the game.
• Xenosaga gives us Pedea Island in the beginning of the third game, which really contrasts with the whole futuristic outerspace setting of the series.
• The Beach Stretch of Gal Da Val in Phantasy Star Online Episode II.
• Plack Beach in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story has an inexplicable minor tooth-decay theme. (enemies in the area include Pokey variants made of teeth, obese Goombas with lollypops, and drill crabs)

Shoot'Em Up

• Blastnya in Heavy Weapon combines this with Remilitarized Zone. Amusingly, you can see sunbathers relaxing on the beach even when it's raining bombs.

Simulation Game

• Rollercoaster Tycoon had a few: Bumbly Beach, Big/Paradise Pier (1 & 2), Haunted Harbor and Dragon Cove.

Sports Game

• Backyard Baseball has the Boardwalk.

Wide Open Sandbox

• Vice City in the Grand Theft Auto series.

1. ↑ Clockwise from top left: Wario Land 4, Plok, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA), Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and Parodius Da!