The Ocean Depths

The Ocean Depths is an anomalous level that can either be accessed by entering a body of water or otherwise entering a water level. It is described as a seemingly endless body of water with seemingly nothing in sight. It is very dark, making it hard to see anything. There is also usually no sound effects or music in this level except for the player swimming.

Several people have reported feeling uneasy upon entering this level, likely due to the empty nature of the level. Notably, it is also noted that it is usually impossible to exit the level through the pause menu. The only way to exit the level is to drown, otherwise die, or find an exit.

Some reports have stated that, upon swimming far enough, there is a rock wall with a large cave. This can either lead back to Princess Peach's Castle, Cavern of the Unagi, crash the game, or contain a Unagi that would attack the player and block entry of the cave.

This Unagi has been reported to be larger than the one seen in Jolly Roger Bay, and do enough damage to instantly kill the player, though it simply swims around in a similar pattern to it's movement in Jolly Roger Bay. The Unagi, however, has been reported to chase the player down and attack them.

It is believed the Ocean Depths were either scrapped due to being considered "too scary", or the A.I. created it to test water physics. The Unagi, however, is unexplained, though it was potentially planned to be a boss fight or chase sequence.

Report 1
(This report was found in a now cancelled radio podcast. The fates of the reporter and owners of the podcast are currently unknown.)

''Okay, I was swimming in the Castle Grounds lake. This was in 1996, by the way, when I was a kid. And then I just... GOT TELEPORTED INTO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN AN OCEAN? I was inside of a cage. I saw NOTHING besides water and the cage. Just as the health meter hit red, I saw a massive eel charge towards me and then the game crashed! That was terrifying!''