Here's a new bi-weekly feature that I'll be posting here: I (Heart) Great Design where I talk about some of the features and elements of games that have most impressed me and have stuck with me over the years.
So, in this first installment I would like to call out a particularily good level in a very overlooked game.
The Great Tower from the SNES game Skyblazer.
The Great Tower is the second to last level in the game and it is remarkable because it's a great example of a how to build a final area that culminates with you having to use everything you've learned about that game up to that point. This level features enemies from every area in the game and requires you to use every ability you've gained throughout the adventure.
It truly is the "Skyblazer final exam".
This is a design element that I believe should be in every game. Using the combined knowledge of everything you've encountered to overcome one final challenge, it's exactly how a game should build towards its conclusion.
Games that effectively pull this off: all of the games in the Legend of Zelda series.
The final dungeon in a Zelda game always requires you to use every piece of arsenal you've collected to get through. It's nice because it typically gives you another use for that all too specific item that was quite under-used throughout the game (I'm looking at you, Spinner).
Games that surprisingly don't: Metroid games (makes me so sad).
Actually, Metroid games almost always have disappointing final areas. The final area of a Metroid game is always a very linear, and straightforward experience (see: Tourian from Super Metroid or the Impact Crater from Metroid Prime), which is strange as this conflicts with the very nature of the rest of the game. These final areas very rarely require you to use an of your abilities either, they're the complete antithesis to what I'm pointing out in this entry.
It seems that Metroid can learn something from a 15 year old SNES game that hardly anyone has played. Or, (more likely), Metroid can learn from Zelda games...
Either way, I'd like to see more games use this kind of design in their endgame sequences.
The most recent example that I can think of is the Grandmaster Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2. I could write a whole 'nother entry about the Grandmaster Galaxy. In fact, I'm going to do just that.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Priorities and Principles
I've already decided. I'm buying Duke Nukem Forever on day one, no matter what. No matter what I hear, no matter what people say, no matter what I read. I'm getting that game.
Gaming is so important to me that this happens often. I buy most of my games completely out of principle. I ignore reviews and I don't listen to anyone's opinion. This hasn't been a foolproof system, either (far from it). I've made some very unfortunate purchases that I completely regret.
The most recent being Metroid: Other M, easily one of my least favourite games of all time. I could go on and on about how much I hate that game, but I'll save it for another time.
The point I want to make is, I don't think there's any conceivable scenario in which I wouldn't buy the latest Metroid game. I have committed myself to getting every Metroid game, period. I had my doubts about Other M leading up to release, but I got it anyway. Like I said, I do that a lot.
Back to Duke Nukem Forever; I am so psyched!
Do I think the game will be perfect? No.
Will it be revolutionary? No.
Do it look like the best game ever? No, not really.
Will it be fun? It sure does.
(Pro Tip: That last question is the most important!)
It's more of how important the game is to me. As a developer, I'm fascinated with its absolutely epic development time (in case you didn't know, various people have been working on this game for almost 15 years, it was originally supposed to be released in 1998). It's long been a running gag in the development community. I for one am really impressed and glad that Randy Pitchford and Gearbox Software (the guys who made Borderlands) stepped up to finish the job.
It is very important to me to show my support. How do you show support for a game? Well, the easiest way, of course, is to buy it!!
I have personal investment in the game, too. Duke Nukem 3D is one of my favourite games ever (top 20, probably, definitely top 30). I've been looking forward to this game for over 10 years.
Waiting for over 10 years... That's exactly what DNF's biggest problem will be: it's completely unrealistic expectations of game that's taken so long to come out. There's no way it'll live up to expectations. As long as people don't resent the game too much for this, I think it'll do fine.
Lastly, I will say that I've been keeping up to date on all of the reveals, new trailers, and gameplay info. I think the game looks great! It looks like a lot of fun. Anyone who complains about the violence, nudity and fart/dick jokes just doesn't understand what Duke Nukem is. It's part of the game's identity, not the character's.
If everything I saw made me think that the game looked terrible, I probably wouldn't be so inclined to get it. But the game looks good, and that's enough for me (some of the time). In the end, that's all the game has to be: good. Not every game needs to be on the same level as Fallout 3 or Super Mario Galaxy.
So, On June 14th, I'll finish off my last piece of gum and be ready to go get some!
Who's with me?
Gaming is so important to me that this happens often. I buy most of my games completely out of principle. I ignore reviews and I don't listen to anyone's opinion. This hasn't been a foolproof system, either (far from it). I've made some very unfortunate purchases that I completely regret.
The most recent being Metroid: Other M, easily one of my least favourite games of all time. I could go on and on about how much I hate that game, but I'll save it for another time.
The point I want to make is, I don't think there's any conceivable scenario in which I wouldn't buy the latest Metroid game. I have committed myself to getting every Metroid game, period. I had my doubts about Other M leading up to release, but I got it anyway. Like I said, I do that a lot.
Back to Duke Nukem Forever; I am so psyched!
Do I think the game will be perfect? No.
Will it be revolutionary? No.
Do it look like the best game ever? No, not really.
Will it be fun? It sure does.
(Pro Tip: That last question is the most important!)
It's more of how important the game is to me. As a developer, I'm fascinated with its absolutely epic development time (in case you didn't know, various people have been working on this game for almost 15 years, it was originally supposed to be released in 1998). It's long been a running gag in the development community. I for one am really impressed and glad that Randy Pitchford and Gearbox Software (the guys who made Borderlands) stepped up to finish the job.
It is very important to me to show my support. How do you show support for a game? Well, the easiest way, of course, is to buy it!!
I have personal investment in the game, too. Duke Nukem 3D is one of my favourite games ever (top 20, probably, definitely top 30). I've been looking forward to this game for over 10 years.
Waiting for over 10 years... That's exactly what DNF's biggest problem will be: it's completely unrealistic expectations of game that's taken so long to come out. There's no way it'll live up to expectations. As long as people don't resent the game too much for this, I think it'll do fine.
Lastly, I will say that I've been keeping up to date on all of the reveals, new trailers, and gameplay info. I think the game looks great! It looks like a lot of fun. Anyone who complains about the violence, nudity and fart/dick jokes just doesn't understand what Duke Nukem is. It's part of the game's identity, not the character's.
If everything I saw made me think that the game looked terrible, I probably wouldn't be so inclined to get it. But the game looks good, and that's enough for me (some of the time). In the end, that's all the game has to be: good. Not every game needs to be on the same level as Fallout 3 or Super Mario Galaxy.
So, On June 14th, I'll finish off my last piece of gum and be ready to go get some!
Who's with me?
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