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Platformer

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File:Donkey Kong arcade.PNG
A screenshot of the original Donkey Kong.

Platform game is the term used to define a computer and video game genre characterized by the player having to climb up and down, or jump from and to, platforms and ledges, while fighting enemies and collecting objects required to fully complete the game. A game of the genre is known as a platformer. Often, the player has the ability to gain powers or weapons, called power-ups. Generally, platform games, due to their unrealistic nature, have cartoon-like graphics, and with the recent advent of cel-shaded animation may appear to be hand-drawn; in addition, platformers' characters are usually legendary or invented creatures (e.g. dragons and goblins).

Platform games originated in the early 1980s and made the transition to 3D in the mid-1990s. Sometime after the genre's inception, the term came to describe games where jumping on platforms, as opposed to shooting, was the main gameplay focus. However, many platform games feature projectile weapons, including the Mario and Castlevania franchises.

History

A screenshot of the milestone Super Mario Bros.

The 2D era

Platform games appeared in the early 1980s, when video game consoles were not yet powerful enough to render 3D games. They were confined to static environments fitted to the screens, with the playable character viewed from a profile angle. The protagonist climbed up and down ladders or jumped from platform to platform, often while combating foes and collecting power-ups. The first game of this kind is Donkey Kong, an arcade game created by Nintendo, released in 1981. Soon level advancement changed from being mainly vertical to largely horizontal, as well as introducing multiple screen-width spanning scrolling environments. Pitfall!, released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982, is considered by many to have started the trend. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) were among the most popular platformers on home computers.

Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, spawned a revolution not only in the platform game genre, but in the video game industry as a whole. It introduced players to huge and intricate worlds and set a precedent in gameplay and level design for other game developers to follow, and to this day many people consider it one of the best games ever made. Its popularity was unprecedented, and its record sales of 40.23 million copies worldwide is still unmatched. The game was for many the first experience of a platformer and solidified Mario's position as Nintendo's mascot.

The popularity of platform games continued into the 1990s, with many titles being released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear and the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. A trend following the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 was for developers to create platform games starring a funny animal cartoon character often intended to become the mascot of their developer; examples include Earthworm Jim, Zool, Cool Spot, Donkey Kong Country and Rocket Knight Adventures. Frequently, games based upon licenced movies, television and comic book franchises would be platformers, such as those based on Aladdin, Jurassic Park, Batman, James Bond and Mickey Mouse.

A common complaint of platform games (particularly rushed or lazily-developed titles based on licenced properties) was their lack of originality in chosen subject matter, generally falling back on standard snow-, fire- or jungle-themed environments and linear level structure. Games such as Earthworm Jim were widely praised for moving away from the formulaic and into more surreal and imaginative settings.

The 3D era

File:N64 Super Mario 64 shifting sand land.jpg
Super Mario 64 replaced the linear obstacle courses of traditional platform games with vast worlds.

The advent of 3D platformers brought a change in the goals of some platformers. Whereas in most 2D platformers, to get to the next level all you had to do was get to the end, in many 3D platformers, to get to the next level you had to collect items, like puzzle pieces and bananas making it more tedious than challenging. Donkey Kong 64 was widely criticized for collecting due to the player having to change characters to get different colors of bananas and other items. However, not all 3D platformers were like this, the most notable being Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64. Crash Bandicoot remained true to 2D platformers with having a goal at the end to beat a level and in Super Mario 64 to beat a level you had to complete an objective, among the objectives were destroying an enemy and beating certain characters at a race. However, getting 100 coins in Super Mario 64 gained the player an extra star and getting 100 fruits and coins, respectively, in each game netted the player an extra life.

Though Super Mario 64, released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996, was not the first 3D platform game, it redefined the genre and became the landmark game which set the rules for following titles of the type. For example, where most 2D titles had previously consisted of a fairly linear path through the game, progressing from easy to difficult levels, Super Mario 64 used a central hub for access to levels, which became the predominant design.

Following successful series of 3D platform games in 90s include Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, both for the Sony PlayStation.

In 2002, Super Mario Sunshine, the second 3D Mario game, was released. Although not as revolutionary as its predecessor, it features difficult platform areas that were similar to some levels from Super Mario 64.

A notable use of characters in the sixth generation era is the characters being paired or grouped together, like in Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sonic Heroes. The derivation of the platform genre can also be seen by the genre being mixed with action, tactical, and other genres: Blinx, Maximo, and Sly Cooper are good examples.

The complaints over lack of innovation carried over with the transition from 2D to 3D, but new criticisms sprang up as well. The most major largely focussed on the difficulty of creating a consistently unobtrusive in-game camera system. 2D platformers were not susceptible to the problems of judging jumps through 3D environments on a 2D screen with little more than a tiny shadow on the ground to guide the player to the correct landing spot (problems which were even more obvious when the player was jumping "towards the screen"). Worse still was cameras getting "stuck" behind objects in the gameworld, obscuring the action at critical moments. Developers have attempted to alleviate these problems in various ways: making objects between the camera and the player's avatar semi-transparent; introducing "free cameras" which increased flexibility but required input from the player to control the camera as well as their character; Tomb Raider used grid-like layouts for platforms so that the experienced player could tell whether they could "make" a jump as long as they used the correct button press; the more recent Galleon attempted to unify character and camera control. To this date, arguably no platform game has been completely free from this type of criticism: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was praised for flexible and spectacular camera angles during exploration sequences, but suffered during combat sections.

Chronology of significant platform games

File:Timeline of platform games.jpg
A timeline of significant platform games.

See also

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