Retro and Contemporary Platformer Research.
Super Metroid: Super Metroid is an Action Adventure with a heavy emphasis on platforming. The level design is recognized as some of the best level design as it eases people into the game and introduces people into the basic mechanics of the game. This game has influenced future platforming games.
At the start of the game Samus (our main protagonist) is lowered into a ship after receiving a distress signal, after she lands it introduces the player to long vertical shafts and it help people get used to the controls as it has lots of platform which allow player to experiment. The player is forced to adapt to the surroundings and try different buttons so they can advance to the next screen; small jumps are placed so they get a feel for the jumping/falling controls. There are also there are drops so the player can understand how light the character is. No tutorial is given at this point and the player is getting a grip of the controls. After some small jumps the player gets thrown in the deep end as the player is faced with a boss, this teaches the player basic shooting options, the player would want to defeated the boss so they try shooting the boss, the boss stays near the top right of the screen so you have to try and find an alternative way to shoot.
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You cannot be killed by the boss. After the bosses defeat you have a limited time to traverse back through the ship and escape, although this time there are spouts of steam that hurt the player and hey have to used h previously learned skills to travel back up the vertical shaft and it keeps you on your feet as there is a countdown. This teaches the player that there can be new things if you go back through areas that you have previously been to, this is quite a big mechanic in the game because there is a lot of exploration and secrets scattered around the game world. From this small introductory stage we learn how to jump, move on land and in the air and how to shoot in all 8 directions. This is all you essentially need to go through the game.
www.2-dimensions.com/2014/01/13/anatomy-of-super-metroid-6-kraid-on-bungling-bay/
This room in Metroid is a great example of good level design, it is a frozen monster that is an entrance into another room, and this in itself is a very memorable room as there is nothing like it in the rest of the game. It is impossible to reach this area with the power ups given at this time. As you progress through the game you get the power up that make you jump much higher and it allows the player to reach the platform. You remember this room as it is a memorable room so you backtrack through the game to reach this room so you can advance into a new area and progress through the game. This also teaches another mechanic of the game, gaining new power ups and going back to previous areas to discover secrets to help you through the game such as missile tanks and E Tanks. This area is quite early in the game so it teaches the player from the start these mechanics.
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Even before the beginning of the game you are already introduced to a new mechanic, directional shooting, this was new for the series and this 5 second cut scene introduces the mechanic and teaches the player before the game has actually begun yet. This also gets the player thinking about new ways to play in other aspects of the game such as jumping.
Super Meat Boy: Super Meat Boy is a High pace Platformer with an emphasis on precision. This is an example of a modern platformer that did it right. The game is extremely difficult and it progresses although it is never he games fault for you dying, it’s always your fault because he controls are so good and responsive. The early levels introduce basic mechanics and it eases the player into the game. It does tell you what to an extent but there is still a lot of experimenting of different types of moving and different level mechanics. The level designs are based around the new mechanic introduced in that world.
http://www.autostraddle.com/super-meat-boy-cures-99-of-nes-mario-nostalgia-64122/
This level is an early level so it has some basic wall jumping and obstacles that the player need to get past in order to get to the end of the level. This allows players to get used to the momentum of Meat Boy. The player ca easily practice the mechanic here as it’s quite difficult to die due to the limited amount of obstacles. This game also leaves a track of where you have been as a blood trail, this help the player track where they went when they died,this then allows the player to know where they went wrong and it help the play make a new strategy to get around the stage in the fastest time.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/01/01/tim-turi-top-five-games-of-last-generation.aspx
This level introduces weak walls that break upon contact. The way this level is designed forces the player to wall jump onto the weak walls and thus teaches the player what they do and they have adequate time to jump back to the safe wall and advance through the level. A lot is learned from this level as the design forces them to learn even though there is no tutorial, this gives the player great satisfaction because it feels like the player learned this mechanic by themselves and it pushes them forward. Later in the game different mechanic are combines to test the skills of the player so it pushes their game knowledge to the edge and forces them to learn different ways to tackle stages.From these early we learn the momentum and speed of meat boy, how to control meat boy on the walls and on the ground and we also learned that certain walls are weak so you have to break them to advance.
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This level introduces a new mechanic which is moving death-traps. There is plenty of time before you encounter these saws in the level so you know what they do. You have to plan your route through the level with extra caution because you have to learn the rhythm on the saw blades so you don’t get killed. This level sets you up for the rest of the game as the moving saw blades are a recurring theme in this game and you will see them in most levels even in the later stages. The level puts you in situations that happen all the time in this game for example, jumping to a wall over a saw blade and quickly reacting to jump up to a higher platform.Both of these games to excellent jobs at introducing the player to new mechanics very early so they don’t get tripped up later in the game Both introduce the moving elements of their characters in the first level and it helps them understand when certain mechanics that they have are needed. Both are completely different types of games but they still introduce the core mechanics the same way, games like super Metroid influenced the level design of many future games such as Super Meat Boy because of similar starts. In both games the player in rewarded for their platforming skill with rewards such as power ups for Samus or extra levels for Super Meat Boy.