Platformers DS: Doubleganger Siblings

When the DS first launched, Nintendo decided to port Super Mario 64 over to the handheld. This game is mostly the same except for a few mini games, a multiplayer mode, and some new playable characters. Over all, the port was a good one with the biggest downside being the adapted controls. It's difficult to configure analog controls with digital buttons.

In the next few years Nintendo released 3 "doubleganger siblings" or 3 platformers that have strong roots in the design of previous Nintendo Masterpieces. For these games the DS touch screen is mostly used for navigating menus and displaying large buttons. New Super Mario Brothers, Yoshi's Island DS, and Super Princess Peach are the doubleganger siblings that all fall short of their predecessor.

New Super Mario Brothers (NSMB) takes after Super Mario Brothers for the NES. Yoshi's Island DS (YIDS) is analogous to Super Mario World: Yoshi's Island for the SNES. And Super Princess Peach (SPP) is modeled after both of theses games. Understanding exactly how these games work compared to the console counterparts is more compliated than it seems. Handhelds are different devices than consoles and requires different design techniques and approaches. The reducsed screen size and aspect ratio is always an issue. Many were quick to judge some of these games as not having innovated, but there are sublte ways to innovate on a theme. Uncovering the structures for these games requires that we look at their structures starting with the core and moving outward.

NSMB starts off with the core of Super Mario Brothers: JUMP, DUCK, MOVE, RUN. Then additional abilities were added: WALL KICK, TRIPLE JUMP, GROUND POUND giving Mario then ability to platform/climb vertically in all new ways as well as destruct the level beneath him. From these expanded core abilities, the levels in NSMB were free to be designed in any direction. Consequently the developers felt free to take bits and pieces of level design from SMB, SMB3, and SMW. The flat level layouts belong to SMB. Some of the bosses and left & right scrolling levels hearken back to SMB3. The world map, chain fences, bosses, and ghost houses can be traced back to SMW.

After drawing from these 3 excellent games, you would think that NSMB would be the most "Mario" Mario game. When I first played it, I enjoyed the game but wasn't very impressed. Now, after studying SMB, SMB3, and SMW more closely, I can appreciate the blend that is NSMB more.

PROS

• Blue Shell, tiny mushroom, big mushroom are the new powerups. The blue shell is genius taking the form of the turtle shell that we all know and understand by now and putting a Mario inside. All the interplay desinged into the shell is now under the player's control.
  
• Levels can be designed to flow up, down, left, and right. The respawning enemies sort of created folded level movements when Mario travels backwards.
  
• The camera zooms in an out appropriately. When the player needs to see more of what's ahead, the camera pulls back perfectly and smoothly. If Mario can't look before he leaps, then the game just wouldn't quite be Mario.
  
• The camera also scrolls positioning Mario further left/back on the small DS screen than when on a TV screen like in SMB. Because in NSMB mario is 1/12th the size of the screen instead of 1/16, in order to see enough of the level coming, the screen had to pull back to compensate.
• Some levels are truly inspired (7-3 & 7-5). They not quite like SMB, SMB3, or SMW making them distinctly NSMB.
  
• Excellent multiplayer modes. Aside from the 4 player Mario Party type mini games, the 2 player side scrolling "battle mode" takes all of the gameplay from the single player in NSMB and pits two players against each other in a looping stage. Who knew all the interplay, mechanics, and folded design would come together so nicely in a multiplayer mode. It's examples like these that show that strong core design goes a long way for any type of game.

CONS

• Pits and other level hazards are undermined with WALL KICKs. All pits are almost harmless because Mario can simply wall kick out of them. I found my self taunting the pits by intentionally jumping into them and seeing how low I could go while still being able to safely WALL KICK out. Fortunately, many levels have lava, poison water, and large pits so this strategies . On the plus side, being able to WALL KICK like this helps to minimize the reduced viability problem that all handheld platformers face.
  
• Too many power ups/power ups in the bank. Because small pits are less of a problem, dying doesn't really happen. To make things worse, there are too many powerups in every level. Unlike in SMB, Mario can take 3 hits before dying from the fire flower powerup state. This extra cushion makes things easier for the player. But then, the player can to store a power up on the bottom screen and use it at any time. Powerups in previous Mario platformers used to be just rare enough so that players would charrish them. Now they're practically given away at every street corner.
  
• Confused Difficulty Structure: In SMB, players had one clear shot from start to finish to try and beat the game. There were no save options. In SMB3, players had a bit of a cushion. If they lost all of their lives, they would simply start back at the beginng of the world not the game. This design gave the developers the leeway to make the levels trickier and harder. In both of htese games, the player couldn't go back and replay conquered levels. In SMW, players could save after ghost houses, bosses, and big switches dividing the save zones into even smaller sections. NSMB tries to have a linear overward like SMB, tricks to progression like SMB3, and save options similar to SMW. Compounded with the excess of powerups, NSMB difficulty doesn't come from progressing through the levels/game. Instead NSMB positions 3 coins per stage for the player to find and collect to increase the challenge.
  
• Awkward saving. The limited number of saves in NSMB is awkard like Resident Evil. At some point, I found myself traveling to other world just so I could use a save station because I had run out of saves on the world I was previously in. The save system design has been opened up from the designs of Mario's previous games. There's no need to limit saves like this.
  
• Some of the new enemies look terribly uninspired and un-Mario. ie. the hanging spiders, running punching ghost thing, the crows, and the pumpkins.
  

Yoshi's Island DS began with the Yoshi's Island core. MOVE, DUCK, JUMP, FLUTTER, MAKE EGGS, THROW EGGS, GROUND POUND, TONGUE, SPIT, rolling rocks, Piranha flowers, shy guys, flowers, and red coins. For the DS sequel, the developers looked at the character abilities, and decided to add character abilities via the babies riding on Yoshi's back. With the help of these infantile friends the player can now RUN, PARASOL GLIDE, SPIT FIRE BALL, CLIMB ON VINES, and MAGNET objects not to mention collect special character coins. More is better right? With such a solid core how can this game go wrong? It's all in the execution. You can't have a best core design with the worst level design. These two elements of a game depend on each other.

PROS

• Reducing the running speed of Yoshi (except with Mario's special ability) was smart because Yoshi takes up 1/35th of the space on a single DS screen instead of 1/48th like on the SNES. Moving more slowly gives the player more time to react to the upcoming level.
  
• Compensating for the DS screen gap creates a searching/adventure mechanic to the game. Yoshi can adjust the screen up or down by a distance equal to the gap between the DS screens by holding up or down. By hitting X and up/down, the player can shift the main screen of play to the top or bottom screen. This can reveal secrets and parts of the layout to the player.
  
• Flutter is a genius way to make a downward "JUMP" mechanic, and to show how the different babies have different weights.
  

CONS

• The level design can be quite terrible. The green falling blob level comes to mind. It seems like the developers just threw enemies and platforms together without play testing or tuning the elements to create a solid game idea.
  
• Creating secret/specific paths that require a specific baby adds unnecessary back tracking the way the baby switching is set up. The unique baby abilities are fine, but the elements that require a specific baby ultimately results in having to memorize areas of the stage for the next pass through or backtrack to get the right baby.
  
• The levels don't have large governing game ideas. They seem to be in service of the secrets and even those seem forced and artificially placed in the level.
• The new enemies/character look like they were designed/drawn by a child.

Super Princess Peach starts with core mechanics from NSMB and YIDS (MOVE/RUN, JUMP, DUCK, WALK, POUNDBRELLA) with some of the more unique mechanics being functionally analogous (TONGUE = PICK UP, MAKE EGGS = EAT, FLUTTER = FLOATBRELLA). The enemies and level elements are also very similar: Goomba, Paratroopers, Pirahna Flowers, warp pipes, springs, and informative-talking help blocks. SPP even encourages players to collect toads scattered throughout each level like the flowers from Yoshi's Island.

PROS

• Primary Function: Understanding and using one's emotions. Each emotional state (Joy, Gloom, Rage, and Calm) have various effects on Peach and/or the environment. Understanding theses effects and using them to progress is the core gimmick of SPP. What's also interesting is that the image of Peach on the bottom screen displays Peaches emotional states and Peach's "woman's intuition." By paying attention to Peach's expression, the player can tune into Peaches more subtle emotions.
• Emotions is the lens through which the whole game is filtered. Not only must the player understand Peach's emotional states, but the emotions of the enemies as well. Like Peach's 5 emotional states (including neutral state) the enemies can also exhibit emotional states. With each state, the enemy's behavior changes. Mad enemies are more aggressive. Calm enemies sleep giving Peach the chance to sneak up on them. Glad enemies walk around with their eyes closed and a song in their hearts and will occasionally jump for joy to throw off the player's timing.
  
• Nice adjustable difficulty by purchasing upgrades with coins. Just like in Mario Galaxy, there's a balance in how one kills an enemy and the rewards one gains. Jumping on an enemy versus using the homing stomp is harder and rewards the player with life restoring coins. In SPP, killing the enemies with umbrella attacks is riskier and rewards the player with coins. To balance this, player forfeits the opportunity to PICK UP and EAT the enemies to restore their vibe (emotion) meter.
• Due to the similarities with the core Mario design, SPP features the same basic counterpoint that Mario does.
  

CONS

• The broken, piecemeal level design is often very circular and very confusing. By taking too many warp pipes from one section to another the organic, cohesive design of the level is demolished.
  
• The touch screen mini game levels that precede each boss are neat enough the first time, but become annoying when they're repeated.
  
• The emotion states are simply not dynamic enough. There are several obstacles throughout each level that obviously require the use of a specific emotion to overcome, but other than these areas SPP doesn't use or layer the emotion mechanics at all. The water from the Gloom state and the fire from the Rage state should have much more dynamic effects on the environment/enemies.
• The level design didn't focus on the Mario mechanics, and couldn't focus on the emotion mechanics because of their lack of dynamics. SPP sits in a state in between familiar greatness and great potential, and falls short of both.
  
• SPP should have been designed as more of a puzzle/platformer focusing on the emotion mechanics instead of an action/platformer.
  

Geometry Wars Evolutionary Design

Geometry Wars. The game that I have described as being a "Fourth of July in your eyes!" I've played every console/handheld version, and though spawn deaths are still an issue, Geometry Wars2 is the best in the series. It may not have the best features (in bold) or the most levels, but the innovations in design makes it a clear winner. Once again, I've made a chart cross comparing games in series. It's not like I don't owe something to this game series.

. GW: Retro Evolved GW: Galaxies GW: Galaxies DS Geometry Wars2 . visual clutter moderate minimal-lots depending on level & drone very minimal - moderate depending on level and drone moderate - much . controls aiming/ shooting analog stick wiimote pointer DS touch Screen analog stick . controls moving analog stick analog stick D-pad analog stick . variety one many levels/drones that can be leveled up same as wii version 6 modes/sequence . enemy design enemy types same as wii version enemy types . fire power lots of fire power Too much firepower with some drones same as wii version reduced firepower . graphics 2D 2D 2D 3D graphics/brighter-tastier colors . weapon upgrades automatic automatic. drones level up outside of match same as wii version minimal fire power upgrades . combo system don't die and shoot enemies to build multiplier don't die and collect geoms from fallen enemies to build multiplier up to 150x. same as wii version collect as many geoms as you can from fallen enemeis. dying doesn't reset multiplier. . multiplayer none 2 player with camera issues 2 player with interesting modes 4 players with bigger camera issues . static space move away and shoot behind you less static space when the level mixes things up and player must seek geoms to build up the multiplyer. Only up to 150x then game reverts somewhat. same as wii version little to no static space because of the new intersecting enemy motions and the unlimited geom multiplier. . disection of space snakes/pink/repulsor force the player to maneuver differently. Other enemies move in a straight path to the player. Also the gravity well bends the space all around it absorbing enemy/player alike. New level shapes with obstacles and other elements that change the possible paths the player can take. This along with new enemies like the dart/meteor cut the space in unique ways. same as wii version Rockets, gates, and ducks, are a few examples of new enemies that ignore the player which make interesting spatial dissections. Also, with reduced fire power, aiming is more important/difficult. Furthermore, pacifism, waves, and king force the player to move and strategize in dramatically new ways. . collsion detection precise = 60fps/clean sprites precise = 60fps/clean sprites less precise = ~30fps/lower rez sprites precise = 60fps/clean 3d modes.

Braid Review weiveR diarB

*This review contains some spoilers*

I remember when my dad mentioned Braid about a month ago. Thanks to NPR's occasional video games coverage, my dad can surprise me every now and then with gaming news of some sort. This time, he had heard of a video game that "is supposed to be about life and choices" as he put it. I quickly explained that that Braid wasn't "about life" and that actuality, it was just a puzzle game that has ignited the untrained and ill-equipped artsy/pretentious video game writers to make claims that the game is some bold new step in game design doing things that other games haven't quite done before. I smoothly transitioned the conversation about the art of design and mechanics and how all games can be read making them seem to be about almost anything. Using Tetris, Super Mario Brothers, and Wii Sports (games my father has experience with) I debunked the notion. Then my father asked me if I had played Braid yet. I hadn't.

At that point, I had researched the game only briefly, which I felt was enough to make the comments I did. I wasn't talking about Braid so much as the misguided reception and the state of the video games industry's more scholarly pursuits that restlessly fidget in a state of arrested development. Sill, I hadn't played Braid, a fact I then made a point of correcting. Regardless of what others have said about the game, being a fan of puzzle games, I wanted to experience Braid for myself and maybe even write something about it.

The interesting part of Braid, one might say, is that the game gives the player the mechanic of REWIND TIME without much restraint. All mistakes can be reversed, and all starting points can be revisited. This ability gives the player a certain freedom to experiment freely and in every direction into the world of Braid. Such a mechanic when viewed from the player's perspective as he/she collects memories of their experience playing the game is similar to the "many-worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics. The "you" that you think of yourself as, like the Mario in the video, will stretch out like fingers touching the world and gaining knowledge only to come back to where you started.

Putting the question of what Braid is "about" to the side, it's easy to understand what Braid "does." Being a member of the puzzle genre, Braid equips the player with a handful of mechanics and sets up stages or areas that challenge the player to use these mechanics in specific ways. Though many have folded at solving some of Braid's more difficult puzzles, I found the game to be short with a deliciously sweet balance of content. Every puzzle requires a unique use and combination of player mechanics. Better yet, because the vast majority of challenges are so well designed, they are all the easier to solve. The reason for this is because the challenges in a puzzle game designed around the specific use of a mechanic or combination of mechanics, the number of possible ways to solve such a puzzle is reduced to a few solutions. By reverse engineering the end of the puzzle, and being aware of all the ways you can't approach solving the puzzle from the start, the solutions then become obvious, at least for a seasoned puzzle veteran. All in all, the tighter a puzzle game is designed, the easier it is to solve.


Starting with a basic set of platforming mechanics (JUMP, CLIMB, MOVE) Tim (the main character in Braid) can move through the 2D world. All the puzzles in world 2 are designed to get the player accustomed to these mechanics. With each subsequent world, a new mechanic is either added or required for solving the puzzles thus organizing each world by theme. This approach to level variability is similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario Galaxy where each world has a theme with new elements introduced into the levels as needed to accentuate the themes. While this approach worked great for Mario, in some ways, it limited the range of design for Braid's puzzles.



Though Blow has expressed that he intentionally designed each world in Braid to be distinct and separate both in the narrative shorts that precede each world as well as the themes and required mechanics, I was somewhat disappointed that the final stage didn't combine all of the game's previous mechanics and concepts into one final super puzzle. Instead, powers are sort of stripped away covertly between worlds. Fortunately, the last stage is quite genius. Though it's not very challenging compared to some of the game's more difficult puzzles and it's not quite folded level design, time and perspective are used most effectively here. The shocking twist not only takes way Tim's ability to correct mistakes by reversing time, but it also shows how Tim's desire may have clouded his perspective on things.

Examples of the "worst" puzzles in Braid.

• World 2. manipulating the painting (skip to 8:00). The mechanic of manipulating the painting in the puzzle-piece-assembly mode so that it interacts with the normal game world is unprecedented and functionally hidden. The thought process needed realize this mechanic naturally (without being explicitly told) requires a case where the puzzle pieces exhibit physical properties on the elements in the game world. Also, indicating that the bridge like section on the puzzle piece interacts differently than the other forms/objects depicted in the puzzle pieces would require another case. Furthermore, the issues of this puzzle are made worse due to the obfuscation of the fine details that visually links the bridge puzzle piece to the game world platform on SDTVs. Lastly, this puzzle requires the player to reenter the game world to solve after running through the world and collecting the necessary puzzle pieces.
• World.3 the last puzzle. (skip to 9:18) To solve this puzzle, players have to leave the "puzzle area" and continue moving into the next area. Doing this reveals the missing element needed to solve the puzzle that was previously hidden off screen. Obscuring important information required for solving the puzzle off screen in this way is functionally like hiding a key in your pocket and telling your friend to keep looking around the room for it. Basically the player must "give up" or resolve that they don't have the ability to solve the puzzle to move on. Ultimately, the criticism raised against this puzzle isn't even that bad, which speaks to the quality design of the rest of the game's puzzles.
  

Looking at the other side of things, at their finest, the best Braid puzzles (basically every puzzle in world 4,5, and 6) represent a high level of design creating layered challenges through simple mechanics that come together elegantly like a Bach Fugue (skip to 1:30) or Bach Invention. It's counterpoint. It's classical game design. It's wonderful, and I simply can't get enough of it. If you'll listen to either of the classical pieces I linked to, you'll hear that the melody is started in one hand and then repeated with the next. The layering of the same relatively simple melody creates a layered sense of time that is always chasing after and running from itself. Like echoes through time, listening to these pieces carefully reveals moments where the layers comment on each other when heard simultaneously. Some bits of this conversation sound odd. Some out of place. Some pleasant. While others exist in a mood so difficult to place that to hear it merely feels like a transition between the familiar. This quality exists in many Classical piano pieces, and many Classically designed video games, like Braid.

In Braid, like in Super Mario Brothers, contrary motion exist between Tim, the player character, moving through a level ultimately to the right, the enemies generally attacking Tim/moving to the left, and the level with which acts on them both by pulling everything down and occasionally into hazards. But unlike in Super Mario Brothers, the goal in a given Braid level is to solve the challenges and collect the puzzle pieces. Because the challenges are mostly created by manipulating space-time in some way, Tim's contrary motion to the right is almost entirely diminished. Instead, space-time becomes a direction of motion in itself.


Though the enemies don't have much interplay and the platforming isn't much, everything yields to the affects of time. Everything, that is, except those elements in the game that aren't affected by the REWIND TIME mechanic. Functionally, elements that aren't affected by rewinding time are still affected by it through relative motion. In other words, if everything in the world moves to the left but a single platform, then relatively speaking, it's like the platform simply moved to the right. Also functionally speaking, whenever there's an element in a level that isn't affected by time in this way, the REWIND TIME mechanic sort of transforms into a mechanic that manipulates space and not time. I'll just leave that thought at that.

Trying to articulate in words what Braid is about is more complicated than it may seem. It's not because the game is complex or difficult. Puzzles games are naturally focused on mechanics and smoothly guiding the player into understanding how these mechanics layer together. One of the reasons why, I think, we struggle within the video gaming industry to express what a game is about is because our public education system has taught us through writing book reports and the like that coming up with what we think a work is "about" means looking for "hidden meanings." Unfortunately, many of still don't realize that the true meaning in a work isn't really hidden at all. The evidence is right there on the screen, in the film, on the canvas, in the text, and in Braid's case in the mechanics and the form of the game.

Braid is a puzzle game with platforming elements. Alongside the gameplay, Blow has very carefully implemented visual art that resembles classical paintings, music that does the same, and a series of colorful text based vignettes that thematically seek to match the gameplay of each world on a conceptual level. The text, which I feel is a misuse of the video game medium, was part of Blow's original conception of Braid. Though I don't care for the writing style in these texts, and the "next-gen text" was almost too small and blurry for me to read on my SDTV (like in Bionic Commando Rearmed), I found the conceptual parallels enchanting.

Blow wanted these two mediums to sit side by side so that they have the opportunity to mingle in the player's mind, and he succeeded in his attempt (at least for this critical-gamer). But I can't forgive the text. Perhaps Blow should have made each block shorter. Miyamoto has be very careful when designing the text section in the Zelda series. He understands the importance of interactivity in a video game and ensures that each text bock is short so that the action of pressing a button to advance through the text keeps the player somewhat engaged. Better yet for Braid, I feel that the text should have been delivered via a narrative voice that plays as the player moves through each world. This approach would give Braid more of a storybook and keep the player engaged in the core interactive gaming experience while making it easy for the player to experience the information in the text without misusing the medium.

Such is Braid. The discourse that has sprung up around this game reminds me of the Discourse of BioShock. So many people have attempted to say something intelligent and meaningful about the game. So many people have tried to talk art and make defenses for one thing or another using Braid. And I've found that most of these people have missed the mark. The real art that's true to the video game medium is in the gameplay and counterpoint design of Braid. The internal dialog that the player has when solving a puzzle is what the game is about. What may be even more profound is how the concepts of manipulating time and space can so easily related to our everyday lives. Those gamers who look up how to solve a puzzle in Braid are only cheating them selves. Such is the drawback of puzzle games. Once you're told how to solve a puzzle, the internal dialog is stilted, stunted, even truncated. This is one aspect of the game that the REWIND TIME mechanic can't fix.

In my conversation with my father, I couldn't get into specifics about Braid's content. Now that I've played the game, if I could go back to that conversation, I don't think I would change a thing. It's perhaps too difficult and too personal to try and communicate my internal dialog from playing Braid to those who haven't experienced it for themselves. It turns out, like for Tim, there are some things that time can't touch.

Boktai Review: Fools and Stupids See the Light

Today marks the beginning of R&R week: Review & Repair. On the agenda I have Boktai, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Everyday Shooter, Sonic (2D platformers), and if I'm lucky Braid and Super Princess Peach.

Since last November when I started the Critical-Gaming blog, I've critiqued other reviews, developed a body of language to communicate the intricate inter workings video games, and written a few reviews to demonstrate.

Now that the foundation has been set, I can exercise a bit more creative writing liberty. After all, creative writing is my specialty. Using this new style, each review will be focused in a way that communicates the various elements of design along with my personal experience/thoughts of the game. Here's the catch. The style and themes that I choose to structure the review will also reflect the mechanics, functions, ideas, and/or themes of the game in some way. Sound intense? Don't worry. Just sit back and read carefully and lightly. If you're lost, by the end I'm sure you'll come out of the darkness.

Fools and Stupids See the Light

STORY

It wasn't until about the end of the game when I realized what was going on. Boktai is a game that's shrouded in twisted mystery. I remember beginning my adventure on Earth, yet for the past few hours, I've been in running around aboard a mauve space station silently orbiting my home. I recalled how quickly and unknowingly I made the jump from my simple, home grown, earthly ambitions to lifelessly floating out in space just going through the motions fighting any manner of man, beast, or undead that I can shove into a coffin, pile up, and drive to victory. The funny part of it all isn't how my evil twin brother who descends from a source that's not exactly my mother has been stringing me along "using" me to defeat his enemies so he can free him self from the Moon Queen's control only to later join my side in defeating her. The funny part is, I saw it all coming.


Kojima isn't much of a story teller. By ignoring one of the most effective tenets of written story telling "show don't tell" and relying on unnatural dialog to communicate the overly complex, muddled mush of a story line to the player, Kojima has casted yet another opportunity for a true spark of ingenuity into the forever depths of obscurity and the forgotten.


PUZZLES

In the grand scheme of Boktai puzzles, there are only a handful that cleverly utilize the manipulation of light and shade as the pivotal element. There may be even less that use the real time clock creatively. When playing such puzzles, I held a glimmer of hope for the rest of the game. If half the puzzles in Boktai used light and time instead of just the few, I would have more glowing remarks to give. Unfortunately, most of the puzzles are rustic push block/switch puzzles. As annoying as these puzzles are, there are a few that have nothing to do with the world of Boktai at all.

Like a nightmare, imagine stepping into a room only to have the door slam shut behind you. Though not a word is uttered, you can't help but think that you're in a "trap." In front of you is a math problem the likes of which you haven't seen in many years. Numbers, different operators, and equal signs are strewn about set up in such a way that beckons your assistance. All of a sudden, you're in school again trying to finishing a math test. Your heart sinks. You were just enjoying recess and now you're stuck with a math problem you can't solve. When you go up to the teacher for assistnace she subtly hints that you're looking at the problem wrong. And after a few more tries fiddling with it, you ask again. This time, you're told you're "stupid." This is what some of the puzzles in Boktai are like right down to being called stupid.

Perhaps what's worse of all about the puzzle design is, unlike Zelda/Mario/Metroid/Pokemon and just about any game that takes its design seriously, you can easily trap yourself trying to solve a puzzle in Boktai. Not to worry. Since the beginning of the game, players are supplied with a "Fool's card" that resets any room that a player may be stuck in. This deconstructive little card not only breaks the organic flow of the game, but the function of the card doubles as a "get out of jail (danger) free card." Instead of designing a tighter game, Konami took the easy way out.


THE MENU

It wouldn't be a Kojima game if there wasn't a heavy use of the game menu that borders on abuse. The menu in Boktai is used to customize the solar gun, examine the map, or use an item. With every use of the menu, the game is paused putting abrupt breaks in the flow of the gameplay. If you're about to die, just hit pause and gobble down as much life/solar energy restoring fruit as you want. With so many healing items and such an effective healing method, the gameplay can easily deconstruct into repeated reckless attacks and menu based healing. Such a strategy is functionally analogous to the attack-attack-heal strategy in many RPGs. Needless to say, by attack-attack-healing, the gameplay doesn't become more engaging. In fact, the menu system in Boktai is reductive and seeks to deconstruct the core design. The silver lining with all of this menu abuse is it's all optional.


ACTION COMBAT

MOVE. SHOOT. FLATTEN. TAP. Boktai contains all the mechanics of an stealth/shooting game. Fortunately, it does a few things correctly. Not being able to move and shoot focuses the action so that it can exist in a smaller space, which is ideal for the GBA screen size. Also, players can only fire in 8 directions, which requires more careful aim when hitting far away targets. The long range shots are the least effective at killing while the close range spread deals the most damage. Having to move in close to enemies to effectively kill them in a shooting game increases the tension of combat. When all of these design elements come together, the combat reminded me of fighting in a top down Zelda game like A Link to the Past.


Botkai was hatched from Kojima's mind and brought to life under his heated gaze. In true Metal Gear fashion, players don't have to kill any of the enemies. From the game's outset, I was cautioned against "unnecessary killing." By TAPing to creating distractions, FLATTENing to silence my footsteps and to squeeze around enemies, and by SHOOTing my foes in the back I had all the abilities I needed to stun and stealth my way through the game without taking a life. The problem is, this isn't Metal Gear, and I'm not pitted against other humans. I'm fighting the undead, which puts the whole "killing" concept in a dimly lit gray area. It also doesn’t help that most of the enemies in the game are "immortals" that regenerate after being "killed."

I realized at some point, that stealthing around isn't engaging enough to hold my attention for the duration of the game. When trying to play "Kojima's way," I have to do a lot of searching the area using the LOOK mechanic, a lot of waiting for enemies to turn their backs, a lot of wall TAPing to create distractions, and a lot of avoiding engagement. Doing this opens of the game to redundancy and static space. It would be different using such stealth tactics was the best way avoid taking damage, to conserve solar energy, or even to access special areas. But, the way Boktai is designed, conserving recourses isn't vital because there's no problem a few items can't fix, and there are no areas that require stealth to access. In the end, using stealth is simply the slow way to play Boktai.


LEVEL DESIGN

The overworld in Boktai must be some kind of joke or failed attempt at a Zelda like overworld. Not only is there nothing to do of consequence on the overworld except walk in an almost straight line to the next dungeon or mini dungeon, but the different areas are abruptly patched together like a quilt instead of organically blending form one to another. One moment, I'm standing in a graveyard. The next step, I'm in a forest.

What's worse is the whole game is designed as if it has been cut out of a mold using a large isometric chisel. Though the blocky look and feel works for some of the buildings, the style all becomes stale in how it limits how the player's possible paths through the level and how forced and inorganic it feels. Without strong organic themes and ideas to govern the construction of each level, every room feels artificial and disconnected from each other. Even in the fire dungeon where the player manipulates switches to raise and lower the magma level much in the same way link does in the various Zelda water temples/dungeons, it is not apparent how the magma changes with each adjustment. Instead of trying thinking about each room as a part of a whole, I stuck to a simple strategy. Just keep going forward and don't get distracted. The game is linear even when it doesn't look like it.

There is only one aspect of Boktai's level design that is worthy of accolades: The folded and refolded level design. In each of the game's main dungeons, players delve deeper into each location overcoming obstacles, enemies, and traps to reach the boss. Players then Battle the boss (the crease). While dragging the boss inside his/her coffin back through the level, the player is mindful of the factors: the coffin randomly shaking itself free from your grip, slower character movement, the ability to use the coffin as a weight for switches, and how enemies will notice the coffin and help it escape. Once players take the coffin back to the beginning of the level another battle with the boss takes place in a special ritual. The sequence up to this point completes the folded design.

As an interesting addition, if during the course of the ritual the boss breaks free and escapes, it'll make its way back through the dungeon forcing players to scramble back through the level to recapture it and continue the process. This feature creates the possible refolds.

Over all, the folded design in Boktai is very unique and well executed. There are just a few things that I did not like about it. Unfortunately, as the coffins inch their way to freedom, once they slip through a door way, their position becomes difficult to track. Even if you pursue a runaway coffin right as it moves through a door, on the other side, the coffin is no where to be found. In fact, the coffin somehow manages to move through several rooms in the blink of an eye. It's too bad that the game couldn't design this feature more organically using the game's established rules and mechanics.


ENEMY DESIGN

The enemies in Boktai are creative each filling a specific and unique design space. Crows fly around and swoop in to pester the player. Spiders bunch up, spin sticky web traps, and spit. Gouls patrol around and launch attacks on the player. Golems are powerful stone creatures that roll after the player at high speeds. And the list goes on. What I found to be the most interesting part of the enemy design in Boktai, is the interplay that exists between the player and the enemies. By manipulating the environment, the player can turn enemy attacks against themselves. The fast rolling Golem in pursuit of the player will smash and kill any Goul in its path. The Kraken can be tricked into using its tentacle to snatched up another enemy instead. Mummies, when set on fire, can set other mummies on fire as they run around frantically. It's this kind of attention to detail that I feel is too obscure in Kojima's other games, but perfectly tuned in Boktai.


THE GIMMICK

So what is this game? From the look of things, Boktai is a game with a poor, convoluted story, lack luster puzzles, and undynamic mechanics with a level design that is composed of parts that are either hit or miss. If this accurately described the game I would have put it away long ago never to have finished. Fortunately, the best part of Boktai, the part the goes beyond the folded level design and the Classically correct enemy design, is the game's primary function: the sun that is in my hand.

I saved the best for last because it's important to understand how much influence a unique and well integrated primary mechanic is to a game as a whole. If you don't know already, Boktai is a GBA game that has a solar sensor built into the cartridge. Artificial light won't do the trick. In order to get the full Boktai experience, sunlight is required.

Because Boktai is a GBA game, the entire gaming experience is automatically portable. Play it inside, outside, and everywhere in between. Do whatever it takes so that the sun can power up the game. To use the sunlight players have to adjust the angle of the handheld so that the suns light hits the sensor directly. When battling the forces of darkness every photon of light counts. In my experience with the game, because I frequently moved from location to location, manipulating the angle of my DS to catch the sunlight turned my handheld into a 3D gaming controller that respond to real world conditions in 3D space. Using the handheld in this way is something that I've seen in few places.

To power the Gun De Sol, the main defensive and offesive weapon, players can absorb the light of day. Though the game provides many ways to obtain this solar energy in the absense of real sunlight, this section is focused on how the primary mechanic USE SUNLIGHT is used throughout the game. When the player is in an outdoor environement in the game world, the game world transmits the sunlight hitting the sensor so players are free to absorb and use the light infinitly. As we all know, vampires and the undead detest sunlgiht. So in Boktai, all of the bosses and enemies dwell in buildings or areas where the sunlight is blocked. Players must charge their solar batteries outside of these locations and conserse it once inside.

Depending on whether sunlight is shining on the solar sensor, invisible paths become visible, light shines through windows, solar winds increase, and specific areas will be illuminated. The environmental conditions also change depending on the time of day according to the game's internal clock. At sun down when real sunlight isn't available, hidden crystal like "solar bamboo shoots" twinkle in the moon light.

Even this core sunlight driven mechanic isn't without balance. To appreciate light, one must experience darkness or, in this case, shade. Playing out in the sunlight for too long will cause the Gun De Sol to begin to overheat. To remedy the situation, players must find some shade to play in. If the gun fully overheats, it won't be availablefor use until the next sun rise (also according to the internal clock). This feature tops the dynamic decay system of Boktai's solar gameplay.

In the outdoor environments in the game world, players are free to use their solar energy and refill their supplies infinitely as long as they're playing in sunlight. Generally, to progress through the game players must encounter the undead enemies in covered/indoor areas. Once out of the sunlight in the game world, players must conserve their energy as every shot drains their supply. This completes the first organic cycle between sunlight, the environment, and ammunition. And the player moves through different game environments, the solar ammo will decay with use and be refilled according to the location.

Regardless of what's happening in the game world, if the game is exposed to the sun for too long the gun will overheat. This decay cycle is partially independent of the first cycle. And when the sun sets in real life, both decay cycles are replaced with another organic decay cycle that resets with the dawn of the next day. In the end, no matter how you play Boktai, you're always a part of some kind of organic decay cycle that revolves around the sun. This means even when you're not playing you're still playing in a way.

Several reviewers criticized Boktai's dependence on real sunlight despite all the solar energy alternatives provided in the game. Complacent in how they play videogames, such reviewers thought it was inappropriate that they couldn't play Boktai any way they wanted and at any time. This is precisely why I enjoyed Boktai as much as I did. From gradually losing daylight and offensive power, to coordinating my attacks with cloud cover, to rainy day steak outs, I had to seize the day whenever I got the chance. Similar to how WiiFit raises awareness of one's physical body, playing Boktai made me more aware of the day and sunlight. In the age we live in, artificial light is everywhere. Having to work around less predictable and convenient light source made me tune into nature or at least it reminded me of how dependant and powerless life is without the sun.

And on top of all this, playing in real sunlight or in the shade is an organic way for players to control their own difficulty. During the day, I could harness the limitless power of the sun. By nightfall I had a choice to make. I could either turn the game off and wait until tomorrow to play, or I could tough it out with an ever draining supply of energy in my battery reserves.

CONCLUSION

If you don't fully embrace the light, then there's no point in playing Boktai. It's all about the solar sensor. When nearly every other element of the game is average or below average, the interaction with the sun highlights the game's more positive design elements well. Though the majority of the game leaves much to be desired, at least the sun is there with you the whole way. It's too bad some reviewers couldn't see the truth. It's also too bad that Konami didn't either. All the items, most of the puzzles, many of the dungeons, and most of the story could be completely thrown away to leave a purer, better designed product. It's a little pretentious of the developers to call me "stupid" for not wanting to solve yet another one of their dull push block puzzles, or calling me a "fool" for trapping myself inside of one of their poorly designed puzzles. If only Kojima knew what potential he had in his hands, he might have made a cleaner game.



In the end, all I wanted to do was hold the "sun in my hand," and I got a chance to with this extremely unique game. It's too bad I had to wade through some redundant mediocrity to get there. At least thinking back on the whole experience, my memories are bright.

Difficulty Design: A Difficult Endeavour

Designing and tuning game difficulty is trickier than it may seem. I'll try to make this one as concise as possible.

For some background material, consider looking into Flow in Games: A Jenova Chen MFA Thesis, and Gamasutra's Game Design Essentials: 20 Difficult Games.

Today I going to highlight a few methods of creating game difficulty/challenges.

ORGANIC METHODS

Optional routes/objectives: Super Mario Brothers Coins. As the player moves through each level, there are coins that are never placed in the player's "laziest" path to the goal. To nab these coins, players must jump for them which often requires the player to deviate from the efficient linear path to the end of the level. Some coins are much harder to obtain than others. Because every coin the player sees can be grabbed in a single pass through a level, the boundaries of the challenge are set. In this way, the coins that are placed in tricky areas over dangerous hazards or endless pits communicate a level of difficulty to the player. At any time, the player can accept the challenge and go for the coins, or skip them all together. After all, they're optional.

Adjustable Pacing: Super Mario Brothers RUN mechanic. There are few jumps in this game that require the player to get a running start to overcome. This design choice makes the RUN mechanic largely uneeded for beating the game. Aside from how the RUN mechanic increases Mario's maximum JUMP range vertically and horizontally, by running players can increase the pace of the game which in turn increases the difficulty. This is the primary function of the RUN mechanic. When running, the screen scrolls faster to keep up with Mario. Because the screen scrolls faster, the upcoming platforms, obstacles, enemies, and other hazards move toward Mario more quickly giving the player less time to react. Having less time to react creates a more difficult game experience.

Adjustable/Optional upgrades: The Legend of Zelda heart containers. In this game series, players are rewarded for defeating bosses with full heart containers that extend Link's maximum health by one heart. The more hearts Link has, the more hits he can take before falling. On the other hand, if the player wants to make the game more difficult, they can leave the heart continers behind and continue on with their adventure. Playing Phantom Hourglass from start to finish with only 3 hearts was more difficult than I expected. I found that I had to buckle down and focus to stay alive instead of goofing off half of my health like I normally do in Zelda games. The best part about skipping these heart container upgrades is, true to their organic design, the containers remain where they are left giving the player the ability to go back and collect the containers to make things easier for themselves.

INORGANIC METHODS

Leveling Up: All RPGs where enemies don't level up with you. This one is pretty obvious. If your enemies are at level 5 and you can't beat them at level 3, leveling up until victory is possible is the common course of action. But, if at any point the player doesn't feel like leveling up (or leveling up too much), they can always take on the challenge and attempt to squeeze out a win by any means possible. It's all about numbers and managing that spread sheet style, optimization, attack-attack-heal gameplay. I remember playing FF12, Pokemon Diamond, Valkyrie Profile, and Fire Emblem severely under leveled. To come out on top, I had to pull out all the stops and exploit the "spread sheet" and healing abilities to the max. Needless to say, it was difficult.

Optional use of items (especially heal items): Boktai, Ninja Gaiden, BioShock, Resident Evil Series, Zelda series, MGS series, etc. In these games, when you're low and health and you don't feel like dying, healing items are just a few clicks away. Whether the healing items are reached through menus or via a specific button, as long as the player has healing items/abilities he/she can heal to extend their health. Purchase a "lives of a thousands gods," a take 2, or capture a fairy in a bottle and upon losing all of your health, your character will spring back to life for a second shot at victory. The more of these specialty recovery items the player has, the easier the game becomes. It's all up to the player to adjust as he/she sees fit. And it's not just healing items. Other items/abilites adjust the game difficulty by boosting strength, speed, defense, and other attributes.

MODAL METHODS

Most games address the difficulty issue by giving the player the option of selecting a mode of play with varrying levels of difficulty. The common term for such a mode is "hard mode." Viewtiful Joe takes these modes to an extreme even for Capcom: Kids (easy) Adults (normal) V-rated (hard) and Ultra V-rated (super hard). Super Smash Brothers Brawl also features a variety of difficulty modes.



In a hard mode the difficulty is increased by manipulating any number of the following factors.

• Player health/enemy strength
• Enemy types
• Number of enemies/hazards
  
• Upgrade requirements (more money, experience points, kills, etc.)
  
• Item prices
  
• Time limits
• New/expanded objectives & challenges

The game that I feel does the best job with the modal method of game difficulty is Perfect Dark. From Agent, Secret Agent, to Perfect Agent, a number of factors are tweaked to tune the game difficulty so that the core design is maintained. This in itself is hard to do, but in addition the 3 modes are designed so that each mode is unique while building up the player's knowledge so that everything comes together when playing on Perfect Agent, the hardest mode.

Compared to the Agent and Secret Agent, Perfect Agent changes the following factors:

1. Enemies are more accurate and have stronger body armor. The defensive upgrade makes limb shots less damaging, yet shots to the head and chest are still just as effective. At the same time, enemies still flinch and recover from shots in the same way they do in the other difficulty modes.
   
2. Shields (defense upgrades) are removed from the maps.
   
3. Additional mission objectives are designed into Perfect agent compared to Secrete Agent. With each additional objective, the strategies, abilities, and routes of play change significantly. For example. in the fourth mission, instead of saving a hostage from afar with sniper support, in Perfect Agent the player takes up the role as the hostage only to break out from capture. Though the majority of the mission objectives are the same as from Secret Agent, tackling the objectives from the inside of the compound is like playing a completely new level.
   

Another game that did a good job making each difficulty level unique so that even players who are skilled enough to take on the hardest mode have a reason to play the easier modes is Ikaruga.

DESIGN PROS

Designing game difficulty organically has a lot of design pros.

• The added challenges are created out of concrete mechanics. Adhering to form fits function is always a plus.
• The forms and functions remain stable. All the moves, characters, objects, and enemies always consistently reflect the same values and mechanics. Enemies won't be stronger or weaker depending on the mode.
  
• Because everyone will gather their knowledge from the same experience, everyone will be on the same page. This allows players of different skill levels to relate to each other and compare.
• The player has the power and the flexibility to organically adjust their difficulty level up or down in real time. This ability becomes a vehicle of the player's self expression.

Unfortunately, the inorganic methods increase the level of abstraction in a game's core design. The biggest benefit of the modal method is that players don't have the ability to wimp out and adjust the difficulty level back down to easily get around tricky challenges. For the most part, once you select "hard mode" you're stuck and there's no going back. It's like jumping off the high dive or strapping yourself into a roller coaster ride. Many gamers don't want to option to chicken out because they know they'd either take it or dwell on the choice. Also, though the organic method is a mode of expression, the modal method is a clear way to communicate a minimum level of accomplishment.

Personally, I like a nice mix of organic and modal difficulty options. And on that note, I despise the option to change the difficulty setting at any time in a game. BioShock. Tales of Symphonia. The World Ends With You. I'm looking at you!

Folded Level Design

Ever since Super Mario Brothers brought side scrolling levels to the masses, gamers have been running through the world without ever looking back. Kick a turtle shell to the left, and run away to the right for safety. Narrowly jump over a Hammer Brother and keep moving until he's off the screen and out of your life forever. Even though the majority of levels made nowadays aren't 2D side scrolling, they do have a starting point and an ending point with little to no backtracking.

Today I want to focus on the kind of level design that isn't about leaving things behind. I want to focus on a type of level design that is like climbing a tall tree to rescue a cat; going one way provides one kind of challenge (ie. climbing a tree), and getting back is a different challenge that builds upon the original challenge by adding a layer of depth/complexity (ie. climbing down a tree with a cat in one hand). I call this kind of level design folded level design.

Folded level design is different from back tracking, or playing new level/scenario that uses a familiar environement. Back tracking is simply traveling along previously visited paths and areas and usually involves the same challenging game elements as the original pass through. In other words, back tracking is simply going back without any significant changes or surprises. Likewise, reusing an environement from a previously visited environement is merely making a new level at a fraction of the effort.

Folded level design is like like folding a piece of paper; the two halves cover the same area but there's an addition layer to consider. For example... on your way to the kitchen you had to dodge all kinds of domestic objects that are now hazards in the dim lighting. But on your way back, you must to reconsider your approached due to the glass of water you are carrying in each hand.

The genius of folded level design is in how it develops a set of knowledge for the player and then manipulates it. In the cat tree rescue example, climbing up a tree is a challenge due to gravity, footing, and visibility. While ascending, one would gather knowledge about the arrangement and strength of the branches. Using both arms and legs, one would climb up the tree one step at a time. Upon reaching the top and with the cat (the crease) in hand, the challenge is folded. The crease is simply a term for the point at which a level folds upon itself. Now the climber has one less arm/hand to use, the pole like branches are transformed into downward steps, and the cat must be protected from stray branches. In this scenario, the knowledge of climbing branches is reanalyzed. A great path going up, could be a risky path going down.

In a video game, a level can be designed so that a player must perform certain actions before the level folds upon itself. Doing this is a safe way to ensure that the player has enough information to make the best decisions once the next layer is added. The clearest examples I can think of come from the Metroid series. Instead of using text boxes to explain what each power up does, the levels are design in a way so that the player "traps" themselves getting a powerup and then must use that powerup to escape thus self teaching the function of power up.

Perhaps it's best just to show some examples.

• Wario Land 4: Layer 1. Crease and Layer 2. In this game players delve deeper into each level searching for treasure and other monetary goodies. Upon reaching the end of the first half of the level, players must activate a switch that sets a timer for Wario's escape. The switch is the crease that folds the level back upon itself. The additional layer is the timer and the small blue bricks. These bricks will either switch on or off depending on their state before activation. The barriers created from these bricks help guide the player along their way back through the level.
  
• Boktai: Explanatory video. In this game, players journey deep into buildings/dungeons to retrieve sleeping bosses. The game can be played like an action game, but in true Kojima style stealth is the best course of action. Once inside the building, players must conserve their energy. At the boss, or the crease, players grab hold of the coffin and attempt to reverse stealth back outside the building. With coffin in hand, players travel extra slowly adding an extra layer to the mix.
  
• Pikmin 1 & 2. In Pikmin, like in most RTSs, players spend their time traveling away from their base to gather treasures/resources, fight battles, or scope out the area. Unlike in other RTSs though, Pikmin is designed to create dynamically folded gameplay in a more open world style. In general, players can seek out prized objects any way they want. If they so chose, players can sneak around enemies, climb over obstacles, and/9r jump down from higher platforms to reach treasure. The catch/crease occurs when players order their Pikmin to carry the treasure back to the base. Not only do the Pikmin carry the treasured object very slowly, but they're completely vulnerable as they take the shortest path back to base. If you're not careful, Pikmin can easily walk themselves into hazards or bump sleeping enemies. Even if the path the Pikmin take is completely clear, some enemies can be accidentally coerced out of their "zones" and wander into places you never expected them to be.
  
• What's even more dynamic though is, in the event that the player cuts their losses and calls their Pikmin back from carrying the treasure, the treasure will drop and stay in that location until the player moves it again the next time. Depending on how long the player waits to return to it, enemies can repopulate areas. So the next time you go back for that treasure, the challenge may have changed considerably with new enemies to guard it. For all these reason, the folded design in Pikmin is made up of dynamically intersecting folds upon folds thus achieving a multi-fold design or origami level design.
  
• Zelda Phantom Hourglass: This game is filled with folded level design probably because of how folded level design makes more use out of a limited space which is ideal when designing a handheld game. The battle mode is in essence an extension of the RTS style gameplay found in Pikmin. Furthermore, having to carry around the boss keys and switch gems to progress through the dungeons folds the level upon itself by adding the extra layer of Link's limited mobility and limited use of his weapons. The best example is probably the Temple of the Ocean King. Each time you visit this dungeon, Link's new abilities transform the strategies and possibilities for completing it. In some cases, they allow Link to reach new areas. In other cases, they allow Link to bypass sections reducing the progression time considerably. The notes players can write on the map are persistent which keeps the temple from completely resetting when the player leaves. Because the player must journey out of the temple to gather new items and abilities, playing the rest of the game can be thought of as the crease. Because the temple unlocks quests on the over world and visa versa, Phantom Hourglass as a whole achieves a multi-fold design or an accordion design.
  
• Zelda Twilight Princess: Temple of Time. Going up is a challenge/puzzle in itself. Once players obtain the Rod of Dominion and take control of the giant statue (the crease) at the top of the tower, the challenge is to get the statue back down. The descending challenge is more complex because of how Link controls the statue remotely with his own movements, the statue's limited mobility, and great weight. This temple is easily one of my most memorable Twilight Princess levels.
  
• The final castle in Zelda: OOT and 4 swords. You go up to do battle, and have to come back down with Zelda in your party. Protecting Zelda adds the additional layer in this folded design.
  
• Perfect Dark: mission 1,3. The first mission is all about infiltrating the dataDyne building using stealth. After retrieving the AI in the second mission, players must escape from the building by reversing the path they used to infiltrate it in mission 1. The new layer for the escape mission is that the whole building has been alerted to you presence and guards are waiting for you with traps. At the first step off the elevator, the lights are cut and players have to navigate in the dark while avoiding the barricade traps. The 2nd and 3rd mission in Area52 have a similar folded design.
• Super Metroid (and almost all other Metroid games): Speed Run. The design of Super Metroid's world involves a perfectly balanced amount of backtracking and discovery that is powered by Samus' transformative abilites that she gains along the way. With each power up, Samus gains a new way to dispense enemies with as well as a new way to move through the environement. Ball form can fit into small holes. Bombs and missiles can blast open new passage ways. The speed booster or super run can provides new ways to move through a space including straight up. This super run can also power through obstacles turning a bumpy road into a smooth track. Perhaps the most genius element of Super Metroid's folded level design is how these abilities create momentum and suspension between the game's distinct sections bringing what would other wise be independent level section into one cohesive flow of game ideas.
  
• Mario Kart Series: Because of the circular design of all race tracks in Mario Kart, items and traps left on any lap but the last lap are folded back into the game. Lay a bunch of bananas on the skinny bridge on DK Parkway and you might be the victim of your own deviousness. The layers are created from the "leftovers" on the track as well as the finish line. The pressure of finishing in first place puts a sort of fluid/dynamic timer on the gameplay experience that's relative to whoever is in first.
  
• Super Mario Bros. 3: World 7 castle. World 8 castle. One of the revolutionary new features Mario Bros.3 added to the series was the ability to move left or right at any time. Gone are the days of not being able to go back to see if you missed something. There are a few levels that use this feature to the max. In these levels Mario is stuck in an small series of distinct sections that loop in some way back into themselves. The strategy involves utilizing the respawning power ups from multiple pass through the looping level to gain the flying abilities needed to escape.
  

A Mario Trio of Bullet Point Essays

While combing through Super Mario Bros. to write the Mario Melodies series, three topics/ideas/details in particular jumped out at me. I don't have enough material/time to expand these ideas into essays. So, it's that time again for a few "bullet point essays."

Mario Out of His Element

• The water levels in Super Mario Bros. are intricately designed to provide a different gameplay experience from the land levels while at the same time being familiar and complementary.
  
• While the land levels are about forward momentum/flow that is punctuated with spry vertical jumps, the water levels expand the verticality by giving the player access to the whole screen to swim through. Because the water is always pulling Mario downward, maintaining one's level or moving up is a constant struggle.
  
• In the water Mario sinks rather quickly, yet with a few pumps of his arms, Mario can float gracefully forward at a nice pace. Because the run button is disabled underwater and Mario's forward momentum is preserved (unless he runs into an object), players can get through the majority of the level with just the jump button.
  
• Just like how Mario can't jump downward on land, Mario depends on gravity to pull him downward underwater. This similarity links the gameplay of the land to the water so players can quickly become familiarize with the "jump" function even underwater. In essence, the "jump" mechanic can be further defined as "a push against gravity."
  
• To further contrast the land environment to the water, the aquatic enemies behave a little differently than the land enemies. The Cheep-cheep and Blooper can swim through the solid level elements.
  
• The Blooper is also one of the few enemies that actively approaches Mario. Though falling Buzzy Beetles, Paratroopa, and Lakitu do aim at mario's position by moving in the left or right direction, the Blooper is the only enemy that seeks Mario in 2 dimensions with the ability to turn around at any time.
  
• Moving through the water is slower than running on land. So, water levels inherently slow down the pace of the game. However, though Mario moves forward more slowly, there are this just as many factors to consider to keep the player engaged. Because the enemies can exist anywhere moving through the level elements, they intersect the available space for Mario to travel in interesting ways not commonly found on the land. Plus, the invisible underwater currents help make pits a threat to Mario.
  

For all of these reasons, the water levels in Super Mario Bros. put Mario out of his element. Though the controls are familiar to land levels, it's clear that Mario simply doesn't belong underwater. Perhaps this is why there is roughly 1 water "level" for every 5 land levels. After all, the enemy and level elements underwater aren't designed with a lot of interplay.

Mario Looks Before He Leaps

6 bricks is the largest size pit in the game

• The screen scrolls in a way that positions Mario just left of the center. While moving forward the game maintains a space of 10 bricks in front of Mario and 5 bricks back. This allows the player to see more of what's coming up while still keeping an eye on what's being left behind.
  
• To give the game a positive forward moving flow, the developers never designed any dangerous enemy or level elements that the player must react to when the element is still out of view. In other words, everything the player needs to know in order to make informed decisions is always visible well before the player must make that decision.
  
• Somewhat hidden dangers like Piranha Flowers or fire balls reveal themselves to the player just as they come into view and before Mario has a chance to be hurt by them.

The largest jump-able pit

The same pit when the screen scrolls up to it

• The developers didn't create a jump that's too big for Mario to make. The distance of Mario's maximum run-jump is 9 bricks. If such a pit were to exist in a level, the player wouldn't even be able to see the end of it even when standing at the edge. See images above.
  
• For the gaps that Mario can't surmount, there is always an alternate path provided that's obvious and encouraged with careful coin placement.
• Mario's run ability increases his jump height and distance. At the same time, it makes it harder for Mario to reverse directions in the air and on the ground because of the extra momentum. For this reason, as the player increases the pace of their gameplay experience, the game difficulty ramps up.
• At higher speeds, the player has less time to react to oncoming dangers because of the increased scrolling speed and Mario's momentum. This is why jumping is an ideal strategy for avoiding oncoming threats when running. Jumping not only preserves the running speed, but it's what the game is all about.
  

Because design choices were made to aid and inform the player before challenging them, Super Mario Bros. is a game where the player is free to set their own pace and play style to their liking to make the experience the most fun for them. Such a fine level of design that keeps the player in mind is crucial for creating games that are fun even when losing. In Super Mario Bros. a bomb can't randomly explode and kill you. And a creature can't spawn/pop out of some secret location and attack you. When someone dies in Super Mario Bros. they know it was their fault instead of the game's fault. Being able to quickly identify the human error makes players want to give it another try.

Coins: Gotta Catch Them All

coin heaven

• The coins in Super Mario Bros have a variety of functions.
• Gathering 100 gives the player a 1up.
• Their placement can encourage jumping without needing to create threatening situations.
  
• Coins placed in difficult and tricky spots allow the player to adjust the challenge of their gameplay experience on the fly. Those who want a bigger challenge go after the more dangerous coins.
  
• Miyamoto scolded the level designers for Super Mario Galaxy upon viewing an early build of a level that was littered with coins. With so many coins, the focus of the level became cluttered and the coins lost their ability to encourage players. This issue was fixed immediately.
  
• In Super Mario Bros. coins are pure. They will never hurt Mario, and they are always put in places where Mario can safely obtain them.
  
• Coins are used to encourage players to explore, and jump in ways that are not necessary to complete the level. It's important to understand that all the previous functions are only possible because of two reasons. 1) There is never a coin positioned in a place that Mario must travel. If that were to happen, the function of the coin would be diminished. If the player must move to a specific location to progress, when putting a coin there would be similar to charity. 2) There is never a coin that Mario can't grab safely. If either of these rules were to be broken, then coins would turn into wild cards/taunts that force the player to doubt each coin.
  
• There's a third parameter that the developers followed to ensure the purity of the coin's function. If a player sees coins (assuming the player is at least Big Mario), then they should be able to obtain all of the visible coins. This parameter when followed, reinforces all of the coins functions. Every coin must communicate to the player, "You can get me," so that their collective presence says "Gotta catch us all."
  

With these sound ideas behind the placement of every coin the player is empowered by their own adventurous spirit, ambition, or greed.