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What Made Those Old, 2D Platformers So Great?

Posted by Soulskill on from the simple-yet-entertaining dept.

TheManagement writes "Many current developers of web games seem to have a fondness for 2D platformers. However, their desire to capture what made Sonic and Mario games so great is rarely achieved. In an attempt to breach that gap, Significant Bits takes a look at three common design principles that made those classic titles so enjoyable. 'To start off, the interface needs to be quick and responsive. Input should have an immediate effect on the character in order to foster a sense of full control. Granularity and different control techniques, i.e., pressing, tapping and holding, are also important as they provide a level of precision to the movement. ... Now, as far as the environments themselves, it's not a coincidence that they're often filled with all sorts of slides, bridges, trampolines, ladders, etc. In a way, they're simply playgrounds for the player, both literally and figuratively. They're catered to the moveset, and they enhance the flow of the game.'"

9 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. The fact that you were younger and less jaded then by LittleJedi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The fact that you were younger and less jaded then.

  2. One word. by boarder8925 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What Made Those Old, 2D Platformers So Great?

    One word: nostalgia.

    --
    Keep your eyes to the sky.
    1. Re:One word. by boarder8925 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What Made Those Old, 2D Platformers So Great?

      One word: nostalgia.

      Not at the time, of course.

      --
      Keep your eyes to the sky.
    2. Re:One word. by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One word: nostalgia.

      That, plus the fact that you didn't need to memorize 150 different keyboard commands to play one of those old games. Most of the newer games became too much like work for me to ever really enjoy them.

      --
      This ain't rocket surgery.
    3. Re:One word. by meringuoid · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Not quite. I'd say two words: Shigeru Miyamoto.

      Go download a NES emulator and a collection of ROMs. Play through a representative sample of 2D platformers of the late eighties and early nineties. My God, most of them suck so very, very hard. How did anybody ever enjoy this utter rubbish?

      Now play Super Mario Bros. 3.

      There, you see the difference? Exactly. This isn't nostalgia taking games that were never very good and inflating them to become unwarranted classics. This is time acting as a filter. All those awful games have sunk into richly deserved obscurity. So when somebody publishes a 2D platformer today, we don't compare it against the whole genre: we compare it against Mario at his absolute best. We're going to see some kid's band he's formed with his mates, and we listen critically, and flame them for not being anywhere near as good as the Beatles.

      A small number of truly great games, that's what we remember. We've forgotten the crap.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    4. Re:One word. by BikeHelmet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The devs back then had to spend a lot of time on the level layouts. When you can't rely on gfx or sfx to make your game a success, you have to spend a lot of time ensuring every aspect of the game is high quality.

      That means reasonably good graphics/sound effects(even if "bleeps and bloops" are the best possible), good level design, difficulty level which ramps up over time, etc.

      Far too many modern games have poor level design, or difficulty fluctuates randomly, or the input scheme is awful. It can be quite irritating.

  3. Lack of options by AnonChef · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously

  4. They weren't great. by log0n · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There just wasn't anything better at the time. My generation.. it's all about how great Quake/Doom/Duke Nukem and how nothing lives up to the gameplay they offered. The more immediate generations will proclaim how nothing before Halo was any good and very little after has come close.

    20 years from now we'll have the same thing.

    (personally, I think the games we have now are the best (playing/looking/story(not everything of course)/etc) we've ever had)

  5. Re:The fact that you were younger and less jaded t by bonch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Normally, I would agree with you except for the incredible sales figures of New Super Mario Bros and the fact young gamers are still playing the older 2D games. I don't think there's a secret to their popularity--they're fast to get into and require no prologues or tutorial missions. You can stop playing at any time and easily jump back into it later. It's simple fun.