Background Information
Platform Games, or “Platformers”, are a genre of video games in which the player controls an avatar that traverses a given environment utilizing action-based moves. These moves can range from simple motions like running to more complex actions such as flipping.
Platformers were creating in the early 1980’s, and played a key role in popularizing video games to the public through arcades or consoles. They began as single-player games with one avatar that would continue to move through different environments, or “levels”. Later additions such as scrolling movements allowed for the environment to shift either horizontally or vertically, while multiplayer developments allowed for multiple avatars to be controlled either by either one person or a group of individuals.
Components
Interactive Environment
The levels that the player avatar traverses through. The environment implements obstacles, enemies, or simply pathways that the user’s player must get through in order to continue to the next level.
Perspective
Platformers utilize a distinct point of view, meaning the player can either view their avatar and environment in motion on the screen in front of them or view the obstacles ahead through the eyes of the avatar they are controlling. The latter is less common in most platformers.
Scrolling
Platform game are either two or three-dimensional, the latter only becoming popular since the 2000’s. Inside these dimensions, the player is able to observe the obstacles or both the obstacles and avatar on the screen in front of them. The screen moves with the character both horizontally and vertically in a mechanic known as “scrolling”.
Player-Controlled Actions
The player is always able to control the actions of their character. One of the primary actions is jumping either through or over obstacles, however more advanced games can implement other actions such as running, sliding, or climbing as well. These actions are always necessary in order to progress through the level and maneuver through obstacles.
Examples
Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong was an arcade game created by Nintendo, though evolutions of the platformer could later be played on gaming consoles. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, who must scale a ladder with multiple obstacles in order to save a damsel who has been kidnapped by a giant ape. The giant ape in question would continuously drop obstacles through the course from above to try and stop the player from finishing the level.
- This game was the first of all the platformers to include a mechanic other than simply running. With the code in this game, players were also able to have their character jump, revolutionizing the realm of actions an avatar could utilize to navigate past enemies or structures.
Super Mario Bros
- Super Mario Bros is one of the most famous platforms games to this day. The franchise, also created by Nintendo, originally could only be played in arcades, but now can be downloaded on various consoles or devices such as phones or computers. The games feature an italian plumber named Mario and his friends as they traverse through the kingdom in order to save a princess.
- Super Mario Bros was one of the first ever games to include multiplayer systems, where other players could join the games, and numerous avatars would have to travel through the same environment. In special cases, the obstacles would even require specific characters in order to perform certain actions such as jumping higher or squeezing through walls.
Rain World
- Rain World is the most recently developed and produced game in the examples. Created by VideoCult, this game is one in which the player controls a mutated creature called a slug cat. The world is a post-apocalypse platformer with obstacles and enemies alike. Multiple actions are available to the player such as climbing, attacking, and standard movements like running. The game is only found on one platform: an application titled Steam.
- This game is most notable for the intricate details put into developing the obstacles and enemies. VideoCult implemented AI code into the enemies, meaning that instead of following standard actions, the enemies act from developed knowledge of the player through the game, enhancing the experience and personalizing it to each player.
Evolution
The genre has continued to progress both mechanically and in popularity, becoming one of the most well known genres for video games, with new software or applications releasing that constantly innovate the gaming-scene. Whether it be evolved animation, or implementations of artificial intelligence, the platformer genre is always adding new features that keep the popular topic still relevant decades later.