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Jan 10th, 2007 at 00:44:32 - Tiny Toon's Adventure (NES) |
Part Two of the Gamelog assginment dur 1/12/07
start time: 9:10
end time: 10:05
After returning for a second round of game play of Tiny Toons I began to see some very solid design features. For example, most music was very stage appropriate like the ship stage with the boat, sky and most everything is a happy orange and the music is this cheery sailor tune that makes you get into the level and really enjoy the gameplay. Also, when playing through the castle level again (yeah again *sigh) I noticed that the music was very erie when a bass onldy every once in a while to ad to suspense. The elemet of music is very important in a game and is very enjoyable in Tiny Toons. The problem I had with the music is that it stranglely resembled Kirby and so did the whole ship level, it was very well made so I hope that was just because it was copied from another game.
I also found that the characters play an even bigger role in the gameplay then I had though. The cat is able to use its claws to grab onto walls in order to save from death, the duck has a special whirl wave underwater that none of the others can do and Buster has enough speed to out run the girl that's in love. I found that there is a lot more methods to be used before the level starts in order to get through easier. I choose the wrong character on accident for one level and found that without following the design that the developers have created it becomes very difficult to get anywhere in the game. I found that the only real complexities in the game was picking the right character but even that is easy because there are only three choices. The rest of the game is skill and timing. I wasn't able to find any secrets or cheats like in Mario and that could be cause I didn't run across them or more likely they aren't there.
I plan on making a platformer for my game design project so this game does help me because I know what was enjoyable and what was rediculous. I would try to take the essential platforming elements from this game, like making a lot of easy jumps then a hard one or two to make the player feel like they have accomplished something. Also the constant bombardment to keep the player interested, nothing impossible but constant easy tasks and then throw in larger ones to finish off. I will try to aviod the problem Tiny Toons had of constant randomness where nothing makes sense and each level (though well designed) doesn't come together with the previous one. One of the best and obviously main features in the game is the option to choose multiple players and I feel this is Tiny Toon's strongest feature so I will try to incorrporate it into my platformer.
Overall the game has a nice feel to it but if you didn't know the show Tiny Toons then it would be not comparable to Mario or Kirby. The levels are much like Mario where your constantly trying to stay above an imaginary bottom which I find myself wondering why is it that you standing on some random piece of grass that seems to be higher then everywhere else? and why is it so bad that you go down? In a good level where there's lava under you or your obviously hundreds of feet in the air because your on a cloud I can understand falling being a problem but in spots there was a strangle feeling that this was an ordinary piece of dirt and if the duck doesn't make it to the next one then he was going to be fine. Though this isn't a major flaw it does bring in the idea of level design that makes sense. Hitting spikes hurts you (true, true) but why does setting in a puddle? This game does a good job on most accounts of making good sensable levels but things like lack of flow, no story, and no complexity explain why games have advanced some much since 1991.
A very enjoyable game overall and it was interesting to go back play it with a closer examination.
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Jan 9th, 2007 at 23:38:06 - Tiny Toon's Adventure (NES) |
GameLog for CS 80K assignment due 1/12/07
Start time 8:05pm
End time 8:55pm
I decided to play Tiny Toon's because when I was younger I had rented the game a lot because I was a Tiny Toon fan and found that the game was enjoyable on many levels. Coming back to the game after many years I still find the game quite fun but on a different level.
Tiny Toons is quite a standard platformer which is to no surprise because of the period it came out in, but even with the fact its not original has still been fun and entertaining. The characters are well thoughout because they are from a TV show and their moves reflect that of those in the show. For example, Buster Bunny can hop high and Taz can do a short inveriable devil spin. Each different ability works on a certain level or better against certain creatures. All and all the characters are very fun to see the differences and try playing, but the one interesting thing I found was how they were animated. Just like a standard sprite they are in 2D but the interesting thing is that they are not outlined in black but instead in the color of the character. For instance, the duck is green and outlined in green which makes it hard to see him with a green background. This is not a big deal but I thought it strange.
So far in my play I am yet to encouter a story at all. It starts you out much like the original Mario with no explaination. The game seems to be moving in a certain direction with each stage numbered but what is going on is unknown to the player. The story isn't there so that game relies on gameplay which works out well since platformers are fun. There is the common jump and try not to fall off the edge and also the time the jump for when the bad guy is turned around. At this point everything is standard but it is still the beggining of the game so it could change. The level design seems to be reasonable but the scheme is off the wall. One level your outside jumping from place to place then the next level your in a unknown castle with some odf the same enemies and a evil scientist as the boss. Maybe these actions go along with the show but as for level design, the levels are good but the flow is not.
Players should stay reasonably interested in the game because it has fun elements but the game is on the original nintendo which translates into: unforgiving. The game is very hard at point even on the first area. For example, there is a girl that chances you at the end ofd the second level of each area. She apparently loves you and you lose if she gives a kiss but the problem is no matter how many lives you have if she touches you you go back to the beginning of the area and that can happen over and over again. The game is hard and that is why it will be rewarding if I am able to beat it.
I will continue play and then write more.
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