Friday 12 January, 2007

After further play and review of the Double Dash, I found a few more subtle things to note about the game. The first was the audio (music/sound effects). The music nicely complements the cheerful, child-friendly 'happy' theme of the game which is well accomplished in the graphical style. However, after playing through the full-cup tournament (16 races from the 4 cups), I realized exactly how repetetive the music feels, despite there being different soundtracks. A wider variety of music might have made it more enjoyable. To play, rather than turning on other music to listen to while playing.
Along the lines of theme, I developed an appreciation for how well the the levels are designed. The obstacles and item placement greatly add to the complexity, challenege, making it more than just a simple racing game. The 100cc and 150cc (and mirror) add more obstacles and increase the speed of the race, making it even more challenging, particularly with the mirror mode, which forces to literally look at the courses in a new way. I did not really notice how well the obstacles were implemented previously because they thematically fit so well into the course that it seems only natural that they be there; take for example the obstacles suchas the falling blocks and jumping lava balls in bowser's castle and the moving cactus-balls and sand-pits in the Dry Dry Desert are game elements drawn from some of the earliest classic NES games that have persisted in what could be called "Nintendo Culture")

I also made several interesting 'discoveries' about the co-op play mode which make it a bit more interesting. When both players hit the accelerator (A button) right as the race starts, you get a super boost instead of the regular boost which you get when only the driver presses the accelerator. Further more, the slide-attack for the person in back, although useful for making opponents 'within melee range' to spin-out, I found the effect it has on steering--particularly when powersliding--to be very irritating. Oh, and switching places while driving around corners is not a good idea... While the co-op mode provides its advantages, it emphasizes the inherent inability for (most, probably) players to simultaneously strategize and play in a complementary way. Thus, as co-op mode did generate much frustration, the fact that it proved to be challenge to try and play cooperatively with another person than trash-talk and beat them. However, the co-op play ultimately proved to be not as exciting and fun as I hoped it would be, simply because it lacks the competetive nature that the vs. play draws out.

Overall, my analysis of this game has given me an number of things to think about regarding game design, notably music thematics vs. repetitiveness, co-op play vs. versus play, and thematic level design.

what ideas have you come up with on the topic of co-op vs. versus play? I've always found a well designed and enticing co-op game/game engine to be one of the rarer things in video games. Versus play on the other hand is a great deal easier to do, as it has less of an AI overhead, and in the internet gaming world doesn't place the same urgency on largescale parrallel packet synchronization.

Not to say I think Co-op play is nessecarily better. Nor is it always more difficult...but I'm babbling. Do you have any thoughts on the topic?