Saturday 26 January, 2008

Gamelog entry #2

GAMEPLAY

Characters: There's something about the silent protagonist that draws people. It works for the weighted companion cube and it worked for mario in this game. It probably has to do with the fact that players can project whatever they want onto the character. At the time though I think it was particularly appealing because there was very little to connect with in terms of the characters in gaming, a game like tetris or pong may be fun but there's nothing in it like "Mario." So I think there was this desolate gaming landscape in terms of personality and then here comes "Mario" he's go this unique look to him, suspenders, a funny hat, and this goof mustache. Nowadays we've got games like Bioshock with incredible depth in characters but you can't help but like "Mario," so even though there isn't any story on him he's still likable.

It's certainly interesting to play. The levels never feel repetitive, so it manages to feel fresh as you go through the worlds, each of which has its own theme. It's not so interesting however when you hit a plateau and have to play a level over and over, and if you die you start over.

DESIGN

I can't speak to how innovative Super Mario Bros. 3 was because I don't know what the platform market was like twenty years ago, but it's a classic because it was a very good game. I keep trying to apply modern standards to the game, but it's twenty years old! The fact that I can pick it up and have a good time after playing Mass Effect speaks to the calibre of the game. It's a solid game, the enemies are unique and the level design is creative. On the negative side you can't save, but it's hard to complain about that because it wasn't a feature of games at the time. It's like complaining about the game not being in HD, it's an unrealistic standard to apply. I can however complain that the game doesn't have much of a story, that's not unrealistic because The Legend of Zelda came out on the same system and the scale in that game is nothing short of epic.

The tone of the game world is fantastical and comedic with a dash of the macabre. It maintains this tone with unusual enemies and whimsical settings. These include but are not limited to goombas, flying turtles, piranhas, and Bowser who I suppose is a fire breathing dragon-turtle. It gets a bit darker in the castles where "Mario" has to dodge flames and lava without being crushed by giant spikes, it still keeps that whimsical tone though with cartoonish ghosts and skeleton turtles.

The game fosters social interaction between players through its multiplayer mode. In this mode one player controls Mario and the other Luigi, and they switch off playing levels. This promotes cooperation as the two players must work together to complete worlds. When one player runs out of lives the worlds that they completed become locked and have to be played again. There is also a level that the two players can compete in at the beginning of each world, it's optional, and as far as I can tell there is no reward to be gained from it. The gameplay in this level is much different, as it is a single stage with multiple platforms that enemies file across, and the first player to die loses a life and the stage ends.

Well said. You brought up good points, both in what makes this game a classic, and what makes this game frustrating from a modern gaming perspective. While I normally find bringing up modern games in a classic discussion distracting, you manage to use it to support your arguments. Perhaps more could have been said on what made this game so popular and successful (I know you don't know the platform market 20 years ago, but you can still extrapolate).


- David Seagal (Grader)