|
Wednesday 20 February, 2008
Gameplay:
Gameplay eventually devolved into irritating repetition. The nuances of the game dictated that I would eventually run into something, or fall, or some other silliness that would send me back to the beginning. A certain enemy type was responsible for my death, a certain ball-throwing pitcher of some sort. The balls *always* seemed just right in my path as I jumped.
The games plot did not captivate me enough to entice me to play further.
Design:
The game, for its time, must have been great. But now, it seems to me to be more of a curiosity, or a source of nostalgia. The puzzles and jumping and dodging, at their time, were surely exciting and challenging. But gaming has moved onto other sources of challenge. Instead of leaping from platform to platform, we have grinding for items and taking cover behind walls and blindfiring.
The games artwork, however, is cute and simple. It is not particularly flashy, but conveys the idea of background and movement, etc. The animations for Mario are amusing, such as holding onto his hat during the downward leg of a jump, or ducking and covering to dodge underneath things. I was frankly impressed at the detail, for all its simplicity.
The pausing,however, was irritating. When you collect a mushroom or break open Yoshi's egg, the game pauses for a moment. I found this irritating. Perhaps I am truely a child of my era, where I need constant action, but when trying to simply get to the mid point of the level, the stops and interruptions were an annoyance.
|
