Wednesday 20 February, 2008

Gamelog #2:
Entry 2

GAMEPLAY:

This second session although I still played mostly SMW, I also played Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 (in 2 player battle mode). The fact that this cartridge has varios Super Mario games contributes to extended play because the player can switch to different games depending on his or her preference.

Again, there isn’t much narrative in most of these games. The format is the same, get through a level, reach the boss, fight the boss, go on to the next level. In almost all the games, the goal is to reach Bowser (final boss) and save the world, Peach, or other friends. Obviously the reason I kept playing was because the puzzles are enough to keep me satisfied, the story isn’t too much of a factor.

What I liked most about SMW is that the worlds aren’t as linear as Super Mario and Super Mario the Lost Levels. In SMW there are various short cuts and hidden doors and bonus goods that you can collect (not just coins). Also, sometimes the worlds have more than one exit. I also liked that sometimes after getting through one level you were left a simple small Mario but you could always return to other levels and regain you Super or Fire status or pick up a Yoshi.
In Super Mario Bros. 2 I remembered more of the secret “warp” holes and I really enjoyed skipping certain worlds to get to my favorite (the ice world). Unfortunately this allowed me to advance maybe too quickly and I became stuck because I got to more complicated parts in the game without much experience and therefore had a hard time passing some levels (the desert world).

GAME DESIGN:
In SMW and Super Mario Bros. 3, the grafics and the worlds seemed much more developed and colorful. One of the things that characterize Super Mario is the cartoony animation and vivid colors, and the absurdly endearing koopas and other villains. The musical score is also a very important factor in the aesthetic design for these games. The Super Mario tunes are infamous and are very upbeat and very encouraging to the player’s ears.

One thing I noticed is that Super Mario and all its versions are meant to be played with no interruptions. You have a counter and in the older Marios there’s a scrolling screen to keep you moving. If you don’t finish before time is up, you die. If you don’t move and the screen scrolls, you can be squashed by the edge of the screen and a wall or rock.

Also in each of the games as you advance into a new world, all the levels within the world have a similar theme (or a complimenting factor). Also as you advance into a new world some new features (like the Super feather in World 2 in SMW) are offered and sometimes they can be a handy tool to get through the rest of the world or worlds there after. Also with each new level, the puzzles become a little more complex.

For example in SMW, almost all the worlds have 1 ghost house level. The ghost house levels are all very similar in that they have the same music and are the worlds with darker colors and elements that add to the creepy and eerie level design. They are also different from the other levels in that the way out of these Haunted Houses isn’t as linear as the rest of the levels in the game.
The puzzles in the houses are sometimes a lot trickier and there is often trick doors that lead you back in the level rather than forward. Sometimes you have to move backwards and find certain objects and do certain things to unlock the doors. The exits aren’t obvious and the clues to get out of these levels are often times more subtle. These levels also tend to be slower than with the other ones.
This is also true of the Boss Castle levels, which are characterized by stone brick walls, a lava component and sometimes a “climb up” rather than “move right” gameplay aspect.

I really liked that the games also tended to provide the player with the tools they would need at various parts throughout a level. For example there are various Mushrooms and Question boxes that can contain feathers and Fire Flowers in case you got hurt by a tricky or unseen opponent. Even in levels in which Yoshi are especially useful will offer you a Yoshi egg at least once within the level. I also kind of liked that the levels wouldn’t change. After going through the earlier levels various times (to collect fire flowers or Yoshis) you can actually memorize the pattern and number of opponents coming. So in other words, you already new what is coming so you can actually begin to do speed runs, or explore and find hidden or bonus “vines” or “tunnels” that take you to maybe a new exit or “coins-galore”.

With that said, there was a feature in SMW that sometimes was useful and other times annoying. That was the mid way marker, which were two poles with a blue bar connecting them. If you were a small Mario and you went through the Bar you saved the game at the midway point and because a large Mario. What this did is that every time you would go to a level which has been saved at half way, from that point you’d start the level. This could be a good thing so you don’t have to restart each level from the beginning. However, I found that sometimes the reason’s I’d go back to a level was to collect objects that were offered at the beginning of a level. So when I returned to a “saved” level I would have to move back to the starting point and then retrace my steps back and continue to the exit (which can be a huge waste of time and be annoying).

Super Mario is also characterized by the massive reward structure. There are coins everywhere and every enemy you stomp on gives you points. Also the end of the game offers you points depending on how “high” you cross the finish line. Collecting 1 hundred coins, or five dragon coins get you an extra life. Getting 100 finish line point sends you to a bonus round where you hit boxes and try to match up pictures on a 3 by 3 square formation. Depending on how many tic tac toe style match ups you get, that many 1 ups are offered. Although there are all these rewards they are all the same extra life reward. After a while I did wish for something else. Often times I got tired or needed a break from the game and I’d still have 10+ lives accumulated.

I think SMW and most of the Super Mario games in the cartridge have the same weakness and strength: the simplicity. The goals, the artwork, and even the gameplay concept is pretty simple. Unfortunately this can make the game drag. I do get bored of sitting and playing for two hours straight. However, its simplicity is what makes it classic and also make it have replay value. I can’t sit for more than two hours playing it without getting tired or moving on to maybe one of the other games but I have no problem returning to it the next day or the day after. SMW is best served in small dosages each day. Not so much a very long game play session in one day.

This is great, keep it up. It might've been good to talk more about the longevity of the games, but given it's at the end of a very long entry, I can understand why you'd be tired of typing. Good job.

Amy Leek (grader)