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Thursday 21 February, 2008
GAMEPLAY:
This time I tried several of the stages again. I had a bit more success this time, finding another couple of stars, but still failed many times (enough to have to go back to the start screen more than once), which was frustrating. I began to feel that I wasn't getting good enough fast enough. Part of the problem was that I went into the game not so much wanting to win or relax or have fun, but play for a set amount of time. Also I think that the atmosphere (the game lab at the library) contributed to this mindset, which is very different from the one in which I approached Super Mario Bros. Deluxe back in the day. However, I experienced that same frustration back then, which is what kept me from ever beating the game.
Several times I raced down another sort of slide against a penguin. I would catch up quickly, but lose control and plummet over the side. After a while I changed my goal to just reaching the bottom intact, but wasn't able to accomplish it.
DESIGN:
One of the most interesting aspects of the design, to me, was the way in which the game funnels the player down a specific path to the goal. In spite of the apparently fairly open 3D environment, there seem to be one or two ways to reach each goal. The game does this by limiting Mario's movement options - he can run or walk on flat surfaces or slight slopes, slide down steep slopes, jump a limited height, swim (but only hold his breath a limited time), and fall. Then there are obstacles that Mario cannot surmount, and thus must work around. In one level, for instance, the player has to get Mario to a floating island. There are a couple of cannons on the level, and by getting into one of them, I was able to shoot Mario to the island.
In this way, the player's options are not really very much greater than they were in the earlier 2D games, though they seem to be. The danger, of course, is making it difficult to tell what is a useable route and which was is the destination. The levels are relatively small, which limits this problem.
It was also possible to play the game in a variety of orders and replay stages multiple times. Some doors were locked, but beyond that, no set story order was established.
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