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Friday 22 February, 2008
This installment of gameplay will focus on the multiplayer aspects of Super Smash Brothers.
Gameplay: So I decided to kick things off in the morning with a good old fashion roommate brawl in a friendly game of Super Smash Brothers. Myself and my three roommates all sat down on the couch, grabbed the n64 controllers and prepared ourselves for one of the greatest tests of male dominance and masculinity: FREE FOR ALL! Needless to say, the game was an instant hit, and our competitive nature began to show as we immersed ourselves in the game's magic circle.
I found my roommates and I bantering back and forth to one another each time a significant attack or death was made, heightening the gameplay experience. Emotions were invoked in our gameplay experience, causing us to cry out in pain and earnest as our avatar was pushed off a cliff to die, or cheer with glee, basking in the glory of victory.
One interesting aspect of the game was how despite playing the game in its make believe context, real life stakes were made throughout the gameplay. For example, players would strike deals with eachother based upon the state of the game, and justify those deals based on a player's real life actions. For instance, my roommate Scott would say to my other roommate, "Matt, attack Travis not me, remember how he broke your ipod?" Also, players would make alliances with each other to gang up on another person, adding a sense of real life insult and unfairness, since no one likes being ganged up on.
Design:
Innovation: The first of its kind to my knowledge, combining a 2D fighting style game with 3D and adding multiple player compatibility, to create a unique and multiplayer based game.
Creation of Conflict: Conflict is created in several different ways. For the single player, conflict is created during the game progression as the player escalates from level to level with a noticeable increase of difficulty at each stage. The designers created the game in such a way that the player would feel that they are escalating towards something epic by the end of the game, much like in a 2D shooter. One thing that the design of the single player campaign lacks however, is both depth and variety. The amount of stages are limited, and the levels all have the same basic principles of, seek and destroy your enemy using the same moves. This isn't to say that all the levels are the same, because they are not and each have their own unique feel, but rather that the levels all share common characteristics and don't challenge the player's intuition. The second way conflict is created is by the players themselves, in response to the gameworld rules. Depending on what the limitations of the game setting is in multiplayer (time limit, amount of lives, amount of hit points, etc) determines the type of conflict the players create. For instance, in a game with time limit for the most kills, player will be frantically rushing to defeat their opponents as fast as possible. In quite a different manner, if players are given a set amount of lives, they will be much more reserved, and avoid fighting with eachother in order to preserve themselves until the end.
Reward Structure: The reward structure is designed very well for this game. The single player campaign allows the user to unlock certain special avatars (and levels) that can be played later in the game, depending on the user's performance in the campaign. I found this aspect of the game to be very rewarding, as earning the right to play a "secret" character who just happens to be another one of your favorite nintendo characters is very satisfying.
Changes, Frustrations, Thoughts: Overall this is a great game to play with friends, maybe not so much for single player though. Single player is still fun beating one or two times through, but due to its brevity, I found it a little boring after running through it multiple times. The multiplayer is designed fantastically, constantly creating new forms of conflict and new elements of emergence needed to defeat your foes. If I could change anything about the game, the only thing I would change would be to add more depth to its single player, that is all.
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