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Thursday 6 March, 2008
Final Gamelog
Part 2:
Gameplay:
I played the further into the main game of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 and I found that the level got much more complex and that new elements were constantly being added. This had both good effects and bad effects. On the plus side the game was able to remain relatively fresh and challenging. On the bad side the more complex and bigger the levels got the harder the game was to control. It was mostly because the entire level could not fit on the screen and you had to tap the sides of the screen in order to scroll over the rest of the level. This made it much easier to keep track of mini Mario’s and mad it much harder to see the overall picture of the stage. In addition it was harder to control when events speed up because the touch screen was not always entirely accurate or responsive. Despite these shortcomings I actually had a better time playing the later levels and started becoming much more addicted.
The addiction I feel was related to each stage being short and moderately challenging. I really like that the stages were brief because I usually play the DS when I am waiting for something, like for a class to start. Consequently I like it when I can actually play a decent portion of the game without having to dedicate a huge amount of time to it or without having to worry too much about quitting it. Also the fact that the levels were not too hard (unless I was trying for a gold medal) kept me playing because I was challenge, but I still had the feeling that each level was doable and I was never very frustrated.
I also played with the level editor and Wi Fi. First, I discovered that there was a very large amount of unique stages to be downloaded online and I well I didn’t actually play many I feel that the feature will come in handy after I finish the regular levels. As for the level editor I found that it was fairly easy to use and had pretty good results. It seemed you could make a near infinite number of possible levels and you could play test the level with a push of a button. On the downside however, you could only save a small amount of puzzles and if you don’t really have anyone to share the level with it really isn’t much fun to play your own level. However, regardless of any downsides, both the level editor and the Wi Fi are good additions to the game.
Design:
One of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2’s best aspects of design is its ability to create a learning experience. Most evidently, there are new elements being added all the time (like new obstacles) which keep you constantly having to learn and adjust in order to achieve your goal. On top of this the learning curve is not too steep. For example they usually don’t throw more than one thing at you at a time. Also after you are introduced to something new you are usually presented with a basic challenge of the new element first and then once you are used to the element, the challenge level is raised. Furthermore the game offers a tutorial function which you can always reference if you ever forget what a particular obstacle does. This game not only keeps forcing you to learn it also does a very good job of facilitating the learning
Linked to the game as a learning experience is the many ways in which the game challenges you. Most basically you are challenged to get at least one mini Mario to the goal, but the game offers many more optional challenges. For one there are many different ways to raise your score, like never stopping the mini Marios. These many challenges to receiving a high score create somewhat of a proving ground for the better player to demonstrate their skill. Also it is good that the extra challenges are optional because players who don’t care that much about the score can still move on to the next level without having to be stuck on the same frustrating level forever. In this way it is your choice if you want to take on the impossible challenge of getting a gold medal or if you just want to focus on the basics and see what else the game has to offer. This makes the game desirable to a wide audience.
Of course in a way the game does encourage you to take on the more difficult challenges because you are rewarded for completing them. Overall the game offers many types of rewards which help to motivate and engage players. These rewards include rewards of glory like earning medals and high score, rewards of access like unlocking a mini game, and rewards of facility like earning more mini Marios to use in the boss fight.
The level design function is also obviously a very strong asset to the game. There are a wide variety of things to use and an almost endless amount of possible level. The mechanics of the level design could be better, but the DS touch screen does really help because you don’t have to drag and drop things, you can just tap where you want them to be placed. Furthermore the level design does not only spark creativity, but also adds a huge amount of replay value. The Wi Fi features also add a huge amount of replay value to the game. The fact that you can download and share levels adds great replay value to the game and an additional social aspect to the game. Along with this you can say that the social aspect also adds a competitive aspect to the game, because people can compete to see who can make or pass the hardest stages
Finally the graphics and the sounds are a strong point of the game simply because they are executed well. The Graphic are very bright, clear cut, and good looking in general. The sound is also very crisp and good quality. Neither the sounds nor the graphics are very original, but they do a very good job of capturing the atmosphere of Mario.
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