Week 3: Side Scroller Assignment

(I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to video games, so I only remember playing these 5 ‘old-school’ side scrollers.)

Space Invaders:

To me, Space Invaders was the ultimate in 8-bit games. Although not technically a side scroller, it afforded just enough different types of movement and attack options to make strategy fun and worthwhile, but not enough to make the gameplay overly complicated. At its core, I think the best thing about it that made it so fun was that it was logical and to some extent predictable, which gave the player hope of victory.

Super Mario Bros:

Even if I was a late bloomer to video games, I still rocked Super Mario. The story was fleshed-out and more complex than many simpler side scrollers, the objective the was clear, and Mario as a playable character was just so much fun. It wasn’t exactly the predictability that made these games so much fun for me, but that there was so much that the game could throw at you, and if you strategized correctly, you could win. Overcoming the challenge became a distinct possibility during gameplay.

Megaman III:

I only played Megaman III for short periods of time when I could sneak over to my friends house and borrow the GameBoy cartridge, but from what I remember it was amazing. What made this game so much fun was that it was the first real experience with crossover media that I can remember. I was a huge fan of the series, which came out at the same time, and to get to watch it and play it was an amazingly new experience.

Metroid II:

The Metroid games always interested me because of their silent hero aspect. Not that any side scrollers that I ever played really had full expository dialogue, but Metroid just seemed like you were playing the loner. This aspect of identifying with the character is what made it so fun to play.

Donkey Kong Land 1 & 3:

Last but not least were the two games that took up most of my GameBoy time. These games were the perfect fit for my gaming needs, being clear cut no nonsense platformers. There really isn’t anything more to say about why they were so much fun, they were simply perfect.

The reference images for this assignment are in the classfolder in my reference folder.