ichtyander
Member
The inspiration for this thread came from my love for the cinematic platformer genre, as well as finding somewhat lackluster definitions of what it is and a non-existing comprehensive list of games that fit within it. Im not claiming Im an expert or anything and Im probably stretching on some of the topics, but I felt compelled to at least attempt to make this a decent reference for future study. Also, while I feel this is a fairly comprehensive list of titles, there might be more out there Im not aware of so feel free to mention any games that might fit the genre. Naturally, critique, comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Also, this is my first new thread on GAF so I apologize for any mistakes, typos and other nonsense.
As is the case with various forms of art, there has always been a branch of game design philosophy oriented towards realism, be it gameplay mechanics, visuals, physics or all of the above. And while certain genres such as vehicle simulators or sports games seemed to fit this approach quite naturally, others were always set in more outlandish, caricatured and deformed versions of reality. Ever since Mario (Jumpman at the time) started jumping over Donkey Kongs barrels, platformers have been the staple of cartoon physics and impossible acrobatics, becoming one of the most popular genres in video game history. And while real time 3D graphics were still in their infancy, most action games involving a character (as opposed to a vehicle and such) were set in the familiar 2D side view (scrolling or not), so as time went on, genres began to blur, creating new sub-genres. Platformers evolved into action adventures, puzzle platformers, light-RPG adventures and all sorts of weird genre mixes, adding more story and interaction to them, all the while keeping their original 2D side view. Some of them tried to keep a certain level of realism and a cinematic feel to them, from cosmetic things like character proportions to more realistic physics, the inability to change direction mid-flight, adding falling damage, low jump height and climbing on ledges. Even with the introduction of a third dimension, it took a few years to make the transition from vaguely anthropomorphic forms into somewhat believable and realistic looking characters and environments, so the cinematic and realistic action adventures remained in the 2D side view for quite a while. And it is during this decade, from the late 80s to the late 90s, that a new genre was born, one that would curiously spawn a relatively small number of games but still leave a significant mark on video game history. Of course, Im talking about the cinematic platformer.
If I mention Prince of Persia, Another World, Flashback or Oddworld: Abes Oddysee, people immediately recognize the type of game Im talking about. But curiously, its not that easy to define what makes a cinematic platformer, especially if you notice that Prince of Persia and Another World (aka Out of This World) are two very different games, the latter probably fitting into a genre of its own. Some might dispute if Another World is even a platformer at all, although it satisfies the basic platformer requirements of being able to jump and having at least some limited platforming involved (as in jumping over chasms). Lets just say that Another World tries to be as much of a movie as possible while still being a game, in contrast to FMV choose-your-own-adventures like Dragons Lair and Night Trap which are at the other end of the spectrum. It becomes even more difficult when we look at modern platformers like Limbo, a game thats often put into the same genre yet its mechanically missing most of the elements from, say, Prince of Persia. So in my attempt to define the cinematic platformer genre more clearly, Ill try to answer:
- What are the key elements?
- Which games are the precursors that influenced or resembled the genre?
- Which games are the defining and obvious examples of the genre?
- What the hell are these other games that feel very similar but are still very different?
- How have they naturally evolved into the third dimension and influenced some of the greatest classics thereafter?
- Is there a resurgence of something similar in recent years?
Im deliberately not delving into 3D territory because then everything starts to blur very quickly and you could potentially place most modern action games into the same category. Also, for the sake of not mixing other well defined sub-genres, its important to mention that Castlevania and metroidvanias, the Monster World series, Shinobi, Shadow of the Beast III, Braid and a whole lot of other action/stealth/puzzle/adventure platformers are NOT EXACTLY cinematic platformers, no matter how cinematic they may seem in execution, but more on that later. The term cinematic platformer is quite ambiguous in itself, but for a lack of a better name, thats what were calling them. So heres what might be a breakdown of the genre's key elements:
- Grounded in reality - characters are anatomically correct, extremely vulnerable, take lethal falling and environmental damage, firearm combat requires you to pull out weapon before use, items and interactive elements are always in a logical location (on floor, wall, no floating coins etc.)
- Realistic movement - fluid step-based movement, slow and clunky compared to mascot platformers, realistic jump height/distance, running inertia and shifting weight, vertical movement is often done by climbing on platform ledges, rocks, ladders or using elevators
- Trial and error gameplay - revolves around memorization and trial and error, frequent deaths are a part of the learning process, checkpoints are often implemented, unlimited retries, item and environment based puzzles (bring battery to generator, blow up rock to open a path etc.), often fairly short games once you know what youre doing
- Environments and hazards - plenty of one-hit-kill hazards and traps, cliffs and pits, destructible doors/barriers, hostile creatures and enemies, levels often have backtracking and free roaming between small areas
- Well animated visuals - 2D side view, exceptionally fluid rotoscoped or 3D pre-rendered character animations, screen flipping scenes, UI is minimal to nonexistent, numerous (and gruesome) death and plot cutscenes
- Minimalistic storytelling - ranging from no text or dialogue to a few short lines or cutscenes, silent protagonist, the plot often revolving around being suddenly thrown into a hostile and/or alien environment over the course of a few hours to a day or so
- Cinematic presentation - achieved with well animated characters and action sequences, unique cinematic set pieces with special actions and input requirements (Another World rocking the cage, kicking an enemy in the nuts, pressing random buttons on a cockpit etc.), long stretches of silence broken by dramatic music in action situations, custom cutscenes and animations for almost every brutal way you can die
- Cinematic platformers are action adventure platformers with a strong emphasis on realism, cinematic presentation, detailed character animations, trial and error gameplay and a minimalistic approach to storytelling.
Prince of Persia was released on October 3rd, 1989, the game that established the cinematic platformer genre so its only natural to first look at which titles influenced Jordan Mechner to make his timeless classic.
Lode Runner (1983):
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134900/the_story_behind_the_making_of_.php?page=4
Lode Runner is deep in Prince of Persia's DNA. Lode Runner is like the light pencil sketch that you can't see anymore by the time you have a finished ink drawing.
Castles of Dr. Creep (1984):
Source: Game Design: Theory and Practice by Richard Rouse III (Jordan Mechner interview)
The most direct inspiration there was a game by Ed Hobbs called The Castles of Doctor Creep, which didn't get too big a circulation, probably because it was only available on the Commodore 64. My college dorm mates and I spent a lot of hours playing that game. It had these ingenious puzzles of the Rube Goldberg sort, where you hit one switch and that opens a gate but closes another gate, and so forth. So the one-sentence idea for Prince of Persia was to do a game that combined the ingenuity of The Castles of Doctor Creep with the smooth animation of Karateka. So when you ran and jumped you weren't just a little sprite flying through the air, your character actually felt like it had weight and mass, and when you fell on the spikes it felt like it really hurt.
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988):
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134900/the_story_behind_the_making_of_.php?page=5
Been playing Super Mario 2. First time in ages I've been addicted to an arcade game.
Several points worth noting:
It took me hours of play to get through the first area; but having done it once, I can now zip through it reliably in minutes.
I'm building up a repertoire of skills.
There are certain things that it pays to do in the first area -- like boost your life meter from 2 to 3 to 4, and collect an extra life -- but you can also keep playing forever in the same area, if you like, without achieving anything.
Karateka (1984):
Jordan Mechners previously released game naturally influenced Prince of Persia with its cinematic look, cutscenes and rotoscopic animations.
Other influences include films like Raiders of the Lost ark, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, The Thief of Baghdad and literary works like Arabian Nights, Shahnameh, One Thousand and One Nights and The Golden Age of Persia.
Eric Chahis Another World was released two years later in 1991, with one of the obvious influences being Mechners Karateka and Prince of Persia as well as a few other titles.
Dragons Lair (1989, Amiga version):
Source: http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk/another_world.htm
However, in August 1989, when Paul was completing the code for "Future Wars", another game as famous for its spectacular pictures as for its non-interactivity was released: it was the Amiga adaptation of Dragon's Lair. Developers actually managed to store the original videodisk's animations on a floppy: characters filled the visual space, like a cartoon, which was unusual at the time with the reduced sprites' size. The downside of their method was the huge memory storage needed for the game: 6 floppy disks were read during its streaming... When I saw all these animations in flat color, I thought these could be done with vector outlines. That's the sparkle that made me use polygons for 2D animations. This technique has the benefit of using less memory space without any restraints on the animation size. That's the principle used by Flash on the internet.
I knew this principle would be quite perfect for a game with a cinematic atmosphere. The first thing I did was to write a polygon routine on Atari ST in order to make sure this technique would work. I had already worked at the 68000 assembler for a few months, and after a week of writing, performances were getting right, at about 10 displayed polys per 50 frames per second. That was good enough.
Impossible Mission (1984):
Source: http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk/another_world.htm
Still under the visual influence of Dragon's Lair, I thought I would create a game with very big expressive characters... I thought about many different themes, such as an adventure game in a house haunted by spirits? No, I had already experienced that in "Le Pacte"...
I actually quickly orientated myself towards a theme in which I had worked little but that was always dear to me: Science-fiction. I wanted the player to be immersed in an alien, completely quirky but credible world. Its on this basis I made the introduction, without thinking thoroughly of the development once in the other world, as the separation with the real world would be clear-cut anyway. I kept the game mechanics for later, even though I was already thinking about a 2D game, between "Karateka" and "Impossible Mission" (Epyx, 1984).
Other influences include films like Star Wars, the Dragon Ball series (animation, the pistol charging animation) and the art of Frank Frazetta.
The following titles werent directly cited as influential but are notable examples of games with similar approaches and design decisions. Some of the developers might have arrived to the same conclusions while thinking about cinematic experiences so its probably one of the main reasons for such similarities.
Dark Castle (1986):
The Black Knight has brought misery to the land, and the end way to end this is to enter his haunted house to slay him. You are the brave adventurer taking on this quest through 14 increasingly-tough zones.
The bulk of the game is side-viewed, involving single screens to pass through, which incorporate ropes, cages and trapdoor. There are enemies walking, flying and hovering through this, and many of them respawn. Unusually your weapon to take them on (rocks) can be thrown through 360 degrees, which aims to make the gameplay more realistic and methodical. The screens were linked by hub screens, which the player passes through simply by clicking on a door.
It has well animated characters, multi-screen scenes, large custom animations (choosing the next room), difficult trial and error gameplay, various death animations (getting hit by lightning for example), lots of traps, puzzle solving, platforming, picking up items and elixirs off the ground, one on one battles with special enemies, realistic reactions like fall damage and getting dizzy. Also has a very similar sequel, Beyond Dark Castle (1987).
Weird Dreams (1988):
A severely ill man is on the operating table when a Daemon named Emily trapping you in your own subconscious. To escape you must find four orbs, which are trapped within a selection of esoteric mini-games set within the darkest Dali-influenced recesses of the mind.
Weird Dreams is a third-person game with action and puzzle elements. The game contains bizarre levels and unorthodox activities, including feeding a wasp cotton candy, beating up hopping totem poles with fish from the sky, and an encounter with a baked chicken in a haunted house. The game comes with a "short novel" that explains the plot in detail and serves as copy protection.
Weird Dreams is a delightfully bizarre game thats unlike anything seen before it and its also surprisingly similar to titles like Another World. It features large, anatomically correct and reasonably well animated characters, multi-screen scenes, heavily reliant on trial and error gameplay (to a point of making no god damn sense), gruesome death animations, realistic (and clunky) movement and combat, picking up items off the ground, almost every level is a set piece with an action/puzzle to be solved and the story unwillingly plunges the protagonist into a violent and strange world of his dreams.
Project Firestart (1989):
Project Firestart is one of the progenitors of the survival horror genre. In the future (2066) a genetic experiment (Project Firestart) onboard the Prometheus to get strong durable miners went wrong. Your job is to go onboard the Prometheus (which has been out of radio contact) and find out what happened. You will end up fighting monsters, gathering information on what really happened, and have a chance to save a survivor.
A sci-fi horror adventure ahead of its time, Project Firestart was heavily inspired by Ridley Scotts Alien and had several elements common to the cinematic platformer genre, even though theres no platforming in this game. It has well animated and possibly rotoscoped characters, a very cinematic presentation (intro, cutscenes showing shocking and gruesome scenes or even cutting gameplay halfway to show simultaneously occurring situations, environments changing dependent on the plot etc.), minimalistic UI, realtime limited game clock, a slow moving companion to escort, mostly silent with suspenseful music when enemies are nearby.