ruth pliego - Journal Entries

[ruthpliego]

Name of Game: Centipede

Author: Dona Bailey and Ed Logg (developers)

Game Studio: Atari


Original Platform and Control Mechanism: Played on the arcade, used trackball for movement and buttons for shooting mechanics.


Control mechanism used: Arrow keys for movement, Spacebar for shooting.

I think I would not have had a difficult time using the original mechanics. In fact, movement especially may have been easier with a trackball than with arrow keys: the reason why is because I kept forgetting that I had the ability to go forwards and backwards.


The gameplay involves you, the player, being a little bug that shoots darts at objects along the screen. The titular Centipede moves from the top of the screen all the way to the bottom of the screen. The Centipede behaves sort of like a hydra in that whenever you shoot along its body, you split the body at that point and create a new head for the Centipede. Shoot that head and if it has more segments behind it, the following segment will become the new head. The Centipede’s life ends when all of its heads have been shot off, placing “mushrooms” as obstacles in their place. These mushrooms become obstacles for the player as they take dart-hits as well, if the player shoots them enough times they disappear. This is important because as the Centipede is making its way down, if it bumps into one of the mushrooms instead of going along its path, it continues on to the following line, allowing the Centipede to move quicker through the screen. There are also fleas that drop straight from the top of the screen to the bottom, placing down mushrooms as they pass. There are also spiders that zig zag along the bottom of the screen.


One of the weaknesses about this game, and maybe it could just be me, but every time I respawned I would have a hard time noticing when and where I spawned in. And I don't know if maybe after losing track of my little bug creature my eyes just couldn't “catch” it when it spawned in, or maybe because there was still so much movement happening along the screen but I quickly learned to start searching for my character almost as soon as I died (I know, dramatic, there is like a 3-5 second wait period between dying and respawning). Some of the strengths of the art and design were actually all the mushroom mechanics. It created a dynamic level design, one that could not be ignored and goes hand in hand with how difficult the game will be. For example, more mushrooms would equal a faster centipede, more mushrooms in the way of shooting, less room to move, larger clusters of mushrooms and so on.


The game was fun for much of the same reasons it had good mechanics, the growing and interactive environment was an ever increasing plus. But personally, I have always liked the hydra mechanic the Centipede has.Maybe I am not playing the right games, but I cannot think of any games within the recent years that have incorporated this mechanic which is a bummer because it is one of the most enticing things about Centipede. I find it incredibly satisfying to try to get to a spot where you can destroy a head, then destroy the following head as it evades the newly placed mushroom, then destroy the head following it, and so on. Or even when I know this is not what you’re supposed to do, I like to see how many enemies I can make and how well I handle them.

Although, maybe it’s because I played it a lot as a kid, I found it to be deceptively easy. Yes, I can explain how the level design would make the game more difficult, but it was never challenging or a struggle to get through. It is definitely one of those games where I can turn my mind off and enjoy all the happenings on screen.


Some ways Centipede may have been considered influential is likely because of its use of 4 directional movements (up, down, left, right). I know I barely touched on this, because I kept forgetting about it myself while playing, but many arcade games or games at the time would have a fixed or limited movement shooter. Centipede introduces a new level of engaging with the game. Some other things include the hydra enemy mechanic, many games at the time did have their enemies going faster the closer they got to the player, but not many had them multiplying and increasing speed in the process. While games like Space Invaders had obstacles that protected player and cloud also be destroyed by the player not very many had obstacles that changed the layout of the environment and with it, the behavior of enemies. Centipede uses this to its advantage any way it can. I also did not talk much about this but the “levels” being exciting and fun colors I think also allowed for wider audiences to get sucked into the game. There was no darkness of space or a void of tictacs with angry ghosts, there are fun exciting environments that would catch the eye of anyone.


★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (⅘)

[ruthpliego]

Name of Game: Tetris

Author: Alexey Pajitnov

Game Studio: (developers and publishers) Nintendo


Original Platform and Control Mechanism: Tetris was originally programmed on the Electronika 60, adapted to the IBM PC.


Control mechanism used: Modern PC, arrow key inputs with “Z” and “X” inputs for rotating tetris pieces.

Yes, the experience would have been different had I played with the original Electronika 60 controller but I think that the response time would have been more frustrating to deal with.


Tetris could technically be described as a puzzle game, where you are challenged to make falling shapes made up of 4 squares to create lines in a confined but invisible grid. You start the game with an empty canvas and your first piece presents itself on the top middle edge of the screen and slowly starts making its way down. You can see the preview for the next piece on the right side of the screen. As the pieces fall, the player has the option to rotate each piece in either direction in increments of 90 degrees and also move from left to right of the screen, and pull Tetris pieces down faster. And as you start filling up this canvas, you earn points for every row you fill, the stack drops by however many rows you got and the game keeps going. The objective is to not let your Tetris stack reach the top of the screen.


Tetris has more of a minimalist art design, with each of the Tetris pieces types (which there are seven of) being described by a single color depending on the leven you are on. That could either mean that each piece has its own assigned color or some pieces share the same color but maybe one of them has an outline around it or little pixels sprinkled along the piece that are just a slightly darker color. All of this though, provides a very appealing contrast between the colorful pieces and the black background making it really eye catching for the player. Tetris also has a very functional design with a clear objective and straightforward scoring system. I see very little weakness to this game. One that I can think of is the runtime of the game could be close to infinite and it may be unsatisfying to some players to play that way. My personal weakness for this game though, and it is purely because I have been spoiled by modern variations of this game: I kept expecting each Tetris piece to basically close gaps after parts of the 4-square pieces were destroyed and there were still portions of it remaining.


Tetris is fun due to the way it created this blend of challenge and excitement. Each time a row disappears you essentially trigger a rewards system that creates a bit of an itch to the player. There is also this clear outcome to your planning and work as you play. This rush of accomplishments is what the player is looking for, and if there is more of it the better, there were times where I just felt I was not going to get to clear as many rows that I thought I could that I would just stop and immediately restart the game. On the other hand Tetris is such a difficult game to master. It’s the type of game which gives players an added challenge of striving to become better, using new tactics or having better planning makes players want to come back for more. And it is a game that could adjust to your pace if you want to drop the pieces down quicker.

As the rounds go on the speed of which the pieces fall gets faster and (if you play like me) the empty space gets lower, this gives the player a rush, forces them to think outside the box, and strategize an escape in seconds. Also, once you get a bit better at it, you can try challenging yourself to rotate pieces or fit them just the right way at the very last second, right before they’re allowed a chance to settle.


Some ways that Tetris may have been considered influential is primarily by the way it gave this new idea to what puzzle games could be. Puzzle gaming that relied on problem solving at the time was very limited. Tetris expanded on the puzzle genre by utilizing quick decision making and adaptive mechanic functionality. All of these things create a dynamic and engaging gameplay where the player is constantly assessing the game, creating this sense of urgency and participation. This makes the game feel alive, like you are learning and growing with it with each level progression. Tetris ultimately defined the wave of “addictive gaming” in its way that it very easily created this rewards system for the player that would push them to improve thus making them want to come back for more. Tetris honed “replayability” like no other: all of these things, the visuals, the mechanics that the player gets to adjust and engage with, the randomness, the challenge, and objective of the game itself creates a compelling loop that always feels new and exciting. Now, there are a multitude of games that rely on the same design principles that Tetris layed out, both in mechanics and reward system.


★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (⅘)

[Professor Watkins]

Graded to here.

[ruthpliego]

Name of Game: Sonic Adventure

Author: Sonic Team, Takashi Iizuka, Yuji Naka

Game Studio: Sega

Original Platform and Control Mechanism: Dreamcast, Dreamcast Controller

Control Mechanism Used: PS4 Controller (played on PC).
It was interesting to play this way as I was only required to really use half of my controller (by design, very similar to the Dreamcast controller), it would likely have been different to play with the original Dreamcast controller in that maybe some of the buttons and triggers functioned a lot more logically or smoother (that free camera was the death of me, literally).

There are so many parts to this game, so many ways to play it and so many options for replayability. Sonic Adventure provides a lots of 3D exploration in a semi-open world. There are action stages where you have to race from one point to another, the action stages typically involving fun level designs, collection rings, finding the fastest routes, having enemy-like characters or obstacles to slow you down, and you can even replay them to try to better your score. Sonic's speed is a key point to the experience of Sonic Adventure and sometimes may even be used as a challenge to advance through puzzles, obstacles, or even take your time to problem solve a couple of sections. There are many characters you can play as, who each have their own special abilities, you can also unlock things like the "Chao Garden." This would allow player to train the Chao, which would add more ways to play the game. The overall game (I had to look this up) takes you through the story of all the characters you can play as, and at the end they all come together to beat the big bad guy, Chaos. Overall, this game consists of platforming, exploration, open world, combat, and even includes minigames (I spent too much time on the Card Pinball game) and every part of it feels so well made and executed.

Sonic Adventure's strengths are definitely in their 3D graphics and world building for this game. I think for the time, the extent of the game, the size and intricacy of the levels (especially the action ones) is very impressive. All the character models are well designed and defines while also having the ability to be expressive. The environments are rich with detail and there is so much variation throughout them, you can have anywhere from pastel beaches, to nighttime casinos, and high tech cities and they all feel complete and like they do belong next to each other. The art direction I think also elevates the game even further, they did not shy away from vibrant colors, ambitious design choices. The world manages to mesh with Sonic and the other characters extremely well. There is so much thought put into each level design. There are some levels that are clearly used to demonstrate the speed of Sonic, others that the player can easily figure out is just for exploration and others that are meant to be more puzzle solving, and everything also works in complementing the game's story.
One problem I kept running into, and I do not think this was a console issue, was that at times the game felt clunky and frustrating to work with solely because of the camera. In the Sonic Adventure game on the PC you have the ability to use either an Automatic Camera or a Free Camera. The Automatic Camera snaps to places as the character moves, and the Free Camera is controlled by the player -the way I had to control it was by using L1 to rotate the camera left, and R1 to rotate the camera right. Both cameras caused problems in their own way, and one was not better than the other. With the cameras not behaving like they should or just not being as polishes as they could be or as I'm used to, I would randomly run into environment glitches that were clearly caused by the camera. Or I would just have odd camera angles during action levels which would ultimately slow me down in game.
The only time I really admired and appreciated the camera was during combat scenes, when I would get a Lock On mechanic that would automatically be applied as soon as the battle started.

What made this game fun is a lot of the same reasons it makes it replayable. There is so much variation. Anyone could play the game with any character they wanted (as long as they were unlocked), which would they allow for a new way to play the game. The player could also play a multitude of different style levels; both in the objective of the level and in the art direction individual levels or sections of the maps took. As mentioned briefly, the game also does this in a way where nothing ever feels disconnected or like it does not belong. And, nothing ever feels tacked on or lazy, everything is used to further the story line or to give the player a tutorial on how to use a new ability. Some other design choices that made it fun was also the music of the game, it plays a huge role in matching the energy of the exciting main character. The music is catchy, and upbeat. The music does a great job at building the atmosphere and is a good companion in your explorations. Ultimately, it is the combination of the character and mechanic variety that makes it exciting to engage with this new world.

Sonic had already been a well establishes game with an endless runner side scroller, but the stand out factor of the Sonic Adventure game is how they were able to convert this iconic 2D franchise into the world of 3D games. Sonic Adventures did this conversion in a large scale way that made it establish the tone for future platformers. The way the game manages to handle speed and exploration in 3D while still maintaining the look and feel of a Sonic game is really what is important. It also helped show the potential for storytelling in platform games, with overarching stories and again, how vast and complex these stories can be told through the environment. I may be bold in saying this but, I think it is a really impressive feat for the Sonic Adventure game to push the limits of what was possible on a Sega Dreamcast. I think it also showed the world (and likely Sega) that Sonic and any other game can adapt and grow with its Console and the demands that consumers have over new technologies.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (⅘)

[ruthpliego]

Name of Game: Naruto Shippuden; Ultimate Ninja 5

Author: CyberConnect2

Game Studio: CyberConnect2


Original Platform and Control Mechanism: PlayStation 2, PlayStation controller.

Fun fact, the actual English version of the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 game would have actually come with inverted controls! Due to the fact that only the English versions got released in Europe! And also, more interestingly, the game would have also run at 50fps due to the technology available in Europe at the time (in Japan, it would have been a standard 60fps).

Control mechanism used: Modern PC, arrow keys for movement controls, A, S, Z, and X for input controls and keys R and T for L1 and R1, and E and Q for L2 and R2.


Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 is a 3D role-playing, fighting game it is the 5th instalment of the series and it builds off of some of the best parts of its predecessors and also offers some improvements. Naruto Shippuden: UN5 has the biggest cast of playable characters (62) from any of the Ultimate Ninja games, making it a really impressive and exciting game. There are multiple game modes and attack styles the player can unlock and implement the further they get through the game. Some of the game modes include Story Mode, Master mode, and Free Battle (this also allows for multiplayer). Players are able to fight one-v-ones with a multitude of fighting mechanics such as melees, chakra jutsus, and ultimates. This game was also the first to use the Assist mechanic where the player can summon secondary characters and use them for attacks or defenses (and even unlock special ultimates). The gameplay is mostly fast paced and the player is normally rewarded for timing and planning moves. The Master Mode is a game mode that gives the game its more RPG element, where the player can explore the world of Konoha, do side quests and level up your player’s skills.


The game does an incredible job at emulating the look of the anime with its cel-shaded visuals (I know, Watkins, I know) and with a creative use of sprites, impact frames, and animation tricks it makes the whole game feel so alive and engaging. The characters are well detailed, their fighting styles and animations really capture and embrace their traits and personalities. There are exciting visuals on special attacks (often being a roughly 5 second cut scene) that embrace the exaggeration of combat. While this may be a weakness to some I really appreciate how much they stick to the anime’s art style. Sure, the environments might not seem detailed, full or may feel even a little repetitive, but I find it rather endearing. One thing I can’t defend though is that their open world is in fact very stiff. Not much stuff moves around, almost everything in the scenes of the Master Mode is a hard surface element or just lacks fluidity and motion. I still really appreciate it for what it is. I may be biased because I love the anime so much and this whole series just feels like a great adaptation of it (or replacement depending on which game you play). Overall, the battles are always exciting and visually stunning, the characters are well made, and the anime/manga integration in the game is appreciated throughout.


UN5 does an amazing job at making you feel like you are inside Konoha, each button combination is just a different set of hand signs I can make. How fast paced the battles are gives you this sort of adrenaline rush that makes fights more intense, there are also references back to the anime such as the Rasengan, Chidori or Lightning Blade that people look forward to seeing in battle. The assist mechanic gives the player unique play styles and abilities that the player can discover the more they play different combinations of characters. There are also easter eggs hidden throughout, whether in dialog, animations, or attacks giving you something to keep an eye out for as you play. The story mode is well made, and doesn’t feel frustrating to sit through even if you have already seen the anime. Plus it is fun to relive battles we have already seen in the anime. The open world aspect of the game gives fans the ability to walk and explore the village of Konoha that they have rarely ever gotten from the anime. And from a modeling standpoint, the game does an amazing job at making the village feel real and lived in despite not having much to compare to from the anime. And finally, the competitiveness makes it super replayable, you always want to improve your techniques or see how quickly you can get to your ultimate the tenth time around.


Naruto Shippuden: UN5 was likely helpful in developing the look for anime-fighting games for years to come. Naruto UN5 figured out how to make their 3D models look exactly like their 2D characters without sacrificing quality or art style which is really important. One thing I could appreciate from UN5 is how it takes criticism from all of the previous games and knows what to keep or what to improve, from anything from how semi-RPGs will behave, from updating the playable characters, and updating attacks and animations for many of their previously available characters. It is also important to point out that UN5 was one of the early adapters that combined fighters and RPG styled games and meshed it together quite well. The incorporation of fighting games and exploration alongside character building helped set the stage for similar games that seeked to improve past mere versus games. Lastly, the smoothness of the game is something to be admired, from how visually rich it is in its battles, and simplistic set up of levels it makes the anime fighting sections more immersive. The response time and how fast paced it is further advances the genre.


★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (⁵⁄₅)