Sidescroller Article

The day of the sidescroller is not totally gone, even if it does seem to be 3D'ed to death. TC tells us that Meccaworld has a new article online called "The Provocation - Platform Games". It's about sidescrolling "platform" games, and our own Commander Keen is mentioned several times in it. Here's a quote from the full article:

There are many reasons to praise platform games. The first is that they allow for character development and storytelling, better than 3D games. It becomes a pain in a gamer's ass to tell a story with cutscenes. Take a look at the development in just two years of whom I consider to be the best platform character ever, Commander Keen. Within 6 episodes, an entire story is told, and the character development and plot follow through nicely. Second, we have to consider playability. Modern 3D shooters and RPGs take some time to get good at. The learning curve is great. Sit a 5-year old child down in front of a platform game, tell them what key does what, and let them have fun. That's how I got into gaming. Kids don't care about 32-bit color or high-poly models. Kids like cartoons. Hmm. Let me see. What games look like cartoons?

They also speak of the current state of affairs, and Epic's Jazz Jackrabbit II. If you are a fan of sidescroller games, this article will not be death. :)

Posted by Joe Siegler on September 24, 1998 at 1:00 PM | Permalink
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