20 Reasons why Super Metroid is the Best Game Ever. #5-2

Super Metroid is the Best Game Ever. Here's reasons #5-2.


#5: Give and Test
Whenever you get a power-up you are also treated to some music and text.

Do you hear the song? I do

Yay, you got something new. The awesome part is what happens next.

I call it: Give and Test. Show and Tell

Give and Test is pretty awesome, but there's a problem - now a days it's commonplace. You see it all the time in Zelda games.  It's something you can count on.  You get the Mirror Shield, and then there is a bunch of Light-bouncing puzzles. Get a hookshot and then zip around the dungeon. Whenever you get a new item, you know that it will solve the next 10 puzzles and probably defeat the boss.  Give and Test has become like kitsch.

But there's a key difference between how newer games use Give and Test then how Super Metroid does.

In newer games  -  the Test is the path forward.
In Super Metroid - the Test is the path back.

To make the contrast clearer, i'm gonna illustrate my point. (Graph time!)

Ok that graph is supposed to show the general Gameplay Progression for a Zelda game. Any 3D Zelda will do, but let's just say it's  Zelda: Twilight Princess and move on.

In Zelda you go the farthest off the beaten path when you fight the boss. The boss might be guarding some important item but it's not a new ability. The new ability (bombs, grappling hook, or whatever) is on the path towards the boss. The test after takes you deeper into the dungeon.

Now compare it to my awesome made-up chart for Super Metroid:

The new item is the farthest point off the beaten path; not the boss. (Excluding Ridley but he's atypical.) Then the Item Test Zone is how you get back to where you were.

The key here is the direction of gameplay. With Super Metroid the focus is the new item, not being off the beaten path. The Test Zone is more like an instruction manual then it is a hurdle.

So yeah, the difference between the two is small.  But it changes how Give and Test feels. Instead of an Action/Adventure stereotype, it feels like you're Indiana Jones. You want to get the Golden Speed Boost Idol.  So you struggle through the jungle and deep into a Temple.  Only to discover that getting in was the easy part.

 

Awesome.


#4: The Dead Guy Again
One of my favorite things is the Dead Guy right before Super Kraid. He's sitting there all covered in bugs. There's spikes all around. Then you meet the Boss Door for the first time. He was so close to the varia suit but it just didn't work out for him. Maybe he forgot to save.

Ok there are three reasons this guy is awesome.

First is Implicit Narrative. I've already talked a bit about implicit communication in #7 Symmetry and Asymmetry. But what I love about this is it's open ended. The guy is sitting there dead. What was he doing?  Why was he here? Was he another bounty hunter that failed on the mission? Was he some sort of tomb raider? You don't get to know. All you know is that this guy's dead, and he's surrounded by spikes. It probably means shit is about to happen. I love stories that don't quite fit.

That was a quick.

The next one is about Boss fights. It's better to think about bosses not as huge enemies or big challenges, but as book ends. They signal the end of a section (Cadences); they are freakin big and scary. But to make that intense moment even more intense it helps if you build Anticipation. Just like Scary Movies. First you hear the footsteps of the killer. Then you catch a glimpse of his bloody axe. Your gonna get chopped to bits. You hear him breathing and go away. The coast is clear so you leave your hiding spot. Then BAM close up of a Velociraptor with an Axe.

The trick here is that the killer is not as scary as your imagination makes it. This is a big lesson from Stephen King's writing or Hitchcock's Movies. You can imagine the fire hose chasing you down and catching you. But when you look back there's nothing. It's just a thing on the wall. It's a similar thing with the dead guy. It's suspense that kills.

The first time you see the dead guy he's more of mood device. His corpse serves as a warning.

So you pass over him. Open the door. Fight Kraid (probably lose the first couple times). Beat his big ol green face in. Collect the Varia Suit. Then feel super awesome about yourself. Yay you did it! So you head back. That's when the best part happens. You see the dead guy again.

The First Time he's creepy. The Second time he's laughable.  That may seems kind of dumb, but it's why people don't like Final Fantasy 8.

The biggest gripe with FF8 is that enemies level with you. Personally, I think it's a cool idea. It keeps the battles interesting. It makes traveling around the world scarier. You can't just waltz around anywhere. But I understand the gripe - which my friend Jacques said the best. "When I'm level 80, a baby rat should be easy."
With FF8's Level-up System you lose that point comparison.  Without baby rats, the game is less fun.

You miss out on the ego-power trip. It's fun to travel through early areas and just obliterate your enemies. You feel powerful. You feel like you've gotten better. (Side Note: Even though that might be a lie. Your numbers might be bigger that doesn't mean you as a player have improved.)

That's why I love the Dead Guy. It's neat that he speaks implicitly. It's cool that he builds suspense. But he's so awesome because he sucks.

#3: The Brinstar Bridge
The Brinstar Bridge is the last green room in brinstar. The room just before you get the brown brinstar rooms. It's got that group of disappearing blocks with spikes above 'em.

Here's a picture:

The Brinstar Bridge is awesome. But as a kid, it caused me much frustration - I couldn't get across.

I tried walking over it. But it's made up of those stupid disappearing blocks, so I fell through. I tried sneaking underneath the bridge, but none of the walls are breakable. I tried jumping quick and low.  But that's really really hard. And when I went back, I found that the path is blocked. I had to cross the stupid bridge.

It wasn't until I started hitting my controller that I found the solution - I happened to slam on the run button. My frustration made samus run.

The Brinstar Bridge forces the player to run. It does the same thing as Give and Test. The player must prove they can do something.

But that's not what makes the bridge #3.  The bridge is awesome because of it's pacing and context.

It happens...

At first running is optional. You can run under those stupid bug guys. You can run over some breakable blocks. Then it's required - the bridge makes sure you can run. Which makes sense cause you need to know how run with the Speed Booster.

The Brinstar Bridge highlights something Super Metroid does amazingly well. Pacing. To emphasize this point here's another Pacing Highlight:

Each one is a little tougher than the last. Hm.. I'm going to do another. How about with breakable blocks?

That's enough examples.

The pacing in Super Metroid is done really really well. What get's me - it's not just the difficulty rate. Nope, it's also the rate and amount of information. It gives you easy or optional bits before it gives you the hard bits.  It's also super detailed awesome and all over this game.

There's a lot I want to say about Super Metroid's pacing. (Peaks and Valleys, Two for Ones, and Parallel Lessons) But I'd rather move on to #2.  We'll leave the Brinstar Bridge as it is.



#2: Ceres Station
Yay #2. So close to the end. And it's one my favorites.

Ah yeah!

Ceres Station is the prologue to Super Metroid. The pre-cursor to action. Before I get to why it's cool I want to compare it to two other introductions - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom  and  Metroid Prime.

Ceres Station function the is mostly the same as the other two. It sets the timbre or mood of the game. It gives you a little taste of what's to come. The difference is in the content - Lufia and Metroid Prime show you what's cool about the game.

It's really a neat trick. You start with all this awesome powerful stuff. Get to feel powerful for awhile. Then they take it all away - You get a new party in Lufia  and your power suit fails in Metroid Prime. It let's the player know some of what's in store. It's like a guy in a van handing out candy. "Come here little kiddies." He says. "Have a little candy. But if you want some more you'll have to take a ride in my van."

Ok that analogy was a little messed up. But still, that's kind of what's going on.

Yeah. Super Metroid doesn't do that crap. I think it's better for it. Why? Because it does what I think a prologue should be doing: encapsulate the game.

Super Metroid doesn't just give you stuff for free.  You gotta earn it.  It ain't no pussy facebook book game with their free invitations and their stupid achievements. The ones they give out whenever you do anything, ever, at all.

Ceres Station really gives you a taste for the game. There's a little bit of shooting a giant space-pirate-dinosaur. (Wtf is ridley btw?) There's a lot of running around looking for stuff. There's a trademark escape sequence. And there's a whole lot of frustration.

There are more awesome tid-bits in Ceres station. I'm gonna ignore those and go straight to my favorite part about Ceres Station. It's also probably my flimsiest argument so far, but screw that i'm going for it.

Ceres Station sets you up for a surprise. It's the same surprise as in Metroid 1. And no, It's not that Samus is a girl.  It's the surprise they pulled on the player's expectations - You go left first.

If you listen to your gaming roots when playing Metroid 1. You will go right. Mario and Megaman would go right. If you try to do that, you'll fail. You'll come across a giant wall with a small hole at the bottom.

This ain't a Mario.

It's a small surprise. Probably not that amazing for people who didn't grow up on games with which you could only go right. But it still is awesome. That wall is there to shatter your expectations. The designers put that wall there on purpose. They knew you'd go right first.

Ceres Station sets you up for the same feeling. That same surprise. It makes you go right.

When you land on Zebes you have the same symmetrical Samus. What direction did you go? I went to the right.

When you first get to Brinstar. After the dead mother brain room. Which direction did you go? To the right? Did you remember Metroid 1? You're supposed to go left first.

Ceres Station sets you up for that. It's there to remind the player of Metroid 1. It's sets you up for the same surprise as Metroid 1.

That's awesome. Ceres Station brings you back to Metroid 1. It shows you what Metroid is all about.

Well that's it for #5-2. Number one is next. I'm super excited =D.

End of my Semester Review and Stuff

I finished my first Semester at Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy. (What a long name.) I'm there studying Game Design. I had 4 classes this last semester, Intro to Game Animation, Game Studio I, Intro to Producing, Intro to Programming.


Game Animation:
My second favorite class was Intro the Game Animation. We learned how to Model, Rig and Animate in 3DSmax (among other things.)

Also we covered Adobe Premiere:



And did a bunch of Storyboards:

Which we used to make an Animation:


I love that frog.


Game Studio I:
The class I learned the most from was Game Studio I. In Game Studio, the students were divided into two teams. Each team had 3 months to make a game.

Download Link:
Download, Unzip, and Install.
Galactic Internal Revenue Service.

-This is an Alpha.
-Also the link is not the version of the Game we handed in. I don't have that version. I'll ask my producer for a copy of that so I can put that up somewhere. It has:
- A couple more levels, more Dialogue, SOUNDS, and none of the stuff that's flying around.

-Directions:
Arrow keys to Move.
Space Bar to Rotate Mirror or Pick them Up.
The Diamond things are Light Switches. Most of 'em you need to Hit once to activate.

I was a Programmer on this Team. The programming team knew 0 C# before starting this class. So we went from no knowledge to a game in 3 months. Which I'm pretty proud of.
We build the whole game btw. No engine or library or nothing. (Which basically meant I did a shit ton of work.)



Producing: 
The weakest link. I didn't really care much for Intro to Producing. It was a good class. Producing just isn't something I'm excited about.



Intro to Programming:
Programming on the other hand was awesome. My Final Project was a Tower Defense Mod. I basically blew everyone out of the water for that project. Even the teacher's were like damn that's good.

BIG SHOUTOUT TO JOEY COHEN FOR BEING MY ART CONSULTANT AND GRACIOUSLY DRAWING SOME SPACE BUGS!

Thanks Joey!

(I made the first two a bit weirder. I hope you like 'em)

Here's some screen shots:

You start by building Cell Towers - they Study your Enemies.

Once they've studied long enough you can upgrade 'em.

 The tower it becomes depends on the Type and Color of the Enemies it Studied.

It also unlocks and now you can build that Type of Tower.

Eventually you unlock all sorts of craziness.

It's a pretty fun.


So that's some of what I did. I have a two week break now - hopefully I can write more frequently. The big problem is that each blog takes forever to write. (Especially the screen shots.) Maybe I should do smaller blogs (basically crappier ones) once a week while working on a big one once a month. =/

#5-2 of Metroid should be up by Wednesday. (I'm super excited for #1.)

20 Reasons why Super Metroid is the Best Game Ever. #10-6

Super Metroid is the best game ever. Here's reasons #10-6


#10: Cadence
With an open world design there isn't a formula or a syntax. You can't tell the player when one part ends or when the next one begins. There's not 3 levels then a boss fight. There's not a break between each level. Without some kind of form or structure you can't build cohesion.

It's why I'm not a fan of the Elder Scroll's series or the Baulder's Gate series. I can't tell what's going on.

How does Super Metroid get around this? How does it tell the player when something important is about to happen or when one section ends? Super Metroid uses cadences.

Resolving a Perfect Authentic Cadence

In music a cadence is like punctuation.  Some cadences function as commas and other function as periods. The point of cadence and punctuation is to create a syntax - It let's the listener know what's going on. Where one idea ends and another begins.

There are three main elements in a cadence: Formulaic Harmony, Fragmentation, and a Change in Harmonic Rhythm. Super Metroid uses all three, but I'm only going to cover the first one. I have a degree in music, you probably don't. Deal with it.

Formulaic Harmony:
Just as with sentences there's different punctuation, there's different kinds of cadences. Each one uses a formulaic set of chords.

A Period is like..
...a Perfect Authentic Cadence. The harmony for a Authentic Cadence is V7-I. (For those that play guitar that means the chords would be: G7 to C. (In the key of C.)

A Comma is like...
...a Half Cadence. The harmony for a Half Cadence is IV-V. (In the Key of C, that's F - G).

A Question Mark is like...
...a Deceptive Cadence. The harmony for a Deceptive Cadence is V7-vi (In C: that's G7 to Am)

Games don't have chords and can't use vague roman numerals (you are probably like wtf is that V7-I shit.) Yet games use abstract harmony. They use tension and resolution.

A Period - Perfect Authentic Cadence

A Comma - Half Cadence

A Question Mark - Deceptive Cadence

Cadences tell the player where the hell they are. They let you know when one idea section ends and another begins. Plus they give me an opportunity to nerd out about music theory. (Deceptive cadences!!!)


#9: See You Next Mission
As a kid, I chose to buy Super Metroid because it looked freaking awesome. The gameplay looked sweet. The enemies looked cool. The cover art looked great - Samus shooting ridley like a boss.

It's the same reason I bought Pokemon: Blue. Blastoise just looks super bad ass.

I'm a sucker for flash and awesome cover art.  Yet why play the game? Well, probably to beat it. But once you've gotten to the end screen why play again?  Maybe to collect everything or to finish an achievement.
Ok, you've done everything, why play again? I don't know.

Is there ever a point where you play a game just to play it? For me personally it just doesn't happen. I need a reason to play.

I've played Played Super Metroid so much that I'm running out of reasons. When I finish my pacifist no damage run through, I don't know what do to next. I'm not sure what reason I have to keep playing.  (I makes me feel better that there are other people who are just as crazy.)

Super Metroid is more of a toy than a game. The locks are soft enough that you can sequence break. The mechanics are complex enough to keep me interested. Super Metroid has enough freedom I can sculpt my own experience. That's awesome.

This open ended nature is what I love about the ending screen. After you beat the game you've achieved your goal and are invited to achieve another. It gives you the space to create your own missions.

#8: The Wildlife
Of all the wildlife in Super Metroid only two species are your friends. The Heyna Guys and the Ostrich Thing. You can even save them from destruction.

Everything else is your enemy. They are there to kill or be killed. All they want is to ruin your Zebes vacation. Except it isn't true.

The enemies aren't placed on a whim. They aren't meant for only destruction. The enemies are your tour guides. (Well for the most part.)

 For example...


Some enemies show you where to go...

Some enemies make you behave in a certain way...

Some enemies 'conveniently' spawn weapons...

Some enemies teach you about items...

Some enemies provide a pattern to be broken...

Some enemies show you hidden paths....

Why this is so awesome is because it's not like metal slug, super mario, sonic, castlevania, or really any other platformer. Enemies serve a purpose beyond destruction. Instead of just being something to blow the shit up, they are there to teach and guide you on your trip through Zebes.

That's super extra awesome.

#7: Symmetry and Asymmetry
In Super Metroid the player can travels in all sorts of crazy directions. Up, down, right, and even left (The ability to go left would blow Mario's mind.) If you look at the design of each room, they knew about this and planned on it - they made rooms symmetric.

Travelling right is mostly the same as travelling left. This provides consistency as you move around the planet. It's not awkward going backwards. (Try running through a Sonic the Hedgehog level backwards, it doesn't work.) But that's not the saucy - awesomest part of Symmetry in Super Metroid.

What is so freaking amazing about symmetry is Super Metroid is that  asymmetry means something. When there is a pattern break you should feel it. It speaks to you implicitly.

Implicit communication at work.

So we have this implied stuff. Why is it awesome? Well now I have to talk about the opposite - explicit information. Now while I love direct communication when talking to people, explicit/direct information is the reason Metroid Prime sucks.

In Prime if you want to find a secret you change your visor and scan the room.

Player: "Oh look, those rocks are a different color." "What if I scan them?" 
**scanning** 
"Oh! I should use a super bomb." 
Designer: "(Now here's a cool secret item!)"
Player: "I'm the best!"

That's freaking horrible terrible design. It's ugly stupid and awful. Do designers think the players are idiots? Are they not willing to take a risk so that the player can have awesome 'A-ha' moments?

"By golly watson! I've deduced that we should use a Super Bomb on those rocks."

No shit Sherlock.

Give the player candy, but for pete's sake make 'em work for it. Have a fucking challenge. Follow Super Metroid's example. Make secrets implicit and awesome. Make the player use there amazing pattern recognition. Don't tell 'em what to do with words and bright/obvious colors. Secret's should be felt it in your gut and in your bones. Something subtle and implicit.

**** scanning rocks.


#6 The Morphing Ball Switch
I was gonna write about the map system and why that's so freaking awesome. But since I got going on Metroid Prime - I want to keep ranting about it. So maps got bumped for the morphing ball switch.

Another big problem with Metroid Prime is their switches. You scan them or walk up to them and press A. It's stupid and obnoxious.

The reason it sucks is because of Systems Integration. Now before you go like "wtf dude, Systems Integration" hear me out. While phrases like Systems Integration are used by politicians and corporate tools (ie it's a bullshit phrase like 'Improving Diversity') but it's actually important for game design.

When the player uses a set of mechanics that's different from the core of the game (Scanning, Quick Time Sequences ("press A now!"))  it destroys flow. It sucks.

Stopping Flow may sound stupid, but it's important. Especially when you play a fast paced game. Imagine if Street Fighter borrowed some mechanics from final fantasy. If you want to shoot a fireball, you open up a menu. Scroll down to special attacks. Go over to hadouken. Press A.

Now your opponent wants to invincible ultra through it. So they open their menu. etc. It would be miserable.

This is why the morphing ball switch is so awesome. It's integrated. It's not a menu or a quick time event.  It's why Samus shoots doors instead of an awkward series of scans or button presses. The morphing ball switch does not break the flow of the game.

To Metroid Prime's credit they did steal that idea and use it a bunch.

Well that warps up this one. Next time i'm going to cover reasons #5-1. I might give #1 it's own article. So you might have to wait on the last one.

And writing about symmetry and enemies really makes me want to do a sort of room by room walk through. Maybe I could make a video or something. Considering that this update is two months late, it's probably not gonna happen.