Gaming was newly established as a mainstream entertainment industry in the 80s. Having just overcome the crash of console games in 77as the manufacturers of older consoles and Pong clones sold their products at a loss trying to clear stock and creating a glut in the market. The crash came to an end with the release of Space Invaders, which ushered in what is referred to as The Golden Age of Arcade Games. The Games Industry experienced a second greater crash in 83 mainly caused by an excess of poorly designed games, this time causing the bankruptcy of several gaming companies also. The need for original fun games became glaringly obvious. Along with the boom of arcade games in the early 80s, there was also a rise in dedicated hardware systems and multi-game cartridge based systems.
Throughout the 80s gaming started to become more sophisticated starting with multidirectional scrolling games like "RallyX" which also featured a radar tracking the players position, RallyX was also the first to feature continuous background music having a dedicated sound chip( as opposed to games like space invaders which used a simple chromatic descending notes). Pseudo 3D, synthesised speech, color, stereo music, full motion cut scenes, multi-directional scrolling were some of the features being introduced to gaming in the 80s. Hand held Gaming devices were also new to the scene in the late 70s. Gaming was becoming so popular that magazines were created which featured gameplay strategies including "Mastering PacMan" which sold over 750,000 copies.
Knowing the limitations that developers faced in the 80s, i would have loved to create a game similar to the first Zelda. My game would be a fantasy role playing game, with a similar game play structure as Zelda (which is still fun to play today, despite the fact that technology has come so far :) not relying on the graphics but rather on gameplay techniques and a good backstory.
The games I've been playing lately are Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Eye 007 (2010) and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I'm loving Zelda at the moment... can you tell?
As technology has advanced games have been able to become more sophisticated with their designs. The original Zelda uses multi directional scrolling in 2D as does Sonic but 007 is rather different as a very free first person shooter modern graphics and all. Levels in these three games are all approached in different ways Zelda has a back story with small tasks leading up to big bigger tasks and bosses and ultimately a final challenge. Sonic on the other hand is lot more simple, you have rings to collect and things to dodge but ultimately your score comes down to a combination of rings and how fast you make it to the end of the level. 007 is very structured in terms of a storyline and level progression but how you go about finishing each level is very much up to the player, i prefer the more stealthy approach but you can also go in there all guns blazing and finish out just the same. 007 also gives you the option of playing the levels straight up or you can add that extra little bit in if you play the side missions also though there is a significant adjustment in the difficulty levels of the two, while just playing the main levels is fairly forgiving the side missions are not, so effectively you can either play the game on normal or hard.
Compare and contrast how levels and environments are designed in all three games
Zelda is an action adventure game bordering on an RPG, but because of its lack of experience points most agree falls just short of this category. to successfully complete a Zelda level you have to interact with villagers and various other characters in the game, many of which give you hints to complete levels or offer something either healing or items. Sonic is a platform game, which relies as much on the speed you complete the level as how many rings you collect, being a platform game you also have to jump obstacles and avoid dangerous items. 007 is a fast paced First Person Shooter with a pre established storyline, and interactive environment from pushing buttons to operate lifts to destroying barrels or trucks which explode taking out any enemies in close proximity. Zelda level one's most important aspect is to set you up for the rest of the game, first you must get a sword and then collect gems by killing small enemies in order to purchase a shield, potions, and other items necessary for completing the game, the level design is basic yet effective the first level is made up on 9screens for the surface and extra for the caves and secret passages, the layout is simple mostly open space with set objects like rocks and trees which can be used as cover from projectiles. Sonic is set as you race up the mountain on a tropical island, level one features a scrolling backdrop of palm trees and flowers with distant mountains and clouds, the background is simple because the game is based on speed and the players attention is focused on the foreground and various creatures that need to be avoided or jumped on, there are also high floating rings and other items that are placed above moving platforms which have sharp spikes below which you can gather if you dare. In 007 you are Bond, and your mission is to recover the key to a Soviet weapon in orbit. Level one is a time chalenge you have 45mins to get in and destroy the chemical weapons dam in Russia and get out again. You and your partner Alec progress through the level together, for example at one point Alec drives a truck and you shoot enemies out of the passenger window. The game features lots of destructible items like crates which can be used for cover also if you or the AI enemies shoot a wall the cement chips, the AI in the game is also fairly intelligent even to the point of calling for backup if they feel outnumbered or outmatched which is where the stealth comes in handy.
