Gamer Grow

According to an interview between Satoru Iwata and the creators Mario Kart, Super Mario Kart, the first in the series, didn’t start off as a Mario game at all. Super Mario Kart started as an attempt to create a racing game where two players could play at the same time. The prototype for this game featured a man in overalls, and about 3 months after testing the game, the staff decided it looked neat if the character was Mario racing around. And the rest is history. Today, the Mario Kart franchise features six games, each one home to a different Nintendo platform. Though each game is different the core Mario Kart experience remains the largely same. For the purposes of this essay, I will illustrate the structural similarities between the platforming game Super Mario Bros. and the Mario Kart games specifically Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Both Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Kart are all about racing. Mario races to the end of each level against the...

Mario Kart Wii has inspired me to write a few essays on Mario Kart. I've been a fan ever since Super Mario Kart came out on the SNES. As you can see, I own all 6 Mario Kart games. Like so many Nintendo games, a lot of people think they know what they're all about. Bright colors. Simple rules. Deep gameplay. Lots of fun. While all of these things are good, even some of Nintendo's best keep franchises have taken a hit in the quality and game design department. It's time to get to the bottom of Mario Kart and see if it is or ever was worth caring about. Like I said, Mario Kart Wii has inspired me to write about the Mario Kart series, and why Mario Kart Wii may be the worst Mario Kart game of them all. How is that possible? What's so different about the games? It'll all be explained this week. First up will be an essay on the core structure of the Mario Kart series and how Super Mario Kart/Mario Kart: Super Circuit are structurally similar to Super Mario Bros. Stay ...

......Two is better. Over the past five years or so, I've noticed a certain design trend in games particularly sequels. Many developers looked at established franchises and decided to double a core element of the game the sequel. In these cases, the gameplay doesn't necessarily allow for two player co-op play. Strange as that may be, let's look at a small list of games that have gone the way of the double. Mario Kart Double Dash Resident Evil 0 Pikmin 2 Castlevania Portrait of Ruin Trauma Center: Second Opinion Advance Wars: Dual Strike Tekken Tag Tournament Dead or Alive Lunar Knights Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae Ouendan 2 (Japan only) Halo 2 (duel wielding) Though there are plenty more to put on this list, some developers have gone further. If two is better...... then four is more (better). Halo3 features a four player campaign mode, four player map editor, four player video watching, and up to four players on one console. Undoubtedly other FPSs will follo...

I started playing through Metroid Fusion for the GBA yesterday. Being a fan of Metroid games, I've developed what I call the "Metroid Eye." Essentially, this technique allows me to play through Metroid games effortlessly while seemingly stumbling across every secret as if powered by serendipity. After playing so many Metroid games, I've internalize the creator's style which includes how the level design unfolds, how the abilities and challenges progress through counterpoint, boss types and attack patterns, and where they choose to hide powerups. The Metroid series is notorious for hiding powerups. Some powerups are easily obtainable usually consisting of the abilities that are essential for progressing through the game. The developers make sure that these powerups are as easy to get as possible. Others, however, can be hidden behind rocks or other structures that must be blasted away to reveal their location. Others still can't be flushed out with randomly aim...

1up's Shane Bettenhausen gave Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS a favorable score because of of the game's tight controls, sharp visuals, and distinguished unique feel unique to the handheld machine. This DS game received an 83.1% average score on gamerankings.com while its "older brother" console counterpart, Ninja Gaiden: Black/Sigma, received a 94.0% score. Comparing the two games was inevitable. Some have created expectations that are different and often times lower for handheld games These gamers believe that handheld games are inherently less deep and complex with shorter overall gameplay experiences, which are better suited for playing in small bursts. I don't believe any of these conditions are inherent to handheld games. The principles of game design can be applied to any game. The better we understand these principles, the more it becomes obvious that games are games no matter what system they're on. Itagaki and the developers at Tecmo/...

Many are exciting about the potential in the upcoming PS3 game Little Big Planet. Graphics, style, and coop aside, this game features a rich level editor and an innovative system of posting and sharing these levels with the world. The developers of LBP are essentially putting us (the players) to work for ourselves. While this is interesting in itself, being powered by the creative energies of the world comes with a unique issue. Like in Halo's forge, many will be daunted by the task at hand and opt out of making something of their own. After all, there's nothing quite like the discouraging feeling of wanting to creating something but having no ideas when all the necessary tools are laid out generously in front of you. There will be others who will attempt to create something, and the result often times ends ends up being something that looks and plays like garbage. Let's face it. Creativity is hard to come by. And in the case of games with editors, being able to pull off a ...

Testing is a big part of teaching. Between quizzes, tests, essays, midterms, finals, recitals, exhibitions, and tournaments, most students put their learning to the test in some form or fashion. It is important that tests are organized so that they cover a limited amount of material at one time. This is especially true for quizzes. In my Japanese class with Professor Schneider, we were given quizzes every day. First vocab, then grammar, then kanji. Then the cycle would repeat until the chapter test. Unfortunately, our grammar quizzes used to be unfocused. On the quize= Schneider would ask us to create a grammatically correct sentence, which would obviously test our understand of the different types of grammar we were required to know. However, on these quizzes, we were also required to use some of the latest vocabulary. I explained to my professor that if we were to have a grammar quiz, that it would be best to make sure the quiz tested grammar and only grammar. After all, it was hard...