Action

Devil May Cry – Shinobi – God Hand – Ninja Gaiden 2 – Astral Chain

ARTICLE IN PROGRESS

Setup – The Basics

Control scheme

How to jump. Three buttons going around in a circle except the inner button. Can you jump?

Triangle Button Jump – Circle Button Jump – X Button Jump – No Square Jump

Character control

All the characters have a different weight+speed to them. Dante (default), Joe Hisashi (fast), Gene (really fast), Ryu (quick), Akira (medium-heavy).

Action – What is cool.

Purposeful movement. Super heroic quantities of energy. Able to slow time, freeze persons in air, dodge flurry of punches, live in explosions, defy gravity by firing high-powered gun shots mid-air accompanied by a barrel roll animation for each blast.

Violence / Combat

What does it mean to hit things? Things disappear, attract attention, nourish, restore order. Damage causes revivals, unlockable scenes (i.e. death animation reactions), ‘Game Overs’, repositioning, and even health displays. Not hitting things for the reason that exploration must be done, the arena is shuffling, the player must advance to progress, or to take a breather/break.

Encounter Design / Pacing / Stage

Levels to climb (twenty feet up!), levels to further advance forward, shops to ruminate, hazards to dodge, objects to interact with (push block to elevate player!), and an overall shape that reveals its nature at the boundaries.

Genre Thoughts – Strengths & Weaknesses

Genre gets away from knowing about a story and various characters allowing the ability to pick up and leave off at any point. Sometimes there are environmental clues or findings (i.e. enemy logbook) that improve the player’s situation.

Heroism

Order / Spacing / Replayability

Future Ideas