Every game has its own set of core gameplay mechanics. You shoot a gun, swing a sword, jump over things, or what have you. The best games have intuitive control schemes which make these mechanics feel natural and simple.
The best games, of any genre, will gradually give you new challenges which require more and more of your abilities with the core mechanics to shine. Some games might offer several sets of mechanics; any game requiring vehicles, for example, offers new sets of core mechanics to learn, which will, in good design, become integral to the game in the same way as the basic movesets do. I would generally consider the use of lots of minigames as an example of bad design, particularly if these minigames are especially relevant to advancing forward. Unless the minigame involves the usage of the same skills you've already been building, it shouldn't be placed anywhere important- the end segment of Resident Evil 4 is an example of bad minigame usage. In short, by the end of the game, you should feel natural enough with the mechanics to overcome any obstacle the game throws at you.
One way to give the player new challenges to test his abilities on is through enemy design. The enemies should get tougher as the game progresses, and under good design principles, offer new challenges. Any RPG where the enemies simply gain large stat upgrades but otherwise remain unchanged is an example of bad design, because it isn't giving you a NEW challenge. It's simply forcing you to repeat the same challenges you've already overcome, but in arbitrarily more difficult circumstances. Well-designed enemies should force you to do different things, to react in different ways, and even to question your previous methods of play.
Another way is through the level designs. Good level designs should ultimately provide the player with new and interesting situations in which to use the abilities they've been learning. As with enemy design, they should constantly tighten up and force the player to become better, but they should also provide something they haven't done before. The Castlevania series, post-SotN, has levels that, while remaining interesting via their connections to each other and the treasures they house, fail as traditional levels because, by and large, they're all completely flat and void of any real interaction. Compare this with, say, the Genesis Castlevania Bloodlines, which pushes the envelope with chase sequences, environmental hazzards, and even distorted graphics outputs, and it's readily apparent that, as good as the newer Castlevanias may be, the emphasis on traditional level design has been all but abandoned. The Mega Man series is another interesting example: while the games are generally considered to be all but identical to one another, the truth is that, while the core mechanics remain the same, the level design varies greatly. Despite "playing" the same, some of the games are incredible, and some of them are complete dreck.
So what games do you think showcase the best level design? What 2D games do you think showed you the most variety through only a single set of controls and abilities? What RPGs kept you interested in traversing the dungeons not just to progress the story and find new stuff, but genuinely to PLAY those dungeons? I want to know your favorite examples of good level design in any genre, in any way you deem fit.
I'll get the ball rolling with Rocket Knight Adventures, for the Genesis. It has, to this date, the best level design I've ever seen anywhere, period. It only makes use of two buttons, and you never learn any new abilities, but the game stays INCRDIBLY fresh by virtue of throwing a new and creative challenge at you every time you progress. After the first level, which teaches you the basics of the system, not a single level afterwards has a single blank corridor or relies excusively on enemies to keep you moving. There are chase scenes, most of which are amazingly tense, there are flying scenes, there are anti-gravity, walking-on-the-ceiling scenes. One level has your character obscured behind foliage, and forces you to navigate via his reflection in the instant-kill lave beneath you. Another has you racing from teleporter to teleporter to reach an exit door before a lethal enemy beats you to it.
And for the record, I think the Mega Man with the best level design is 5. For the NES.
Gimme examples, biznatches.
The best games, of any genre, will gradually give you new challenges which require more and more of your abilities with the core mechanics to shine. Some games might offer several sets of mechanics; any game requiring vehicles, for example, offers new sets of core mechanics to learn, which will, in good design, become integral to the game in the same way as the basic movesets do. I would generally consider the use of lots of minigames as an example of bad design, particularly if these minigames are especially relevant to advancing forward. Unless the minigame involves the usage of the same skills you've already been building, it shouldn't be placed anywhere important- the end segment of Resident Evil 4 is an example of bad minigame usage. In short, by the end of the game, you should feel natural enough with the mechanics to overcome any obstacle the game throws at you.
One way to give the player new challenges to test his abilities on is through enemy design. The enemies should get tougher as the game progresses, and under good design principles, offer new challenges. Any RPG where the enemies simply gain large stat upgrades but otherwise remain unchanged is an example of bad design, because it isn't giving you a NEW challenge. It's simply forcing you to repeat the same challenges you've already overcome, but in arbitrarily more difficult circumstances. Well-designed enemies should force you to do different things, to react in different ways, and even to question your previous methods of play.
Another way is through the level designs. Good level designs should ultimately provide the player with new and interesting situations in which to use the abilities they've been learning. As with enemy design, they should constantly tighten up and force the player to become better, but they should also provide something they haven't done before. The Castlevania series, post-SotN, has levels that, while remaining interesting via their connections to each other and the treasures they house, fail as traditional levels because, by and large, they're all completely flat and void of any real interaction. Compare this with, say, the Genesis Castlevania Bloodlines, which pushes the envelope with chase sequences, environmental hazzards, and even distorted graphics outputs, and it's readily apparent that, as good as the newer Castlevanias may be, the emphasis on traditional level design has been all but abandoned. The Mega Man series is another interesting example: while the games are generally considered to be all but identical to one another, the truth is that, while the core mechanics remain the same, the level design varies greatly. Despite "playing" the same, some of the games are incredible, and some of them are complete dreck.
So what games do you think showcase the best level design? What 2D games do you think showed you the most variety through only a single set of controls and abilities? What RPGs kept you interested in traversing the dungeons not just to progress the story and find new stuff, but genuinely to PLAY those dungeons? I want to know your favorite examples of good level design in any genre, in any way you deem fit.
I'll get the ball rolling with Rocket Knight Adventures, for the Genesis. It has, to this date, the best level design I've ever seen anywhere, period. It only makes use of two buttons, and you never learn any new abilities, but the game stays INCRDIBLY fresh by virtue of throwing a new and creative challenge at you every time you progress. After the first level, which teaches you the basics of the system, not a single level afterwards has a single blank corridor or relies excusively on enemies to keep you moving. There are chase scenes, most of which are amazingly tense, there are flying scenes, there are anti-gravity, walking-on-the-ceiling scenes. One level has your character obscured behind foliage, and forces you to navigate via his reflection in the instant-kill lave beneath you. Another has you racing from teleporter to teleporter to reach an exit door before a lethal enemy beats you to it.
And for the record, I think the Mega Man with the best level design is 5. For the NES.
Gimme examples, biznatches.
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