Developers Can Learn From SNES and Genesis Era

Source Article http://indiegames.com/2012/08/5_tips_for_making_great_16-bit.html

Has the industry given up on creating 2d classic games like the ones we remember from 16-bit consoles SNES and Genesis? These games demanded precision attacks, acrobatics, and timing. Remember getting immersed in fun games like Castlevania, Stider, or Shinobi? They never stopped being fun, developers just stopped making them.

Crazy Viking Studios are creating games that look and play like those action titles they remember from Super Nintendo and Genesis’ glory days. Publishers nowadays have left those fond experiences behind. Before leaving to make their own company Crazy Viking Studios, Durrschmidt and programmer Taron Millet created action heavy sidescrollers like The Legend of Spyro, The Eternal Night, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, and most recently Shinobi 3D. Volgarr the Viking is their first project that promises the 16-bit style action from the golden era of arcade games. It looks just like an SNES or Genesis title (it even comes with a throwback box) and being released on Windows PC.

The best part of SNES and Genesis games were the gameplay. Volgarr the Viking is being designed under the mindset of designers from decades ago. Although it hasn’t been easy for Durrschmidt and Millet, they gave some advice for anyone who wants to make 16-bit style action games.

1. Focus on perfecting primary mechanics

The design philosophy is to make a precise experience by giving your character three really tight, sharp, and precise mechanics. With Volgarr they have spent a lot of time tweaking the game’s fixed-trajectory jump system. This mechanic was inspired by Capcom’s Super Ghouls’n Ghosts. Double jumps also server as an attack and designed the games platform challenges around this mechanic.

2. Simple, easy to learn controls

Through level design and enemy placement, players will have to master their movements and attacks without any kind of tutorial that delay fun parts of a game. The player will get their entire move set from the beginning. The design philosophy will be keep the controls simple and precise, and design your game around a single button, only adding another if necessary. Players need to concentrate on timing jumps and dispatching enemies, not fumbling with controls.

3. Difficult but not unfair

Difficulty was a major part of what made them so fun. A player might die many times at the same spot, but feel rewarded when they finally pass it. This causes the player to master an enemy’s pattern where it is no longer a concern. Designers must also balance the tension that comes from fearing in-game deaths. Sending players back to the beginning of the game is unreasonable now. Implementing checkpoints for players to continue is the way to go.

4. It’s okay to cheat

Volgarr however is not a true 16 bit game. The sprites contain more colors, alphas, particles, and scrolling layers. Music is also over the top orchestral music. Though Volgarr takes a number of ideas from Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, Rastan, and, Castlevania, it makes sure to build on those mechanics and make those mechanics their own.

"Developers need to remember that the goal isn't to make a game that plays just like those old 16-bit titles; it's to create a great game that harkens back to those classics."

Ryan Ross