#29462 - tepples - Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:42 pm
Unlike most side-scrolling platform games, Lode Runner and Bionic Commando have player characters who cannot jump. In Lode Runner, the world is full of ladders, and in Bionic Commando, the player has a grappling hook.
Have there been other notable platform games without jumping? If so, how does the player character get around in those games?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#29464 - identitycrisisuk - Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:16 pm
Good question, but I think you may have covered most things right there. Only thing I can think of and it doesn't really count is Lost Vikings, where only one of the three characters you can play jumps. Again ladders and lifts and things help the other guys get around, the other guy often scouts ahead and pulls switches etc. so that the others can progress.
I have vague memories of something else without jumping, a really clunky feeling shooter of some sort maybe?
#29466 - Abscissa - Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:21 pm
| identitycrisisuk wrote: |
| I have vague memories of something else without jumping, a really clunky feeling shooter of some sort maybe? |
Neo Contra? ;) But seriously though, I seem to have vague memories of that too. Maybe "A Boy and His Blob"? I can't seem to recall if you could jump in that or not.
Lemmings didn't have any jumping, but you never controlled them directly, so I guess that doesn't count.
#29468 - Cepheus - Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:00 pm
RoboCop for NES. You used ladders and elevators to get to a new floor.
#29475 - Wriggler - Sat Nov 20, 2004 9:54 pm
Don't know if it counts, but GbtG for XBox recently :) No jumping whatsoever...
Ben
#29481 - Abscissa - Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:40 pm
| Wriggler wrote: |
Don't know if it counts, but GbtG for XBox recently :) No jumping whatsoever...
Ben |
"GbtG"? What's that?
The mention of Robocop's elevators made me think of another (really old) one: Elevator Action on NES. (That's gotta be the coolest name for a game ever ;) )
#29483 - getch - Sun Nov 21, 2004 12:03 am
| Abscissa wrote: |
| Elevator Action on NES. (That's gotta be the coolest name for a game ever ;) ) |
And, surprisingly, very addictive.
Alas, no other platform game without jumping springs to mind.
_________________
-pb
#29489 - keldon - Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:25 am
| getch wrote: |
| Abscissa wrote: | | Elevator Action on NES. (That's gotta be the coolest name for a game ever ;) ) |
And, surprisingly, very addictive.
Alas, no other platform game without jumping springs to mind. |
oh, someone just had to didn't they =D
#29491 - isildur - Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:35 am
| Abscissa wrote: |
The mention of Robocop's elevators made me think of another (really old) one: Elevator Action on NES. (That's gotta be the coolest name for a game ever ;) ) |
In the original elevator action arcade game you could jump though...
#29492 - Wriggler - Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:07 am
| Abscissa wrote: |
"GbtG"? What's that?
|
Grabbed by the Ghoulies, by Rare.
Ben
#29493 - tepples - Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:09 am
RoboCop for NES was too frustrating, and it didn't introduce any design elements that weren't already in other generic action-movie-license titles of the time.
Google tells me GBTG is Grabbed by the Ghoulies for Xbox. Based on reviews, it appears that GBTG and Neo Contra have dual directional controls (one to move, one to fire) reminiscent of Robotron, Smash TV, and the Ape Escape series. This control scheme applies to games in an overhead or isometric domain, not to side-scrolling platform games. If you count those, you have to count much of The Legend of Zelda series.
Elevator Action counts only halfway, according to this review that mentions the player character's "ability to duck and jump", but in practice the hero needs to jump in the NES version only when being shot at low.
The Lost Vikings may count, as I could make the guy who jumps of a different race. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on it.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#29501 - Abscissa - Sun Nov 21, 2004 5:45 am
| tepples wrote: |
| Based on reviews, it appears that GBTG and Neo Contra have dual directional controls (one to move, one to fire) reminiscent of Robotron, Smash TV, and the Ape Escape series. |
Neo Contra's control scheme isn't like that at all (although it's sorta similar-ish). I wish it was that nice. It's primarily overhead like those other games, but the control scheme is just like Contra: Shattered Soldier (Which is similar to Contra: Hard Corps on Genesis). You move and aim in eight directions with the left thumbstick (or DPad). Then, if you hold one of the sholder buttons (forget which one) you'll stand still and the left stick will just aim in any direction (instead of moving and aiming). Or, if you hold one of the other sholder buttons, your aim will stay the same and you can just move in any direction. They're fun games once you get used to it, but it's a pain in the ass at first.
Although, unlike the other Contra games, Neo Contra really doesn't let you jump at all. They replaced it with this goofy "dodge" button.
Heheh, that mention of Grabbed by the Ghoulies reminds me of this that I saw at SomethingAwful a while ago. Far removed from the glory days of Battletoads and Rad Racer, it really sounds like something Rare *would* make now ;)
#29515 - nmcconnell - Sun Nov 21, 2004 10:18 am
I'm getting a away from what I'd call a true platformer, but I recall that Burger Time had no jumping. It relied heavily on ladders. Also, DigDug was sort of almost like a platformer.
. . . How about Ecco the Dolphin?
or QBert?
These aren't really platformers, but they're sort of close.
Okay - I've got it - Thexder! If I recal correctly, you can't jump, but you can transform into an airplane.
--Neil
#29518 - identitycrisisuk - Sun Nov 21, 2004 10:39 am
| tepples wrote: |
| The Lost Vikings may count, as I could make the guy who jumps of a different race. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on it. |
ROM here if you're interested (saves looking through a thousand crappy, pop-up infested sites). It's a quality game if you've never played it. I've always heard it compared to another game I haven't played called Head over heels but I don't know whether that has jumping or not.
mod edit: less piratical
#29520 - Quirky - Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:23 am
| identitycrisisuk wrote: |
| I've always heard it compared to another game I haven't played called Head over heels but I don't know whether that has jumping or not. |
HoH contains a lot of jumping. Both the main characters jump in their own distinctive way.
Rod Land is a jump free zone, you get about using ladders.
I was going to cheat and say Exile, in which you fly around using a jet pack, but then I remembered that when your jet gets blocked with mushroom spores you have to jump from platform to platform.
#29522 - col - Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:00 pm
Two examples I can think of are:
A fun and addictive gameboy game called 'Tasmania Story'
http://spacemul.emu-france.com/screen2.php3?id2=1849
And a not so hot (IMO) ZX-Spectrum game 'Frank N Stein' http://www.crashonline.org.uk/09/frankns.htm
These games both use springs/trampolines to allow upward movement.
You should check out tasmania story if you can find it - its very simple, and great fun.
cheers
Col
#29560 - tepples - Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:18 pm
Not side-view platformers
| Abscissa wrote: |
| Neo Contra's control scheme isn't like [that of Smash TV] at all (although it's sorta similar-ish) [...] You move and aim in eight directions with the left thumbstick (or DPad). Then, if you hold one of the sholder buttons (forget which one) you'll stand still and the left stick will just aim in any direction (instead of moving and aiming). Or, if you hold one of the other sholder buttons, your aim will stay the same and you can just move in any direction. |
Sort of like the NES port of Smash TV, where A fires in the direction you're pressing and B fires in the last direction you fired. But still overhead-ish, right?
Q-bert was a 4-way isometric game.
Dig Dug (or Pika Dug in the form my cousin plays on PocketNES) is no platformer. As there's no gravity on the player character, t's more of an overhead game in feel, except for a few objects that fall, much like Boulder Dash, Crystal Mines, Exodus, and Joshua.
Ecco the Dolphin for Sega Dreamcast uses analog control similar to that of a flight sim, according to this review. Perhaps you meant another game in the series. Which?
Flying is no excuse
Thexder won't run on my win2k machine (complains about some sort of "Packed file is corrupt" when I launch it from the DOS prompt). All I have to go on is a text-only review, but it appears the player character is a mech that can turn into an airplane and fly, so it'd probably only count as much as Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.
Side-view platformers
Tasmania Story appears to be a clone of Mappy. It's not as simple as it looks; it took me about ten Game Overs to 1. figure out that the objective not to kill the enemies but to grab all the items and then 2. actually complete it. Player and enemies bounce on trampolines that break for a short time if stepped on three times in quick succession. The way to slow down the enemies, by setting traps, reminded me of that awful NES game Home Alone, which also had no jumping.
Burger Time is another ladder game. Why do these innovative classics invariably take at least 20 lives to learn how to stay alive for longer than 15 seconds?
Rod-Land was a more forgiving ladder game, as I actually had an attack, but I had to look up a FAQ to figure out how to use it (press button 1 to grab, and then press button 1 three more times to slam the enemy back and forth across the ground). In addition, I could make a ladder anywhere, giving some of the function of a grappling hook.
The Lost Vikings is a ladder game that looks interesting: three characters with different abilities, only one able to jump.
The GBA port of Frank N. Stein is interesting: a spring is like a one-way ladder where the hero can't stop halfway up. Goal: step on 8 tiles (7 body parts and a defibrillator) in order in a vaguely Donkey Kong style room.
I'm claiming that Elevator Action counts because the hero jumps only to dodge attacks, not to advance through the stages.
Another idea is to place the equivalent of a ladder on the side of every wall not taller than the hero, so that he can pull himself up using his arms. I can't think of any jumping-free game that uses this, but Prince of Persia and a lot of the Disney licensed games for Genesis and Super NES use this in combination with jumping.
Summary of alternatives to jumping so far: - Ladders (Lode Runner, Rod-Land, Burger Time, The Lost Vikings)
- Springs (Mappy, Tasmania Story, Frank N. Stein)
- Elevators (Elevator Action)
- Grappling hook (Bionic Commando, Rod-Land)
- An annoying, linear, rushed, movie-licensed game in a mostly one-dimensional world (RoboCop, which should have been called RoboCrap)
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#29565 - sajiimori - Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:19 am
You could jump in Thexder -- about a couple screens high in fact. A ridiculously difficult game, with an utterly alien feel.
#29566 - ScottLininger - Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:36 am
| sajiimori wrote: |
| You could jump in Thexder -- about a couple screens high in fact. A ridiculously difficult game, with an utterly alien feel. |
Amen. I had some Thexder port for the PC and it was freakin' HARD. It ended up being one of those games I tried to play maybe once every few months out of boredom. But I never got very far... and eventually gave up.
The box graphics were cool, though. That was back in the days when a nice bit of cover art could still fool gamers into buying crappy games.
-Scott
#29568 - Abscissa - Mon Nov 22, 2004 1:56 am
| ScottLininger wrote: |
| The box graphics were cool, though. That was back in the days when a nice bit of cover art could still fool gamers into buying crappy games. |
You should watch the know-nothing parents in the stores around holiday time. Rediculous things like that unfortunately do still fool people into buying (not gamers anymore, though).
#29600 - blinky465 - Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:25 pm
| Abscissa wrote: |
| ScottLininger wrote: | | The box graphics were cool, though. That was back in the days when a nice bit of cover art could still fool gamers into buying crappy games. |
You should watch the know-nothing parents in the stores around holiday time. Rediculous things like that unfortunately do still fool people into buying (not gamers anymore, though). |
Dammit. I'll never sell my scabby games then....
#29606 - identitycrisisuk - Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:51 pm
Was thinking, if you do want to get rid of jumping completely you could combine the Lost Vikings with the Prince of Persia style pulling yourself up. Perhaps only one of a number of characters would have the strength/light weight to pull themselves up onto ledges their own height. That's not too much of a stretch of the imagination really as I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it! Jumping in POP is quite unique as well, it's kinda split into one dimension at a time. You're generally trying to clear a long horizontal gap or pull yourself up somewhere, not like a more action based platformer where you have total control of your jump while in the air and will often try to reach something higher and to the left/right of your starting position.
Oh and sorry about posting the ROM link, I didn't think anyone would mind really. I almost wrote something about not wishing to seem like a filthy pirate....
#32504 - corin - Thu Dec 23, 2004 1:11 pm
kareteka didn't have any jumping as far as i remember, but the one this thread made me think of was 'captain goodnight' a very old game for the mac where you ran/walked across screen (and i think) you didn't jump but you would come across vehicles (tanks, helicopters etc.) that you could get inside and then use, a very nifty idea considering the game's age (the mac i played it on had a black and green screen).
http://www.littlebluething.com/games/top50.php?place=2
#32508 - sgeos - Thu Dec 23, 2004 2:50 pm
| tepples wrote: |
| Why do these innovative classics invariably take at least 20 lives to learn how to stay alive for longer than 15 seconds? |
Modern video games adapted from arcade games. 20 x $.25 = $5.00 to learn how to stay alive for more than 15 seconds. That may not be a good thing. I had so little cash as a kid I couldn't afford to play at arcades. If I had gotten to play and I died in 3 seconds, I would have felt really jipped! (Evil arcade operator laughs in the distance.)
-Brendan
#32580 - gauauu - Fri Dec 24, 2004 2:21 am
Not exactly what you were talking about, but anyone remember the game "gumshue" for nes? It was a platformer, but you weren't really in control of your character.
He ran along, and you had to protect him by shooting the dangers that game at him. You couldn't make him jump in the normal way, but if you shot at him, you'd pop him up into the air, which was necessary for getting over some of the dangers.
Wasn't a very good game, but an interesting concept.
Edit: oops, I left out the part where I told why it was interesting. It was a light gun game. You had to protect your guy, or shoot at him to get him to fly into the air.
Last edited by gauauu on Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
#32581 - tepples - Fri Dec 24, 2004 2:49 am
| gauauu wrote: |
| He ran along, and you had to protect him by shooting the dangers that game at him. |
You mean Pac-Man 2?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.