I am going to be talking about the topic of Platform Games and How they have change since their humble beginnings. I will be doing this by looking at lots of different but popular Platforms games and how their innovations have changed how we think about Platform games. I have done a lot of research into Platformers, and i feel that the Platform genre is on of the most important genres in video games. First lets try to define what is a platform game is, after looking at many games that consider themselves Platformers. I believe that this genre is a game where the playable character completes its objective by using Platforms for travel around, normally but not always by jumping.

One of the reason i think the Platform genre is so important is that it just make sense for what the technology could do, placing levels at different heights and then move along them. Space Panic 1980, is the first game to use platforms but maybe not in the way you'd think. In Space Panic you had to break sections of the platforms to drop your enemies down. Space uses this version of the platform mechanic to trap you enemies. Which is a way of using Platforms to complete your Objective. Space Panic also uses oxygen mechanics, so you have to move around the platforms quickly and with accuracy, and thats the reason why its important to the platform genre, it emphasises the importance of moving around the platforms. You can clearly see the influence Space Panic had on later Platform games such as Donkey Kong.

Now lets look at the more well know Platform games and how they affect this video game genre. Donkey Kong, a recognisable name even now. It was the first game to let players jump over obstacles and jump gaps, these are both important foundations to most platformers we see today. It was release in July 1981, on arcade. Donkey Kong was also an excellent example of Platforming progression, the first stages had little platforming where as the last stage were completely platform levels and so harder to complete. Platform games are a genre that has nailed the concept of easy to start, difficult to master. Most people can pick up a platform game a quickly understand they need to jump from platform to platform in order to win, but then will still be face by the challenge of actually pulling it off with progressing difficulty. Donkey Kong is what is known as a isometric platformer, each stage is a new screen with new jumping puzzles. One of the reason Donkey Kong is so important to the evolution of the Platform Genre is that it's success sparked off a load of Platform sequels which help to build the genre. Such as Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong 3 and Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros! Mario has become the mascot of the Platform genre. SuperMario Bros involved another big evolution to this genre. Side Scrolling, where the screen will move along left or right following your character, this was so innovative because it allowed for the levels to open up so much more, Platformers were no longer just make it from the bottom of the screen to the top, instead they were able to create whole obstacle course for the player to traverse. Furthermore SuperMarioBros was important because it was the first game to have co-op (two players) complete platform puzzles together. This again was an influence to many other games to do two player platforming such as Fairyland Story and Bubble bobble. PacLand took the side scrolling even further as it involved more than just complete the obstacle course, People consider PacLand to be a big influence on SuperMario Bros. SuperMario Bros is an valuable contribution to the platform genre because it sold over 40 million copies, greatly popularising the genre.

Later on the platformers started to moved towards handheld as it was the popular way of gaming. SuperMarioLand was able to maintain the genres popularity, but was slower paced and focused more on the puzzles because of the technical constraints of the devices. Lets look more at the fast paced platformers and there influence into the genre. As technology improved and we moved into the second generation of gaming. Sega bring out there new and shiny 16bit sonic the hedgehog, sonic became the new and possible rival mascot for platfomers, try to be what mario isn't: fast, slick and uh... blue. It is a good example of a game which is much faster paced. It focuses on speed mechanics and the addition of time trails added a whole new competitive audience to the genre, the reason this is beneficial to the genre is that it keeps people playing the games even if its the same level, because they want to beat there friends time. Another game that is fast paced but went in a different direction is the MegaMan added an interesting twist on the genre mixing sections of side-scrolling and single screen Platforming. Also with Bosses to beat at the end of each stage in which you use Platforms to evade and dodge the attacks. This helped with the evolution of the genre because its begining to use platforming to not only reach you object but the defeat enemies.

The decline of 2D, near the end of the 16bit era there was still plenty of very good 2D platfomers. These games all had very strong animation quality, such as Sonic & Knuckles, Super Mario world 2: Yoshi's island, Metroid and Donkey Kong Country. But now we have moved into the next generation of console wight the PS2 and The Nintendo 64, which had 3D graphics. Even though there was a number of successful 2D games on these consoles such as rayman, the real innovations were in the 3D games. Such as Crash Bandicoot and SuperMario 64 and Banjo_Kazooie. The Next big development for Platformers, was to start thinking in 3Dimensions. Again a Mario game became the pioneer in for this stage in platform games. The genre evolved from the concept of just completing stage to the idea of adventuring and exploring. Using Platforming to find Hidden areas and stuff. Mario 64 in particular was praised for its huge influence on 3D Game Design, and being able to have 360-degree camera controls to help traverse platforms.

Platformers began to evolve so that the task of getting from A to B became the main focus of the game. it was the next development, lots of now games use the mechanic of platforming, to climb, hang, swing, shimming along edges and to dive, even ones that aren't exclusively Platformers. An example of this is lara croft, a ps1 platformer which uses all of these things. I think that the evolution of Platformers is a very logical one. The genre has such a solid foundation for games, that it has been able to develop along with the changing of the game industries capabilities. from Mario to Mirrors Edge... Platform games are the corner stone to video games.