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By Daniel Boutros
[Author's Bio]

Gamasutra

August 4, 2006

A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games

Introduction
ArrowPlatform Games

CASE STUDIES
ArrowSuper Mario Bros. 3
ArrowRayman
ArrowSonic the Hedgehog 2
ArrowCrash Bandicoot
ArrowSonic Adventure
ArrowSuper Mario Sunshine
ArrowJak & Daxter
ArrowNew Super Mario Bros.

VISUALS
ArrowPt. 1
ArrowPt. 2
ArrowPt. 3
ArrowPt. 4

CONTROLS
ArrowPt. 1
ArrowPt. 2
ArrowPt. 3
ArrowPt. 4

REWARD ELEMENTS
ArrowPt. 1
ArrowPt. 2
ArrowPt. 3
ArrowPt. 4
ArrowPt. 5

CHALLENGE AND REWARD DESIGN
ArrowPt. 1
ArrowPt. 2
ArrowPt. 3

SHORT-TERM CHALLENGE DESIGN
ArrowPt. 1
ArrowPt. 2

CONCLUSION
ArrowConclusion
ArrowClosing Opinion
Arrow2006 Final Thoughts

 



Features

A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games
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Crash Bandicoot

  • TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF NOV 2003 = 6.8 million
  • Gamerankings Score:  78.4%
  • PSOne
  • Number of Players:  1
  • US Release:  Sep 3rd 1996
  • ESRB Rating:  E

Crash Bandicoot seemingly came out of nowhere and filled the void that was waiting for a Playstation mascot.

Crash wasn’t a groundbreaker in terms of new ideas, but the way the developers worked with the Playstation hardware to achieve environments with such visual wealth and compacted gameplay, was impressive for it’s time.

Naughty Dog created a level-design formula which although on-rails and slightly claustrophobic at times, created a large amount of challenge through skill-jumps and completist-geared navigational puzzles which required pixel-perfect accuracy.

Crash Bandicoot has since gone on to star in a dozen more games and has even crossed into Kart game territory, showing that the Crash franchise has indeed become strong enough to stretch outside the platform game market.


arrowarrow PreviousNext arrowarrow(Page 6/31) [Article Start]


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