Platform Games: Mechanics

I've been having trouble dedicating myself to a character for my mascot project; I thought taking a step back to look at some other platform games, their player characters and associated mechanics would help me. This will give me ideas for mechanics my character could use (and therefore guide me to a design that will best reflect the mechanics).


This is similar to the process that happened with the conceptualisation of Sonic the Hedgehog. He was originally a bunny character, but after Yuji Naka discussed his wishes to create a game that was all about speed, to demonstrate the capabilities of SEGA's hardware, a hedgehog was chosen for his ability to roll into a ball and gain momentum.

Core Mechanics

These are mechanics that, while not used by all platform games, are often used as a basis for platform game-play.

• Walk > Run (basic movement option)
• Jump > Double Jump > Triple Jump (jumps that get consecutively higher if performed in the right time window)
• Ground Pound (When in mid-air, slam down to break objects or damage enemies)
• Climb (To navigate to different levels of elevation, climbing ropes or ladders)
• Wall Kick (When two walls are quite close together, a character may jump between the two to gain height)
• Dive / Long Jump (a forward-projecting movement option, not as high as a regular jump but covers more distance)
• Side Step / Dodge / Roll (possible movement options as well as a way to avoid enemy attacks)
• Crouch (can be used for the character to enter small spaces but is usually a required action before performing a backflip)
• Backflip / Somersault (backflips are generally activated by crouching first, but both somersaults and backflips are higher jump options, as an alternative to a triple jump)

'Unique' Mechanics

Here I'll talk about specific examples of mechanics that I like in various games, these may be used in multiple games but are in no way fundamental to platformers as a whole. 

Cappy (Super Mario Odyssey) - Cappy is used as another jump option if you hold him in place and jump on him, but his core purpose is a "capture" ability. This allows Mario to possess a creature or person to control them.







Homing attack (Sonic the Hedgehog series) - Homing is an attack but it is also used in conjunction with enemy placement to grant Sonic another movement option.

Hammers (Mario & Luigi RPG series) - Hammers are used in a variety of ways, they are primarily an attack option in battle phases, but they also break blocks in field phases and allow Mario & Luigi to either be shrunk to miniature size to enter small doors, or to be buried underground to find hidden collectables.

Fire/Electricity (Mario & Luigi RPG series) - Each brother has an element (fire or electricity), they are used to attack in battle but in field phases they can also burn or shock one another for different purposes. 

Drop/Spin Dash (Sonic the Hedgehog series) - Two variants on a 'dash' mechanic. The former is activated by holding down a button when in mid-air to gain a burst of forward momentum and the latter is activated through mashing a button when crouching to gain a burst of forward momentum.







Helicopter/Throttle Copter (Rayman 3) - Helicopter allows Rayman to glide in a specific direction over a short distance by spinning his hair at high speed, while the Throttle Copter is a temporary power-up that allows him to fly with free controls for a short time.

Yarn Throw (Yoshi's Woolly World) - A number of yarns follow Yoshi, he may time his throw to launch the yarn at a particular trajectory. The yarns can bounce off walls, damage enemies and also "fill in" invisible platforms.


 

Copy (Kirby series) - Kirby's signature ability allows him to swallow an enemy, he can launch them which kills them or he can copy their ability. He will gain a hat or accessory to visually represent his new ability; he can gain anything from ice powers, a sword or even circus act abilities.

Shell Toss (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) - Mario's party member, Koops, enters his shell and hurls forward. This can trip up enemies and it also functions as a method to gather far off items and press buttons that Mario can't reach on his own.

Bomb/Bomb Squad (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) - Bobbery, a party member, is a bomb, so he can blow up cracked rocks by exploding. This also functions as a battle attack. Bomb Squad allows him to throw three small bomb projectiles to damage enemies.

Kiss Thief (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) - The party member Ms. Mowz can kiss an enemy which stuns them and allows her to steal an item.

FLUDD (Super Mario Sunshine) - FLUDD opens up many options for Mario's movement. He can spray water as an attack or he can equip different nozzles that allow for hovering, shooting high into the air (much higher than any jump) or dashing at a high velocity. Mario can also dive into water sprayed on the ground for another fast movement option.

Charge (Spyro series) - Charge is Spyro's 'run' mechanic. Because he runs with his head forward and horns projected outwards, this also functions as an attack.

Talon Trot (Banjo-Kazooie) - Kazooie takes control and grants a faster movement option than Banjo's standard walking. Talon Trot also allows the duo to scale slopes.

Having looked at some mechanics I can now start to think about how these could be applied to my character designs, hopefully I'll be able to decide on the best character to work with soon!