Through the Lens: Video Games - Game Design Theory - page 118

It may be hard to see that there are other alternatives, but the N64
game Super Smash Brothers is a fantastic example of what's possible. In
this game, like in other fighters, players maneuver and fight each other
on a 2D plane. In this game, though, the designers decided that posi-
tioning would be everything. The primary role of attacks is to knock en-
emies back and ultimately to knock them off the stage. The game's levels
are designed with platforms and various places to jump around, which
emphasizes the positioning element of the game even more. Finally, the
health system in Super Smash Brothers is totally different from the one
usually found in fighters: instead of losing health, players actually gain
damage. As their damage increases, the distance that attacks knock them
back also increases, thereby tying the health system directly to the core
mechanism of positioning.
This was one of the only times I saw a developer deviate from the
classic health bar thing, but it is by no means the only option. Think
outside the bar—there are a thousand possibilities out there, waiting to
be discovered.

Too Much Input Complexity
In the 1990s, in arcade fighting game circles, I remember how cool it was
to know all the characters' moves. This came to a head with the release
of Mortal Kombat , which had finishing moves completely unrelated to
gameplay that you could perform with a complex series of button press-
es. If you knew all the Fatalities, as they were called, you were the coolest.
Well, it's cool when you're 12, anyway. The idea that designers would
purposely make a move more difficult to input than it has to be is com-
pletely senseless ( Figure 20 ) . Unless you want people to not learn how
to play your game, don't do this. Designers could get away with it in the
1990s when games were few and far between. Now, there is such incred-
ible access to games that if you do something offensively dumb, such as
“do a half circle twice and then all three punches to execute your super
move,� people will simply move on. It shouldn't be a badge of honor for
players to just be able to input commands into your game. It should be a
badge of honor that they make good choices during play.

Semi-Lofty Spinning Head Butt (Delft Blue Level)
Z Z BR

Figure 20. The semi-lofty spinning head butt—first cousin to the haymaker
squat punch in Chapter 2 .