Through the Lens: Video Games - Game Design Theory - page 123

Platformers generally work by having a very clear pattern of tension
and release: the jump. The jump is their core mechanism. When you
jump, the tension builds as you are rising to the apex of the jump. You
don't know for sure whether you launched yourself with the correct tra-
jectory, but the answer starts to become increasingly clear during the
flight. While this is happening, tension forms in anticipation of what may
or may not be about to happen. By the peak of the jump you can usually
tell whether you're going to make it onto that next platform. Once you
land, the tension is released. This pattern of tension and release is the
primary engine by which these games work ( Figure 21 ) .
Protect the Jump
Just about every platformer gives players at least some leeway to change
their trajectories while in midair (there are some exceptions, such as the
earlier Castlevania games). However, you have to be extremely careful
with this feature, because if you give the player too much control you
destroy the core mechanism of the game. If I can just “fix� my jump com-
pletely while in mid-air, how can there be any tension? Remember that
tension comes from anticipation, and if I have complete control at all
times, there is nothing to anticipate; everything is immediate.
In Super Mario Brothers , players had a certain amount of ability to
change their directions in midair during jumps. In Super Mario Brothers 3
(the next true Super Mario Brothers game to come out in the United States,
as the US version of Super Mario Brothers 2 was actually a completely dif-
ferent game called Doki-Doki Panic , reskinned with a Mario theme), this
ability increased. With the sequel that followed— Super Mario World for
the Super Nintendo—the amount increased again, to the point that you
could almost completely undo an inaccurate jump.
These two sequels also added many items to the game, the most im-
portant of which were the Super Leaf from Super Mario Brothers 3 and
the Cape Feather from Super Mario World . These items both allowed
players to dramatically increase the level of control they have over their
jumps, along with allowing them to fly (which we'll get back to in a mo-
ment). Later versions added other features that further interrupted the
jump, causing tremendous damage to it. The biggest offender was Super
Mario Sunshine , which gave Mario what was essentially a jet pack that
let him hover at any time, until he lined up perfectly with where he want-
ed to land. In this game, the jump was completely ruined as an engine
of tension (except for the levels that didn't include the jet packs, which
many people said were their favorite levels).
The latest entries in the series as of the time of this writing are the
Super Mario Galaxy games. Thankfully they've gotten rid of the jet pack,