VIDEO: Games that will have you changing your perspective on reality, literally
Matt Hawkins First off, let’s take a look at the 1bit Ninja, an old school platformer for the iPhone that’s a bit different from the rest. How so? Well…
First off, why and this has less to do with what it does and more how it looks: am totally in love with the SUPER lo-fi visuals. We’re talking first generation, original Game Boy-level graphics, which I’m a sucker for. And very reminiscent of Super Mario Land, with the flagpole evoking Mario directly (though it’s from SMB 1 proper, not Land, funny enough).
Though the big gimmick here is the ability to shift the perspective around, to reveal a pseudo 3D environment. Though more importantly, show alternative paths and the like. It remains to be seen how far the concept is pushed, to what degree can you shift the view, and if one can do so anywhere on the screen. At any rate, reminds me a LOT of another game that handles changes in viewpoint somewhat similarly. The indie sensation that everyone has been waiting forever for (myself included)…
FEZ PAX EAST GAMEPLAY VIDEO from POLYTRON on Vimeo.
Back to 1bit Ninja; there’s a far more subtle difference here, no instantly noticeable: the controls. Instead of having an option to go left or right like in most platformers, which in turn would have led to an awkward virtual d-pad, which I absolutely abhor on the iPhone, you just hit the left side of the screen to go forward. Seems kind of awkward, but makes total sense. After all, many similar titles on the iOS have you perpetually moving anyway to the right (like Canabalt) so consider a gas pedal or something. The ultimately deciding factor will be, as in any platform title, the level design. Either the inability to go backwards will be a huge pain in the ass or completely forgotten. We’ll have to wait and see!
Meanwhile, something that you would expect to see on the 3DS, but it’s actually a remake of a PSP title. Easily one of the most criminally underrated of its entire library…
… Not helping the original Crushed was the extremely lame art direction; I’m fairly confident the box-art alone cost a good number of sales. It’s not as if the new character looks all that awesome, but trust me on this one, he’s a massive improvement over his predecessor. Good job Sega!
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