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132-510: Sonic Forces is a 2017 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega . It was produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The plot focuses on Sonic the Hedgehog joining a resistance movement formed by his friends, alongside its rookie and his misplaced past self. Together, they must stop Doctor Eggman , who has conquered most of

264-479: A boss , which must be defeated in order to proceed. Bonus levels can be unlocked by collecting Red Rings hidden in most stages and players may occasionally receive SOS Missions, tasking them with replaying levels with a specific objective. Doctor Eggman attacks a city and Sonic sets out to stop him. Upon arriving, he is attacked by Infinite, a mercenary empowered by the Phantom Ruby. Infinite defeats Sonic, who

396-558: A prequel , focuses on Shadow the Hedgehog and his friends Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega , and explores the origins of Infinite. Players control Shadow, who handles similarly to Modern Sonic but has unique abilities such as the ability to perform a chain of homing attacks in rapid succession. The pack adds three original levels to the game, and the ability to play as Shadow in most of Modern Sonic's stages. According to Nakamura, Sonic Team created Episode Shadow to appeal to fans of older games in

528-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

660-435: A video game . An individual involved with the development of game levels is a level designer or mapper. In some cases, the developer of a video game includes built-in level editing tools; for example, a track editor for a racing game. Other times they may release an official level editor for the game as a separate application. Sometimes players of the game develop fan-made level editors. Developing level editors will allow

792-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

924-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

1056-597: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. Level (video gaming) In video games , a level (also referred to as a map , mission , stage , course , or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively increasing difficulty to appeal to players with different skill levels. Each level may present new concepts and challenges to keep

1188-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

1320-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

1452-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

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1584-415: A different environment. Level designers sometimes make hidden rooms and areas that usually require more effort for the player to reach or to notice. These usually give some additional rewards, such as ammo or powerups. They serve to induce players to explore. Sometimes, they serve as easter eggs , containing messages such as the level designers' names or pictures, or political or humorous messages. One of

1716-554: A different person or team. The level design process may be iterated several times before achieving the desired outcome. Level designers and concept artists may also be required to provide a pre-rendered map of the level (or entire game world) for the player. Level design is necessary for two primary purposes: providing players with a goal and providing players with enjoyable play experience. Good level design strives to produce quality gameplay, provide an immersive experience, and sometimes, especially in story-based games, to advance

1848-463: A flashback of when Shadow had invaded Eggman's base. The leader of the Jackal Squad mercenary group, the rest of which were taken out by Shadow beforehand, is commanded by Eggman to eliminate Shadow. However, his efforts are futile against Shadow, who easily thrashes him to the side, insults his weakness and leaves. Unable to handle the pain of being called "weak", he covers up his past and gains

1980-432: A form of health : rings protect players from damage caused by robots or other hazards, though they lose their rings upon being hit; being hit with no rings kills the player. The game does not use a traditional life system, instead deducting from the player's score depending on the number of deaths. Players are given a grade dependent on their performance; an "S" rank is the best and a "C" is the worst. Certain levels feature

2112-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

2244-505: A game than simply adding new levels, a software development kit (SDK) is sometimes needed. In the early years of video gaming, some games came with a utility called a "construction set". This was similar in many ways to a level editor. Some games used them to make extra levels, whereas others (like the Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit ) used them as a means to develop a game rather than be a game in itself. Maps' design can significantly impact

2376-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

2508-406: A level system of ascending difficulty as opposed to progression of storyline. An example of the former approach is the arcade shoot 'em up game Space Invaders (1978), where each level looks the same, repeating endlessly until the player loses all their lives . An example of the latter approach is the arcade platform game Donkey Kong (1981), which uses multiple distinct levels to progress

2640-407: A level. Sometimes, professional 3D editing software , such as 3D Studio Max , Blender , AutoCAD , Lightwave , Maya , Softimage XSI or Grome is used, usually customized with a special plugin developed for the specific game. A level editor (also known as a map , campaign or scenario editor ) is a game development tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns and virtual worlds for

2772-457: A map and these steps may vary dramatically across the many different game genres that exist as of the 2020s. General steps include: The first level of the game is usually designed to get players to explore the mechanics of the game, notably in World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. Cut scenes may be triggered by events in a level, but require distinctly different skills, and may be produced by

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2904-450: A modern game typically starts with concept art, sketches, renderings, and physical models. Once completed, these concepts transform into extensive documentation, environment modeling, and the placing of game specific entities (actors), usually with the aid of a level editor. A level editor may be distributed as a complete stand-alone package, at times, rivaling commercial 3D modelling software. There are various steps involved in laying out

3036-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

3168-567: A patch on launch day that fixed some of the problems. In the United Kingdom, Sonic Forces debuted at fifth place on the all-formats chart. In Japan, the PS4 version debuted at 10th place with 5,938 physical sales and the Switch version debuted at 14th place with 4,686 physical sales, adding up to 10,624 physical units sold in its first week. Sega stated in a February 2018 financial report that

3300-404: A player's interest high. In games with linear progression, levels are areas of a larger world, such as Green Hill Zone . Games may also feature interconnected levels, representing locations. Although the challenge in a game is often to defeat some sort of character, levels are sometimes designed with a movement challenge, such as a jumping puzzle, a form of obstacle course . Players must judge

3432-477: A poorly drawn Sonic, and the ability to transform into Super Sonic . The Super Sonic DLC was released for free, but was initially planned as paid DLC. In March 2020, Sonic Forces (along with Shadow of the Colossus ) became available as a free PS4 game for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Episode Shadow is free downloadable content (DLC) for Sonic Forces that launched alongside the game. The story acts as

3564-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

3696-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

3828-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

3960-473: A solid but unremarkable platforming experience that compared unfavorably to the more inventive Sonic Mania . Alexandra panned the Avatar stages as "disjointed and confused" due to a lack of flow and an excessive reliance on trial and error. Overall, they described Forces as fun despite a lack of polish and complimented its "infectious energy and excitement". Game Informer ' s Brian Shea similarly regarded

4092-540: A specific spot where they do not have to move to gain experience , because monsters are constantly spawned but can be easily and immediately killed. In multiplayer maps, a player may be able to reach areas of the map designed to be inaccessible; for example, reaching an advantageous rooftop position and camping other players. A player might be able to fall out-of-bounds of a map where other players cannot reach them. Invisible walls are cited to be level design bugs, and might be "left-over geometry" from an earlier version of

Sonic Forces - Misplaced Pages Continue

4224-412: A storyline; as Mario (originally called Jumpman) tries to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong , each level ends with Kong fleeing with Pauline and then Mario having to complete a different level each time, until he finally confronts Kong. 1983's Lode Runner was one of the first titles to ship with a level editor. Its designer, Doug Smith , reputedly paid neighborhood children to design levels for

4356-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

4488-458: A total high data throughput can eliminate the need for any loading tunnels in a seamless world game. A level designer is a game designer who makes environments and scenarios using a level editor and other tools. Level designers will usually work on a level from pre-production to completion – working with both incomplete and complete versions of the game. Video game programmers usually produce level editors and design tools for

4620-420: Is an action-adventure platform game similar in gameplay and style to prior Sonic the Hedgehog games. The player's goal is to liberate the world from the newly established reign of Doctor Eggman . The game features three playable characters: two variants of Sonic the Hedgehog ("Classic" and "Modern") and the "Avatar" (the player's custom character ). Each has unique abilities and attributes: Classic Sonic

4752-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

4884-506: Is created from a base of seven animal types, which each possess a unique ability ; they also wield a grappling hook and can equip weapons known as Wispons, including flamethrowers, whips, and hammers. Depending on the Wispon, Avatars can use temporary abilities by collecting a corresponding Wisp type. Certain parts see players controlling both Modern Sonic and the Avatar, switching between them as necessary, similar to Sonic Heroes . The game

5016-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

5148-470: Is most often seen in platformers. Lighting and illumination, as well as distinctly-coloured objects, are often used to unambiguously guide the player towards the correct path. Similarly, clearly marked choke-points can be introduced. Another method is strategic placement of obstacles and aesthetic environment props that direct the player's attention to "clear" paths instead. This is often used in closed, "stuffed" environments. Levels may be designed to force

5280-532: Is only referred to as "The Rookie". Knuckles discovers Sonic's whereabouts and the Rookie steals a space shuttle, breaks into the Death Egg and rescues Sonic. Back in the city, Tails is attacked by Chaos, but is saved by Classic Sonic, who has become marooned in the present by the Phantom Ruby's power. The duo set out to spy on Eggman, learning about the Phantom Ruby and that Eggman has an endgame that will dispose of

5412-479: Is restricted to side-scrolling gameplay reminiscent of the Sega Genesis Sonic games and can perform a spin dash on the ground and a drop dash in mid-air to gain speed. Modern Sonic's gameplay follows a similar style to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors : he can double jump, perform a homing attack on enemies, springs, and grappling hooks, and a speed boost by collecting White Wisps . The Avatar

Sonic Forces - Misplaced Pages Continue

5544-490: Is split into several themed levels , some of which are based on locations from past games, such as Green Hill Zone . Players must complete each level while fighting waves of enemies, and (with the exception of Classic Sonic) seamlessly shift from side-scrolling to third-person perspectives. Stages are filled with features such as spring boards, rails, and boost pads, and obstacles such as spikes, bottomless pits, and robots. Scattered around levels are golden rings , which serve as

5676-566: Is taken prisoner aboard the Death Egg . Without Sonic to stop him further, Eggman, with the help of his robots, Infinite, Shadow the Hedgehog , Chaos , Zavok and Metal Sonic , manages to conquer the world within six months. Knuckles the Echidna forms a resistance movement with Tails , the Chaotix , Amy Rose , Silver the Hedgehog , Rouge the Bat and a survivor of Eggman's attack who

5808-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

5940-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

6072-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

6204-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

6336-694: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

6468-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

6600-599: The 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

6732-459: The Avatar based on other Sega games, such as Jet Set Radio , Puyo Puyo , and Persona 5 . A tie-in racing game for iOS and Android devices, Sonic Forces: Speed Battle , was released in select regions in September 2017. After the game's release, several updates featuring new content were released, such as an in-game shirt for the Avatar featuring " Sanic ", an internet meme of

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6864-510: The Death Egg and will be rendered useless without it. While the Rookie stages a diversion, the Death Egg is destroyed by Classic Sonic. Believing they have the upper hand, the resistance attacks the Eggman Empire's capital, Metropolis. However, Eggman has a backup power source hidden in his empire's fortress, and as the resistance make their final charge toward it, he has Infinite enact his endgame: creating an asteroid -like second sun over

6996-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

7128-802: The Hedgehog Engine, used in Sonic Unleashed and Generations . It was announced, alongside Sonic Mania , under the working title of Project Sonic 2017 during the Sonic 25th anniversary event at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con . The development of Sonic Forces , including the plot, was influenced by Sonic Mania . Sonic Forces was released for Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , and Xbox One in November 2017. The game received mixed reviews from critics. They praised its presentation, music, voice acting, character creation system, and

7260-476: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

7392-476: The Modern Sonic gameplay, but criticized the plot, overly automated level design and gameplay, technical problems, short length, and the inclusion of Classic Sonic. Many critics called it a disappointment in the wake of the positively received Sonic Mania , released earlier that year. The critical feedback influenced the development of the Sonic series' next entry, Sonic Frontiers (2022). Sonic Forces

7524-405: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

7656-460: The Xbox One version was "slightly more responsive" but marred by screen tearing and inferior resolution. He felt that playing on Xbox One X provided the best overall experience, albeit with some "unwelcome inconsistency" caused by occasional changes in resolution, framerate . The Windows version received criticism for problems related to its uneven performance and frequent crashes; Sega released

7788-455: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

7920-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

8052-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

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8184-422: The completion of Sonic Lost World (2013) under the codename Project Sonic 2017 . It was developed alongside Sonic Mania . It was developed by Sonic Team ; the majority of the staff had previously developed Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (which followed a similar premise). The game was directed by Morio Kishimoto, who previously directed the console versions of Sonic Colors and Lost World . The game

8316-518: The computer hardware sufficient time to load the assets for the next area. The player's speed may be reduced, while story cues are presented to draw the player's attention. The player may be required to enter areas in which their view of the world is plausibly restricted, sometimes referred to as "loading tunnels". With newer consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S , special SSD arrays alongside software libraries that have

8448-428: The computer or console's memory as the player approaches the edge of one level and the start of a new one. This can effectively make the transition from one level to another level appear to be seamless and avoid the use of loading screens. This is known as level streaming or in-game streaming, and is often used for open world games to give the perception of a fully-interconnected space. There are often tricks used to give

8580-609: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

8712-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

8844-617: The criticism that Forces received for its short length. The story of Forces influenced the plot of IDW Publishing 's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series , with its narrative beginning shortly after the game's events. Music from the game would appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , and the Sunset Heights level would later be remade in Shadow Generations . Platform game The genre started with

8976-440: The designers to use. This eliminates the need for designers to access or modify game code . As opposed to the level editing tools sometimes available to the community, level designers often work with placeholders and prototypes aiming for level consistency and clear layout before required artwork is produced by game artists. Many level designers have skills as both a visual artist and game designer , although in recent years

9108-573: The development; the games have connected plots, and Mania was envisioned to excite fans for Forces . Recurring series writers Ken Pontac and Warren Graff contributed to the English script. The soundtrack was primarily composed by series sound director Tomoya Ohtani and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra , with additional music from Naofumi Hataya, Kenichi Tokoi, and Takahito Eguchi . The theme song, "Fist Bump",

9240-426: The distance between platforms or ledges and safely jump between them to reach the next area. These puzzles can slow the momentum down for players of fast action games ; the first Half-Life 's penultimate chapter, "Interloper", featured multiple moving platforms high in the air with enemies firing at the player from all sides. Level design or environment design , is a discipline of game development involving

9372-462: The doctor's whereabouts unknown. With the Phantom Ruby neutralized, all of Infinite's doppelgängers cease existing, Classic Sonic is returned to his proper time period, the Resistance disbands and Modern Sonic and his friends set out to restore the world to its former glory while the Rookie leaves to find their own way. The DLC pack Episode Shadow serves as a prequel to the story, one month before

9504-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

9636-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

9768-483: The first games with a 3D engine to feature hidden features was Wolfenstein 3D , where certain walls could be pushed to reveal hidden passages. Sometimes, a whole level may be designed as a secret level. A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level or bonus round) is a special level within a video game designed to reward the player or players, and typically allows the player to collect extra points or power-ups . Bonus stage either have no enemies or hazards, or replace

9900-482: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

10032-478: The game "performed strongly". The critical feedback that Sonic Forces received heavily influenced the development of the subsequent game in the series, Sonic Frontiers (2022). Kishimoto acknowledged the lackluster reception and concluded that Sonic Team's method of designing levels that originated in Sonic Unleashed would no longer satisfy fans. The open-world Frontiers was designed to be lengthy, with an emphasis on exploration, puzzles and combat to address

10164-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

10296-464: The game as a "fun adventure" and considered its controls and level design to be the best of any 3D Sonic entry, but concluded: "3D Sonic games still aren't to where they should be after such a long time of iteration and experimentation". Shea called Classic Sonic the worst of the three playable characters due to poor physics that failed to emulate those of the original 2D Sonic games. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist panned it for not exploring

10428-415: The game because of their limited replay value. A minigame (also spelled mini-game or mini game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short video game often contained within another video game, and sometimes in application software or on a display of any form of hardware. A minigame contains different gameplay elements than the main game, may be optional, and is often smaller or more simplistic than

10560-407: The game creator to use the same load- and rendering routines as the game itself, and may make it easier and more pleasant to create levels. Developers of FOSS -games may argue that a game is not complete until other users easily can add new levels. One of the first 3D games which became popular partially due to level editors and fan-made maps, other game addons, and other works related to the game,

10692-428: The game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game. Some minigames can also be bonus stages or secret levels. They are distinguishable from levels in that a level is an environment bound to a set of mechanics and rules that all defines all other normal levels in a game, whereas a minigame can use different rules and playstyles but may not necessarily be set in

10824-479: The game interface itself. 3D first-person shooters Doom (1993) and Doom II (1994) were two of the first games to attract focused game modding activity, and many WAD level files were made for them. One of the reasons was a clear separation between the level files and game engine itself. Half-Life , Quake 3 , and many other games have notable mapping tools and communities focusing on user-generated content . Level design for each individual level in

10956-404: The game's visuals and character customization, but criticized its repetitive boss fights and argued the game did not advance the series' design. Parish disliked the ranking system, which rewards players for completing stages quickly rather than exploring them for collectibles, and dismissed the tag team sections as "under-developed" because players would prefer to use Modern Sonic whenever the Avatar

11088-470: The game, the development team used the Hedgehog Engine 2 , an updated version of the game engine used in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations . The gameplay was mostly modeled off Unleashed ' s, with elements from Colors and Generations . With the updated software, the first locations designed were the urban levels, which served as a reference for other stages. Sonic Team sought to make

11220-454: The game. The same year, the multiplayer dungeon crawl Dandy was released, and it also shipped with a level editor which was documented in the manual. ZZT (1991) is a later game with user-accessible mapping and scripting. A game genre that required significant amounts of time to design areas were text-based games, such as MUDs . Often, promoted users were assigned to make new paths, new rooms, new equipment, and new actions, often using

11352-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

11484-597: The gameplay. For example, the gameplay may be shifted towards a platformer (by careful placement of platforms) or a puzzle game (by extensive use of buttons, keys, and doors). Some FPS maps may be designed to prevent sniping by not including any long hallways, while other maps may allow for a mix of sniping and closer combat. Gimmick maps are sometimes developed to explore selected features of gameplay, such as sniping or fist fighting. While they are briefly useful to level designers and interesting to experienced players, they are usually not included in final list of levels of

11616-457: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

11748-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

11880-596: The levels unique and contrasting and various level ideas were suggested during development; one example was a prison in Green Hill. At one point in development, the series' traditional ring-based health system was abandoned to balance the game's difficulty, and for designing the Classic levels, the team looked to Generations and Mania as a reference. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka explained that for years, he had seen many fan-made characters and wanted to give players

12012-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

12144-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

12276-471: The main plot begins. Shadow heads into the city towards enemy territory on Rouge's command, but E-123 Omega ends up causing chaos despite the fact that the mission is meant to be recon . As Shadow goes on, Omega starts getting confused, with his sensors becoming disabled, and his mind being corrupted before going silent. It is later revealed that Omega was badly damaged by Infinite, whom Shadow does not recognize. To help him remember, Infinite sends Shadow through

12408-459: The making of video game levels—locales, stages or missions. This is commonly done using a level editor, a game development software designed for building levels; however, some games feature built-in level editing tools. In the early days of video games (1970s–2000s), a single programmer would develop the maps and layouts for a game, and a discipline or profession dedicated solely to level design did not exist. Early games often featured

12540-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

12672-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

12804-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

12936-534: The normal penalties for being struck by enemies or hazards with simply being thrown out of the bonus stage. Many bonus stages need to be activated or discovered in some manner, or certain conditions must be satisfied to access them. Otherwise, they appear after the player has completed a certain number of regular stages. There are many map bugs that level designers try to avoid, but sometimes go unnoticed for some time. A player might get stuck in map geometry with no way to escape or to die. A player might be able to find

13068-428: The opportunity to play as their own. The team was given freedom to create the animal and customization mechanics. According to producer Shun Nakamura , the system was intended to modify existing characters rather than use the complex mechanics of series such as Fallout , so the characters would still feel like a part of the Sonic universe. Though Sonic Mania entered development years later than Forces , it affected

13200-482: The planet that will eliminate everything in its path upon impact. Thinking fast, the Rookie uses a prototype Phantom Ruby they had recovered to dispel the sun, saving the heroes. Sonic and the Rookie then battle Infinite and defeat him, but Eggman unveils yet another backup plan, moving the Phantom Ruby into a battle mech and fighting the resistance directly. Working together, the Sonics and the Rookie defeat Eggman, leaving

13332-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

13464-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

13596-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

13728-524: The player completed the level, the next level would be loaded. The player would be presented with a loading screen while the game loaded level information from storage. With more advanced computing hardware with faster input/output data transfer rates, such as optical drives, hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and larger amounts of memory, game developers have been able to take advantage of continuously loading new level assets – models, textures, and audio – into

13860-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

13992-1048: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

14124-439: The players to explore the map and advance. Most Real-Time Strategy maps give each player a starting base, but will have resource distribution and terrain features designed to draw players out of their base and engage each other. Teamplay maps can provide noticeable advantages to one team over another, when designed poorly. Commonly on older hardware, most games would load a single level and all of its assets at one time, and when

14256-414: The potential of its ideas and lambasted the story for its attempt at a more mature tone. He later ranked it the second worst game of 2017. Several critics considered Sonic Forces a disappointment in the wake of the positively received Mania . John Linneman of Eurogamer found that Forces was well-optimized for PlayStation 4, with no noticeable improvement when played on a PlayStation 4 Pro , whereas

14388-429: The power he uses now from the Phantom Ruby, rechristening himself as Infinite. After Infinite snaps Shadow out of the flashback, Shadow is transported to Green Hill Zone, where Infinite demonstrates his ability to manipulate people's minds by making Shadow think Rouge is talking nonsense to him and Omega is still alive and active, making him realize Infinite's capabilities. Development of Sonic Forces began shortly after

14520-452: The release of Sonic Lost World in 2013. With the game's title chosen to signify its themes of power and teamwork, it was intended to have a darker tone compared to previous entries in the franchise and the character creation system was inspired by Sonic fan art the developers had come across over the years. The game was primarily developed by staff who had worked on Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (2011), using an updated version of

14652-474: The resistance upon taking effect in three days. Meanwhile, Sonic encounters Shadow, who reveals that the Shadow following Eggman is an illusionary doppelgänger created by Infinite, as are the other villains serving him, and that limitless numbers of them can be created to bolster Eggman's army. Tails infiltrates Eggman's computer network and finds the Phantom Ruby's weakness: the gemstone is directly powered by

14784-505: The responsibility for visual-, structural- and gameplay-related tasks has been increasingly divided among several specialists. A wide variety of tools may be used by someone designing and making a level. Although it is faster to design models and textures with general-purpose multimedia development tools, games usually require the data to be in a unique format suited for that game's engine . For this, specific compilers and converters of models, textures, and audio data may be required to lay out

14916-420: The series, such as Sonic Adventure (1998). It was the first time that Shadow was a playable character in a mainline Sonic game since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), with some critics writing that it was much more difficult than the main game. Sonic Forces received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Writing for Polygon , Jeremy Parish praised

15048-424: The storyline. Levels are generally constructed with flow control in mind; that is, directing the player towards the goal of the level and preventing confusion and idling. This can be accomplished by various means. Often the level layouts feature power-ups and items positioned so that collecting them inevitably makes the player move in the correct direction. This is one of the basic player direction techniques and

15180-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

15312-540: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

15444-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

15576-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

15708-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

15840-465: The winding coils of a giant snake," although she wished they were more plentiful. Kemps cited the game's "goofy charm" as preventing her from being "too disappointed" by it. The level design received divisive responses while Classic Sonic's presence received a mediocre reception. Kotaku 's Heather Alexandra wrote that Modern Sonic's gameplay was "visually dynamic" and "the most fun", but heavily automated and shallow, whereas Classic Sonic delivered

15972-418: The world alongside Infinite, his newest lackey who has been empowered by the Phantom Ruby. It features three gameplay modes: "Classic", side-scrolling gameplay similar to the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, "Modern", 3D gameplay similar to Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010), and a mode featuring the "Avatar", the player's custom character . Development of Sonic Forces began after

16104-508: Was Doom . The development of various third-party editors led to the formation of an online community trading fan-made maps. A level editor is often limited to designing levels for only a certain game engine . Developing a level editor takes a lot of time; it is more time- and cost-efficient to release multiple games using the same engine instead of developing a new engine and level editor for each game. As level editors generally allow for limited game-development work, to make larger changes to

16236-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

16368-505: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

16500-425: Was a separate game. The game was released worldwide on Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , and Xbox One in November 2017. Prior to the game's launch, Sega released a four-part prequel comic written and drawn by Ian Flynn and Adam Bryce Thomas, who previously worked on Archie Comics ' Sonic the Hedgehog series . A bonus edition was released containing controller skins and downloadable clothing items for

16632-532: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

16764-444: Was not required. The four reviewers of Famitsu were more positive, praising the character creation system, story, and soundtrack. Heidi Kemps, reviewing Forces for IGN , faulted elements of the game's level design, indicating that "unfair-feeling traps" recurred intermittently and that the levels were relatively short and underdeveloped. In contrast to Parish, Kemps enjoyed the "quite strong" bosses, particularly one fought "among

16896-458: Was produced in commemoration of the series' twenty-fifth anniversary and the title was chosen to signify its themes of power, teamwork and armies. The game was intended to give a darker perspective to the world of Sonic , in contrast to the fantasy-based themes of previous entries, and expand upon the modern-style gameplay from Unleashed and Colors . To create this, the developers designed levels to seem desolate and more realistic. In programming

17028-433: Was released in Japan by Sega's music label Wave Master on December 13, 2017. Sonic Forces was announced alongside Sonic Mania under its codename during a twenty-fifth series anniversary event held by Sega at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2016. The presence of both Classic and Modern Sonic in the initial teaser trailer led some journalists to believe it was a sequel to Sonic Generations , but Iizuka clarified that it

17160-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

17292-540: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

17424-520: Was written by Ohtani and features lyrics written and performed by Doug Robb of the American rock band Hoobastank . Ohtani wrote Infinite's theme, which was performed by Tyler Smyth and Andy Bane of the band DangerKids . Arrangements of tracks from Sonic CD (1993), Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and Sonic Lost World (2013) were used. A three-disc official soundtrack, Sonic Forces Original Soundtrack – A Hero Will Rise ,

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