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136-629: Development on Sonic Rivals originated from a traditional platform game Backbone was developing, before Sonic series producer Takashi Iizuka stepped in and changed its direction, as well as deciding on the PSP as the system it would release on due to having greater processing power than the Nintendo DS ; the developers also took inspiration from the Sega Genesis games, as well as other games up to Sonic Rush (2005) due to wanting to return to

272-819: A Sonic platformer as a playable character was in Sonic Adventure ; she is playable in Sonic Heroes (2003) and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and appears as a non-player character in games such as Sonic Unleashed (2008). While some journalists have called Amy cute and powerful, others find her annoying. Justin Towell of GamesRadar+ and writers from Mean Machines expressed general displeasure at her introduction in Sonic CD . Additionally, some have criticized developers' treatment of Amy as

408-608: 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

544-488: A "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in 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

680-452: 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,

816-401: 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

952-483: 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. Silver the Hedgehog The Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise began in 1991 with the video game Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis , which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against

1088-462: 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

1224-481: 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 ,

1360-525: 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

1496-534: A common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in 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 ,

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1632-483: A dangerous secret about Eggman, but she is turned to a card before she can continue. Suddenly, Silver appears from the future, and tells Shadow he needs to get to Eggman first. After numerous conflicts, the heroes discover that Dr. Eggman had been imprisoned in a card before everything began, and that the Eggman the heroes have been interacting with is Eggman Nega in disguise. Nega is revealed to have traveled back from

1768-589: A female character and analyzed her implications on gender representation in video games . The Electronic Gaming Monthly staff found her pink coloring and tendency to run from danger to be stereotypical and common in Japanese-created female characters, while feminist blogger Anita Sarkeesian cites Amy as an example of the "Ms. Male Character" trope, in which female characters in games with male protagonists often resemble those protagonists, but with stereotypically feminine features added. Despite this, Amy

1904-525: A final battle with the heroes, Nega is defeated and captured in a card. The prisoners of the other cards are restored, and Silver takes Onyx Island and Nega's card with him back to the future. Sonic Rivals was developed as a collaborative effort between Sega and Backbone Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The game's concept originated from a traditional platform game Backbone designed. Takashi Iizuka became involved with

2040-514: A formidable weapon. Vector was, originally, supposed to be in the sound test of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game as part of a rock band that Sonic was part of, but the band and the feature itself were removed prior to its release. Vector and the band made a brief appearance in the promotional manga Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic . Vector then made his official game debut in the 1995 video game Knuckles' Chaotix . And in 2003, he

2176-450: 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

2312-475: A game starring Big is a possibility. Despite this statement, Big has continued to appear in other titles, including Sonic Runners , Lego Dimensions , Team Sonic Racing , and Sonic Frontiers . Chaos is a water-like being that can easily manipulate its body and highly intelligent. Without any of the Chaos Emeralds, it is known as "Chaos Zero", but with each of it absorbs, it transforms into

2448-489: A group of initially four characters who debuted in the game Knuckles' Chaotix as the main characters, later forming their own detective agency in Sonic Heroes where only three of them (Vector, Espio and Charmy respectively) returned, after the three were redesigned and rebooted into essentially new characters. IGN described the characters as "charming" and noted that they were introduced before fans became weary of all

2584-609: 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

2720-455: A lost Chao called Chocola. He is a minor playable character in other Sonic games, like Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and a non-player character in games such as the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors . Reflecting the story of Adventure , Big appears in the Sonic X anime and the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. Big has been derided by

2856-456: A more powerful form, eventually becoming "Perfect Chaos" with all seven Chaos Emeralds. Its first appearance in Sonic Adventure , Dr. Eggman attempts to use it to conquer the world. Chaos tracks down the emeralds, becomes "Perfect Chaos", and floods all of Station Square, but is ultimately defeated by Super Sonic. Chaos is also a mutated Chao ( / tʃ aʊ / ) , a small creature with a pudding -like body and behave much like human infants . By

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2992-559: 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 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

3128-631: 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

3264-501: A playable athlete. Espio also made a cameo in the film franchise in the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-quill comic. Voiced by: Charmy Bee is a bee who is the "scatter-brained funny-kid" of the Chaotix. He is cheerful, curious, playful, careless, and greatly energetic, often talking about things no one else cares about. Charmy's fooling around makes the rest of the detective agency staff look professional, and he

3400-595: A playable character in the tie-in mobile game; Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom . Vector also made a cameo in the film franchise in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-quill comic. Voiced by: Espio the Chameleon is a chameleon who is a ninja warrior . He is described as the "opinionated number one" of the Chaotix, also being the calmest. He has a "militaristic discipline" while being quiet and laid back. Confident in his skills, opinionated and self-obsessed, he revels in training and self-discipline. He

3536-516: A rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or Doctor Ivo Robotnik). The sequel, Sonic 2 , gave Sonic a fox friend named Tails . Sonic CD introduced Amy Rose, a female hedgehog with a persistent crush on Sonic. Sonic 3 introduced Knuckles the Echidna , Sonic's rival and later friend. All five of these have remained major characters and appeared in dozens of games. The series has introduced dozens of additional recurring characters over

3672-455: A separate continuity from the Sonic the Hedgehog comics published by Archie Comics and other Sonic media and, as a result, feature a distinct yet overlapping array of many characters. Sonic the Hedgehog, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog , is a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog and the main protagonist of the series. Developed as a replacement for their existing Alex Kidd mascot, as well as Sega's response to Mario , his first appearance

3808-583: A series of electronic noises. The only notable time Metal Sonic was able to talk was in Sonic Heroes in which he was voiced by Jun'ichi Kanemaru in Japanese and Ryan Drummond in English. GameDaily placed Metal Sonic 13th on their "Top 25 Video Game Robots" list, describing him as Dr. Robotnik's "greatest creation" and praising the strength of his abilities. Knuckles the Echidna is a red echidna and one of Sonic's friendly rivals . First introduced in

3944-470: 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

4080-406: 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

4216-430: A strong sense of justice and kindness, despite his argumentativeness. He often does unpaid work due to his charitable nature, such as finding a lost child or taking up meager chases for children. This leaves the agency constantly short on money. Vector hates having to work for the landlord, but he enjoys singing, and his trademark accessory is a set of headphones . He is physically very strong and his powerful jaws are

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4352-725: 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

4488-657: A very high IQ and excellent mechanical skills. Voiced by: Amy Rose is a pink hedgehog and Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend, who is an energetic tomboy . Amy was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino for Sonic the Hedgehog CD (1993), although she appeared in Kenji Terada 's Sonic the Hedgehog manga a year before. Hoshino created her in-game graphics, with many staff members contributing ideas to her design. Her headband and trainer shoes reflected Sonic CD director Naoto Ohshima 's tastes, and her mannerisms reflected

4624-466: Is a large, purple anthropomorphic cat, who is depicted as—while unintelligent—sweet, easygoing, and physically strong. In Sonic Adventure , Big's story involves fishing his frog friend Froggy out of various bodies of water after Froggy swallows a Chaos Emerald and part of the tail of Chaos, the game's antagonist. In Sonic Heroes , Big teams up with Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit to search for Froggy and

4760-402: Is a two-tailed fox who is Sonic's best friend and sidekick. His name is a pun on " miles per hour ". He can use his tails to propel himself into the air like a helicopter for a limited time. Yasushi Yamaguchi , originally the main artist and zone designer for Sega 's Sonic Team, designed Tails for an internal competition for a sidekick to Sonic. His first appearance was in Sonic 2 for

4896-587: Is generally seen as a "cute mascot". Despite an innocent, good-natured and light-hearted personality, he uses his stinger on rare occasions where he gets angry. In addition to being a playable character in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog , he made cameos in all the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games installments as a referee. Mighty the Armadillo is a black and red armadillo who debuted in

5032-474: 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

5168-422: Is not concerned by danger, and often yearns to face it in order to use his ninja skills. With his extensive training in ninjutsu and an ability to turn himself invisible, he is able to move around unnoticed. However, a blunder like a sneeze could cause him to inadvertently become visible. Espio's debut was in the video game Knuckles' Chaotix . In the game, his color subtly changes while he moves to demonstrate

5304-461: Is one of the series' most popular characters, coming in fifth place in a Japanese popularity poll in 2006. Her likeness has been used in Sonic merchandise, and she appears in the television adaptations Sonic X (2003–2005), Sonic Boom (2014–2017) and Sonic Prime (2022–2024). Voiced by: Metal Sonic is an evil robotic version of Sonic created by Dr. Robotnik. He first appears in Sonic

5440-462: Is played ad hoc , and players can customize their racers using collectible cards won in Single player, trade cards with friends, and wager cards on races. Also a cup circuit mode is available where players race a rival for the chance to win a specific cup. The game includes an extensive collectible card system that spans a total of 150 cards. Performing specific objectives throughout the game will give

5576-488: Is then reincarnated as an egg; the cycle then restarts and the Chao remembers the player. If, however, it has been treated poorly, the cocoon is gray and the Chao dies, removing every trace of itself from the game. Chao can breed to produce fertile eggs. Chao were designed as a "relative neutral entity" in this game. However, to remain consistent with the good–evil dichotomy of Sonic Adventure 2 , they were designed so that

Sonic Rivals - Misplaced Pages Continue

5712-660: The Sonic Boom episode, "It Wasn't Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog". Metal Sonic appears as a boss in the Sonic story mode of Lego Dimensions . Metal Sonic appeared as a playable character in the multiplayer mode of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle , as well as Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing , Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed , and all the Mario & Sonic titles beginning with Mario & Sonic at

5848-626: 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

5984-644: The Chao Garden restaurant in Tokyo , Japan . Chao and the Chao-raising system have received generally positive reviews. In a review of Sonic Adventure , GameSpot 's Peter Bartholow stated that "with the Chao-breeding simulation and the minigames, Sonic offers much more beyond the completion of its story." IGN stated that " SA more than has the extras department covered." This enthusiasm

6120-506: The Double Rivals Attack Pack! on October 18, 2011. Reviewers consistently praised the game's presentation. Juan Castro of IGN wrote that the game had tons of "graphical flourishes" that made it belong on the handheld, a sentiment shared by Greg Mueller of GameSpot . The music received similar praise, with GameSpot finding the music upbeat, although GameSpy said it was "nowhere near as good" as previous games in

6256-683: 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

6392-481: The Master Emerald as well. Eggman announces his plan to conquer the world by turning everything to cards, challenging Sonic and Knuckles to stop him as he flees. The two heroes both set out independently to stop his plan. Elsewhere, Shadow receives a distress signal from Eggman, but upon finding him, the doctor denies sending one. He later receives a communication from Rouge warning him she has stumbled upon

6528-530: 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

6664-694: 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

6800-454: 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 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

6936-537: 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

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7072-614: The 2D gameplay style. Sonic Rivals released in North America in November 2006, and other territories in December; it is one of the few games in the franchise not to see a release in Japan. Upon release, it was a commercial success, but received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised the graphics and audio, while the gameplay drew mixed reactions for its controls, level design, and rubber banding . A sequel titled Sonic Rivals 2

7208-511: The Armadillo. Both Ray and Mighty appeared as playable characters in the Sonic Mania expansion Sonic Mania Plus , as well as appearing in the accompanying web series Sonic Mania Adventures . Voiced by: Big the Cat first appeared in the 1998 Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure , where he was placed to justify the presence of a fishing rod in the game, although he was conceived beforehand. Big

7344-539: The Chaos Emeralds that acts as a guardian for its species, protects the Master Emerald, and provides clear water around its altar. Takashi Iizuka stated that he wanted to create an antagonist who would have been impossible to create on older hardware. He settled on one relating to liquid and transparent and created Chaos. Iizuka presented the concept to Naka, who was impressed. Chaos was originally intended to have realistic blue scales in his final form, but this

7480-640: The Chaos Rings, but he is stopped by the Chaotix team. Metal Sonic notably acted as the main antagonist in Sonic Heroes , appearing in a new form as Neo Metal Sonic before transforming into the game's final boss, the Metal Overlord. Upon being defeated by Super Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, he reverts to his traditional appearance. He appears as the main antagonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog (OVA) , where Eggman records Sonic's abilities and uploads them to Metal Sonic, who proceeds in attempting to destroy

7616-593: The E-100 series and considered the prototype of the line. He was created by Dr. Eggman and ordered to capture the Chaos Emerald from Amy Rose's Flicky friend, Birdie. He first appeared in Sonic Adventure as the main antagonist in Amy's story, where he repeatedly tries to capture Birdie. At the end of Amy's story, she destroys him. In Sonic Advance 2 , he appears in special stages, trying to prevent players from getting

7752-480: The Eggman Empire and Robotnikland. When Sega had petitioned its research and development department to create a character who would replace Alex Kidd as its company mascot, a caricature of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was among the proposed designs. It lost to Sonic the Hedgehog, but the design was kept for the basis for Dr. Eggman instead. Miles Prower, better known by his nickname , Tails,

7888-660: The Emeralds for an easier job. Fang tries hard to outwit others, but is held back by his clumsiness and often fails. Outside of Triple Trouble , Fang has had playable roles in Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic the Fighters in 1995 and 1996, and had been planned to be in the cancelled Sonic Xtreme . He did not have any significant roles for over two decades however, though he did make a cameo appearance on an in-game poster in 2011's Sonic Generations , and as an illusion during

8024-468: 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

8160-620: The Game Gear, where he was kidnapped by Doctor Robotnik for a "hefty" ransom. He was first made playable in the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . Tails has appeared in almost every Sonic game since his first appearance. Tails starred in two solo spin-off games for the Sega Game Gear in 1995 – Tails' Skypatrol , and Tails Adventure . Frequently portrayed as a sweet-natured and humble fox, Tails used to be picked on because of his twin tails, before he met Sonic. Tails has

8296-402: The Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 , Knuckles lives on Angel Island, which hovers in the sky due to the power of the Master Emerald . As the last surviving member of the Echidna people who once inhabited the island, his duty is to guard the Master Emerald. During conception of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 , the development team wanted to create a new rival for Sonic. The final design of Knuckles was

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8432-530: The Hedgehog CD . He is given orders to go back in time and change the past so that Dr. Eggman can rule the future. Sonic must race him in Stardust Speedway to free Amy Rose. He is severely wounded when he crashes and falls, but is rejuvenated by Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II , only to be defeated again in a similar style. He returns in Knuckles' Chaotix , where he attempts to obtain

8568-424: 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

8704-644: The Olympic Winter Games . Collecting all the emblems in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut unlocks Metal Sonic as a bonus playable character in Sonic's stages, and purchasing both episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I unlocks bonus levels in which Metal Sonic is playable. He possesses great strength, including a laser cannon , a jet engine and a force field device he can use to protect himself from projectiles and certain attacks. He usually only communicates with

8840-730: The Sniper, initially known as Nack the Weasel in English localizations, is a purple jerboa that first appeared in the Game Gear video game Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble in 1994. His character is a treasure hunter in search of the Chaos Emeralds ; however he does not know of their true power and merely wants to sell them for his own profit. He is a slick, sneaky, and mischievous character who will steal

8976-626: The accompanying web series Sonic Mania Adventures . Ray the Flying Squirrel is a yellow flying squirrel who debuted in the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog . While he can run as fast as Sonic, Ray can also climb trees and glide. His long period of absence was alluded to in Sonic Generations , in which he is shown on a missing persons poster during the City Escape level alongside fellow SegaSonic character Mighty

9112-529: 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

9248-486: The arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog and later appeared in the 32X game Knuckles' Chaotix . The character is described as a traveler who loves nature and desires to see every place. Mighty hates to see weaknesses in others and detests violence. He prefers to be gentle but undergoes a drastic change and is capable when needed. Mighty's only appearance as part of the Chaotix was in Knuckles Chaotix , and

9384-415: 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

9520-592: The boss fight with Heavy Magician in Sonic Mania in 2017. In 2023, he was announced to be returning in a main role as a central villain in Sonic Superstars , now under the name "Fang the Hunter"; a tie-in comic released by Sega prior to the game's launch offered the in-fiction explanation that Fang frequently operates under different aliases in order to conduct his criminal activities. The Chaotix are

9656-467: The characters. While they add a customizable aspect to the game, they are merely aesthetic; they do not affect gameplay. When the mysterious Onyx Island appears out of nowhere, Sonic and Tails fly there to investigate. They confront Doctor Eggman , who reveals his latest device: a camera which can turn people and things into cards, having already done so to Amy . He turns Tails into a card just as Knuckles arrives, angry at Eggman for using his device on

9792-549: 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

9928-421: 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

10064-416: The developers was to return to the gameplay style of the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, but with new elements such as competition. In designing the stages, Sega provided Backbone with level design maps from all the 2D games as a reference, and Backbone looked to all games up to Sonic Rush for inspiration. Building alternate paths—a common feature of the original games—was cited as challenging, with

10200-419: 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

10336-459: The end of levels require the player to defeat the boss before the competing character does. Five different characters are playable; Sonic the Hedgehog , Knuckles the Echidna , Shadow the Hedgehog , Silver the Hedgehog , and Metal Sonic , but gameplay is identical for all characters. The game features power-ups to collect that offer additional offensive and defensive abilities. Sonic Rivals features several different modes. In Story Mode, each of

10472-498: The feature in the game, comparing Chao to Tamagotchi digital pets. GameSpot's Frank Provo noted the appeal to "those people who might only enjoy pinball in passing" that Chao brought to Sonic Pinball Party . 1UP.com 's Chris Baker called the Chao feature in Sega Superstars "ultimately worthless... but some might find it amusing." In a review of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood , GameSpot's Shiva Stella praised

10608-521: 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

10744-541: 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

10880-422: The four playable characters have separate story lines, and must race each other to the finish line in each stage in order to thwart Doctor Eggman 's various schemes. In Challenge Mode, the player is given a goal to complete, such as hitting their opponent a certain number of times during a race or battle. Wireless Play Mode features multiplayer games and races whereby players can wager cards, or just race for fun. It

11016-437: The future, plotting to use the camera to remove Eggman's failed schemes from existence and rewrite their family history, with Onyx Island being a future version of Angel Island he brought back to further his plan. His ruse exposed, Nega escapes into space, planning to use his camera to turn the whole planet into a card. The heroes rescue Tails and the real Eggman, who aid them in reaching Nega's space station to stop his plan. After

11152-470: 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

11288-667: The game to stand out. Kazuyuki Hoshino and Hiroshi Nishiyama assisted with art and environment direction, respectively. The game's existence was revealed on GameStop 's website in May 2005, though Sega denied it was in development. Sonic Rivals was announced on May 6, 2006. It was showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) later that month, and at the Games Convention in August 2006. The game

11424-482: The game's story mode. In Sonic Generations , he appears in his classic form as a rival boss, battling Classic Sonic in Stardust Speedway before ultimately being destroyed. In the 2024 remaster Sonic X Shadow Generations , his Metal Overlord form returns as a boss that Shadow battles. Metal Sonic returns as a boss character in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal . He appears in

11560-402: The game, and he changed its direction to a racing game. The majority of development was handled by Backbone with assistance from Sega Studio USA , although some aspects, such as the story, were done by Sega. The developers chose to create the game on the PSP over the Nintendo DS , due to its stronger processing power and higher graphical quality. According to producer Taylor Miller, the goal of

11696-498: 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

11832-495: The gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, gliding through the air, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. The genre started with 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

11968-547: The games, Amy is depicted as driven and competitive. She spends much of her time following Sonic to get his attention or make sure he is safe while demonstrating her affection. Series co-creator Yuji Naka said that Amy was designed "to always chase Sonic", and has made it her life goal to one day marry him. Not possessing the speed or strength of the other characters, Amy uses a hammer to defend herself instead. In Sonic CD , Metal Sonic kidnaps Amy and Sonic must rescue her. When he does, Amy kisses him. Amy's first appearance in

12104-419: The genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping 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

12240-471: The genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games" 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

12376-457: 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

12512-412: The genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms, 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

12648-419: The goal of allowing as many rivalry interactions as possible. In choosing playable characters, Backbone focused on characters who maintained the biggest rivalries in the Sonic franchise, such as Sonic and Shadow. Silver, then a new character, was added to "mix things up". One challenge was coming up with the art direction for the game; Backbone sought to maintain the look and feel of Sonic while still stylizing

12784-408: The level of strategy that the game's Chao system added. Destructoid 's Jim Sterling voiced a similar opinion, though they said that Chao had been "rubbish" in previous games. The E-100 Series is a group of robots created by Doctor Eggman , who uses them in his quest to conquer the world; however, some of their members have since gone rogue. E-100 Alpha, better known as Zero, is the first of

12920-454: 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

13056-473: The main antagonist of the series. Debuting in the first game of the series, Sonic the Hedgehog , he was shown attempting to collect the Chaos Emeralds and turn all of the animals inhabiting the land into robots. He is a self-proclaimed or certifiable genius with an IQ of 300. His fondness for mechas has made him a renowned authority on robotics. Ultimately, Eggman's goal is to conquer the world and create his ultimate utopia, Eggmanland, alternatively known as

13192-489: 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

13328-405: 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

13464-555: The most blatant and annoying instances of rubber-banding AI we've ever seen" in his review for Eurogamer . Platform game A platformer (also called a platform game , and sometimes a jump 'n' run game ) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels with uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into

13600-551: The new characters in the series. Voiced by: Vector the Crocodile is a large crocodile who is the "head honcho" and brains of the Chaotix Detective Agency. Divided between being both "bossy" and "easy-going", his rough speech and outward appearance mask his clear reasoning and ability to resolve cases. For the right price he will take on most jobs, unless they involve doing something immoral. Vector has

13736-534: 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

13872-511: The obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite 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

14008-408: 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

14144-413: The player a collectible cards. Such tasks include finishing a level, getting a certain number of rings, hitting a rival a certain number of times and getting to the goal within a certain amount of time. The cards themselves feature pictures of characters and boxart from a variety of past games in the Sonic series. The cards themselves are used to unlock secret costumes and items that alter the appearance of

14280-561: 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

14416-481: The player could raise them as "Hero Chao" or "Dark Chao". Chao were given the ability to socialize and interact in Sonic Adventure 2 in order to make the game unique, and to more resemble "a real artificial life form." Chaos would reappears in other games included his perfect form appeared in Sonic Generations as a boss with updated appearance. Chao will appear in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 , as mascots of

14552-522: The player jumps, spins around, or throws them. A Chao's diets consist of tree fruit and coconuts . They hatch from eggs found in Chao Gardens. When the player spends enough time with a Chao in the Chao Garden, it eventually develops into a cocoon and hatches from this as an adult. Eventually it develops into another cocoon. If the Chao has been treated well, the cocoon is pink and the Chao

14688-405: 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

14824-481: The player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along 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

14960-498: 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 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

15096-1048: 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

15232-443: The result of dozens of possible designs inspired by numerous different animals. A character with many different abilities and skills, he is physically one of the strongest characters of the Sonic series. His strength and mastery of martial arts, specializing in punches, enables him to perform feats such as shattering boulders with his fists, while he can trap air underneath his dreadlocks in order to glide for short distances. Fang

15368-454: The series. The gameplay, however, drew mixed reactions; a common critique was the game's rubber banding mechanic making the opponent close to the player no matter how fast they were travelling. GameSpot said "if you freeze your rival with an ice blast, he will be slowed momentarily but will inexplicably catch up within seconds", while GameSpy felt there was never a moment where it was impossible to catch up to them. Rob Fahey called it "one of

15504-434: The seven Chaos Emeralds. Voiced by: E-102 Gamma also primarily appears in Sonic Adventure . He is a red, bulky robot with a powerful gun built into his arm. Gamma turns against his master after a heartfelt conversation with Amy Rose, who becomes his friend, and destroys the other E-100 Series robots to free the trapped animals inside them before ultimately doing the same to himself. He offers shoot-'em-up gameplay to

15640-408: The technical capabilities of the Sega 32X console. Espio was incorporated into Sonic Heroes as part of a move to reintroduce neglected characters, and because the development team considered him to have a unique, interesting personality. He was the designated "speed" character in Sonic Heroes while teammates Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee respectively represented "power" and "flight". Espio

15776-489: 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

15912-594: The traits Hoshino looked for in women at the time. Her fur color was red at first, and her skirt orange. The character had two other names in game previews: Rosy the Rascal and Princess Sally (a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series and comics). Amy received her present design, with a red dress and knee-high leather boots, in Sonic Adventure (1998), courtesy of designer Yuji Uekawa . In

16048-444: The video game critics and fans for his obesity, low intelligence, one-dimensional development and uselessness within his games; he has appeared on several lists of the worst video game characters of all time and within the Sonic cast. Due to his poor reception and apparent uselessness, Sonic Team claimed they would be retiring the character from appearing in future games in 2012, although head Takashi Iizuka has since stated that

16184-437: 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

16320-455: 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

16456-470: The world before being tossed into lava by Sonic. Metal Sonic appears as a bonus playable character in Sonic Rivals , reprogrammed to aid Eggman Nega in his attempt to take over the world. He returns as a playable character in Sonic Rivals 2 , under orders from Eggman to aid Shadow in stopping Eggman Nega's plans. In Sonic Free Riders , Metal Sonic is a playable character and the final opponent in

16592-571: The years. These have ranged from anthropomorphic animal characters such as Shadow the Hedgehog and Cream the Rabbit to robots created by Eggman such as Metal Sonic and E-123 Omega, as well as human characters such as Eggman's grandfather Gerald Robotnik. The series features three fictional species, in order of appearance: Chao, which have usually functioned as digital pets and minor gameplay and plot elements; Wisps, which have been used as power-ups ; and Koco, which when collected grant new abilities for Sonic, among other things. The Sonic games keep

16728-413: 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

16864-505: 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

17000-529: Was abandoned because of the technological constraints of the Dreamcast . Iizuka stated in an interview with video game publication 1UP.com that Chao were incorporated into Sonic Adventure "so that new players would be forced to go out, explore the action sections, and find Flickies and things." Professor Chao, a minor character in Sonic Adventure 2 , states that Chao are cute, and enjoy toys and being held or petted. However, they dislike being held while

17136-407: Was absent when the rest of the group was reintroduced into the series with Sonic Heroes in 2003. His long period of absence was alluded to in Sonic Generations , in which he is shown on a missing persons poster alongside fellow SegaSonic character Ray the Flying Squirrel. Both Mighty and Ray appeared as playable characters in the Sonic Mania expansion Sonic Mania Plus , as well as appearing in

17272-406: Was added to Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rivals 2 to help "round out our cast of characters", and because designer Takashi Iizuka appreciated the character's "stealthy agility". Espio appeared as a playable character in the arcade fighting game Sonic the Fighters , and has also appeared in all installments of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as the referee in various events and later

17408-470: Was also the one of only mainline game characters to appear in the Sonic Boom franchise, making his debut into the sub-franchise in the season two episode; Vector Detector . He later made a few cameo appearances such as in the finale. Like the other characters he was redesigned for the series, sporting an arm tattoo and a leather jacket in place of his traditional headphones. In 2021, he was later added as

17544-562: Was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of 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

17680-493: Was extended to IGN 's reviews of Sonic Adventure 2 , Sonic Advance , and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut . GameSpot 's Shane Satterfield was critical of the Chao raising feature in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle , stating that "there's little in the way of interactivity" and that "the Chao training aspect using the Game Boy Advance is little more than a novelty." However, GameSpy 's Shane Bettenhausen praised

17816-532: 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 ,

17952-417: Was in the arcade game Rad Mobile as a cameo, before making his official debut in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). Sonic's greatest ability is his running speed, and he is known as the world's fastest hedgehog. Using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds , he becomes Super Sonic and can achieve even greater speeds. Doctor Ivo Robotnik, better known by his alias Doctor Eggman, is a human mad scientist and

18088-527: Was part of Team Chaotix in Sonic Heroes and is featured in Shadow the Hedgehog , Sonic Generations , Sonic Forces and several other games (alongside both Espio and Charmy in said games). In all instalments of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games , he is a playable athlete. He has also been playable in other spinoff titles such as Sonic Free Riders and Team Sonic Racing , and mobile games like Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Sonic Dash . Vector

18224-440: Was released in 2007 for the same system, and handled by the same developers. Sonic Rivals is a side-scrolling video game similar to the original Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis , but with a 2.5D perspective. Characters race to the finish line while avoiding the level's obstacles. The game contains six zones, each with three respective acts, the third being a boss battle, totaling in 17 stages. Boss battles at

18360-493: Was released in North America on November 17, 2006, and Europe on December 1, 2006. Sonic Rivals received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, scoring a 64/100 on Metacritic, and 66.17% on GameRankings. Both it and Rivals 2 were later re-released in North America and Europe as part of the Greatest Hits and Essentials lines respectively, indicating over 250,000 units were sold by the end of 2007, as well as part of

18496-418: 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

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