A new theory
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I'm going to start this post out by saying that I'm pretty good at playing video games. I have, I hate to admit, decades of casually playing games under my belt and I've gotten pretty good at getting pretty good at games. So, it is with these years of experience that I have developed a theory.
My theory is that somewhere, hiding in the depths of a vault, is a tome of video game design knowledge. This book is the one that all game developers secretly have access to and have been forbidden from sharing with the rest of us under penalty of death.
Somewhere in this volume is a chapter dedicated to designing "The Asshole Level™". This level is the one it's nearly impossible to complete without getting every exact motion correct, and the only way to do that is to get it down to muscle memory - and even then it takes luck. This level that I'm talking about is the one that must be played time and time and time again before it can be passed. This is the level designed to take advantage of someone like me, someone who will compulsively conquer this challenge set before him. I hate this level.
All games have this level. Anybody who's played a game with the name "Mario" in the title knows what I'm talking about. The levels where you have to memorize exactly how they work - and you have to do it the hard way - are the bane of my existence. I must complete them. I must pass them! But at what cost...?
My theory is that somewhere, hiding in the depths of a vault, is a tome of video game design knowledge. This book is the one that all game developers secretly have access to and have been forbidden from sharing with the rest of us under penalty of death.
Somewhere in this volume is a chapter dedicated to designing "The Asshole Level™". This level is the one it's nearly impossible to complete without getting every exact motion correct, and the only way to do that is to get it down to muscle memory - and even then it takes luck. This level that I'm talking about is the one that must be played time and time and time again before it can be passed. This is the level designed to take advantage of someone like me, someone who will compulsively conquer this challenge set before him. I hate this level.
All games have this level. Anybody who's played a game with the name "Mario" in the title knows what I'm talking about. The levels where you have to memorize exactly how they work - and you have to do it the hard way - are the bane of my existence. I must complete them. I must pass them! But at what cost...?
posted by Burton at 11:28 PM
2 Comments:
Many of the mario games are like that, especially the side-scrollers, new and old, in world 8 -- there's always one bitch of a level.
I've found there are a couple levels like that in Yoshi's Island for the DS, too -- still haven't passed them, still haven't quit trying :-)
If it was easy.... why bother doing it?
It's all about that l337 sense of accomplishment!
RELOADING!!!
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