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What games popularized certain mechanics? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by ApollosArrow@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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I was trying to think of which games created certain mechanics that became popular and copied by future games in the industry.

The most famous one that comes to my mind is Assassin’s Creed, with the tower climbing for map information.

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[-] somnuz@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Well, when I was writing that, after midnight I will add, I had this feeling that Mario was doing this thing earlier but for me Mario stands as an icon for the first level design overall as a golden standard for introduction to mechanics and really efficient use of memory for data, and one of the first uses of dynamic music.. So you are totally right, Mario brought a lot of things, I’ve just played Crash much more.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Fair enough.

My point is that the reason you played this game so much is that it existed because of Super Mario.

Thus the answer to OP's question in relation to this would be Super Mario Bro's, from which Crash is derived.

[-] somnuz@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

Well then.. To stay true to the history, we probably would have to go back to Galaxian from ‘79, which introduced 1-UPs / additional lives, bonus stages and player upgrades, plus simple summary / statistics for hits and misses.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

See but the question isn't "originated".

It's "popularised".

Which Mario clearly did, outpassing both "Galaxian" and Crash in terms of popularity.

I know that Crash is bigger for you, but in the big picture, comparing Mario to Crash is like comparing Pokemon to Digimon.

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Mario

The main core series, Super Mario, began with the platformer game Super Mario Bros. (1985) on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The main games consist of Mario trying to rescue Princess Peach from the villain Bowser and saving the Mushroom Kingdom.

As of June 2024, the Mario video game franchise has sold more than 900 million units worldwide, making it the best-selling video game franchise of all time. The main Super Mario series alone has sold more than 495 million copies worldwide.

Super Mario Bros. 1985 NES, estimated revenue $1,652,300,000

Have to scroll quite far down this list https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises to find Crash.

[-] somnuz@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

See, you are right and that’s exactly why I started with “This might be a little on the side of the main topic”..

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Hmm. Fair enough, fair enough.

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

You've likely listened to the same or similar lectures I have on level design and I seriously apply those lessons to every single game and UI I have influence over!