A history of gaming

Posts in category 1990s

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Nov23
2011 Written by allg7590

Towards the end of the 1990s a game was released which, like Space Invaders in the 1970s and Donkey Kong in the 1980s, added a new layer of innovation and gameplay to the world of console gaming.  The title was alluring on it’s own; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released in Japan on November 21st, in the United States on November 23rd and finally in Europe on 11th December.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

It introduced some elements to video gaming which we’ll discuss later but lets first take a look at the game’s development.  The platform was the Nintendo 64 and the effort expended on development had rarely been seen before.  The man behind the project was Shigeru Miyamoto, a director who was also involved with the concurrent development of Super Mario 64.

The game had actually been in development since 1995 when a short demo was shown at Nintendo’s Space World trade show.  Even at that stage the concept of a free-roaming game was giving the development team concerns that the memory demands would be to great for the limits of the N64′s cartridge system.  There was a possibility that the game would be released to use the forthcoming N64 disk drive expansion pack but ultimately the decision was made to stick with the cartridge.

Miyamoto wanted to design a game in which the landscape, and the ability to view it, were a major part of the game.  Why put the effort into designing a free roaming game if the camera is always focused on the character?

Hyrule Screenshot

Hyrule Screenshot

The game play of Zelda is the story of Link; the complex and detailed story line is far to intricate to describe accurately here but briefly it involves Link’s attempts to travel around the assorted lands which surround the Kingdom of Hyrule.  Hyrule was also the setting for previous Zelda releases.  Link must thwart Ganondorf by obtaining the three Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time which will provide him with access to the Master Sword.  There is much more to it than that, plenty of time travelling and associated narrative but you get the general picture.

Zelda was one of the first games, possibly the first, to feature a soundtrack designed to complement the gameplay.  As Link approached different locations, music associated with that area began to play; a departure from the usual practice of tying the music to the character.  Pony Canyon, the Japanese media publishing company were behind the creation of the soundtrack.

Zelda introduced features such as contextual button pressing – assigning a different control to a particular button depending on the situation, automatic targeting and a great stealth aspect to the game.  For fans of the RPG genre, many of the features introduced here are still in use today.

From the day it was released, The Legand of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, was critically acclaimed.  Almost twelve years later it is still the recipient of the highest ever ratings from reviewers across the board.  Take a step backwards God of War and Grand Theft Auto - Zelda’s ratings were even higher, many 10 out of 10s and 100% reviews.  Check it out:

Posted in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

GoldenEye 007

Sep22
2011 Written by allg7590

Video games do not have to be pixellated, blocky and from the 1970s to be iconic.  New games are released every year which have the potential to be game-changers for the console and for the genre.  One such game was GoldenEye 007 for the N64.  Released exclusively for the Nintendo console in 1997, it was developed by what some have described as an inexperienced team.

The original plan for the game was to develop it as a side-scrolling shooter, then as an on-rails shooter (the character has a preset course and can’t wander) but finally the decision was made to develop a 3D shooter, more commonly known now as a First Person Shooter (FPS).  It certainly was not the first of its kind, Doom had been produced four years before and even that was preceded by Wolfenstein 3D, but it did take the genre to a whole new level of quality, innovation and sophistication.

GoldenEye introduced several new features to the genre; a zoom-able sniper rifle had its first outing here, adding a new level of strategy and gunplay.  Stealth missions were also part of the gameplay, meaning that this wasn’t just a gigantic gunfight.  GoldenEye also introduced superb graphics for the multiplayer version.  While the game was not a free-roaming affair, the addition of extra rooms and areas (with no purpose) and several routes through levels meant that GoldenEye was nowhere near as linear than many of its predecessors.

The game was of course developed as a tie-in with the 007 film GoldenEye and the plot of the game follows the plot of the movie with a couple of exceptions (no casino).  The game was not received particularly well at the 1997 E3 but that mattered little when the game hit the shops.  With 8 million units sold it was the best selling N64 game of all time and regularly features in lists of the best console games.  Check it out:

 

Posted in GoldenEye 007 - Tagged , , , , , ,

Sonic The Hedgehog – Part Two

Jul08
2011 Written by allg7590

So by 1991, Sega had firmly made its mark on the video games industry and has created a character which defined the brand.  Sonic the Hedgehog was a brightly coloured, high speed ball of energy which appealed to more then one demographic.  The original game was a tribute to production values and marketing.  Here was a fantastically smooth side-scroller which zoomed along at top speed with no lag whatsoever.  It was intelligently marketed and each facet of Sonic was meticulously designed – the body colour, the head size, the shoe size and the characters which complemented and populated Sonic’s world.

Sega’s next task then was to move forward with the franchise, sometimes tweaking and

'Tails'

re-releasing and sometimes reinventing.  A new character was added in 1992 – Tails, an equally cute fox who complemented Sonic’s abilities with unique characteristics of his own.  The first example of reinvention was Sonic Spinball in 1993, a natural evolution one could argue, which used Sonic’s ability to curl up into a ball as the basis for a pinball machine.

 

 

Sonic Spinball Gameplay

The twenty years that have followed the release of Sonic The Hedgehog have seen a total of 30 releases of various Sonic games – the thirtieth being Sonic Generations, available for the Playstation 3, the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo 3DS.  Sega’s console manufacturing business was crushed in the battle between the industry powerhouses of Sony and Microsoft.  It ceased that business in 2001 but continues as games software developer for other console platforms.

So, you may ask, over that twenty year period, which have been the standout Sonic games?  This is never an easy question to answer – younger gamers may have no experience of the original games.  Many older gamers will insist that the first two Sonics (1 & 2) still remain the most playable but that might just be for reasons of nostalgia.  The 3D versions also garnered plenty of fans.  Probably best to dig out that old Megadrive/Genesis and decide for yourself.

In the meantime here’s a quick preview of Sonic Generations….

 



 

Posted in Sonic the Hedgehog - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Sonic The Hedeghog – Part One

Jun24
2011 Written by allg7590

The first thing to say is Happy Birthday Sonic!  On 23rd June Sonic the Hedgehog was 20 years old so this is a prescient occasion on which to ponder the origins and history of the blue, spiky haired hedgehog.  Sonic appears not to have aged a day in the past 20 years, increased processing power, more powerful graphics and high definition mean he looks better now than ever. For those of us old enough, here’s a clip of the original gameplay:

There’s not too much romance or sentimentality surrounding the creation of the character.  In the late 1980s Nintendo dominated the console market and the Mario Bros. complemented that domination, providing fans with a recognisable character and back-story which would hook them into any future offerings.  As the new entrant into the market Sega needed to compete on this level.  They had tried Alex Kidd with moderate success but realised they needed something more.

A creative team under the management of Naoto Ōshima was formed to design a new character and came up with, among others, Mighty the Armadillo plus several other characters who would go on to feature in various games themselves.  Sonic the Hedgehog of course was the character chosen.  Blue was the colour of the Sega logo and the character was nicknamed Mr. Needlemouse.  As frustrated gamers can testify Sonic could not swim and this was because one of the designers was under the false impression that hedgehogs could not.

We now had a recognisable character but it was refined further for the American market.  Sonic’s fangs were removed and so was his girlfriend, Madonna.  These changes caused some tension between the Japanese designers and their American counterparts but the changes remained and in the long term Ōshima admitted it was probably for the best.

In 1991 the game was released for the Megadrive/Genesis and was a great success.  The high speed gameplay, including supersonic speed boosts was the antithesis of Mario, the slower Nintendo platformer and performed well in Japan, America and Europe.  Sega was now in the game.

Part two follows….

 

 

Posted in Sonic the Hedgehog - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,