I've become quite interested in 2D platformers - a very popular genre in the past, but today almost no games belong to this genre. Nevertheless classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 are still fun to play, even though the game is more than 15 years old.
I have collected a bunch of ideas, which could be used in a modern implementation of a 2D platform game. Some ideas are my own, and some are inspired by other people's thoughts.
Idea list[]
- Great environmental variation: Today's computers are much more powerful than back when 2D platformers were trendy, so they'll be much more capable of handling very varying and detailed environments in form of graphics, audio, etc. You no longer need to use a tile-based approach due to hardware restrictions. There is room for much spectacular and unique scenery (with parallax), smooth camera movement, animations, sounds, etc.
- Physics simulation: A lot of games today of various genres implements simulation of physics (like Half-life and BreakQuest) - especially gravity, friction, collisions, rotations, springs, etc. Why not the platform genre too? That could lead to a lot of interesting gameplay.
- Genre mix: Other games have succesfully created interesting gameplay by mixing genres. It could be interesting to borrow concepts from other genres. Imagine for example experience points, skill system and inventory system from the RPG genre or base building from the RTS genre implemented in a 2D platformer.
- Money system: How about implementing a money system, which allows the player to buy items and upgrades in shops? It's for some reason rarely seen in 2D platformers. It was done in Wonder Boy in Monster Land.
- Puzzles: How about making up new, fresh ways of defeating our enemies instead of jumping on them or shooting them? Like using a lit torch to scare the dangerous birds into the net of the giant spiders, etc. Puzzles hasn't been seen a lot in traditional 2D platformers.
- Multiplayer: The 2D platformer genre became unpopular before multiplayer became common, so multiplayer 2D platformers hasn't really been tried. That could be very interesing to implement, especially if the players need to collaborate.
- No world map: Why always move around on a map and enter isolated sections of the game? Final Fantasy X discarded the world map and that worked well.
- 2D Side Scroller: Just like in Super Mario Bros. and practically every other game involving Mario, there is a 2D map where the player has to reach the end of the levels with a certain goal.
Inspiration[]
Here I'll list some 2D platformers (usually rather unknown and indie), which is quite unlike the traditional 2D plat formers and therefore might trigger some ideas.
- Knytt Stories: Several thoughts strike me at this peculiar little game. Despite its simple (but spectacular nevertheless) graphics and sound it instantly captures a significant, distinct mood. It also heavily focuses on exploration - it contains few dangers, and there's no way of defeating the dangerous creatures. Notice the great variance of the scenery and music. See Knytt Stories website.