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《马里奥》系列被誉为“游戏之王”的5大原因

发布时间:2011-12-25 09:57:27 Tags:,,,

作者:Gavin Verhey

不久前我首次接触了《Intellivision游戏集锦》。而作为曾经的任天堂红白机(NES)忠实用户,我很高兴能够再次体验那个时代的游戏。但经过几个小时之后,我得出一个结论:几乎所有这些游戏的设计都糟糕透了。

尽管出现比《超级马里奥》早5年,《Intellivision》仍然不敌前者。这两款游戏的最大区别便是,《马里奥》背后有一个懂得如何制作一款优秀游戏的强大团队。

super mario bros (from dipity.com)

super mario bros (from dipity.com)

原因1–《马里奥》较为直观

在游戏中你是一个穿着工装裤,头戴红色帽子的小人——顾名思义就是一名水管工,奔跑并撞击砖块,并收集随机弹出的道具。一些特定的道具能够改变你的角色的大小并赋予他额外的能力。你的敌人是一些褐色并横向行走的龟类生物,还有一些会突然从管道中出现或者骑在云上向你投掷武器的生物。你会通过一系列不同的世界,里面有上上下下变换的管道,跳向标记物体,然后将敌人踢向岩浆。

很明显,在这款游戏中并不存在一个能够维系各方面内容的故事。也就是,按现在的说法,这完全是一款凭直觉进行的游戏。直到现在的《马里奥》系列游戏中也不具备拥有真正现实意义的内容。

幸运的是,它并不需要这么做。

对于所有玩家来说,《马里奥》的基本游戏设置都很直观。即使是早前的任何一款NES游戏,我的父母也能够随时拾起控制器而不需要阅读任何游戏说明便开始游戏。

为什么?如果你的能力只是奔跑和跳跃,那么你便很容易知晓,只要跳到敌人身上便能消灭它们。当砖块闪烁着光芒或者有一个发光的“?”标志,你也能够很容易意识到这些砖块的与众不同,而你便应该跳起撞击。这些便是你需要掌握的游戏技巧。也许在你发现这些技巧之前需要有所牺牲,或者进行适度的实验,但是这一切也都不会让玩家感到不自然。而当你继续向前行进时,便能够慢慢摸索清楚剩下的细节。

即使在现代的《马里奥》游戏中,仍然沿用了这种直观性。虽然游戏可能变得更加复杂了,但是整体看来还是一款简单的游戏。

从80年代到今天,很多游戏,包括电子,桌面和纸牌游戏等都遭遇了失败,而最主要原因便是游戏那难以琢磨的复杂性。很多《Intellivison》游戏其实并不具备任何深刻的意义,但是它们的复杂性却远超出我们的预料。而尽管《马里奥》本身并不存在实际意义,但是其简单直观的游戏设计促使它取得了巨大的成功。

原因2–新旧搭配

几乎后来的每一款《马里奥》游戏都是建立在最初游戏的基础上,而增加一些新鲜元素和内容。主要有两个原因:

首先,游戏利用了玩家的怀旧情怀,让那些曾经玩过《马里奥》游戏的玩家能够立刻联想起来。游戏中会出现相同类型的敌人。并且当玩家获得金币或者蘑菇时仍然会出现早前游戏中的那种“哔哔声”。除此之外,根据之前的冒险内容,游戏中也会出现复活节彩蛋之类的道具。

除了怀旧情怀,玩家也总是希望看到熟悉的内容。虽然后来每一款游戏都有自己的特色,但是大多数游戏机制也几乎与早前类似,即任何玩家都可以玩游戏,并且不需要较劲脑子去琢磨游戏中的机关设置。

当然了,这并不是说人们希望反复玩一款相同的游戏。所以必须在原有冒险内容的基础上添加一些新元素。也许有人会问“如果马里奥出现在太空中会怎样?”结果这款游戏便诞生了。你将会发现,游戏的核心不会发生太大的改变,只是玩家看到的世界发生了变化。每一款游戏都是新与旧的结合体,有些新元素多一点,有些则更侧重怀旧情愫,而以此创造出既有新鲜感又有熟知度的游戏。

super-mario-world(from bundae.wordpress)

super-mario-world(from bundae.wordpress)

Magic游戏与之相类似。在游戏中,玩家可以不断地访问一些新世界并发现一些新机制。然而,除了新主题,每个设置中还有许多相同的基础能力和游戏机制。除此之外,还有许多怀旧元素。即当你玩《Scars of Mirrodin》时,看到“Scrapdiver Serpent”会让你联想起“Neurok Spy”,或者一套新的“Spellbombs”不仅能够调起老玩家的记忆同时也能够带给新玩家不一样的新鲜感。《马里奥》便是以此取得成功的。

原因3–玩家在游戏中感觉良好

就像我之前说过的,游戏机制必须让玩家能够感觉良好。而《马里奥》便是如此。

以《马里奥》的游戏进程来看。踩在敌人身上而消灭它们获得金币?感觉良好。将Bowser踢到滚烫的岩浆里?感觉良好。最后获得那个难以触及的星星?感觉良好。开启一个新世界?感觉良好。面对一个不简单,但却也不复杂的智力问题,你可以花点时间思考,并最后获得答案,感觉良好。

在游戏中一直带着这种良好的感觉前行。

死亡总是会让人感到沮丧,而《马里奥》系列游戏则尽可能地缓解了这一点。虽然它们并未完全取消死亡机制,但是却妥善地处理了这一机制。

首先,即使死亡了你也不需要再次重复过多的游戏内容。在平台动作游戏的关卡中总是有许多节点,而在最新的《超级马里奥64》和《超级马里奥银河》中,都将星星收集任务减小到最低规模,即完成一个关卡可能只需要花费玩家几分钟时间。

除此之外,在这些游戏中还为资深玩家设置了上述提到的复活节彩蛋,即当他们意识到游戏之间的联系时,便会对此感觉良好,而更加感受到游戏所具有的亲近感。

而在玩《Intellivision》时,我却时刻被死亡的恐惧所包围着。游戏中总是弥漫着紧张感,而我也很少因为自己的行动接受到奖励。通常,我完成一个任务而接受到的唯一“奖励”只是不用死去。

而《马里奥》之所以能够让玩家感觉良好是因为游戏中很少出现死亡的恐怖感。不论你进入了哪个世界或者你在哪里遭遇失败,都能够不时获得游戏提供的奖励,而因此感觉良好。

原因4–重玩价值

我第六次玩《超级马里奥兄弟3》的时候依然感受到游戏的乐趣所在!部分原因可能是源自游戏本身的乐趣属性,而主要原因还是是基于游戏的重玩价值。

首先,玩家无需去熟记游戏中的每个难处和挑战。更重要的是,玩家可以不用总是重复一些相同的关卡。

有多少玩家会因为在《超级马里奥64》的早期阶段就收集齐所有星星而无需再挑战剩下3分之1的关卡而兴奋不已?我便是其中一个。

而如此你便会留下一些未开拓的世界和领域。所以当你在1年后重新回到游戏中,你便能够首次接触到这些对你来说“全新”的关卡和领域了。

即使是最早期的《超级马里奥兄弟》中也有如此设置。有多少人在第一个地下关卡中选择进入弯曲管道而直接略过3个世界?我便是其中之一。然而,当你陷入困境或者不能选择弯曲管道时,你便可以探索一些全新的世界。

除此之外,在任天堂最近的游戏中也出现了一些重玩价值内容。如《超级马里奥银河》中的紫币。这是一种额外奖励方法,能够鼓励玩家再次游戏。这意味着你不需要特别设立成就系统以推动玩家反复游戏,因为你的游戏本身就存在让玩家愿意再次玩游戏的机制。

难以置信的是,在多年后我仍然能从早前的《马里奥》游戏中找到一些新的内容。

而这是《Intellivision》做不到的。我玩了1、2次后便不想再回到游戏中了。

mario(from designspaceblog)

mario(from designspaceblog)

原因5–秘密

回到早前我频繁玩电子游戏的时代,那时候我阅读了许多电子游戏杂志。而很多杂志都为了吸引订阅者的注意大量使用了各种排名,如曾经有一本杂志列出了“游戏中100个最重要的时刻。”

而排名第一的便是《超级马里奥兄弟》中隐藏着的1UP蘑菇。

我不知道这个排行是否合理,但是事实就是这样。因为如果游戏能够提供给你更多你难以预料到的内容,你便会对此充满好奇。

秘密也是一种重玩价值,而且能够让玩家更加沉浸于游戏中。你总是在寻找一些其它人看不见的东西。而当你找到它们时,便会有种欣喜若狂的感觉。

当你告诉好友你在《超级马里奥兄弟》获得了最高分并到达了一个弯曲管道,或者你发现了《超级马里奥世界》中能够走出“鬼屋”的秘密通道,还是你发现自己能够通过《超级马里奥64》的Peaches Super Slide之窗等,这些都属于游戏的重玩价值,并且能够在玩家心中留下深刻的印象。缺少了这些体验,游戏的乐趣度也会大打折扣。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

5 Reasons Why Mario is the King of Gaming

Gavin Verhey

We could all learn a lot from a certain Italian plumber.

And no, not about how completely ignoring your profession leads to happiness, or that you should always get on board airships with strangers. Rather, the success of Mario can tell us a lot about the qualities of good game design.

Recently, I had the opportunity to boot up an Intellivision for the first time. As someone who played the NES before I could even dress myself, I was excited to get the chance to try out something from before that era.  I toyed with the system deep into the night, cycling through a vast library of games and getting a taste of what it was like to be a gamer in the early 80s.

After hours and hours, I came to a conclusion: almost all these games were horrendously designed.

Despite predating Super Mario Bros by five years, the Intellivision failed. The difference between the two systems is that the team behind Mario had a surprisingly strong idea of what went into making a good game.

Want to know why the yellow guy from Night Stalker didn’t end up being the go-to video game icon? Read on.

Reason #1 – Mario is Intuitive

Let me tell you about a game.

You are a little guy in overalls and a red hat – allegedly a plumber – running around and hitting blocks that items occasionally pop out of. Certain items change your size or give you abilities.

The enemies are brown lurching blobs and turtles, with the occasional fanged plant or cloud-riding spike-throwing enemy tossed in for good measure. You travel through a range of worlds going up and down pipes, jumping on flags, and dropping the bad guy into lava.

…What?

You’re certainly not selling anybody on the game by describing it, and there’s more or less a non-existent story running behind all of this to tie everything together. To use a popular word these days, the game is very difficult to grok. To this day, nothing that happens in the Mario franchise really makes any sense at all.

Fortunately, it doesn’t need to.

The basic gameplay of Mario games is intuitive to almost everybody. Even as far back as the original game on the NES, my parents could just pick up the controller and start playing without even needing the instruction booklet.

Why? When your only abilities are running and jumping, then it makes sense pretty fast that you beat enemies by jumping on them.  When blocks sparkle and have shining question marks, it’s very intuitive that those blocks are different and you should hit them. And that’s really all you need to know to play. Sure, maybe it takes one or two lives and a little trial and error to find some of that out, but it all feels natural. The rest of the details become apparent as you continue onward.

Even in modern-era Mario games, the same kind of tropes are kept. The game has become more complex, but it never strays too far from simplicity.

A lot of games, video, board, and card, all the way from the 80s to today, try to be too ambitious and end up falling flat because of unintuitive complexity. Many of the Intellivison games I played not only made no sense, but were far more complex than what should have been happening on the system. The fact that Mario has been successful despite the game making absolutely no sense is a miracle of the design behind it.

Reason #2 – Something Old, Something New

Every Mario game builds on the last and reels you in while still being fresh and exciting. How? There are two parts to this.

First, the franchise has nostalgia that anybody who has ever seen another Mario game played can recognize. The same kinds of enemies always show up. The same digitally remastered beeps and boops from the original still echo as you grab coins and mushrooms. There will be Easter Eggs and in-game references to past adventures.

In addition to nostalgia, people just want familiarity. Each game may have its own twist, but a lot of the same gameplay mechanisms are present and, just like the original, anybody can pick up and play a Mario game with minimal understanding of the gimmick being used for this game. (The notable outlier to this being the Mario RPG games, but even those harken back mechanically to previous games)

Of course, people also don’t just want to play the same game over and over. As a result, new twists are put on the adventure. Somebody asks, “What if Mario was in space?” and a game is born. You’ll notice that the core game never changes that much, just the worlds that are visited. Each game is a mixture of the familiar and the new, some more so than others, which keeps the series fresh yet familiar.

A good analogue might be something like Magic. The game constantly visits new worlds and has new mechanics. However, a lot of the same base abilities and gameplay shows up in every set in addition to new themes. Furthermore, there is always a pull for nostalgia. When you play something like Scars of Mirrodin, the fact that Scrapdiver Serpent reminds you of Neurok Spy, or that there are a new set of Spellbombs, tug at the memories of old players while being fresh to new players. Mario is similarly successful.

Reason #3 – The Game Feels Good

As I talked about in another blog post, having game mechanisms that feel good is important.

Mario is chock full of those.

Just think about how a Mario game progresses. Stomping on enemies and have them disappear, leaving a coin behind? Feel good. Dropping Bowser into lava? Feel good. Finally getting that-hard-to-reach star? Feel good. Unlocking a new world? Feel good. The puzzles aren’t easy, but they’re also not that difficult. You can figure them out with a few minutes of thinking and feel good about your achievement

You get where this is going.

Dying can be frustrating, but the Mario series seeks to mitigate that. It doesn’t do it completely, but it does a pretty good job of it.

First of all, dying doesn’t set you back too much. There are usually checkpoints within levels in the sidescrolling platformer games, and in the newer era of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, each star-collecting task is small enough on its own that being bumped out of the level only costs you a handful of minutes.

On top of all this, there are the aforementioned Easter Eggs for experienced players. A great “feel good” moment is when you realize a connection between games and it feels like the game is directly speaking toward you.

With the Intellivision, I had a constant fear of dying. The game was full of tension, and I was seldom rewarded for what I was doing. Often, your “reward” for completing a task was simply not dying. You need a little more to keep you coming back.

The way Mario plays out feels good without the constant terror of dying. No matter which world you go to or where you end up, there are constantly rewards to collect that make you feel good for playing.

Reason #4 –Replayability

While on Thanksgiving break I managed to spend a few hours with my long-lost friend Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Super NES. And you know what? It was just as much fun as it was when I was six.

Part of that stems from the inherently fun nature of the game. However, I think a lot of that comes from replay value.

Mario games are built with replayability in mind.

First of all, there are so many levels that the average player isn’t going to memorize the intricacies and challenges of each one. But, more importantly, you don’t always have to go through the same levels.

How many of you felt that warm, sneaky feeling inside when you realized you could get through Super Mario 64 without needing to play a third of the levels if you just found all of the stars on the earlier courses? I know I was one of them.

However, if you take the speedy route through the game, that means you left worlds and areas unexplored. When you boot the same game up a year later, you can go back and play the same game through again while discovering all of these levels for the first time.

Even as far back as the original Super Mario Bros. you can see this kind of gameplay. How many people out there always take the warp pipe in the first underground level and skip three worlds? I know I’m one of them. However, if you mess up and don’t end up taking that warp pipe there are still untouched worlds out there for you to explore.

Moreover, in recent games Nintendo has found ways to build in replayability. The purple coin stages in Super Mario Galaxy are a great example. They’re just an additional incentive to play the game again. It goes to show you don’t need achievement systems to reward players for playing your game over and over; you can put reasons to replay your game within the game itself.

Years later, I can still find new pieces of the same old Mario games I have always loved. That’s incredible.

The Intellivision? Not so much. I’d play a game once or twice, and then never want to come back to it again.

Reason #5 – Secrets

Back when I played a lot of video games, I used to read a lot of video game magazines. Because overused tropes draw in subscribers, I remember one magazine doing a “top 100 most important moments in gaming” countdown.

What was #1? The hidden 1UP mushroom in the first stage of Super Mario Bros.

Now, I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that. However, it’s certainly up there. Why? The moment you realize there’s more to the game than just what you can see, your mind begins to wonder about everything.

Secrets add to the replay value, sure, but more than that they keep you engaged. You’re always on the lookout for something not everybody else can see. When you find one, it feels incredible.

Remember when you showed your friends that you could run on top of the level and reach a warp pipe in the first underground stage of Super Mario Bros.? Or when you found the secret exit out of a ghost house in Super Mario World? Or when you found out you could go through the window to Peaches Super Slide in Super Mario 64? These moments all add up to a mixture of replayability, memories, and fun. The series would not be the same without these little tricks that reward the experienced player.

That wraps up why Mario will always be number one. Do you disagree or think I missed a reason? Let me know below!

On another note, between the holiday season, a busy Magic season, and finishing up school, I hadn’t made a post in a month. Now that school is over and the rest of those are wrapping up, look forward to more blog posts in the near future.

Thanks for reading!(source:designspaceblog


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