Summary
Developing a video game is not as easy as some people think it is. Coming up with a single idea and seeing it through to the final product is very difficult, which is why a lot of things about a video game pitch will change during the design phase.
Then there are times when accidents and mistakes occur during the development process. Some of these errors or changes are a product of limited technology, while some may just be a happy accident. Either way, there are plenty of legendary mechanics in video games that started life as a simple mistake. Some players may not even be aware of these little accidents.
The first appearance of Mario was not in his own solo game. The famous plumber, in fact,made his debut in the firstDonkey Kongas a character named Jump-Man. However, the protagonist in this arcade game is still instantly recognizable by his blue shirt and red overalls. Mario is one of the most popular gaming mascots in history, and part of that is due to his iconic outfit. Though, not many players are aware ofwhy these colors were chosen.
Designing a game back in the 80s was extremely difficult, and there were a limited number of tools that developers had to work with. One of the more limited tools in this era was color design. It turns out that Mario’s blue and red outfit was chosen because it was the only pairing available that didn’t clash with the other aspects players needed to see. Therefore, this limitation has given gamers a truly iconic mascot design.
Fighting video games are a great genre. These multiplayer combat experiencesallow new players to hit the set controlsto attack and win a fight, while the combination of moves allows more experienced players to try out harder attacks and get better at the game. This transition in play styles seems as if it would be a natural design choice that enables gamers to both play and master a certain fighting game. However, it may be shocking to learn that the addition of combos wasan accident in the development ofStreet Fighter 2.
While testing the game, one of the developers ofStreet Fighter 2managed to pull off a normal punch followed by a special move that landed before the opponent could respond. This implanted the idea of combo moves into the team’s head, and fighting games have been different ever since.
The design ofKirbyinstantly signifies to new players what type of game he belongs to. This pink ball shows that theKirbyseries is a family-friendly game that takes place in a magical land, but the long-standing Nintendo character was never intended to look this way.
During the development of the firstKirbyvideo game, the team had created almost everything in the game before they had an idea for the playable protagonist. The world, enemies, and story already existed when it came time to test the game, and so a pink ball with feetwas created to be a placeholder before the real Kirby was designed.However, the development team thought that this pink placeholder fit the game so well that it then became thedesign of Kirby that fans know and love today.
One of the most exciting features in theGrand Theft Autoseries is the police chase mechanic. Commit a crime in anyGTAgame, and the police will aggressively hunt down the player, increasing the force depoloyed until the chase ends with the player character’s death or arrest. The franchise is known for this aggressive gameplay, but there was a time when this wasn’t the intention behind the game.
During the development of the firstGrand Theft Autogame, the police were included as a device to pull over the player if they are seen committing a crime. However,a bug during the testing phase caused these police to repeatedly bump the players' car.The idea of these tactics was beloved so much by the dev team that the game was reworked to make these chases a prominent feature,and history was made.
TheMetal Gear Solidfranchise is known for its genre-changing stealth mechanics. These have been a staple of the series since the PS1 era, and stealthy takedowns andMetal Gear Solidhave gone hand in hand ever since. However, stealthy gameplay was never the original direction for the series.
The director and main developer of the originalMetal Gear Solid,Hideo Kojima, originally envisioned the franchise as a highly adept combat game.Unfortunately, the software available at the time could not keep up with his idea. Therefore, the game was retooled to work as a small-scale stealth adventure.Metal Gear Solidis still iconic,just not iconic in the way Kojima originally intended.
Fog is a type of weather that is inherently creepy. It envelops everything in its path so that people cannot see what horrors lie before them. As a result, the addition of fog in the levels of the firstSilent Hillgame seemed like a natural choice.
The fog inSilent Hillwas not added to create a spooky atmosphere, though. The fact thatthis weather achieves this effect is just a happy accident.The developers of the game added the fog as a way to hide the poor rendering distance that was present on the PS1. This console made everything a few feet ahead of the player look quite poor, whichruined the horror atmospherethe developers were trying to create. Thankfully, the fog changed that for the better.
Even those who have not played the originalSpace Invadersfrom 1978 understand the concept. The player must scroll along the bottom of the screen andshoot the objects abovebefore they hit the ground. Also, the invaders will get faster the longer the game goes on. However, the fact that the invaders move faster has nothing to do with time, as many players believe.
The speeding up of the targets to increase the difficulty of the game is actually a byproduct of the fact that there are fewer objects on the screen. Therefore, the additional rendering power can instead be used to speed up the remaining aliens on the screen. As it may be clear by now, none of this was intentional, andtheSpace Invadersdifficulty spike is just a happy accident.
