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Platformers

  In a Platforming Game, you must complete objectives in a space filled with platforms.

  Platforming takes place when the player moves through the air (by jumping or falling) in order to change elevation or cross a gap.

  Platformers are objective-based. In Q✻bert (1982) the objective is to change the color of every platform. In Mario Bros. (1983) the objective is to clear all the enemies. Proto-Scrollers like Donkey Kong (1981) are exit-based (the goal is to reach the end of the level).

Platformers		vs.		Proto-Scrollers
Objective-based		≠	Exit-based

  Scrollers like Super Mario Bros. (1985) are also exit-based. Super Mario Bros. does have some minimal platforming elements, but if you really take a look at that game, platforming is not even close to half of the actual gameplay content (see my article "Isn't Super Mario Bros. a Platformer?").

Platformers		vs.		Scrollers
Objective-based		≠	Exit-based

  Since Platformers are objective-based (not exit-based) scrolling is rare. City Connection (1985) is an example of a Platformer game that does have scrolling.
  Mario Bros. (1983) does not have scrolling (you can always see the entire level), but it does have "screen wrap", meaning that a player can walk off the right side of the screen and appear on the left (much like the tunnels in Pac-Man).
  Like Mario Bros., Flicky (1984) is another game where you can always see the entire level, and is a game that has "screen wrap". Unlike Mario Bros. however, Flicky has a camera that stays centered on your character. This creates the sensation of "artificial scrolling". The scrolling sensation is artificial because you can always see the entire level regardless of the camera's movement. Essentially, the camera is panning around in a "single-screen" game.



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