837: R1 to Brood
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Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
Backtracking is the act of navigating through previously explored areas, usually for the purpose of progressing in an objective-based adventure game. Players who are lost may also backtrack to reorient themselves.
A boss fight is a culminating challenge that pits the player against one or more enemies representing a greater threat and/or difficulty than those previously faced. These scenarios typically feature unique antagonists.
Games that ask the player whether they are sure about the decision that they have just made.
The continue is a classic gaming concept, and usually arises when the player "dies" or fails in the game. Usually some loss is tied to a continue, in a form of a "life" or something of other value.
Sometimes you want a challenge, sometimes you wanna coast.
The concept of purchasing media and having it delivered over the internet. No physical representation of this content is given, and although the content resides on the user's hard drive they are typically granted a license to the product, rather than ownership of it.
Receiving damage or dying as a result of falling.
A frog is a small and usually green amphibian that can swim, hop, and ribbit. Sadly, most of them aren't princes.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
These are games that dump you directly to the title screen after you get Game Over screen.
Gibs (giblets) are, basically, what's left of someone after they make contact with an explosive object or powerful weapon. They can be seen in games such as Doom, Quake, Team Fortress 2 and many, many more.
A glitch is an action performed within the bounds of a game engine that was not intended by the game's developers. Glitches are often performed by the player, though they can also occur independently.
Health is a value that gauges how much damage players can take in a game before they die or pass out. Also known as life in some games. Health is usually represented by a bar or a percentage instead of an exact amount. Found in most non sport games
It's arguably the one move that symbolizes the medium to those outside it. The ability to jump, be it onto a building, a platform, or a skull, is one of the all time most important abilities ever put in a video game.
A common type of stage based around the fire and/or lava element. Often platforming heavy and inhabited by fire-based enemies.
Loading Screens are specific screens that are displayed while a game is loading resources so that the player has something to distract them while the game loads. Loading Screens can be images, text or even mini-games - and sometimes a combination of all three.
Platforms conveniently moving you towards your destination to allow the crossing of large expanses which would otherwise be impossible to cross.
Genetically evolved humans, animals or aliens.
A NosCon (short for Nostalgic Continuity) is a game made with the purpose of appealing to people's nostalgia for the retro gameplay and style of a specific series.
The peashooter is the default weapon used at the start and after dying in many arcade style games.
Power Ups can be used to give the controlling character, or any other character, temporary or permanent upgrades.
The ability to lie down on the ground.
Radiation is energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles emitted by an atom or other body. Radiation in videogames is typically represented as a field, inside of which units will take damage.
A location where the player character is relatively assured to avoid patterns of incoming fire or enemy movement.
Special locations in game that allow the player to manually save their progress.
Many games feature a story which involves saving the world and its inhabitants, often single handedly.
Scorpions are an eight-legged arachnids with two large pincers and a venomous stinger on the tail, used to kill or subdue prey and defend against aggressors. Though their sting can be very painful to humans, few scorpion species can kill a healthy adult.
A style of action-adventure gameplay revolving around exploring a labyrinth with the necessity of locating new items and equipment to progress beyond otherwise impassable obstacles. The concept is named for its common usage in the Metroid and Castlevania franchises. While the term most commonly refers to 2D games, it can also refer to 3D games.
Side-scrolling games present the world as viewed perpendicular to the direction the characters are facing on screen. With a heavy focus on lateral movement, objectives are often met by moving from one end of a stage to the other.
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