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The strategy of demonstrating how awesome something is by putting the word "super" in its title. Incredibly popular among developers making games for the Super Nintendo, which itself counts as an example.
These spooky entities are the spirits of the dead, returned from beyond their graves for generally sinister purposes. There's generally about even odds whether a particular ghost will be helpful or malevolent towards the living, but some ghosts just want to be left alone entirely.
Pixel art refers to digital images composed of visible pixels, drawn with individual pixel-level intent and precision.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
Ahh, eating... We can't live without it, and, apparently, neither can some characters. From snakes to dots, games have odd ways of dishing out their dishes.
Anthropomorphism is the concept of an object, concept or character that has human qualities or traits, such as speech, a level of intelligence similar or higher than a human's and self consciousness. "Anthro" means "of human" and related to the concept of humanity.
Collectibles are items such as coins, rings, gems, packages etc. that can be gathered, usually for some kind of reward, or sometimes to simply beat a level. Often (almost too often) the source of earning achievements and trophies on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
Super Speed is the ability for a character to travel at speeds normally unattainable by regular humans. Super speed can be a stock super power by characters such as the Flash & Sonic the Hedgehog, or a technologically enhanced ability like Nomad in Crysis.
Whether by item or otherwise, temporary invincibility provides the user a brief moment where they are impervious to attack.
A character in the game actually increase in size. This may be a temporary or permanent transformation.
Parallax scrolling is a scrolling effect used in video game graphics, employing multiple scrolling layers to create the illusion of depth, for a pseudo-3D effect in an otherwise 2D scrolling game.
The controversial practice of incorporating "access control technology" into digital media so as to limit what owners of that media can do with it, most commonly for the stated purpose of preventing piracy.
A level that is impossible or nearly impossible to complete because of a programming error or oversight. Often times the screen number is a power of 2 or 10.
Porting is a term used when a game designed to run on one platform is converted to run on a different platform. Quality varies, though some titles are packaged with extras.
Enemy Capture is a game mechanic that enables the player to capture or charm enemies. The capture mechanics and the ways enemies are used are myriad, but the effects are always beneficial to the player.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
A two-dimensional image or animation overlaid into a scene. The foundation of early 2D games, making up everything from props to the player-controlled character.
A concept where the game must be restarted if you are killed. It is a mechanic found in most arcade games, but the term is usually used in reference to the RPG genre where the mechanic is less common, particularly "roguelike" games as well as strategy games such as Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics where characters die if they are defeated in battle. Often used as a significant plot device.
The opposite of open-ended gameplay, linear gameplay uses scripted events, Quick time events, cut scenes, and a restricted path to tell a story exactly how the writer intends, and control elements of the action.
Achievements are extra challenges added into video games that sometimes carry a point value or unlock bonus material, and are sometimes solely for bragging rights.
Any game that does not have any written or spoken dialogue in it, regardless if it has characters or not. This includes any text or recorded dialogue that is spoken by a character or narrator, but not text such as "Press Start".
The game automatically saves for you when you reach certain points. Implemented in order to reduce frustration for forgetful savers.
The player character is seen at a distance from a number of different possible perspective angles. There is generally a movable camera but it can also be in a fixed position. It most commonly refers to a viewpoint behind the player character.
A point within the game whereby the game saves its current state whether it be for the purpose of a more convenient respawn point or a gameplay design (such as in racing).
Special locations in game that allow the player to manually save their progress.
A stereotypical prehistoric human, usually clad in animal skins and rather violent. Does not always live in a cave.
These prehistoric behemoths cause chaos amongst many. Unfortunately, they are extinct.
Games whose main character is ball-shaped, sometimes with a face and/or hands/feet, but mostly just spherical.
The Namco Super Pac-Man is an 8-bit arcade system board that was initially used by Namco in 1982. It was the company's first board to use a Motorola M6809 processor (using two of them) instead of a Zilog Z80.
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