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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.
These games are based off of established licenses, such as movies, comics, or TV shows. Examples are the James Bond 007 and Spider-Man franchises.
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 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 service started by Nintendo in 1997 that allowed customers to purchase digital Super Famicom and Game Boy games at an in-store kiosk that would be written onto RAM cartridges available for each system.
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
The Virtual Console is a platform service that first appeared on Nintendo's Wii and later on the 3DS and Wii U. Games from past consoles are emulated to run on the new hardware with the added benefits of system-level save states and other features.
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.
An unofficial translation of a video game, created by people not associated with the original development team.
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.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
Games that include real photography on the game's cover.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
A simple texture mapping graphics mode on the SNES that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled. Many game developers used this to create faux-3D worlds and environments.
A game based on an anime.
Bosses are enemies that fight you at the end of a level or at a significant point in the story.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
This concept is for games in which at least one of the main characters is male.
Retroachievements is a community created and curated site that adds Achievements and Online Leaderboards for supported emulators and platforms like Raspberry Pi
Video games that, for better or for worse, are based on an existing non-video game franchise. Usually drawn from movies, tie-in games have also been made about TV shows, novels, and even one-hit wonder pop bands.
A sequel (also called a follow-up) is a game that carries forward the gameplay concepts, and often the story, of a previous game to which it is officially linked.
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.
Games whose titles consist of a single word.
Pixel art refers to digital images composed of visible pixels, drawn with individual pixel-level intent and precision.
The concept of lives in video games evolved to let the player get a second chance after failing once. The most recognizable symbol is the heart.
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.
A game perspective that views the action from above, commonly at a fixed position and/or rotation.
Games whose main character is so egotistical that the whole game just HAS to be named after them.
As part of the Switch Online subscription, Nintendo offers a selection of SNES games through the downloadable Super Nintendo Entertainment System application.
Two or more characters are featured on the game's box art.
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