Power Bombcast: The Skin Doesn't Quite Fit
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Game Mess Mornings 05/03/24
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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.
Games whose titles consist of a single word.
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.
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.
Third-party developers and publishers occasionally engage in the practice of releasing a title or piece of DLC on only one platform for any number of reasons. Sometimes these are permanent while others are only platform exclusive for a certain window of time.
Sometimes, publishers find ways to release games for consoles by illicit means to get around the console makers' hardware restrictions and licensing policies. Examples of these games include Action 52 and Bible Adventures on the NES.
Winged, usually flying creatures, many of which enjoy perching on branches and defecating on unfortunate victims below.
A mouse is a small rodent with a tail and whiskers.
Vertical scrolling is when the screen scrolls along the y-axis. In a vertical scrolling game the player usually starts from the bottom of the screen and moves up. They are also almost always presented in a top-down perspective.
This concept is for games in which at least one of the main characters is male.
Arguably the most fearsome of all the reptiles - it has scales and no legs. Snakes use a variety of tactics to harm players such as poison, hypnosis, and constriction. The most deadly snakes have mastered the way of stealth.
When the artwork on the game's box in no way correlates to the game's actual look and feel.
A concept found in many puzzle and casual games. Matching blocks of the same color or type to gain points and/or erase the blocks.
Games which feature copyright infringement, or contain the tools to make infringing material. Usually seen in games with user generated content.
The rare occurrence of a game being released between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Animal antagonists feature in works where the player character is a human or reasonably humanoid (such as an alien) and the primary villain or an important rival is an animal. They may have some human-like tendencies such as speech or wearing clothes, but ultimately are non-anthropomorphic.
8-bit can be a reference to actual computing power, or it can be a retro look for videogames that want to recall a bygone era.
A large, male cow. Does the bullfighting thing.
Games whose main character is so egotistical that the whole game just HAS to be named after them.
Games that have animals (except humans) as the main character. The character must be playable.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
Homebrew software is a slang term for unofficial software and games for consoles and handhelds which don't generally support it, such as the Wii or Nintendo DS.
Falling blocks appear in many games.
Penguins are flightless birds that are found in usually cold areas; they have appear in several videogames, notably the Club Penguin franchise.
Crunchy frozen water fallen from the sky. Many games feature a snow world, a snow level, or otherwise-connected regions of wintery landscapes.
Giant Insects are insects and other 'bugs' that are far larger than in the real world. Some are about half the size of a human, others are bigger than buildings. Larger than life or gigantic insects are a common element in many video games, especially those of the RPG Genre.
Space is usually empty, but sometimes it's filled with virtual death machines.
When a certain amount of time is given to the player to reach a goal or finish an objective.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
A level in which everything is displayed on-screen at once, with no scrolling, flip screen, or 3D movement. Many '80s games consist entirely of single-screen levels.
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