iPhone Game Development - Chris Craft [58]
Action games are extremely popular in the game marketplace today. They are challenging and exciting, and most are some kind of test of skill, usually with a time limit. Many people enjoy beating this implied dare. Some players will try to beat a well-done action game almost religiously, playing hours on end and even through the night.
Consider one of the most famous action games ever produced, Pac-Man. Guinness World Records officially named Pac-Man as the most successful coin-operated game in history, with nearly 300,000 units of the arcade machine sold from 1980 to 1987. This is just one of many famous examples of great action games. Let's review some of the best. Maybe they will motivate you into creating the next chart-topping action game for the iPhone.
Reviewing Famous Examples
Even though action games come in all shapes and sizes, there are a few common features. Action games tend to involve some type of test of skill; for example, hand-eye coordination or reaction time. Players are usually given a time limit in which to complete a challenge. The challenge might be to save all the villagers before the bomb goes off or to survive the zombie horde long enough for the rescue helicopter to arrive. The developers face a challenge as well: how to make sure their action game is neither too hard, causing players to become frustrated and give up early, nor too easy, causing players to quit the game due to boredom. This is an important part of the formula for creating a great action game, and something to keep in mind as you consider the following successful action games:
Pac-Man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man
Space Invaders. http://enwikipediaorg/Space_Invaders
Asteroids. http://enwikipediaorg/Asteroids_(video_game
Paperboy. http://enwikipediaorg/Paperboy_(video_game
Robotron: 2084. http://enwikipediaorg/Robotron:_2084
Doom. http://enwikipediaorg/Doom_(video_game
Frogger. http://enwikipediaorg/Frogger
Super Mario Bros. http://enwikipediaorg/Super_Mario_Bros
Unreal Tournament. http://enwikipediaorg/Unreal_Tournament
You have probably played at least few of these games before. If not, consider finding some videos on the Internet of people playing a few of these games. You will learn a lot about what makes an action game both fun and exciting for players. If you have played these action games before, consider what made these games great for you. You will want to look back on these games' traits when you start coming up with your own ideas for action games.
Most of these games are considered classics, and one thing true of the classics is that they don't have a lot of clutter. Someone once said that a great song, no matter how fancy, should always be hummable. This is true for any great game as well. It is a lot easier to learn from and reproduce a great game by looking at classic games because they have so very little waste. Again, consider that less is often more when the “less” is of better quality.
Tip
Go back and play some of your favorite classic action games. Take a step back and consider them from a developer's point of view. Have a little fun and you'll probably learn a lot about applying tried-and-true techniques to your games.
Think back to our developer challenge of how to create games that are hard enough but not too hard for players. How have games accomplished this in the past? Many action games have an introductory level or phase that is much easier than the rest of the game; this allows players an opportunity to learn the basics of the game. Sometimes there are fewer enemies for the player to avoid or defeat. For example, the game Asteroids initially starts the player's spaceship in the center of the screen with only a few asteroids located at the very edge of the screen. Over time, more and more asteroids appear, making the player's task of surviving more and more challenging.